Submitter's note:

It is recommended that these stories be read in order.

There was a faint humming that filled the air from the small room's air conditioning, as well as the many whispers. I frowned, stretching in my chair and glancing around me impatiently. There were 9 other people in the room, waiting just as I was and all of them seemed to be college students too.

I yawned, glancing at my watch and wondering when the show was going to start. Or more specifically, when it was going to be over so that I could collect my money. It wasn't cheap going to college, especially when you didn't have anyone to help you. There was no way that I could turn down the Ten thousand that they were offering.

I'd been bouncing around foster homes since I was 13 and you didn't really build a lot of financial resources that way. In fact, I'd frequently had to work almost all of my free time since I'd started college the year before earning more money for my continuing education. But it was never easy. That was why I'd jumped at this chance for some quick cash.

All I had to do was volunteer for some experiment with vitamin enhancements or some other such when they offered it to me. At the time, I'd thought that it was a little strange that they'd come to me...but I needed the money so wasn't going to ask too many questions. To my surprise, as soon as I'd filled out the paperwork and signed the nondisclosure agreement, they'd sent my by plane out to this building in California, giving me the most thorough physical that I'd ever had before sending me to this room filled with other people who seemed to be in the same situation.

After yawning again, I looked over at the girl sitting in the chair next to me. She was rather cute, with short black hair that had a white lock which dangled from her forehead. However, with the somewhat dark makeup and the ring in her nose...not to mention her dark clothes, I guessed her to be a goth...not exactly my type.

The girl noticed me looking at her and gave me a dirty glare. "Whatcha looking at perv?"

I shrugged, muttering, "Not much." as I turned away.

However, just then the door to the room opened and a man in a gray suit entered. He had dark brown hair, speckled with gray, and he wasted no time in going to the podium in front and staring at us.

"Hello." he said simply, "My name is McKenzie." He left it at that, not bothering to give any more detail. "And I suppose you are all wondering exactly what you are doing here?"

"That's an understatement." I muttered, earning a few dirty looks from those around me.

McKenzie slowly looked around the room, saying, "All ten of you have three things in common. You have all volunteered for Project Miracle, you are all college students of approximately the same age, and..." he paused dramatically, "None of you have close family connections."

I frowned, wondering why that sounded so ominous. "Great." I muttered to myself sarcastically.

"Do not take this the wrong way though." McKenzie continued. "This experiment does have potential dangers, but we believe that they are very minimal. We just do not wish to complicate matters with family involvement...just in case."

"Excuse me...sir...?" A rather gangly boy with glasses asked, "But what is this Project Miracle?"

McKenzie smiled at that, making me guess that he'd actually been waiting for someone to ask that question. "Remember..." McKenzie said in a serious tone, "you have all signed nondisclosure agreements. You are not allowed to repeat to ANYONE what I am going to tell you."

My stomach churned slightly at that but my curiosity level nearly jumped through the roof. "So what is it?" I asked aloud, "Did you catch a UFO with Elvis in it?" I asked sarcastically, "That would certainly be a miracle."

Several of the other volunteers chuckled while the others gave me dirty looks. McKenzie just glared at me for a moment before he stated, "I believe you are all familiar with her." And with that, McKenzie pushed a button on the podium and a picture appeared on the video screen behind him.

There was a picture of a woman on the screen, with long blonde hair and an unbelievable build. Tall, athletic and voluptuous at the same time. The kind of body that women envied and men drooled over. However, the most noticeable feature was the fact that she was wearing a red and gold spandex costume. I instantly recognized her, as did everyone else in the room.

"Ms. Miracle." I whispered. She was one of the most famous super-heroes ever...even though she had been kille Kenzie continued after the room had quieted down, "our scientists were able to derive a serum from her blood. A serum which might potentially give enhanced abilities....super powers if you will, to some people."

I gulped, "He's got to be shitting."

"I assure you," McKenzie said calmly, "this is no hoax. But it has been determined that this serum is most likely to work on those between 16 and 20 years of age...which is why you are here." We were all staring at him silently in disbelief.

After giving us a minute to digest this, McKenzie said, this time with more emotion, "The world is becoming a dangerous place and there are many individuals with these powers against others...and they are slowly growing more numerous. The super-heroes are struggling to keep up...so we are attempting create our own."

For the next several minutes, McKenzie told us that there had only been enough 'materials' from Ms. Miracle's body to create 50 doses, which were to be used in 5 groups of 10. We were just one. Then he added that the process was theoretically safe, but that there were no guarantees.

"Now that you are all aware of the details," McKenzie said finally, looking around, "this is your last chance to change your mind. To go home with half the payment...as stated in the contract, or to continue and possibly develop enhanced abilities. To possibly become... super-heroes."

I stared at McKenzie for a moment in shock, then looked around the room, wondering what each of the others would decide. As for me...I didn't like the idea of being a human guinea pig, but the idea of maybe getting some kind of super power seemed so interesting. Finally, after several long minutes, I finally made up my mind. I'd do it.

After the meeting with McKenzie, we were all escorted to our rooms. All except for the 2 people in our group who had elected to leave. Apparently though McKenzie's people had expected something like that and had recruited more people than they needed, just so that they would have some back ups.

Several hours later, a man knocked on my door, directing me and my room mate to follow him. I didn't even look at the guy I was supposedly sharing the room with as I followed the man who'd come for us...wondering if I'd made the right choice.

The man led us to what was obviously the lab...though it looked like a large doctors office. A woman with streaked gray and brown hair that was tied back in a bun stood directly in the middle, dressed in a white lab coat.

"I am Doctor Alvere." the woman stated, looking at all 10 of us. "I will be administering the shots and will be monitoring any signs of development." She paused, then stated almost calmly, "Any developing abilities should appear within a 24 hour period. If there is no development within that time...then there will not be any at all. However, we will monitor you all for 72 hours to be certain."

"Let's get this over with." the girl I'd sat next to in the room interrupted. I could have sworn that she sounded a little nervous.

Dr. Alvere nodded, then reached for a syringe that was in a box on the table before carefully going over to the first person. She swabbed his arm with alcohol, gave him the shot, then moved on to the next person.

When Dr. Alvere got to the girl I'd been sitting next to, the girl turned her head, refusing to look at where she was being given the shot. I couldn't help but noticing that she had her eyes shut tightly and had a tense look on her face.

"What's the matter?" I asked, "Chicken?"

The girl glared at me, rubbing at her arm, "So I don't like needles."

I nearly choked at that. There she was sitting across from me with a nose ring...and from what I could see, a small rose tattoo on her arm...and she didn't like needles.

"Yeah, right." I snorted.

Next, Dr. Alvere stepped up to me with a fresh syringe. "Why do I feel like I'm in a bad sci-fi movie?" I asked her, just before she stuck me with the needle. "Ouch. I'd think you'd never done that before."

To my surprise, Dr. Alvere smiled, "Oh, I'm sorry...but my assistant Igor usually takes care of the shots." I grinned back at that, even as she pulled the needle back out. I was beginning to like the old gal.

Once the doc had finished giving all 10 of us our shots, she gestured for us all to move closer. After we had done that, she opened a box and pulled out something that looked like a watch, holding it out for us to see.

"This device is for monitoring your heartbeat and biorhythms for any changes. Should any occur, it will immediately alert me. And should you notice any changes or anything strange yourself, press this button..." She pushed in a red button on the watch. "This will also alert me."

"Great," I exclaimed, "I've always wanted a James Bond watch."

Dr. Alvere started handing out the watches. When I got mine, I stretched the elastic band for a moment then shrugged before slipping it over my wrist.

"Now," Dr. Alvere told us, smiling faintly, "you may go back to your rooms or remain in the recreation area. But DO NOT remove the monitors. Even to bathe."

After we'd all nodded our understanding, we all went our separate ways. I hung around my room for a little while before getting bored and going to the rec room that was just down the hall. It had a big screen TV, with a couple guys already watching it, a foose ball table and a pool table.

"What?" I ask loudly, "All this money and no Playstation?"

"Cheap bastards aren't they?" I heard from behind me.

Turning around, I saw the girl with the white lock in her hair. "Hey," I stuck out my hand, "I'm Dave."

She stared at me for a moment, then slowly stuck out her own hand. "Beth." Apparently she decided that I wasn't contagious after all.

I nodded, then glanced towards the guys playing pool for a moment before looking back at her. "So what's your story?"

Beth snorted. "What's yours?"

"I asked you first." I grinned.

For a moment Beth looked as if she was going to get angry, then a faint smile formed on her lips. "Oh, the usual. Dad was a one night stand and I've never met him and mom died of cancer last year." She shrugged. "Needed some extra dough for tuition."

"Oh." I responded, feeling a little embarrassed. I hadn't expected her to actually tell me.

"OK smartass..." Beth said, "It's your turn."

I sighed. "All right." I took a deep breath. "My dad died when I was a kid, killed in a bank robbery." I gulped, not looking at Beth as I continued, "And when I was 13, my mom went out to get dinner....and never came back." I winced, hating to think about that...trying not to let my bitterness show.

Beth just gave me a faint look of pity. "Ouch."

Shrugging, I muttered, "It was a long time ago." And, I couldn't help remembering, a long time in foster homes...some less than pleasant.

For a minute, Beth and I just stood there silently, then she finally broke the silence. "Pool?" She gestured towards the now empty pool table. I nodded, glad to change the subject.

Several hours after I'd been given my shot, I finally got to see the other groups. I was sitting in the cafeteria, which reminded me of the one from back in high school, but much smaller. It was also filled with what I guessed to be about 50 other college students, both male and female. The other groups.

I dug into my food with mess than my usual enthusiasm, probably because it was less than the usual quality. However, I had to admit that it sure beat anything that they had in high school. At the same time, I glanced at Beth...then gave a much longer look at the hot red head sitting at the next table. I certainly wouldn't mind having my way with her.

"And just what are you looking at?" Beth asked, snapping me to. I gave her my best 'who me?' look, but she turned to see who I'd been staring at, then turned back with a faint grin. "OK, so she's cute."

I just grinned back, feeling a little bit embarrassed at having been caught in the act. However, that didn't keep me from giving the red head another quick look.

Suddenly there was a scream from the next table over. I jumped to my feet, wondering what the hell was going on, then gasping when I saw it. There was a black guy who's skin seemed to be covered with something that looked like ice or crystals.

"Oh shit." I gasped, seeing that everyone was jumping away from him.

Some guy several seats down yelled, "Call Dr. Alvere!" Apparently though she already knew because several seconds later she burst into the caf e though, I couldn't help wondering just exactly what had I gotten myself into.

After kicking back in my room for awhile, I quickly grew bored and returned to the rec room. I looked around, seeing most of the people from my group, but not really knowing them. Then, I realized that the only people I knew from my group were my room mate...whom I didn't particularly like...and Beth.

"Hey," I said to an Asian girl that was sitting on the couch, watching TV, "Have you seen Beth around?" I figured that she was probably in her room, but I didn't know which one she was in.

"Who?" the Asian girl asked.

Sighing, I went on, "The goth girl. You know, with the nose ring and all."

From her expression, the girl realized whole I meant. "Oh, her." She nodded her head. "Yeah, she started spazzing out a little while ago so the doc took her away.

"Guess she's got super-powers now." a chubby guy sitting a short distance away said, sounding envious.

After thanking them, I turned around, figuring that I might as well practice on the pool table, trying not to think about Beth. I didn't know why, but I was actually feeling worried about her.

Fifteen minutes later, I was involved in a game of pool against myself since no one else wanted to play at the moment. Then I noticed that McKenzie had come into the room. I immediately put my pool stick down.

"So what's up?" I asked him.

McKenzie looked around the room then back at me. "I was just checking to see how the rest of you were doing since one of your group has already manifested."

"How is Beth?" I asked, trying to sound just curious rather than worried.

"She is doing fine." McKenzie told me. "At the moment she is still being examined by Dr. Alvere to verify that she is stable...and to determine the nature of her developing powers." He paused for a moment, adding, "If she does possess any that is. A reaction to the serum may not be any sort of guarantee."

Everyone else was looking at us curiously, and McKenzie nodded to me before walking around and asking everyone else how they were doing. I just sighed, deciding that I didn't really feel like hanging out around the rec room any more. Sure, I was curious to see if anyone else would have a reaction, but at the same time it felt sort of morbid. Like hanging out around a nursing home to see old folks die.

Once McKenzie had finished whatever he was in there for and left, I did the same thing, returning to my room. But even as I did so, I knew that I'd soon be bored out of my mind and probably return to the rec room before too long.

Later that night, I was asleep, having strange dreams when I suddenly woke up, feeling extremely strange, not to mention sick. Every muscle in my body was aching and I had the shakes. I sat up in my bed, groaning from the churning in my stomach.

"Oh God." I gasped weakly. Turning towards the other bed in the room, I called out to my room mate, "Richie..." However, once I opened my eyes and looked at a little more clearly, I saw that it was empty. He was probably out in the rec room or cafeteria.

I groaned as the shakes shot through my body harder. All I could do was curl up into a ball while my whole body went into spasms. Every muscle ached even more and I had to concentrate just to breathe.

"What did they do to me?" I whispered, vaguely remembering the band on my wrist.

My whole body felt like it was burning, but I didn't even have the strength at the moment to scream from the pain. Instead, I curled up tighter...or at least tried to as my body didn't want to respond. Instead, I just remained motionless on the bed, vaguely aware when someone else entered the room and shook me.

"Are you all right?" Dr. Alvere asked in a worried voice. I opened my eyes and saw her, looking rather blurry at the moment. "We're going to move you for better attention." she told me.

"Damn." I heard some man mutter as they moved me to a cart they'd brought in, "You'd think they'd give these guys their own rooms if they knew something like this was going to happen."

I had to agree with him. After this, nearly everything else was just a blur.

When I finally came back to my senses, I didn't know how much time had passed. I only sat up and looked around, seeing that I was all alone in a room with metal walls. Even the door looked extremely sturdy, and there were video cameras visible on the corners.

"I am not alone." I muttered, my voice sounding strange to my ears.

Freezing, I suddenly realized that I felt extremely weird. It wasn't just one thing either, it was EVERYTHING.

Gulping, I slowly moved my eyes down, seeing that I was in a hospital bed and covered with a large white sheet. And from the feeling against my skin, I knew that I was naked underneath it. However, what instantly drew my attention and made my eyes shoot open was that the shape of my body under the sheet was very wrong.

I hesitated for a moment, then threw the sheet back, gasping in shock at what was revealed. My whole body was obviously...and drastically changed. That was revealed with just the faintest glance and I was doing more than just that. On my chest were two big...tits.

"I've got boobs." I gasped, hesitantly touching them. They seemed rather big too.

For a moment I just stared at them, then at my hands which were nothing like my own. My fingers were more slender and feminine, even having a woman's fingernails. Then my eyes shifted, noticing the lack of hair on my arms...not to mention the rest of my obviously now female body.

"Oh shit!" I exclaimed, sitting upright and my crotch. "I'm...I'm..." I gulped, "I've got a fucking pussy." I hesitantly touched it with my finger and shivered at the pleasant sensation.

Then, I noticed the round circles that were stuck to my skin all over. Obviously monitors of some sort, probably connected to some of the machines I saw in the corner. I lowered my legs from the bed and sat there, staring down at myself in stunned disbelief. It couldn't be happening. It was impossible.

I grimaced and pulled the monitors off of my skin, feeling not the slightest pulling from them. Not like the painful removal of band-aids from my old hairy appendages. Then, after pulling off all of the monitors off of me, I hopped off the bed and stood there, feeling extremely uncomfortable and a bit off balance. Everything about my body felt wrong. But at the same time, oddly nice, though I couldn't understand how.

"This is fucking impossible." I muttered, reaching down and running my hands over my body. It felt good...and my body felt very firm under my hands.

After a moment of just standing there, running my hands over myself in shock, I realized that there was a lavatory off to the side, just as in almost any hospital room. I gulped then slowly started towards it, sure that I just had to be dreaming.

As soon as I was inside, I stopped in front of the mirror and stared at the reflection with my eyes about to pop out.

"Now I know I'm dreaming." I whispered.

The reflection in the mirror was entirely female...and an extremely hot looking one at that. Almost impossibly hot. Her body was the most erotic thing that I'd ever seen, and athletic looking as well. She...I had a generous pair of tits that seemed unbelievably firm at the same time, and the face of an angel. Then my eyes went to the long blonde hair that cascaded down her back, with my fingers reaching back to touch it at the same time, verifying that it was real.

"No fucking way." I gasped, staring at a familiar image, though one which I'd always seen dressed in red and gold. Somehow...I'd been turned into the spitting image of Ms. Miracle.

I was still standing there, staring at myself in shock when Dr. Alvere came in. At first, she just stood there at the lavatory entry, watching me silently. Watching me with mixed looks of surprise and curiosity running along her face, though she kept trying to cover them up with one of professionality.

"Simply amazing." Dr. Alvere finally said.

Slowly turning towards her, I gasped, "What the hell happened to me?" I grabbed my tits and in a spurt of near panic screamed, "I'VE GOT TITS!"

Dr. Alvere stepped back, and quickly explained, "You've been slipping in and out of consciousness for over 17 hours...and transformed to this in that time."

"I...I...I look like..." I stammered weakly, still too stunned to think clearly.

"Like Ms. Miracle." Dr. Alvere finished quietly. Then she looked down and froze, her eyes locked on the door. When I looked to where she was staring, I was startled to see the bathroom door handle was sort of dented. "And it appears you may have more than just her appearance." Dr. Alvere finished.

I just stared at the door handle, shaking my head and gulping nervously. I was dreaming. I had to be. I know that I'd volunteered to get super powers, but this was nothing like what they said to expect. And why the hell did I look like HER?

"Why do I..." I whispered, staring straight into Dr. Alvere's eyes, gesturing down at myself in the same time.

"I don't know." she answered me gently, "But I am going to find out."

With that, Dr. Alvere handed me a bundle that I hadn't even realized that she'd been holding. I unfolded it, seeing that it was a gray jumpsuit, which made me suddenly realize that I was standing in front of Dr. Alvere completely naked. I blushed horribly as I climbed into the jumpsuit, my embarrassment being dulled by my shock but not completely overridden.

Once I was dressed, Dr. Alvere gently told me to follow her so that we could find out the answers to the questions that we both were filled with. I gulped, hating the idea of other people seeing me like that but even more afraid of being stuck.

Several minutes later, Dr. Alvere had led me to another room...another lab, but definitely not the one that I'd been given my shot in. This one was filled with a lot more expensive looking equipment that I had no idea what it was all for.

First, Dr. Alvere weighed me and measured my height, surprising me with the fact that I was now 6 foot 2, about 2 and a half inches taller than I had been. Then she put me through several other tests, using more of the monitor pads and a number of the big and confusing looking machines.

"Interesting." Dr. Alvere kept muttering, nearly driving me crazy with that word.

Throughout the tests, I tried as hard as I could not to look down at myself, even though I was burning with curiosity to do just that. It was especially hard since she made me take of the jump suit for most of the tests. It was bad enough being seen like that in front of her, so at least she'd locked the doors and was doing everything herself.

"None of the other subjects have demonstrated anything like this." Dr. Alvere finally told me, sounding a little thrilled. "I have no idea as to why your reaction was so...extreme, but I promise you that I will find out."

"Thanks." I responded, not looking at her. Instead, I was staring at my completely unfamiliar hands.

"What about the others?" I asked her, trying to distract myself.

Dr. Alvere hesitated for a moment, then told me, "Approximately 30 percent of the subjects had some sort of reaction to the serum, though most of those seemed to be allergic reactions with no development. There were 4 subjects who developed what could be considered to be minor super powers." She paused for a moment, giving me a faint smile. "They developed almost completely useless abilities which I believe might fade in time."

"Useless?" I prodded.

"Can move a quarter across a table with his mind." Dr. Alvere told me, "But not much else. Can change her skin color to blue and back to normal. One can blow soap bubbles out of his mouth..." Dr. Alvere said, then paused looking rather sad. "And unfortunately, one young man developed the ability to explode...but only once." She said the last in a near whisper.

I gulped, looking down at myself again with an "Oh."

"But there have also been several successes." Dr. Alvere told me before quickly changing the subject. "Now let's get a blood sample."

A minute later, Dr. Alvere stuck a needle into my arm...or at least she tried. The needle didn't want to go in and bent when she tried forcing it. She cursed and tried again with similar results.

"Come here." Dr. Alvere told me, directing me to another room to the side of the lab. Once I was in, I could see a treadmill and something that looked sort of like a nautilus machine from the gym. "Let's see how much you can lift."

I grimaced, wanting to get back to normal, but Dr. Alvere insisted. I looked down at my tits and then, after putting the jump suit back on, climbed into the bench press to do what she asked. At first the weight was extremely light, but it quickly started to get heavier. Once It got the point where I could no longer lift it, Dr. Alvere told me to stop.

"How much was that?" I asked, then gasped when she showed me a digital readout. "Four hundred and seven pounds." That was well over twice what I'd ever been able to lift before.

"Interesting." was all Dr. Alvere would say before having me start on some other tests, including running on the tread mill. I had to have those stupid monitor patches on me for all of them though and grew more and more frustrated as the session went on for over another hour.

Finally, I spat, "No more. I just want to be me again." I glared at her as if it was all her fault, though about to burst into tears at the same time. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

Dr. Alvere gently set her clip board down and gave me a soft look. "I am trying to find out." she told me in a quiet voice, "But I need your help." After this, she just watched me for a moment until I nodded understanding. I didn't like it, but I'd try to stay calm. "Now look at this." she told me, turning towards the digital readout for the weights which she'd made me lift again, after all the other tests.

My eyes went wide as I saw it. Last time it had read just 407LBS, now it read 439LBS, and after all the other tests and running that she'd made me do.

"How....?" I started, feeling confused.

"You ran for thirty minutes at Olympic speeds...and barely even raised your heart beat." Dr. Alvere told me in a serious voice. "Your reflexes are simply amazing. And with this..." she looked thoughtful. "I know that this is nowhere near what Ms. Miracle was capable of...but if I am correct, you will continue to develop until..."

"No fucking way." I whispered, interrupting Dr. Alvere. I didn't believe her...or more accurately, I couldn't believe her. There was no way that she could possibly be right. I was a normal guy...not some Ms. Miracle look alike. I knew that I might get powers from that shot, but this was impossible.

Dr. Alvere just nodded and promised to keep looking for what caused my extreme reaction to the serum...and if it could be reversed. However, from the excitement I kept glimpsing from her, I wondered if she was really going to give it her all. I certainly hoped so.

For several minutes, I just stood there, staring at my figure through the jumpsuit, still unable to believe that it was mine. That I actually looked like the famous Ms. Miracle. That I had actually turned into a woman.

Suddenly Dr. Alvere set her hand on my shoulder, saying, "I know that this must be very difficult for you." I nodded, knowing that she had no idea. "Perhaps it might help to meet the others."

The thought of meeting other people in my new body terrified me. I felt so...ashamed. So embarrassed. However, from the look in Dr. Alvere's eyes, it was obvious that this wasn't just a suggestion.

A minute later, we were standing in front of another door and Dr. Alvere gently told me, "They don't know about..." She paused, chuckling slightly before adding, "They don't know who you are...only that there had been one more person who was developing."

With that, Dr. Alvere opened the door and stepped inside, saying, "Everyone, I have someone to introduce...your final member."

Then, the doc gesturing for me enter. I stopped just inside and looked around, seeing that it was a fairly small room, but occupied with 4 other people. I recognized the black guy that they'd taken from the cafeteria, though he no longer had the stuff on his skin, as well as the hot red head I'd seen there. There was also one guy, a tall skinny white guy with glasses, though I didn't recognize him, and finally...

"Beth." I whispered, half in surprise and half in relief. She was OK.

At the same time, I noticed the look on her face. On all of their faces. The two guys were staring at me with what was obvious lust...making me even more self conscious and uncomfortable than before, which I hadn't even thought possible. Beth and the red head had envy in their eyes, but I didn't miss the flash of recognition that passed over several of their faces.

"What the fuck?" the black guy gasped, "That's..."

"Another volunteer like you." Dr. Alvere interjected, "Just having a much stronger reaction to the serum than expected."

They all still stared at me until Beth gasped, "How did you know my name?"

I looked at Dr. Alvere, knowing that I had to be blushing badly. How the hell could I tell her who I was? I gulped nervously.

"It's your choice." she told me, patting me reassuringly on my shoulder before she left the room.

For a minute, I just stood there silently, staring at the others, feeling their eyes on me. finally, I gulped and moved towards Beth, who was now standing up and watching me suspiciously. "It's me." I told her, forcing the words out, "Dave."

Beth just stared at me in confused disbelief before spitting out, "No fucking way. Who the hell are you?" She was beginning to look angry.

"It is me." I protested, holding my hands up. "I...went to bed and woke up like this." I gestured down at myself. "The doc doesn't know why yet." This last was said in a near whisper.

"Dave?" Beth whispered.

"Dave?" the black guy echoed, staring at me as though I'd just grown a bunch of slimy tentacles. "You're a fucking guy?"

The red head just muttered, "Wow. And the serum did THAT?" She shook her head, muttering, "Can I get another dose?". The other guy just stared, not saying a word.

Then, feeling extremely embarrassed, I sat down, watching the others nervously. All except Beth who sat down next to me and softly grabbed my hand, holding it to comfort me, much to my surprise. I felt at least a little more confident because of that.

Taking a deep breath, I looked at the others...remembering the purpose of the experiment. To create super-heroes. Then they...and myself were the results, so I decided that I had better get to know them just a little better, as Dr. Alvere had obviously intended.

I squirmed a little in my chair, feeling uncomfortable, not only in my own body but with the way the others kept looking at me. It was bad enough when they'd thought I was all woman, but now that they knew it seemed a little worse. But on the other hand, I also felt as if a little weight had been pulled from my shoulders.

Beth, I already knew, and had just been introduced to the others. The black guy was Mike Green. The tall skinny guy who'd barely said a word was named Allan Everson, and the hot looking red head was Sabrina Shaw.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled my hands from where they'd been crossed in my lap and gripped my chair, trying keep from showing the others how uncomfortable I was. Hell, I had tits hanging off my chest and was missing my cock. My whole body felt wrong and sitting there chatting was the last thing that I really wanted to do at the moment.

"So..." I finally said, "Since you've all developed, what exactly do you all do?"

Beth suddenly grinned, jumping out of her chair. "Watch this."

And with that, she walked straight to the door and paused, giving me a cocky look before she suddenly put her hand up flat against the door, obviously concentrating. To my surprise, her hand started to look sort black and sparkly at the same time, sinking right through the door as if it was nothing more than water. A moment later, Beth pulled her hand back out and it returned to its normal appearance.

"Cool huh?" Beth said, looking rather smug.

"Wow." I muttered, staring at her in surprise.

"Found out I could do that after they hauled my ass away." she told me.

Allan frowned, adjusting his glasses. "But they said that we weren't supposed to use our abilities outside of a controlled environment until we have better control."

"She can move water by thinking about it." Beth told me. "Aquakinesis." Sabrina waved at me.

"I have some sort of electrical ability." Allan said quietly

"And I can kick all your asses." Mike responded, though from the grin on his face I could tell that he wasn't too serious.

But before I could get anything more out of him, the door opened and McKenzie stepped in. He looked at me with a curious expression, then shook his head faintly. "Simply amazing." Then he sighed, getting to the point. "It appears that there are no more who developed significant abilities and it seems extremely unlikely at this point that there will be. According to Dr. Alvere, the serum will have already passed through the rest of their systems and if they haven't developed as of yet, they will not develop at all."

"So it's just us." Mike muttered. "I can handle that."

McKenzie nodded, then said, "We'll be moving to another location. One which is more secure since too many know about this place."

Then, just as McKenzie started to turn away, I couldn't resist asking, "How do you know none of us will become super-villains instead?"

"We knew that there was a faint risk of that." McKenzie answered slowly, "However we minimized that by selecting people who we believed had a high enough moral character to avoid that."

"Yeah," Beth burst out, getting into the spirit of it, "and why did you guys want people with no families? Wouldn't people with families have more to keep them from going bad? I mean, who'd want to take over or destroy the world when they might hurt their families."

"We hadn't considered that." McKenzie answered after a minute, sounding rather embarrassed.

"Don't seem like they thought of very much." Mike muttered. "I mean, moving us from room to room. And check out the security of this place."

"Kind of disappointing ain't it?" I grinned, feeling a little more like my old self. We were all still laughing when McKenzie escaped from the room, obviously embarrassed.

Dinner was very quiet compared to eating at the cafeteria. It was just the five of us eating, and the room was much smaller, not to mention the food better. Dr. Alvere, McKenzie and whatever other people they had helping them had apparently already eaten or were eating elsewhere.

"What's it like?" Allan asked me, sounding rather embarrassed to be asking the question. But not as emberassed as I was to hear it. "I mean, turning into a girl. Looking like HER."

"Yeah," Beth said, looking at me with a worried expression, "are you all right?"

For a moment, I just sat there, thinking about it. Finally, I answered, "It's...strange. REALLY strange." Taking a breath, I looked down at my tits and gulped, "It's all so sudden...I guess I'm still in shock."

With that, I grabbed for my glass of soda, trying not to think about it. However, almost as soon as my hand closed around the glass, it shattered in my hand. I stared at, then at my hand which didn't have a single scratch on it.

"Clutz." Mike muttered, grinning faintly.

Sabrina just asked, "Are you all right?" I held my hand up in response, showing the others that I was alright.

I stared at it again myself, a sinking feeling in my stomach. "I've got to go." I told the others, quickly getting to my feet and wincing as my chair bent where I'd grabbed it.

There was no way that I could be that strong...even looking as I did, but there was no doubting the damage I'd left behind. With that, I rushed out the door, being extra careful not to break that too, though I wasn't sure if there was a new dent in the knob or not when I left.

After leaving the others behind, I immediately went to find Dr. Alvere, not knowing why, but suspecting that she was the only one who could help me. If I kept going the way I was, I'd soon be breaking everything that I touched.

A short while later, Dr. Alvere sat in front of me with her clipboard in hand, an unreadable expression on her face. She looked at her clipboard and then at the results of the tests she'd had me take again before finally looking directly at me.

"You just lifted over eight hundred pounds." she said in quiet amazement. "Double what you did earlier."

"But what did you find out?" I demanded impatiently, freezing when I realized that she was stepping back nervously. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. "Why the hell am I like this when everyone else just got powers?"

Dr. Alvere looked at me intently for a moment before reaching over to her desk for a file. She looked inside it with a strange expression before she finally turned her eyes to me with a very curious expression.

"None of the tests revealed anything." she said, "Except...that you are physically a woman. Completely. Even down to your DNA. I believe that you are even capable of getting pregnant."

"Oh." I whispered, gulping nervously. So my changes were a lot more than just skin deep. But then again, after seeing what I'd done with my strength, I'd already suspected as much. Just as I was beginning to suspect that I would never be myself again. "Can you turn me back?" I asked anyway.

"I'm afraid not." Dr. Alvere told me regretfully. "There was never any research or intention to reverse the serum...and even so, I believe that the changes wrought in your bodies would be irreversible anyway."

Groaning, I turned to leave but Dr. Alvere called out, "Wait." When I looked back, she had the strange look in her eyes again. A thoughtful...almost confused look. Her hand was absently rubbing along the surface of the folder. "I did find something." she said quietly.

"What?" I asked, feeling both nervous and curious at the same time.

Dr. Alvere just stared at me silently for several seconds before announcing, "I did some blood tests. I compared your blood sample and DNA from before your injection to that of Ms. Miracle, to find what might have caused your transformation."

"And?" I gestured impatiently.

She sat back in her chair, still staring at me. "They were...very close." At my confused look, she said, "Extremely close. As in there being a ninety-seven percent chance that you are closely related to her." At that, she gave me a piercing curious look, as if demanding that I give her the answers.

"Related?" I whispered, feeling confused. There was no way that I could possibly be related to Ms. Miracle. And after a minute, I told Dr. Alvere as much.

"Perhaps." Dr. Alvere whispered, still staring at me strangely. "But please tell me about your family."

"What family?" I snarled back, angrier than I'd intended. It wasn't until then that I realized that the metal counter I'd been leaning on was now mangled beneath my hand. "I was an only child. My dad died when I was a kid and my mom ran out on me 6 years ago." I was shaking as the memories of all those years in foster homes came back.

Dr. Alvere gasped, "Wait!" She was obviously nervous as she set her hand on mine. "What month was it?" She paused, asking, "What month did your mother...leave?"

I stared at the doc, getting angrier. I didn't want to think about it. I couldn't. Then it suddenly hit me what she meant. My mom had left 6 years earlier...around the same time that Ms. Miracle died. I suddenly shuddered at that, remembering now. I'd been watching all the news about Ms. Miracle's death while I was in the social services office.

"No..." I whispered, staring at Dr. Alvere in disbelief and horror. "No way." I gulped, shaking again, though this time not from the bitterness. "My mom was around five foot seven, damn near flat chested and had brown hair...like mine." I gestured down at myself and spat, "I sure as hell would have noticed if she looked anything like this." I glared at Dr. Alvere, finishing off, "No...she left me."

For a minute, though it seemed much, much longer, Dr. Alvere and I just stared at each other. I was trying to keep calm, though it wasn't easy. I'd been turned into a woman...even if it was my own damn fault for volunteering, and now this garbage. I didn't need old ghosts being brought back. Not like that.

"It is possible." Dr. Alvere finally whispered, trying to be gentle. "Even likely. There are a great number of skitzomorphs among people with developed abilities."

"Skitzomorphs?" I repeated, wondering what the hell that meant.

"Shapeshifters." she explained. "People with two or more stable forms, often accompanied by the developed abilities in one of these forms." At this, Dr. Alvere gently laid her hand on mine again. "Sometimes when people develop their enhanced abilities, their body changes drastically, taking a new form that can hold those powers. And sometimes...sometimes they can revert to their original form and back."

I just stared at Dr. Alvere, no longer quite so sure. Hell, I was confused as hell, torn between my 6 years of bitterness and the faint hope that maybe she hadn't just run away from me. But if that was the case... "No." I whispered.

"I'd always believed that if Ms. Miracle had started as a normal human, than her whole body was likely changed during her development." Dr. Alvere still held my hand as she continued, "It would have been impossible for her real identity not to be identified otherwise as she never wore a mask. There were also things to indicate that she had another life...and I believe that the only way she could have lived another life without being discovered, was if her form changed." Then, Dr. Alvere said the final piece, "DNA doesn't lie...nor does your reflection."

Then, Dr. Alvere finally let go of my hand and stepped back, watching me with a sympathetic look in her eyes. I just stood there, too stunned to speak. Ms. Miracle was...was my mom. I didn't want to believe it...or at least not completely, but a part of me did. Then I wasn't just abandoned...I was orphaned.

"Thank you." I whispered, leaving the lab and heading towards my newest room.

Everything was so...confusing. So changed. Not just my body, but my entire life. If what the doc said was true...which I was strongly beginning to believe...then my entire life might have been a lie. Whatever else though, I knew that I had a LOT to think about.

My finger slowly moved across the cool glass, tracing features in the mirror. Pulling my finger back, I continued to stare at my reflection, as I had for the last hour, filled with mixed...and confused emotions. Ever since I had come to my room, examining my naked body was nearly all I had done. It was my first chance to truly do so since I had woken up, or at least without being in total shock.

I gulped, stepping back a little, not quite sure whether to be disgusted by my reflection or turned on. The truth was, as uncomfortable as it made me, I was also getting horny at the same time. After all, I had an extremely sexy woman standing in front of me, who just happened to be naked as well. The only problem was that it was me.

"Or my mom." I whispered, still finding that part hard to swallow. But still, even though the evidence wasn't completely solid, my gut told me that it was the truth.

Finally, I just stretched my body, amazed at how good my muscles felt. I was a little surprised at that, realizing for the first time just how strong I felt. Until that moment, I had been so overwhelmed by the strangeness of my changed body that I'd completely overlooked it. Or perhaps, it had only become more noticeable since I was actually getting stronger. I shuddered at the thought of how strong I was...and how strong I'd become, partly from fear...and partly from anticipation. That only made me even more nervous.

After another minute, I turned away from the mirror, still feeling pretty weirded out about the whole thing. I wasn't sure what I was going to do...especially since it looked like I'd be stuck like that. Then I quickly forced my thoughts away from that, not wanting to think about it any more.

"It's been a long day." I told myself quietly, even though I hadn't been awake for the whole thing.

With that, I crawled into my bed and pulled the covers tight. I couldn't help but noticing how much further out my chest was than before, but tried not to dwell on it. It didn't take me long before I drifted off to sleep, vaguely wondering what surprises the next day would bring.

The next morning passed in nearly a blur. Dr. Alvere tested me again, showing that I had continued becoming stronger...and tougher. It was now official, that I could lift over a ton...which scared and surprised me at the same time.

Then, as McKenzie had told us, we were moved to the new facility, while all the other volunteers were left behind for further monitoring, just in case one of them developed late. However, Dr. Alvere seemed pretty sure that this wouldn't happen

As soon as we got to the new facility, McKenzie gave us all a tour, leaving me impressed. At least we were each given our own apartment, and mine was bigger than my old dorm room. However, it only made me wonder what I...or any of us was going to do about college since we'd suddenly all been thrown into the roles of 'super-heroes in training'. I almost laughed when I thought about that. I might look the part, but I sure as hell didn't feel it.

"Get settled in." McKenzie told us all after the tour. "You can all start your training in a little while and learn to control your new abilities." He paused and gave us all a thoughtful look, staring at me for a moment before adding, "I know that this is all new for you, but we're counting on you."

"Aye aye sir." I snapped in a sarcastic salute, earning chuckles from the others.

McKenzie sighed, shaking his head. "What did I do to deserve this." Then he left, leaving the rest of us to explore our new surroundings for a little while.

"So what do we do now?" Sabrina asked. "I mean, it's not like we can go shopping around here or anything."

Mike grinned at that and leaned over, "How about you and I get to know each other a little better?" From the grin on his face, I knew that he was just messing with Sabrina, but I wasn't so sure that she knew that.

Beth just came over to me, looking a little curious. "You doing all right Dave? I mean, the way you ran out yesterday..."

"I'm all right." I told her, forcing a smile. "It's just that everything is so confusing right now. This body, my strength, my mom...."

"What about your mom?" Beth asked.

I stared at her, not having meant to say anything. "It's just that..."

But before I could say anything, the room we were in suddenly exploded with blue sparks. I snapped around and saw that they were all coming from Allan.

"Sorry." he sputtered, just as the sparks stopped. "I didn't mean to."

I groaned, knowing that I certainly couldn't blame him. After all, I kept breaking things when I wasn't too careful. Our powers were all too new, which explained why we needed to learn to control them.

"Let's go look around our new home." I suggested impulsively, already starting off. The others quickly followed me.

It was some hours since we'd moved into our new facility and McKenzie had come back, telling us that it was time to practice with our new abilities. I sighed, having been doing just that ever since Allan's earlier...incident.

As it was, we were all standing in this gym type room that we were supposed to practice in. There were all sorts of things scattered around it for our training.

I looked down at the egg that was in my hand, then back at McKenzie. So far I hadn't broken that egg while holding it, though I'd broken numerous others before I started getting the hang of being gentle. It was getting easier.

"All right then." McKenzie said, looking us all over, "I suppose now would be a good time to demonstrate your abilities...if you haven't done so already."

Mike grinned, proudly announcing, "Me first." Then, Mike moved away from us, stretching his arms out. "Get a load of this."

Suddenly some sort of crystal started to form around Mike, quickly spread outwards. It was the same stuff that was on his skin in the cafeteria when he developed, but this time there was a hell of a lot more. Within seconds, Mike's body was completely enveloped in the crystals and several seconds later they stopped growing. In Mike's place was what looked like some sort of creature made out of bluish white crystals, humanoid in shape and standing nearly 8 feet tall.

"Wow." Beth exclaimed, "Pretty impressive." I had to agree. He did look pretty nasty, especially with the spikes that were sticking out of his body...or at least the crystal armor that surrounded him.

"Kinda cute." Sabrina purred. "It might make for an interesting necklace too, though I think that I prefer diamonds."

McKenzie nodded, "Please continue."

With that, Mike went to a heavy brick wall in the middle of the room and smashing through it with his hands. He was obviously very strong within that crystal armor. Then, he turned away towards another similar wall and, to my surprise, he exploded from his chest. Or at least he seemed to while a mass of crystal spikes shot out, shattering against the wall but making chips in it.

"Cool." I muttered, watching curiously as the crystal around Mike seemed to shatter and then vanish, leaving him standing there with a cocky grin.

"Very good." McKenzie said, smiling faintly. "Might I suggest Quartz as a code name?"

Mike grinned at that. "Cool. I can live with that."

Next, Sabrina stepped forward. She moved over towards a swimming pool that was off to the side and stretched out her arms, a look of concentration on her face. A moment later, the water in the pool actually started to move, to stretch up and out as if it was alive, then actually pour out of the pool. The whole scene reminded me of the movies The Blob and Abyss.

"Shit." I whispered, staring in amazement while Sabrina made the water change shapes and move around.

However, a moment later, the water suddenly collapsed to the ground in a messy splash, sending water all over the floor.

"I lost it." Sabrina told, sounding disappointed.

"It will come with practice." McKenzie assured her.

"With that display," Allan mused, "I suppose that the name Splash might be suitable." Sabrina just grinned at that, apparently liking it.

"Guess I'm up." Beth muttered, glancing towards me with a weak smile. "I never did like showing off."

A moment later, Beth quickly strolled across the room, her whole body turning sort of black and sparkly as she neared the same wall that Mike had thrown the spikes against. However, she didn't stop as she neared it...but walked straight through it as if it wasn't there. It was pretty spooky.

"Like some kind of ghost." I muttered.

"Might make a good name." Mike suggested. "Or maybe Wraith."

"How about Casper?" Sabrina asked. From the look on her face, I didn't think that she was actually joking.

"Not bad." Beth said as she walked back, her skin having reverted to normal. "I kind of like Wraith."

"But I believe that there is already a man named Wraith." Allan said thoughtfully.

McKenzie nodded, telling us that there was. Beth looked a little disappointed at that. We ran through several more names, each of us suggesting possibilities, more than I expected being turned down from already being used by someone. Finally, Beth settled on Rumor since she could turn as insubstantial as one.

Next, Allan stepped into the middle of the room and took on a look of concentration. With that, the air around him sparkled with blue static, all of it seeming to go between his hands which were held in front of himself, palms facing each other. A blue ball of energy formed, then shout out at high speed, hitting the brick wall that had been used twice already...and exploding. There was a burst of sparks and a small charred hole.

"An electron bomb." Allan commented. "According to Dr. Alvere, I gathered electrons from the surrounding area, focus them into a sphere and then fire them. They should be much more destructive on other items."

"Awesome." I grinned. He'd sure put on a great light show if nothing else, and I could just imagine what one of those 'electron bombs' could do to a human.

"I believe that Surge would be an appropriate alias." he said, looking a little embarrassed.

The others turned towards me and I stepped back, feeling uncomfortable. However, McKenzie held up his hand, saying that he didn't think that would be necessary at the moment since my powers were still developing. The others looked a little disappointed but nodded acceptance.

A minute later, McKenzie instructed us to separate and practice with our abilities, however he put a hand out to stop me. "I have something else for you." he told me. Then, in a quieter and softer voice, he added, "I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

For the next several hours, I was in a room, watching all of the video recordings that they had of Ms. Miracle, specifically of her using her powers. It stood to reason that if I was so much like her, that I'd develop all of the same powers. As frightening as the strength and toughness alone were, the rest left me even more surprised.

And at the same time, I performed varying exercises to control my strength better. By the time I finally left the room, I had near perfect control over my strength, not to mention a very clear understanding of all that Ms. Miracle had been capable of, and if Dr. Alvere was correct, what I soon would be as well.

I sat on the edge of my bed, looking across the room to my reflection in the mirror, wondering if I was becoming narcissistic. In the last two days, I'd spent more time staring into mirrors than I normally did in a month. But then of course, I normally didn't have an impossibly gorgeous woman looking back either.

"Man this is weird." I muttered, reaching my hand into my bath robe and touching my breasts. I shivered at the sensations, slightly embarrassed that my nipples were hard...not to mention curious.

Suddenly there was a loud knock from the door, nearly making me jump. And just as I stood up to answer it, I was surprised again to see Beth suddenly walk right through it, smirking somewhat as she looked at me.

"Hey." she said, moving towards me, "I was wondering where you went."

"Just sitting here." I responded, sitting down on the bed again and gesturing for her to do the same. She nodded and did so. "This is so weird..."

Beth nodded, and I noticed that she wasn't wearing the heavier and darker makeup that I'd come to expect from her.

"I..." She took a deep breath, looking a little nervous, "I've been worried about you. And I couldn't help noticing that you've been kind of...well zoned out today. Do you want to talk about it?"

I stared at her silently for a moment, wondering if I should...or for the matter, if I even could. Everything was still so new to me...so confusing. I didn't even know how to explain it all to myself much less her, nor was I really sure that I could trust her with something that personal. Finally, it was the sincere look on her face that decided me.

"This is pretty hard to get used to." I told her, "But I guess it's something else too." I paused a minute, then asked, "Do you remember when I told you about...about my mom?"

"Yeah." she responded slowly, looking a little confused.

"Well..." I paused, licking my lips slowly, "I found out what happened to her."

Beth stared at me, then said, "Isn't that good news?"

"She didn't abandon me." I whispered, beginning to shake again. "She...she died."

Beth put her hand on mine, looking sympathetic. "I'm sorry. How?"

I forced a smile, feeling a little better with her there. "She was...murdered. By a super-villain." Beth looked surprised, then even more so when I said, "By Baron Nevermore." I paused again, gulping as I whispered, "My mom was...was Ms. Miracle."

For a long minute, Beth just stared at me in shock. I could see the doubt flicker across her face at first, but then it was replaced, and I knew that she believed me. I still wasn't sure that I believed me.

Suddenly, I remembered a bedtime story that my mom had once told me. I remembered it now because it had been strange...and she had an odd look on her face at the time. It was a story about a woman who was taking a drive in the country while her son was at camp. A falling star had fallen to the ground in front of her, nearly hitting her car, and creating a hole in the ground. One in which she had been unable to avoid driving straight into.

I remembered the strange look on my mom's face when she told me that the falling star had disappeared when the woman touched it...and how it had given her a special gift that she would use to help people. She never said what that gift was though. Was that her way of trying to tell me?

"Wow." Beth whispered, snapping my mind back to the present. Her hand squeezed mine more gently. "I...I guess that explains this."

I nodded, forcing a smile. "At least now I know." And as I thought about my mom's old bedtime story, I realized that I did know.

After this, Beth and I talked for a bit longer. I told her a bit about my childhood, feeling much better as I got it off my chest. Then we talked about how I felt, having suddenly turned into a gorgeous woman and the spitting image of one of the most famous super-heroes ever.

"You don't like guys now, do you?" Beth asked, grinning.

I nearly choked at that, but thought about anyway. I certainly hadn't felt anything odd...at least other than embarrassment around the guys I'd seen since my change. Then of course, I still thought Sabrina was hot, that Beth was cute, and got turned on by my own reflection.

"Nope." I answered, "Not at all."

Beth got up and laughed, "That's good I guess. One less thing to get used to."

I grinned back. "Yeah, I guess it is." Then, I stared at her for a moment, glad for my talk with her. "Thank you." I told her, quietly but meaning it.

For a moment, Beth just looked at me, then to my surprise, she lunged forward and kissed me quickly on my lips. I was too stunned to respond, then she stepped back again, smiling.

I choked out, "Are you a lesbian?"

"No, I'm not a lesbian." Beth responded, walking towards my door and opening it. Then, she turned back with a smile and added, "I'm bi." before vanishing through the door, leaving me in stunned silence.

I took a deep breath and looked around the training room where we'd all been practicing for hours. Mike was in the corner, all crystaled up while Sabrina was standing 15 feet off of the floor...supported only by a pillar of water. I was amazed at how good she was getting at controlling the stuff. Allan was practicing his aim while at the same time Beth was standing around, smirking since her powers seemed so much simpler. McKenzie though had already made several comments about having her learn more hand to hand combat techniques.

"I guess we're getting better." I mused, looking down at the heavy iron bars at my feet, all bent like pretzels. It had been so...easy. My strength had increased beyond what I would have believed possible, letting me lift several tons without much effort. And it appeared that I might still be getting stronger.

Pausing for a moment, I stretched my muscles, marveling yet again at just how unbelievably healthy I felt. How strong. I never would have believed it possible. Even my senses all seemed to have become much sharper, not to mention the fact that I could bench press a tank and bullets bounced off of me. Of course I'd been more than just a little scared when that last had been tested earlier that morning.

"Impressive." Beth commented, walking towards me. However, from the way she was eyeing me, I wasn't sure if she meant my strength or something else. Then again, she could have been just messing with my mind. "Wish I could do that." She sighed, kicking at one of the bent iron bars.

"Well, I think I'd rather be back to normal." I told her, then sighed as I muttered, "But it doesn't look like that's going to happen."

Beth nodded, then grinned. "Hey, wasn't Ms. Miracle supposed to be able to fly?"

"Yeah..." I nodded, then realized what she was getting at. I sighed, not really sure that I wanted to admit that heights made me a bit nervous. "Just because I look like her..." I started.

However, Beth just glared at me, looking a little annoyed. Even though I was bigger...not to mention MUCH stronger than her, I couldn't resist taking a step back.

"All right." I said, "I'll try it." Pausing a moment, I muttered, "If I can even figure out how."

For a moment, I thought about the recordings that I'd seen of Ms. Miracle, though they hadn't given me any idea of how she did it. I gulped, trying not to think about her being my mother. Not at the moment.

With a shrug, I just jumped into the air, 'willing' myself not to come back down. And to my surprise...it worked.

"Holy shit." I gasped, "I'm floating." I was only several feet above the ground...but there was no sign of my coming back down.

Beth was grinning. "You're glowing too."

"Huh." I muttered, then noticed a faint golden glow from the corner of my eyes. It reminded me that every time I'd ever seen Ms. Miracle flying in the recordings...she was always glowing slightly. "Wow."

Then, taking a deep breath, I 'willed' myself up, smiling as I started rising. I was aware of Beth watching me...as well as the others. However, I didn't let that distract me as I went higher, then started to slowly fly around the room, trying not to look too closely at the ground as I did so.

"You go girl!" Sabrina called out from below, then a moment later, she was no longer below, but standing several feet in front of me...on a pillar of water. "That looks like fun."

I just waved at her then flew another circle around the room. Whenever I looked down towards the ground, I couldn't avoid thinking about falling that far. Then I had to remind myself that nothing would happen. Before...the fall would have broken half the bones in my body, but now...now I doubted that I'd even get a bruise from a fall 10 times that distance.

After several minutes, I was really getting the hang of flying...and beginning to even enjoy myself a little and wish that I had more room so that I could cut loose and really fly. As it was, I was beginning to feel like I was swimming in circles around a kiddy pool when I really wanted to be in an ocean. Funny considering how nervous I was at the same time.

Finally, I landed back to the ground, getting a round of clapping from the others. Beth especially looked pleased...almost smug. Mike on the other hand was trying to look unimpressed...but not really succeeding since he was no longer armored up.

"Very impressive." McKenzie's voice said from the door. "I had wondered how soon your abilities would develop to that level."

"Nice to see you too." I said, waving towards him. "And I was wondering when you'd show up to watch us work our asses off."

McKenzie didn't respond, though he stepped forward and set down a cardboard box. "I believe that these should help you." And with that, he pulled something out of the box and unfolded it, revealing a black and white spandex costume...and tossing it towards Beth. "Your uniform Rumor."

"Gee thanks." Beth snorted sarcastically. "I didn't know you were so kinky."

"Quartz." McKenzie said, ignoring Beth as he handed Mike his black, green and white uniform. Sabrina's was blue and dark blue with white trim while Allan's was blue and dark gray with gold trim. After he had passed the others their uniforms, he turned to me and I could almost swear that there was a twinkle in his eyes. "And here is your uniform...Ms. Miracle."

I choked at that, especially when he unfolded the familiar red and gold costume of Ms. Miracle. Somehow, I knew that it was obvious...but I still hadn't considered that I was to take HER place. It seemed wrong to impersonate her...as if I hadn't already been doing just that.

"Thank you." I told him quietly, not sure if I meant it or not. As I accepted the uniform...it seemed unbelievably heavy in my hands. Not with the weight, but with what it meant. With what it represented...and all the responsibility that went along with it.

A minute later, I whispered, "I'm through for today." With that, I turned and left the room, feeling the weight of the uniform in my hand...and my memories.

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

I leaned back in my chair, staring at the uniform that was still folded on the table, thinking about my mom. It was obvious now that I never really knew her at all. She'd lied to me when she was alive...and now she was gone...never having even said goodbye. My mother...the hero. My mother...the stranger.

"My mother the car." I snorted, getting up and glancing around my room. It was still bare...lacking in anything of my own. It felt more like a hotel room than anything. "What did I get myself into?" I whispered.

Looking down at myself, I frowned, wondering if I could ever get used to having a pair of tits. Of being the hottest woman in nearly any room. And having to piss sitting down.

"At least I don't need a bra." I told myself with a faint grin, knowing that my tits were firm enough that it would be completely unnecessary. Another aspect of my mutated body. "No sag here."

Suddenly I heard a loud, insistent knocking coming from my door. It was quickly followed up with an, "Open up right this minute." A second later, Beth called again, "I'm coming in one way or another...and you know I'll do it."

"All right already." I called back, hurrying towards the door before she could walk through it again.

When I opened the door, I was slightly surprised to see Sabrina standing there next to Beth, and both of them dressed up hot...ready to draw attention.

"Hello." Sabrina said, giggling slightly.

Beth rolled her eyes, then announced, "We've decided to have a girls night out, and you're coming with us."

"What?" I gasped, half sure that I was mishearing her.

"You're coming with us wether you like it or not." Sabrina added, looking rather smug.

"And we're not going to take no for an answer." Beth told me, crossing her arms as if daring me to argue with her. "Come on Dave, you really need to get out and loosen up a bit. Maybe even learn that it's not so bad being a girl, so..."

I gulped, standing back as they both walked in. I realized that they were both carrying some bags as well, making me curious...and nervous. What the hell was Beth up to? And with Sabrina at that? I mean, Beth was sort of goth while Sabrina was more like the prom queen crowd. Like water and oil, those types usually didn't mix together.

For a moment, I just stared at them, then sighed. "Why not?" I didn't have anything else planned, and if anything else, it should at least be interesting.

"Great." Beth and Sabrina grinned at the same time.

"Now we've got to get you ready." Sabrina told me, obviously enjoying this.

A minute later, I was naked, my clothes having been practically torn off of me. Beth and Sabrina went in great delight, pulling item after item out of the bags that they'd brought, mostly consisting of clothes.

"We thought these would look good on you." Beth said.

"And Dr. Alvere gave us your sizes." Sabrina added. I just groaned.

Before I'd realized it, I was all washed up, had my hair done and wearing the sexy outfit and skirt that they'd given me. I was even dressed in the shoes and thankful that they were rather low heeled as I didn't think that I could handle anything more at the moment. It was all I could do to keep from screaming and tearing the clothes off. I felt like some kind of human sized barbie doll...and knew that I probably looked the part as well.

"But aren't people going to recognize me?" I asked nervously. "I mean, I've got a rather famous face."

"Already thought of that." Sabrina answered, pulling up a bunch of makeup. "Ta da." I just groaned, realizing that it was about to get even worse.

Then, after a long and torturous period of getting makeup put on me...with explanations and lessons each step of the way, I was pronounced finished. At least until they gave me some jewelry. Some clip on ear rings since my ears wouldn't pierce...and Beth did try but the needles wouldn't go through, a nice gold bracelet and necklace to match.

"Now we're finished." Beth said, sounding rather proud.

Sabrina giggled and shook her head. "Not completely. There's one last thing..." And with that, she rubbed a little perfume behind my ear. "Now we're finished."

Beth gave a wolf whistle and exclaimed, "Damn you're hot."

I just blushed in embarrassment, then moved to get a full view of myself in a mirror. My fingernails were painted and I had lipstick on, not to mention all of the other stuff. It wasn't needed since my face was naturally sexy, but it did make me look very hot. And more than that, it served to change my appearance some so that I wasn't going to be recognized as Ms. Miracle...or at least wearing her body.

"Wow." I whispered, getting extremely turned on. Damn I wanted to fuck that woman. Too bad I was that woman. "I finally find the girl of my dreams," I mutter, "and it's myself."

"Be still my heart." Beth snorted. "Now quit staring at yourself and come on. I want to get going."

A minute later, we were on our way. We left the facility and for the first time, saw that we were in the middle of nowhere...or at least close to it. And, according to McKenzie, we were at least half an hour from the nearest population center.

"So what are we going to do now?" I snorted. "Hotwire the helicopter or do you guys expect me to carry you."

Sabrina frowned, looking offended. "I don't need to be carried."

"Naw." Beth grinned, "I've got it taken care of."

At that, Beth's whole body turned black with the white sparkles again, just as when she walked through walls. I was confused at this though since there were no walls to go through. Then, to my surprise, the black stuff around Beth suddenly exploded outward.

"What the hell?" I demanded, looking around as soon as the black stuff had faded, realizing that we weren't at the facility anymore. We were standing next to a building...in the middle of a city.

I looked back at Beth, who was back to normal and looking extremely self satisfied. "I learned a new trick today." she told me. "I can teleport."

"That was totally awesome." Sabrina gasped excitedly. "And my hair didn't even get messed up."

"Bet it beats flying." Beth grinned. "No travel...just snap my fingers and I'm there."

"Show off." I grinned.

Sabrina giggled, "And I bet it really saves gas money."

Several minutes later, we were all inside of a nightclub and sitting at a table sipping beer. We might have been underage and had no identity...well at least the others were underage since I looked just a little older now, but we still had no problem getting the drinks.

I just looked around, feeling extremely uncomfortable but trying not to let it show. There were MEN staring at me. I knew that I would be doing the same thing if I saw someone who looked like me, but it was pretty damn embarrassing. I wasn't used to being a beautiful woman.

"I think he's got the hots for you." Beth whispered, gesturing towards one guy who was staring at me.

Sabrina sighed, muttering, "I'm jealous. Why do you get all the attention?"

Beth just snorted, saying, "Well...duh." We all chuckled at that, even me.

Just a minute later, the man that Beth had pointed out was suddenly standing beside our table. He was about my height...my new height, or just a little taller, with dirty blonde hair and an athletic build.

"Hi, I'm Randy." he said, looking a little cocky as he stared at me. "I was hoping that you'd dance with me."

I gulped in surprise, but before I could say anything, Beth burst out, "She'd love to." Then she just grinned smugly at me while I glared back.

Seeing as how I'd already been volunteered, I groaned and stood up, trying not to show Randy my discomfort. "I can do this." I told myself silently. "I'm..." I paused, realizing that I certainly couldn't tell him that my name was Dave. My mind raced, then I spat out the first decent name that came to me. "Amanda." It was the name of the first girl I'd ever kissed.

Then with that, Randy and I went out to the dance floor, with me silently promising to get even with Beth for embarrassing me like that.

I danced with Randy for awhile, several times having to pull his wandering hand away from my ass. The thought of breaking that hand was tempting, but I held myself back, knowing that it would be far too easy to do so. Then after Randy, I was quickly caught up by another one of my admirers, which seemed to amuse Beth to no end from where she and Sabrina were also on the dance floor.

When I finally returned to the table, I saw that Beth had returned, though Sabrina was still out dancing. Beth just grinned at me, sipping at her beer.

"You know that I'll have to get you for that?" I told her, quickly glancing to where Randy was still watching me from another table with some of his friends.

"I wouldn't expect anything else." Beth responded, just as Sabrina came and sat down as well.

"You lucky girl." Sabrina sighed. "He was like...SO cute." I groaned while Beth just laughed.

Then, as Beth took another long drink from her beer, I warned her, "Slow down why don't you. You're the one driving." Beth just grinned at that.

A short while later, Randy returned to our table, grinning with that cocky grin again. "Come on." he said, holding his arm out, "Let's dance again."

"No thanks." I responded, not interested in the least. "I'm danced out."

Randy looked annoyed at that but his face quickly snapped back into the cocky grin. "They why don't we go to my place for a little nightcap?"

I glared at him in disgust. "I don't think so." I said, clenching my fists and making sure that my voice was as icy as I could make it. After a moment, he finally got the hint and left, much to my relief.

"Can I have him then?" Sabrina asked me. I wasn't sure whether she was joking or not. I just snorted and told her to go ahead, though she made no move towards him.

For the next fifteen minutes, the three of us just sat there talking and drinking, with me quickly realizing that I wasn't feeling the least bit of a buzz. Apparently, my new metabolism prevented me from getting drunk. I wasn't quite sure whether to count that as a plus or a minus.

Finally, I got up and started towards the bathroom, silently reminding myself to use the womens one. Otherwise, I just knew that I'd walk into the wrong one out of habit and embarass myself...as if I hadn't already been doing that all night long.

It was the first time that I'd had to use the women's bathroom in public, but I knew that it probably wouldn't be my last either. It was about what I expected though, and after I did my business, I started back towards my table.

Just as I was walking past one of the pool tables, a figure suddenly stepped in my way. It took me a second to realize that it was Randy...and that he had his cocky grin on again.

"Hello there Amanda." Randy said, a bit of an edge in his voice. "Why don't we go for that nightcap now?"

"Get...out...of...my...way." I told him slowly, beginning to get really annoyed with the ass hold. I'd seen guys like him before, though I had certainly never been one.

At that, Randy lost the friendly look on his face, which was replaced by one of anger. "Listen here you overgrown bitch..." he snarled, grabbing at my arm, "I don't think you understand."

"Let go of me you asshole." I told him in a quiet voice.

"SHUT UP BITCH!" He snarled, slapping me across my face as hard as he could. I barely felt a thing though he started grabbing at his hand with a look of pain on his face. "Fuck!"

I knew that I should have left it there, but I was pissed off. I reached down and grabbed at his balls with one hand, then reached over and grabbed a pool ball off of the table with my other.

"Don't fuck with me." I told him in a low voice, "And if I ever catch you fucking with anyone else like this you limp dicked asshole..." I held the pool ball up in front of his face, then crushed it to power with the slightest effort. The look on his face at that...and the implication, nearly made me smile.

Then, I let go of Randy and turned around, smiling faintly to myself. I couldn't believe how confident my new powers made me feel at the moment. Suddenly something hit me over the head, and it wasn't until I looked down at the broken pool cue that I realized what it was.

Snapping around, I saw Randy standing there with a half broken pool cue and a look of shock on his face. I glared at him, tired of dealing with the asshole, then took a step towards him. However, Randy turned and ran as fast as he could. I just let him go.

Suddenly I realized that nearly everybody close by was staring at me. I gulped, trying to ignore them as I hurried back to Beth and Sabrina. I had a feeling that it was definitely time to collect my friends and go.

It was half an hour since I had come back to the facility from the little 'girl's night out' that I had been coerced into, and I sat alone in my room, smiling faintly to myself. Other than the incident with Randy, it had been rather fun. I had gotten to know Beth and Sabrina much better, not to mention being able to have a little fun for the first time since my rather unexpected transformation.

Then, as I remembered Randy, I wasn't sure whether to smile or scowl. It had been different to dance with a guy, though I had no real interest in doing it again. I might have been wearing the body of a woman, but Randy had done nothing for me...even before he'd pulled that shit. At least he wasn't any kind of problem for me, but I worried slightly that he might be for some real woman that he ran into.

"At least I've got these." I said, flexing my arm and looking at the bulge at my bicep. Unfortunately, the much larger bulges on my chest came with it, and those I would gladly do without.

Sighing, I turned to my clothes, starting to take them off before catching sight of myself in the mirror.

"Damn I look hot." I said, feeling a mixture of shame and pride.

The very sight of my reflection turned me on. It excited me in a way that I'd never been excited before. For a moment, I just stared at myself, then I smiled faintly and on an impulse, slowly started to strip my clothes off...literally. I swayed in place, moving as sexily as I could, turning myself on even more as each piece of clothing came off.

Once I was almost completely naked, I heard something from my door, snapping around only to see Beth standing there, staring at me.

"I...I'm sorry I didn't knock." Beth whispered, looking embarrassed for what I think was the first time.

I gulped, blushing in embarrassment at having been caught, not to mention feeling a little annoyed at the unexpected intrusion. For a moment, I looked around for something to cover myself up with, realizing at the same time that it was a little late for that.

"I had a lot of fun tonight...Amanda." Beth said, slowly stepping towards me.

"I did too." I responded quietly, still embarrassed...not to mention horny. "But please don't call me Amanda."

Beth smiled, stopping just in front of me. "We can't keep calling you Dave. You need a girl's name."

She was right, and I knew it. I'd already been thinking the same thing, not liking it but knowing that it was practical. "Daphne." I whispered, feeling embarrassed as I said it out loud. "Call me Daphne." It was my mom's middle name...and I thought that it was appropriate.

"Daphne." Beth mused, testing the name aloud. "Honestly, you strike me as more of an Amanda than a Daphne...but it is a nice name." She practically purred the last, moving even closer to me.

I gulped, "Beth..."

"Shhh." she put a finger to my lips. "I had a great time...but I don't want it to end yet." she whispered. "I want you."

For a moment, I just stood frozen, a little surprised by her statement, but more surprised that I wanted her too. Finally, I bent down so that we could kiss, marveling at the way Beth's tongue snaked inside my mouth.

Then, we moved to the bed, still kissing passionately, with me being extremely careful of my strength. Our kisses quickly escalated, with us both becoming completely undressed within minutes. And in the hours that followed, Beth and I got to know each other MUCH better.

I woke up with a smile, immediately noticing the person lying in bed next to me. Beth was still asleep, looking surprisingly innocent like that. For several minutes, I just stayed where I was, listening to her breathing and thinking about how great the night before had been.

Then with a slight groan, I sat up, accidentally waking Beth up in the process. She looked up at me and smiled, looking rather satisfied.

"Morning lover." Beth purred, sitting up and hopping off the bed. "So, how did you like it? As a girl that is?"

"I've had better." I told her, trying to keep a straight face. At least for a few seconds. Then we both started laughing. "It was definitely different." I admitted, blushing a little, "But nice. Very nice."

"Just nice?" Beth gasped in mock horror. "I guess I'll have to work at changing your mind." She started to move towards me at that.

After we kissed, I sighed, "I'm afraid we don't have time for this now." I looked over at the clock, adding, "They'll want us for training pretty soon."

With a groan, Beth muttered, "Sometimes it sucks being a super-hero in training."

"You're telling me." I muttered, glancing down at my tits. Then I smiled faintly, remembering that even they weren't all bad. Especially not with what Beth had been doing to them the night before.

Then, once we had kissed again, Beth said, "See ya later." just before turning black and sparkly...then vanishing.

I just shook my head. "Wow." I hadn't seen her do that teleporting trick from that angle before.

A minute later, I started for my bathroom to clean up, realizing that I definitely needed it. I only wished that Beth had stayed around long enough for us to do that together. But that wasn't to be...at least not this time.

Once I had finished washing up, I returned to the mirror, staring at my reflection for what had to be the ten thousandth time since my change. And still...every time I saw myself, I had that initial shock. That brief moment of surprise. I stood there for several minutes, then glanced towards my clock, realizing that it was nearly time for training.

"Shit." I sighed, knowing that I had to get dressed.

I looked over to my table, gulping as I did so. Sitting right on top of it was the bundle of red and gold. The costume. The very sight of it sent slight chills through me...not to mention the thought of putting it on. After a moment more of hesitation, I slowly reached out for it.

When I was finally dressed, I grimaced, still feeling nearly naked. The costume covered my entire body below my neck, but it was skin tight and left little to the imagination. Turning to the mirror again, I wanted to get my first look at myself in costume, freezing as soon as I did so. My long golden blonde hair cascaded down my back and my body filled out the costume perfectly. The costume itself was a mix of red and gold, with red being slightly predominant, though the gold covered part of my inner legs and arms. There was also a stylized golden M of sorts on my chest. All in all, I looked fantastic...and exactly like Ms. Miracle.

"Oh God." I whispered in amazement, running my hands down my side, still staring at my reflection.

I was filled with a barrage of mixed emotions, hardly able to sort them out in my head. Part of me was completely shocked at the sight of Ms. Miracle in front of me, part of me shamed and embarrassed to pretend to be her. However, what surprised me the most was that it felt...right.

The sensation of the costume pulled tightly against my body felt strangely right. Almost as it belonged there. I could feel the weight coming from it...not literal, but emotional, all bearing down on my shoulders. But at the same time, I felt a part of something bigger than just myself. And...at that moment I felt closer to my mother than I could ever remember. Somehow...it actually felt as if I belonged inside that costume.

Without consciously realizing it, I struck a serious pose in the mirror, smiling to myself. I couldn't believe how good I actually felt at that moment...both physically and oddly enough...emotionally.

Then with a sigh, I turned away from the mirror, cheerfully saying, "Time for training."

After fifteen minutes of practicing with my powers in the training room, I was already getting bored. My strength had obviously increased some more, though it seemed to be slowing down. I was nearly at my full strength...and felt awesome. The training room however didn't give me much of a challenge and I was dying to cut loose.

Pausing for a moment, I looked over at the others while they were still practicing their powers, smiling faintly at the memory of their reactions when I'd come into the room. They'd all stared at me with their mouths hanging open, obviously as amazed by the resemblance as I was.

"This isn't getting me anywhere." I finally tell McKenzie who was watching closely. "I need to get out where I can cut loose. To see what I can really do."

McKenzie nodded, "I know." He paused for a moment, then said, "This afternoon we will start you all working together so you can practice your teamwork. Then I'll also have you all start looking at files on some of the people you will likely encounter."

Beth had come over at that, shaking hear head. "Yeah, but that sounds pretty boring. Can't we just go out and kick their asses?"

"Not unless you wish to have yours being the ones kicked." McKenzie told her, nearly smiling. "You may possess powers now, but you still lack the experience and teamwork that many of your enemies will possess."

"Party pooper." Beth snorted. Then she demanded, "And what makes you the expert?"

For a few seconds, McKenzie just stared at her, looking rather annoyed. Then he let out a sigh, quietly saying, "Years of experience. I used to be a super-hero."

"Say what?" Mike demanded, coming closer. The others were right behind him. "Did you just say what I thought you said?"

McKenzie nodded faintly. "I suppose you would all have found out sooner or later, but I used to possess powers myself. I lost them several years ago and had to retire from action."

We all looked at him and each other in surprise. It was Sabrina who asked what we were all thinking. "Like...who were you?"

"I was called the Shrike." McKenzie told us, smiling faintly.

I nodded, vaguely remembering a guy called the Shrike. Not too clearly though since he was never one of the extremely public heroes, but I thought I could remember him being able to fly.

"But that is beside the point." McKenzie announced a moment later. "You all need to get back to your training."

We all groaned at that, but I said, "Well, I need to get out of here then." As I stepped towards the door, McKenzie looked as if he was about to protest, then he just shut up and gestured for me to go.

Several minutes later, I was outside the facility and flying straight into the air...higher than I'd ever gone before, no longer trapped by the confines of our training room. And I loved it. My fear of heights was immediately gone as I shot up into the clouds, marveling at the complete and total freedom that I had in the air.

"I love this." I screamed, flying higher and faster.

I was soon lost completely in the thrill of the flight, gathering my courage and trying loops then diving towards the ground. Everything I could think of, I tried, loving every minute of it, smiling at the unbelievable speed in which the ground was moving beneath me.

When I arrived at some mountains, I laughed and couldn't resist landing near a boulder that was over three times the size of my old car and lifting it with only a little bit of effort. I held the boulder over my head, surprising even myself with that, then tossing it nearly 50 yards, surprising myself even more.

"Damn I'm strong." I gasped, turning around and punching at an even larger boulder. It nearly exploded from the force.

I spent about two hours playing around and testing my new powers. And though I was a little embarrassed to admit it, I was thrilled as hell to do so. Finally though, I decided that I had better get back to the others so started the return flight, quickly realizing that I should have paid a little more attention to which way I'd come.

Leaning back in my chair, I sighed, paying little attention to the TV that played in the background, nor to the others who were making noise as well. We were all sitting back and taking a break from our training, having spent a good part of the morning at it. I was getting more than a little tired of all the training of every sort that McKenzie had thrown at us, but I wasn't the only one. And I was getting more than anyone, and not just from him.

It had been several days since Beth and Sabrina had taken me out, but that hadn't been the end of their attempts to help me adjust. It was bad enough when they'd hauled me along to go shopping the day before, even if I really did need a new wardrobe, but the makeup lessons they insisted on were far worse. I refused to let Beth touch me, remembering just how much makeup she wore the first time I saw her. Besides, Sabrina seemed to be the expert in that area anyway. And to top it off, even Dr. Alvere had gotten into the act, insisting on giving me some 'feminine hygiene' lessons. Talk about embarrassing.

Then I smiled, glancing towards Beth and remembering how fun she was in bed. Of course, I still would have rather had a cock to use, but it sex was definitely great. Even if I was now a confirmed lesbian...as strange as that seemed to me. Somehow, I don't think that the real Ms. Miracle was.

My thoughts were interrupted though as McKenzie stepped into the room, a serious look on his face.

"Is it time to continue training?" Allan asked, standing up.

"Yes...and no." McKenzie told us, confusing me and the others too I was sure. "I have your first mission."

"Really?" Beth exclaimed excitedly, though quickly covered it up with a sarcastic, "What is it? Fetching the newspaper for you?"

I couldn't resist grinning and adding "Arf arf." since that sounded like something I would have said.

McKenzie gave us an annoyed look before explaining, "Two enhanced criminals have gone on a looting rampage in the middle of a crowded city." He paused for a moment, then said, "They're robbing stores and destroying anything in their way...and endangering innocent lives."

"Finally," Mike exclaimed, grinning broadly, "some action."

"No shit." Beth muttered.

I nodded, definitely excited by the prospect of finally getting out and doing something...but extremely apprehensive as well. This was what we were supposed to be doing...but I would have to be seen in public for it to happen and that still made me a bit nervous.

With that, McKenzie turned on the news, showing us the scene while filling us in with what little was known, which unfortunately wasn't much. Once our rushed plans were made, we all stood together...at least those of us with powers did, while McKenzie stood back and quietly wished us luck. A moment later, Beth's...Rumor's powers had taken us away.

Suddenly, I was standing outside, glancing around quickly to gain my bearings and realizing that we were on a roof top.

"We're here." Beth said unnecessarily. "I saw this building on the TV."

At that moment, I heard the smashing of glass and ran to the edge of the building to look down. It was obvious that we were up about 5 stories...and just as obvious as to what was causing the noise. There were two people standing down below who were dressed in strange costumes. Obviously the super-villains.

One of them was somewhat thin, dressed in a costume of reddish orange and brown, having long brown hair. The other was huge...about 8 feet all and built like a human tank, covered with green and gray armor to match. He was mostly bald...but with faint white hair around the sides and back. He at least looked dangerous.

"I guess we found them." I exclaimed, turning to the others, only to see them vanish. "Damn!" I didn't really like the idea of being left to sit on the sidelines while my friends were going to fight.

I turned back to the two below, grimacing as they grabbed stuff out of a shattered store window and stuffed it into a large bag that was already half fun. There were people inside the store screaming, as well as a few on the street who were staring or running away in terror. A number of people were watching the scene from windows in nearby buildings. I even noticed a TV cameraman who was keeping his distance.

"Business as usual." I snorted, wondering what it said about someone who's job was to follow super-heroes and villains, recording their fights.

Just then, I saw the others stepping forward, Beth still in her black sparkly mode while Mike was armoring up in crystal, looking pretty menacing as he did so. Sabrina stood off to the side, looking around almost frantically for water...at least that was what I assumed she was looking for since she couldn't do much without it. Allan however seemed almost calm, making no move to use his powers just yet.

"Stop that right this instant!" Allan...Surge called out. "We're here to stop you."

The two costumed strangers turned towards them...laughing. "I think not little man." the big one said, his voice rumbling deeply. "Who are you to try stopping us?"

Surge paused at that, looking a little surprised. "I guess we need to come up with some sort of team name." I muttered. Then I chuckled softly, adding yet another thing that McKenzie and whoever else was behind us had forgotten.

Looking back at them, the smaller criminal called out, "It us unimportant. Let us introduce ourselves before we turn your lives into a world of hurt." He paused dramatically before exclaiming, "We are Divide and Conquer."

Suddenly the smaller guy spit into two identical versions of himself...then several more. Obviously he was Divide then. Without any further warning, they charged straight at my friends. The big guy howled, slammed through a car with one punch while a dozen Divides ran around.

Quartz charged straight at Conquer, punching him with a large crystal fist. However, Conquer didn't even seem to notice it. With a single backhand...Quartz was thrown straight into a building with a loud crack. I could almost hear the crystal cracking.

"Watch out Mike." I muttered, grabbing into the ledge and feeling it crumble between my fingers. However, much to my relief, Mike climbed back out of the wall, repairing his armor and covering it with more spikes. "Nasty."

One of the Divides had grabbed Splash, who seemed helpless at the moment without any water. Surge was glowing with static and throwing balls of it Conquer...who staggered back slightly at each explosion but seemed otherwise unhurt. Rumor was fighting with one of the Divides and proving that he could do little against someone he couldn't touch.

An explosion of crystal shards shot at Conquer, bouncing off his tanklike hide...just as Surge's electron bombs were, even though they were doing plenty of damage to other things when they missed. Obviously, Conquer was extremely tough...and by the way he was picking up a car to throw, strong as well.

"Get lost you fools!" Conquer screamed. "This is none of your business."

"Fraid we can't do that big guy." Rumor snapped back, standing there while he punched through her...without touching her at all. "We're here to stop you, and that's what we're going to do."

One of the Divides sarcastically called out, "I'd like to wish you luck, but I'm afraid that I can't."

Suddenly, one of the cars that Conquer through, hit into a fire hydrant...bursting it and spraying water everywhere. A moment later, Splash was lifted into the air with a pillar of water, directing it like blasts, taking one Divide after another out. However, after a minute, I realized that this wasn't doing much good as every time one lost consciousness...they vanished, but other Divides continued to split.

"Come on." I growled, getting angry.

Quartz was punching at Conquer and blasting him with spikes while Surge continued to fire electron blasts at Divides since they weren't doing much against Conquer. Overall, it seemed to be holding in a stalemate.

Then I noticed one of the Divides sneaking up being Surge, calling out, "LOOK OUT!" But he couldn't hear me and a second later, Surge had been hit from behind and fell to the ground...stunned, but obviously not dead. At least not yet.

"Surge!" Quartz called out, turning slightly. But while he was distracted, Conquer blindsided him, sending Quarts into a wall again, making me shudder.

"Damn it." I growled, deciding that enough was enough. With that, I jumped into the air.

"STOP!" I called down, hovering in the air above the fight.

Suddenly, everyone did stop and all eyes moved to me. Every Divide stared with his mouth open and Conquer looked totally shocked. Even my friends were staring at me in amazement...as well as relief.

"It can't be her." Several of the Divides exclaimed, while others said similar comments.

"It's a trick." Conquer gasped. "Has to be. Ms. Miracle is dead. Everyone knows that."

"Apparently she doesn't." Rumor added with a grin.

Then, with a loud growl, Conquer grabbed yet another car and threw it straight at me. I was caught by surprise and hit with the car, thrown a good distance backward before slamming into a wall. A moment later, I fell to the ground along with the car...feeling somewhat stunned and embarrassed, but not really hurt.

"Damn it." I muttered, "What does he think this is...football?" I paused, staring at the Divides and Conquer before grinning, "Then I guess it's fair to tackle."

With that, I charged forward as fast as I could. I hit Conquer with my shoulder and grunted from the impact...but he did go down. Unfortunately, he was back on his feet again several seconds later, looking surprised and rubbing at his arm for a moment, but not looking hurt.

"I like it rough." Conquer growled, grinning faintly.

Then Conquer came at me, punching with his massive fist. I dodged to the side and punched him back, making him grunt slightly but not much more. It didn't tame more than a few seconds before he swung again, this time hitting me. I actually felt the impact of his fist and wondered if I'd get a bloody nose or black eye because of it, but immediately punched back, launching into a series of punches and kicks.

While Conquer and I were trading punches, Quartz was slowly pulling himself out of the wall and Surge was struggling to get to his feet, not helped by the Divides who were kicking at him. Then with a massive surge of static, they were both knocked away and vanished while Surge got back to his feet. Rumor and Splash were both still going at Divides one at a time, to little overall effect.

Conquest and I continued trading punches for several minutes and knocking each other into walls, but I knew that this wasn't going to do much good. As strong as I was...he seemed to be just as strong. Possibly even stronger. Not to mention the size and leverage advantage that he had over me.

Then, as I noticed my friends fighting the Divides, an idea suddenly occurred to me. "You have to take them all out at once!" I screamed. "Sab...Splash, take them out!"

My friends seemed to get the idea at that and each of them started targeting multiple Divides at once. Surge was blasting at them and making them vanish, just as Quartz shot crystal shards at them and punched at the ones closer to him.

"Don't worry about him." Conquer growled, his hand grabbing around my throat. "Divide can take care of himself. It's me that you've got to worry about."

I knew that Conquer was right about one thing, he was the one that I had to worry about at the moment. And with that, I kicked him between his legs as hard as I could with my super-human strength, smiling as even Conquer collapsed to his knees.

"Don't underestimate your opponent. Any guy can be taken down that way." I said with a grin, knowing that far too well. A scrawny nerd that I'd once tried bullying in junior high had painfully taught me that lesson.

Then, I moved behind Conquer, putting my arms around his throat...then flying straight up and dragging him with me. Higher and higher I went, still holding Conquer firmly in my sleeper hold. And after taking a deep breath, I went up higher still, past the clouds till it was too thin to breath properly.

I held Conquer that way, moving sideways as well until I could make out below that we were no longer directly above the city. I waited until it was just the empty desert, and with a grin, dove straight at the ground, throwing Conquer ahead of me then veering away.

"That ought to do it." I gasped, watching the big man hit the ground.

Suddenly there was an explosion where he hit, sending clouds of dust and grit into the air, making it hard to see what was below. I waited for a minute, then slowly went down inside the crater. Conquer was laying motionless on the very bottom, badly bruised and unconscious...but still alive.

Without a word, I turned and flew away, confident that Conquer would remain where he was once the cops arrived. After all, they had a lot of experience picking up super-villains, but sadly, they seemed to have little ability to keep them in the prisons once they were put there.

I quickly returned to where my friends were fighting, smiling as I saw Splash send a wall of water straight at all of the remaining Divides who'd been herded there by the others. A moment later, only a single Divide remained...on his hands and knees, gagging for breath.

"No more." he gasped, surrounded by my friends. There was no way for him to divide again without immediately having both of them attacked.

"Sort of like shooting monkeys in a barrel, isn't it?" I asked, landing in front of the others.

Rumor grinned at me, no longer all black and sparkly. "So, where's the big guy?"

"He had to take a little trip." I told her with a faint grin myself.

Suddenly, I realized that people were coming out of the nearby buildings and surrounding us. Including the cops...though I immediately wondered what the hell they'd been doing while we were taking care of the criminals. However, now that Divide was neutralized, they wasted no time in handcuffing him and hauling him away.

But even as the police took Divide away, they stared at me so much that I was half sure that their eyes were going to fall out. It was all I could do just to bite my tongue and keep from saying something that would have ruined Ms. Miracle's reputation. And the cops weren't the only ones staring at me either. It seemed as if EVERYONE was, making me feel a little uncomfortable.

After I'd told the still staring cops were to find Conquer, I turned to Rumor and said, "Five to beam up Scotty." A moment later, we were gone.

Frowning, I changed channels on the TV, then did so again. It was no use though as the same thing was on nearly every channel. Me. Or at least Ms. Miracle and the story of her triumphant return. I was getting more than a little tired of seeing it on every channel.

"You'd think that we weren't even there." Mike complained. "They barely even mention us." The bitterness was clear in his voice and I felt guilty, though it was no faulty of mine.

On one channel, the female reporter continued, "And the famous Ms. Miracle has proven the appropriateness of her name, but performing the ultimate miracle. Returning from the dead."

"I wish." I sighed, looking down at myself with a frown. But then again, I doubted that the reporters would believe the truth even if they did know about it.

Beth leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on my neck, whispering, "You're all over the news lover."

"I know." I groaned. "I know."

Finally, the reporter on TV said, "And the returned hero was not alone in dealing with these criminals..." "Finally." Mike exclaimed.

"A small group of new heroes who seemed to be following Ms. Miracle also dealt with the criminals..." Pictures of the others were shown on TV while the reporter continued, "But these unidentified Miracle Men, if you will, were sore pressed to hold their own until her arrival when she took charge..."

Suddenly the TV was turned off, and Mike stood there with the remote in his hand, cursing loudly. "Lucky I didn't blow that damn thing up." he growled, glaring at me as if it was my fault before leaving the room.

"Mike..." I called out, but it was too late.

"Don't worry about him." Allan said, gently putting an arm on my shoulder, "We know that it's not your fault."

"I just wish we'd get some credit too." Sabrina sighed. "Anyway, that was a good idea for taking out Divide."

Nodding, I thanked Sabrina and Allan, getting up to leave the room myself. "See you later." I said aloud, though with a wink towards Beth, I let her know that it was really directed towards her.

As I walked through the halls, thinking about the events from hours earlier, I couldn't help wondering how the real Ms. Miracle would have handled it. However, that only led me to wondering more about her...the person that I never really knew...even though she was my own mother. How could she have lied to me like that?

Suddenly, as I thought about what the reporter had said about Ms. Miracle performing the ultimate miracle, something struck me. "The experiment." I whispered, trying to remember exactly what McKenzie had said during that briefing. And as soon as I did, I rushed straight towards his office purposefully.

A minute later, I was at McKenzie's door, barely pausing before I knocked...knocking the door in as I did so. But I barely paid attention to the damage that I'd accidentally done before stepping through and furiously demanding, "Where is she?"

McKenzie stood up from his desk, looking angry at the intrusion. "Where's who?"

"My mom." I said in a cold voice. "You have her body." I was beginning to shake at this, filled with mixed emotions. "She deserves a proper burial."

For a moment, McKenzie stared at me, looking thoughtful. Finally, he said, "Follow me."

I did as McKenzie asked and followed him down the halls, towards the lab area. We arrived, just as Dr. Alvere was looking at something through a microscope while simultaneously writing something on a pad of paper next to her.

"What's up doc?" I called out, feeling a little better since McKenzie seemed willing to help.

Dr. Alvere looked up and put her pad away. "Can I help you with something?"

"Dave...Daphne would like Ms. Miracle's body." McKenzie told her, his voice betraying no emotion.

With a look of surprise, Dr. Alvere said, "Oh my."

"What?" I demanded, trying to keep calm.

"I should have realized that earlier." Dr. Alvere said, sounding apologetic. "One of the reasons that we acquired her body in the first place was that there were no known relatives to claim it." She paused, looking embarrassed before whispering, "It was taken from her public monument... I'm sorry. I should have thought..."

Then, without another word, Dr. Alvere started off, gesturing for me to follow her. She led me through yet another hall until we got to an elevator, then we rode down two levels...which I hadn't even realized where there.

A minute later, we stopped in front of another door, just long enough for Dr. Alvere to enter something on a keypad and open it up. And as we stepped inside, she said, "Here she is."

I immediately saw a tube on the other side of the room, laying on a table. It was about 7 feet long and about the size of a coffin. The very sight sent chills through my body, especially when I moved closer to it. I could almost feel her presence inside.

"This is her." I whispered, slowly opening it up.

A bit of steam came out of the canister...but it was from cold rather than heat. I waited a few seconds, then stared at the contents. It was her. Or at least what was left of her. It was a naked body...in very good shape for being dead for 6 years, but obviously dead. This was no sleeping beauty.

"It's her." I gasped, gulping as I slowly reached out to touch her. I could barely bring myself to do so...thinking that I looked like her. That she was my mother. That she really was dead. "Mom..." I whispered, dropping to my knees and crying. Truly crying for the first time in years.

I don't know how long I was on my knees crying, but when I finally got up and turned around, there was no sign of either McKenzie or the doctor. I was relieved at that, as well as embarrassed that they'd seen me cry at all. However, I didn't spare much thought to that, focusing instead on my mothers coffin.

"I'm sorry mom." I whispered, feeling a little guilty for all those years that I'd been bitter towards her, thinking that she'd just abandoned me. The figure in the tube was that of Ms. Miracle...not the much smaller woman that I knew as my mom, but there was no doubt in my mind that they were one and the same. "Let's get you out of here."

Fifteen minutes later, I was outside of the facility, holding the canister in my arms. Then, after only a moment of hesitation, I took to the air, deciding that it would be best if I didn't take her to the monument that had been built for her. Instead, it would be a much better idea to give her a burial where no one else would dig her up to use like THEY had. I had just the place.

A short while later, I was flying over a place that I hadn't been at in a long time. Since shortly after my dad had died. The mountains were just the way I remembered them, filled with trees and gorgeous scenery. We used to go camping up there, but after dad died, mom hadn't had much heart in doing that anymore. Nor did she seem to have the time...though now I knew why.

"Such happy times." I whispered sadly.

With that, I landed at a likely spot, near the top of the mountain where the view was the best. I gently set down the canister...my mom's coffin, and looked around. Perfect.

A moment later, I picked up a large boulder, slowly moving it to the side. Without a word, I started digging at the ground beneath it, finding that it was easier than I expected with my powers. Certainly quicker than a shovel would have been.

After setting the canister into the hole I made, I said sadly whispered, "Good bye mom. Rest in peace."

Then, I covered the canister up with some of the dirt before setting the boulder back on top. That would prevent anyone from finding her, much less messing with her. However, I couldn't resist scratching something into the rock face with my unbreakable fingernail.

'Here lies a mother and hero...she is missed.'

I stood there silently for a long time, crying once again. Then I looked down at my changed body and the costume that decorated it, feeling just a little closer to her because of it. As if she hadn't completely left me.

"I'll try to make you proud." I said quietly but firmly.

And then, I jumped into the air, not looking back.

It was two days after we had made our public debut with Divide and Conquer, with Ms. Miracle making an official return, though no one knew that I wasn't the original. Of course there were speculations, but overall the public opinion seemed to be that Ms. Miracle had just returned from the dead...as several other heroes had done before.

During the time since, we had made several more public appearances to stop criminals, though none as dangerous as Divide and Conquer. Most of the ones that we faced during that time were fairly small time, not even requiring the full team. And much to Mike's annoyance, the name Miracle Men had stuck and that was what all the reporters and newspapers were calling us.

At the moment though, I barely thought about that, instead cuddling up next to Beth on my bed and wondering what the others would say if they knew about us. Beth was all for telling them, but I wasn't quite as ready to go public as that. Besides, I told myself, it was our business, not theirs.

"Very nice." I told Beth, sitting up looking at the vibrator that she'd just introduced me to.

However, I knew that it wouldn't take the place of my own missing equipment. Sure, my new parts felt great in bed, but I still would have preferred my old ones. Then at least I'd be able to do to Beth what I really wanted to do to her.

"Just wait until I bring in the strap-on tomorrow." Beth purred. I winced, not sure to be looking forward to it or dreading it.

I sighed, "I hope Mike isn't still mad at me."

"Why should he be?" Beth asked, "I mean, it's not like we didn't know that you were going to be the star. Not looking like who you do."

"Yeah, but I don't really like being the star as you call it." I reminded Beth. "I like being able to help people with these powers, but I could really do without all the attention. It's kind of embarrassing."

Beth just chuckled. "Too bad. After all, if you've got it, flaunt it."

"Easy for you to say." I mutter. "You've always been a girl."

Not to mention the fact that she was, or at least had been a goth. The baggy clothes and heavy makeup had definitely not been designed to flaunt her attractiveness, though she had avoided both since we got together. I wasn't sure if I could even call her a goth anymore, though she was definitely a lot cuter.

I let out a sigh as Beth ran a finger around my nipples, loving how that felt. It amazed me just how quickly I could get used to that at least, but then again, Beth and Sabrina had been doing just about everything that they could to welcome me to the 'girl club' as they called it and help me adjust.

Then suddenly there was a beeping sound, making us both jump up and look around. It was coming from our beepers, which were sitting on my night stand.

"Shit!" we both cried out at once.

Beth frantically grabbed at her clothes on the floor, then with her arms full, ran towards me. I bent down and gave her another kiss.

"See you in a few." Beth whispered before turning black and sparkly then vanishing.

I sighed, then kicked my own clothes to the side, reaching instead for my costume which was draped over a chair. It was time to get to work and I knew that I'd have to hurry. Lives could be at stake.

Several minutes later, I stepped into the briefing room, seeing that Beth...Rumor, Surge and Quartz where there ahead of me. Splash came stumbling in a few seconds later, apologizing for being late and saying something about having to finish her makeup.

"So what's happening?" Mike asked, getting to the point.

McKenzie looked around the room, a serious expression on his face. "I had hoped that you would get more experience before having to face something like this."

"Like what?" I asked jokingly, "Is there a giant plaid panda with purple pom poms pillaging Pittsburgh?"

"Preposterous." Beth chimed in, grinning broadly.

Surge just smiled faintly and added, "Possible."

Mike just glared at all three of us, muttering, "Punks." However, I couldn't miss the faint chuckle that he tried holding back.

"What's so funny?" Sabrina asked, looking a little confused.

Beth grinned, then whispered in my ear, "Maybe she ought to be the blonde."

"Ahem!" McKenzie said, trying to get our attentions back. Once we were looking back at him, he pushed a button on the console and the large screen came to life. "This...is your target."

I stared at the screen, nearly choking at the scene. Or particularly, the huge figure that was the central part of the scene. He was huge, standing at least 12 feet tall and looking monstrous. The creature was vaguely humanoid in shape and had dark blue skin, with long dark blue hair and patches of it on his shoulders. There were several spikes sticking out of the creature at it's shoulders, elbows and down it's spine. It's fingers were clawed and it's face was stretched out into a snout...filled with sharp looking teeth.

"Grendel." I gasped in horror.

Everyone knew of Grendel, the giant monster that was reputed to be one of the most strongest and unstoppable creatures on the planet. It was said that he had no real mind, just a bad attitude and a desire to destroy nearly everything in his path. His very name was oven used by mothers to frighten their children into behaving.

However, Grendel was also a mystery. He often appeared out of nowhere without warning and vanished just as quickly. At least that was the story since frequently he would appear destroying things in the middle of a city without anyone having seen him go there, then disappear again shortly afterwards.

As I stared at the picture of Grendel, I remembered a rumor that I'd once heard about him. That he was once a woman scientist who's experiments in biological mutation had gone horribly wrong, turning her into a creature that became named after the monster from an old story. However, I never put too much stock in that explanation, figuring that it was just rumors and such.

"We can't beat Grendel." Surge said. "I mean, almost nobody beats him."

"You'll have to." McKenzie said. "Or at least find some way to stop him. He's in the countryside now, but he's slowly moving towards a highly populated area. If he gets there..."

I gulped, knowing that anything...or anyone that got in Grendel's way would be destroyed. Super-heroes, villains and the military had been trying to do that to him for years without any permanent success.

"Great." I mutter. "Now all we've got to do is play Beowulf."

"I wish that I didn't have to send you." McKenzie told us quietly. "I know what he's capable of. I've faced him once myself...and barely escaped with my life. But lives are depending on you. All I can say is...be careful, and good luck."

Several minutes later, we were all standing in the middle of nowhere, thanks to Rumor. I glanced over to her, seeing that she was still all black and sparkly, ready to protect herself from any danger. Quartz was fully armored up and looked dangerously impressive, though I still didn't think that he'd be any match for Grendel by himself. I doubted that any of us were.

Then I heard a loud, thundering roar, turning quickly to see the giant blue creature just a hundred yards or so away. Grendel was stomping away from us, towards the buildings that I could see in the distance.

"Oh shit." I exclaimed, quickly adding, "Get him!"

With that, we all rushed straight towards him. Splash was nearly flying, projected by a wave of water that she'd actually brought with her since we didn't think that there would be too much once we arrived. I on the other hand, actually was flying.

As soon as we got within range, all five of us opened up with everything that we could, hoping that we could stop Grendel before he realized what was happening or could think to defend himself.

Quartz punched at him with everything that he could, sending blasts of crystal shards at the monster simultaneously. Splash send a highly concentrated blast of water at the creatures face, Surge was building massive electron bombs and blasting him while I dived bombed him and hit him as hard as I could in his ugly face. Only Rumor held back as her power wasn't of much use at the moment.

However, our initial attack seemed useless as Grendel just howled and lashed out with his fist, not hitting any of us but coming close to me. I grimaced, punching him again with everything that I had. For a moment, Grendel actually flinched, but nothing more. None of our attacks were doing anything but pissing him off.

"Shit!" I screamed, flying out of the way, "This isn't doing any good." Then I paused, remembering all of the other heroes that had faced Grendel throughout the years. "Damn, I wish the Protectorate was here." They were the group of heroes who had the most experience with the monster.

Suddenly a voice called out, "Ask and you shall receive!"

I snapped around, surprised to see a man floating in the air nearby. He was a black man, wearing a costume that was black and blue. A red cape fluttered behind him, held to his costume by two white broaches, one on each side. There was also a white metal belt and white metal wrist bands, as well as a blue mask that covered part of his face around his eyes.

"Vigil." I gasped in amazement. There was no doubting the identity of one of the worlds most famous heroes, and the leader of the Protectorate...though I saw no sign of the others at the moment.

"You...you look like her..." Vigil said, sounding impressed "but I'm not as sure as the media."

I forced myself to keep from staring at him, asking instead, "Where are the others?"

"Far from here." Vigil answered. "I came alone." And with that, he flew straight towards Grendel, hitting the monster in the face, and calling out, "I'll draw him away from the town."

Vigil's plan seemed to be working as Grendel turned and started chasing him...while my friends and I stood back. I was a little impressed, but annoyed at the same time. After all, we were the ones dealing with Grendel.

"Look at him go." Sabrina sighed, obviously impressed. Mike on the other hand was standing there with his arms crossed, looking rather angry at the interference.

"Let's give him a hand." I suggested after a moment. And with that, I dove at Grendel again, making sure that he noticed me and then following behind Vigil. That was sure to make sure he followed us.

For the next several minutes, we all too turns attacking Grendel, then running, trying to keep him after us. He kept growling and stomping the ground, making it shake with every step as he chased after us.

"It's working." I called out, feeling relieved.

However, just as Vigil slammed into Grendel and took off again, the monster let out yet another roar. But this time...this time it wasn't just sound that came out. A massive blast of green energy shot out of Grendel's mouth, catching Vigil in mid-air.

"VIGIL!" I cried out, watching in horror as the hero fell to the ground in flames. "Splash!" I yelled quickly, "Put him out!"

Grendel roared again, then stomped the ground where Vigil was...or had been a second before. Rumor pulled him out just in time, while Splash put him out. But the monster didn't seem to like that and started smashing at the ground randomly, the shockwaves of each impact knocking my friends over.

I landed by Vigil, looking at his horribly charred costume and gulping. However, he was still alive. Wincing badly, he tried sitting up...but couldn't manage it.

"He got me good." Vigil gasped, wincing from what had to be an incredible pain. "I'll survive..." he said, looking straight at me, "but I won't be much good for awhile."

I nodded, knowing what he really meant. It was up to us now. And from the way Grendel had returned to his march towards the town, I knew that our work was going to be cut out for us.

"We'll stop him." I promised, turning away. I felt guilty for leaving Vigil laying there injured, but I knew that I'd feel a hell of a lot worse if Grendel made his way into town.

"How?" Rumor demanded. "I mean, he just took out Vigil." Beth was scared and I couldn't blame her. I was too.

"We don't have a choice." I whispered, charging at Grendel again.

A minute later, I managed to get close to Grendel again, this time having a plan. I nearly grinned to myself as I remembered how effective it had been against Conquer...then punched the monster in his crotch as hard as I possibly could. Grendel just let out a deafening roar and grabbed at his crotch, but didn't fall to the ground.

"That's gotta hurt!" Quartz exclaimed, running up and attacking Grendel at the same time.

Grendel just roared again, swatting at Quartz and knocking him a good distance away. However, Quartz almost immediately got back to his feet and charged at Grendel again, though he obviously knew that it wouldn't do any good.

I flew into the air above Grendel and prepared myself, knowing that there was one more thing that I could do and hoping...praying that it would be enough. I'd seen the real Ms. Miracle do it and had practiced it several times on my own, but this was not practice.

"Clear the area!" I called out, gesturing for my friends to get out of the way.

A moment later, I took a deep breath and gathered my concentration. I could feel my power building, seeing the golden glow around me getting brighter. Then with a grimace, I gathered all of the energy I could and pushed outwards. A blast of golden energy shot out of my hands, hitting Grendel dead on...and I kept pushing.

"Damn it." Rumor gasped.

"I didn't know you could do that." Surge exclaimed, obviously surprised.

I just looked down at where my energy blast had hit, forming a melted crater in the ground, with Grendel sitting at the bottom. For a moment, Grendel was motionless, then he stood up and started climbing out of the crater. He was charred and no longer had any hair at all, but that didn't seem to bother him in the least.

With yet another roar, Grendel spat another burst of energy out at me, though I avoided it...barely. And to my horror, char marks on the creatures skin vanished and even the missing hair started growing back. Within less than a minute, there was no sign that I'd hurt him at all.

"Fuck." I growled, "Doesn't ANYTHING stop him?" And he was getting closer to the town with every second.

I landed next to the others, muttering, "Any ideas?"

"None." Quartz admitted.

Splash shook her head, Rumor shrugged and Surge admitted that he couldn't think of anything either.

"He's got to have some weakness..." I exclaimed in frustration. Suddenly, it dawned on me. "Splash, I have an idea..."

A moment later, I carried Splash to Grendel, growing extremely uncomfortable at how close he was to the town. Even if this worked, I wasn't sure that we could stop him before he leveled the entire place.

Once Splash was close enough, she looked at me for comfort, obviously being extremely nervous. However, after I nodded at her, she gestured towards him, sending her entire supply of water straight at Grendel's face again. However this time, it wasn't just to blast him. This time, the water remained, forming into a large bubble that nearly covered the entire monster.

"Now lets see you breath." I muttered.

Grendel grasped at his face, but even though his hands went through the water, he couldn't move it away from his head. And he was obviously trying. But even though Grendel grasped at his head, trying to get his head clear, he didn't slow down in his march towards the town. In fact, he slowly started to speed up.

"Oh shit!" Quartz shouted, "He's not slowing down!"

"No shit sherlock." Rumor spat back.

Surge looked at me, a worried expression on his face. "Maybe he'll run out of air before he gets there."

I nodded, not willing to count on it though. For some reason, Grendel was determined to get to that town, though I had no idea why.

For the next several minutes we tried to divert Grendel. To blow the ground away in front of him. To try forcing him to change course. Even repeating Vigil's plan to lead him away, but Grendel ignored everything. It was almost as if we weren't even there.

By the time that Grendel reached the edge of the town though, he was finally slowing down. Finally beginning to show signs that sealing off his air had worked. He even stumbled to the ground several times, smashing through one building then forcing himself forward again.

"I don't know how much longer I can hold it." Splash gasped, obviously exhausted.

"Just a little longer." I encouraged her, then yelled at the others, "Get the people out of the way!" However, it looked like most of the citizens had already started evacuating the moment Grendel was sighted heading in their direction. Most...but not all.

Suddenly, after falling to his knees again, this time looking as if he might not get up, Grendel opened his mouth as if to roar, then fired a blast of green energy out of it once again. To my horror, the water all immediately exploded into steam while the blast continued, smashing through the side of a building and leaving a horrible burning wreckage in its wake.

"Oh fucking shit!" Rumor cried out, and at the same time, Splash looked as if she was about to collapse.

Then there was the screaming, drawing my attention to another building...one that was partly caught in Grendel's blast and was in the middle of burning. To my horror, there was a woman hanging out one of the window's, smoke billowing out from behind her.

"I'll get her!" I yelled to the others, turning my back on Grendel as I rushed to pull the woman out.

As I was setting the woman to the ground, Rumor yelled, "I'll teleport that bastard to Antarctica."

I smiled faintly as I took to the air, turning towards Grendel, yelling back, "Good idea."

Then I froze, realizing that Grendel was no longer where he'd fallen to his knees. And as I frantically looked around, I couldn't see a single sign of him. This left me totally confused since there was no way that a monster that big could just vanish into thin air.

"What the hell?" I whispered in confusion.

I took one more look around...then to my surprise, for a brief moment I thought that I caught a glimpse of a naked woman turning the corner around a building and out of my sight. But before I could go for a better look, there was another scream from behind me.

Quartz pointed to the building that had taken the brunt of Grendel's blast, calling out, "LOOK!"

As I did so, I gasped. There were people crying out from one of the windows, just before the wall started to collapse. People were still in that building...and the still burning one that I'd pulled the woman from. With that, we all rushed to save them.

I flew through a window and rushed through the flames that covered the floor. A minute later, I found two kids, grabbing them and making my way out, having to avoid the flames or breaking through a wall since that would have hurt them. Finally though, I found a clear area, punched a hole through the outside wall, then flew the kids to safety.

Once I was outside, I saw Rumor walking through the wall with a teenage girl clutched tight. There wasn't much that Surge could do without making the situation worse, but he was obviously doing his best with helping to lead the people out of the burning building.

Splash had been bad before, but now she looked even more exhausted. However, she still stood there with a look of fierce determination on her face while she used her powers to help contain the flames...with much more effectiveness than any fireman.

"They're all out of this one!" Rumor called out, rushing out of the burning building empty handed. "Quartz is getting the last ones from the other building." She gestured to the one that had taken the direct hit.

Just then, I saw a faint gleam of crystal from the doorway. Quartz was on his way out. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from several floors above, and everything crumbled inward. I could only watch in horror as the building collapsed right on top of Quartz...and the innocent people that he was trying to save.

"Oh God!" I gasped, rushing towards the building, knowing that it was too late.

Rumor ran straight to the pile of rubble, obviously intending to go through and try finding them....or...I gulped, what was left of them.

But before Rumor even touched to rubble, everything started shaking, then to my surprise, a chunk of wall was thrown to the side, revealing Quartz. Without a word, he continued throwing rubble out of his way, then working his way back, generating walls of crystal to keep everything else from collapsing back on.

"Glad you're all right." I told him, glancing at the crystal walls he was generating with surprise. I hadn't realized that he could do that. "But what about..."

"They're safe." Quartz answered, gesturing backwards through the path he had cleared and revealing a crystal bubble with three people inside. A mother and her two kids.

A short while later, we had finished with all the rescues and were relieved that the real firemen and medical help had arrived. Fortunately, there weren't too many injuries. Several broken bones, some smoke inhalation and even a few burns...but nothing fatal.

"Damn I'm tired." Rumor muttered. I nodded, not really feeling too tired myself. However Quartz was still armored up and holding a nearly unconscious Splash in his arms. "And the bastard still got away."

"But you did slow him down." another voice said from behind us. I turned around to see Vigil walking towards us, limping slightly. His costume was still torn and charred, but he looked all right. "I know very well how difficult it is to deal with Grendel. The whole Protectorate can barely do any more."

I was impressed at what Vigil said since that was a high compliment indeed. "Thank you." I said, still not feeling too much better about losing Grendel.

Vigil nodded and slowly came towards me, stopping several feet away and staring at me intensely. I just stood there, staring back and forcing myself not to flinch. After all, he was one of the most famous people on the entire planet...and perhaps the most respected hero still alive.

After a moment, Vigil nodded, smiling faintly. "I don't know how..." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Welcome back Ms. Miracle. We've missed you." And with that, he saluted me, catching me by surprise.

"Thank you." I responded slowly, saluting back before gesturing to Rumor. "It's good to be back." A second later, we were gone.

I stared at the TV, frowning thoughtfully as I watched through yet more recordings of Ms. Miracle, trying to learn as much about her as I could. It was strange...very strange to do so, giving me mixed feelings. She was my mother and I wanted to learn as much about her as I could...yet I felt a little morbid about doing so at the same time. Of course it was also to help me pretend to be her and learn to use my powers like she did...but that wasn't the real reason I was watching them. Just a rationalization.

Turning off the video, I watched the news for awhile, smiling faintly as I remembered Mike's reaction. He was definitely happy when he was called a hero on the news after rescuing those people several days ago. However, the reporters didn't spend too much time on our dealings with Grendel before moving on to something else. After all, that kind of stuff did happen nearly every day.

"Too bad I never really knew you mom." I mused to myself, looking at the picture of her that I'd started keeping on my dresser. Not a picture of Ms. Miracle, but a picture of the much less impressive looking woman whom I remembered from my childhood. "You should have told me. You should have trusted me." Once again I felt a wave of bitterness and sadness, thinking of those years I'd spent in foster homes, thinking that she just didn't want me anymore.

For about ten minutes, I stared at that picture, then glanced at myself in the mirror I'd placed nearby. It was strange, thinking of that reflection as me...but nearly as strange to think that my mom looked like that as well.

"God I'm beautiful." I sighed, tearing my eyes away as I started to get turned on. It almost never failed to excite me when I saw my reflection. "I'm turning into a real narcissist." However, I smiled at that.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me. It was one that had come to me several times before, but only vaguely formed and at times when I was easily distracted. I looked back at my mom's picture thoughtfully, remembering Dr. Alvere's comments about her probably being a skitzomorph.

"And...and I have all her powers." I whispered, looking down at my hands in amazement, wondering if I might have that power as well.

After a minute, I knew that I had to try. I stood up and closed my eyes, not sure how to use that ability but figure that concentrating would be a good start. Then, I tried willing myself to change. Willing my powers to go into an imaginary box in my head. Several seconds later, I started to feel a tingling.

"Is it working?" I whispered, feeling my whole body starting to change. Feeling my powers rapidly receding as my flesh reshaped itself.

Then, as soon as I felt the changes stop, I opened my eyes and looked down in amazement. I was me again. I was a guy. My hands quickly patted at my flat chest, almost finding it strange after getting used to having tits. Then I grabbed between my legs, verifying that I was indeed all the way back to normal.

"YES!" I cried out in relief, "I'm ME again."

However, as I stood there, I knew that I wasn't as comfortable as I should have been. Not as comfortable as I'd expected. I felt...weak. Tired. Looking around, I frowned, noticing that everything seemed duller. Less clear. It took me a moment to realize that I was just back to normal. I'd lost all of my enhanced powers...all of my unbelievable strength and my senses had just gone back to a normal human level as well. However, it still felt like some sort of major comedown.

"Weird." I muttered, slowly walking around my apartment, trying to get used to my balance again, especially when I felt like I was just going to blow away. I couldn't believe just how weak and helpless I felt at the moment. I had definitely grown used to feeling more...solid.

After several minutes, I stopped in front of the mirror, staring at the brown haired guy in amazement. It was a reflection that I'd been afraid of never seeing again. And as I stared at myself, I smiled faintly, having half expected to turn into a brown haired woman...a clone of the mother that I knew. This was definitely a relief. Then, with a grin, I nearly ran towards my closet, digging out the clothes that I thought I'd never wear again, yet kept out of shear stubbornness and hope.

Once I was dressed, I hurried out of my apartment, bursting to show Beth. Of course, I knew in the back of my mind that I'd have to talk to Dr. Alvere and have her give me a detailed physical, but I had higher priorities at the moment.

I was in such a hurry as I rushed down the hall that I didn't see Allan until I nearly ran into him. "Sorry." I told him, stepping back for a moment, my mind still on Beth.

Allan stared at me for a moment with a look of surprise. "Who are you?" he demanded, "How did you get in here?" For a moment, I stared at Allan, wondering what he was talking about. Then it dawned on me. He'd never seen me like that before. "I'm the new janitor." I told him with a smirk, trying to keep from laughing. Holding out my hand, I said, "I'm Dave."

"Um..." Allan looked confused at that, obviously wondering if I was lying to him or trying to infiltrate the facility.

But before Allan could make up his mind, I looked down at my watch and muttered, "Damn. I've got a backed up toilet to clean." And with that, I left Allan behind, laughing to myself.

When I got to Beth's door, I hesitated for a moment, feeling nervous though I wasn't completely sure why. But after several seconds, I forced myself to knock.

The door started to swing open with Beth asking, "Who's there?"

"Pizza delivery." I called back with a grin. As soon as Beth stuck her head out, I said, "Howdy."

Beth just stared at me. "Daph....Dave?"

"Yep." I grinned, "It's me. You like?" And with that, I did a little pirouette, making Beth chuckle.

"But how...?" Beth asked, stepping out of her apartment.

I hummed to myself as I bent over to kiss her, feeling much happier when she kissed back with her customary passion. I'd been a little afraid that she wouldn't want to keep it up with the real me.

"Let's go out for pizza and a movie." I suggested. "I can tell you while we eat."

"Hmmm." Beth mused, looking thoughtful. "Tell you what, if you take care of the food and the movie, I'll pay for the transportation."

"But that's not fair." I complained half-heartedly, "You can teleport."

Beth just grinned back. "Who said life's fair?"

Then, after another, slightly longer kiss, Beth and I started on our way to our first real date.

"Gotcha." I announced excitedly, snatching Beth's last checker on the board and winning the game. Then again, out of the last seven games that we'd played, this was only my third victory. "Wanna go again?" Beth shrugged. "Naw, I'm sick of checkers. Let's go out and find something else to do."

"I don't know." I responded with a grin, "I can think of a thing or two to do right here."

I grinned at Beth, then quickly glanced down at myself just to double check that I was still a guy. It had only been the night before that I'd discovered the ability to change back, and I still had a hard time believing it. Maybe when lunch came around, I'd take the time to show Dr. Alvere, but for the moment, I was still satisfied to just hang around with Beth.

Then, just as Beth and I were starting to kiss, our beepers started going off, causing both of us to burst into streams of profanity. Fortunately though, it wasn't the higher priority beep of a real emergency, just the kind that said McKenzie wanted to talk to us pronto.

Several minutes later, Beth and I stepped into the briefing room and I noticed that the others were already there, though McKenzie was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly all sound died for a second as everyone stared at us...at me, reminding me that I was a guy again...and none of them had ever seen me like that.

"Who the hell are you?" Mike demanded. "How did you get in here?" From the way he was clenching his fists, I was sure that he was about to crystal up.

"He's the janitor." Allan explained, sounding a little weak.

Beth just smirked. "Relax. He's with me."

With a look of surprise, Sabrina gasped, "But I thought you were seeing Daphne."

I gulped, turning bright red with in embarrassment as they all stared at Beth. Beth and I had been trying to keep our relationship quiet since it was none of their damn business. Apparently though, Beth had decided to at least tell Sabrina...much to my current regret.

Then, before anyone could say anything to Sabrina's comment, McKenzie's angry voice came from behind us, "What do you think you're doing bringing unauthorized personnel here?" However, as soon as I snapped around and McKenzie got a look at me, his eyes went wide in recognition. "Oh."

"You know who he is?" Mike half asked and half demanded.

"Of course." McKenzie said, trying to regain his composure. I just smiled at his reaction while he continued, "He is a member of this team." The others all looked confused but McKenzie asked me, "How...?"

"Didn't the doc tell you her theory about skitzomorphism?" I asked with a smug grin. With the look of comprehension that appeared on his face, I knew that she had.

"But who are you?" Mike demanded, sounding just a little nervous. He obviously wasn't about to just let it go. And then to McKenzie, he asked, "And where's Daphne at?"

"Right in front of you." I snorted. Then at Mike's look of confusion, I gave my most feminine pose and asked as girlishly as I could, "You like my new makeoveer?"

Mike nearly choked at that while Allan hesitantly asked, "You're Daphne?" Doubt filled his voice.

Then, feeling a little smug, I said, "I told you that I used to be a guy. I just figured out how to go back."

Mike and Allan looked completely stunned while a look of understanding finally appeared on Sabrina's face. "Then you must be Dave."

Beth looked at me with a grin, rolling her eyes. It was all I could do to keep from laughing, even though a part of me was rather embarrassed by the situation.

"You can socialize later." McKenzie told us, turning towards the computer. "You're all here for a reason. An hour ago, there was a massive breakout from Mount Prometheus."

We all froze at that and stared at him. Mount Prometheus was the most secure prison in the world, designed to hold the most dangerous criminals of all. Ones with enhanced abilities. Super-villains. It was built inside of a hollow mountain somewhere in the Rockys and rumored to be nearly inescapable. It was the Alcatraz of the super-powered set.

"A report of the prisoners who escaped will be arriving in several minutes." McKenzie said seriously. "I expect that you will have to deal with some of them very soon."

Several minutes later, the report started coming in through the fax and we all waited silently for it to finish. Finally, McKenzie picked up the paper and started to read.

"There were 23 escapees." McKenzie announced quietly. Then a moment later, he read more and added, "But it seems that the Protectorate and Faction Zero arrived in time to stop most of them."

"That's cool." Mike exclaimed. "Guess that's less work for us."

McKenzie frowned as continued, "It says that the only prisoner not yet accounted for is..." He suddenly froze, his face going pale and he glanced over at me nervously. "Never mind." McKenzie quickly told us.

"Who is it?" Beth demanded.

However, McKenzie just started to turn away, clutching the fax firmly in his hand. I frowned, wondering what the hell was wrong. And why had he looked at me like that. It sent a chill down my spine.

"Who?" I asked quietly.

"It's not Divide or Conquer is it?" Allan asked nervously.

"Or Grendel?" Sabrina added, sounding just a little afraid.

"It's not important." McKenzie said, not sounding too convincing.

I gave him a calm stare before saying, "If you don't tell us, you know that we'll find out anyway."

For a moment, McKenzie just stood there, staring at the ground, his hand clenched tightly on the fax paper. Finally, he looked up, straight at me before whispering, "Baron Nevermore."

The sound of that name sent shivers straight down my spine, freezing me where I stood. Baron Nevermore was a man to be feared, being some sort of powerful sorcerer and having been one of the most dangerous villains on the entire planet. But more than that....he was the one who'd killed Ms. Miracle. The one who'd killed my mom.

I clenched my fists in rage, barely even aware of my body changing and my clothes tearing. "No." I whispered.

The others all stared at me silently until Allan gasped, "But isn't he supposed to be in a coma or something?"

Shortly after Baron Nevermore had killed Ms. Miracle, over half the heroes in U.S. went after him. And by the time they were through, the Baron was barely alive...having been put into a coma. It had been all over the news.

"He awoke nearly 3 months ago." McKenzie said quietly.

"And you didn't tell me?" I growled, furiously grabbing McKenzie by the front of his shirt and picking him up.

McKenzie didn't answer. Instead, he just looked me in the eyes for a minute and I thought that I detected a hint of apology. "That was the past." McKenzie finally told me, his voice gentle which surprised me since I still held him up. "And you have enough to deal with right now without dredging up old grudges. Especially when he was still locked up."

I grimaced and dropped McKenzie. I knew that he'd only meant to protect me, but that didn't make me any less angry. Angry that the man who'd killed my mom was still running around. Angry that I hadn't even been told about it. And at the same time...scared. Terrified that this monster might come after me too.

Then, with an angry growl, I turned and started for the door, knowing that I had to do something. I was so lost in thought that as I left, I didn't even hear Beth calling after me.

When I got back to my apartment, I glanced in the mirror, seeing that my clothes had been shredded in my transformation and my tits were hanging out. I'd been giving everyone a great view, but at the moment I didn't really care. I just tore the shreds off of me and got into my costume as quickly as I could.

"Baron Nevermore." I whispered, hating the very name.

I couldn't just ignore him and hope that he'd go away. What would my mom think? I'd been trying so hard to honor her memory, to do what she would have done and there was no way that I could just let her killer go. I was a super-hero now...wasn't I? Then why didn't I feel like one then rather than a boy who'd lost his mother.

Then I heard a gentle knocking at my door. At first I ignored it, but the knocking didn't go away. Finally, I opened the door and was a little surprised to see Beth there, looking concerned.

"What?" I asked, "No Casper routine?"

Beth just forced a smile and put her hand on my arm. "I know that this has gotta be hard for you." she said quietly, "But I want you to know that I'm here for you. We all are."

"I...Thank you." I responded in nearly a whisper, hugging Beth and once again crying. My being turned into a woman seemed to have had that effect on me. Then, I looked up and silently made a promise myself, "And I'm here for you mom."

I spent two days looking for any sign of Baron Nevermore, but there were none. After his escape from Mount Prometheus, he seemed to have vanished completely. However, I knew that this wouldn't last. His sort always seemed to come back...as he'd already proven.

At the moment, I was sitting in front of a computer, still in female form and going through everything that McKenzie had on Baron Nevermore. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be much. The Baron seemed to be a mystery, wrapped in an enigma. Whether he was a real Baron or not was completely unknown. The only things that could be said for certain is that he had some sort of magic powers, he thrived off of creating terror and he was very dangerous.

"Nasty piece of work." Beth's voice came from behind me.

"Yeah." I responded, "Real nasty. According to this, he has 19 confirmed murders under his belt, dozens more suspected, not to mention the other stuff."

For a minute, we were both silent, then Beth gently said, "You don't have to do this. Not alone at least."

I nodded but didn't give an answer. Instead, I just turned off the computer and held Beth's hand.

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

"Now shut up..." Beth ordered, "and pass the popcorn."

Mike just looked at her, then made a show of taking a large handful from the bowl before handing it over. Beth snorted in response before turning back to the TV.

"Cheer up man." Mike told me, then chuckled, "Or girl...or whatever."

I snorted, attempting to cross my arms but it wasn't as easy as it used to be with my prominent chest in the way. I had stayed in my girl form ever since I'd found out about the Baron's escape, feeling much more confident that way. Or at least with the powers that came along with being a woman.

It had been several hours since Beth pulled me away from the computer, determined to help me 'lighten up'. The others had quickly gotten in on the act and before I knew it, we were all piled together, ready to eat popcorn and watch A Scary Movie. After all, it was guaranteed to give a couple laughs.

"We haven't even put the movie in yet and we're almost out of popcorn." Allan complained, taking a healthy handful himself.

Sabrina giggled, "Oink oink." That earned a faint, though embarrassed smile from Allan. Then, she got up to put the movie in the VCR, sticking her tongue out at Allan and making me wonder if something might be developing between them.

I just smiled faintly myself, then looked over at the TV screen, suddenly freezing as my eyes shot wide. On the screen was Baron Nevermore. I quickly grabbed for the remote and turned up the volume.

"...criminal known only as Baron Nevermore..." the newscaster announced, "has appeared in the heart of Las Angelas to create untold havoc and take dozens of hostages."

"Fuck." Mike exclaimed.

For a moment, I just stared at the screen in shock, barely noticing that I'd crushed the remote to pieces between my fingers. My mind was filled with conflicting emotions. Fear for one. And anger. Hatred. And most of all, a growing determination.

"No." I whispered, standing up.

"Daphne..." Beth cried out, the concern evident in her voice as she grabbed my arm. "Wait..."

I just stood there, staring at the TV, my fists clenched in rage. "No." I whispered, grimacing. "No more."

"Listen to me..." Beth demanded.

However, I barely heard her. Instead, I growled, "No. He's mine." And with that, I turned, pulling my arm away from Beth with no effort as I started for the door.

As I left the room, I barely heard Beth call out, "Please...be careful." Several minutes later, I was in costume and flying to L.A. as fast as I possibly could.

I arrived in L.A. much quicker than I would have expected, knowing at the same time that it would have been even quicker if I'd had Beth bring me. However, I quickly forced that thought away, reminding myself that this was personal. I wasn't going to get the others involved in my business...especially knowing how dangerous this one was. I couldn't bear the thought of him killing them like...

"Mom." I whispered.

Shaking my head, I frantically looked around for any sign of the bastard. It only took me a moment to find one. A pillar of black smoke rose in the distance, pointing to the Baron like a bright neon sign.

"I'm coming for you bastard." I growled, flying in that direction.

When I got to where the pillar of smoke was coming, I stopped and stared down at its source. There was a huge dark hole in the middle of an intersection, a faint reddish orange glow emanating from its deepest depths.

Then I looked around in horror and disgust at everything else. The Baron's touch was obvious, covering at least a whole block. Buildings were covered with dark green slime and vines. Things that looked like venus fly traps grew from the sides of the building and the sidewalks, some of them open as if awaiting pray while others were closed...with human arms or legs hanging out.

"Oh God." I groaned, trying to keep my stomach from coming up.

Statues lined the sidewalk in one area, extremely realistic looking ones of people. Too realistic. The looks of terror on their faces was unmistakable, almost proving that these were real people before the Baron had gotten to them. There were people in the area as well...with chains around their necks, holding them to the ground and each other.

However, they were even in number with the THINGS. Creatures that had obviously once been human and had faint signs of it showing through, but now remained half alien creatures. Like part cockroaches or slimy tentacled creatures out of my nightmares. They were stumbling around or fighting each other like the mindless monsters they appeared.

Then I noticed it. A huge pile of skulls that had to stand at least 12 feet tall. There was no way that there were that many people around when HE showed up, but there was no doubting that it was there. And on top of the pile was a small platform, marked by a throne. But most important...the throne was occupied.

I froze in the air and stared at the figure on the throne. He was dressed in a costume of purple and black, marked with some gray metal parts. A gray metal skull adorned his belt, while a chain hung loose from his side. A black cloak was wrapped around him, it's hood draped over to obscure his face. Two metal broaches in the shapes of skulls held his cloak close to him.

"Baron Nevermore." I gasped, staring in horror.

I was filled with mixed emotions. I was burning with rage...with hatred. This was the man who'd killed my mom. Who'd destroyed one of the worlds greatest heroes. And I was terrified that he would do the same time me. But I was also burning with a need for revenge. Revenge on this man who'd caused me to go into several hellish foster homes. Who'd taken away my mom and destroyed my life.

At that, the figure looked up at me, giving me a view of the man's face. He had a well trimmed black beard, but eyes that seemed alive with a dark malevolence. Then, he stood up, starting straight at me. It was then that I noticed the two black birds that were circling around above him. Crows. Then, after a moment I realized that they weren't crows...they were ravens.

"Ms. Miracle." Baron Nevermore called out, "I had heard of your return. I know not how you accomplished that, but I did know that you could not refuse this invitation." His voice was much smoother than I would have expected. Almost...charming.

"Invitation." I gasped. "You...you did this just to get me here?" At his nod, I screamed, "YOU MONSTER!"

"You do not know what a true monster is." Baron Nevermore commented, adding, "Yet."

With that, I let out a scream and flew straight at him. However, the Baron gestured with his hands and muttered something and suddenly dozens of slimy tentacles shot out of the ground, straight at me. I screamed as they wrapped around me, more and more, threatening to strangle me.

"No..." I growled, fighting with the tentacles. But there were too many of them...and they were too strong. They were pulling me to the ground, leaving me helpless while the Baron just watched.

Once I was pulled almost all the way to the ground, Baron Nevermore looked up for a moment. "Edgar...Allan..." he ordered, "Come here." And with that, both ravens flew down, one landing on each shoulder.

For a long moment, Baron Nevermore just stood there, watching me struggle with the tentacles with an unreadable expression on his face. "You have interfered in my plans too often in the past." Baron Nevermore commented, sounding almost as if he was talking about the weather. "That was why I had to kill you before, and that is why I must do so again."

I just screamed out, "You fucking bastard...!"

Baron Nevermore looked surprised at that. "Such language." He blinked for a moment, adding, "I have never heard you use such before."

"And it'll be the last thing you hear before I shove my foot up your ass!" I yelled, suddenly tearing free from the tentacles and shooting up into the air.

"What is it with you guys wanting to take over the world?" I yelled, fighting off the tentacles that were reaching up for me again.

"You know that has never been my goal." Baron Nevermore responded. "I seek power of a different sort. A higher sort." Then he grinned evilly, "I do not care how you have returned Ms. Miracle, but it gives me the unique opportunity to kill you again. And this time...I shall do it MUCH slower."

I growled, gathering my energy and firing a blast of energy at the tentacles, frying them all. Then, once I'd taken care of them, I turned my attention back to Baron Nevermore, who stood there with his hands held out, chanting something that I could not hear. Both ravens flew around him, squawking loudly.

Suddenly, red light formed around his hands, then moved between them, forming into a shape. The shape of a red demonic looking full face mask, with openings for the evil looking eyes and grinning mouth. He pulled his hands back and the mask remained floating in the air...but only for a second. Then it started to move forward, a black mist forming around it at the same time. The mist or smoke grew darker and thicker...then gathered together into the shape of a human body, with the mask where the face would be.

"Destroy her." Baron Nevermore commented, gesturing as if he was doing nothing more than asking a servant to bring him a glass of wine.

The mask creature jumped straight at me with incredible speed and I barely managed to avoid it. A moment later, the creature landed on the ground, next to several of the monsters that had been people. It lashed out with its clawed fingers, tearing through the former people as if they were nothing. They collapsed to the ground, almost instantly dead.

"Not good." I whispered, seeing that the creature was about to jump at me again.

However, Baron Nevermore just called out something in a language that I couldn't understand, then the creature turned and started towards a man who was chained to a car...screaming to be let out. Without the slightest hesitation, the creature ran a hand through the man, killing him as well...all to my horror. I was even more horrified when it started towards the next chained person.

"NO!" I screamed, diving straight at it, then pulling aside and landing instead. It was waiting for me to attack it that way. I could feel it. "You bastard." I growled, knowing that I had to protect the innocent people that were still hostages.

Since I was on the ground, I approached the creature a little more cautiously, but it wasn't content to wait for me. It charged straight at me, it's clawed fingers extended. I just grimaced, trusting in my invulnerability as I punched at it. To my surprise, my hand passed straight through the creature, but it's claw tore at my side, causing me to scream.

"God damn it!" I kicked at the creature, but again my foot passed straight through it's side as if it really was made of smoke.

Baron Nevermore laughed from his throne. "My assassin can not be beaten in such a manner."

I didn't take the time to look at him, focusing my attention on his little assassin instead. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't human. But then again, I already knew that.

The creature charged at me again, and again my attacks had no effect on it, but I did manage to stay out of claw range this time. He turned for another charge, and I knew that I couldn't keep that up forever, so I grimaced and took to the air again. But to my horror, the creature followed me...flying with a trail of black smoke behind it.

I looked back and spat, "Doesn't that thing ever give up?" A quick burning on my calf where it's claws scratched me was my answer.

Suddenly, I snapped around, forcing my energy towards it in another blast. But to my annoyance, it's body dispersed like smoke where the blast went through, then quickly formed back up. That was another idea that was no good.

Instead of charging at me though, the creature just hovered where it was, mocking me with the cruel grin from the mask. Then it's arms shot out, stretching at least ten feet to lash out at me again. I tried blocking it's arm with my own, but it passed through my arm and it's claws struck on my side.

I grimaced at yet another painful gash, knowing that if it wasn't for my invulnerability, the claws would have completely torn through me, probably killing me instead of just giving me the painful gashes. However, I knew that at this rate, it wouldn't be long before those gashes went beyond merely painful and became fatal. Especially as I had no way to defend myself against the creature.

Again, it just mocked me with that stupid grin, making me even angrier. Finally, I screamed out and flew straight at him, knowing that I might not be able to do anything against him, but I might be able to disperse his smoky body a little. And at the last moment, I lashed out with my fist, hitting him as hard as I could in the face. The red mask completely shattered as I hit it, the pieces all crumbling to dust as they fell away. And to my surprised relief, the smoky body faded away, vanishing completely.

"Damn it." I muttered in surprise.

Then, shaking my head, I turned my attention back to the real threat. Baron Nevermore, who stood by his throne, his arms outstretched as he chanted something.

I flew towards him, yelling, "You're through now ass-hole."

Baron Nevermore looked up at me and frowned thoughtfully. "No my dear, it is you who are through. I knew that my assassin would have provided a distraction, long enough to complete my spell."

"Spell?" I gasped, staring at him. "What the hell are you up to?" I glared at him furiously, trying to keep myself calm, though it wasn't easy.

"Your manner is different." Baron Nevermore commented thoughtfully. Then a look of surprise appeared on his face. "You are not her. You are but an impostor." He seemed almost disappointed by that.

I grimaced and flew straight towards him, "What spell are you talking about?" However, I bounced off an invisible wall and was thrown backwards.

Then I heard it. A low rumbling coming from the direction of the smoky pit. I turned towards it, horrified to see a massive tentacle come out of it, followed by a second, then a third.

"Oh shit." I gasped, staring in horror as the rest of the creature slowly pulled itself from the pit. The smell of sulfur was in the air, nearly burning my nostrils, giving me a damn good clue as to where the thing had come from. "No fucking way..."

A moment later, a massively huge thing straight out of my nightmares arose. It wasn't like anything I'd even imagined before, looking like a cross between a dark green slug and a piranha, covered with hundreds of slimy tentacles, eyes and other things that I couldn't make any sense of . There were at least three mouths of sorts that I could make out as well.

"I thought this guy was obsessed with Poe..." I whispered, "not Lovecraft."

Baron Nevermore just chuckled. "I do not know who you really are, but as you are here and it is too late, I will commit the cardinal sin of super-villains, as that is what I seem to have been labeled." He paused and crossed his arms. The ravens hopped to the back of his throne and stared at me with glowing red eyes. "This world shall soon be turned into a living nightmare. I shall feed upon the terror and my power shall grow infinite."

"And..." I gestured at the monster, terrified myself.

The Baron just smiled coldly. "This my dear, is the nightmare beast. A creature from the darker realms whom I have summoned." He paused and added, "And once he feeds upon my sacrifice of an innocent..." Baron Nevermore gestured towards the innocent people chained in the streets, "his grip on this realm will be solidified...and the world shall be thrown into the darkness."

"You're...you're fucking insane!" I screamed.

"No my dear..." Baron Nevermore answered calmly, almost sounding amused, "I am merely ambitious. As you...your predecessor knew, my power comes from terror. The more terror that exists, the more powerful I become. And after the nightmare beast unleashes Hell on Earth, my power shall grow. I shall become even more powerful than the nightmare beast."

I just screamed, charging at him again, punching into the invisible wall that protected him. Furiously, I lashed out, blasted at it, anything to get through to him. However, none of it worked.

"You monster!" I screamed, almost frantic as I lashed out uselessly, "You've already turned my life into hell. YOU KILLED MY MOM!"

After a minute more, I finally stopped, knowing that it was useless. Baron Nevermore was safe behind his invisible wall while the rest of the world was going to be destroyed. Grimacing, I turned towards the alien monster, gasping as I realized that it was slowly creeping towards the first victims. I'd been so obsessed with Baron Nevermore that I'd given the creature more time than I should have.

"I've got to stop it." I whispered, nearly overwhelmed by the sudden thought that my actions might either save or doom the world. It was not a burden that I liked...but it was what my mom would have done.

With that, I charged straight at the creature, punching at it as hard as I could. It barely seemed to notice it, though several tentacles and one of it's mouths snapped at me. I tried again, this time by pulling off it's tentacles. One of them came off with some effort, but as soon as it hit the ground, the tentacle squirmed and grew, taking the form of some sort of slimy apelike demon. And another one had grown back where I'd pulled it from.

"Damn." I growled, flying up and gathering all of my energy. I focused everything that I had into a blast.

The creature screamed as my blast hit it, turning one of its eyes and mouths into a puddle of green goo. However, it immediately started to bubble, growing three new tentacles from that spot. One of them had vicious looking mouth with snapping teeth on it while another one had what seemed to be some sort of crab pincher.

"Oh shit." I gasped, realizing that this thing was like that Hydra thing from Greek mythology. Cut off one head and two more took it's place. However, from the looks of it, burning off the damaged area wasn't going to do any good.

The creature slowly kept moving toward the people, making me gasp. A quick look back verified that Baron Nevermore was watching with a fascinated expression. A hungry expression. Then as I looked back at the chained people, it dawned on me.

"No innocent..." I gasped, "no stay."

With that, I flew down and tore the chain off of a man who was closest to the creature, yelling at him to run. He wasted no time in doing just that. If I could free all of the people and get them away...

However, Baron Nevermore didn't seem to like that idea, because the next thing I knew, he was throwing balls of fire at me. One exploded at my feet, then another one where I'd been standing, just before I'd dodged out of the way. From the cold look in his eye, I had no doubt that he meant to kill me this time.

"The real Ms. Miracle may have interfered in my plans..." Baron Nevermore growled, "But I shall not brook any interference from you. You will share her fate." Another ball of energy formed in his hands and shot straight towards me.

I flew up, avoiding the blast easily, however, it turned and started following me. I flew higher, changing direction several times, but it was no good. The thing was like a damn heat seeking missile. But that gave me an idea, causing me to nearly smile since I remembered seeing it in dozens of movies and TV shows. I dove towards the creature, making sure the ball of energy was close behind, then changed my direction at the last second.

"Gotcha!" I grinned, watching the ball hit the creature and explode.

There was a bubbling mess in the middle of the creature, but like before, it didn't stay that way. The damage was quickly repaired and it returned to going after the chained sacrifices. I gulped, knowing that this was not good. If the Baron's powers couldn't stop it either...

Suddenly I heard a voice call, "Here I come to save the day...!"

I snapped around, seeing Beth and the others. They'd come after me. And Beth was holding a mean looking gun that she must have taken from McKenzie's armory.

"And don't you dare say that this is personal." Beth...Rumor growled, "or I'll kick your ass girl."

Forcing a smile, I honestly answered, "Glad to have you."

Then, everyone cut loose on the creature at once. Rumor started blasting at the beast with her energy gun. Quartz fired massive shotgun like blasts of crystals straight at it. Splash was blasting it with highly pressurized blasts of water, the kind that can cut through concrete. And Surge was throwing electron bomb after electron bomb, some of them bigger than any I'd seen him ever make before, but none of that did much to the creature. It just kept regenerating the damaged areas and acting as if it hadn't felt it at all.

"We're not getting anywhere this way." I growled, "We have to save the victims." I'd already managed to pull several more out of the way while the creature crawled towards them. but I knew that I couldn't do it forever. Especially with Baron Nevermore still there.

"No." Surge commented thoughtfully, "We need to get him IN the way." He gestured towards Baron Nevermore. At my look, Surge quickly explained, "If he's in danger, he'll have to help us stop this thing."

"Good idea." I said, looking towards Beth. "Rumor..."

She nodded and a moment later, had vanished. I watched as she appeared right beside Baron Nevermore, then vanished yet again, dropping him unceremoniously on the ground in front of us. He looked completely surprised.

"What...?" the Baron stammered.

"You're going to send him back." I told the Baron, "Or else you'll be one of his victims too."

However, Baron Nevermore laughed. "I think not. I welcome the beast's nightmares. I thrive on them." Then, the Baron screamed something and both ravens attacked Rumor. "Edgar, tear her eyes out. Shred her throat Allan."

"What?" Surge gasped, obviously thinking that he was the one being addressed.

I didn't even bother to worry about Rumor since I knew that the birds couldn't touch her unless she let them. A quick glance verified this. She actually seemed to be having fun tormenting them instead.

Then I noticed the mindless monsters. They were still all over the place, or at least the one's that hadn't been killed in their fighting. Several of them were coming towards us, while several more seemed intent on charging the monster. It was only then that I realized that in spite of their appearance...at heart, they were innocent victims too.

"Shit!" I screamed, "Splash, stop them!" She gave me a confused look and I had to yell, "Don't let those creatures near the monster. If he eats any of them or any other innocent, he'll be here for good." She nodded her understanding and a moment later, a wall of water threw them back out of the way. "Thank God for fire hydrants." I muttered.

Baron Nevermore just grimaced and muttered something under his breath. Then, he started to lift off the ground, obviously planning to escape. At the same time, he threw a ball of white light at me, missing but when it hit the ground, the concrete melted into a puddle of white slime. Tentacles began to creep out of it.

"Oh no." I grimaced, not waiting around long enough to deal with more tentacles. Instead, I shot straight up after him.

"You are no match for me." Baron Nevermore snarled, beginning to sound angry. "I destroyed the real Ms. Miracle, so who do you think you are to try stopping me?"

I just growled at that, burning with anger. "I'm her son." For a moment, Baron Nevermore paused in surprise, which I used to catch up to him, grabbing him firmly by his shoulders. "SHE WAS MY MOM!" I screamed, feeling the bones crack beneath my fingers. I hadn't even intended to do that.

"What...?" the Baron gasped, looking at me in pain.

"You killed my mom." I spat, nearly shaking from rage. "I'm not going to let you get away. And I'm not going to let you destroy the world." I forced myself to keep from strangling him like I wanted, forcefully ordering him, "Stop that fucking creature NOW!"

There was a look of surprise in his eyes again, but he spat, "No. I can't." He almost sounded smug about it. "And I'll destroy you the same way I destroyed your MOTHER!"

Baron Nevermore's free hand was glowing green and he reached for me. I knew instantly that I didn't dare let him, not knowing what would happen but knowing that it wouldn't be good. And at the same time, I saw the monster getting too close to yet another innocent.

"NO!" I screamed, reacting out of instinct more than anything and throwing the Baron as hard as I could towards the monster.

Suddenly, the creature snatched Baron Nevermore out of the air with one of it's massive mouths, and the Baron vanished inside with a loud, sickening crunch.

"Oh God." I gasped.

"Ew, yuck." I could hear Splash exclaim, "I think I'm gonna hurl."

At that, the nightmare beast stopped moving. It stood where it was, tentacles still waving. Then suddenly it started to go backwards, not like it was moving itself, but as if something was pulling it. I watched in amazement as the creature slid across the road, through it's own slimy trail and heading straight back for the pit.

"What's going on?" Quartz demanded.

"I..." Surge gasped, "I think we won."

I just stared silently as the creature was pulled back into the pit, waving it's tentacles around. Then it sank in, making a horrible screaming sound that I knew would fill my nightmares. But once it was gone from view, the smoke stopped billowing out of the hole. There was a strange rumbling sound, then suddenly it seemed to explode from within. Splatters of lava shot up, but when it all cleared away, there was nothing but a rubble filled crater in the middle of the intersection.

"How the hell did we win?" Rumor demanded. "I mean it got it's sacrifice."

"But not an innocent one." I whispered, setting down next to them. "An innocent victim would have given him stability..." I muttered quietly, working it out in my own mind, "but Baron Nevermore was the opposite of that..."

"And the guy who cast the spell." Rumor added quietly.

"So he got exiled." Surge finished, sounding a little satisfied.

I just stared at the crater, gulping. Baron Nevermore was finally gone. The man who'd killed my mom. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about that. But I thought that I felt better. At least a little bit.

Looking around, I noticed that Baron Nevermore's ravens were both on the ground, lying motionless as their feathers dissolved, leaving only two skeletons behind. I shivered, wondering what the hell Edgar and Allan really were.

"Look." Splash exclaimed excitedly.

Then, I noticed it as well. The horrible plants and tentacles everywhere were vanishing. As was Baron Nevermore's pile of skulls and throne. The people who had been turned to statues were starting to move, life returning to them. I knew that they'd be back to normal within a few minutes. Another quick look around had revealed that even the monsters were turning back into humans while the chains were vanishing off of those who had them. Everything was returning to normal.

"Thank God." I whispered, letting out a sigh of relief.

"No..." Rumor said slowly, quickly grabbing me in a firm hug, "Thank you."

I shook my head and smiled faintly. "No...thank you. All of you."

We'd done it. We'd stopped the bad guy, avenged my mom's death and saved the world. And at the moment, all I really wanted was a long hot bath, a nice steak dinner and then...spending some good quality boy time with Beth. That last especially made me smile, but I knew that I'd appreciate it a hell of a lot more after the others were taken care of.

I was in my apartment, standing in front of my mirror, staring yet again at the gorgeous woman in front of me. It was a sight that I never grew tired of. Nor ever failed to get horny from. I had definitely become a true narcissus, and not only knew it...but reveled in it.

Several weeks had passed since my fight with Baron Nevermore, and I still had nightmares about it. Fortunately though, they were coming less frequent and not nearly as often when Beth was sleeping with me.

In that time though, I had also become even more well know to the public. Everyone was aware that Ms. Miracle had returned and almost no one even guessed that I wasn't the original. Even the other super-heroes whom I'd met since. Ones who had known her. It filled me with an odd sort of pride, knowing that I was carrying on her legacy so well. And I was determined to keep doing it to the best of my abilities. I was going to do my mom proud.

"Nice." I sighed, turning away from the mirror and glancing towards the clock. I had to get ready for another 'girls night out'.

As I looked at the identity papers and drivers license that were on my table, I smiled faintly. McKenzie had thought they'd come in useful. A full set of legal papers all made up for a Daphne Amanda Walker. With those, all I had to do was change my hairstyle and makeup, and I could walk around town as a woman without being recognized. It had surprised me at first, but I'd quickly learned that when I'm in costume, people pay much more attention to the costume itself...not to mention what was revealed beneath it than they did to my face. That just made it easier for me.

I smiled, thinking of Beth. We had definitely grown even closer in the past weeks. And to even my own surprise, I had lately been thinking about popping the question. But for someone as powerful as I'd become, it was amazing just how scared a little question made me. How weak at the knees.

For a moment, I paused and slowly ran my hands over my body, over my nice curves. Then I smiled, thinking how ironic it was. I'd finally gained the ability to turn back into a man again at will, but I'd barely used it ever since. Of course I'd still rather be a man than a woman, but there was one catch. One that I'd discovered very quickly.

"Funny." I commented to myself with a wry smile.

I had grown used to my strength and my stronger senses. So now, whenever I turned back into a man, I felt incredibly weak and dull. I hated that feeling, so usually didn't bother changing back into a guy. At least not when I wasn't spending very personal time with Beth, when I tended to go either way, depending on my mood. There was no denying that I had grown to love my powers and wanted to keep them...even if it meant staying a woman. Even if used for good, power was addictive.

The memory of Baron Nevermore and his hunger for more power made me nervous though. Afraid that such a thing might happen to me. However, Beth assured me that it wouldn't since I had no desire for more power. That made me feel better, but there were still the nagging fears. The fears that I suspected would keep me from that path.

Once I was finally dressed, I stood in front of the mirror admiring myself again, silently thanking Sabrina for her makeup and fashion lessons. I looked hot. And if I could, I'd fuck myself in an instant. That just made me sigh faintly.

I picked up my purse with an ironic smile, thinking about just how drastically my life had changed with a simple choice. Simply saying yes to the experiment. If not for that choice, I never would have met up with Beth. I never would have gained my powers or my incredible body. I never would have met my friends or saved all of those lives. Instead, I would have continued through college, struggling for grades and the money to keep me there.

But the greatest thing that I'd gained from the choice was the truth. The truth about my mother. A chance to put away all of the ghosts that had been haunting me for six years. To avenge my mom's death and most of all...to keep her legacy alive. For myself...and the world.

Then with a smile, I looked at the dual pictures of my mom, one of each incarnation. I fought back the tears that threatened to come, silently giving thanks for what had happened to me...and the honor of continuing her legacy. And in a whisper, I added, "Life really is full of miracles."

Submitter's note:

It is recommended that these stories be read in order.

The traffic passed by on the street, as did the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk, though it seemed to be barely noticed by the woman. She wore loose fitting clothes and had dark hair that was pulled back into a sort of pony tail. She quietly watched her surroundings through a pair of glasses, then paused suddenly.

The woman glanced around her with darting eyes for several seconds, almost as if expecting something unpleasant at any moment. However, once she saw that it was clear, she let out an embarrassed sigh, shifting her grocery bag to the other hand and then continuing down the sidewalk towards her home.

She frowned, hurrying up slightly, noticeably weary as well as wary. It had been an extremely busy day and she was eager to get back to the comfort of her apartment. Back to where she could relax without worry. At least for awhile.

"Damn I can't wait to get home." the woman sighed. "Bubble bath, here I come."

Several minutes later, the woman smiled, knowing that she was almost home. There were only 3 more blocks to go before she could relax in her bathtub.

Suddenly the loud sound of tires screeching filled the air, causing her to snap around in surprise, only to see a car flying down the street out of control, heading in her direction, but not directly at her.

"Look out!" she yelled in warning.

Then, the car smashed into the corner of a pickup, nearly knocking both into the air with the explosive collision and sending the contents in the truck's bed flying in all directions. Without warning, a large piece of the shrapnel caught the woman in the head...nearly obliterating it with the raw force. An instant later, the woman collapsed to the ground...dead.

George Atkins frowned as he stared at the front page of the newspaper. Once again it was covered with pictures of those super freaks. Those people who were called 'developed'. Heroes and villains...or at least that was what the papers called them. George just called them trouble. Each and every one of them. All they ever did was fight each other in public and destroy things.

"Put normal people in danger." he snorted, wondering what could possibly drive people to put on silly costumes and run around like lunatics the moment they gained super powers.

Then, George set the paper down, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He didn't want to get excited. He couldn't let himself. Not anymore. With a sigh, George opened his eyes and reached over for the small bottle just an arms length away. A moment later, he swallowed another one of the pills that he had grown to hate.

"Damn heart." George muttered, standing up and moving to the window.

It was a congenital defect according to the doctors. Something wrong with his heart that was only getting worse with time. At 37, George had already had 3 heart attacks and knew that he was in line for worse. It was only a matter of time, and not a large amount of time at that. The doctors had said that if he didn't get a transplant and soon, he was highly unlikely to reach 39 and would definitely not make it to 40.

After staring out the window for a moment, lost in his thoughts, George went to the bathroom and relieved himself before finally returning to the newspaper. He only glanced through the latest alien invasion story, preferring to look at the sports section instead.

Some time later, George was just folding the paper when the phone started ringing. With a grumble, he reached for it, hoping that it wasn't another telemarketer. Then again, he had a whistle sitting right next to the phone, just for such occasions.

"Hello." George answered.

For the next minute, George barely said a word as he listened numbly to the person on the other side. When he finally hung the phone up, he just sat there for several seconds, staring at the wall. He could barely even remember anything that had been said except for 4 words. "We found a donor."

George leaned back in his recliner, glad to finally be home after all that time he'd spend in the hospital. But fortunately, just that morning the doctors had looked at him again and decided that he had recovered enough from his transplant to go home.

"Home sweet home." George sighed, never having imagined that he'd be so thankful to return to his small apartment. However, there was no doubt that it was much better than that sanitized prison they called a hospital. "Maybe now I can get some beer and decent food."

After flipping through the TV channels for a few minutes, George absently rubbed at the tender spot on his chest. The sutures had already been removed and it was healing up nicely, but it still felt a bit tender and uncomfortable. But not quite as uncomfortable as the thought of someone else's heart being in him now.

"Good old fucking Frankenstein." he muttered, wondering if that was how the monster felt.

But at least he was still alive and with luck, would remain so for a good long while. At least if his body didn't reject the new organ...though he was taking plenty of medication still just to help prevent that. But it was no guarantee. As George was well aware, there were no guarantees except for death and taxes. Even if the doctor had told him just that morning that he was healing remarkably well and had seemed pretty optimistic.

With a grunt, George climbed out of his chair, wincing at the discomfort from his chest and started towards the bathroom to relieve himself. Once he was done, he stood in front of the sink, staring at his reflection with a frown.

George was pale and tired looking from his surgery. His dull brown hair was rumpled and messy, receding slightly in the front and thinning a bit in the back. He looked down at his gut, remembering what the doctor had said about watching what he ate and wondering if it might not be a good time to loose a few pounds. Then again, he'd already lost quite a few pounds in just the time he'd been in the hospital.

Then, George sighed and splashed his face with cold water to help wake himself up. He turned and left the bathroom, daydreaming about a nice gold beer and a thick steak. The very thought made him nearly drool, though it was on the doctors 'forbidden' list.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." George mumbled to himself.

Returning to the TV, George sat and watched the news for several minutes, grimacing when it turned to a story between the Protectorate and the Evil Eight in Chicago. Even more so when it showed Vigil punching some armored man and knocking him straight through the side of a building.

"Damn punks." George snorted. "Bastards blow up buildings and then get called heroes."

George glared at the TV but kept watching the story, knowing that he shouldn't let it get to him but unable to help it. He had realized just how harmful these so called heroes were years earlier when one of them destroyed his car in a fight. And of course the damn insurance company didn't cover acts of 'developed'.

Several minutes later, George had nearly forgotten about the news story as he watched what was on the news at that moment. He scratched at his arm, then looked down in surprise when he saw some of his arm hairs coming out.

"What the hell?" George mumbled, scratching again and finding more hairs coming loose. "Must be stress from the operation." George told himself, "Or a side effect from these drugs."

With a shrug, George turned, then caught sight of the picture sitting nearby. The picture that filled him with conflicting emotions. He knew that the very sight of it made his blood pressure skyrocket, but that didn't stop him from reaching over to pick it up. To stare at it silently. The picture had a woman and two kids in it. His kids. And his ex-wife as well, though he hadn't seen any of them in nearly two years. Not since the bitch had divorced him then moved to the other side of the country, taking the kids with her.

"Bitch." George spat, sitting the picture back where he found it...face down.

Then, getting up again, George turned off the TV and started towards the bedroom. For some reason, he didn't feel like celebrating his new heart like he had wanted. Instead, he yawned, deciding that maybe the doctors were right. He really could use some more rest.

The morning after George's release from the hospital, he stepped out of his shower and started to dry himself off. Then, he glanced down and saw the shower drain.

"What the hell?" George gasped, bending down for a better look.

It was hair. The tub, especially the drain was covered with small hairs. With a frown, he remembered the day before and looked at his arms. His eyes went wide as he saw that there was noticeably less hair. Maybe half as much. And a quick examination over the rest of his body revealed that it wasn't just on his arms either. The hair on his legs and stomach had started falling out as well, though he couldn't tell from his chest since it had been shaved for the operation.

Shaking his head, George decided he'd ask the doctor about it when he went in for his next follow-up. Then, he stepped onto the bathroom scale and was surprised again. The scale said that he'd lost more weight. Five pounds since the day before.

George blinked in confusion. "I can't have lost THAT much hair." However, that was what the scale said.

For several seconds, George just stared at the scale and then he looked at his stomach, thinking that it did look a little smaller. But since he knew that there was no way he could have really lost so much weight, he shrugged, deciding that the scale had to be off.

"Might as well get dressed." George mumbled. However he didn't really see why since he wasn't going to do much except hang around the house and watch TV. At least until he was ready to go back to work.

The next morning was much like the one before it. George woke to find his bed-sheets liberally sprinkled with his body hairs, then after his shower, the but as well. However, his own body was nearly naked of the hairs that had thoroughly covered it just a short time alone. All except for the hairs on his head and his pubic area.

George was upset at the way his body hair had fallen out, but not nearly as much as when he'd weighed himself on the scale, finding that he'd lost weight yet again. This time he'd lost over 11 pounds from the day before, much to his shock.

However, George tried not to think about it. Tried not to worry about the sudden weight loss, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that it was just the scale. Not again. Not with his visibly thinner waist and the way his clothes were all a little loose on him.

There was no doubt in George's mind that something was wrong. He couldn't help but fear that it was something wrong with the transplant. Or maybe he had cancer. That thought made him choke up, even worse than before. However, he grimaced, telling himself that it was nothing, even if he didn't believe it.

Finally, by the end of the day, George couldn't take it any longer. His fears had nagged at the back of his mind throughout the whole day. Thoughts of cancer or his new heart being rejected were too strong to continue to ignore. He had to see a doctor, and he had to see one soon.

George gulped and stared nervously at the doctor in front of him. Dr. Shamus had been the doctor to take care of most of the surgery, and had been working with George about his heart problem for some time. George didn't like doctors, but if there was any doctor that he trusted at all, it was Dr. Shamus.

"Hmmm." Dr. Shamus mused, "Your body hair falling out is probably the result of the shock to your system." He paused, "That isn't anything to worry about and I'm sure that it will grow back soon enough."

Frowning, George nodded, "But what about this?" He patted his stomach. "I mean, I've lost over 25 pounds since I got out of here a couple days ago." Then he grabbed at his shirt which was hanging a little loose on him, though not as much as his pants, "This can't be right."

Dr. Shamus frowned. "You know that's not possible. Not in such a short time." Then at the look on George's face, he asked, "Have you had diarrhea or any vomiting problems?"

"No." George growled impatiently. Then, he gulped and nervously asked, "Is it being rejected?" He gently tapped at his chest, trying to hide the fearful look in his eyes.

"Let me take a look." Dr. Shamus told him, pulling out the stethoscope and getting to the checkup that was the real reason George was there.

A minute later, George had undone his shirt so that Dr. Shamus could get examine him. However, Dr. Shamus stared at his chest with a look of amazement, then blinked before slowly touching the scar from the operation.

"This isn't possible." Dr. Shamus whispered.

"What?" George demanded, staring down were the doctor was examining him. "What's wrong?"

Dr. Shamus didn't answer for a few seconds, and when he did, he just whispered, "Your scar."

George snapped, "What about it?"

"It's...It's healed." Dr. Shamus looked George in the eyes, his own eyes filled with questions. At George's blank look, Dr. Shamus stood back and said, "The incision wound is scarred over." "But isn't that good?" George asked, feeling nervous and confused at the same time.

"Normally yes..." Dr. Shamus said quietly, "but this scar tissue looks several years old. Not several weeks."

"What?" George gasped, staring down at the scar on his chest in amazement. He even ran his finger over the long scar, gulping as he did so.

Dr. Shamus didn't waste any more time being surprised though as he took his stethoscope and continued his examination. There was a determined but curious expression as he went about it, checking George's heart rate and blood pressure.

Several minutes later, Dr. Shamus stood back and stared at George oddly.

George frowned, "Well? Am I rejecting it?"

"No." Dr. Shamus responded slowly. "Your body doesn't show any signs of rejecting it, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it won't." He took a deep breath, then said, "However..."

"However what?" George demanded, putting his shirt back on.

"Your new heart sounds strong and your blood pressure is good." Dr. Shamus paused, "In fact, too good. I've never seen anyone recover from a major surgery so rapidly." He stared at George for a moment before adding, "ANYONE."

George stared at Dr. Shamus for nearly a minute in stunned silence. He didn't know what to think. First he was told that there weren't any problems like he'd feared, now he was being told that the only thing odd was that he was healing too fast and was in too good a shape. He wasn't sure what to think of that.

"Um...thanks." George finally told Dr. Shamus. "And you don't know why I'm losing weight too?"

Dr. Shamus shook his head. "All I can guess is that your metabolism has sped up for some reason. That might explain both the rapid scarring as well as the weight loss, but to be honest...I've never seen anything like it before."

George nodded weakly before thanking Dr. Shamus again. And after Dr. Shamus promised to look into it, George left the office, not sure whether to feel worried or relieved at what he'd discovered. Especially when he still wasn't sure just what it was that he had discovered.

The old stairs seemed to creak with each step as George slowly made his way upstairs, towards his apartment. Each creak seemed slightly threatening and ominous, hinting at the buildings age. However, George ignored the creaking as he always did, knowing that it meant nothing.

When George reached the top level, something nagged at the back of his mind though he couldn't quite place it. Frowning, he adjusted his belt which still seemed too loose, in spite of pulling it several notches tighter, then continued down the hall towards his apartment.

"God damn weirdness." George grumbled, wondering at the same time why he was complaining about losing weight. However, it seemed the right thing to do, not to mention being an old and comforting habit.

Just as George started opening his door, the door across the hall opened up and someone else stepped out into the hall and stared at him for a moment. George just glanced over at his neighbor, the 19 year old girl Kelly. She was about 5 foot 8 with a slender body and near shoulder length red hair. Rather cute, he thought, though she was almost young enough to be his daughter.

"Hey," Kelly greeted George, "I heard you were in the hospital. Are you all right?" She actually sounded concerned, which left George a little surprised since they barely even knew each other.

"I'm fine." George told her shortly, thinking that it was none of her business. However, as he was about to go inside his apartment, he felt a faint twinge from the manners that his mother had tried instilling in him. After all, Kelly had only tried being nice. George looked back at her with a scowl and forced himself to be nice back, "I had a heart transplant, but the doctor says I'm healing fine."

Kelly winced. "Ouch. That's gotta hurt."

George nodded, feeling uncomfortable talking with the near stranger, "It did. A lot."

"At least you're healing all right." Kelly responded, moving closer. "I'll bet your family is pretty relieved."

George froze at that and glared at Kelly. Kelly gulped and stepped back, "What's wrong?"

For a moment, George just stood there shaking as memories of his ex-wife Angie filled him. Not all pleasant ones either. Finally, he spat out, "None of your damn business." Then he went inside and slammed the door behind him, still cursing the woman, though he wasn't quite sure which of the two he meant.

It was late evening, nearly time for bed and George stood at his window, staring out at the building across the street, though it was faintly illuminated by the street lights and the lights from the windows. He frowned as he looked at the corner of the building which was shattered and ruined, the remnants of some super freak the week before.

With a sigh, George closed the curtains and absently scratched at his chest for a moment. Then he tugged at his loose shirt, frowning as he thought about what Dr. Shamus had told him earlier that day.

"He's a quack." George grumbled, making his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

After George had relieved himself, he reached for his toothbrush then glanced in the mirror, blinking several times as he realized that something seemed odd. It took him several seconds though to realize what it was.

"My hair." George whispered, reaching up and gently tugging on it. His hair was no longer receding quite as bad in front. And when he checked, he found that it wasn't quite as thin in the back either. "My God. Did someone slip me so Rogain or something?"

George continued to stare at his hair in the mirror for several minutes, smiling in spite of himself. His thinning hair had been a mark of embarrassment for some time, just as his thickening stomach had been. Now, for some strange reason, both problems were going away on their own.

"I'll be damned." George muttered.

Several minutes later, George finished brushing his teeth and made his way to bed. He went to sleep with a smile for the first time in as long as he could remember. Maybe things really were going his way for a change.

George ran his fingers through his hair as he stood in front of the mirror, feeling a little smug. There was no doubt in his mind that his hair was a little fuller than the day before, not to mention longer by about an inch. And as he examined his reflection, he could have sworn that his hair was just a tiny bit darker as well.

"Not bad." George told himself, feeling rather proud. He patted his almost flat stomach at that, glancing over the rest of his body which was also noticeably thinner. "Who says you need to exercise to lose weight." He chuckled at that.

With a chuckle, George reached for his razor and then paused, running a hand across his jaw. There was a little stubble there, but not nearly as much as there usually was. After a moment, he decided that it wasn't even worth the effort of a shave. However, he continued to stare at his reflection in the mirror, feeling rather satisfied that he no longer looked pasty and unhealthy like he had.

Then, as George was looking at the fading scar on his chest, he froze, noticing something odd. Pausing for a moment, he gently pushed at his chest which had been itchy for the last day, only to find that his chest was puffy.

"Oh shit." George gasped, suddenly fearing the worse. That he was infected from the surgery, then he paused for a moment and realized that a little swelling shouldn't be too unusual.

For a moment George just continued to touch his chest in the puffy spots, then he shrugged, deciding that it probably wasn't anything to be worried about. After all, the cut itself was scarred and looking fine, not to mention the fact that Dr. Shamus had told him that he was fine.

Still, George couldn't resist muttering, "Those quacks never know what they're talking about."

With a half hearted snort, George turned and started to get dressed. As he did so, he couldn't help thinking about how good he felt for having a surgery so recently. In fact, he actually felt better than he had in years, no doubt due to the weight loss, not to mention the new heart. Either way, George felt healthy enough to run several miles, though he had absolutely no intention of doing so.

"I bet I could go back to work today." George exclaimed aloud, though he had no intention of doing that either. Not when he still had several weeks of medical time off.

Once he was finished dressing, George tugged at his shirt and frowned. It was too loose on his shoulders now as well, though not nearly as loose as his pants had become. Even the ends of the legs were beginning to drag on the ground. Strange, but George didn't really think about it since it was just one more thing among many.

For the rest of the day, George went to the theater to watch a movie, which was a rarity for him. Then after grocery shopping, he stopped at a bar for beer and dinner. Throughout it all, he kept absently scratching at his chest through his shirt and adjusting his clothes. He suspected that something was wrong but refused to think about it, telling himself it was just side effects from the surgery and medication. Instead, he kept trying to distract himself.

That evening, George finally made his way home. As he stopped to check his mail in the lobby mailbox, he was somewhat startled to see Kelly already there checking her own. For a moment, George paused, half tempted to apologize to her for his comments the night before, then he decided to just ignore her. It was certainly much easier.

"Um..." Kelly started, staring at George with an odd look. "Are you all right Mr. Atkins?" She paused, "You looked...I don't know..."

"What?" George demanded with a snort.

Kelly suddenly brightened. "Oh, you did your hair." She seemed pleased for a moment, but quickly frowned, "No, there's more. You just look different somehow."

George gave Kelly an annoyed look. "I didn't do anything so you must be imagining it." However, even as George said this, he wasn't so sure.

"That's OK." Kelly responded, "No offense though, but you do look a little better than usual. Maybe it's just your transplant and all."

With a snort, George finished with his mailbox and started up the stairs to his apartment. Kelly followed close behind, cheerfully talking with George though it was nearly all a one sided conversation except for the occasional grunt. That didn't seem to bother her though.

When George finally reached his apartment door a short while later and Kelly called out, "Talk to you later Mr. Atkins. Hope you have a nice night."

George grunted, feeling relieved but at the same time rather...disappointed. He had to admit to himself that she was a rather cute girl, and she did mean well. In fact, she was one of the few people that even bothered to talk with him anymore. But she seemed just a bit to much like Pollyanna at times and annoyed him at the same time.

Then, remembering Kelly's comments, George went to look in the mirror, gasping when he did so. The reflection was still his own, but not the same him that was there that morning. There was no doubt that his hair was longer, by at least another inch, perhaps more. But it was darker as well. And so was his skin, though not by very much at all. Still, it was a noticeably difference from the pasty color from not long before. At the same time, his whole face seemed somehow...smoother. Softer.

"What the hell kind of disease is this?" George grumbled, tugging at his clothes.

Even George's shoes were loose, almost as if they'd grown at least a size during the day. A minute later, George undressed and stared at himself intently, carefully noting all of the changes, subtle as they might be. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew that it wasn't normal. Nobody had this happen to them, even after something like a heart transplant.

George had lost almost all of his bodyfat and his stomach was very slender, even showing hints of his abdominal muscles. His arms and legs, now all smooth and hairless, were thinner but firm and healthy looking.

However, George gasped at two of the most noticeably changes. The swelling on his chest had gotten even worse, almost looking like some 12 year old girl's breasts. Even his nipples seemed larger, which confused George.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" he demanded, beginning to grow even more terrified. It only grew worse though as he looked further down. "My dick!" He frantically grabbed at his cock which was only half the size of normal, as were his testicles. "My balls..."

For the next fifteen minutes, George held his cock and balls tightly, as if they would shrink more or vanish the instant that he let go. He'd never felt more confused in his life, or afraid. Finally though, he slowly pulled his hands away and took another long look at his body, gulping fearfully as he did so.

Taking a deep breath, George whispered, "I'm going to have to talk to that damn quack again." He shivered slightly, promising himself to do that first thing in the morning since he knew that it was too late at the moment. Still, he was half tempted to go to the hospital emergency room anyway, even though he hated hospitals. "Tomorrow." He promised.

With that, George started for his bed, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the strangeness of what was happening. However, he knew that the sooner he got to sleep, the sooner he'd be able to see Dr. Shamus. And hopefully find out what was happening to him.

George stood, staring down at his phone nervously...nearly shaking as he did so. He knew that he had to call Dr. Shamus and he wanted to call Dr. Shamus, but he was afraid to do so. Afraid of what he might find out.

Taking a deep breath, George gulped and looked down at his naked body, almost wishing that he hadn't woken up that morning. The changes which were so visible the night before were even more so now. He'd nearly screamed when he woke up and had to face them.

With that, George hesitantly touched the swellings on his chest, no longer having any doubt what they were. "Tits." he growled, "I have tits." They were small, but there was no doubt that he had a pair of women's breasts now.

Then, George looked down at the rest of his body and grimaced. The breasts weren't the only changes. His whole body was a little smaller...and firmer. There was even muscle tone showing now. However, with the way his hips had widened and the swellings on his chest, he knew that he was beginning to look like a girl. And the fact that his cock and balls had shrunk further only made him wince more.

"No." George whispered, reaching back and running a hand through his hair. His hair that was several inches longer than the night before...and darker still.

Even George's face had changed, surprising him when he first looked into the mirror after waking up. Everything was subtly altered, making him look like a stranger. Almost...like a girl. And younger at that. His eyes, normally a dull gray, were now a very dark brown. His face was smooth, with no sign of stubble. George's teeth had even gotten in on the act, becoming straighter and growing a new tooth to fill in one gap.

Finally, George shook himself off and reached for the phone, taking a deep breath before he dialed. Once George was past the secretary and passed to Dr. Shamus, he started, "Hello..."

"And who is this?" Dr. Shamus asked cautiously.

George grimaced, realizing that even his voice was changing. After clearing his throat, he said, "It's George Atkins." Pausing for a moment, George started, "You remember those that stuff you were gonna look up...?"

Several seconds later, Dr. Shamus answered, "I'm did some research on your symptoms but was unable to find anything." After George let out a groan, Dr. Shamus continued, "Why? Have there been more problems?"

"Well..." George started, clearing his throat again to little effect.

"If so," Dr. Shamus told him, "just come on in and I'll get some more tests started on you."

George froze at that, groaning. More tests. As if he hadn't been given enough the last time with the blood sample and everything. It was obvious that Dr. Shamus didn't have a clue, and George grimaced to realize that there was nothing the doctor could to. After all, he knew that his symptoms were strange and doubted that any doctor could deal with them.

"No..." George told him quickly, "I'm fine." Then as George quickly hung up the phone, he exclaimed, "Damn quack!"

With a shudder, George turned away from the phone, thinking of what would happen if he let that quack go at him again. He'd end up in some sort of freak ward being poked and prodded as if he was some sort of alien. That was the last thing that George wanted, hating hospitals enough as it was.

Pausing next to his window, George stared out at the street below, trying to think of what he could do. He certainly hoped that whatever was happening to him was only temporary, but he was too big a believer in Murphy's Law to be very hopeful.

Suddenly, George noticed something outside on the other side of the street. He stared at a figure that was dressed all in some kind of dark blue tenchcoat and hat, standing off to the side and seeming to look directly at him. George couldn't make out any details, but he thought he saw some sort of gleam of light reflected from the figures face.

"What the fuck?" George growled, stepping back and looking around for the baseball bat that he kept handy. However, he felt foolish since the figure was below and glanced out the window again, only to find that the blue clad figure was gone. "Damn it."

After taking several deep breaths, George went and got dressed, though all of his clothes were too large, including his shoes. Still, that was all he had until he could get some more. He cursed the entire time he put on his clothes then started for the door, silently promising that he was going to kick the ass of whomever was responsible for doing that to him...then sue the quacks at the hospital for every cent they were worth. After all, George was sure that they were behind it...somehow.

"Talk about malpractice." George muttered as he left his apartment.

However, as soon as George stepped out the door, he knew that he had made a mistake. That he should have waited several minutes or at least have looked out first. Standing just across the hall, going into her own apartment was Kelly.

"Hey Mr..." she froze and her eyes went wide as she saw him, "Sorry, I thought you were..." Then she stopped and stared at him in disbelief. "It can't be..."

George gulped, feeling suddenly humiliated at being seen like that, but he quickly shoved that emotion away and growled, "Leave me alone."

"Mr. Atkins!" Kelly gasped, staring at him in shock, "It is you."

For a moment, all George could do was glare at her, covering his insecurities with anger. He stepped forward, unable to miss the fact that Kelly looked much taller to him. Almost looking him in the eye.

"I can't believe it..." Kelly gasped, staring intently at George, the easy grin on her face replaced with a serious expression. "What happened to you?"

"Fuck off!" George growled, turning around to leave. However, a pang of guilt hit him for being rude, so he slowly turned back to Kelly who was watching him silently. "I...I just started changing after my transplant." he explained.

Kelly whispered, "Oh." Her eyes were filled with questions.

"I..." George gulped, then gestured down at himself with a grimace, "I was going to get some new clothes." He felt embarrassed to admit as much, but it felt good to let it out. To finally tell someone other than those quacks.

"Oh my." Kelly gasped, "I don't know what to say." She stared at George for a moment longer before asking, "Does it like...hurt?"

Nodding his head, George started walking away but Kelly followed beside him, obviously wanting to know and not letting him get away. "Please?"

"It doesn't hurt." George grumbled, slipping back into his normal grumpy mode, "Maybe I'll talk to you about it later. Like I said kid, I've got to get some new clothes."

Kelly snorted at that, continuing along with George. "Yeah, but I don't think you have a lot of experience dressing in women's clothes and it looks like that's what you're going to need."

"No way in hell!" George growled, "I ain't wearing no woman's clothes. I ain't no damn woman." However, he silently added, "Yet." From what little was left, he knew that it wouldn't be much longer at all before he was officially a woman.

Kelly just snorted again at George's response. "Well, you'd look kind of funny dressed in guy's clothes right now." Then, smiling gently, she said, "If you tell me more about it, I'll help you shop for clothes. I know you big macho men aren't very good at that." She laughed as she finished.

Taking a deep breath, George looked at her, secretly relieved to have someone to talk to. To share his problems with. Then he nodded. As they continued on their way together, George started to slowly tell Kelly everything.

George and Kelly returned to the apartment building after two hours of clothes shopping. Two hours that seemed nearly an eternity for George as he suffered through the women's clothing and Kelly's constant chatter. She was rather annoying with her constant cheerfulness, but he had to admit, she was very friendly as well. Not to mention good at distracting him from his greater problems.

However, after all that shopping, George only left with a few clothes, suspecting that he was going to keep changing. At least for a little longer. In the end, he only bought several jogging suits, his current size and a little smaller, and two pairs of tennis shoes, one his current size and one a little smaller.

They stopped in the hall outside of their respective apartments, standing in an uncomfortable silence.

"You want me to come in and help you?" Kelly asked. She smiled as she quickly added, "I can teach you how to put on makeup and..."

George winced, "No thanks." He prayed that he never changed enough that he'd want to put that stuff on. However, he knew that if for some insane reason he did, then he'd have his teacher right next door. "I just want to rest."

Kelly nodded, "All right. See ya later then."

A minute later, George was back inside of his apartment, sighing in relief. It had been interesting to talk with Kelly, not to mention educational, but he was glad to be on his own again. At least for the moment, though he knew that he'd talk to her again. It was a relief to have someone he could talk to. Someone to listen.

"Home sweet home." George sighed, reaching up to scratch at his chin. "Ouch!" He winced as his fingernails painfully scratched at his chin and yanked his hand away, staring at it in shock. "Oh shit."

George's fingernails had grown longer...and sharper looking. They looked almost like claws and had drops of blood along several of their tips. George gulped and ran his fingers against his cheek, pulling them away to see a little more blood.

"Damn." George whispered, rubbing the blood away with the back of his hand and hoping that it wasn't too bad. "Better get a band-aid."

However, instead of going straight to the bathroom, George turned around the corner into his living room to leave his shopping bag, then suddenly froze in surprise as he saw that someone else was already there. Sitting on the other side, in his recliner. It was a man, dressed in a dark blue trench coat and with a matching colored wide brimmed hat. However, what drew George's eyes the most was the gold metal mask that covered his entire face. The face was blank and featureless, much like a mannequins, with only the two eye slits to reveal any humanity beneath.

"What the hell?" George gasped, dropping his bag and stepping forward with his fists clenched, wishing that he'd grabbed the baseball bat from the corner. "After I kick your ass, I'll have the cops take you away." George bluffed, trying to hide his fear of the intruder.

"Please relax," the intruder said, standing up and holding his hands out. Both were covered with dark blue cloves. "I mean you no harm Mr. Atkins."

George watched the man warily, burning with curiosity at who this stranger was, not to mention anger at his breaking in. Taking a deep breath, George forced himself to remain calm, or at least look like it. However, he couldn't resist glancing towards the corner where his baseball bat rested. He was sure that he could get to it before the stranger came at him. If the guy didn't have a gun hidden on him that was.

"Who are you?" George demanded nervously, "What do you want?" Then feeling stupid, he gasped, "I don't have any money, but you can take my TV..."

"I'm not a burglar." the man responded, sounding offended though George couldn't see his face to be sure. "Actually, I might be able to help you."

"Me?" George was confused.

The man nodded. "I am called the Face." the man stated, then chuckled slightly. "Ironic I know since mine is covered, but irony is what drives many of us."

"What do you mean?" George asked, feeling even more confused...and less threatened. The stranger...the Face didn't seem to really mean George any harm.

The Face slowly removed his hat, revealing the black hair beneath it. "I was once rather vain about my looks," he explained, "but now I am cursed to wear this mask as it is all that holds me within this physical plane."

George blinked, not feeling any more enlightened by the Face's explanation. Instead, he just wondered what kind of insane burglar had broken into his apartment.

"I apologize for coming in unannounced." the Face said, sounding embarrassed, "But I had to speak with you." At George's curious look, he added, "I know what has happened to you...and why."

"WHAT?" George gasped, looking down at himself with a grimace then back at the stranger.

"I only found out this morning." the Face said sadly, seeming to be staring straight at George. "It's...spooky. Like looking at a ghost."

Gulping, George repeated, "A ghost?"

The face nodded. "It was your transplant." His voice choked slightly. "It's turning you into the person it came from."

Then the Face gestured with his hands and his whole appearance suddenly shifted. His trenchcoat and all of his other clothes turned to a dark gray. While at the same time, the hair and skin revealed behind the mask suddenly vanished, leaving the mask hovering in what seemed to be mid air.

The ball of light expanded in an instant and was suddenly the image of a woman, looking slightly transparent. While at the same time, the Face had returned to his previous appearance. George however stared at the image of the woman in awe, recognizing the features as similar to what he saw in the mirror. That was what he was turning into. Who he was turning into.

She was dressed in loose clothes that made her look a little frumpy. She was just a little bit shorter than George currently was and had extremely dark hair, almost black though with highlights of brown, all swept back and pulled into a sort of loose pony tail. Her dark eyes were covered by a pair of glasses that added to her frumpy image. Her skin was tanned, revealing her non-Caucasian heritage. George guessed that she was at least part Hispanic or Pacific Islander, though it was only a vague guess.

"Her name is...was Melissa James." the Face said quietly...sadly.

Suddenly the image changed. It was the same woman, but dressed nothing like before. Her hair was free, revealing the pointed ears and the glasses were gone entirely. She wore a tan spandex costume from her neck down, though there were no sleeves, revealing her well muscled arms, though they were wrapped with partial crimson bandages. There was a red sash that hung loosely from her waist and a pair of sais strapped to her lower legs with some sort of red harnesses.

"But I knew her better as Wildcat." the Face finished.

George just gasped, not sure that he could take another surprise. He stared at the woman, who was obviously one of those super freaks. Just like the Face obviously was.

"But..." George started, not sure what to ask as his mind was filled with questions. He couldn't believe that he had some sort of super freak's heart, then glanced down and quickly looked for the scar, seeing that even that was almost gone. "But I..."

"We are...were team mates in Faction Zero...and friends." he choked at the last. "She was almost impossible to kill." he whispered. "She healed unbelievably fast. But then..." he gulped, "she was in a freak accident and killed."

"I'm...I'm sorry." George said quietly, feeling horrible for the woman's death, but at the same time unable to at least be thankful that he had a donor. The mixed feelings swirled inside of him while the Face continued.

"We didn't know." he said quietly. "When she disappeared, we didn't think anything about it. She's done it before on private missions. We all have. It comes with the territory."

The Face was quiet for a moment. "After I found out...I was sure that she'd come back. Her powers..." He paused again, adding, "Even Ms. Miracle came back..."

George felt a pang of guilt, almost as if he was responsible for killing this Wildcat woman. Then he asked, "But why the hell did this happen to me?" he gestured down.

Snapping out of his distraction, the Face looked at George. "Because of her powers. Her ability to heal from nearly any injury was in her cells. And when you received her heart, that very power started to go to work. But it was based on her body and DNA so it just continued to repair what it saw as an error. Your body."

"Oh shit." George whispered. Then something dawned on him. "If her heart did this to me...then what about other people who got transplants?" He was horrified to realize that he probably wasn't the only one. There might be others, all turning into clones of the same woman.

"No need to worry." the Face said quietly. "The kidneys and liver don't pump blood throughout the body in the same way as a heart so they wouldn't have anywhere near as rapid a reaction as you...if any." He paused a moment, then added, "And I used a spell to remove that possibility entirely."

"Remove..." George paused and looked down at himself, his mind quickly scrambling. As hope started to dawn, he gasped, "Then you can change me back to normal."

The Face shook his head. "If I had gotten to you soon enough...yes. But it is too late now. You're almost all the way through and Wildcat's powers have taken hold." He moved closer and ran a finger over George's cheek where he'd scratched it earlier, "Healed. And those very healing abilities would resist my changes. I am afraid that it is too late."

George gasped, staring down at himself once again before gasping, "Damn I need a drink. A stiff one." He sighed and sat down, staring up at the Face who no longer seemed intimidating.

After several minutes of silence, the Face said, "I suppose you will need some new clothes." At George's reluctant nod, he continued, "I kept Melissa's in case she came back, but now I see she isn't. You can have those since they will fit you soon."

Once George had thought about it for a few seconds, not liking the idea of hand-me-downs from the dead, but then admitting that it would make sense. Not only would it save him money that he didn't have, but it certainly couldn't be any worse than a hand-me-down heart.

"All right all ready." George grumbled, shaken but trying to act confident. "Let's get going then."

But instead of heading for the door, the Face gestured his hand and repeated the process of his coat turning gray while his flesh turned invisible. Again, it only lasted a moment while he cast the spell, explaining that the act of casting spells drained some of the energy needed to remain stable in reality. When he was done, there was a glowing red door in the middle of the floor that they both went through.

George looked around the new apartment he found himself in, feeling uncomfortable. It was obviously a woman's. But at the same time, it did seem a lot more empty than he would have expected. Not nearly as many decorations or personal possessions.

"This was her home." the Face said sadly. "But I do not think that Melissa would mind you having her clothes."

With that, the Face started for the bedroom and started packing clothes. However, George made sure that he didn't pack any bras or panties since wearing her underwear was definitely going to far.

Once several bags of clothes were pack, the Face reached into the closet and pulled another box out. This one he opened slowly, almost reverently, revealing the folded costume and sais that were inside.

"Her costume." he told George needlessly. "I'll keep this."

Then the Face paused for a minute before slowly turning towards George, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. Almost as if he was looking into George's soul.

"You possess her form...or at least will by the morning." the Face said quietly. "And you have her powers."

"Powers?" George asked, gulping uncomfortably. The Face had mentioned being able to heal quickly, but George hadn't really thought about it until that moment. "Shit." he spat, "Me...a super freak?"

"Wildcat had several abilities which you shall soon possess as well." the Face told George in a serious tone. "She could heal from nearly any injury...so long as she yet lived." He choked at that. "She was fast, agile and strong. To the best of human ability. Her senses were all perfect, especially her vision. She could see in nearly pitch black as clearly as if it was day."

George gulped. "Is that all?" He didn't know what to think about that. The thought seemed...horrifying. He didn't want to be some kind of freak.

"No." the Face responded, reaching down for George's hand. "She had claws as well...though she rarely used them, preferring to use her sais instead." He paused for a moment, adding in a lighter tone, "She was a great fighter, a martial artist, a courageous hero and...one hell of a dancer. But I don't think that those come along with her face."

"Thank Heaven for small favors." George grumbled. Then he asked, "Can you take me home now? I don't feel comfortable being here."

The Face nodded and once again did his gesturing. A minute later, George had gone through the glowing red doorway and was back in his own apartment. The Face barely said "Farewell." before he left through yet another magic door, leaving George home alone...with a lot to think about.

George sat on the edge of his bed, staring down at himself as he did for the last five minutes. Ever since he had woken up, knowing that his body had changed more during the night. And as he stared down at himself, he was sure that the changes had finally stopped.

Silently, George starred down at his smooth, feminine skin. It was several shades darker than normal, but nowhere near dark enough to be considered 'black'. His muscles were all very firm, giving him an extremely athletic appearance, though not quite that of a female bodybuilder. However, it was very close. He held out his hands and stared at the fingernails that were much more clawlike than before, sharp and hard.

Gulping, George gently cupped his breasts, guessing that they were about a C cup, though he was no expert. At the moment though, he absently wished that he had taken one of the bras from Melissa's apartment. Then he would know for sure.

Finally he turned his attention to the area between his legs, feeling oddly calm. But then again, it was what he expected. What he knew would eventually happen when he first realized that he was turning into a woman. In fact, George felt almost...relieved. Relieved that it was finally over.

"Damn." George whispered, rubbing hesitantly at the feminine slit between his legs. "I've got a fucking pussy." Then he chuckled slightly as he realized what he'd just said.

It was sensitive though, and in spite of himself, George had to admit that he was beginning to get turned on. His crotch began to get wet while at the same time, his nipples started to harden, feeling almost like a pair of tiny dicks with erections.

Taking a deep breath, George muttered, "Damn this is weird."

Then, feeling extremely curious, George stood up, frowning slightly at the weight on his chest, not to mention his new balance. However, it wasn't quite as noticeable as it would have been if he hadn't already started slowly getting used to the changes over the last few days.

A minute later, George stood in the bathroom in front of the mirror, blinking several times to make sure that he wasn't imagining it. It was a beautiful, but strong looking face. The reflection was that of the same woman the Face had shown him, though that was what he expected. Still, to see it with his own eyes...

"Damn I look hot." George exclaimed in surprise.

After looking his body over closely in the mirror, George gently flicked his now pointed ears, muttering about being a Vulcan. Then he opened his mouth wide and looked at his teeth, noticing that they too had finished changing. His canines were even slightly sharp and pointed, almost fanglike.

George just stood there for some time, taking turns between staring at himself in the mirror and staring down at his transformed body. It felt extremely strange to think of this as himself, even if it had been building up to it for several days.

"I can't believe this." George muttered. "I can't be no damn super freak."

With that, George remembered what the Face had said about powers, gulping as he did so. Did he really have them? Did he want them? George didn't know. But he knew that he had to find out for sure, just to satisfy his own curiosity if nothing else.

For one thing, George realized that he felt extremely good. Or at least extremely healthy. He didn't remember ever feeling so awake and energetic early in the morning. Almost like he could take on the whole world. And at the same time, felt extremely light on his feet and oddly graceful. Neither 'light' or 'graceful' had ever described him before. And as he flexed a bicep, he realized that he felt strong as well.

Then, after hesitating for a moment more, George reached over and turned off the bathroom light. And almost to his surprise, he could still see as if the light was on. Even his reflection in the mirror, though everything had a strange look to it. The colors were slightly off and just a bit darker, but he could still see with ease.

Letting out a whistle, George exclaimed, "Wow." The Face was right, he actually could see in the dark.

George turned the light back on and blinked a few times as everything changed colors again, wondering about the other powers that he supposedly inherited. He definitely didn't want to test the healing ability, then reminded himself that it was already tested. There was no more sign of the cut on his cheek from the day before than there was of the scar on his chest.

It was then that George realized that Mother Nature was calling. He grimaced and forced himself to sit down in the toilet, suspecting that this was going to be messy. To his relief, he was able to pee just as easily as before, though it did feel a little different coming out. But at least he had the same relief as before. He even remembered to wipe afterwards.

"Damn super freaks." George growled, not liking the idea that he was one of them now. At least he knew better than to put on spandex and do something stupid.

Finally, George shook his head and took one more look in the mirror before heading back to his bedroom to get dressed in the clothes that had belonged to real person who's face he wore. He didn't particularly like the idea of wearing them, but it was more than obvious that his own clothes were completely out of the question.

After George was dressed, he was relieved that most of the clothes were loose. The pants he was wearing and the large sweater did much to hide his new feminine figure. However, he grimaced uncomfortably, reminding himself to get some new underwear...or at least panties since they would probably fit him better at the moment.

Several minutes later, George hesitantly left his apartment. He stopped in the hall for a moment, staring at Kelly's door. It was almost on impulse that he knocked, telling himself though that he needed an experts help in shopping for women's undergarments.

The door opened up a short while later and Kelly stuck her head out, yawning for a moment then blinking when she saw George standing there. Her eyes immediately shot wide and she threw the door open.

"Mr. Atkins?" she gasped, blinking several times. "I mean, that is you isn't it?" At George's embarrassed nod, Kelly continued, "I mean, you look sorta like what you did yesterday, just..."

"I know." George sighed, looking down at his feet in embarrassment. "I...I finished changing."

Kelly blinked again, gesturing for George to come in, "Finished?"

"All the way." George admitted quietly, gesturing down at himself. "I also found out why this happened to me." At Kelly's look of interest, George smiled faintly, "I'll tell you about it later though. I was going shopping for clothes and hoped that you'd come with me."

With another yawn, Kelly sighed, "Sorry, I worked late last night." Then she shrugged, "Sure, why not. Just let me get showered and dressed. Make yourself at home." She gestured to her couch as she left the room, a lot less energetic than any other time that George had seen her.

George waited impatiently on the couch, staring at himself and peaking down his shirt the entire time. He still couldn't believe that it was his body, even if it did look like that Wildcat woman's instead. At that though , he felt a pang of guilt at her death though he knew that it was foolish. He certainly had nothing to do with it. Even if he was alive because of it.

Eventually Kelly came back out, dressed in her robe. "Glad to see you didn't run away on me." Kelly told George. She seemed a little more awake and cheerful than before her shower.

"Not yet." George told her with a faint smile. He didn't admit that he had been tempted to though.

George kicked his shoes aside, having removed them while he was waiting, then he moved towards Kelly. Then he stopped just several feet away, blinking in surprise as he realized that she was taller than him now by about an inch. That meant that he was about 5 foot 7 now.

"Damn." George grumbled, "Now I'm feeling short." He snorted, stepping back and remembering what the Face had said. He was stuck like that and going to have to get used to it.

Kelly giggled, "Could be worse you know."

"I know." George admitted reluctantly, silently adding 'but not much'. At least he was healthy he reminded himself, which was a BIG plus for someone with his old heart problems. That thought cheered him up immensely.

A short while later, Kelly was all dressed and gesturing for George to go into her bedroom. "Come on, I'll show you how to put makeup on." she giggled slightly, then added, "And you could probably use a little too."

George groaned, about to refuse, however he saw the look on Kelly's face and suspected that if he didn't let her 'help' give him makeup lessons, then she wasn't going to help with the clothes either. With a sigh, he followed.

The lessons went by less painfully than George would have suspected, though he still would have rather forgone them entirely. First Kelly did her own makeup, explaining to George what she was doing each step of the way, then she went and put his on, repeating the process, much to his impatience. When it was finished, George stared in the mirror, admitting that it looked good, though that didn't make him any less comfortable. He felt like a clown and said as much.

Kelly laughed, "It's not that bad. You get used to it too." George snorted, having no intention of doing that. However, Kelly went on, "But your clothes need work too. I mean, those are all right if you're trying to be real casual or keep anyone from noticing your body, but they're really not all that flattering."

"I've got other stuff too." George admitted, knowing that if he didn't, then Kelly would insist on buying more. "But I'm fine like this."

Kelly gave him a doubtful look, but after noticing George's expression, decided that it would be better not to say anything more about it. At least not yet. Instead, she changed the subject, "Well, let's get going then."

It was several hours later when George returned home, saying goodbye to Kelly again as he returned to his own apartment. He was even smiling as they separated, deciding that she might be a bit annoying at times, but Kelly was beginning to grow on him. In spite of himself, George was starting to like her.

"Well, I'm glad that's done though." George muttered, looking at the bag of lingerie in his hands, hardly able to believe that it was his. Or worse, that it actually fit him.

Then, George smiled faintly, wondering if perhaps he should surprise Kelly and change into something a little more feminine when they met later on for dinner. However, George quickly decided against it, silently cursing himself for even considering the idea.

"I'm a man damn it." he snorted. However, even as he said it, he looked down and knew that he certainly didn't look it. Not anymore and probably not ever.

Suddenly George froze, feeling that something was wrong though he couldn't place what. He dropped the shopping bag and slowly started forward, sensing that he wasn't alone. Whether it was a subtle smell or a faint sound, George wasn't sure, but he knew it for a fact.

"Who's there?" he growled in a low voice.

At that, a figure shimmered into view further down the hallway. A figure that George immediately recognized as the Face.

"I apologize for entering uninvited again," the Face said, taking off his hat and nodding, "but after I left yesterday, I realized that we should probably speak again."

George blinked, relaxing slightly though still being wary. "Why?"

"For one," the Face announced, sounding almost smug, "you are going to need assistance with legal paperwork. I doubt that your drivers license will be of much use. People with doubt, if not outright refuse to admit that you are who you claim to be otherwise. You will need a new identity I am afraid."

For a moment, George just stared at the man, then he gulped, realizing that he was right. There was no way that anyone would believe that he was George Atkins anymore. And Heaven help him if he got pulled over by a cop and handed over his current drivers license.

"Secondly," the Face continued, "I have some friends whom I'd like you to meet." George just stared at him, feeling a bit uncertain but the Face said, "Please."

Finally, George nodded hesitantly, wondering what it could hurt. "All right."

With a nod of his head, the Face turned and gestured with his hands, making another glowing red doorway appear off to the side. George only hesitated a moment more before following the strange man through it.

A moment later, George found himself standing in a large room that almost looked like some sort of gymnasium. However, there were no basketball hoops on the ends, nor any bleachers. Only targets on the walls, dummies, short walls and pillars. He looked around curiously, wondering where the Face had brought him.

The Face just stood there, almost as if waiting for something, making George more apprehensive than before. He wasn't really sure that he trusted the strange man yet, even if he did seem all right.

Then a man stepped into the room through a large doorway and stopped, staring at them both for a moment. The man was around 6 feet tall and dressed in a costume of white with dark blue. There was a white hood that came up over his head from behind and a dark blue bandanna over the lower part of his face, covering the mouth and nose.

"Face." the man commented, holding his hand out. It was only then that George noticed a white compound bow in that hand, then two quivers of arrows on his back. "You found Wildcat..."

At that, several other people in costumes came in behind this man, all of them stopping to stare at George and the Face. The looks on their faces were mixed, though George knew that he felt extremely uncomfortable. They were all super freaks.

"No." the Face announced, "This is the man I told you about." Most of them looked disappointed at that though several looked grim. "I brought him here to meet you all. I'm afraid that he is all that is left of Melissa."

The man George had first seen come in slowly moved towards him, the bow being held at his side in a non-threatening manner. He stared at George for a minute, not saying a word, then looked up at the Face for second before returning his attention to George.

"I'm sorry." the man said quietly. "I know that this has to be hard for you. And probably pretty damn strange."

"You have no idea." George grumbled, looking up at the man and realizing once again how much smaller he was than normal. Normally he probably would have been looking that man in the eyes, if not looking up only an inch or so.

The Face gestured to the man with the bow and said, "This is Shiver." The man...Shiver bowed in an exaggerated manner, "And these..." he gestured towards the remaining three, "are the rest of Faction Zero. Wildcat was one of us so I thought that it was appropriate for you to meet us all."

Shiver nodded, then quickly pulled an arrow to his bow and just as he was about to fire it, the arrow itself turned into a glowing white energy. A moment later, the glowing white arrow hit a wall on the other side of the gym, instantly covering it with ice.

"Shit." George exclaimed, glancing nervously towards Shiver.

"Shiver converts matter into a cryogenic energy." the Face explained.

Shiver snorted. "I can flash freeze anything I hit." He quickly pulled another arrow and fired it at the wall again, this time without making it glow. As soon as the arrow hit the frost covered wall, a large section of the wall shattered at the impact. "And that makes stuff fragile."

The others stepped forward and George gulped, watching them nervously. There was a blonde woman who had to be 7 feet tall. She was dressed up in some kind of red and gold costume that showed off her muscles pretty well. He vaguely remembered seeing her before on the news, just as he vaguely remembered seeing all of them.

"This is Mega." the Face said, gesturing towards the woman.

"Pleased to meet you." Mega responded, bending down slightly and sticking her hand out.

George's first impulse was to step back from this towering giantess, but he gulped and forced himself to shake her hand. Her handshake was firm, but not crushing like he'd feared.

"Melissa was a good friend." Mega said quietly. "But I think she would have been happy that her heart saved your life."

"Mega here can bench press a tank." Shiver commented casually. "At least when she's feeling tired."

Mega chuckled at that, then got a look of concentration on her face. With that, she started to grow, making George jump back. The woman grew from 7 feet tall up to 9, then continued to grow larger and larger until the top of her head was even with the ceiling.

"I am pretty strong normally," Mega commented, looking down at the nervous George, "But I can grow bigger for extremely short periods of time. Only a couple minutes though since I burn off a lot more energy that way." And with that, Mega started to shrink down again, quickly returning to her previous size.

George gulped nervously, wondering what kind of freak show he'd gotten himself involved in. He'd never been fond of super freaks as it was, but now he'd not only been turned into one but was standing in a room full of them. Still, he had to admit that Mega and Shiver seemed kind of friendly, not arrogant like he would have expected.

Next, there was some kind of metal woman who floated into the air. Her whole body was silver, white and dark blue. She had a dark blue face that made him think that she was a black woman, and silver metal cables that came from the back of her head and draped back like hair. He stared at her in amazement, not sure if she was some sort of robot or just a woman in armor.

"I am called Circuit." the metal woman commented, saying nothing more as she turned around in the air and fired blue energy blasts from the palms of her hands, completely destroying a pair of dummies on the other side of the gym. Then, she turned back and gave George a steady look before settling back on the ground, making no move to offer her hand.

"Um...yeah." George muttered, "Hi."

The last to step forward was a man with dark brown hair and a pony tail. He was wearing a costume that was mostly white with some black mixed in, and a gold metal belt and pair of gold metal bracelets on each wrist. However, the thing that drew George's attention the most was the pair of white feathery wings that were on his back, almost making him look like an angel of some sort.

"I am Icarus." the winged man commented, a grim expression on his face as he held out his hand. George hesitated only a moment before accepting it.

"Icarus is our team leader." the Face commented.

Icarus gave George a steady look. "I am not sure that I approve of the Face bringing you here, but I understand why. I am sorry for what you must be going through."

George thanked him, then commented, "And I guess you fly."

"Of course." Icarus responded, a faint smile threatening to form. "I also have force field generators on each wrist."

With that, he did something with his hand and a glowing blue disk formed around his left wrist. A shield of some sort. A moment later, a glowing blue blade came out of the wrist band on his right arm and he swung it through the air, giving no doubt that it was an effective weapon. Then both force fields vanished as he turned them back off.

George nodded slightly, still feeling uncomfortable at his surroundings, or at least the super freaks that surrounded him. He couldn't help thinking about all the chaos he'd seen on TV, caused by them and others like them. However, several of them didn't seem to be too bad, which only made George a little confused.

"Nice to meet you all." George lied. Then he turned to the Face and hesitantly asked, "You said something about new papers?"

"It'll take some time." the Face answered.

At that, Circuit stepped forward and commented, "I believe that it would be beneficial to test the depth of his changes." She spoke to the Face rather than George, "And to gauge the duplication of Wildcat's powers."

Icarus stared at George thoughtfully. "That might be a good idea." And as George started to protest, he quickly added, "And perhaps we might be able to find a way to reverse what happened to you." George immediately shut up at that and nodded his head agreement.

Several minutes later, George was in a smaller with only Circuit and Mega for company. The others had remained outside as they required George to strip naked for the first part of the examination. He felt humiliated to do so but grimaced and reminded himself that it might be the only way he could get back to being a man.

"Now stand on this platform." Circuit instructed in an even tone. "The device will scan perform an extensive scan and compare your biology to Wildcat's."

"Don't worry." Mega assured him gently, setting a hand on George's shoulder, "It doesn't hurt a bit."

George nodded again, feeling out of his depth. But at least there weren't any quacks poking and prodding at him while making 'ooh' and 'ah' sounds. He couldn't stand that. Then he stepped on the raised platform.

The platform hummed slightly underneath George, glowing just a little, as did something that looked like a lamp above him. It tingled, but didn't hurt in the least. Still, George was glad when the humming stopped and he was told that he could get out.

"It'll take several minutes for the computers to finish everything." Mega told George with a grin.

"Sure." George snorted, then tried covering himself up in embarrassment.

"Don't worry," Mega chuckled, "We're all girls here."

George just glared at her, making her chuckle more. "No offense, but I'd just as soon not be."

While they waited for the results, Circuit stood there silently while Mega talked to George, telling him about the woman he now resembled. He listened intently, growing more curious about his heart donor.

Then the results finally finished and Circuit examined them for a moment before announcing, "Fascinating, though as I suspected."

"Well?" George demanded impatiently.

Circuit looked at George, seeming calm. "Your biology is identical to Wildcat's." She paused for a moment before adding, "Including your DNA."

George gulped and stared at Circuit silently, feeling confused. He wasn't sure what to think about that. Even his DNA wasn't his own anymore.

"But can he be changed back into a guy?" Mega asked, surprising George with the concern in her voice.

"It appears not." Circuit stated matter of factly.

"Great." George snorted, "Now I'm stuck as a chick." Then he remembered who he was talking to and quickly added, "No offense."

"I understand." Mega said quietly. "I know what it's like to lose your identity." At George's curious look, she explained, "I wasn't always this big you know. I used to be 5 foot 5."

"Oh..." George started, looking up at the amazon who had a sad look on her face.

"I had an accident with some chemicals and ended up like this." Mega gestured down at herself.

"I really don't see how that is quite as bad as this." George responded, gesturing at himself.

Mega suddenly looked almost angry. "I lost my damn fianc!" she snapped. "The kindest man I knew, and he was so intimidated by me that he couldn't bear being near me anymore. My own parents cower when I go to hug them. And don't talk about my old job."

George winced at her vehemence and stepped back, "I'm sorry..."

Throughout this all, Circuit remained silently. Mega just stood there tensely, but she quickly calmed down and forced a smile, even apologizing for the way she'd intimidated George.

Feeling disappointed, George reached for his clothes, but Circuit announced, "I believe that it would be beneficial to test your new abilities as well." She moved closer to George and put a hand on his shoulder, "For your own understanding if for nothing else."

George stared at her for a moment in surprise, not liking the idea of being a guinea pig any longer, but realizing that she did make sense. He still wasn't all that sure about his so called 'powers' other than his healing ability and being able to see in the dark. He smiled faintly as he thought of the last, realizing how much money it could save him on electric bills and light bulbs.

"All right." George sighed, "I might as well find out what I can do." He looked down at himself, realizing that there was a lot about his changed body that he didn't know.

A minute later, Mega had pulled something out of a cabinet and handed it to George. It wasn't until he unfolded the black bundle that he realized what it was. A one piece black spandex costume that was obviously several sizes too small.

At George's blank look, Mega explained, "It stretches pretty easily so it's one size fits all. Sort of like what my costume is made of, but most importantly, it allows free and easy movement."

George sighed, staring at what looked like an extremely light and thin diving suit for a moment. Then he started to put it on, finding that Mega was right. It easily stretched to fit him and was extremely light and comfortable.

"I feel naked." George complained with a growl.

Mega just chuckled, responding, "Better than being naked, isn't it?" George snorted but silently agreed. "Now lets get the others and get started."

Several minutes later, George was in the gym again, surrounded by all of Faction Zero, though Icarus quickly excused himself and left the room. Shiver leaned back against a wall, watching George though his expression was hidden behind the mask that covered the lower part of his face. Circuit only looked faintly curious as she stood back, watching silently.

"Let's start with your senses first." the Face suggested, to witch the others nodded agreement. With that, it started.

George spent the next two hours trying out his body in ways that he never would have imagined trying before. Doing things that he knew were impossible for the old him. He was amazed as he slowly learned what he was capable of.

First he tested out his senses, finding that they were all much sharper than normal and with a little practice and attention, he was even beginning to figure out how to really use them. He practiced with his eyes first, finding that he could make details out at distances he never could before, not to mention his being able to see in the dark.

Then there was his sense of smell. George hadn't noticed it until Mega had pointed it out to him, but that was increased as well. Not as strong as strong as a dog's, but enough so that if he closed his eyes and paid close attention, he could distinguish the people near him from their scents alone. However, they had to be pretty close for that.

After practicing several exercises they suggested with his senses, George worked on some of his new physical abilities. He ran as fast as he could, jumped over hurdles that they set around the gym, climbed over walls and obstacles faster than he would have imagined possible, not to mention jumped as far...if not farther than any Olympic athlete ever had.

By the time the exercises were over, George was staring down at his body with a new respect. He was filled with mixed emotions of pride, awe, fear and shame. He couldn't believe what he was capable. He was stronger, faster and more agile than he could ever even imagine having been before. Even his sense of balance had increased unbelievably, shocking himself when he found that he was able to nearly run across a tightrope that Shiver had set up without falling.

"No fucking way." George gasped when he was finished with the exercises, staring at his fingernails...his claws. Those were about the only thing that he hadn't tried using, at least not on purpose though he remembered how easily they'd cut through his cheek. "I can't believe it."

And after all that exercise, George was surprised yet again when he realized that he was barely even breathing hard. It was as if all that exercise was little more than a warm-up to his body.

"Not bad," the Face commented casually, "though Wildcat could do better."

Shiver nodded. "But that's because of all her practice, not to mention her being a martial artist too. With some practice, you could do very well."

Suddenly George was aware of the others watching him in a curious, almost speculative way that made him uncomfortable. Coughing to cover his embarrassment, George tried to change the subject.

"What about that paperwork?" George asked. Then he gulped, realizing for the first time that he'd more than just a new drivers license. There was no way that he could possibly walk into work as he currently was. "Oh shit..." George whispered as everything seemed to strike him at once, "My life..."

A hand gently settled on George's shoulder and Mega told him, "It'll be all right."

"We'll get it started as soon as you choose a new name." the Face told George. "Have you given it any thought yet?"

George gulped and looked at the Face, then slowly looked around at the others, shaking his head no. He'd been so caught up in the fact that he was changing, in the moment, that he hadn't really considered what it would mean to the rest of his life, not to mention the adjustments that he would need to make.

"Take your time." Shiver shrugged. "There are some things you don't want to rush into." George had the feeling that Shiver was grinning beneath his mask.

Circuit, who had been quiet for some time came forward. "Perhaps it would prove beneficial to test your new claws as well."

"That'll have to wait." Icarus called out, walking back into the room with a serious expression. "I'm afraid that we have work to do."

Mega's expression suddenly went from friendly to serious while Shiver stood straighter and reached for the bow on his back.

"A group of developed terrorists have attacked Seattle." Icarus stated firmly. "They've already knocked down half of a mall filled with civilians. We'll have the dual task of stopping the terrorists and rescuing the survivors."

"Oh shit!" Mega gasped, suddenly growing a foot taller. "Who are they?"

Icarus frowned even deeper. "I don't recognize them, but I was notified that they call themselves the Deathsquad."

Shiver snorted, "Figures."

George just gulped and stepped back, remembering that these were super freaks. The same kind that blow up buildings themselves and endanger innocent people just so that they can play their games. He'd almost forgotten that since they seemed so nice.

"Let's get going." Icarus announced, then glanced at the Face, "Ready?"

"Wait." Circuit suddenly interrupted, glancing at George and back to Icarus. "It is after sunset and the search for survivors will be difficult with the lack of light."

Icarus frowned thoughtfully, "We'll make do."

However, Circuit didn't leave it at that. "If I might make a suggestion..." After Icarus nodded, she continued, "Mr. Atkin's enhanced nightvision and senses would prove invaluable for locating survivors."

George suddenly felt every pair of eyes on him, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.

"How bout it?" Mega asked. George wasn't sure if she was asking Icarus or himself.

"Live are at stake." Icarus admitted, looking straight at George. "All we're asking is for you to help save people in trouble. You won't have to deal with the terrorists."

George gulped, looking around nervously. Then he glanced down at his hands and his breasts, definite reminders that he wasn't himself anymore. At least not his old self. He was the spitting image of a woman who did that stuff for a living. However, it was the sudden thought of the people trapped in the destroyed mall that hit George the most. How could he possibly say no?

"All right." George agreed quietly.

A minute later, the Face had made a glowing red doorway and they'd all gone through.

It was dark out and raining softly, lit only by the faint light coming from nearby buildings. Sounds of crashing and explosions echoed from a short distance and cries for help were barely audible beneath the half destroyed rubble of what had been a mall such a short time before.

"Shit." George growled, glancing around nervously. He could see flashes of light from behind a building where Faction Zero were fighting the terrorists. Every few seconds he could even catch a glimpse of the fight. "Not now." George reminded himself.

Taking a deep breath, George focused his attention back on the mall and started back in. So far he'd found and pulled out 3 people from the rubble, though he hadn't been completely alone. Several locals and cops were already there helping out as well.

George paused and looked around carefully, almost smiling at the other would be rescuers using flashlights while he could see almost as clearly as if it was day. Suddenly George saw a faint moving.

"There!" George yelled out, pointing to the movement. When the other rescuers didn't move fast enough, he cursed and rushed over to take care of it himself. "Are you all right?" he asked, pulling a chunk of debris out of the way and revealing a man.

A cop immediately reached down and helped the man up, checking to see that he was all right. George just waited long enough to see that he was all right before returning to work finding the others.

He was just glad that only a small part of the mall had collapsed in that much. Mostly though, that section of the mall had collapsed in such a way as to bury part of the area that led to the rest of the mall, leaving that section whole...but with no way out. Not to mention with people trapped within while it might collapse as well.

George frantically dug at the rubble, pausing only to look around and listen carefully. Looking and listening for any sign of people in need of help with senses sharper than any normal human's. He was barely aware of the way the other rescuers were watching him in amazement. How they were waiting for him to point out those who needed rescuing. He just focused his attention on finding the people.

Suddenly George heard an explosion and snapped around, surprised to see Mega and Shiver fighting with three of the terrorists. The Deathsquad. One of them was a man in green and gray armor, flying in the air and shooting blasts of electricity from his hand. Another was a black woman dressed all in dark blue and black with a glowing force field around her. And the last was a guy who had to be 8 feet tall and looked as if he was made out of white marble.

"NO!" George gasped, realizing that if they hit the mall, they could collapse the remaining section and kill the people trapped inside. "KEEP THEM AWAY!"

Mega glanced towards George for a moment then suddenly started growing until she was about 20 feet tall. She grabbed at the marble man and threw him up at the guy shooting lightning, knocking both a good distance away. And with the black woman being distracted, Shiver shot the ground around her with arrows, causing it to frost over and her to lose her balance.

"We're winning." Mega announced, shrinking back to her 'normal' height of 7 feet. She smiled and rushed to George, asking, "How's it going?"

"We've got a couple." George told her frowning, "I think we got all the ones buried in the rubble, but there's still some trapped." He quickly explained the situation.

Mega nodded. "You're right. It might collapse if we're not careful."

Then suddenly there was a ball of glowing golden light that landed a short distance away. George blinked, realizing that it was a man. He was about 25, dressed in black and gold spandex, not to mention glowing with a strange golden light around him. He paused for only a moment before jumping...extremely high and far.

"Who the hell?" George gasped, watching the man jump over 30 feet, then bounce off the side of a building and ricochet further away.

"Him?" Mega gestured with a chuckle. "A local hero called Rebound." Then she looked down at George and chuckled, "He used to call himself Jumping Jack Flash until the Stones threatened to sue him."

George just shook his head, wondering again just what kind of mess he'd gotten himself in. He was caught right next to a super freak fight, no...he corrected himself, right in the middle of it.

"The people in the building." George gasped, suddenly remembering the reason he was there.

"Let me." Mega told him, rushing towards the man collapsed section and starting to grow. She grabbed at the edge and lifted, creating an opening large enough for a person to go inside. "Quickly." she told George, "I can't hold this open for too long."

With out a word, George rushed inside, absently thinking about the fact that it could still collapse at any time, killing him as well. Or Mega could lose it and trap him with the others...until it caved in.

"EVERYONE COME HERE!" George yelled loudly, "Here's the way out."

He looked around quickly, seeing that there were about 2 dozen people clustered in the hall section, not to mention lots of shattered glass on the floor from the storefront windows. Then he gestured and waved for everyone to move to the exit that Mega was holding open.

"Shit." George growled as small piece of ceiling began to fall in. He could hear the very supports of the building beginning to give. "Not good." he spat, "Not good at all."

"It's beginning to give!" Mega screamed out. "And I can't stay this size for much longer."

A minute later, everyone had run towards the opening Mega created and George started to turn in relief. Until he heart a faint sound...almost a wheezing. He quickly glanced towards the opening and then the roof that was cracking and beginning to crumble.

"Shit!" George swore, running towards the sound. The sound that he wasn't even sure meant anything. However, he couldn't take that risk, even if the damn mall was collapsing around him. "What the hell am I doing here?"

Then George found the source of the noise and suddenly froze, his eyes going wide in horror. It was a teenage girl, cowering behind a large trash can, her body covered with blood. Blood and gashes from the shattered windows. She was obviously caught in one of the shattering windows.

George gasped and quickly bent over, wincing as a chunk of ceiling fell to the ground. The sound of metal girders bending filled George's ears, a reminder that he couldn't wait.

"HURRY!" Mega screamed again, this time her voice was straining.

The walls started cracking even worse than before and George cursed as he reached for the girl. Her eyes opened and looked at him, dazed and blurred. She was still alive, but he didn't know for how much longer.

"C'mon," George grimaced, lifting the girl up with a grunt. She didn't feel nearly as heavy as he would have expected, but he didn't dwell on that as he started towards the exit as quickly as his burden would allow. "Hold on Mega..."

George made his way towards Mega, hearing chunks of the ceiling collapsing in behind him. He barely spared a glance back, wincing as he did so. With a thunderous roar, one wall towards the back exploded inward...right to where the girl had been minutes before. But what was worse was the fact that the rest of the place was already collapsing in as well. George was horrified, not sure if he could make it out in time. At least not while carrying the girl, but he refused to just leave her.

"Hurry up..." Mega gasped from a short distance ahead. Her whole body was starting to get smaller, and though George couldn't see her face, he knew that she was straining to maintain her size. "I can't..."

Pushing himself more, George struggled to make it, grunting as he nearly ran towards the exit with the girl slung over his shoulder. But at the same time, the room was collapsing around him and Mega was rapidly losing her size...and the opening.

Finally, when George was close enough, he grunted and jumped as hard as he could, flying out the opening just in time to avoid it crashing down on top of him. Mega fell backwards, not just barely larger than her 'normal' size, but only for a few seconds.

"Oh God." Mega gasped, turning towards George with a look of surprise on her face, "I didn't think you were going to make it." Then her eyes went wider as she got a closer look at the girl George was still holding, "You..."

"I couldn't leave her." George muttered in embarrassment, quickly trying to cover it up with a growl of, "You damn near dropped that thing on my head."

Suddenly a woman was there, looking at the girl. She barely spared George a "Thank you." before exclaiming, "I'm a doctor. I'll take care of her." George didn't argue and left the girl to someone who could take care of her.

Mega put a shoulder on George's shoulder and told him, "Good job." He just grunted in response, feeling too embarrassed at his own actions.

Then George looked at the gathering of people that he'd just helped free, all clustered around with the cops and medics who were checking them out. Several had minor injuries, but none as bad as the girl that he'd found. Most of them looked tired and scared though, not that George could blame them. All the super freaks were just a short distance away and still fighting. He almost felt a faint wave of guilt though at the thought and glanced over to Mega who was starting back towards the fight.

Suddenly George felt something tugging on his arm and looked down only to see a little girl standing there. She couldn't have been any more than 5 of 6, reminding him vaguely of his own daughter.

"Are you a super hero?" the girl asked.

"What?" George blinked, then looked down at himself and blushed, realizing that he was still wearing the black spandex costume that they'd given him for the testing. "Um...no."

The girl just giggled, "You look like a super hero."

George just stood there, not sure what to say. But before he could think of a response, a woman that he assumed was the girl's mother pulled he away with a quick apology. George just shook his head and glanced towards the nearby action before turning his attention back to the rubble. He didn't think that there were anymore people in danger, but he wanted to make sure.

Once George had finished looking for more people, he stood back and watched the fight, feeling rather nervous. On one hand, it was exciting, but on the other it was scary. Who knew what kind of damage they could do? Even by accident. And he certainly didn't want to be caught in whatever it was that they used to blow up the mall.

Then, something suddenly hit the ground in the middle of the gathered people, causing George to snap around in surprise. The people in the ground started running, revealing a moment later the cause. George stared in horror as he saw that it was a large and heavily muscled man with scaly blue skin and dark blue hair. The strange man was wearing black pants and boots, but apparently nothing else. George had seen him fighting Faction Zero just a short while earlier. He was one of the terrorists. However, what horrified George the most was that he had a girl in his hand, the same girl that had come up to George a short while earlier.

"No..." George gasped weakly.

"ANNIE!" the girl's mother cried out in horror, being held back by a cop.

The blue man held the girl tightly and yelled out, "Nobody's taking me to prison and this little brat is going to make sure of that!"

George quickly looked to the other who were fighting and saw that they were occupied. They were fighting the rest of the terrorists, while that monster held the girl hostage. All George could do was stare at the man in horror, looking at the fear in Annie's eyes and thinking about his own daughter.

"Quit squirming you brat." the man growled, lifting Annie off of the ground and slapping her.

"No..." George whispered, clenching his fists so tight that his claws cut unto his palms. Blood dripped into his hands, but he was too furious to feel the stinging pain. "No." he growled, opening his hands up, barely noticing the tingling where his palms had been torn into. "NO!"

Without consciously thinking of what he was doing, George charged straight at the blue skinned man, catching him by surprise. He let out a howl and punched at the man as hard as he could, glad to see the man go flying backwards...away from the girl. However, George was still burning up inside.

"You mother fucker." George growled, jumping at the man again. How dare that monster threaten the girl.

However, this time the man was ready for George and lashed out with his fist, sending George flying through the air. He hit the ground hard, tearing at his arm and leg through the spandex, nearly screaming from the pain.

George staggered to his feet, grabbing at his arm and wincing. However, the pain was already beginning to fade away. He glared at the blue man who was standing there laughing, and moving towards Annie again.

"You ain't getting away from me that easy brat." the blue man commented.

Then, the blue man stared straight at George with a sneer. "Well, I guess I'd better take care of you." And with that, a large section of rubble lifted into the air without anyone touching it. And with a gesture from the blue man, the rubble shot straight at George. "Catch."

George jumped out of the way easily, then avoided several more pieces of rubble that were flying at him without being touched by anyone. The blue man continued to telekinetically throw things at George, though many of them didn't come close. All George could do was dodge the debris and be thankful that Annie and the other people had taken advantage of his distraction to run away.

"Not good." George mumbled to himself, standing warily, ready to move at a moments notice. At the moment, he was extremely thankful for his new powers. His eyes were locked on the blue man who was squinting and looking around. Suddenly George realized something and gasped, "Fuck!"

The blue man threw another rock at George, which he avoided easily, almost smiling to himself. He'd been able to see so clearly that he'd almost forgotten that it was dark out. At least for the blue man while to George it was as bright as day.

Reminding himself to be calm, George slowly made his way towards the blue man, keeping low to the ground and in the darkest shadows so that he'd be harder to spot. Still, he had to avoid rubble that was thrown around randomly by the cursing blue man.

"Where the hell are you?" the blue man demanded, looking around carefully.

George knew that he couldn't avoid the man forever, not when any sudden movement could give him away. When the blue man could spot him at any second if he looked close out. It might be dark out, but it wasn't that dark.

After George had made it over halfway to his target, the blue man suddenly yelled, "There you are!" staring straight at George. Another section of rubble was immediately in the air and flying towards George.

Abandoning the stealth, George turned to speed, charging straight towards the blue man as fast as he could. As he got to his target, George avoided a large fist towards his face and responded in kind. And as he expected, the blue man used his arms to block George's attack.

"Gotcha." George growled, immediately slamming his knee into the blue man's unprotected crotch, causing the much larger man to scream in pain. Without hesitating in the slightest, George kicked the man's now unstable feet out from underneath him and then lunged at the man's face, his claws extended. They sank into the screaming blue man's face and slammed him to the ground. "Now let's see you hurt little girls." George spat, tearing his hand back and leaving the blue man's face covered with blood.

The blue man rolled on the ground, curled up with his hands grasping at his face, screaming, "Oh God, Oh God..." over and over. George just stood back slightly, his hands spread open as if to slash at the man again, though that seemed unnecessary.

Then, George blinked and slowly looked around, realizing for the first time that he was being watched. Some of the people that he'd helped pull from the mall were still watching from a safe distance, but what surprised...and embarrassed him the most was that the members of Faction Zero were all watching as well.

"What the...?" George started, then stopped when he realized that he could see several members of the Deathsquad unconscious on the ground while the police were gathering around another couple who had their hands in the air. The fight was over.

"That was...good." Mega exclaimed in surprise, moving towards George while several cops rushed the still curled up blue man. "Hell, it was almost like having Wildcat back." There as a note of sadness in her voice at the last.

"Wildcat hell." Shiver exclaimed, "She was more like an alley cat. Sneaky and vicious."

George blushed and looked down at his feet in uncomfortable silence. He could barely believe that he'd just done that, but seeing the girl like that had made him so angry...

"Good job." the Face said gently, "I hear that you did a very good job."

Circuit seemed unimpressed but nodded slightly before turning to help the police deal with the terrorists.

Icarus nodded towards George and repeated, "Good job," before smiling faintly and quietly musing, "Alleycat..."

George just blushed at the comments, knowing that he'd only done what he had to do. He couldn't bear seeing the little girl hurt by the monster. Still, it did feel rather nice at the same time, especially when Annie ran up to him and gave his legs a quick hug, exclaiming, "Thank you super lady."

Stretching his body, George groaned then rubbed at his arm and leg where he'd hurt them earlier. However, there were no signs of injury, nor was there even any pain. George smiled faintly at that, as well as the fact that after all that exercise, he still wasn't tired.

Then with a frown, George adjusted the normal clothes that he was once again wearing and glanced at the black spandex thing that was folded over a chair. With a slight shake of his head, he stepped out of the room that Mega had said he could change back in and found himself surrounded by the others.

The Face removed his hat and stood there silently while Mega just smiled. George couldn't make out Shiver's expression beneath his mask and he wasn't even sure if Circuits metal face...or mask, could have expressions.

"You did very well tonight." Icarus said, smiling faintly. "Mega told me about the people you got out of the building...and the girl you risked your life to pull out."

George gulped, "Um...thanks."

"We were hoping that you would consider joining us." Mega blurted out excitedly.

"What?" George gasped in surprise, half sure that she was joking. However, somehow he didn't think that she was.

"You could be a large help." Icarus told George, "I don't know how many lives would have been lost tonight if it wasn't for you." "But..." George exclaimed, "you can't mean ME."

"Of course we do." Circuit stated calmly. "Our effectiveness has been hampered since Wildcat died. Since you possess her abilities, it would be logical to request that you replace her."

Mega glared at Circuit. "That's not what we meant." she quickly told George. "Sure we miss Wildcat, but we don't want you just because of your powers."

"You were efficient tonight." Circuit added with an almost amused tone in her voice. "Even though you lack experience. But that can be corrected."

"I like your style." Shiver commented casually. "Nasty." He seemed to shudder where he stood.

"But I'm no super fre...hero." George protested, quickly glancing around. He gulped, realizing that they weren't at all the monsters that he'd thought all super freaks were. They were just people who happened to have powers. Somewhat nice people too. "I'm just a normal guy....or was. I can't do this stuff."

Shiver shook his head. "Look man..." He paused for a moment before continuing quietly, "I know this has gotta be harsh. Not to mention weird as hell. But you showed a lotta guts out there tonight."

The Face nodded slightly and said in a somber tone, "Anyone who's developed almost always ends up either as a good guy or a bad. It can't be helped. You can't stay on the sidelines. Power demands to be used, though whether for good or ill is up to you."

George just stared at him for a moment in surprise, then quickly looked around at the others. They were definitely serious about wanting him to join them. Could he do that? Could he go against everything that he'd ever believed about super freaks? He wasn't sure, though he already knew that he hadn't been completely right about them. In fact, he was actually beginning to like these guys, especially Mega. Not to mention that she would have given him a boner if he still had the right equipment.

Finally, George slowly shook his head. "Thank you...but no."

"What?" Shiver gasped in surprise.

George took a deep breath and looked into their eyes one at a time, though he had to look up a good deal to look Mega in hers. "I can't deal with that now." George told them quietly. He looked down with a frown then back up, gesturing at his body, feeling embarrassed, "I don't even know who I am anymore. I need to get used to THIS before I can even consider anything else."

They nodded slowly, though Mega looked disappointed. The Face quietly announced, "That is a wise decision then."

"Thanks for helping me though." George told them quietly. He looked around at them slowly, staring at each of them one at a time, "It's definitely been...well strange." Mega smiled at that.

"I hope we see you again." Mega told him, holding her hand out.

George shook Mega's hand, smiling faintly. "Me too." And to his surprise, he actually meant it.

"Likewise." Shiver said, nodding towards George but making no move to offer his hand. But on the other hand, George was embarrassed to feel Shiver mentally undressing him with his eyes.

George glared at Shiver, "Watch it." Shiver just chuckled.

Then, George shook hands with Icarus and even Circuit, finishing up his good-byes before asking the Face, "Can you take me home?"

The Face nodded, "Of course."

A minute later, the Face had done his thing and opened another glowing red doorway. George paused for a moment, looking around at the others again, smiling faintly. He shook his head, wondering what had possibly come over him. That he could actually like super freaks much less get into a super freak fight himself. Then, with a final "Goodbye" George stepped through the door, knowing that he had a LOT to think about.

George stepped into his apartment building and quickly glanced around to see if anyone he knew was looking at him. Then he quickly reminded himself that they wouldn't even recognize the new him so he shouldn't be embarrassed. However, he was, as well as just a tiny bit...proud.

"You all right?" Kelly asked from beside him.

With a nod, George glanced at her and smiled. They'd just spent most of the day together, as they had for the last 3 days since George had met Faction Zero. He knew that he needed someone to teach him about being a woman since he was stuck as one, and Kelly was not only the logical choice, but a very eager one as well.

"I'm just not too comfortable dressed like this." George admitted, glancing down at himself with a wry smile.

George was no longer wearing the loose clothes that he'd inherited from Wildcat. Just that morning he had decided to be a little more daring, telling himself that if he was going to be stuck as a woman he might as well make the best of it. Perhaps even learn to enjoy it a little. So for the moment, he was wearing a pair of tight jeans and a tank top that showed his figure to its best advantage. Even if Kelly did keep telling him that he was too muscular. Still, George rather liked that part himself.

"At least the heels aren't a problem." George muttered, glancing at the short high heeled shoes that he was wearing. He'd even decided to try those on without much prompting on Kelly's part. And fortunately, his increased sense of balance helped him with those just as easily as it did walking across a tightrope. "They do feel a little odd though."

"You'll get used to it." Kelly laughed. "I'm surprised that you're taking this so well."

George shrugged then started up the stairs, "It's not like I have much choice." He chuckled and added, "I can either bitch, whine and complain like I usually do or I can try adapting. And besides..." he winked at Kelly, "I've never been healthier in my life. And let me tell you, not having to worry about that damn bum heart is a BIG plus."

Kelly just shook her head as they continued up, "I guess."

While they continued up the stairs, George started to think about Faction Zero. He hadn't seen any of them since the Face had dropped him off, and he was rather thankful for that. They were giving him the chance to live a normal life, just like he wanted. However, he couldn't resist glancing at himself and wondering how normal it could possibly be. He couldn't even go back to work.

George and Kelly were silent as they went back upstairs, the clicking from George's new heels sounding strange to his ears. But then again, everything still seemed strange to him. From his own reflection to the weight on his chest. Even to the feeling when he pissed. But somehow, he suspected that given enough time, he would get used to it all.

There was one thing that George did still worry about, though he tried not to. He still got turned on looking at Kelly and didn't find men attractive in the least. However, he couldn't help but wondering if that would eventually change as well. Then George forced that thought aside, reminding himself that he'd deal with that if it ever came up.

When George and Kelly reached one of the floors, they passed by a young black woman who couldn't have been more than 22 or so. She started down the way that they had just come from while George and Kelly began the first steps up to the next level.

Then suddenly coming from the same floor that the woman had just left, a young white man who looked around 19 or 20 ran down the stairs, yanking the purse straight out of the black woman's hands. She screamed in surprise while the young punk pushed her away, continuing to run down the stairs, his prize clutched firmly in hand.

"Stop...!" the woman cried out uselessly.

George saw what happened over the stairwell edge and growled furiously. Then, as if thought and action where one, George jumped straight over the edge, falling the distance to the other stairs below. Almost the instant that he impacted, George took one more leap, straight at the fleeing mugger.

"NO!" Kelly cried out.

"Gotcha!" George snarled as he hit the man from behind, throwing him face first down the stairs, snatching the purse at the same time. Then with a fluid move, George called out, "Here!" and tossed the purse up towards the woman before chasing after the mugger, this time a little more slowly.

The mugger got to his feet and turned towards George with a look of shock on his face, "A bitch?"

George just snarled and grabbed the man's shirt, lifting him up with one hand. George grimaced at the weight, but held it easier than he would have previously. "And you're a stupid little punk." Then with that, George threw the man the rest of the way to the next floor down, smiling as the man hit with a loud thud.

The man struggled to his feet and took one more look at George, this time with an expression of horror on his face. Then, he turned and ran away, or at least attempted to as he limped badly.

"Th...thank you." the woman exclaimed, staring at George in surprise.

George just blushed and nodded his head. "Um...no problem."

Without staying around for more thanks, George hurried back up to Kelly who started excitedly going on. "I can't believe it." Kelly gushed. "That was amazing..."

By the time George was back to his apartment, he remembered quite clearly just how annoying that Kelly could be. He was more than tired of hearing her gush about what he'd just done, though didn't quite have the heart to tell her to shut up.

"Later." George told Kelly, quickly dodging into the safety of his apartment with a sigh. "What came over me?" he demanded of himself, wondering why he got such a...rush out of what he'd just done. It felt...good. It felt good not only to help that lady, but to cut loose a little as well.

Shaking his head, George stepped into his living room, freezing as he suddenly saw something sitting on his couch. Some sort of package. For a moment he looked around frantically, already knowing though that no one was there. He would have sensed it if there was.

Cautiously George moved to the package and pulled the top off the box, sniffing hesitantly as he did so. However, there wasn't enough there for him to pick up a smell. His nose wasn't quite that good.

The first thing that George noticed on top was a small pile of papers, the ones on top being a birth certificate and drivers license. George slowly raised them up and glanced over them, smiling faintly as he did so.

"Anne Elizabeth James." he read the name aloud. George had told the Face earlier that he'd chosen a new name. After the girl that had sparked something inside of him that he'd never even known existed. However, the last name was a surprise. He'd expected to still be Atkins at least. "I wonder..." George mused, glancing through a few more papers and seeing that he was now legally the sister of Melissa James. That at least would explain the similarities in appearance between him and Wildcat, or at least her civilian identity. "Weird." George muttered.

A moment later, George pulled the papers aside and found another one on top of some cloth which was on the bottom. It was obviously a letter to him.

"Dear Alleycat," the letter began in an unfamiliar script, "this is just in case." It was sighed, "The Face."

George frowned and quickly pulled the cloth out of the box, gasping as he unfolded it and saw what it was. "Oh shit..."

After George had unfolded the costume and stretched it out on the floor, he stared at it in silent amazement. It was a costume very similar to what he'd seen pictures of Wildcat wearing, but definitely different. For one, there were no straps on the calves for sais. And for another, the main spandex piece was gray instead of tan, giving it a much sleeker and stealthier look. However, there were still red straps for the arms and a sash for the waist, though they were just a little darker than he remembered Wildcat's being.

"Oh shit." George whispered again, slowly reaching down to run his fingers across the material. It was smooth and light, much like the black spandex costume that they'd given him for training.

George just stood there staring at the costume for several minutes, lost in silent thought. He could barely believe that they'd given him that. Not to mention the nickname that was on the letter. Then, he slowly looked around warily, feeling almost guilty as he picked up the costume.

"Why not?" George asked himself, deciding that he HAD to at least try it on.

Several minutes later, George was dressed in the costume, smiling at how well it fit him. At how comfortable it felt. And when he looked into a mirror, he had to admit that it definitely looked good on him. Almost as if it belonged there. A small part of him whispered that it did.

But after admiring himself and posing for several minutes, George whispered, "No."

He stepped away from the mirror, amazed at himself for just how much he'd changed. Not just physically. That he could actually consider putting on a silly costume and fighting super villains. That he actually thought of super freaks as friends. He knew at that moment that he truly did have a change of heart...in more than just the one way.

"Power demands to be used." George quietly repeated the Face's comment. However, after taking a deep breath and looking down at himself, he added, "But not yet."

With that, George started to strip out of the costume, feeling almost disappointed as he did so. But he knew that he wasn't ready for it. What he'd told the Face was correct. He still wasn't sure who he was anymore and needed to get comfortable with that before he could do anything else.

But as George slowly folded the costume back up, he smiled, strongly suspecting that sooner or later, he would be ready. That he'd be back in that costume and ready to give it his all. At the moment though, his priority was just to be himself, whatever that was...the rest would come soon enough.

Author's Note: This is the third story in what I have started to think of as my Legacy Universe, taking place after the Miracle Legacy and A Change of Heart. I'm afraid that it didn't turn out quite as well as the previous ones in this universe, but I hope you enjoy it.

The sides of the road shot by me a thousand miles an hour, the trees vanishing before I even had a chance make out any details. I could feel the engine of my motorcycle roaring between my legs, urging me to go even faster down the empty country roads. It was the type of bike that was frequently called a crotch rocket, built for little more than speed. And God I loved it.

I loved my bike and the freedom it gave me. Freedom from the stresses of my job, as well as just about everything else. All I had to do was hop on and hit the gas, and away I'd go. I'd even gone through the trouble of giving my bike a custom paint job of green and a really dark gray, almost a black, making it look pretty awesome. Even my helmet was done up to match.

My name was Aaron Chase and I was a pretty normal 25 year old, working as a mechanic until something better came along. It was a job that I was pretty good at though didn't necessarily enjoy. But then again, that was why I had my bike.

With a grin, I looked up at the road ahead of me, briefly thinking that I should probably slow down since there could be a cop hiding out somewhere ahead. However I quickly discounted that idea, not seeing anyone else on the road or any reason why I shouldn't just kick back and enjoy myself while I could.

Suddenly I noticed something up ahead, just off the side of the road and in the middle of a field...or more accurately, a short distance above it. I pulled my bike to a stop and sat atop it, staring at what could only be a spaceship.

"No fucking way," I gasped, staring at it in awe.

The ship, if that was what it really was, looked somewhat like a stereotypical flying saucer, though not quite. One part of it pushed out into what seemed to be some sort of cockpit. I'd never seen a real space ship before, but I'd seen pictures of some on TV from some alien invasion attempt thing a year earlier.

For a minute, or sometime longer, I just stared at the ship silently, wondering where it came from. I wondered what kind of creatures were in it. And then, another thought occurred to me. What if they might be some sort of invaders? I had to tell someone. I knew that I had to rush to the nearest town and let the cops know.

Shaking my head, I muttered, "Damn," wishing that my ride hadn't been interrupted.

With that, I started my bike up again and was about to take off when I suddenly realized that I wasn't alone. There were two figures standing in the road in front of me, shaped like women but wearing some sort of armor...or at least I thought it might be armor. It was a dark gray and chitinous, with only the shapes of eyes showing any features in their faces.

I gulped, not liking that at all. "Do you come in peace?" I asked hopefully.

When they didn't answer, I gunned my bike and burned rubber, taking off as fast as I could in the direction I'd come from. However before I realized it, something hit me from behind, tearing me from the seat of my bike so that all I could do was watch it fly out of control and into a large rock alongside the road.

"NO!" I yelled out as my bike was mangled and ruined.

Then I was dropped back to the ground, grunting from the impact and then rolling around to see that it was one of the armored women who had dropped me. The other one was walking towards me, holding what looked like a blue crystal ball in her hand.

Suddenly there was flash of light from the crystal ball and everything went numb. I collapsed to the ground, barely able to even feel my body much less move it. A moment later, both of the armored women were there, talking in some strange chattering language as they stood above me.

I wanted to be terrified and confused, knowing that I should be, but instead I just felt oddly distant. As if my emotions were numb as well as my body. It was as if I were drugged somehow.

Then one of the woman grabbed me, picking me up as if I weighed almost nothing. I was carried in her arms like a baby as she took off into the air, flying me towards their ship. As I watched, a section slid open in the side, revealing a door that they brought me through. A minute later, I was unceremoniously dropped onto the floor of their ship while the armored figures stepped away from me.

After this, I was left on the floor, unable to turn over or get a better look. I didn't know how long I was left there, but some time later, I was picked again. If it was the same armored woman or the other one, I didn't know. Both looked the same.

I was still unable to move as she carried me out of the ship...and into what looked like the inside of another ship. Even in my stunned condition, my heart nearly jumped into my throat as I realized that they'd actually flown away while I was inside. I could only see things from the corner of my eye, but it looked like some sort of hanger bay with several other ships. I had to be inside of some sort of mother ship.

As I was carried through some hallway, I noticed that there didn't seem to be any sort of right angles. Everything was rounded out, even the doors and corners seemed to be. However, I wasn't able to see everything from my position, only enough to make me more curious.

Finally, we arrived some rounded door where I was thrown through. I hit the floor, not even feeling it from my numbed state. Then the door sealed up, and there was a flash of bluish light. To my intense relief, I was able to move again.

My whole body tingled for a moment, then I slowly sat up, feeling extremely uncomfortable. It was like that tingling when your leg had gone to sleep and was just getting back to normal. I grimaced though and got to my feet, thankful that it was wearing off so quickly.

"Where the fuck am I?" I demanded, glaring around the room, rounded like everything else I had seen. It was only then that I noticed that I wasn't alone.

There were four other people in the room with me, all of them men. Or at least three were men while one looked to be about fourteen years old.

"You've been abducted by aliens," a middle aged black man stated in a wry tone. He held his hand out, "I'm Mike."

"Aaron," I responded, shaking his hand, feeling slightly relieved that I wasn't the only one in that situation. Still, I was afraid of what was going on and more than a little angry at being kidnapped.

The others quickly introduced themselves. There was a scrawny guy named Darren, an overweight balding guy named Max, and the teenager who was named Rob. I quickly found out that all of them had been taken just like I had, and none of them seemed to have any reason why. A few guesses, but that was about it.

"I've been here for two days," Mike told me as we all sat on the floor, after telling me that he'd been there the longest. "None of us have been able to find any way out of here. Food comes from there," he gestured to an indentation in the wall next to the door, "and whenever they bring in someone new, they paralyze us all."

I grimaced, clenching my fists in anger. Being pissed was a little more comfortable than being afraid, and not too difficult considering what they'd done to my bike. Hell, they'd even taken away my helmet before dropping me in that room so I didn't even have that to remember my bike by.

"Damn," I muttered, hitting the floor then cursing again at my sore hand.

After this, I quietly asked, "So...what do they look like?"

"No idea," Max spat. "All I know is that it looked like a couple broads in the suits that grabbed me. Never saw em without the suits."

"Me neither," Rob said, shaking slightly and looking as if he was about to run out screaming. He was just barely holding on.

The others admitted that they hadn't seen our kidnappers without those suits on either, but all said that they looked like women. However, it was kind of hard to be sure since we didn't know anything about that alien race. Hell, for all I knew, they might even be humans.

"The protectorate will save us," Rob said, still sounding scared. He looked a little more comforted after he'd said it though, "I bet Vigil or Force will break in here any minute now."

"How bout Ms. Miracle," Max chuckled. "I sure wouldn't mind being saved by that broad." I certainly knew what he meant. I'd only seen her on the news, but she was hot, even if she wasn't a member of the Protectorate.

We all grinned at that since there seemed little else we could do. At the moment, we were stuck. I knew that all I could do at the moment was wait and pray...which really sucked since I wasn't very good at either of those things.

It didn't take long though before I had to see for myself. I tried prying the door open, finding that not only did it refuse to budge...but that it actually seemed to be welded shut. Then I tried looking for other ways out, finding none.

Finally, I just got pissed off and started to kick at the door, screaming, "Let me outta here you fucking bastards!" I kicked and screamed for several minutes, however there was no sign that they even heard me. I had sometimes been told that I was too stubborn for my own good, but even I got the hint after awhile and returned to sit with the others...for the moment. I just hoped that I'd eventually be able to wring some necks and kick some ass.

Eight hours after I had been locked in that room, I still hadn't seen any sign of the people who'd kidnapped me. They hadn't even shown their faces in that armor, only dropping a few rat pellets into the food dispenser, or at least that was what I thought of them as. I was getting very impatient as I waited to find out what was going to happen to me next, not to mention a little scared.

Suddenly there was a loud noise and everything started to shake. I jumped to my feet, as did all of the others. "What the hell?" I gasped.

"What's going on?" Rob asked, his voice shaking with fear.

"Don't know," Max muttered, "But I don't think it's good for us." Then everything shook again, almost as if on cue.

Mike just held his hands out pleading, "Calm down. We can't panic."

With a nod, and an extremely nervous expression, Darren cried, "I just wanna get outta here."

I grimaced, feeling like a rat in a cage while someone was shaking it. Being in the cage was bad enough, but that was a hundred times worse. There was little doubt that the others were feeling about the same way.

"We won't be able to do anything if we lose our heads," Mike told us, trying to look confident but not succeeding.

"Fuck that," I muttered, running over and kicking the door again. At that same moment, there was another boom as everything started to shake. Even the lights in the room flickered in and out. And to my shock...the door slid open. "Holy shit..." Then I caught myself from gaping and darted through the open door, yelling, "C'mon."

For a moment, I just stood in the hall, staring at the people running by in surprise. They were all women, and not just women, but women with blue skin and gray hair. Suddenly one of them stopped and turned towards me, reaching for something that looked like a gun on her side. It was only then that I noticed the pointed ears...and the fact that her eyes were all black and gold.

"Wait..." I started, but the alien woman shot at me...and missed. At least I thought she had until I heard a scream from behind me, turning and seeing Rob falling to the floor...a gaping hole in his chest. "FUCK!"

Suddenly Mike threw himself at me, knocking me to the floor, just as the alien shot at where I'd been just a moment before. I was horrified, but also pissed. Without even thinking about it, I kicked at the woman while she was aiming her gun at Darren. The alien woman howled in pain as she dropped the gun, but not before getting another shot of.

I cringed at the sight, whispering, "Darren..." I gulped and closed my eyes, trying not to look at the sight. At the sight of him or of Rob.

"Damn alien broads," Max yelled, picking up the dropped gun and firing it straight at the alien woman, who flew back with a hole through her chest.

Almost instantly, the only two alien women who were still in the hallway pulled their own guns and started shooting at us. Max shot back while Mike and I ducked.

"I can't believe this shit," Max spat. "I was in the Gulf War and never say action like..." He suddenly cut off, letting out a scream as one of their shots hit his leg, leaving a huge char mark on his thigh.

For a moment, I stared at the alien women in shock...too much so to think of doing anything else. However I noticed that their expressions were worried, one of them even glancing around as if she was about to run. But that didn't last long as one of Max's shots caught her in the face.

"Take that ya dumb broad!" Max yelled, just a second before the other woman shot him as well.

Max collapsed to the ground next to me, no longer moving. Mike was howling in pain and I was crouched next to him, but he was still alive. We were the only two that were and I was the only one who wasn't hurt.

"The gun," Mike gasped, the pain evident in his voice. "Get..."

With that, I grabbed the gun out of Max's hand, ducking to avoid getting hit again. However, when I looked up, the alien woman wasn't shooting, she was chattering in that weird language to something on her wrist...looking extremely worried. And with a single look of disgust back at us, she turned and ran down the hall as fast as she could.

"Something's going on," I told Mike, my heart racing, "Something bad."

"I know," he grunted taking the gun from me as he tried to stand back up, cringing badly as he did so. He let out a heavy grunt of pain, then collapsed back to the floor. "God it hurts..." he whimpered, looking as though he were in agony.

"Let's get out of here," I told him, helping back to his feet. He leaned up against my shoulder as we started back down the hall.

Suddenly there was another blast that shook the whole ship, knocking us both to the ground again, causing Mike to scream as his leg hit. Part of the wall crashed in further down and half the hall was filled with fire. I stared at it in horror, realizing that I'd just jumped out of the frying pan and straight into the fire.

"Go!" Mike grunted, "Hurry."

I jumped back to my feet and reached for Mike, "C'mon..."

"Get out of here," Mike gasped, his face showing the intense pain that he had to be in. "You can't make it with me slowing you..." He burst into cough.

"I'm not leaving you," I started.

However, before I realized it, I had a gun pointed straight at me again. This time by Mike. "I said get your ass out of here," he snarled, obviously putting effort into it. "I'm not going to get anyone killed." With that, he shot at the ground in front of me, causing me to jump back.

"What the hell?" I gasped in confusion. "C'mon man..."

"No...," Mike gasped, shifting position just enough for me to see his side...and the huge char mark that marked his ribs. He'd been hit in more than the leg. "Go..." He shot at me again, and when I didn't go further than a few feet, he spat, "Damn kid." His voice was weak and it looked as though he were barely able to hold the gun.

Though I wanted to leave Mike, wanted to run away and get out of there as fast as I could, I couldn't just bring myself to leave him there. I might not have known him for very long, but hell, I still thought of the guy as my friend. "I'm not leaving you," I told him firmly.

Then, with a look of intense agony, Mike gasped, "Go. Save...yourself." And to my complete shock and horror, he turned the gun around and fired at himself. I screamed out as he collapsed to the ground, tears running down my cheeks.

"Mike..." I gasped, turning my attention to the others, cringing as I did so. Then I looked at the fire and cursed, gathering my strength and doing what Mike had urged me to do...I ran. I ran away as fast as I could, hoping that I could find some way out.

As I ran through the halls, I saw several more of the alien women, but they were all scrambled and hurrying away, apparently not noticing me...or just not caring. All of them looked afraid as they tore off. I could certainly understand it as the ship kept shaking, each time getting worse than the time before.

"Where are they going?" I spat, realizing that something was wrong with the ship. They had to be abandoning it. That gave me an idea though. If they could get away, maybe I could to.

With that, I hurried in the direction that I'd seen one of the women run, hoping that I was going to the right place. Within minutes, pulled around a corner and stared into a room where three of the women were standing, including one wearing that chitinous armor.

"Oh shit," I squeaked, pulling myself to the side so that they wouldn't see me. I didn't want a repeat of what happened earlier, but I made sure that I could still see what was going on.

The aliens chattered in that strange language of theirs, and as I watched, a chunk of the wall slid open...revealing space. I could see the blackness through it...and the stars scattered beyond. It was some sort of window, or at least I thought it was until the one in the armor suddenly flew through the opening and off into the space beyond.

I gulped, "Gotta be something holding the air in," I told myself, but what I didn't know. Maybe some kind of force field or something, though I wasn't at all sure since I wasn't one of those Star Trek geeks or anything.

It was then that I noticed the other two women again. They reached for a pair of gray masks off of the wall that looked just like the face plates from the armors. There were about a half dozen of those things hanging from the wall, as well as obvious spaces for more that were missing. And as I watched, the first of the alien women put on the mask, followed quickly by the second.

"Oh shit," I gasped, startled by what was happening.

The air seemed to shimmer around both women, and to my surprise, a bunch of gray stuff seemed to shoot out from their masks...growing as it did so and spreading over their bodies. Within seconds, their bodies were covered by the gray stuff...which had turned into the armor. It was the same gray chitinous armor that I'd seen before.

I just stared in amazement at the two women, as they jumped through the hole and into space like the first. Since the room was empty, I ran into it, stopping at the hole and staring at the space outside of it. There were flashes and explosions, as well as what looked like pieces of the ship breaking away. I could even see the aliens in their armor flying away, suddenly making me realize what they were using.

"Space suits," I whispered, turning to the masks that remained on the walls. I didn't even hesitate before picking one off and holding it in my hands for a moment. It was kind of creepy in a way since I knew that this wasn't just some sort of normal Halloween mask.

With another glance out the opening, I gulped, realizing that the ship was going down. They'd abandoned it to save their lives, and unless I did the same, I was going to die. Just like the others had. I felt a chill down my spine at that thought, as well as a lot of anger. Anger at the alien's who'd kidnapped us and did that to them, as well as myself for letting them get killed.

I gulped nervously, hoping that I could figure it out as I raised the mask to my face. Almost as soon as it was in place, I felt something happen. The very air around me seemed to crackle with static and then I could feel the mask spreading...covering my body with those gray plates that made up the armor. However, it didn't take me long to realize that something was wrong.

"Oh shit," I gasped out as the armor finished forming around me, wincing from the discomfort. It was pinching me badly in places and definitely didn't fit right.

It was then that I looked down to see the armor and gasped at the sight of two armored breasts on my chest. For a moment, all I could do was stare at that surprising sight, then quickly glance over the rest of the armor that covered me. There was no doubt that it was a woman's armor and not designed to be comfortable for a man.

I cursed for a moment as I held my arms up, staring at the alien armor. It might not be comfortable, hell, it definitely wasn't, but I knew that at the moment I didn't really have any choice in the matter. It was either the armor...or death. And I wasn't about to die just to avoid looking a bit like a chick.

The only thing was, as I looked back out the opening again, from behind the shielded lenses over my eyes, I wasn't at all sure if I could breath out there in that space suit. Sure the other ones had, or at least I guessed they had, but I still wasn't sure. What if it was some sort of button I had to push to do that or something?

Suddenly the ship started to shake and rattle again, this time feeling more like a massive earthquake. An explosion quickly followed from outside the room...followed by a blast that threw me right out the opening.

I screamed as I found myself thrown away from the spaceship...flying backwards through space. Though I could still breathe without difficulty, it wasn't too comforting at the moment as I was scared shitless. That was made even worse as I continued to fly further away from the ship.

Though I scrambled for some control, as though I were under water, it did little good. I seemed to have absolutely no control over my own movement as I continued in the direction the explosion had thrown me.

Just several minutes later, I watched in shock as the alien ship was covered in light...which promptly exploded. Chunks of debris flew all over the place, though there was nothing left of the ship. Nothing except what could possibly be described as a junk yard in space...one which I was still moving away from.

I continued to stare at the debris of the ship for several minutes with mixed emotions. I was shocked of course, and partly even relieved that those bitches were gone. On the other hand, where did that leave ME?

And as I struggled uselessly for some degree of control, flailing around helplessly with nothing to grab onto and nothing to slow me down, one final thought came to mind. "I am so fucked."

The void stretched out all around me endlessly as I floated amid a sea of stars. They twinkled and winked in the distances, and the only thing that seemed even remotely close to me was the bluish softball sized orb that was Earth. It was so temptingly close...but infinitely far away.

I had no idea how long it had been since the space ship had blown up, since I had been floating in space helplessly. However, I knew that it had been a number of hours. It was hard to tell in space, especially since I had even drifted off to sleep for awhile.

"Damn," I whispered, staring helplessly at the Earth in the distance.

At the moment, I was feeling pretty scared, not having any idea when the air might run out...when I might suddenly find myself suffocating to death. It was something that I'd been thinking about for some time, though there were of course other things that I was worried about as well. Even if my air didn't run out, I didn't have any kind of food or water and could drift around until I eventually died from that instead. I suspected that staying on the ship would have been a much preferable death.

Of course I was also tired, frustrated and angry. None of that did me much good, nor did the fact that I was still uncomfortable. The space suit was obviously not made for a man, and I could certainly feel it. Hell, I was even beginning to get a bit numb in my body, especially from where it kept pinching me.

And oddly enough, I was even feeling bored. I'd been out there for who knew how long, with absolutely nothing to do. Though looking at the stars, Earth and moon was exciting at first, it didn't take long before even that kind of scenery got old. That was why I'd taken a nap earlier.

I was trying not to think about what would happen to me and stretched my body, still feeling uncomfortable, especially with the numbness, but not quite as bad since it didn't pinch quite as much as it had earlier. At least there was one good thing about that numbness, even it was caused by my circulation being cut off. As I stretched, I realized for the first time just how flexible the armor felt. I could move around pretty well in it, and I remembered from my short period aboard the ship while wearing it that it was pretty light as well.

My hands slowly came to my face, feeling the helmet that covered my head. It was amazing that at least that felt comfortable, even letting me breath easily. There was no doubt that it was better than any kind of space suit NASA had, even if it was designed for a woman. Hell, I could even see through the eye lenses just as easily as if they were sunglasses or something, rather than the messed up vision that a lot of Halloween masks and the like gave.

After a few minutes, I stared at Earth again in the distance, trying to get a better view of it. To my surprise, my vision sort of snapped into focus...almost as if I were wearing binoculars. There was a tiny picture in the corner of my vision that shows it as it had been a moment earlier, but at the moment it looked a hell of a lot closer.

"Wow," I gasped, "Totally wicked."

With just a little bit of experimentation, I found that I could snap my vision even more, making the Earth look a bit closer still, then shifting back to normal. All I had to do was sort of stare like I was trying to make out something far away, and it got clearer. I could shift my vision back to normal just as easily. I was definitely impressed, and at least it took my mind off of my problem.

Some time later, I woke up again, startled at that since I hadn't even realized that I'd gone to sleep. But then again, what else was there to do? I was a little thirsty, though other than that, I didn't really feel too bad, which was a little surprising considering how uncomfortable I'd been earlier.

I looked around me again, still seeing that nothing had changed, though I hadn't really expected anything to. However, as I thought about the cool vision thing that I'd found earlier, I couldn't help wondering what other tricks the suite might have in it. I grinned slightly, wondering if a radio might be too much to ask for. But if there was one, I certainly couldn't find the 'on' switch.

Just out of curiosity, and the fact that I had nothing else to do, I tried experimenting a little. Perhaps I could learn a little about the armor, something that might be useful...or at least distracting. I wasn't sure what I was doing, but that had never really stopped me before.

After experimenting for some time without finding any other tricks, I was about to give up in frustration. There didn't seem to be anything else the armor could do, at least nothing that I could figure out. And then, oddly enough, I was stretching my arms out and sort of pushing when I suddenly felt it. There was something in the suit around me...some sort of warmth that all went into the palms.

"What the hell...?" I started, surprised as bursts of energy shot out of each of my palms and vanished into the distance.

For a minute, all I could do was stare into the distance, wondering what the hell I'd just done. It didn't take long to realize that I'd found some sort of weapon that was built into the armor, and I was definitely impressed. Of course I would have been even more impressed if I'd actually been able to see what they might be able to do. For all I knew, I might just have turned on a pair of powerful flashlights...but I highly doubted that.

With a grin, I muttered, "Hell yeah."

Just a couple minutes later, I decided to try it again, however this time it wasn't quite the same. I could feel it building up in the armor, tingling around my skin and charging up in my palms...or at least trying to. This time it felt...sluggish. Sort of slow to respond. And it didn't even fire again before dispersing, only making my palms glow orange a little for a moment, then nothing.

With a sigh of impatience, I closed my eyes again and tried not to think of the nothingness that surrounded me. It was much easier since the armor wasn't pinching nearly as much as before, and in fact it only felt a little bit uncomfortable rather than extremely so. Either I was beginning to get used to it, or the armor was stretching a bit. However, I suspected that I'd just lost too much circulation in the pinched areas, which wasn't a very pleasant thought.

Once again time passed while I did nothing save float there, and I still had no real idea how long it had been. All I knew was that it seemed like forever, though it was probably only a day or so. The only relief that I had was that I was still alive, that the suit hadn't run out of air.

Taking another look around, I was startled to see something moving in the distance. All I could make out were some lights, until I used the binocular thing to get a closer look, surprising myself with the results. It was some sort of space ship...and it was coming in my direction.

"Fuck no..." I exclaimed, not sure whether to be scared that those alien bitches were coming after me again, or relieved that I was going to be rescued.

Within minutes, the ship had gotten close enough so that I could see it without even it using the binocular vision. And then I noticed that it wasn't coming straight towards me, only in my general direction. At least it wasn't until it changed direction...then it was coming at me.

"Damn bastards," I muttered, trying to move away, desperate to move away again. To my surprise, this time I actually did start moving away. I could feel something in the armor tingling, like when I used the energy blasts. "Thank God."

I was moving, though I had no way to determine just how fast. However I doubted that it was as fast as the armor was capable of because after a few minutes, I could feel it beginning to slow down...or at least the energy flow around me beginning to cut out like it did with the blasts. It didn't take long before it cut out entirely and I was left floating helplessly again, this time with a damn space ship breathing down my neck.

Then it was there, looking as if it were about the size of a 747, though somewhat wider. And it was close, very close. Close enough that it blacked out everything in that direction. All I could see was the ships underside, if it was the underside. It could have been the top. Suddenly the bottom began to open into some sort of door...one that I was being pulled right into.

"Hell no," I gasped, struggling helplessly, desperate to get away. I felt as if I was about to shit my pants. Then I got hold of myself, realizing that maybe it was my way out...or in depending on how I looked at it. At least I wouldn't be floating in nowhere again, so I relaxed and went with the flow, readying myself for whatever happened inside.

Once I was inside, the doors closed beneath me, becoming a solid floor. At that point, gravity suddenly returned, dropping me several feet to hit it, though the armor kept me from feeling it. I staggered to my feet, feeling unbalanced after all that time just floating in no gravity, quickly looking around. It was then that I noticed that I was inside of some sort of pinkish colored glass cylinder which was just wide enough to surround the door I'd been pulled in through.

"We have her," a voice said in clear English from behind me. "We have caught our prisoner."

I snapped around, freezing in shock as I saw who it was who was talking. It was a man with black hair and a single lock of white hanging down in front. He was wearing a dark green jumpsuit with several belts around his waist and over his chest that were filled with metal canisters. A single white lighting bolt symbol was visible on his chest.

As I stared at the man who'd spoken, one thought came to mind. "Oh shit..."

There was little doubt who the man in green was, especially once I saw the two people standing behind him. One was a woman with dark blue hair and a purple tattoo in the middle of her forehead that resembled an eye. She was dressed in a silky, loose flowing costume of purple and blue. The other was a man who's body seemed to be solid black, making him look as if he were some sort of living shadow. All except for the glowing white eyes that stared at me.

I knew without a doubt who these people were, especially since I'd seen them in the news enough. The man in green was Dr. Power, the woman was Mindseye and the all black man was Syphon. They were the members of Lighting Force. They were super heroes.

"So we've caught one of the Lendali," Syphon said in a sort of hollow voice, "What are we going to do with her?"

It took me a few seconds to realize that they were talking about me. They though I was a woman because of the armor...and one of those damn aliens.

"We question her as to their plans," Dr. Power commented casually, giving me an odd look. "I wonder though why she was out there like that. Her armor does not appear damaged."

With a gulp, I blurted out, "I'm not an alien. I'm human." I grabbed for my helmet, trying to pull it off so that they could see I was human, but it remained solid.

Mindseye took a step forward, looking at me skeptically, "Pardon?"

My heart raced as I blurted out, "I'm human. I'm from Earth. Those aliens kidnapped me , but I stole this armor and escaped when their ship blew up." I tugged at my helmet again, "Damn, how do I get this fucking thing off?"

All three of them stood there staring at me rather skeptically while I struggled with my helmet. Finally, Dr. Power said, "That sounds...interesting." Then he gestured to the blue haired woman, "Mindseye?"

"Of course," she responded, stepping right up to the glass wall around me, staring at me intently. I was surprised when the tattoo on her forehead actually started to glow.

Suddenly I could feel something inside of my head, as if there was another presence looking at me. The hairs on the back of my neck felt as though they were standing on end and I felt extremely uncomfortable...and worried. Then the presence faded away, with me quickly letting out a sigh of relief.

Mindseye stepped back with a surprised expression, "Oh my," she whispered, rubbing at her temples. And when Dr. Power gave her a questioning look, she announced, "He is telling the truth."

"He?" Syphon repeated in his hollow voice.

She just smiled faintly, apparently amused, "It appears that the Lendali armor only comes in women's sizes."

I just grimaced in embarrassment. "Can you let me out of here then?" I asked, a little bit of an edge to my voice. And I didn't just mean out of the cylinder they had me in either. I wanted out of that damn armor.

Dr. Power nodded and touched something on the wall. A second later, the glass cylinder around me vanished completely, leaving no trace. I looked around in surprise before quickly darting out of the area that it had covered, glad to be out of there, but still eager to get out of the armor.

"You said that you were on board one of the Lendali ships," Dr. Power stated casually, "Perhaps you might have overheard some of their plans for this invasion."

"Invasion?" I gasped in surprise, looking at the other two who nodded their heads grimly.

"Surely you knew," Dr. Power responded with a frown.

I just shook my head, feeling a bit shook up. "No. Hell, I couldn't even understand a word that any of them said. They just busted up my bike, kidnapped me and threw me into a room with...." I stopped, clearly remembering the others. Remembering the way Mike had shot himself. "I was the only one to get out," I whispered, tears coming to my eyes, though they wouldn't be able to see them through armor.

"I'm sorry," Mindseye whispered.

However I just grabbed at the helmet again, struggling to pull it off, again to no effect. "How do I get out of this damn this?" I demanded, beginning to get pissed.

"Calm down," Dr. Power told me, putting his arm on mine. "I do not know how the Lendali armor works, but I am sure that I will be able to assist you once I get to the equipment in my lab. Until then, please be patient."

I snorted, mumbling, "Easy for you to say."

Then Dr. Power quickly went on, "Since you seem to be unaware of it Mr..." He looked at my chest with an almost amused expression.

"Aaron," I told him, "My name's Aaron."

"Well Aaron," Mindseye said with a frown, "the Lendali are trying to invade Earth."

"There are several large motherships in orbit," Dr. Power announced calmly, "Though we managed to destroy one in a surprise attack. Unfortunately, we won't be able to deal with the other ships similarly."

"The ship I was on...," I whispered.

Dr. Power nodded, looking uncomfortable, "We did not realize that they were taking human hostages or we would have tried a rescue."

I nodded at that, not sure to be thankful that they'd blown up those bastards and given me a chance to escape, or pissed because it got the others killed. Hell, I still didn't even know why they'd kidnapped us, unless it was to use as hostages like the Doc suggested.

After this, I just sat down in a seat they offered while the Lighting Force went about their business. I couldn't help watching them, staring at them in amazement. They were real life super heroes. Hell, I'd never seen any real ones before, just on the news and all. And there I was, sitting and even talking with the Lighting Force, one of the most famous super hero groups in the US...or at least one of the most high profile.

About six months earlier, I watched a TV special that talked about them a little, though I didn't remember all the details. Dr. Power was some sort of genius inventor and could move stuff with his mind, even lifting tanks by thinking about it. Mindseye was a psychic of some kind, and from my own experience knew that she could read minds, but she could supposedly create mental illusions or something like that as well. And then there was Syphon, who had been cold and distance since I'd come aboard. Apparently he could absorb just about any kind of energy, including light, heat, sound and kinetic energy.

But as I thought about it, I smiled faintly, wondering if it really was such a good idea to be so public about their powers and everything. Hell, I was sure that even supposed bad guys that they might fight watched TV too. How smart was it really to tell everyone who might attack you just what you were capable of doing? Then again, in the year or so that Lightning Force had been around, they'd apparently done pretty good for themselves.

I wasn't really sure about what was going on, though Mindseye assured me that they were already heading back towards Earth. They'd just finished up some sort of scouting patrol, trying to find out more about where the alien ships were at, though they didn't say anything about how well they'd done.

Suddenly Dr. Power announced, "We will be breaching atmosphere in a little over five minutes."

"Good," Mindseye sighed, "I can't wait till we land and I can take a shower."

"The others should already be there when we land," Dr. Power told her with a bit of a warning in his voice. She snorted while Syphon frowned even further. His face seemed to be in an almost constant scowl. I just wondered who they were talking about though didn't want to intrude by asking.

Things went quickly after that, with Dr. Power ordering me to strap myself in, then jumping into his own chair, as did the other two. Then everything started to shake faintly as we hit the atmosphere.

"Don't worry," Mindseye called out, giving me a reassuring smile, "This is normal."

"Who's worrying?" I gasped with a grin, wishing that I could get a better seat by the window. Whatever else was going on, I had to admit that this was exciting and I was almost having a blast. I poked at the armored tits on my chest at that, deciding it would be a hell of a lot better once I could get that damn bug shell off.

The ship landed just several minutes later, much to my relief. As soon as I was shown the exit, I rushed out it and down the stairs, pausing only once I was touching the ground again. It was only then that I realized that we weren't at any airport...but more like a giant helicopter pad with a large building next to it, and lots of mountains in the background. My eyes widened just slightly as I realized where we'd landed. I knew that I shouldn't have been surprised, but I still was. We had landed at the Lightning Force headquarters.

"Wow," I whispered.

"A little bigger than we really need," Mindseye admitted from beside me, "but we acquired it from a group of former developed criminals and adapted it to our needs." She paused for a moment, "We got our ship the same way, from the M'baal invasion attempt last year."

Syphon snorted faintly at that, "Yeah, but it took almost eight months to fix enough to use."

Dr. Power didn't say anything as he started towards the building. It was only then that I remembered what he'd said, "Excuse me," I called to him, "You said you could help me get this damn thing off..." I tapped on my 'tits' to prove the point.

"Oh," Dr. Power turned responded with a nod, "Of course." It looked as though he had forgotten about it.

"And if I could get something to eat," I said a little impatiently, "I'm starved." It had to have been well over a day since I last ate, and the stuff the alien chicks gave me couldn't really qualify as food.

This time Syphon smiled as he said, "I'll bet it's not easy going to the bathroom in that thing either."

It wasn't until he mentioned it that I realized that I hadn't gone to the bathroom in...well, before those damn aliens kidnapped me. A slight chill went down my spine as I realized that I still didn't really feel the need to go. I'd heard of being scared shitless, but being scared pissless...?

"This way," Dr. Power told me, gesturing for me to follow.

He led the way into the building, opening it with one of those handprint scanners and a code that he typed in, like right out of the movies. Then he led me through several halls and down an elevator, ending in a huge room filled with all sorts of really high tech looking machines that I couldn't make the least sense of.

Then I noticed a huge mirror on a wall, though it was connected to a bunch of wires and stuff so I rather doubted that it really was a mirror. However, it looked enough like one for me to see my reflection for the first time since I'd put on the alien space suit.

"Fuck," I spat, staring at myself in amazement. I looked exactly like those aliens wearing it...and shaped just like a girl. It was a sight to freak me out, or at least make me even more eager to get the damn thing off.

With a look of curiosity, Dr. Power observed, "That armor must be rather uncomfortable."

"It was," I admitted thoughtfully, "at first." Then I paused for a moment, realizing that I wasn't at all uncomfortable inside the armor anymore. There was no pinching or even the numbness. Instead, it felt as if were a perfect fit, though of course I knew that it wasn't. But still, it sure as hell felt like it. "It feels fine now."

Dr. Power just nodded, gesturing to a platform off to the side as he told me, "Please stand on the scanner so that I can get a look at your armor."

"OK," I responded, doing as he asked.

I looked around, surprised when a huge metal ring descended from the ceiling and slowly descended around me and the whole platform. It glowed slightly on the inside and hummed faintly as it went down. I could almost feel a faint tingle as it passed over me, then again when it slowly returned to the ceiling.

"Hmmm," Dr. Power mused as he stared at a computer screen, rubbing at his jaw, "Let's see here..."

"Is that all?" I asked hesitantly, fighting back my impatience.

Though he didn't answer, Dr. Power nodded his head while Mindseye told me, "I think he's finished scanning you." Then she frowned, telling Dr. Power, "Syphon and I can deal with our guests." She nodded towards me, "Don't worry Aaron, he'll get you out of there." And then she turned and left the room, with Syphon following close behind.

I just stood there, silently looking around the room, at all the machines and gadgets that looked as though they had come from some science fiction movie. Hell, I was sure that some of them were probably alien, most likely taken from one of the other alien invasions or something. Just like their ship.

After only several minutes, Dr. Power turned back to me with a slight frown, "I am no expert on the Lendali armor, and can not pierce it for a complete scan, but as far as I can tell it does not appear to be damaged. You should be able to deactivate it yourself."

I frowned at that announcement, but tried to pull the helmet off again, to no effect. "It can't be working right," I told him, fighting back the urge to snap. Hell, I clearly remembered the way those blaster things and being able to move cut out. Then I told him as much.

"Interesting," Dr. Power mused thoughtfully. He looked up at the clock, "I do not have much time, but come with me so that you can demonstrate this. It might help to remove the Lendali armor."

With a shrug, I followed after Dr. Power again, this time going into a large room that was something like my old high school gym, but 3 times bigger and with the walls all looking like they were coated with metal plating. And to my surprise, Mindseye and Syphon were already there waiting...along with four people whom I recognized.

"The Protectorate," I gasped in surprise. Or at least some of them.

I immediately recognized Vigil, as would just about anybody. He was a tall, athletic looking black man in a black and blue spandex costume with a white metal belt and wrist bands. And then there were a pair of white metal broaches shaped like stars that held on his long red cape. Of course there was also the blue mask that covered part of his face.

Standing just behind Vigil was a tall man with black hair, wearing a green and white spandex costume. I didn't really know much about him other than that he was called Titan, and that he could grow into a giant.

Next to Titan was a very sexy looking Asian woman who had long black hair. She was dressed in a costume that was mostly white, but with a little bit of gray mixed in. Then there was a white cloak over her. She was called Spook if I remembered right, though she was a pretty new addition to the Protectorate.

The last member of the Protectorate who was there was Force. Force was handsome blonde guy who looked every inch the stereotypical hero, from the tall athletic build to the squarish jaw. He was dressed in a costume that was blue and white, with a pair of silver metal shoulder pads and a white cape.

Suddenly Force yelled, "One of them...," just before he suddenly flew straight at me. It all happened so fast that I didn't even absorb it...until he punched me and sent me flying to the other side of the room with a panicked scream.

I hit the far wall with a heavy thud, then fell down to the floor, feeling a bit shaken but not at all hurt. Still, I was royally pissed and jumped back to my feet, just in time to see Force flying straight at me, his fist extended. With barely a thought, I reacted, firing one of those palm blasts that I'd discovered in space.

"Fucker...," I snarled, half surprised when a beam of energy hit Force...throwing him back to the other side of the room and straight into the wall. However, he reacted much like I did, staggering only slightly but appearing entirely unhurt. Not to mention pissed.

Suddenly Dr. Power screamed out, "STOP."

There was a green glow around me and I was unable to move, even to take a step forward. I could see the same kind of glow around Force, and a determined expression on Dr. Power's face.

"He's not a Lendali," Mindseye yelled at Force, glaring at the other members of the Protectorate who were getting ready to charge. "He's our guest...so STAND DOWN!"

At that, the glow faded around me and I could move again, as could Force. He looked as though he were about to charge me again, but instead, Vigil nodded towards him and said, "Please explain."

Though I was still tempted to blast Force, I held back, cautiously walking towards the others instead. The members of Protectorate were all looking at me skeptically while Mindseye started to tell them about me. Their expressions softened at that, even looking embarrassed.

"Sorry about that," Force apologized, holding out his hand. I nodded and shook it, glad that I didn't have such a powerful super hero still pissed at me.

"Were is the rest of your team?" Dr. Power asked Vigil, looking at the others who were with him.

Vigil frowned, "I'm afraid that they will be late. They're in Dallas taking care of a Grendel rampage." He sighed and shook his head faint.

"Too bad," Mindseye muttered, "We could use Omni Woman's power.

Dr. Power nodded, then told the Protectorate, "Can you please wait to the side for a few minutes. Mindseye can brief you on what we found on patrol." Then he said, "This could be a good opportunity to learn more about the Lendali armor and how to stop it."

"How about how to get it off?" I asked impatiently.

"It appears that the weapons systems are working," Dr. Power continued as though I hadn't said anything, "But why don't we try it again."

A minute later, Dr. Power had touched something on the wall and some sort of target raised straight out of the floor. I did as he instructed and fired another blast at it, half surprised when it didn't choke up on me. Then I did it again...still with no problems.

"It's working," I exclaimed in surprise, firing several more blasts at the target, with no sign of it locking up or going sluggish like it did in space. After a few more shots, Dr. Power seemed satisfied.

With a faint nod, Dr. Power told me, "Attempt to test the flight capability."

I blinked at that. "Flight capability?" Then I remembered how I'd moved in space and wondered if that was it, "I'll try."

It took me only a moment to remember how I did it, and then several more to gather the nerve to try it. But then I grinned to myself, realizing that if that damn thing actually could fly, that would have to be a major blast. Probably not as much as riding my bike, but I sure as hell wouldn't know until I tried.

Then, I was suddenly in the air, nearly touching the metal plated roof. Hell, I surprised myself at how quickly I'd gone up, barely managing to put on the 'brakes' in time. For a moment I just hovered there, trying to reel in my senses.

"Definitely cool," I muttered, slowly flying around the room, finding that it was surprisingly easy. All I really had to do was think about where I wanted to go real hard, and I went there.

After several minutes of that, I landed back on the ground, wondering if I should suggest going outside so I could really open up and cut loose. I grinned in spite of myself, figuring that flying...really flying could be a major blast. But at the moment, I still wanted to get the damn armor off...and get something to eat.

Vigil and the others just stood back, watching curiously but not saying anything. Force and Spook both looked a bit impatient while Titan actually looked bored. I still couldn't believe that I was right there with the Lighting Force and the Protectorate both

"Everything appears functional," Dr. Power commented, looking at me intently. "I see no reason why you should not be able to remove that armor."

"Maybe you've just been trying to take it off wrong," Mindseye said.

. I stared at her for a moment, wondering if she might be right. Then I thought about how I was able to make the armor shoot those energy blasts and fly, wondering if maybe I could get the armor off something like that. It was certainly worth a shot.

After a moment of concentration, I felt something sort of 'click' inside, like a switch had just been thrown. Then to my surprise, I could feel the armor sort of vibrating around me...just before it peeled away from my skin, then pulled up towards my face...sort of the opposite of how it had gone on.

"Fuck..." I whispered, feeling the air on my skin again. Feeling it on my face. It was only then that I noticed that even the mask I'd originally put on seemed to be gone.

Suddenly Syphon's hollow sounding voice gasped, "I thought you said she was really a guy..." It was the most emotion that I'd heard from him.

Dr. Power and Mindseye were both staring at me, along with all the Protectorate members. Wondering what the hell they were staring at, I looked down at myself and let out a gasp...then a, "What the fuck?"

My eyes went wide in shock and confusion as I stared at what looked just like a nice pair of tits on my chest. Those feelings only expanded as I slowly forced my eyes further down, realizing that my whole body looked different. Drastically different. Hell, I looked just like...like a woman. Even between my legs.

Then I slowly looked up, feeling dazed and confused, not sure whether to scream, faint or curse. As I stared at Dr. Power with an uncomprehending look, I whispered the only thing I could think of, "Oh shit..."

The room was eerily silent though I could feel seven sets of eyes staring right at me. The eyes of some of the worlds most famous super heroes. The eyes of Lighting Force, the most high profile group, and of the Protectorate, well known as the greatest super hero group. But even so, my eyes were staring at the very same thing that they all were...myself.

"W...what the fuck?" I squeaked out, realizing how feminine my voice sounded.

My mouth hung open as I stared at the breasts on my chest, and the rest of my body which now looked equally feminine. The whole sight shocked me as I knew without a doubt that I had been my normal male self before putting on that freaky alien armor.

"Interesting," Dr. Power commented, looking slightly startled. Then he quickly looked between Mindseye and myself, "She was supposed to be male...correct?"

Mindseye glared at him, looking a little confused. "I told you that he was a man...or at least his memories said so." She looked at me a little uncertainly.

I just looked up to Dr. Power, "What the hell happened to me?" I asked again, "I've...I've turned into a chick." But that wasn't possible. However, the tits I now possessed said otherwise.

Then I heard Force snicker faintly, "At least this is entertaining." However Mindseye gave him a steady glare that made him go silent, though didn't clear the snicker on his face.

"I think that we should go to my lab immediately," Dr. Power told me, quickly turning to all the others, "Please wait for the rest of the arrivals. I will return once I am finished."

With that, Dr. Power led me back down the hallway to his lab. I just followed in stunned silence, aware of the faint jiggle from my chest, from the strange sensations that were coming from my body. Hell, I felt more normal while I was wearing that freaky armor.

Once we got to back to the lab, Dr. Power hurried to some machine while I just turned to the mirror thing and stared at myself in confused silence. The reflection was...well it wasn't me. But the similarities were uncanny.

The woman in the mirror looked about the same age as myself, and had strong resemblance, almost as if she were my twin sister or something. She...I was rather shapely and curved in all the right places, with what I guessed to be around a large B or a C cup, though I was certainly no expert.

"No fucking way..." I whispered, slowly reaching out to touch my reflection.

Suddenly Dr. Power snapped, "Don't touch that." I turned back for a moment and he continued a little more calmly, "That reflective scanner is perfectly safe to look at, but it is very sensitive. I would prefer that you not take the risk of damaging it."

I nodded, then looked back at my reflection and blinked several times. My hair was about the same as before, dark blonde that was pulled back a bit and cut off about near shoulder length in back. That kind of surprised me a little since I'd half expected myself to have hair down to my ass or something.

Then I stared at my forehead in surprise. It looked like I was wearing some kind of tiara made of the same gray metal as the armor. I frowned and reached up to pull it off, but it refused to budge. Hell, the damn thing actually felt as if it were glued to my skull.

"What the fuck is this?" I demanded, tugging helplessly at the tiara.

Dr. Power just stood back silently for a moment, watching me curiously before finally saying, "If you step within the scanner again, I might be able to provide an answer to that." As I nodded and slowly started towards the platform again, he added, "Without the armor to block the full scan, I should be able to get a more detailed report."

After a moment, the metal ring descended from the ceiling again, humming just as it did before. Once it was back up and out of the way, I eagerly stepped off of the platform. The thing kind of me the willies for some reason. I guess that it just reminded me of the thing from the Fly movie.

"And a blood sample if you please," Dr. Power said, holding out a device that looked a little bit like a tiny gun.

"Whatever," I snorted, looking down at myself with a scowl. "Just get me back to normal."

At that, Dr. Power touched my arm with the device and I felt a faint sting, though only for a moment. He stepped back with it, pulled a small glass tube filled with blood out and started to work again.

For the next several minutes, I just stood there, impatiently watching Dr. Power. Then I snarled and started pacing, finally ending back in front of that mirror scanner thing. It was almost like my reflection was magnetic or something because I couldn't pull myself away from it. And it wasn't because I was primping or vain. I just couldn't believe that I was a chick.

Finally, Dr. Power announced, "I believe that I have some answers."

"Oh goody," I muttered sarcastically, crossing my arms in front of my chest...or at least trying to while I watched him.

Then Dr. Power looked down at me and blushed, looking embarrassed for the first time. Apparently it was the first time that he actually noticed that I was stark naked and a fucking chick as well. It was easier for me just not to think about that part.

"A...," he started, looking a little uncertain as he gestured towards a wall where I noticed several labcoats hanging, "Please put one of those on."

With a sigh, and a few curses under my breath, I threw one of the labcoats on, feeling a little better about it. At least I wasn't naked anymore, though I was still pretty damn close to it. Too damn close for my comfort, but what was I going to do?

Once I was finished, I turned to Dr. Power with a scowl, "Well...?" I knew that I wasn't being all that polite to him, but at the moment, I didn't really give a damn. I had far more important things to worry about than manners.

Dr. Power let out a sigh as he sat down, gesturing for me to do the same. "To start with," he said gently, "I believe that I should tell you about the Lendali."

"OK," I responded nervously, not sure where this was going.

"The Lendali are an aggressive people and have a matriarchal society, with the women outnumbering the men by a ratio of approximately 12 to 1," Dr. Power told me. "The males in their society serve little purpose except for breeding."

"A harem for every man," I mused with a faint grin. That might have seemed a bit more interesting though if it wasn't for my current condition.

"Not exactly," he responded wryly. "Though it might have something to do with why you and the others were kidnapped."

I blinked at that, giving a faint, "Oh," before gesturing at myself, "But what about THIS?"

"The armor uses a nanotechnology to link into the wearers nervous system when activated so that the user can integrate with and control the armor." He paused and stared at me for a moment, looking rather thoughtful. "The Lendali have a stronger immune system than humans. Much stronger." Then he continued, "The armor interface was designed to compensate and overcome the Lendali immune system...not a humans.

"And that means...?" I asked quietly.

"It means," Dr. Power answered, "that the armor interfaced into your body much easier than it possibly could with any Lendali...and much more thoroughly. Their immune systems would not allow the armor to completely infect their bodies. But a human's would. Yours did."

"But why did he change?" Mindseye asked, revealing for the first time that she was standing there. I had no idea for how long though.

"The Lendali armor is designed solely for female use," Dr. Power quickly went on, "quite possibly to prevent any of their males from attempting to use it. Or possibly just because they could see no need for a male to use it." He paused once again, giving a quick glance towards Mindseye before returning his attention to me, "After the armor so thoroughly integrated itself with your body, it proceeded to adapt you so that you could use it."

"Say what?" I squeaked, blinking at that.

Mindseye just looked at me in surprise, "But what about...?"

Dr. Power just shook his head, "I do not think that this could ever have happened to any Lendali. The system would simply have tried to integrate with a Lendali male...and then deactivated. However it had integrated itself far more deeply within your own body and because of your human immune system, was capable of much more influence." He sighed, "I believe that this is likely the first time such a thing has ever happened."

"Just great," I snort sarcastically, "Now if only I could get that kind of luck with the lottery."

"The question is though," Mindseye started, "Can you change him back to normal?"

For several seconds, Dr. Power was silent, staring at me with a grim expression. "I fear not," he said quietly. "The armor is still bonded to your body."

I jumped at that, "What...?"

He tapped at the tiara that seemed to be stuck to me, "It has deactivated into a semidormant state but it is still wired into your nervous system."

With that, he pushed something and what could only be an X-ray of my head appeared on the screen in front of me. It even had the tiara thing which seemed stuck to my skull even on that. He pushed another button and a dozens of tiny red lines appeared in the X-ray, going through my brain, the base of my skull and even down into my spine. And all of them seemed to link in to the thing on my forehead.

"The tiara as you called it," Dr. Power said, "is only the external manifestation of the armor. The neural network remains embedded in your nervous system and I fear that any attempt to remove it would prove fatal."

I gasped at that, staring at him in shock. Then I frantically grabbed at the tiara again, "Get this off of me...!" I was in a near panic as I scrambled, "It's in me... Get it out..."

Suddenly I felt another presence inside my head, just like before. "Calm down," Mindseye urged me aloud, "Please..."

Turning back to Dr. Power, I snapped, "Can't you at least change me back into a guy. There's got to be some way to get this thing out of me. Hell, you're a fucking genius, aren't you?"

He looked a little embarrassed, but slowly shook his head, "I am afraid that there is nothing that I can do. The armor has integrated itself into your body so completely that it can not be removed, nor will it allow your body to be reverted, even if I had the means."

"I'm sorry," Mindseye said gently, putting a hand on my shoulder.

All I was able to do was sit there in stunned silence, too shocked to even speak. At least not intelligibly. It had all hit me so fast...and it seemed so impossible. I was just a normal guy...a mechanic who liked riding on the weekends. This kind of stuff just didn't happen to normal people.

"But it does," Mindseye whispered, making me snap around, realizing that she was still reading my thoughts. At that, she looked embarrassed and I could feel her presence fade. "Strange things happen to normal people more than you realize," she continued gently, smiling weakly as she added, "I was just a normal person too at one time." I thought that I noticed a faint look of regret pass over her face at that, though I didn't pay it much attention.

"I am very sorry," Dr. Power told me gently, standing up and frowning. "I wish that I could do more for you, but I fear that we still have an invasion to stop." And with that, he slowly left the lab, leaving me there alone with Mindseye.

She looked towards the door with a frown, "But...," then she turned back to me with a sigh. "I suppose I can get you some real clothes before I go and help." However, she didn't look too thrilled about the delay.

I just nodded numbly, still in shock over the sudden changes to my body. Still, I was able to follow almost on autopilot behind Mindseye as she led me through several hallways, finally stopping at one door and gesturing for me to go inside.

"Huh?" I mumbled as I stepped inside, taking a quick look around.

It was a nice sized room with a bed on one corner that was scattered with clothes. More clothes were hung over a chair and what looked like a McDonald's bag was sitting atop of a table. There was even a couch and a TV.

"Ignore the mess," Mindseye muttered, looking a little embarrassed. "I've been a little too busy to do much cleaning"

With a faint nod, I took another look around, frowning slightly as I did so. It was definitely an apartment to do any bachelor proud. Hell, even my apartment was neater than that, and I wasn't exactly the neatest guy around either.

Mindseye hurried to her closet, cursing under her breath as she nearly tripped over a box of something on the floor and making me smile in amusement. That was certainly not what I would have expected from a world famous super hero. I mean, who would have thought that she'd be so...human.

"Try this," she told me, tossing me a gray jogging suit from her closet, "That should fit you." Then she pulled out a pair of tennis shoes as well, quickly going to her dresser for socks.

I just stood there, staring at the jogging suit and feeling a little relieved that she hadn't tried getting me into a dress and high heels or something. I was feeling bad enough as it was and probably would have run out of the room screaming if she'd done that.

With that, I slowly looked down at myself and scowled, especially at the sight of two bumps on my chest. I cringed for a moment, feeling more than a little embarrassed. I even poked at them again through the labcoat, trying to tell myself that they weren't real, though they certainly felt so.

"Damn," I muttered weakly, glancing nervously at Mindseye and then slowly starting to undo the labcoat. After all, I reminded myself, it wasn't like I had anything she hadn't seen before, though that thought only made me frown deeper.

Then she dove into another one of her dresser drawers which was full of panties. My eyes went wide at that and I wasn't sure which horrified me more, the thought of wearing women's underwear...or wearing someone else's used undies. Suddenly she pulled out a plastic store bag and muttered, "Here they are." With that, she scowled, "I just bought some new ones last week and haven't worn them yet," just as she pulled a pair of black panties from the bag and tossed them to me. From the look on her face, I could tell that she wasn't any more pleased to be giving away her panties than I was to take them.

"Just great," I muttered, staring at the panties with a scowl. I've had a bit of practice taking panties off, but none in putting them on and I sure as hell never thought that I'd be putting some on myself. "Damn."

Mindseye suddenly paused and looked me over, her eyes locking on my tits. I quickly covered them in embarrassment, knowing that I had to be blushing brightly as I did so. It hadn't taken long at all before I regretted taking off the labcoat.

"Relax," Mindseye told me, a slightly amused grin beginning to form as she stood there with her hands at her hips. "You don't have anything that I haven't seen before." I blushed even more at that and slowly pulled my hands away while she added, "I was just trying to determine your cup size." She frowned thoughtfully then shook her head, "I don't think any of my bras will fit you. They'd be a little too large."

"Thank God," I muttered under my breath, thankful that I wasn't any larger than I was. Hell, it already felt like I had a couple softballs on my chest and they were pretty damn distracting. They kept...jiggling.

"Please hurry," Mindseye said, glancing at the clock, "There is an alien invasion happening..."

I just nodded and grabbed the panties, wincing in embarrassment as I slipped them. However, to my relief, they were rather comfortable. Probably too comfortable to my thoughts. I paused for a moment and looked down at my chest again, then quickly returned to dressing, thankful that at least I wouldn't have to be prancing around naked or in that damn labcoat.

Once I was finished, I looked down at myself again with a frown, shaking my head in disbelief. Somehow, I suspected that if I wasn't still in shock, I'd really be panicking. But at the moment, everything still felt halfway like some sort of freaky dream.

Blinking for a moment, I looked up and gave weak smile then told Mindseye, "Thanks."

"No problem," she told me as she started for the door again, obviously impatient to get back with the others.

I followed behind her into the hall, then winced at an ache from my stomach. "Excuse me," I started, getting her to pause and look back at me. With a nervous smile, I patted my stomach and asked, "There a chance I could get something to eat?" I was starving, not having had anything to eat since back on the ship...and I hadn't felt like eating much then.

Mindseye frowned slightly but gave a faint nod. "This way."

"Thanks," I muttered again, my own voice still sounding strange to me.

A minute later, we arrived in a large kitchen where Mindseye immediately went to the fridge and started digging through it. Then she pulled out a plate of chicken and set it down on the counter. "Hope you like chicken," she told me, gesturing towards the microwave and back to the fridge, adding, "You can help yourself to anything else in there too. There's plenty of sodas too."

Before I could thank her yet again, she had rushed out of the kitchen, in a hurry to get back with the rest of her team and the Protectorate. However, I barely spared that a thought as I immediately went for dinner. At the moment, I didn't care if those alien bitches were invading the Earth, my stomach came first.

It didn't take me too long to finish eating and soon I was sitting back, staring mindlessly at the plate, realizing that I'd really pigged out. "Not very ladylike," I snorted sarcastically, forcing myself to stare at my hands. They felt normal, but they weren't. They were slender...more feminine.

For a minute, I remained where I was, realizing that for the first time since I'd gotten out of the armor...I was really alone. There was no one else around me, and I wasn't sure to be nervous about that, or relieved. Instead, I just shook slightly, but whether from fear, frustration or rage, I wasn't completely sure. It was probably some mix of them all.

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked aloud, though there were no answers.

A cold chill went down my spine as I looked down at my chest, though my shape was somewhat hard to tell with the jogging suit. However, that didn't last long as I slowly pulled the top off, just far enough to get a good look at the tits...my tits. They seemed so alien there, though I knew that I would have to get used to them if Dr. Power was right.

"Damn," I muttered, my hands clenching tightly.

I pulled the jogging suite back and stared at the wall, thinking about what had happened to me. It had all happened so quickly. In almost the blink of an eye, I'd lost my bike, my freedom and then my own body. Hell, I couldn't believe just how close I had come to losing my life as well.

"I guess I should be thankful that I'm still alive," I whispered. I was thankful to still be alive, and a feeling of relief washed over me at that realization. I had come so close to dying...so many times since the moment I first saw that ship. By all counts, I knew that I should probably be dead. When I thought about that, being a girl didn't seem nearly as bad. Then I frowned, "Try being that calm about it in the morning."

Finally, I stood up, my hands clenched even tighter, images of Mike, Rob, Max and Darren flittering through my head, along with the memory of my bike smashing into the rock. I grimaces as I remembered those blue skinned women, feeling more and more pissed with every passing second.

"Fuck the bitches," I snarled, snapping around and starting back towards that 'gym' in determination.

When I reached the door to the gym area, I hesitated for a moment, not even sure if they'd still be there. And after I peaked my head in, I was annoyed to see that it was empty. For a moment, I just stood there frowning, half suspecting that they'd already run out to fight the Lendali and feeling a little disappointed at that.

Scowling, I muttered, "Damn," not sure why I was annoyed. It wasn't like I could do anything to help, but I still felt like I had to be involved somehow.

I was just about to turn and leave when I heard some voices a short distance away. And though I couldn't quite make out what they were saying, they were clear enough for me to follow to the next room over. And when I opened the door and stepped inside, I froze, my eyes going wide in surprise.

The room was somewhat smaller than the 'gym', but with half a dozen huge TV screens on the walls, each of them showing pictures of Lendali ships, maps of where they were at and other similar things. Computers and the like lined the wall and several chairs were lined up by a table, though there were nowhere near enough seats for all of the people in the room.

A single glance revealed that Lightning Force and the Protectorate people weren't the only ones there anymore. My eyes quickly darted to the other new people in costumes, people who looked vaguely familiar from the news, though there was only one of them that I really recognized.

"Ms. Miracle..." I squeaked out, staring at the statuesque blonde heroine, wearing her tight red and gold costume. If I still had the parts, I would have been hard right then.

"Oh, Aaron," Mindseye said, glancing towards me with a slight frown. She gestured around, "These are the Miracle Men."

I quickly glanced at them, seeing that there was a black guy in a green and black costume with a little white, a tall skinny guy, a sexy redhead and a girl with short black hair with a little bit of white in front. However, I barely gave any of them a glance before returning my attention to Ms. Miracle.

"Did you say Aaron?" Ms. Miracle asked Mindseye with a curious expression.

Mindseye nodded, "Yes. He just had...a...reaction to Lendali technology."

Ms. Miracle stared at me for a moment, shaking her head just the slightest. Then she held out her hand, "I'm sure that everything will work out fine," she told me, sounding rather confident of that. I certainly wasn't though.

With a gulp, I stared at her tits, forcing my eyes away long enough to shake her hand. I was in a little bit of shock at that, "I...used to have your poster on my wall when I was growing up," I blurted out, feeling stupid as soon as the words escaped my lips.

She looked a little uncomfortable at that and muttered something that sounded like, "Me too," though I couldn't be certain.

Just then, Force snapped, "You shouldn't be in here. We have work to do and don't need your distractions." He stood there with his arms crossed, while a number of the others in the room nodded agreement.

For a moment, I just stared at him, my anger beginning to bubble up again. "I have every right to be here!" I snarled at him, my eyes narrowing and my fists clenching. "After what they did to me...." Then I paused for a deep breath, memories flashing through my mind before I could spit out, "I have more right to be here than you."

"Enough!" Dr. Power said, glaring at us both.

"She...um...he is right," Mindseye added, "Aaron is already involved in this."

Dr. Power nodded and quietly said, "And her experience with the Lendali may prove useful."

Force glared at me but didn't say anything, only glancing to Vigil who nodded faintly and told him, "Leave it alone." That didn't seem to make Force any happier.

I just shook my head, still hardly believing that I had one of the oldest and most famous members of the Protectorate pissed at me. But still, I wasn't about to back down on that one. Not when I KNEW that I had to be there. Whether I could be of use or not...I had to be involved.

And with that, I turned my full attention to the business at hand, listening intently as Vigil and Dr. Power started to make their plans.

I stood in the back of the room, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed in front of my chest, though at the moment it wasn't quite as comfortable as it would have been previously. With a frown, I slowly turned away from the massive TV screens on the wall and looked at the dozen or so people who filled the room. All of them developed...all of them super heroes. I of course was the only exception.

For the last twenty minutes, I'd remained where I was, trying to avoid being noticed as I watched everything around me. Dr. Power had pictures of the Lendali ships and several attacks on cities filling the TV screens on the wall. And at the same time, the various leaders went on and on about plans and strategies for dealing with the Lendali.

Vigil announced, "The Protectorate has already stopped the initial attack in Miami and Lightning Force destroyed one of their mother ships. In spite of their power, they are not unstoppable."

"Well duh," the black man called Quartz muttered. "We took out a bunch of them in LA too."

"I suspect that the initial attacks by their armored soldiers were little more than tests," Dr. Power stated calmly, gesturing to the screen. "They have yet to unleashed their full power against any target, so I believe that they are still moving into position and testing what defenses we can provide."

"Your taking out one of their ships might have something to do with that," Titan stated with a cocky grin. "I bet they figure we'll take all of them out the same way."

"Quite likely," Dr. Power admitted.

Syphon asked, "But how do we do that?" He paused for a moment, his voice sounding eerie as he continued, "We were lucky to catch their weak spot before."

I just sighed as I watched this, wondering where it was all going. So far they'd all just been going around in circles while trying to come up with some plan to take out the invaders. All I was able to do was watch silently, not having much to offer, nor even being asked what I thought about any of that. After the initial noise about my coming it, I seemed to have been forgotten. And at the moment, I was rather thankful of that.

Suddenly Force slammed down his fist on a table, causing it to smash down with a crunch. "Enough of this," he growled, "We shouldn't be sitting around here talking about fighting them...we should be out doing it!"

I nodded agreement, as did several of the costumed heroes. "Good idea," I muttered.

"That is easier said than done," Vigil told him with a frown. "We must coordinate our attacks if we wish to succeed."

Force just scowled at that, looking impatient and annoyed. I certainly knew how he felt, but at least he could go out and do something. All I could do was seethe in frustration.

Just then, I noticed a red glow in the air a few feet away and turned towards it in surprise, only to realize that it looked sort of like a glowing red doorway. "What the fuck...," I started.

Mindseye snapped around, her eyes going slightly wide, "Oh..."

Then, someone actually stepped out of the glowing red doorway, a man dressed in a blue trenchcoat and with a blue hat on. I couldn't make out his face though since it was covered with some sort of gold metal mask that covered the entire thing. And right behind him stepped out several more people, all of them looking a little odd and all wearing costumes.

"Face," Mindseye said, sounding a little surprised as she nodded towards the man with the mask. "I didn't know if you all would be able to make it."

"I apologize for being late," a man with big white wings said, "but we were busy dealing with a group of the aliens."

"I understand Icarus," Dr. Power said with a smile, "And we are all thankful that Faction Zero was able to make it."

For a moment, I just stared at the other newcomers, vaguely recognizing them from the news, but not much more. There was the guy with the metal face mask, who was remaining fairly quiet. He seemed just a little bit spooky. And then there was the guy with the wings, another guy with a bow and arrows strapped to his back. There were also three women with them, one of them a woman who looked like she was wearing some sort of armor as well, and then there was one blonde chick who had to be 7 feet tall...and ripped with muscle.

"Damn," I whispered, staring up at her in surprise. I didn't know that women could get that big, but then again, I reminded myself, she was one of the developed.

Suddenly Mindseye looked towards the last woman that came in and said, "That's an interesting change in costume Wildcat."

The woman had tanned skin and extremely dark hair that was almost black. She had on a gray costume, though without any sleeves, but with dark red ribbon tied around parts of her arms. And at the moment, was looking extremely self conscious and embarrassed, which surprised me.

"This isn't Wildcat," the one called Face interrupted quickly, giving a quick look at the embarrassed woman.

Then, the seven foot blonde quickly went on, "This is her sister Alleycat."

"Hello," Alleycat said, sounding a little nervous, though she quickly changed her expression to try looking more confident.

"I'm afraid that Wildcat passed away several months ago," Icarus stated quietly. "Alleycat possesses the same powers though and has offered to help us deal with the invasion."

While Alleycat was being introduced to some of the others, I asked Mindseye to tell me who the rest of them were. The name Faction Zero was familiar, but I couldn't really say that I knew anything about who the members were, at least not until Mindseye had finished telling me a little about them.

Once everything had calmed down again, they once again started to talk about plans to fight the Lendali. This time however, the Face and Icarus were involved in the discussion. Oddly enough, Ms. Miracle seemed fairly quiet through the whole thing, which I thought was strange since she was such an experienced hero. Hell, if I remembered right, she used to even be a member of the Protectorate some time before she died.

"Then it's decided," Vigil stated after awhile, looking rather tense, "We wait until they make the next move...then we make ours."

"What?" Force demanded, looking surprised. "How can you suggest sitting on our asses while they're out there?" He was beginning to look more and more angry.

"I have to agree," Ms. Miracle added with a frown. She looked around, announcing, "I don't like the idea of waiting here until they attack again."

Dr. Power stepped forward, "Patience please. This is the only way to effectively neutralize the Lendali threat."

Ms. Miracle scowled, glancing back at her own team for a moment as if to see what they thought. And though there were no words spoken, several of them gave faint nods, seeming to communicate their own opinions. Finally, Ms. Miracle turned back to Dr. Power, "All right." She obviously didn't like it, but seemed willing to go with their plan.

However Force slammed his fist into the wall, putting a large hole in it and causing several of the TV screens go blow out. "Well I for one won't just sit still!" He looked around, obviously pretty pissed, "I'm going to stop those damn aliens...with or without your help."

"But Force..." Vigil started, holding his hands up.

Force just snarled and slapped Vigil's hands back. "Who's coming with me?" He looked around, frowning even more when no one volunteered. Then with a "Fine then, I'll save the world myself," he stormed out of the room.

"Damn," I whispered, staring at the door Force had just gone through.

Vigil shook his head, "Too bad. We really could have used his help.

"I know," Dr. Power responded slowly, "I know."

I looked around, then quietly asked, "What happens now?"

To my surprise, Dr. Power answered, "We wait." He didn't seem to happy about it, but he continued, "I believe that they will begin their real assault within the next several hours, and then we will respond."

"God help us all," Vigil muttered.

With that, almost everyone began to leave the room. I remained behind for a minute, watching all of the developed walk past me and feeling rather uncertain. All I could do was stare at then, fully aware that all of them had developed powers...and that was a freaky thought. Hell, at the moment my anger was temporarily forgotten, as was my current condition.

After a few minutes though, most of them had left so I finally left the room as well, not sure where to go or what to do. And as I walked down the hall, I looked down at myself again with a scowl, fully aware once again of what had happened to me.

"Fuck," I muttered, tearing my eyes back.

I felt like a damn freak and knew that I probably looked a bit like one too with that metal tiara thing on my forehead. With that, I tried tugging at it again, but it still refused to budge in the slightest from my forehead. Not surprising considering that it was actually grafted to my skull as if it were a part of it now.

A minute later, I had somehow wandered back into the kitchen area, though I hadn't really intended to. But to my annoyance, I saw that I wasn't alone. Titan from the protectorate was sitting down, talking with Mega, that massive blonde amazon from Faction Zero.

With a frown, I turned to leave and found myself almost bumping into Mindseye. "Sorry," she apologized, stepping back.

"S'all right," I mumbled in response.

For a moment, we just stood there facing each other, then she said, "I supposed that this must be strange for you."

I nodded at that, a little sarcasm creeping into my voice as I responded, "Just a little."

Then she sighed, "Follow me." I shrugged and did as she asked, going down the hall back towards her room. However, she stopped several doors short and opened one of them up, gesturing inside, "If you feel like cleaning up, you can take a shower in her and get a little privacy." And with that, she turned and left.

For a moment, I just stood at the door, glancing around for a moment before going inside. I immediately noticed that it was an apartment of the same design as Mindseye's, but without all of the extras that showed it was lived in. Still, it was furnished, but after a quick glance into the dresser and then the closet, I knew that it was empty.

Then I remembered why I was there. "A shower...," I sighed out, heading straight for the bathroom that was attached.

Within a few seconds, I was completely naked again and staring at the tub, thankful that there were a few basic toiletries there, though they looked about the same kind you get in a hotel. I certainly wasn't about to complain however and immediately jumped into the shower stall.

As soon as the hot water hit me, I let out a sigh of relief, realizing just how tense I'd been. I closed my eyes and sighed, "Thank God," soaking up the comforting warmth for a few minutes.

Once I opened my eyes again, I looked down at myself with a frown. As much as I hated to admit it, they were pretty nice tits, but they sure as hell didn't belong on me. Then I groaned slightly, knowing that I'd have to get used to the sight sooner or later...preferably later.

"Damn armor," I muttered, rubbing at my forehead again.

Then I braced myself and looked down at my breasts again, slowly touching them with my fingers. My hands slowly moved down my body, almost as if they had a mind of their own, gently touching every inch of my skin as if to see if it was real. At this point, my conscious mind seemed to slip back a little, letting me distance myself from my changed body somewhat. Perhaps it was the only way for me to really face what had happened to me without freaking out.

I slowly explored every inch of my body as the water continued to pour down on me, barely aware of the time. My skin felt so soft and smooth compared to normal, lacking all of the hair that I uses to have covering it. Then I paused at my crotch for a moment, my fingers gently touching my slit, amazing me at just how sensitive it felt. However, I didn't let my attention stay there for too long before moving on. It was only after I had finished my self exploration that I actually reached for the shampoo and started to wash up.

Some time later, I stepped out of the shower with a faint smile on my lips, feeling MUCH better. Not only was I a hell of a lot more relaxed, but I was definitely a lot cleaner as well. It almost felt as though I'd washed away some of the fears and worries that had been plaguing me since I'd first gotten involved in everything.

After drying myself off, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror with a towel wrapped around my midsection, just as I had seen women do plenty of times before. I just stared at my reflection, amazed that this was actually me. And just as surprising...that I was quite pretty in a girl next door sort of way.

"She could probably look hot if she fixed herself up some," I commented casually, deciding that being objective about it made the whole thing a little easier to stomach. However, I wasn't exactly an objective sort of person normally. "Damn."

With that, I slowly pulled away the towel and gave myself another good looking over, shaking my head faintly before leaving the bathroom. A minute later, I sat down on the edge of the bed, completely naked. And taking a deep breath, I slowly spread my legs open and bent over for a better look. That only lasted for a few seconds though before I sat back up, shaking my head in disbelief.

"That's really going to take some getting used do," I muttered, then groaned as I realized that I was about to get a little more experience with my new equipment as well. Mother Nature was giving me an urgent call.

I quickly found that relieving myself was somewhat different, though not too much so. In fact, the only real problem occurred when I realized just how messy relieving myself without my usual equipment could be...and why women use so much toilet paper. But at least I got the same relief from it.

"Damn this is strange," I mumbled as I put my borrowed clothes back on, grimacing as I did so. For some reason, I wasn't exactly feeling eager to go back out with all those developed, but I refused to just hide inside that room and cower. "Never before," I spat, "and not now."

Within a minute, I had left the room again, taking a quick mental not though as to which one it was in case I wanted some privacy again. I slowly walked down the hall, not sure exactly where I was going though I was heading towards the kitchen.

Then, I stepped back into the kitchen, only to see Mega and Titan talking to each other excitedly. He seemed to be a litter taller than the last time I'd seen him though, about her height. And from the way they were going on, I suspected that their conversation was a little more personal than the invasion. With a faint shake of my head, I turned and started back the other way, not wanting to interrupt those two.

"The middle of an invasion," I mutter to myself, "and they just want to socialize." I was really beginning to think that Force guy had a point.

About that time, I finally noticed that someone else was walking down the hall towards me, though it took another few seconds to remember that she was the one they called Alleycat. Damn, I thought to myself, she sure looked hot. Perhaps a little too athletic for my tastes, but I'd be more than willing to overlook that...at least if I still had my equipment.

I was just about to walk past Alleycat, when to my surprise, she stopped, "Hello."

"Huh?" I started, a little startled, "Um...hi."

She looked a little embarrassed as she said, "Someone told me that you...that you were a guy."

With a faint scowl, I nodded, "Yeah. Their fucking armor did this to me." I gestured down at myself.

Alleycat nodded faintly, then gave me an understanding look that oddly enough made me feel a little more relaxed. "I'm sorry to hear it," she told me, sounding sincere. Then she quickly changed the subject, "You really look uncomfortable here."

"That obvious?" I snorted.

"Well it's obvious that you're not used to being around a lot of super freaks," she responded.

I nearly choked at that, "I wouldn't exactly say that...," I started, though she did have the sentiment correct.

"No," she continued with a grin, "but I would." At my blank look, she explained, "This is all new for me too and I'm not much more comfortable here than you are. I've only had my powers for a couple months and haven't exactly been wearing this costume the whole time."

For a moment, I just stared at her in surprise, realizing that she was a super hero rookie. For some reason, that actually seemed amusing, and I found myself beginning to like her. I wasn't sure why, but it almost felt as if we really had something in common. Not to mention, as if she understood me and what I was going through.

We talked for another minute, then Alleycat put her hand on my arm and stared me straight in the eyes. "Don't worry," she told me firmly, "It will get a lot easier."

"But...," I started to protest, gesturing down at myself in annoyance.

However, before I could get anything else out, Alleycat quickly went on, "So you're a woman...big deal. It's certainly not the end of the world and it could be a hell of a lot worse. After all, with everything that you've already been through, you're very lucky to just be alive."

"I know," I sighed quietly, though getting myself to really accept what I consciously knew wasn't exactly easy.

Alleycat just smiled, "Just think of it as the price you paid to still be alive. And if you ask me, that's a pretty small price to pay."

Once again, I just nodded in agreement, surprised at how simple she made it all sound. Hell, it was certainly a different perspective and one to think about at that.

Finally, she told me, "Be thankful you're still alive and get on with your life...whatever it is." And with that she smiled and started walking away, calling out, "I hope things work out for you."

I just stood were I was for a minute, staring down the hall where Alleycat had gone. What she'd said had definitely made a lot of sense, though I wasn't completely sure if I was ready to accept her advice and just move on with my life. Hell, my old body had only been torn away from me a few hours earlier.

With a shrug, I started back down the hall again.

It was less than fifteen minutes later when alarms suddenly started ringing and Dr. Power's voice came out over some unseen loudspeaker, "Everybody to the control room...the Lendali have begun their assault."

I nearly jumped at that, then turned and started running for the control room. The fight was on.

The digital clock remained frozen for what seemed an eternity before finally clicking over to the next number. Every moment that I stared at it seemed to take forever, reminding me that time really did seem to stand still when you least wanted it to.

"Damn," I cursed, turning my attention back to the TV monitors which covered the wall. Each of them was still showing pictures of the various Lendali ships, and of the news. All of it was about the invasion in one way or another.

It had only been just a little over half an hour since the alarm had come in that the Lendali had started their big attack, and only a little less since all of the heroes in the building had taken off to go stop them, leaving me there all alone. I cursed at that, feeling angry and frustrated as I stared at the screens, wishing that I could have gone as well, that I could have taught those blue skinned bitches a lesson. However, I knew that I would only have gotten in their way, but that didn't make me feel any better about it.

"Damn," I muttered again, leaning back in the chair and slowly rubbing at my new tiara. The metallic feel was strange beneath my fingers, feeling almost...alive. Almost as if it actually were a part of me.

Slowly turning my attention back to the TV screens, I frowned at the sight of one news channel showing a group of Lendali in their armor flying through Boston, blowing up just about everything that they came across. The sight was enough to make my blood boil, especially since none of the heroes had gone to stop them.

Another news channel flashed through pictures of the smaller alien ships that I'd been taken in, flying over various major cities. Some of them had armored Lendali coming out of them while others were just shooting at things. Various local heroes were shown fighting the Lendali as well, though none seemed to be doing extremely well.

A news woman exclaimed, "They alien ships are advancing...and there is still no sign of the Protectorate..."

Then suddenly the scene changed, with one of the Lendali groups they showed pausing from their attack, then flying away. The other channels showed similar scenes, with even the ships beginning to leave.

"They did it," I sighed, knowing that they'd done the first part, though I had very little idea of just how effective their plan had actually been.

Though I didn't know all of the details, I knew that their plan had been to wait until the Lendali attacked, then take advantage of their distraction to go after their mother ships. After all, that would hit them were it hurt the most, and force the rest to come back...but probably not until after the damage had been done.

Suddenly one of the monitors which showed a Lendali mothership in space, caught my interest. Specifically, the fact that there were explosions coming from one spot on the side, but not enough to actually destroy the ship. But still, it was obviously pretty messed up.

With a grin, I exclaimed, "Yeah. Go get those fucking bitches." I slammed my fist down excitedly on the table, then winced at the pain in my hand. My dainty, feminine hand. "Damn!"

After this, all I was able to do was sit back and stare at the clock, and the TV screens. Basically, the same thing that I was doing before, and it didn't make me any happier.

It was about fifteen minutes later that I suddenly realized that I wasn't alone. I jumped out of my chair in surprise, startled to see the Face stepping into the room from a red doorway, followed by several more people, including Alleycat. However, it was only about half of Faction Zero.

"Where is everyone?" Mega asked as she looked around.

I shrugged, "You're the only ones back."

"Not quite," another voice called out. I turned to see Ms. Miracle stepping into the room with that girl they called Rumor. Some of the rest of her group were visible behind her.

"Then I suggest Rumor and I retrieve the others," the Face stated casually, gesturing to Rumor who nodded. Several seconds later, both were gone again.

About five minutes later, everyone was back in the room, thanks to Rumor and the Face teleporting them. I was still somewhat in awe at how they did that, going all over the place and back in like no time at all. Hell, I wished I could do that too.

"I feel like a fucking sardine," I muttered, looking nervously about the crowded room.

Alleycat looked around with a scowl, and a somewhat nervous expression. "Is it like this every invasion?"

"Pretty much," a guy with a bow and arrow called Shiver responded. "But this was a little easier than most."

"It's called practice," Mindseye added with a smile.

I just shook my head in amazement at how these guys accepted an alien invasion as ordinary. Hell, Mega and Titan were even flirting with each other over in the corner.

"What all happened?" I asked Dr. Power.

He turned from Vigil and looked at me, "We awaited the moment of the Lendali's greatest distraction and then lauchned our own counterattack upon their vessels."

"We messed em up good," Shiver commented with a grin.

"But just enough to let them know that we meant business," Mindseye added, "And to make sure that they weren't much of a danger anymore."

"They were forced to withdraw their forces for defense," Dr. Power continued as if there had been no interruption, "and with their ships that severely damaged, it is unlikely that they will be able to resume any invasion plans."

I nodded, hoping that they were right. But then again, these were the guys who'd chased off the last couple of alien invasions. It seemed rather strange how many of those had stared up in the last few years. But then again, maybe it was like bad luck coming in threes or something.

Suddenly everyone near the door went quiet and I turned, startled to see Force standing in the door frame, a serious scowl on his face. His arms were crossed in front of him as he glared around the room, obviously not in a good mood.

"Welcome back," Vigil stated, his voice filled with obvious displeasure. "We could have used your power during the attack."

"And I could have used yours," Force snapped in response, stepping closer until he and Vigil were standing nearly face to face.

Vigil scowled, "We had a plan..."

"And it was a stupid one," Force growled back. "You don't win a war by waiting for your enemy to attack...then just pushing them back. You do it by beating them to the punch and hitting them with everything you have."

Spook put her hand out, "C'mon guys..."

However, neither Force or Vigil paid her any attention.

"You could have endangered our strategy," Vigil went on, growing more angry looking. "Not to mention our lives."

While Vigil and Force continued to argue, I turned to Spook and quietly asked, "Are they always like this?" If they were, it was amazing that they ever saved ANY lives.

"A little," she admitted, apparently not wanting to talk about it though as the only thing else she added was, "But usually not this much."

Then Force burst out, "I've had enough of this." He glared at Vigil for a moment, continuing in a steel filled voice, "Never again. I'm through with you...and the Protectorate."

And with that, Force snapped around and stormed to the door, while I and nearly everyone else stared at him in surprise. I didn't think that anyone expected one of the oldest and most famous members of the Protectorate to quit, not even Vigil who stood there in stunned silence.

A second later, I realized that the door was right behind me, but not until Force snarled, "Out of my way girl," then shoved me to the side as if I were nothing.

I immediately scrambled to my feet, the surprise vanishing as I got pissed off at that treatment instead, "Fucker..." I growled, barely aware of a tingling inside my head.

Suddenly I felt it, the tingling all over my skin, like the crackling of static electricity. My anger was momentarily forgotten as I grew aware of the armor spreading over my body once again, just as it had in the ship. I gasped in surprise, not really having considered that having the armor in me could mean that I could turn it back on, not until then. But as it finished sealing around me, I had no doubt that I could turn it off and on at will.

"Bastard!" I spat, pushing any questions and doubts from my mind as I started storming after Force again, thankful that I had the armor back. I definitely wanted to each that fucker a lesson for calling me a girl.

"Stop," Syphon stated, stepping in front of me and blocking my path. "Let him go."

Another voice...though I couldn't make out who said it since it came from behind me comment, "She thinks she can stop Force...?" It was filled with surprise at what he obviously considered my stupidity. But I didn't really give a damn.

"Aaron...," Mindseye warned, putting her hand on my arm, "You're armor..."

I paused at that, taking a deep breath to calm down and then talking a slowly look around me. I blushed as I realized that I was surrounded by a bunch of heroes and was just about to jump one of the most famous and powerful heroes on the planet. Even I had to admit that it was pretty stupid. Hell, I wouldn't have a chance.

"Never stopped me before," I muttered with a growl, but decided to let it pass.

"Interesting," Dr. Power commented from the side.

"What?" I asked with a scowl, still feeling a bit irritated at Force, as well as being back in the damn armor. I just hoped that I could turn it off again like I did earlier. But at least this time, it felt pretty damn comfortable.

Dr. Power stared at me, then responded, "Your armor as undergone a slight metamorphoses."

"Say what?" I stared at him in confusion.

"It's...changed," Mindseye exclaimed, gesturing down at me, "At least a little."

I looked down at myself, then blinked at the fact that instead of seeing the previous gray, the armor seemed to be green and a really dark gray. I was a little surprised at that, but before I could say anything, the Face did something with his hands and a mirror appeared right in front of me.

"I hope that this helps," the Face nodded towards me, his voice sounding rather curious though there was no expression for me to read since his whole face was covered by the gold mask.

With a slight nod, I looked into the mirror and gasped out, "Holy shit!"

For a moment, I just stared at my reflection, still unsettled to see a woman in armor. However, it was the color changes which had most of my attention, specifically the way it went green and dark gray. Hell, it was damn close to the custom paint job I'd had on my bike and helmet before those alien bitches had destroyed them. I had to admit though, it did make the armor look a hell of a lot cooler.

"What's up with this?" I asked Dr. Power, "I mean, it looks like how my bike was painted."

Dr. Power just said, "Interesting," then asked me a few more questions. When he was through, he nodded his head, "It appears that after the armor adapted you to suit it...it's adapting itself to suit you."

For some reason, I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or worried by that. Hell, who knew what the freaky alien armor could do next.

"It looks a little more...," Mindseye struggled for the words, "Close fitting."

Frowning, I turned to the mirror and stared at myself again, realizing that she was right. I hadn't really noticed it because it was a bit more subtle than the color change, but the armor did look just a little less bulky and more aerodynamic.

"I believe that another examination is in order," Dr. Power sighed, glancing up at the clock.

"Well," Ms. Miracle said, "I hope things go well, but I'm afraid that we have to leave."

With a gulp, I blurted out, "It was an honor meeting you." She just looked a little embarrassed at that.

"Thanks for your help with the Lendali," Dr. Power told her, giving a good look at the rest of the Mystery Men and the other heroes as well.

Then, Ms. Miracle gestured to Rumor...and a moment later, the Mystery Men were all gone.

"I believe that we will take our departure as well," Face added, making a gesture with a glowing red doorway quickly opening in the air.

As the members of Faction Zero vanished through it, Alleycat hurried up to me and stuck out her hand, "I hope things work out for you kid," I shook her hand, not sure whether to be offended by the 'kid' crack since she didn't look any older than I did. However, before I could make up my mind, she had ran through the red gate as well, with it vanishing behind her.

"You know," Titan commented casually to Syphon, "It's times like this that I really wish we still had a teleporter in our group too."

"I know what you mean," Spook added. "I might even be tempted to trade in my invisibility suit for a teleporting one if I could."

Dr. Power looked at the computer screens and commented in a pleased voice, "One of the Lendali ships is already breaking orbit and leaving, and it looks as though several more are beginning to follow."

"That is good to hear," Vigil responded, looking rather grim as he said it. "But we should keep an eye on the others to make sure that all of their ships leave."

"I agree," Dr. Power told him, then looked at Syphon and Mindseye. "Please monitor the status of the Lendali vessel while I have another look at Aaron."

I nodded at that, looking down at my changed armor again and shaking my head slightly. The sight of the tits on my chest, even covered by the armor was a sobering sight.

"I don't think that you look much like an Aaron anymore," Mindseye told me with a wry grin.

"And what do you think I should call myself?" I asked sarcastically, glancing around at everyone in the room, all of which used code names. Then I held up my armored arm, making a clicking sound as I tapped on it with my armored finger, "Armor woman? Metal Maid? Hardshell?"

"Metal Maid is taken," Titan interrupted with a grin.

Then Mindseye smiled as well, "Actually Hardshell isn't bad."

I just snorted at that, "This is ridiculous." And with that, I flipped the mental switch to turn the armor off again, silently hoping that it actually went away again. To my relief, I could feel the armor pulling back up into the tiara once again.

Almost immediately, I noticed that Titan was staring at me with his mouth open while Syphon had a slight smirk on his face. Mindseye just blushed, "Um..."

It was only then that I realized that I could feel the air on my skin, and the floor under my feet. A moment later, I gasped at the sight of myself being naked again, "Where the fuck did the clothes go?" I was naked in front of a bunch of heroes...again. I grimaced at that, not sure whether to be embarrassed or pissed. And with a deep breath, I decided to just deal with it. Hell, all of them had already seen me walking around as a naked woman.

"Interesting," Dr. Power muttered, "Your armor seems to have disintegrated anything between it and your skin."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, refusing to look down at myself or show any outward signs of my embarrassment, "Let's just find out what's up this freaky armor, OK?"

The expressions on everyone's faces was almost worth it as I started for the door, leaving Dr. Power to follow behind me for a change. Hell, I could even see a bulge through Titan's uniform while Spook just bent over laughing.

Several minutes later, I was in Dr. Power's lab and going through that scanning machine...again. It was beginning to get old, real fast. And as I climbed off of the platform, Dr. Power silently handed me another labcoat.

It didn't take long before Dr. Power turned back to me with a thoughtful expression. "I can not be absolutely certain, but I believe that the armor has stabilized."

"That's a relief," I responded sarcastically.

"It appears that the newest adaptations it made were mostly cosmetic in nature," Dr. Power continued calmly. "I doubt that there be any further mutations within the Lendali armor you have so...curiously become bonded with."

I scowled at that, feeling more and more like a research object than a person when I was with him. It was NOT a feeling that I liked, but then again, at least he wasn't staring at my tits like Titan had. Now THAT was a strange thought. Somehow, I didn't think that I'd ever get used to the idea of having a rack of my own.

"Talk about kinky," I muttered to myself while Dr. Power continued talking.

With a sigh, I listened to Dr. Power tell me about what he'd found, but using a lot of scientific jargon that I didn't understand so I only got a bit of what he was saying. All in all though, it seemed to be a repetition of what he'd already told me with more details.

Dr. Power and I remained in his lab for close to half an hour before leaving it again. I stumbled through the hallway, scowling slightly at the floor against my bare feet. I'd already lost one pair of shoes so wasn't exactly sure that I could ask for another.

"Damn labcoat," I muttered to myself as Dr. Power and I went back into the control room.

A moment after I stepped through the door, I looked around, startled to see that Vigil, Titan and Spook were still there, though Titan and Spook were sitting down and looking rather calm while Vigil remained standing tensely.

"Most of the ships have departed from orbit," Vigil told Dr. Power with a scowl, gesturing towards one of the monitors.

"The Lendali are running," Spook added with a grin.

Mindseye nodded, turning away from one of the screens as she said, "Another one just left. There's only one ship left in orbit."

"Good," Dr. Power responded with noticeable relief in his voice.

I just stood there with a frown, staring at the TV screens on the wall. As the Lendali were leaving, I felt a little safer...but also frustrated at the same time. Frustrated and disappointed that I hadn't been able to do anything...except run from them.

"Oh man," I whispered, closing my eyes as thoughts of the others who didn't escape from the ship filled my mind. It hadn't even been two days ago...but it felt like so much longer. My body trembled slightly as their faces became clear in my memory.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Are you alright?" Mindseye asked, the concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah," I choked out weakly, not completely telling the truth. Hell, as I looked down at myself, I knew that things might never be alright for me again. It was only just really beginning to sink in.

However, I took a deep breath and silently reminded myself to 'take it like a man'. That seemed a little ironic, but it would have to work. I grimaced, feeling a little embarrassed as I realized that everyone was looking at me, but I refused to show it. Instead, I did what I always did and glared around me.

"Damn," I muttered, wishing that I still had my bike. If there was ever a time that I needed a good ride to burn off the stress, now was that time.

After a few more minutes, Dr. Power looked at me again, then at Mindseye. "Would you be able to lend her some more clothes?"

"What...?" Mindseye started, then turned to look at me, her expression quickly turning to a glare. It was obvious that she wasn't happy that I'd destroyed the clothes she'd already lent me. "I'll see what I can do," she finally responded a little impatiently.

I sighed, feeling a little guilty though I sure as hell hadn't intended to wreck her clothes.

"I think that it is time for us to go," Vigil said at that point, gesturing for the other two. "Hopefully the rest of our team managed to stop Grendel."

"Shit," Titan blurted, "I'd almost forgotten about that."

With a nod, Vigil glanced towards the TV screens and added, "If not...they may need our help."

A moment later, Vigil started towards the door, with Titan and Spook quickly moving along with him. The members of Lightning Force started leaving along with them so with a shrug, I followed as well. After all, I was definitely curious to see that helicopter they were famous for using.

There was a large concrete landing area stretched out before me, with the Lightning Force headquarters building just behind me. A short distance ahead, I could see the space ship that they had rescued me in, then I slowly looked around, noticing that it wasn't alone on the pad.

Off to one side, there was some sort of jet thing, with wings that were sideways, with engines that were set for a vertical take off. It was a bit smaller than the space ship and obviously not designed for that kind of travel, though it still looked rather fast to me. It was probably what they used most of the time when they had to travel. I felt a tinge of envy, wondering if maybe I could talk Dr. Power into letting me get behind the wheel. That would have to be a real blast.

Then, I slowly looked in the other direction, and the dark blue helicopter that was also resting on the pad. It was a helicopter unlike any that I'd ever seen before, at least not in real life. I'd seen pictures of that particular helicopter before on TV, the one used by the Protectorate.

"Damn," I whispered faintly as I stared it in appreciation, then slowly walking towards it behind Vigil and the rest of his crew. I grew even more interested as we got closer.

The helicopter was bigger than a normal one, and looked a lot faster as well. Hell, most of the main chopper looked like some sort of futuristic jet, even having a few jet engines to help it go faster while flying. Then again, I guessed that it was half jet and half chopper, looking pretty impressive.

And as I stood there, a doorway opened on the side and bent down, turning into a stairway inside. Vigil stopped and talked to Dr. Power at the bottom, both of them out of hearing so I didn't know what they were saying.

For a moment, I just looked at the helicopter, shivering a little as I did so. It was only then that I really realized how cold I was feeling, wearing nothing except for that lab coat. And of course my feet were feeling kind of sore as well, letting me know that I definitely needed to get another pair of shoes. Hopefully Mindseye wouldn't mind lending me some once we got back inside.

"So what's up between you and Mega?" I heard Mindseye ask Titan, a hint of amusement in her voice.

I looked up, seeing that he seemed just a little embarrassed. "We just have a few things in common," he answered, then gave a cocky grin as he added, "There aren't many men...big enough for her."

"She is...attractive," Syphon commented from the side, his voice sounding hollow as he said it.

I nodded agreement at that, though she was definitely not my type. Way too big and a hell of a lot too muscular. I just didn't like the idea of going out with a girl who could break me in half without even half trying, and that was without even using any developed powers.

"C'mon big guy," Spook called from the base of the helicopter stairs, "we've got to get going."

Suddenly Spook's expression changed and her eyes went wide. She threw her arm up and pointed somewhere behind me. I turned around in confusion, gasping at the sight of a group armored Lendali flying towards us. There were close to a dozen of them.

"Lendali!" Spook finally yelled out, grabbing everyone's complete attention.

Then almost as if on cue, a series of energy blasts came smashing into the ground near us, though one of them actually hit Syphon. Fortunately though, it didn't seem to have phased him at all. And before I could even register what was going on, everyone had rushed into action.

"What the fuck?" I screamed out in startled confusion.

Dr. Power few into the air, covered with a green glow. Vigil took to the air as well, flying straight towards the armored aliens. At the same time, Spook shimmered as she ran...then vanished from sight while Titan started to grow...stopping at around 15 feet tall.

"Damn," Mindseye yelled, the tattoo on her forehead glowing just before a dragon appeared in the sky and dove straight at the Lendali.

I watched in awe as the Lendali scattered under the dragon's attack, firing at it at the same time, though their blasts went straight through it. It was obviously only an illusion, but definitely one hell of an illusion at that.

As Dr. Power got closer, two of the Lendali were covered with a green glow, and then thrown into each other with a loud thud. However, even as they fell towards the ground, they quickly darted off again, seemingly unaffected. And at the same time, Vigil punched another one of them, knocking her towards the ground as well, right into Titan's waiting hands.

"Gotcha!" Titan laughed, holding his captured Lendali in both hands and struggling with her as she tried to escape. He solved that problem though by growing even larger, then holding the Lendali entirely by her legs and swinging her at some of the others as if she were a weapon.

Then I heard a voice come from nowhere a few feet from me, "Damn it," Spook spat, though I couldn't see her until the air shimmered and she reappeared, "I can't do much stuck here on the ground." Then she looked at me, "You'd better find a place to hide."

However I just looked up at the Lendali who were flying everywhere and firing energy blasts at all of the heroes, feeling rather stunned. They might be women, but I didn't doubt that they were also monsters. Hell, they were the same bitches who'd kidnapped me and murdered the other guys.

"Those bitches fucked up my bike," I muttered with a grimace, beginning to get more and more angry with every second.

"Hide," Spook urged me again, giving me a push to encourage me.

I didn't pay much attention to her though, my eyes remaining locked onto the fight. With every moment, I seethed in more and more frustration. Or at least I did until one thought suddenly came crashing into my consciousness. The armor. I still had their armor.

With barely a thought, I turned it on again, barely noticing as Spook jumped back in surprise. The armor quickly flowed over my body once again, leaving me fully armored just moments later.

"Aaron...," she cautioned, an edge to her voice, "This isn't your fight."

I glared at her at that, though it did little good since she wouldn't be able to see my face through the armored mask. "No, you're wrong" I growled, "This is my fight."

Then, I jumped into the air, flying just as I had in the 'gym' earlier, and silently praying that it didn't cut out again like it did in space. Of course Dr. Power had assured me that it wouldn't now that the armor and I were fully adapted, but there was still a faint worry. Still, that worry didn't stay there long as I was almost immediately surrounded by several of the Lendali. To my surprise however, they didn't immediately attack me. Instead, I could hear some sort of chattering in my ears, in a language that definitely didn't come from Earth.

"I don't understand what the hell you're saying," I growled, realizing that they thought I might be one of them, though they were obviously confused. Probably because of the changes in the armor.

Quickly deciding to take advantage of their confusion, I threw up my arms and let out a blast, catching one of them straight in the chest and sending her flying back. And without missing a beat, I snapped to the other one, letting out another blast, though she managed to avoid most of it, having had more warning than the first.

Let out a scream of "Damn bitch!" just before sending out several more energy blasts, then having to dodge one as well.

The Lendali were flying around all over the place, with Dr. Power and Vigil both trying to deal with them. Most of it though was over Titan's head and beyond his reach, though one or two of them occasionally got too close and had to avoid his massive hands. And then there was the 'angel' with a light saber who was flying around and trying to cut the Lendali in half, only to have no effect since she was merely one of Mindseye's illusions.

I was barely able to spare a glance at everyone else who was fighting, having to spend most of my attention on all of the Lendali who were coming at me. However, from the corner of my eye, I noticed two of them going straight towards Syphon on the ground, their hands out as if to fire.

"Syph..." I started to call out in warning, but it was too late.

A series of energy blasts came raining down into Syphon, putting smoldering holes in the concrete surrounding him, but doing absolutely no damage to him in the least. He just stood there, and glared at them, gesturing as if daring them to come down within arms reach.

Then to my surprise, one of them charged straight at him, giving him a massive punch...that again seemed to have no effect. However, he quickly grabbed her by the arm, then pulled her into a bear hug. And as I watched, the blackness from his body seemed to spread out some, covering her. A moment later, he released the Lendali, who quickly collapsed to the ground, struggling to even get back to her feet.

"Damn," I whispered, snapping around and firing another series of energy blasts, catching one of the Lendali straight in the chest and watching her fly backwards, her armor actually blackened and charred where I'd hit. "Take that."

Over the next few minutes, the Lendali seemed to come at me more and more, almost as if they felt that they had some sort of personal grudge against me. But I didn't care. No, in fact, I welcomed it. After all, I had a hell of a grudge against all of them.

"Aaron...!" I heard Dr. Power yell out in warning.

I snapped around, already having noticed the Lendali coming up from behind me, and catching her completely by surprise as I let loose a massive blast, straight into her face and chest. She fell to the ground, her armor badly cracked and smoking, even seeming to peel away from her before I turned my attention elsewhere.

Within a few seconds, three more Lendali had surrounded me, all of them firing at once. I dodged to the side with little more than a thought, simultaneously firing back, hitting two of them with a blast from each hand...and then quickly snapping my arms around to get the third before she was able to adapt.

I was so distracted by those three, that I didn't notice the other two coming at me from above, not until I was suddenly hit by one of their blasts in the chest and knocked backwards. The other one quickly followed up with another series of blasts, sending me towards the ground, too startled to regain control.

Suddenly a flash of black, red and blue slammed into that Lendali with a massive crack, sending her flying right into Titan's waiting hands. Then Vigil just remained hovering there for a moment while I caught hold of myself and flew back into the air, just short of hitting the ground.

With a quick look down at myself, I was a little startled to see that there didn't seem to be any real sign of damage from where I'd been hit, but I didn't have to think about that as I went after the Lendali again, this time stopping one from hitting Dr. Power from behind, then another one from strafing Spook who'd made another appearance.

It didn't take me long before I began to notice that the Lendali all seemed...slow. Slow and clumsy. There was one racing away from me as fast as she could, and it took little effort for me to catch up to her. And once I did...she tried to get away from me, but it was as if her reflexes were gummed up because I managed to take her out without much problem.

And then there were the energy blasts. I didn't know what was going on, but I'd taken several good hits from them without any apparent damage. But whenever I got any of them with a good solid hit, I did some obvious damage.

"Strange," I muttered as I looked around for another Lendali, seeing that they were all broken up and scattered. Hell, a good number of them were flying around with damaged armor, and a few of them were even stuck on the ground.

Then I gasped as it suddenly dawned on me, a little surprised that I hadn't figured it out earlier. It had to be that integration and adaptation thing that Dr. Power had mentioned. Maybe I was faster because I was actually merged with my armor a lot closer than they were with theirs. That would have to effect my reflexes and stuff, maybe the power of my blasts as well.

Just then, I heard Vigil yell out, "They're retreating."

"Huh," I started, then looked again and realized that he was right.

The Lendali were quickly flying away, with several of them who didn't seem to be damaged diving down and grabbing the ones who were stuck on the ground. Several others continued to fire blasts, but not as if they were aiming at anything. It was more as though they were covering their retreat, which they clearly were.

"Shall we give chase?" Vigil asked Dr. Power.

Dr. Power hovered beside him, shaking his head, "No. Let them go."

With that, we all landed back on the ground, with Titan shrinking back down to normal size while Spook became fully visible again and walked towards us with a scowl. It was pretty obvious that she wasn't happy about being left out of that fight, but what good is invisibility when your enemies are way out of reach?

Suddenly Vigil put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Good work." He sounded a little impressed, which surprised me more.

"What?" I blinked, still fighting back the urge to chase after those bitches.

"He said good work," Mindseye repeated as she came up, smiling faintly. "I agree."

Syphon however just scowled and stood there with his arms crossed, muttering, "Rookies..."

I just stood there silently, feeling rather self conscious as they all stared at me. The fact that I was all armored up only made it worse, but remembering what had happened to my clothes the last couple times, I wasn't about to turn the armor off right there again.

"Do you think they'll be back?" Spook asked, a slightly nervous tone to her voice.

"Perhaps," Dr. Power mused thoughtfully.

Titan burst in at that, "But not anytime soon. We kicked their asses good."

"Not good enough," I muttered, still remembering the events aboard their ship. However, I knew that it would have to do...for now.

"And you just got that armor?" Titan asked me, looking rather doubtful. When I nodded, he continued, "Sure didn't look like it."

"He means that you handled yourself very well," Vigil told me with a smile, "And I agree completely. You acted like a professional."

"Um...thanks," I mumbled in response, feeling a little more embarrassed at having praise like that from such a famous person.

Then Vigil turned to Dr. Power, "We have to get going."

"Grendel," Titan explained with that one word.

"Have to see if the others need us," Spook finished.

Dr. Power nodded, "Thank you for your assistance."

A moment later, the Protectorate members hurried back to their helicopter, which was miraculously unharmed in the fighting. Spook and Titan nearly ran up the steps, but Vigil took his time, stopping about halfway up and turning around for a final look.

"It is dangerous work," Vigil stated, looking right at me, "but with it's rewards. If you choose to take up the trade, I would be honored to fight alongside you again." And with that, he went inside, leaving me to watch speechlessly while the door closed and the helicopter took off.

Finally, I just gasped, "Wow." I didn't know what to think about that.

As we all started back for the building, Syphon stepped beside me and muttered almost grudgingly, "Not bad kid. Not bad."

I just followed along behind, not sure what to say, or even sure that I believed what had just happened. That I'd just fought a bunch of aliens and helped the Protectorate and Lightning Force. Hell, I was just an ordinary mechanic with a taste for fast bikes.

Several minutes later, we were all back inside the control room and Dr. Power was looking at the screens, seeming rather pleased. "The last Lendali ship has left orbit," he told us , gesturing towards the screen so that we could see for ourselves.

"That's good," Mindseye said. "At least until the next invasion." She said 'next invasion' as if she thought of it as just another unavoidable annoyance.

"Well," Dr. Power said after a moment, frowning slightly, "The ship left a short while ago."

"So?" Syphon asked, somehow managing to make his hollow voice sound a little sarcastic.

"The last mother ship departed...," he explained slowly, "during the middle of our battle."

We were all silently for a moment while we thought about that and what it meant. Namely, that the ship took off without those aliens we'd just got done fighting. And more specifically, that they were still on Earth.

"Do you think they'll be back?" I asked with a grimace.

Mindseye looked at Dr. Power then back at me. "Yes," she said firmly. "Sooner or later, they'll be causing trouble again. They always do."

I grimaced at that, not sure what to think. The idea of a bunch of those armored bitches running around Earth, just waiting to cause more trouble just didn't sit right with me. Especially not when I thought about what they'd done to me, not to mention Mike, Max, Darren and Rob.

"Don't worry," Mindseye told me, apparently noticing my stress, "We'll take care of them if they ever come back. You'll never have to see them again."

"Unless," Dr. Power mused thoughtfully, "they can determine the location of her armor via some form of integrated tracking device that I have yet to identify." That thought just made me groan, but I was determined not to worry about it.

Syphon nodded towards me, then tossed me something. It took me a moment to realize that it was a bathrobe. He turned his head away, not looking at me though I nodded my thanks to him anyway. A moment later, I turned my armor off and slipped the robe on, shaking my head faintly at my situation.

"Damn," I whispered, leaning back into a chair, and staring down at my own boobs, or at least the cleavage I could see from the robe, not to mention the bumps. It was going to be a hell of a lot to get used to.

"At least they're gone for now," Mindseye said, though I didn't really notice.

For the next several minutes, I barely paid attention to what the others were saying around me. Instead, I just sat in the chair, silently staring down at myself and soaking up the realization that this wasn't just a dream. Hell, it was far too real for that, and far too shocking. And frankly, I didn't really think that my subconscious was creative enough to come up with something that weird.

Shaking my head, I muttered, "Too weird."

Then taking a deep breath, I fought back the urge to grab my tits and crotch in disbelief and bemoan my horrible transformation. But instead of that, I just remained there silently, my fists clenched tightly as I thought about what had happened to me, as well as the fact that I would likely be that way for the rest of my life.

I was startled to feel a hand on my shoulder, then I looked up to see Mindseye staring at me in concern. "Are you alright?" she asked gently, "After what you've been through, there's no shame in crying."

"Cry?" I asked with a scowl, slowly standing back up. And with a snort, I muttered, "Not likely."

Mindseye took a step back and looked at me in surprise, as did Dr. Power and Syphon. I just gave another faint snort and in a defiant gesture, ran my hands down my body to smooth out my robe. That just seemed to make them all a little more confused, which suited me just fine.

That damn armor might have turned me into a chick, but that sure as hell didn't mean that I was about to start crying like one, whether Mindseye told me that it was 'okay' or not. Whining about my situation was...useless, almost like crying over spilled milk. I was determined to take it like a man, even if I no longer had the right equipment.

"I prefer dealing with my problems," I said quietly but firmly, "rather than whining about them."

Of course I knew that it was easier said than done, but then again, I always had liked a challenge. I'd just never expected one quite like that.

With a faint smile, I thought about what Alleycat had told me earlier. About my being lucky to be alive. Of course she was right. I was damn lucky to be alive after all that I'd been through, and being turned into a girl was definitely a small price to pay for that. It was all a matter of perspective, and thinking about my situation like that made accepting it a bit easier.

"So I'm a girl," I said, looking around at the surprised members of Lightning Force and feeling rather amused by the looks on their faces. "I'll live."

Dr. Power just stared at me with a curious expression, muttering, "Curious...," though I could tell that he was itching to say more.

Then I rubbed at the permanent tiara on my forehead with a frown, deciding that the whole armor thing would probably be even harder to get used to than being a girl. Hell, half the people on the planet where girls, but I was the only one who was stuck with some damn alien armor inside of me.

"I was thinking...," Mindseye started slowly, looking at me thoughtfully and then at Dr. Power and Syphon.

Syphon responded with a hollow, "What?"

She smiled faintly, just as the tattoo eye on her forehead started to glow. There was a dazed look for a moment on Dr. Power and Syphon's faces, then they both nodded slightly.

"Agreed," Dr. Power said.

I just stared at them, wondering what the hell was going on. However, Mindseye turned back to me, "What are your plans now that this is over?"

"My plans...?" I repeated slowly, blinking as I realized that I didn't really have any plans.

It wasn't until she had asked me that question did I realize that I couldn't exactly go back to my old life. There was no way in hell that I could go back to my old job. What would everyone think? I might have been a good mechanic, but they'd laugh me right out of the shop to say the least. There was little doubt of that.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, "Get used to this I guess," I gestured down at myself, then shrugged, "I'll figure something out."

"Might I offer a suggestion?" Dr. Power asked. After I nodded, wondering where this was going, he said, "You would be welcome to remain with us while learning the use of your new abilities."

For a moment, I just stared at Dr. Power, sure that I had to have heard wrong. Then Mindseye quickly went on, "We can help you adjust...and we can certainly use your new powers."

"But..." I started, blinking for a moment. I wasn't a hero.

However Syphon gave me a much more controlled look, adding, "On a trial basis."

"Of course," Mindseye added, with a slight smirk that seemed to suggest that she might be humoring him.

While they stared at me, waiting for an answer, I just remained where I was, feeling more than a little overwhelmed, not to mention confused. Hell, being asked to hang out with the Lightning Force was about the last thing I'd expected to happen to me.

I was just about to protest that I was no hero, that I couldn't do the things that they did. But I paused, suddenly thinking about the fight with the Lendali, and how easy it had all come to me. About all of the flying and fighting.

Everything had been so fast...so...exciting. As I thought about that, especially the incredible way I'd been able to fly through the sky at extreme speeds, I couldn't help but smiling. It was only now that the excitement had passed that I realized what a blast that had been. Hell, that was even better than riding my bike.

With that, I froze, staring down at my arm and picturing the green and dark gray armor against it. Maybe there was a reason that the armor changed to the same colors as my bike. Perhaps...perhaps it had been trying to tell me something. Then again, it could have just been coincidence.

My mind raced for several seconds as I considered my options, but it seemed longer. And somehow, my thoughts kept coming back to the fight with the Lendali, and the armor's color scheme. My armor's color scheme. Everytime I thought of the flying, I felt a tinge of excitement and an eagerness to do it again. Finally, it seemed as though my mind was already made up.

"All right," I said, looking at Mindseye with a wry expression, then at the other two with a faint nod. "I'll stick around for awhile." I said the last almost as if I was doing them a favor, which made Syphon scowl. I just grinned at that, trying to keep from laughing.

"Welcome aboard," Mindseye responded with a grin, adding, "Hardshell."

"Hardshell...?" I whispered, realizing that I did rather like the sound of it.

Syphon just said, "We will see how this works," though he did give a faint smile.

Holding his hand out, Dr. Power said, "I am pleased to have you join us." Then he gave a quick glance at Syphon before adding, "On probational membership." However, the tone in his voice suggested that he might not take the probation thing very seriously.

As I shook Dr. Power's hand, I felt a mixture of emotions well up inside of me. Fear, nervousness and excitement to name the most prominent. I wasn't sure what was going to happen to me now, but I wasn't about to back away from my future...whatever the hell that was.

Though I didn't say anything, my motivations for sticking around weren't entirely just to use my new powers to fight bad guys, or for the chance at doing something important, though those definitely played a part. There was the added bonus of the fact that the Lendali were still out there somewhere, apparently holding a grudge against me. If Dr. Power was right about being able to track my armor, which would explain how they found us for the attack, then they were likely to come after me again. And if that happened, I wanted someone there to watch my back. Who better for that than them.

And with that, Dr. Power and Mindseye simultaneously said, "Hardshell...welcome to the Lightning Force," while Syphon gave me a thumbs up.

I grinned broadly at that, feeling prouder than I ever had before in my life. However, the grin faded as I realized the one problem that I hadn't considered before, but knew that I would definitely have to face. It was something that sent chills down my spine to even consider. What the hell was I going to tell my mom?

Author's Note: This is the fourth story in my Legacy universe, following The Miracle Legacy, A Change of Heart, and Hardshell. In spite of that, this story follows different characters and can be read on it's own.

I leaned back in my chair and yawned, once again looking over the three dozen TV screens that filled the room. I'd been watching them for more time than I cared to, and not a thing had changed in any of them. And though that might be boring, I had to admit that it was better than the alternative.

"With all of these TV's," I commented casually, "shouldn't we be able to pick up some porn channels?"

Next to me, my older and heavyset partner Bill chuckled, "I wish kid."

I frowned, wishing that he wouldn't call me kid. After all, I was 26 years old. However, I didn't let it get to me as I knew that Bill didn't really mean it. He was just one of those old timers that called everyone more than 20 years younger than him a kid.

My name was T.J., or at least that's what everyone called me. My full name was Thomas Jeremiah Sawyer, but I'd more than had my fill of Tom Sawyer jokes when I was a kid and didn't like the name Jeremiah. So, I just used my initials instead.

With a sigh, I took another look at the screens, then told Bill, "I'm going to do a walk around."

"OK," Bill responded, "Just check out camera 23. It's been bouncing a bit."

I gave a nod, "Sure," just as I left the monitor room.

At the moment, and for the last several months, I'd been working as a security guard for a research facility. It hadn't been for any specific security expertise that I'd been hired, but because I knew how to fix the surveillance cameras. And a few other things. I more or less doubled as security guard and maintenance technician because my employers were pretty cheap.

While I was working, I couldn't help wondering for at least the thousandth time exactly what it was that they did in secure areas. I'd overheard a few things, including mention of some kind of quantum shift reactor, but that still didn't tell me to much. Just that it was probably stuff that was over my head.

"Damn cameras," I muttered after I'd taken care of the camera that Bill had reminded me about. "These things really need replacing." In fact, there were quite a few things that could probably use replacing or proper fixing, but again my employers were pretty cheap...and it showed.

I shrugged though, knowing that I shouldn't worry about how little money was actually spent on security or much of anything else since that was the reason I'd gotten the job. Then again, job security had never really been one of my big worries. I'd worked enough different jobs and picked up enough stuff that I'd sort of become a jack of all trades, and as I frequently joked, a master of none.

Just then, I heard a series of gun shots, followed by an explosion. I snapped around, noticing a pillar of smoke coming from the main gate. And at the same time, I saw people coming down in parachutes, all of them wearing some kind of blue and gold uniforms, or more accurately...body armor. All of them were also armed, as and as I quickly realized...women.

"Death to the male oppressors!" on woman screamed as she hit the ground, then opened fire with what seemed to be some sort of ray gun.

"Oh shit," I gasped in shock, staring in horror at all of the attackers. There had to be several dozen women, and they were all shooting like crazy. However, most of them didn't seem to be giving much effort to aiming...just blasting at everything in sight. "I'm gonna die..."

It was only then that I realized that I was standing pretty much in the open, which I suspected was NOT a good idea. Then I ran and even dove behind a dumpster, hoping like hell that they didn't see me. Whoever 'they' were.

A woman's voice cried out, "Hurry. Get inside."

Another woman's voice quickly followed, "Now those male fascists will HAVE to take the Sisterhood seriously."

"Enough talking!" a third woman's voice growled from closer to me, "There'll be enough time for that once we finish taking this building."

At this, I finally peaked around the corner of the dumpster, relieved to see most of the woman heading away from me. Unfortunately, they were heading for the main doors of the building. That was definitely not good news. With a grimace, I debated going for my gun, knowing that it was part of my job as a security guard but afraid to put myself in more danger than I was already in.

Without warning, another one of the security guards stepped out of the front doors and opened fire at the women. However, that had little effect as the bullets seemed to bounce off of their armor with little to no damage. All it did was make them angry...and fire back. A second later, where the other security guard had been, there was nothing but a smoking corpse.

"Carl!" I gasped, then quickly shut my mouth, afraid to make a sound and give myself away. Though I barely knew the guy, I couldn't help but feeling bad about his getting killed. And after seeing that, there was no way that I was going to try playing hero too.

I crouched down behind the dumpster, still looking out at the armored women who were taking over the facility. Then I looked around for a way out, glaring at the tall chain link fence that was supposed to keep people out. Now it was just serving to keep me trapped in.

"Damn," I spat, filling that one word with fear, anger and frustration.

Some of the attacking women had gone into the building, while others were setting up something of a parimiter. They'd even rounded up a few prisoners and were holding them in a corner...probably to use as hostages. Fortunately, none had noticed me where I was hiding, at least not yet.

Just then, I was shocked by the sight of a woman dropping right out of the sky, and landing on the ground a short distance from the women with the prisoners. My eyes nearly popped out at the sight, and the almost immediate realization that she was one of those developed. One of those who developed powers of some sort and played out the roles of super heroes...and villains.

In an instant, I took in the woman. She was tall, probably around 6 foot or so, quite possibly an inch or two taller. Her body was statuesque, which was about the only word I could think to describe her. She was extremely well built, both athletic and voluptuous at the same time, with well defined muscles. And she had black hair, cut fairly short but still in a feminine manner.

The mystery woman was wearing a costume of red and white spandex that covered everything below her neck. There was a red cape that swung behind her, attached to her shoulders. And around her waist, there was a red belt, with large round buckle that looked to be made of some sort of gold metal, with a reddish gem or something in the center.

It had only been a moment after the woman landed before she charged forward, grabbing the gun out of one of the attacker's hands and bending it in half as though it was nothing. She threw the gun, and then the woman both to the side with equal ease, turning her attention to the other armored women with the hostages.

"Who are you?" one of the armored women demanded, her voice filled with both confusion and awe.

The costumed woman just answered, "I'm Praxis," then demanded, "Drop your weapons."

Though I didn't really recognize the woman, I thought that she looked a tiny bit familiar and thought that I'd heard the name before. Then it came to me. I'd heard something about her pretty recently, that she was fairly new super hero but was getting a bit of attention. I think that I even remembered seeing something on TV where she was fighting alongside the Protectorate, but I didn't think that she was a member. Then again, I was no expert and didn't usually pay a lot of attention to either TV or all of those costumed weirdos.

When the armored women didn't drop their guns immediately, Praxis jumped forward and tore them from their hands, then sent the women both flying into a wall. An in an instant later, she'd turned her back to the prisoners and flew back into the air, managing to avoid a blast from some other armored woman who was shooting at her.

"No way," I just gasped, unable to believe that I was seeing a real developed...a super hero in action.

Praxis landed again and was almost immediately surrounded by a group of the terrorists. "You're one of us!" one of the women cried out, "Join the Sisterhood and help fight the oppressive male tyranny."

With an almost arrogant laugh, Praxis charged towards the closest of the armored women, punching her and sending her flying over 20 feet.

One of the women screamed out "Traitoress!", just as she fired her energy blaster at Praxis. But to my surprise, the blast went straight through her as though she wasn't there and hit another one of the Sisterhood instead.

For the next minute, I watched from my hiding place as Praxis took care of all of the terrorist attackers outside of the facility. However, I couldn't help remembering that some of them had gone inside as well.

Suddenly some sirens started sounding, ones that sent a chill down my spine as I heard them. "Oh shit," I squeaked out, recognizing the alarm for an immediate building evacuation.

I stood up and stepped out from the cover of the dumpster, knowing that this Praxis woman had already taken care of all of the terrorists outside the main building. And as I watched, people started running out of the building, going straight for the main gate.

"Run!" a woman in a lab coat screamed out.

"What's going on?" I demanded, grabbing hold of the woman who looked in a panic. "She's stopped those terrorists."

The woman, whom I remembered was a researcher in one of the secure areas gasped, "They shot at the reactor containment..." Her eyes were wide with fear and near panic, "It's going to explode. We've got to get out of range...maybe a mile..." And with that, she tore herself away from me and continued running towards the exit.

Praxis seemed to have heard that as she started helping the people evacuate, even grabbing at the Sisterhood members and pulling them to a safe distance. She even snatched up the ones who'd been inside as they tried to escape.

I just gulped and started towards the exit myself, hoping that we had time to get away from whatever was happening. I was more than halfway there when I realized that I hadn't seen Bill leaving the building. Then I stopped, taking a look back and feeling worried.

"Fuck," I spat out.

My partner was getting close to retirement age and tended to walk pretty slowly. So even if he hadn't been hurt by those terrorist bitches, he was probably still trying to make his way out. And I didn't think that he'd be able to make it in time. Not with the way that woman made it sound so urgent.

With another, "Fuck," I turned and ran as fast as I could back towards the building, knowing that I had to get Bill out before that reactor she'd mentioned blew.

I tore down the halls of the building, seeing no sign of another person still being within. Then I burst into the monitor room, calling Bill's name. It took me a second to realize that he wasn't in there. The room was empty.

My eyes quickly scanned the room, seeing that several of the screens were dead. A few others were just messed up. Not surprising though considering the attack. I looked over the screens, trying to find Bill...and then finally seeing him. On the screen that showed the back gate. He'd gotten out.

With an, "Oh shit," I turned and started running back out as fast as I could, wondering what the hell I'd been thinking. It was my ass that was about to get fried.

Half a minute later, I was outside the building again but still had a ways to go to get to the main gate and then to a safe distance. Or at least behind the hills that the evacuees were probably using for cover. I just tried picking up my speed, but it didn't do much good as I was already running as fast as I could and quickly getting too tired.

Then suddenly something grabbed hold of me and pulled me right off of the ground. Not something, I quickly realized as I looked, but someone. It was Praxis. She was trying to carry me to safety.

Just as I was beginning to feel hope, I heard a massive explosion from the building and snapped my head around, only to see the building vanish as what looked like a massive burst of energy erupted from the center. Everything seemed to disintegrate and a shimmering wave of air rushed out in all directions. Including towards us.

"Look out!" I cried, clutching Praxis tightly, just as the wave hit us.

My whole being was suddenly filled a thousand sensations as once. In an instant, conscious thought ceased and all that remained was an overwhelming feeling of infinity, followed by a tearing at my very existence. Then, even that was gone into nothingness.

I had no idea how long I was out, or even if I was truly out or something else entirely. My first thought though as consciousness returned was that I was dead, followed with a consideration that I might be in a hospital somewhere. These both flashed through my mind as I clearly remembered the explosion...that shimmering wave.

Then another thought ran through my mind, one of mixed confusion and relief as I realized that I didn't feel hurt or injured. In fact, I felt good. Very good. That was quickly followed by the realization that I also felt extremely strange, though it wasn't quite anything that I could put my finger on yet.

With that, I opened my eyes and got to my feet, taking a look around me and gasping in surprise. The whole building was gone, leaving little more than a crater which extended just short of the fence...and over it in just a few places. Well short of the mile distance that was predicted. But even though the building was gone...it was still there. Sort of. I could still see it where it had been, or at least a ghostly image of it.

"What the hell?" I gasped out in confusion, not only by the strange thing with the building, but by the fact that I was still alive.

Suddenly I froze, that feeling of strangeness even more augmented by the fact that my voice sounded wrong to my ears. That shook me out of the amazement from my surroundings and reminded me that there was something weird going on with me as well. It was only then that I looked down at myself to check of what could be wrong...and nearly choked at the sight.

My eyes bulged at the obvious pair of women's breasts on my chest, and perhaps even more so by the fact that I was wearing a red and white spandex costume. A costume that I instantly recognized as belonging to Praxis...as did the breasts. Not to mention the rest of my body for that matter.

I was in complete shock as I realized just why I felt so strange, but that only left a million more questions than it answered. My hands went to the breasts, verifying that they weren't just figments of my imagination, nor was the rest of my drastically altered body. Somehow...somehow I was in the body of that Praxis woman. It didn't seem possible, but I wasn't about to deny my own senses. But if I was in her body...then where was mine...?

Just then, I heard a woman's voice in my head demanding, "What's going on?"

I snapped around, but not seeing anyone. "Who's there?" With everything that was going on, I was really beginning to get freaked out, and this was only making it worse.

There was a moment of silence before the voice responded with another demand, "Who are you? What are you doing with my body?"

This time it was my turn to be silent as I gulped, "Your body?" I took a deep breath, "Praxis?"

"Of course!" she snapped back viciously, though I still couldn't see any sign of anyone. "Now give me back control of my body, or so help me God..."

I nervously looked around again, "Where are you?"

"I'm right here you idiot!" Praxis half screamed in my head.

It was only then that it really dawned on me that I was hearing her voice in my head. Suddenly two and two added up and I hesitantly asked, "You're in here...with me?"

"YES!" she screamed at me, making me wince, "Get out NOW!" There was no doubt that she was absolutely furious.

"Tell me how," I snapped back, beginning to get annoyed myself. It was a little more comforting than being scared and confused. "I sure as hell didn't ask to be in here!"

She responded with a simultaneously confused and angry, "What?"

"It was the explosion," I gasped in realization, "the wave from that quantum reactor thing blowing up." I turned and looked around out of habit, though there was no one there, "I'm the guy you were carrying when it hit. That's what did this to us."

"You're a guy?" she blurted out in surprise, losing some of the anger in her voice, though it quickly came back. "What the hell did that do to me?"

"What about to me?" I spat back, grabbing at her breasts and getting immediately yelled at not to touch them. "If we're both in your body...then where the fuck is mine?" And of course, the question we both wanted an answer to the most was how did we get back to normal.

I looked around, seeing no sign of myself, though I did notice that the ghostly image of the facility looked even fainter. Even less real. And there seemed to be a faint shimmer to it as well, though I wasn't about to give that too much attention when I had more important things to deal with.

Just then, I noticed that there were people watching me...watching us. They were beginning to gather around the edge of the blast area, though I could tell that none of them seemed willing to cross over into it. It was all of the people who'd been evacuated from the facility, obviously trying to get a good look at the ghost building.

Praxis was saying something when I interrupted, "Um...maybe we should talk about this someplace else." I took a nervous look at the audience, feeling pretty uncomfortable with the situation.

"That might be a good idea," she agreed reluctantly.

However, I grimaced, "But I think my car was in the blast..."

The voice in my head just snorted in irritation. "Since you're controlling my body, you probably control my powers too."

I was a bit startled at that since it was something that I hadn't considered. Me, with powers? There was no way...but then again, there was absolutely no way that I could be in the body of a hot super chick either.

"So...um...," I started, "how do you fly?"

"I just...do," Praxis responded in my head. That wasn't much help though and she seemed to realize this as after a few seconds, she continued, "The best way to describe it is that I will myself into the air." I could sort of feel a mental shrug at that.

"That's a lot of good," I muttered.

Then with a shrug, I decided that I might as well try it. It wasn't easy concentrating with the people outside of the blast area, but I did my best. I focused on willing myself into the air, finding that it did little good. There was a faint snicker inside of my head which made me grimace and try again.

I tried it again, this time sort of willing myself away from the ground. And just as I was exclaiming, "Damn. It's not wor...," I suddenly realized that my feet were several feet above the ground. "Wow!"

"Good," Praxis commented reluctantly, "Now let's get the hell out of here." I was in full agreement.

With that, I pushed myself higher and higher into the air while Praxis gave me further instructions on how to fly. And within a minute, I was truly flying, seeing the ground pass by some distance below. It was as amazing as it was unbelievable.

After flying for about a minute, Praxis asked, "You're not afraid of heights?" It was really more statement than question, and she sounded almost disappointed.

I just shook my head, or was that hers? "Not really," I told her, then added, "I used to work on a high rise construction and had to get over it pretty quickly."

Then, in a softer tone than I'd heard her using before, Praxis said, "I was the first time I flew." I wasn't sure whether she was really talking to me this time or to herself. Probably a bit of both.

I tried keeping my mind on the flying, but it wasn't easy with my whole body feeling so different, and with Praxis talking inside my head. She kept giving me advice on flying, much of it seeming to be unnecessary as I was quickly getting the hang of it. I was even beginning to suspect that this was her way of dealing with the situation.

Since I was flying, it didn't take nearly as long as usual before I got home, or at least close to it. I stopped and hovered in the air just a short distance from the house I lived in, staring down at it, still in complete awe that I was able to do so.

"Where are you taking us?" Praxis demanded.

"My place," I answered, pointing down at it, "Or I was." I frowned. "I just realized that it might not be the greatest idea to go there looking like this." I gestured down at myself with a scowl.

"Oh?" Praxis responded.

"I rent the top floor," I explained uncomfortably, "and my landlords are a little nosey...as are a few of the neighbors." After taking a deep breath, I continued, "Someone will have to see me going in, and looking like this..." I shook my head, "I don't think that either of us wants to deal with those questions."

"You're right," Praxis agreed, sounding a little more tired than angry this time.

I certainly didn't blame her as I was starting to feel tired myself. Everything that had happened was starting to really catch up to me and I was beginning to feel drained. All I wanted was to just collapse into my recliner and relax, maybe even take a nap. However, at the moment, it wouldn't really be a good idea to do either at home.

I thought for a moment but couldn't really think of anywhere else to go. "Do you have like a secret hideout or someplace we could go to?" I asked her, more halfhearted than hopeful.

Praxis was silent for a moment before she finally surprised me with, "Yes...I know where we can go."

A minute later, I was flying through the air again, this time having Praxis give me directions rather than advice. And as we flew, I was burning with curiosity as to where she was having me go. I was unable to help but think of some high tech headquarters which I'd heard a lot of those costumed super heroes had.

We flew for some distance further than we had the last time, with Praxis giving me directions rather than advice. I stayed low enough to see the roads and landmarks pretty clearly, but high enough so that no one would really see me. Praxis was the one who suggested it, though the word suggest might be a little inaccurate.

Eventually, we arrived at a nearby city and Praxis announced, "We're almost there."

All I did was nodded faintly and muttered, "Good." I was even more tired than before, though Praxis said that it was probably a side effect of our...accident catching up to us.

After a few more minutes, I followed her directions to go down behind several buildings, and then down a few alleys. We ended up in one empty alley that was brick wall on both sides, without a single window in sight.

"Make sure no one's watching," Praxis ordered, her tone firm.

I carefully looked down at the alley floor, and then everywhere else, seeing no sign of anyone. "Coast is clear," I told her, wondering what she was up to.

"One of my powers is to turn intangible for a few seconds," Praxis told me.

With a nod, I slowly responded, "OK...," wondering where this was leading.

Then she told me how to use that power, though the explanation wasn't really any different than the one she'd given me for flying. "Just will it," she'd said.

A minute later, Praxis told me to look for a specific spot on one of the walls...and to go through it. I was more than a little skeptical, but she urged me on, sounding pretty annoyed. The fact was, I was getting annoyed with her annoyance. It wasn't like I was enjoying being stuck in her body as it was.

"Here goes nothing," I muttered, just before 'willing' myself intangible and flying towards the wall where Praxis had told me to go.

And to my surprise, I actually went through the wall as if it wasn't even there. As soon as I was on the other side, I turned solid again and settled down into a room. However, it didn't look anything like the high tech secret headquarters that I'd been expecting. Instead...it looked like someone's living room.

"What?" I blinked in surprise as I looked around, "Where are we?"

There was only a brief pause before Praxis answered, "My apartment."

I just gasped, "Huh?"

"If you ever tell anyone," Praxis threatened with a harsh edge in her voice, "ANYONE about this...about me or anything you see here, I will hunt you down and hurt you. Badly."

For a moment, I just stood there, feeling even more surprised. It was certainly strange being threatened by a voice in my own head. However, it just didn't seem all that threatening when there was no one around me doing the threatening.

"I have no intention of telling anyone about this," I exclaimed in annoyance. "I'd die of embarrassment."

Just then, I was hit by a wave of dizziness and staggered slightly. My exhaustion had just gotten twice as bad and I could barely even remain standing.

"Is there a bed I can use?" I asked groggily, fighting to remain up.

"In there," Praxis said, though that didn't do me much good as she couldn't point at anything. A moment later, this was followed with a, "The door on the right..."

I staggered into the bedroom, catching myself on the door frame to keep from falling. Then I managed to make it the final few steps to the bed before I collapsed onto it and lost consciousness again.

It was a strange experience to wake up, not only in someone else's bedroom but in their body as well. I was instantly assaulted by the sensations from my alien body, as well as the memories of what had happened to put me there. For a moment, I just continued to lay there, letting the reality soak in.

As I sat up, I was in awe at just how unbelievably good I felt. I'd never felt so good...so alive in my entire life, not even right after I'd ended up in Praxis' body. This was even better. And of course, I was completely wide awake and ready to go, which was strange since it normally took me a cup of coffee before I was fully awake.

"Weird," I muttered, looking down at myself with a scowl and then carefully grabbing at my new breasts.

Suddenly Praxis snapped, "Watch it!"

I yanked my hands back and grimaced, feeling more than a little embarrassed. It was strange, not to mention completely unnerving to remember that there was someone else in my body with me. In a way, it was like there was someone constantly looking over my shoulder and watching everything that I did. That was not a comforting feeling. Not in the least.

After taking a deep breath, I stood up and looked around, a little startled by the bedroom I was in. It looked so...normal. Nothing like I would have imagined a super hero like Praxis having.

"Like what you see?" Praxis demanded sarcastically.

"Just...not what I expected," I told her honestly.

Then, I looked down at myself with a scowl, still unable to believe that I was seeing the body of a woman. The body of a super hero at that. I shuddered faintly, unbelievably tempted to feel myself up or at least to strip naked for a better look. However, I didn't dare do anything, knowing that I was being watched...constantly.

After a few more seconds, I realized that I felt something very familiar. And it made me very uncomfortable, or at least embarrassed.

"Um...," I started, not sure exactly how to say what I wanted to, "I think I need to use your bathroom."

Praxis sighed, "I know." Then she grumbled, "I can feel it."

"You can feel it?" I repeated curiously.

She just snorted bitterly, "I can see, feel and hear everything...just like normal. I just can't move or control anything."

I just nodded at that as I made my way to the bathroom. A minute later, I was inside with the door closed, feeling a bit self conscious with Praxis looking over my shoulder. Then I caught sight of my reflection in the bathroom mirror and gasped.

"Weird," I whispered as I took a step closer and stared at myself in amazement.

For several seconds, I just stared at myself with my mouth open. I'd already known that I was inside the body of Praxis, but it was still extremely disconcerting to see her face staring back from me in the mirror after all of that time seeing my own.

With a little effort, and remembering that I was being watched, I stepped back from the mirror, remembering why I was in the bathroom in the first place. Then I looked down at myself, trying to find a zipper, to no success.

"How the hell do you go to the bathroom in this thing?" I demanded in annoyance.

"My costume wasn't really designed for quick bathroom breaks," Praxis admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed.

After Praxis told me how to get out of the costume, I followed her directions and removed both the cape and belt, dropping them unceremoniously to the floor. Then I reached to the back of my neck and found the hidden catch that unzipped the costume down to my lower back. And from there, it was easy to climb out of the one piece spandex suit.

"I can't believe you have to get undressed, just to go the bathroom," I grumbled.

"This body doesn't have to go very often," Praxis grumbled back, sounding even more embarrassed. Then she snapped, "Just get this over with and don't go getting any ideas."

I just grimaced as I sat down and went about my business, though it was hard to actually do so since Praxis was there with me. It was horribly embarrassing for me and I hated the fact that I had absolutely no privacy whatsoever. Not even for something as private as going to the bathroom.

Once I was finished though, I stood up, feeling relieved. And at the same time, I took a quick look at my body, trying to make it look like that wasn't what I was doing. I was curious as hell but didn't want to deal with Praxis at the moment. I had to admit though, she was a definite hottie. A little taller and more muscular than I usually preferred, but still a hottie. Then again, at the moment I guessed that I was the hottie.

"Shit," Praxis grumbled in my head. A moment later, she announced, "I'm filthy. I might not be happy with it, but I...we need a shower."

With another, longer look down at myself, I muttered, "I guess I'm already dressed for it." At least a shower wasn't as personal as going to the bathroom, and on the brighter side, I'd finally be able to satisfy some more of my curiosity and check out my body a little more.

The shower was definitely interesting, though hardly sensual like I would have imagined. Not with Praxis being such a pain in the ass and giving me contradictory instructions the whole time. Telling to be sure to scrub well, yet simultaneously warning me not to touch her. As annoying as being stuck in her body was, having her stuck in my head was MUCH worse.

When the shower was over, Praxis directed me to a spare costume that was hidden in the back of her linen closet. It was something of a relief to get dressed again, since it at least removed some of the temptation. However, there was no spare belt so I had to take it from the dirty costume.

Before I put the belt back on, I stared at the disk that made up the buckle. A gold circle on the outside, though in the very middle there was the rounded red glass center...though I quickly realized that it wasn't really glass. It seemed to shimmer and sparkle in an odd manner, so what it really was, I had no idea.

"So," I asked hesitantly when I was fully dressed again, "What now?"

"I'm...I'm not sure," she answered, her voice a little softer than before.

I frowned thoughtfully, knowing that we had to find out what the hell had actually happened to us, not to mention how to get back to normal. I didn't want to be stuck in her body, powers or not, and especially not with her in my head spying on my every movement. And I knew that she wasn't thrilled about our situation either.

"I mean, what are we going to do about this?" I frowned even more, "Maybe we should go see doctor...a scientist...a specialist or something to help us get back to normal."

"NO!," Praxis quickly burst out. "I don't want to have to explain this to anyone. I don't want anyone to know about this. We can get this straightened out ourselves."

I was a little startled by her vehemence, but I certainly understood what she meant. After all, I didn't want anyone to know about what had happened to us either. I'd probably die of embarrassment if anyone did find out. Still, I wasn't completely convinced that we could get this straightened out on our own...but I was definitely going to try.

"All right," I agreed with a sigh.

A few minutes later, Praxis and I decided that we might be able to find some kind of clue back at the facility, though I also thought that it would be a good idea to talk to one of the scientists who'd been working on that quantum reactor thing. If anyone knew what was going on and how to fix it, it would be one of them. However, Praxis didn't like that idea for some reason so I let it drop...for the moment.

"I'll cross my fingers," I muttered to myself as I turned intangible again and left through the same wall I'd went in through.

Within moments, I was flying again, this time even higher and faster than the time before. This time, it wasn't completely new to me, nor was I in shock from the sudden transformation. This time, I was able to really enjoy the thrill of being able to fly.

Soon, I arrived within sight of the facility and just stopped, floating in the air above it. Or at least above the crater where it had been just the day before. This time, there wasn't even a trace of that ghostly image of the facility left.

As I descended, I could feel a faint tingling across my skin, sort of like static electricity causing arm hairs to rise or just getting goose bumps. It wasn't unpleasant, nor even really uncomfortable, but it was rather odd and making me very nervous.

"Careful," Praxis told me, sounding rather nervous herself. It wasn't like I needed that warning though.

I landed on the ground and was almost surprised when nothing happened. It was almost anticlimactic as I had been sort of expecting something. I wasn't really sure why, but I had been. Praxis and I let out almost simultaneous sighs of relief.

Over the next hour or so, Praxis and I moved around the crater area and the land surrounding it, finding nothing that would help us. There weren't even any people around there anymore, which almost surprised me when I thought about it as I figured the scientists would want to check it out or something.

Finally, I sighed, "There goes nothing."

"We tried," Praxis told me, sounding more disappointed than irritated, though there was definitely some of that in there as well.

With that, I took back to the air, quickly deciding that since we didn't have any particular destination in mind other than that apartment, I might as well take my time and see what I could do. I had no idea how long I was going to be stuck in Praxis' body, but I at least wanted to know what it was capable of while I was.

First, I flew as fast as I could, amazing myself with my speed, then as I got more confident, I started getting a bit more daring. I flew in a loop, while Praxis screamed at me to stop.

"What?" I asked her, barely paying attention as I dove straight at the ground. And just as I was about to hit it, I swooped back up into the air, impressing myself..

Praxis half yelled at me, "Stop that..."

I did a double loop in the air before I finally asked, "What's wrong?" I'd gotten a bit carried away and was feeling a bit embarrassed with myself.

"So I'm not particularly fond of flying," Praxis spat out, her voice filled with embarrassment, though in a more controlled voice she added, "At least not when I'm not in control."

All I could think to say was, "Oh." Her admission was something of a surprise considering that she was a super hero and I'd seen her fly. I guessed doing it yourself and doing it as a passenger were two different things.

Then she added in a more annoyed voice, "I do NOT like roller coasters." That nearly made me burst out laughing, though I managed to keep from doing so.

The rest of the flight back was a bit more subdued, and since I had already satisfied my curiosity, I didn't mind taking it easy again. A short while later, I arrived back at the city where we'd left from several hours earlier, though I knew that I'd need Praxis' help to find her apartment again since I wasn't too familiar with the area.

However, I wasn't in too much of a hurry to get back to the apartment and landed on top of one particularly tall building. For several minutes, I just stood there, looking at the scenery. It was definitely an interesting perk of being able to fly.

After I'd been there for several minutes, I suddenly noticed some movement from the corner of my eye. I quickly turned for a better look and was startled to see that I was no longer alone on the building. Or at least not quite on the building as there was man...floating several feet above the roof just a short distance away.

He was tall, about the same height as Praxis...as me, and very athletic looking. Very...confident looking. He had blonde hair and rugged good looks, but what really drew my attention was his costume. It was blue and white spandex, with chromed metal shoulder pads and wrist bands, as well as with a long white cape that hung behind him.

Though I knew that I'd seen pictures of this man before, I couldn't remember where from. At least not until Praxis exclaimed, "Force!"

I blinked in surprise, now recognizing him as the famous hero Force. I'd seen him on TV and on posters, though I'd never imagined that I'd be seeing him in person.

"Hello Praxis," Force greeted as he settled the rest of the way onto the roof, staring at me intently.

My fists clenched almost instinctively, though I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't sure whether to be impressed by meeting such a famous person, or afraid that he might know that I was a fake. That he might blame ME for what had happened to Praxis and myself.

"Force," I responded, giving him a slight nod of the head but not taking my eyes off of him. Then I hesitantly asked, "Is this Protectorate business?"

With a slight frown, Force responded, "No. The Protectorate and I have...gone our separate ways." Then he gave me a thoughtful look, "And in a way, that is why I'm here.

I blinked, responding with an, "Oh...," not sure exactly where this was going.

"I could have told you that he wasn't with the Protectorate anymore," Praxis commented in my head, sounding a little annoyed.

"Then why didn't you?" I responded, making no outward sound.

Force gave me an intense look, then said, "I am forming a new group of my own. A cadre if you will, which will be composed of the elite. Of heroes who are both willing and capable of stopping developed threats." He then paused for a moment before finishing, "And I want you on my team."

I was startled by his statement, as well as felt a bit honored, even as I knew it was ridiculous to feel so. After all, it was meant for Praxis...the real Praxis. Not for me who just happened to be stuck in her body.

"I can't join anything like this," Praxis growled inside my head.

"I know," I responded to her silently.

Then Praxis went on, "You can't let him know..."

"I'm sorry," I told Force, trying to tune out Praxis and think about how to phrase this. "But certain...personal problems and prior commitments prevent me from accepting."

"I see," Force responded, sounding slightly disappointed. "Are you sure?"

With a faint nod, I told him, "Yes...I am. At least for now."

There was a moment of silence before Force frowned and responded, "I see." He didn't look too happy and even started to float off of the roof a few inches. "Thanks for your time," he told me, a hint of irritation in his voice. And with that, he suddenly flew off, leaving me and Praxis alone on the roof again.

"That was...interesting," I commented, not sure whether I was talking more to myself or her.

"But bad timing," Praxis sighed. Then she added, "I am kind of impressed at how nicely you turned him down." She sounded impressed as well.

I blushed faintly, telling her, "I once worked in public relations."

Praxis didn't say anything to that and we remained on the roof top for a few more minutes before deciding to go the rest of the way to her place. I still wasn't in any hurry about it so took my time heading in that direction.

I was just several blocks away from the roof when I suddenly heard a bunch of noise coming from below me. Yells, screams and gunshots. More curious than afraid, I changed position and moved in for a better look, gasping in surprise once I had.

"Oh shit," I gasped.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the nearly half dozen men with ski masks and guns who were gathered in front of the bank. From the bags that they were holding, it was obvious that they were on their way out. There were a number of other people as well, frightened from the robbers shooting wildly.

"I have to stop them!" Praxis screamed in my head. Then she corrected herself, "YOU have to stop them!"

"What?" I gasped in surprise, "But I'm no hero..."

However even as I stared down at the gunmen and the hostages, my stomach churned as my conscience kicked me. I sure as hell wasn't any kind of hero, as my time behind the dumpster had proven. But at the moment, I had the power to do something about that, and as much as I disliked it, I didn't think that my conscience would let me just walk away when I could do something.

Then before Praxis could even say, "You have to...," I was already on my way down.

Several seconds later, I landed right on top of one of the gunmen, just as he was aiming his machine gun at some woman. With a growl, I grabbed the gun out of his hand and threw it to the side, then threw him in the other direction with an ease that completely surprised me. It wasn't until that moment that I suddenly realized how much stronger I was than normal.

I didn't have time to think about it though as Praxis yelled, "Watch your back!"

Snapping around, I saw two of the gunmen off to the side pointing their guns to me. I couldn't resist grinning faintly as I suddenly remembered the sight of Praxis in action against the Sisterhood. And with how easily I threw that guy...as if he weighed absolutely nothing, there was little doubt that I now had the power to take these guys out.

As I stared at the armed men, my instincts screamed for me to get the hell out of the way. But at the same time, I knew that I now possessed an incredible amount of power and suddenly grew more sure that they could not touch me in Praxis' powerful body. And with that, I stood there in confident defiance as the robbers opened fire with their uzis.

Suddenly Praxis yelled, "Turn intan..."

But before Praxis could finish what she had started to say, the gunfire hit me and I staggered backwards...my whole front and right side bursting with pain. I let out a howl and dropped to one knee, not sure whether to be more shocked by the fact that the bullets hadn't just bounced off, or that I wasn't dead.

"You IDIOT!" Praxis screamed inside my head, "That HURTS!"

"No shit," I grimaced in near agony.

Then I suddenly remembered the gunmen, just in time for Praxis to growl, "Get up..."

I was already on my feet though, and more than a little pissed off. It helped dull the pain enough to glance down at myself, revealing that there was no blood, and only a few holes in the uniform. Then I immediately looked ahead, staring at the surprise in the gunmen's eyes. Though whether from the fact that they'd hurt me or that they hadn't killed me, I didn't know.

Deciding not to give those bastards another chance, I charged forward, grabbing both of the shooters at once while they were struggling to reload. And without a moment's hesitation, I lightly tossed them to the side, watching as their guns were dropped before they hit.

"We've got them," a voice called out, just as a security guard from the bank came forward with a gun.

Just as I was beginning to feel a little pleased with myself, in spite of how sore I was, Praxis reminded me, "Don't forget the other two!"

I turned to see the final two gunmen tearing away in their getaway car, the passenger hanging half out of the window with a machine gun in his hand. A bigger and nastier looking one than the uzis I'd already been hit with.

"Damn," I growled as I shot to the air, wondering how the hell I'd gotten myself in that situation.

"We're strong enough to stop the car," Praxis told me fiercely.

That was enough for me and I dropped down in front of the car, grimacing as I reached out for the front and lifted. To my surprise, the car actually flipped over, then went sliding down the road with a trail of sparks until it was stopped by a parked car.

For a moment, I just stood there and stared at the upside down car, hardly able to believe that I'd done that with very little effort. Then I shook myself out of it and rushed to the car, tearing off the door with incredible ease and pulled dazed but apparently not too injured driver out, though a single glance revealed that the passenger wasn't quite as lucky.

"No seat belt," Praxis commented, sounding almost casual.

Just then, the passenger moved, revealing that he was still alive. For how long though, I had no idea. But with the sound of the cop cars and ambulances coming close, I knew that they would be a lot better suited to handle whatever else was going on. All of the gunmen had been taken care of.

With that, I flew back into the air, grimacing slightly as I did so from the injuries that the gunmen had given me. This time, I didn't take my time getting back to the apartment, though I was still careful not to be seen. That ability to go through walls certainly came in handy for that.

Almost the instant that I was safely inside, Praxis screamed, "What the hell kind of idiot are you?" Then before I could decide whether to be insulted or not, she added, "I'm not invulnerable!"

"Now you tell me," I growled back. We were both silent for a moment before said, "It might be a good idea if you told me exactly what all of your powers are then."

"You're right," Praxis admitted thoughtfully. "As you know, I'm extremely strong. I'm very tough...but NOT invulnerable."

I snorted, "Found that out the hard way." I rubbed at my side, wondering how bad it was, though it didn't hurt as much as it did at first.

"I'm tough enough that small guns can just leave bruises," she told me, "but if what they used on us was any bigger or much closer, it would have done some serious damage." Her voice was serious. "Fortunately, I also heal extremely fast. The bruises should be completely gone within an hour at most."

"Sounds useful," I commented calmly, thinking that I certainly could have used something like that in the past. "Does it help get over hangovers?"

"I don't get hangovers," she almost chuckled. "Then again, this body can't really get drunk either. Part of the healing thing is that it keeps me in excellent condition, no matter what. I don't even have to eat or...relieve myself as often as most people."

I nodded my head at that, wishing at the same time that I could see her while talking. It was kind of spooky talking to a disembodies voice, or at least one in my head. However, I was beginning to get used to it.

Praxis continued, "Of course, you know about the flying and intangibility. I can only ghost for a few seconds, but it's enough to go through walls...as well as protect me from people shooting at me." There was a bit of an edge to that last.

"Pretty impressive," I admitted. "Anything more?"

"Actually," Praxis responded slowly, almost as if she was trying to decide how much to tell me. "I can also generate blasts of energy, though it drains me a bit."

That really caught my interest and I muttered, "Wow," eager to try that out for myself. I couldn't help wondering what it would be like.

After this, I went over to sit down, grimacing slightly from all the bruises on my front and side. Somehow, I didn't think that I'd ever make that kind of mistake again. I just hoped that she was right about healing fast.

"You know," Praxis said, "There is a small ritual that I have to help me relax whenever I return home from something like that."

"Oh," I encouraged.

I could almost feel a mental shrug as Praxis stated, "I just smoke a cigarette."

"Oh," I started in slight surprise, "I wouldn't have taken you for a smoker."

She just laughed slightly at that, "I'm not a regular smoker and couldn't get hooked on them if I tried. My physiology prevents that, as well as any harmful effects from smoking. But it is something I occasionally do to relax when I'm alone. And I would like to have one now."

"Sorry," I told her with a grin, "but I don't smoke."

There was a moment of silence, then in a harder voice, she said, "I want a cigarette."

With a scowl, I muttered, "You already said that. And I said that I don't smoke."

"You can for me," she told me, though I again refused, beginning to get annoyed. Then we argued back and forth for a minute, each of us getting more and more stubborn. Finally, she said, "I can make you."

"I'd like to see that," I snorted. She'd already told me that she couldn't move anything, and if she hadn't done so in the day since our incident, I didn't see any reason why she'd be able to now.

At this point, I already knew that this wasn't really about the cigarette. She didn't want it that bad. No, this was just a way for her to prove to me...and probably herself, that she still had some control.

Just then, Praxis started to sing, "A million bottles of beer on the wall...."

I had no idea how long she continued to sing, though I tried ignoring her at first, confident in the knowledge that she couldn't make me do anything. After the first two dozen bottles, I was snapping at her to stop the annoying singing that I couldn't even block out by covering my ears. Not when it was inside my very head. And by the time she'd gone through several hundred bottles, I was ready to do almost anything to get her to stop. Even do what she wanted.

"They're in my purse," Praxis told me a big smugly. I blinked at that, not having seen a purse. "My belt buckle," she added, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "It's the access to a pocket of folded space that I use to store things in, like spare clothes, medical supplies and food. Hence, I call it my purse."

That still hadn't explained everything, but after I touched the belt buckle and followed her directions, a pack of cigarettes and a lighter appeared in my hand where I'd been touching it. I frowned and pulled out a cigarette, deciding to just get this over with so I wouldn't have to listen to her singing again.

"And I thought you were supposed to be a role model," I told her as I lit the cigarette and took a puff.

Praxis just laughed, "I never claimed to be one."

While I smoked the cigarette, Praxis seemed to be in a better mood. However, I knew that it wasn't from the cigarette but from the fact that she'd gotten what she wanted. That she still had some influence, even when she couldn't move even so much as a finger.

And once I was finished, I slowly stripped off my clothes, wincing slightly as I did so. Praxis had been right and I was covered with bruises where the bullets had hit me, which was still a complete miracle considering that I'd been shot with machine guns. Fortunately though, they already seemed to be half healed.

I just shook my head in disbelief, then closed my eyes and leaned back into Praxis' chair, wondering just what the hell I had gotten myself into. And if I would ever get out.

It was about dinner time, and fortunately, all of the bruises had already healed. There wasn't even a sign that they had ever been there, much to my intense relief. That ability to heal was something that I was sure that I'd sorely miss once I got back to normal. It sure would have been useful when I was growing up.

"Is there anything to eat around here?" I asked Praxis, realizing that not only was it dinner time, but that I hadn't eaten a thing since I'd ended up in her body. Oddly enough, I didn't really feel all that hungry. Certainly not like I would have expected after not eating anything all day. Then I remembered her comments about not needing to eat quite as often as a normal person.

"Check the kitchen," Praxis told me, "There are leftovers in the fridge if you want."

With a shrug, I went and took a look, finding that the leftovers she'd mentioned were pizza, Chinese food and what looked like Hamburger Helper...as well as a few unidentifiables. It was obvious that she wasn't real big on cooking. Within a few minutes though, I found some ingredients in the fridge and various cupboards then went to work.

After a few minutes, Praxis hesitantly asked, "What are you making?"

"Wait and see," I told her as I continued cooking my own dinner, noticing for the first time that her voice sounded a little different than it had at first. For one, it sounded softer, almost like someone else entirely.

When I was finally finished, I smiled at the appealing smell and took my first bite. "Not too shabby," I told myself.

"That's good," Praxis announced, almost sounding surprised. And after I'd eaten most of it, she said, "This is really good. Where did you learn to cook like this?"

I smiled, then gave a shrug. "Just something I picked up. It was either learn to cook or eat at Burger King every day."

Once I was finished eating, I took all of the dishes to the sink for cleaning, but quickly discovered a problem. Water sprayed out from the base of the faucet, getting me a little wet before I got it shut back off. I could hear Praxis actually laughing a little inside of my head.

"I should have warned you about that," she said. "It's needed to be fixed for about a week now." Then almost as an afterthought, she added, "I'll have to call the plumber when we get this fixed..."

For a moment, I just looked at the faucet, absently wiping the water from my face. Then I asked, "Do you have any tools around here?"

After a few seconds, she responded, "There's a box in the cupboard." She told me which one and a minute later I had it sitting in open in front of me on the counter. "I'm afraid that I don't have very many.""

"Should be what I need," I told her as I went to work on the sink. Then I grinned as I pulled out the duct tape, "This will fix anything..."

It didn't take me very long to fix the problem, and when I was finished, Praxis seemed quite impressed. I guessed that between dinner and the sink, I was making a much better impression than I had before. I was just thankful that I was able to do something I knew how to again, even if I did have to be careful of my new strength. It felt comforting.

"I used to be the handyman for an apartment complex," I told her with a smile.

For the rest of the night, we were on slightly more friendly terms, though neither of us said much. We just watched TV and argued over the shows, then I went to bed, yet again reminded of the fact that I didn't have the slightest privacy. And though I was turned on by the sight of my changed body, even beginning to feel a little wet down below, I couldn't explore that. Not with her right there, watching and feeling everything. It was a relief when sleep finally came.

There was a thrill of excitement as I flew through the air, still having a hard time believing that I was able to do so. Then again, that was nothing compared to what else had happened to me, to being in a woman's body and having those other super powers as well. Hell, I could bench press a tank now so flying shouldn't really seem that strange. Still, it was exciting as hell, giving me a strange sense of freedom from the laws of gravity.

For the first part, my morning had been about the same as the one before it, though it was still extremely strange for me. Waking up in a woman's body for a second time hadn't been nearly as much of a shock, though I didn't think I'd ever get used to it, and hoped that I'd never have to.

At the moment though, I was flying back towards the apartment, having spent the rest of the morning busy playing 'hero' on Praxis' insistence. Well, to be honest, when I saw some lady being mugged, I couldn't help but save her. My conscience wouldn't let me do anything else, even if I wasn't the hero I appeared. After that had come a store burglary and then some crazy drunk who was trying to run people over. It seemed that there was one thing after another for me to do, though fortunately they went a lot better than the bank robbery the day before. And when I'd been shot at, I even remembered to turn intangible.

"Not bad," Praxis told me almost reluctantly when her apartment was in sight, though she added, "For a beginner."

"Well I don't plan on making a career of it," I responded sharply, wishing that we'd made more progress...or even any progress on getting back to normal. However, she had been extremely insistent that we couldn't go to some scientists for help. Not that I knew of any personally whom I thought might be able to get us back to normal.

A minute later, we were back inside her apartment and I let out a sigh of relief. It was a little embarrassing to be seen out in public looking like a hot chick. The way the men looked at me... It was definitely going to take some getting used to, but then again, I had absolutely no intention of doing so.

"Have you thought of anything?" I asked Praxis, hoping that the fresh air had helped her think like she'd suggested it might when we originally went out.

There was a sigh inside my head, then an, "I'm afraid not." However, I had a hunch that there was something she wasn't saying.

"Are you sure?" I encouraged, though she quickly repeated that she was. "All right," I sighed, sitting down and wondering what I'd ever done to deserve something like my current condition.

Just then, Praxis went, "Ahem, aren't you forgetting something?"

With a sigh, I responded, "Like what?"

"A hundred bottles of beer on the wall," she started singing, sounding more amused than anything else.

I groaned at that and pulled the cigarettes out of her purse, not wanting to go through that whole thing again. I'd had more than my share of that song the night before. A moment later, I'd lit the cigarette and taken a drag, blowing the smoke out with a, "Satisfied?"

There were a few seconds of silence before Praxis responded, "I'm sorry." She sounded sincere, as well as a little embarrassed. "You don't have to. That's just my routine, and just because I like having an occasional cigarette doesn't mean I'm going to make you."

I was a little startled by her comments, pausing for a moment before asking, "Then what about yesterday?"

"That was yesterday," she told me, sounding just a little embarrassed but also a bit defiant.

Deciding to drop that line of conversation, I took another drag from the cigarette, just to please her, then snubbed the whole thing out. At least I knew that I didn't have to worry about getting cancer from the damn things while in her body.

With that, I got up and looked down at myself, shaking my head slightly at the alien sight as well as the odd balance of my new body. I couldn't believe that I'd actually had that body, with the vagina and tits for two days already. At least there were a good set of muscles that came with them.

I silently cursed to myself, being careful not to 'send' those thoughts to Praxis. Fortunately, it seemed that I had to actually say something aloud or think it specifically towards her for her to hear it. Or at least that's the way it seemed since she didn't respond to some of my more personal thoughts when I was sure she would have if she'd heard them.

As I stared at my...or was that her tits, I had to force my eyes away. They looked so amazing that I wanted to tear off my clothes and stare at them, to feel them up a bit. I was extremely curious about how they felt, as well as my changed crotch. However, I couldn't satisfy my curiosity or examine my changed body much at all with Praxis right there the whole time. It was frustrating as hell knowing that I didn't have any privacy. None in the least.

Since I didn't have anything else to do at the moment, and I sure as hell couldn't just go to the movie looking like I did, I started to wander around Praxis' apartment. It seemed so ordinary and plain for someone like her. There were even several pictures hanging on the wall, as well as sitting on one of the counters.

I picked up one picture of a cute young woman with nearly shoulder length black hair, then asked Praxis, "Is this your sister?"

"No," Praxis responded slowly. There was a few seconds pause before she quietly added, "That's me."

"You?" I gasped in surprise, taking a closer look at the woman in the picture. Other than the hair color, she didn't look anything like Praxis. She not only looked a lot shorter, but a whole lot less developed, both in curves and muscles. "But you don't look anything like that."

"Not now," she half snapped, sounding more embarrassed than anything. "I'm a skitzomorph. My powers let me change back and forth between my normal self and my Praxis self."

All I was able to say was, "Oh."

My mind was swirling though as it suddenly dawned on me for the first time that Praxis wasn't just a costumed hero...she was a real person. She had a real life and everything, which I knew nothing about but was stuck in the middle of. I suddenly felt guilty at that. For not even thinking of her as a real person.

Then I gently set her picture back where I'd found it and took another look at my transformed body, frowning as another realization came. One which filled me with embarrassment and guilt. I wasn't the only one who'd lost their privacy. So had she, and I hadn't even stopped to consider that until just then. But there I was, in the middle of her house and looking through her private things, and then some. That was nothing though, and I knew it. The truth was, I was also in her body...in her most intimate of places without her having any say so. I couldn't help but feeling a little dirty at that.

I sighed and looked down at myself with those thoughts, staring at my awesome rack and blushing. I quickly pulled my eyes away, feeling embarrassed. Although I was still burning with curiosity to explore my changed body, now it made me feel like a voyeur. Like a damn peeping Tom.

"I wouldn't have guessed," I said, more to say something than anything else.

"Most wouldn't," she responded, sounding both a little tired and a little amused. "Which is good because it let me have my personal life too." She sighed, "I just don't have any of my powers when I'm in my real form. Only when I'm Praxis."

It was strange thinking of that cute girl in the picture as Praxis. That seemed so contrary to everything else that I'd ever heard about Praxis, though I guessed it made sense. She had to come from somewhere and why not from a normal person? Still, it wasn't going to be easy thinking of the statuesque heroine who's body I now occupied as ever having been normal.

All I could do was nod my head and say, "Sounds convenient."

She was silent for a few seconds before she said, "Since we're stuck with each other for now..." There was a pause, "You can call me Kelly." Then she rushed out, sounding a little embarrassed, "It's my real name."

That pronouncement stunned me and I blinked for a moment in surprise. "Oh," I started.

"It's not like you couldn't have read it off my mail," she mumbled, sounding a little embarrassed. "But don't you EVER tell anyone."

"I'm T.J." I blurted out, realizing that I hadn't really introduced myself to her before. "T.J. Sawyer."

Praxis...Kelly said, "It's nice to meet you...T.J."

"Likewise...Kelly," I responded, testing her name.

After taking another long look at Kelly's picture, I started to turn and walk away. A moment later though, a thought occurred me and I commented, "You said that you could change back and forth from normal to this..." I gestured down at myself.

"Yeah," Kelly responded.

"Can you show me how?" I asked her.

I had to admit, I was curious about how Kelly looked in real life and not just from the photo. However, that wasn't the reason that I asked. There was no way in hell that I could just walk to the grocery store as Praxis or go do anything normal. But as Kelly... Well, I wasn't looking forward to the idea, but it would certainly give me a little more freedom in public than being Praxis. I smiled at the realization that losing the super powers would give me freedom. It seemed rather ironic.

Again, Kelly paused for a few seconds, then she agreed for the same reason...that I'd be able to go out without attracting so much attention. "It's like a switch in my head," she explained, "I just sort of mentally flipped it and I'd change."

With a sigh, I thought that it wasn't much to go on but tried to do as she described. I quickly discovered though that it was a lot easier said than done. For one, I didn't really have much to go on, or to relate it to. However, after about a minute, I was able to focus on a mental switch and 'flip' it.

"I feel something," I gasped as a strong tingling ran through my entire body.

My whole body felt sort of warm inside and there was a flash of red light. The light seemed to last a few seconds, and the instant it was gone, I could tell that something...that everything had changed. Every sensation screamed at me that I was no longer Praxis. And to my surprise, I felt...normal.

Suddenly my voice cried out, "I can move again," though I hadn't said anything. And at the same time, my hands moved to my once again flat chest...without my willing them to. Then a moment later, I found myself looking down, staring at my old body...dressed in my security guard clothes, unable to turn my head or eyes away at all. Again without my willing it, my voice blurted out, "Holy shit!"

I struggled to move myself, to no effect. And then to stop moving myself when my body started running to the wall. However, I had no control over my movements whatsoever. It was obvious that Praxis and I had traded places, as well as forms. Now instead of me being in her body with her the helpless one inside, she was in my body with me being trapped.

"Oh shit," I gasped...or at least thought since it didn't make it to my lips. Those were no longer mine to control at the moment.

A moment later, I found myself standing in front of a mirror, staring at my familiar reflection but with my hands grabbing at my body, without my control. They lingered for more than a moment on my crotch, making me feel embarrassed, and a little violated. Was that how Kelly felt?

"T.J.?" Kelly asked, cocking my head to the side. "Are you still in there?"

"Yeah," I grumbled, not at all happy with the situation. It was kind of cool to have my body back, but not to be a helpless passenger inside of it. "I guess we traded places."

My head nodded, "It sure looks that way." It was strange hearing my voice talking to me that way, though at the same time, I could sort of hear Kelly's mental voice in it at the same time. "This was not what I expected." She sounded a little embarrassed at that, as well as excited. And it was just her mental voice as she hadn't spoken aloud.

I cursed silently, frustrated at my inability to move. Then I tried 'flipping' the mental switch again to no effect. It was for no better description...out of my reach. Obviously Kelly was the one to control that now as well. Now she was the one in control while I was helpless. I didn't like it at all, but sure as hell couldn't complain about that to her. Not after she'd been like that for two days.

"I can't believe I'm a guy," Kelly gasped, examining my body a little more closely. "But at least I can move again."

At least someone can, I thought to myself a little bitterly. Then feeling a little guilty for my selfishness, I said, "I know I felt strange being a woman."

"Oh," Kelly responded slowly, my eyes going a little bigger in the mirror's reflection. "I'm sorry that you have to be stuck like that now."

With a mental shrug, I said, "Once we get a separated, we'll both be free of this."

Kelly nodded my head, looking thoughtful. "Then I guess I had better get looking."

With that, she went into another room that had been set up as an office. There was a curve around computer desk with a lot of impressive looking equipment. As she sat down, she grunted and had to adjust the height of the chair as it was too low for my body. "I'm only 5'4," she grumbled in embarrassment, "and I never mess with this when I'm Praxis."

"Pretty nice setup," I commented, wondering exactly what she was up to.

I could feel my face muscles smiling, "Thanks. I'm a freelance programmer and get the perk of working from home." Then she gave a sigh, "Saving the world just doesn't pay the bills."

We both laughed at that, then I told her, "You must be pretty good then."

Kelly chuckled, "Oh, I am. I used to be a computer nerd back in school and even did a bit of hacking before I went professional."

That was another thing that I wouldn't have expected. Kelly quickly proved how good she was though as she was soon typing away, zooming through screens and programs that I didn't even know existed. It didn't take me long to get lost, but at least I could tell that she was doing some sort of search. And some of the stuff she was doing suggested that she might not have given up hacking quite as much as she'd suggested.

After a little while, Kelly mumbled, "Damn I'm slow. I'm not used to working with bigger hands." She certainly didn't seem slow to me though. I didn't think that my fingers had ever moved that fast.

We spent the rest of the day in front of the computer, with Kelly working so intently that I wondered if she even remembered me. I was quickly bored, though I couldn't exactly leave her there while I went and watched TV. It was frustrating to just sit there while she worked, knowing that I couldn't do anything to help, and not just because I was just a passenger.

Kelly eventually leaned back and rubbed at my...her...our eyes, with me feeling every muscle ache that she did from sitting there so long. It was obvious though that she was disappointed, as was I.

"Damn," Kelly exclaimed, "Nothing."

Even after searching for everything she could find about quantum mechanics, the quantum reactor and anything about merging, she still hadn't found anything that seemed applicable to us, or at least of any real use. And that was after searching through some places that I was pretty sure she shouldn't have been in. It seemed as though it was a complete waste of time, though Kelly assured me that it hadn't been. Not completely at any rate.

"We did learn a little bit," she told me, standing up and stretching. "Oh...as you guys say, I've got to piss like a racehorse." She sounded a little embarrassed at that, even though she was trying to be lighthearted.

A minute later, we were in the bathroom and she was taking a leak in my body, seeming fascinated by my male equipment. It was quite embarrassing for me to be in that position, with my privacy so invaded, though I knew that it was only a turnabout from what she'd experienced. At least she seemed a bit self conscious about it while taking care of business.

The rest of the night, what little there was left of it, passed by pretty quickly. And eventually, we went to bed. Unfortunately, I found that another problem with being unable to move was that I couldn't roll over or change positions to get more comfortable.

It was late morning, nearly noon when Kelly and I stepped through the door of my apartment. She took a look around, taking in the mess that was the trademark of a true bachelor. I couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed at that, though was at least pleased that I didn't leave clothes all over the floor of dishes piled in the sink. I might be a bachelor, but I wasn't a complete slob.

"So this is your home," Kelly said aloud as she started to look around. "Not too bad."

"Thanks," I mumbled in response, "I think."

Kelly had come to my home at my suggestion. When we'd gotten up that morning, we both realized the obvious fact that I didn't have any spare clothes and none of hers would fit my body. We both knew that it could be a bit of a problem, though the solution had been pretty obvious as well. There were plenty of clothes for my body, back at my place.

Stopping in front of a picture on the wall, Kelly asked, "Is this your family?"

"Yeah," I sighed, wondering what they'd think about my situation, "My parents."

With a nod of her head, Kelly asked, "Do they live around here?"

I shook...or at least tried to shake my head back. "No. They're on the other side of the country so I don't get to see them often."

Then, while Kelly was getting the clothes, I started telling her about my family. It was mostly small talk, but it felt a little nice to have someone to talk to. After all, she was a captive audience and I was really warming up to her. Once she'd gotten over some of her earlier attitude, she seemed to be pretty nice, as well as a good listener.

A short while later, Kelly walked out of my place with a gym bag full of my clothes and a few other personal belongings of mine that I'd asked her to grab. I would have preferred staying at my place until we got this straightened out, but she was the one driving. Both literally and figuratively.

Our drive back wasn't too unpleasant as Kelly and I talked to each other a little more openly than before. She was opening up to me a bit more as well and it was almost beginning to seem as if we were good friends rather than two strangers fused together. Then again, being friends in our condition certainly made it a little more tolerable.

Suddenly there was the loud roaring of sirens, just as a fire engine and cop car both came rushing past us. Neither of us thought much about it until another fire engine came by less than a minute later. It was only then that Kelly looked around and pointed out the pillar of smoke that was billowing into the air a short distance away.

"A fire!" Kelly cried out, moving the car close enough so that we could see a large building being consumed by flames. For a few seconds, we just stared out at the building, barely being able to see it from where we were, but it was clearly in bad condition. Then she gasped, "There are people in there..."

Kelly jumped out of the car, and then without warning, I felt a warmth flood through my body, followed by a glow of red light. A moment later, I was filled with an unbelievable feeling of health, strength and power. I had been transformed into Praxis again. And though I never would have thought it possible, I was actually thankful that I was in a woman's body again, feeling so supercharged and even more importantly, able to move again.

"We've got to help them," Kelly cried out in my mind, "Please. There are people inside..."

I was still a bit stunned by the unexpected transformation, but gulped at Kelly's plea. She was right. Though I was no hero, I couldn't just stand by and let people die when I had the power to do something about it. And before I'd even made the decision consciously, I was already in the air and rushing towards the building, realizing in amazement that Kelly hadn't even hesitated at giving control back to me.

As I got closer, I was horrified to realize that it was an apartment building that was on fire. There were people gathered around below, already pulled out by the firemen. Even more were being pulled out, though I didn't think that the firemen would be able to do much more at the rate it was it was going.

"Shit," I grimaced as I saw several people on the roof, waving for help. Help that wouldn't arrive in time unless...

Knowing what I had to do, I dove straight for the roof and grabbed two of the people, asking another woman to hold on around my neck. It was extremely uncomfortable, and though I wouldn't have managed to even lift them all in my real body, I had no problem at all in taking to the air with all three and carrying them to the safety of the ground below. And once they were dropped off, I went back for another batch.

It didn't take me long to get all of the people off of the roof, but my work still wasn't finished. I flew up to several windows and carried those people down as well until I couldn't see any more.

"There are still people inside," one fireman called out.

"You've got to...," Kelly started, her voice filled with urgency. However, that was unnecessary as I was already rushing inside, flying straight through the wall to get there.

There were flames all over the place, though enough of the floor was around for me to have no problems walking. It was hard seeing through the smoke or breathing, but I grimaced and went further in, bolstered by the knowledge that I could get out quickly if I had to.

Then I heard it. A child screaming out in panic. I followed the crying though several doors and found a little girl of about 7, hiding in her bathtub, with it half filled with water, though her clothes were all on. A single glance was enough to tell me that she'd been trying to protect herself from the fire, though I knew it wouldn't do any good against something as bad as that.

"I'm here to help you," I told her gently, holding out my arm.

The girl just looked up at me, her eyes filled with fear...and hope. "Who are you?" the girl asked, hesitating before coming out of the relative safety of the bathtub.

"I'm..." I hesitated, then said, "A friend."

"Remember," Kelly blurted into my mind, "at the moment, YOU are Praxis!"

I didn't have time for that though as I took the girl, and once I had her tightly in my arms, I took a deep breath and burst back out of the bathroom, into the living room which was halfway filled with flames. There was no time for that though as I tore out the window with ease and then carried the girl out, taking her to the safety of the ground as well.

Again, I returned to the building, cringing at the heat and wondering how the firemen could possibly stand it. They weren't nearly as tough as I now was, and even I could feel it. I couldn't help but feeling respect for any normal man or woman who could bring themselves to face something like that without the benefit of my borrowed powers.

Several minutes later, the firemen announced that everyone had been cleared from the building, except for a couple of them which I helped get out. It was a strange experience to pull two firemen out of a burning building, just before part of it collapsed where they'd been.

"Thanks lady," one of the firefighters told me once we were all safe outside, "I'm pretty sure that's everyone."

"You did it," Kelly exclaimed in relief from the inside of my head. I just smiled faintly in response, not sure what to think about that.

Then suddenly, as if to prove the fireman wrong, there was an explosion from one of the windows about 4 stories up and a human figure came flying out. Before I was fully able to absorb what I was seeing, the figure hit the ground and remained standing there, apparently unharmed. It turned slightly, giving me a good look at a man in silver and blue metallic armor.

"Oh shit," Kelly gasped. "That's Vicious. He's a criminal mercenary. Usually works as a henchman."

I gulped weakly as I whispered, "A super villain?" When Kelly gave her affirmative, I asked, "You've fought him before?"

She quickly responded with a, "No. But I have read about him." Kelly hesitated for a moment while Vicious slowly turned to look around, "If I remember right, his power armor increases his physical abilities, especially his speed. And I think he has some sort of energy blades too."

Suddenly I gasped in realization, exclaiming to the armored villain, "You started this fire!"

"What?" Vicious responded, his features unreadable through the full head helmet he wore. However, he sounded a bit pissed. "Why the hell would I burn down my own apartment? I don't know what the fuck started this."

I was a little startled by that response, never having thought that maybe a super villain might have lived in a normal apartment. Nor that they might have to go through the same things as normal people

But before I could think of what to say in response, Vicious growled, "But who cares if I lost almost everything. Once I bag you bitch, the price on your head will more than make up for it."

"What?" I started, unable to finish before Vicious made his move.

The villain came at me so fast that I barely turned intangible before he went though me. Then he paused for a moment, revealing the glowing energy blades that came out from each of his wrists, looking sort of like two glowing red katars. Long and vicious looking ones.

"Fucking bitch," Vicious spat, swinging one of his hands and cutting through a light pole with one of his blades as though it were nothing. The pole toppled to the ground with a clatter.

My heart raced at the sight and I was not at all thrilled about the idea of having this super villain in front of me. And at the same time, there were a lot of fire fighters and civilians gathered nearby as well. I definitely didn't like the situation.

Suddenly Vicious charged at me again, this time even faster than before. Again, I managed to dodge, but just barely. The villain screamed and lashed out with his blades, tearing a massive gash into the side of a fire engine. People ran to get away from him.

"If I can't get you," Vicious growled in a low, deadly tone, "I'll just have to take my frustrations out on THEM!" And with that, he charged straight at the people who were running away.

"NO!" I screamed, suddenly terrified of what he was going to do and taking to the air to go towards him.

"He's going to slow," Kelly cried in my head, "It's a tri..."

But before she could finish her warning, Vicious suddenly changed direction and jumped straight at me, his energy blades extended. I wasn't fast enough to get out of his way completely as one of the blades caught my thigh, making me scream in pain. It hurt like hell, but I didn't have time to deal with that as he immediately bounced off of the ground and came at me again.

"Damn!" Kelly and I both growled at once, wincing from the shared pain that we felt.

Vicious came at me again, jumping at much higher than any Olympic athlete could ever hope to. He ran along the ground at unbelievable speeds to gain even more momentum, bouncing off walls and jumping even more. He was moving so fast that I was having a hard time keeping up with where he was at.

"The bastard's playing with us," I hissed to Kelly.

"No," she responded bitterly, "He's trying to confuse us....to distract us." I didn't have much to say about that though as it was working.

I made several attempts to chase after and catch him, to little effect. Vicious was just too fast and in spite of what Kelly said, I thought that he was just playing with us. Sooner or later, he was going to jump back and cut us right in half. Kelly and I both wanted to get separated, but not like that.

Just then, I had an idea and started to back off a bit, gaining a bit more height and hoping that it would work. "You said that you have some sort of energy blasts," I said to Kelly. "What do you do? Shoot them out of your eyes?"

Kelly seemed confused at first, then gasped, "Oh. It's hard to explain..." However, she quickly started to do just that while I listened intently.

"Oh bitch," Vicious called out, "I'm through playing with you now..."

"Told you so," I mumbled.

But with that, I concentrated on feeling the power in my body, shifting it as I held out my hands until blasts of red energy shot out of each of them. Two blasts of energy hit the ground somewhere in front of Vicious, startling him as he tripped over the ruined road and nearly fell onto his face.

"Damn," I cursed, realizing that aiming wasn't quite as easy as I thought.

I tried another blast of energy, hitting the ground beside Vicious just as he was regaining his balance. The ground melted where the blast had hit and he jumped to the side, still a bit off balance. I grinned, realizing that this might work in spite of my bad aim.

However, before I realized it, Vicious had not only regained his balance, but jumped straight up at me again. He couldn't quite reach me, though he came extremely close. Too close. And after he ran up the wall of a building and jumped from there, he went straight through my body...Kelly warned me in time to turn intangible.

Seeming to be tired of coming after me, Vicious charged straight at more civilians again, and this time I had the impression that he really was going to tear into them. Just to spite me if nothing else.

"NO!" Kelly screamed inside my head.

"Shut up!" I growled, not needing the distraction as I concentrated as hard as I could, letting loose another pair of blasts.

This time, my blasts hit Vicious, stopping him before he could reach any of the fleeing people. He collapsed to the ground, his armor badly charred and melted. All I could do was stare at him as I came to the ground, dreadfully afraid that I'd killed him. I didn't want to do that.

"Oh shit," I gasped as I hurried to Vicious, staring at the badly damaged armor, then turning him over. I couldn't tell how bad he was with the helmet on so started to take it off.

Vicious let out a gasp of "Fucking bitch," proving that he was still alive. However, he was in no condition to keep fighting, or at least his armor wasn't. I made sure of that by tearing most of the rest of it off of him, leaving him with little but his boxers when the cops came over to take him.

"You did good," Kelly told me, sounding a bit embarrassed. "Thanks."

I just grunted, feeling a bit tired. Those energy blasts had taken a little bit out of me. Still, I still had plenty to do what had to and took back to the air, eager to get away now that I wasn't needed.

Once in the air though, I found that I had a small problem. I could easily fly back to Kelly's apartment and was going to do so at first, though unfortunately her car was still on the side of the street a short distance away. I couldn't just leave it there, but it wouldn't look right for anyone to see Praxis driving a car either. The solution was obvious, but I didn't want to give up being in control again. I didn't want to go back to being just a passenger in my own body. However, the memory of Kelly giving up control without hesitation made me feel guilty, and a minute later, I landed by the car and 'flipped' the mental switch in my head to give her control again.

When Kelly and I arrived back at her apartment, the first thing that she did was toss my gym bag off to the corner, then toss herself onto the couch with a loud sigh. She remained motionless for several minutes before one hand moved to my crotch and rested there.

"It's so weird being a guy," she sighed, closing her eyes for a moment.

I snorted at that, responding, "It's not quite normal for me to be a girl either."

"I know," she answered. "I know."

As she sat back up, I said, "Let me guess...you're going to have a smoke." After all, she'd been quite clear about it being one of her traditions after something like that crazed super villain we'd run into.

"What?" Kelly responded, sounding a little surprised. Then she added, "No. I don't smoke in my own body and I'm not going to do it in yours."

That startled me a little and I responded with a repeat of her, "What?"

Kelly giggled slightly, sounding strange coming from my throat. "I guess that would sound a bit odd after..." She paused for a moment, then continued, "Oddly enough, I've always been a bit of an anti-smoker, with all of the health problems and all. But when I became Praxis..." There was another pause, this time just a little longer and seeming more thoughtful. "Well, when I became Praxis, it was like I was suddenly a whole new person. I could be things...do things I could never do before. So, I sort of took on a whole new persona, becoming what I wanted to be. The occasional cigarette is just a part of that since I don't have to worry about any of the health problems as Praxis."

For a moment, I just remained silent, absorbing what she'd just told me. I guessed that it did make sense in a strange sort of way. And I had noticed that 'Kelly' was a bit nicer and more relaxed than her 'Praxis' persona. In fact, I rather preferred the real her to the super heroine version.

"Wow," I finally responded, not sure what to say to such a personal revelation."

There was a long minute of silence before Kelly got up and exclaimed, "Since I've got some clothes that will fit now... I think it's time for a bath."

Kelly took her time cleaning up and I couldn't help noticing the way her eyes kept lingering on my naked body, obviously just as curious about mine as I was about hers. I certainly couldn't blame her, though it was a bit embarrassing. It was yet another example of the lack of privacy on both of our sides, though I could tell that she was trying to keep from intruding on mine too much.

A short while after the bath was through and we were dressed up in clean clothes, Kelly went and sat down in front of her computer again. At first I thought that she was going to do some more searching for us online, but she made no move towards that. Instead, she started clicking through several icons and typing something in. A moment later, I was staring at a picture of Vicious on the computer screen, along with a bunch of writing.

"Whoa," I exclaimed in surprise. "What's that doing on your computer?"

"Well," Kelly responded slowly, her hands typing onto the file, "I put it there."

"Ha ha," was my sarcastic response. "No, really."

She paused at that, leaning back in the chair. I could feel our shared mouth frown slightly. "I've always been interested in those with developed powers," she said slowly, almost thoughtfully, "even before I became Praxis. One of my hobbies was keeping track of most heroes and villains. And once I developed powers of my own..." She smiled at that, "It became a whole lot more practical."

With a mental nod, I said, "I can see how that would be useful. That way you know what to expect..."

"Exactly." Kelly did something more and saved the file before saying, "I've started keeping detailed records on a number of people and their abilities. My old hobby has saved my ass more than a few times."

"Cool," I responded for lack of anything else to really say.

I had to admit though, I was rather curious about some of those files and wouldn't mind looking through them myself. I'd never been any more interested in any of those developed people than anyone else, but having files on some of them right in front of me could be rather fascinating. However, there was one person who's file I really would have liked to have looked at. The one who's body I was currently merged with.

That just reminded me about our lack of progress in finding a solution. I couldn't help wondering why we didn't just go to some professional. Of course I didn't want to deal with the embarrassment of revealing what had happened to someone else any more than Kelly did, but I didn't want to be stuck that way for the rest of my life either. Surely there had to be someone who could help us.

"Maybe we should try to find some outside help," I suggested reluctantly. Nothing else seemed to be working. "Some kind of scientist..."

Kelly responded with an emphatic, "NO!" which surprised me.

I was silent for a moment, feeling the strong emotion that was coming from Kelly. There was obviously something wrong.

"What's wrong?" I asked gently. Then on an inspiration, I asked, "Why don't you want to talk to a scientist?"

There was no response for several seconds, then Kelly sighed. "The last time that I let myself get...involved with a scientist...was very unpleasant." She cringed at that and I could feel the shaking in her voice. It had obviously been pretty bad. "The only good thing that came out of it were my powers."

"Oh," I responded, feeling a little stunned.

"And most of the scientists I've run into have been the mad type," she sighed, "Trying to take over the world and all."

I had to admit that I was beginning to see her point of view. However, I knew that there had to be someone out there who could help us get our bodies uncrossed. "How about that Dr. Power?" I asked on sudden inspiration.

Kelly shook our head thoughtfully, "No. I've never met him and certainly don't know him well enough to trust with something like this."

I let out a sigh at that, feeling rather defeated. "There has to be somebody...," I gasped in frustration.

"No...," Kelly half sighed and half snapped. Then she froze and let out a weak, "Oh...maybe..."

"Maybe what?" I demanded, bursting with hope and curiosity.

She was silent for a moment and I could feel my fists both clenched tightly. Finally, Kelly stood up and moved to the center of her living room, still not saying a word.

"There might be someone," she admitted reluctantly, and I could hear the faint tremors in her voice. "I'm not sure..."

"Do we have much choice?" I asked her gently.

Kelly nodded again and weakly answered, "You're right."

At that, I felt the mental switch being thrown and the changes beginning to burn through my body. I gasped as the red glow hit and a feeling of power suddenly washed through me. It was incredible, even with the fact that I changed gender at the same time.

"Wow," I whispered, stretching myself and glorying in the fact that I was free to move again.

I couldn't resist moving over and taking another look in the mirror. The sight of such a beautiful woman staring back was still startling, though I had to admit that I enjoyed looking at her. I just wished that she wasn't me.

"OK," I said slowly, getting back to business, "Where too?"

A minute later, I was in the sky and flying, with no idea where we were going. Kelly didn't seem willing to tell me where that was, only how to get there. I just followed her directions, hoping that she knew what she was doing. She had me fly further than I had any of the other times, and faster. Faster than I'd even realized I was capable of until she pushed me to keep increasing my speed.

As we flew, I couldn't help thinking about where we were going, about wondering what I would find. Or who. I grew increasingly nervous as we got closer, wondering if I'd made the right decision in pressuring Kelly. And I was growing increasingly nervous about the idea of quite probably revealing our embarrassing problem to someone else. However, I didn't let that slow me down.

Finally, Kelly announced, "Down there." Her mental voice shook a bit with nervousness at those two words.

I looked down at the top of a three story building that didn't fit in with the surrounding area. It was relatively new, whereas everything else looked old and worn down. From a single glance, there was little doubt that most...if not all of the other buildings were condemned. They were probably fit only for homeless people to occupy, for those who were desperate for shelter. However, I didn't see any people around there.

"It's the original Protectorate base," Kelly explained, "Though they only have it as a secondary backup now."

I just stared at the building for a few seconds, a bit in awe of seeing the headquarters of the Protectorate. Or at least their old headquarters. Still, I was wondering why Kelly had brought me there. However, I knew that I certainly wouldn't find out just by staying there, so I landed on the roof.

On the far end of the roof was a large structure with a pair of wide doors, the entry from the main building. Just as I started towards it, the doors slid open, revealing massive crouched figure inside. A moment later, it stepped out and straightened up, revealing itself as a 10 foot tall robot, which looked less than pleasant.

"Oh shit," I whispered to Kelly, feeling intimidated by the sight and momentarily forgetting all of the powers at my disposal.

The metal colossus took another step forward, and I instinctively clenched my fists in readiness to fight. However, it stopped and to my surprise the chest started to open up, revealing something inside. A human something.

A moment later, a girl who looked no older than 10 years old hopped out of the robot, a grin on her lightly freckled face. She had light brown hair done up in pig tails, and she wore a pair of goggles on her forehead. There was a tool belt around her waist.

"Her name's Genius," Kelly blurted inside my head. "She's REALLY smart and can build anything." There was the slightest pause before she added, "She's the one who gave me my belt purse."

"Praxis!" Genius called out with a cheerful grin.

"She was with the Protectorate," Kelly explained with a faint chuckle, "until the child protection people got her kicked out for being underage. Lawyers and beaurocrats are worse than villains. Not that she doesn't still help them from the sidelines."

Just then, someone else stepped out of the open doors. It was a man in his late thirties, with dark brown hair that was sprinkled with gray. The man was wearing a blue cloak with the hood thrown back, revealing that he was wearing all black underneath it. All except for a white square at his neck.

"That's Father Time," Kelly continued, "her legal guardian." She paused for a moment before adding in an almost lecturing voice, "He's a Catholic priest and has developed abilities of limited temporal manipulation. He can speed up or slow down the personal time of himself and others."

Father Time nodded towards me with a faint smile, asking, "What brings you here Praxis?"

Kelly quickly assured me, "We can trust them." Still, she sounded a little nervous.

I nodded slowly at that, deciding that I might as well get it over with quickly. "I'm not Praxis," I blurted out, trying to hide my extreme discomfort.

"What?" Genius asked, looking at me curiously while Father Time looked confused.

With a groan, I flipped the mental switch and changed back to my real body, losing control over it at the same time. Something like that could really make me dislike becoming a guy again.

"I am," Kelly stated firmly in my voice. Her mental voice had changed slightly as well as she slipped into her Praxis persona.

Genius took a step back, absently reaching for a small metal band around her wrist. Somehow, I had a feeling that it was more than just a wrist watch. And probably a whole lot more dangerous.

"In spite of my current appearance," Kelly told her, "I am Praxis. I had an unfortunate accident and need your help."

There was a moment where Genius looked up at us with a blank look, then it turned thoughtful. She glanced over at Father Time and then back at us with a grin, apparently having decided that we weren't a threat. After all, her hand left the metal band on her wrist, letting me give a mental sigh of relief.

"What happened?" Father Time asked, looking at us in concern.

Kelly frowned, looking around quickly. "Do you mind if we come inside before I explain? This is a little...embarrassing." That was putting it mildly.

"We?" Father Time asked with a raised eyebrow.

Genius just grinned, "Come on," waving for us to follow as she literally ran for the door.

Once we were inside and the doors were closed, Kelly began to explain what had happened to us, though she didn't go into much detail. "Now we're fused together," Kelly told them, "but in each other's forms."

"I see," Father Time responded slowly.

However, Genius just gasped, "Can I see?" She came even closer and stared at us closely, "Can you change again?" She almost seemed excited.

"Only if you two promise to keep this quiet," Kelly said, staring at each of them firmly until they'd promised. Then she nodded.

There was a momentary pause, then I felt the changes begin. Kelly had switched control over again. In a flash of red light, I was once again female, and in control. It was of course a relief to move again, though I couldn't help but feeling a bit uncomfortable being around those two at the same time.

"Is that what you wanted?" I asked, feeling odd talking to a little girl who according to Kelly, was a lot smarter than both of us put together.

"And you're really not Praxis?" Genius asked, staring at me with a gleam in her eye. "At least not mentally as you appear to be physiologically."

After I'd agreed that I wasn't really Praxis, Genius made us switch back and forth several more times, while she watched in fascination. When she finally seemed satisfied, she exclaimed, "Tight."

"What we wanted to know though," Kelly said, once again in control as it seemed simpler for her to deal with them, "is can you get us back to normal?"

Genius frowned slightly, then gave a shrug. "I don't think so. I'm good with physics and engineering...not biology." She shrugged again, this time a little more apologetic. "I wouldn't even know where to start with mixed up bodies..."

I groaned at that, as did Kelly. That was NOT what I wanted to hear. And since Genius was about the only scientist that Kelly trusted at all, I wasn't sure that there would be another chance.

Then I had a sudden idea and gasped, "Kelly, tell her that it was caused by a quantum reactor explosion." Kelly frowned, but relayed my message.

"Quantum?" Genius gasped, her eyes gleaming again. "That I know."

Without another word, Genius tore off running down a corridor, leaving me and Kelly to both just stand there wondering what was going on.

Father Time just chuckled, "I believe that means she will try and help you." He started walking in the direction Genius had gone, saying, "I'll show you the way."

A minute later, we stepped into a huge room that was obviously a laboratory of some sort. There were lots of machines everywhere, a large number of them obviously not finished. Bits and pieces covered work benches, as well as hung on walls and shelves. Other parts of it though looked finished, though still no less recognizable.

"You know what this reminds me of?" I asked Kelly as I took a look around the work shop and then the little kid who ran it.

"What's that?" she responded.

"Dexter's Laboratory," I said.

Kelly laughed at that, "You're right..."

Then we looked at Genius again, watching as she ran from one thing to another with an energy that only a child could posses. However, there was obvious method to movement and it quickly became obvious that she was throwing a few final parts into a large machine.

Once she was finished, Genius gestured to a metal platform and some machines, proudly announcing, "This is just like the one I made for Dr. Power." Then she shrugged, "Well, almost."

"She tends to think of machines as pieces of art," Father Time whispered to us with a chuckle. "She doesn't like to repeat her work."

"It's a scanner," Genius explained, her expression turning serious. "I made it as a backup in case something happened to his and don't really use it myself. Hop on."

After Genius scanned us with the machine, she had us trade places and then scanned us again. She even scanned us in the middle of changing back and forth several times. Still, she wasn't satisfied and made some changes to the machine before having us go through the whole thing again. It was quickly getting old, but when Genius finally seemed satisfied with the scans, I was the one left in control.

"So," I asked the little girl, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice, "What did you find?"

"Just a minute," she mumbled, staring intently at a computer screen, "I'm still looking."

"I hate waiting," Kelly mumbled, and I had to agree completely.

I looked around, realizing for the first time that Father Time was gone. He'd apparently slipped out of there while Genius was doing the testing. Not that I blamed him since I wished we could have slipped out of there too. It was pretty embarrassing, though hopefully it would solve our problem.

Eventually, Genius turned away from the computer screen, a deep frown on her young face. She rubbed at her eyes and then looked at us with a frown. "Sorry," she said apologetically.

"Sorry?" I gasped, not liking the sound of that at all. "What exactly does 'sorry' mean?"

Genius gave me an innocent look before responding, "It means feeling apologetic or contrite, though is also used to express sympathy." This time I gave her an annoyed look, and she responded, "Sorry," again, nearly making me want to strangle her.

After glancing back at the screen for a moment, Genus frowned and slowly said, "You guys were mixed up at a quantum level, in a way that I've certainly never seen before." She paused for another moment before looking me in the eye and saying, "You're fused at the deepest level and I have no idea where to start in separating you. If I had records of your individual quantum patterns from before the accident, I might be able to do something. At least I'd have something to work with."

"Shit," Kelly gasped inside my head.

"But for now," Genius shrugged, "I'm afraid that there's not much I can do." She looked embarrassed as well as a bit apologetic, "I'll keep looking into it, but I can't promise anything."

For nearly a minute, we all stood there in silence. I was too shocked at her announcement to think clearly, and I could tell that Kelly was in a similar state of mind. Up until then, we'd been operating under the assumption that it was temporary, that we'd be changed back to normal soon enough. But now...now we were told that we couldn't be. At least not in the foreseeable future.

"She said that she'll keep looking," Kelly said, thought was half hearted. More to try comforting herself than anything else.

Suddenly Genius brightened, a childish grin across her face as she asked, "You guys want some cookies?" She ran to one of her workbenches, calling out, "I've even got some really good root beer too..."

Just as the little girl started grabbing at one of the tools on the bench, she bumped something and what looked like a glass ball rolled off of the other end. But suddenly it froze in midair, with a hand holding it. A hand that had appeared out of nowhere, and belonged to Father Time.

"I saw you dropping it as I came in," Father Time commented as he gently set the ball back on the desk. "You should be more careful with toys."

"Toys?" Genius gasped in horror. "That's a crystal oscillation sphere I was gonna use for my..." Then she paused, looking apologetic. "Thank you. It's kinda fragile."

Father Time just smiled gently, then looked up at Kelly and myself. "I believe that she offered some refreshments..."

"Why not," Kelly mumbled, so I nodded my acceptance.

A few minutes later, we were sitting in a kitchen with a plate of chocolate chip cookies in front of us, as well as several bottles of root beer. Genius seemed oddly happy as she munched down on the cookies, acting no different than any other little girl. It was a strange thing to consider when I thought about the fact that she'd built all of those machines we'd seen before.

"I baked them myself," Father Time commented on the cookies, looking rather proud when I told them they were good. However, my thoughts were not on the cookies. Not by a long shot.

"Is there someone else?" I silently asked Kelly, thinking that Genius might be smart, but she was just a little girl. She could be wrong.

Kelly was silent for a moment and I had to repeat the question before she answered, "No. If she can't do anything...I don't know anyone who could."

I let out a sigh at that, muttering, "Just great."

Father Time looked at me with a sympathetic expression. "I fear that life is not always easy." He frowned, "But the Lord provides solutions as well as challenges. I am sure that he has his reason's for this...though we understand them not."

I frowned at that, not in any mood to hear a lecture about this being God's will. I'd never really been religious before and wasn't about to start now. Rather ironic I thought since I'd long since read the Bible as well as the Koran and other things.

"I know that this must be difficult for you two," Father Time continued gently, putting one hand on mine. "But you must have faith. If not in God, then in Genius." He glanced at the girl who was still snacking, seemingly oblivious to the conversation, "And in yourselves. In your abilities to deal with this challenge."

Without looking too closely at Father Time, I nodded. His words actually did make me feel a little better, though probably not as much as he'd hoped. My...our problems weren't going to be solved with just a few words.

A minute later, I stood up and said, "I think we'd better be going now." There was no disagreement from Kelly, or any other comments.

Father Time stood up as well and held out his hand for me to shake. As I did so, he said, "It was nice meeting you, though I wish it were under other circumstances. I hope that things work out for you two."

"Thank you," I told him, then turned to Genius.

She hoped to her feet, revealing a bit of chocolate smeared on her face. "Good bye," she told me, adding in a quiet voice, "I'll keep looking..."

I nodded at that, giving her a faint smile before leaving. Kelly was silent throughout the whole thing, barely having said a word to me since Genius had told us the problem. Of course, I knew that if she was the one in control, I'd probably be doing about the same thing.

The flight back to the apartment was a long and silent one, with neither me nor Kelly saying much of anything to each other. She didn't even help me with the directions any more than absolutely necessary, which caused me to get lost more than once.

Eventually though, we returned to the apartment and I let out a sigh, shaking my head in disbelief when clenching my fists in frustration. Without a word, I sat down on Kelly's couch, closing my eyes and trying to get a grip on things.

"I think we need something a little stronger than root beer," Kelly finally said. "There's a bottle in my kitchen..."

A minute later, I'd pulled out the bottle of Jim Beam that was in the cupboard, noticing that it had barely been touched. Without a word, I opened it up and took a long drink from the bottle, wincing as it burned a bit going down. I just drank more of it though, and when I finally put the bottle down, I noticed that it was halfway empty. I was slightly startled at that since I didn't feel the least bit drunk, at least until I remembered what Kelly had told me about her power preventing that. Still, that didn't keep me from sitting down in the living room and slowly finishing off the rest of the bottle.

Some time later, the whole bottle was empty and I felt nothing from it. Of course, I knew that I could have shifted over to Kelly and we could have gotten good and drunk that way, but I didn't. The motions were enough for the moment.

Then the time finally came for bed. I stripped off the spandex costume, which I was oddly starting to get used to. Then I paused as I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror, gulping at the sheer magnificence of the woman I saw. She...I was gorgeous. I quickly tore my eyes from the reflection in embarrassment, knowing that Kelly was watching. That was a bit of a mistake as I looked down and found myself staring at the creamy breasts on my chest instead, which wasn't any better.

"Damn," I thought to myself, being careful neither to say it aloud or to project it Kelly.

I flushed in embarrassment, tearing my eyes away from my perfect looking tits, fighting the urge to continue staring at them. To actually touch them and feel their weight in my hands. It was quite a temptation, though one I couldn't give into with Kelly right there...watching everything. Having absolutely no privacy was extremely frustrating.

After crawling in bed, my thoughts continued to be of how hot my body looked. Of the temptation to explore it more. And with those thoughts, I found myself starting to feel...turned on. My nipples hardened and stuck out like tiny erections, while my crotch felt all warm and gooey. I was really getting wet.

God, my body's responses felt so good...but even more tempting. A temptation that I was too embarrassed to deal with. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists, wanting more than anything to start playing with my nipples and fingering myself. I couldn't help wondering how that would feel, nor feeling almost desperate to find out.

Then to my surprise, Kelly gasped, "Do it."

"What?" I squeaked faintly, not sure I believed what I heard.

"I...I feel everything you do," Kelly gasped out in reminder, sounding somewhat embarrassed. "Go ahead...," her voice was husky with desire.

For a moment, I remained froze, a little surprised at what Kelly had just suggested I do. However, before I'd even consciously realized it, my hands had started to act on the approval. One of them moved to my breasts and started cupping one of them firmly, while the other one went between my legs.

"Oh my," I gasped at how sensitive I felt down there. But it felt...good. Very good.

My fingers were rubbing at my lower lips, making me moan slightly at the sensation. A sensation that I never would have imagined possible before. God, I really was wet, soaking my fingers with my new vaginal fluids. And then, one of my fingers slipped inside, making me gasp.

"Wow," I gasped aloud.

"It gets better," Kelly whispered inside my mind.

I barely paid attention to Kelly though as I was too caught up in the new sensations that were running through my body. My hands continued their work and I even pushed my finger further inside of me, amazed at how strange...but nice it felt to have something inside of me like that. I continued to go at myself, feeling it build more and more inside.

Suddenly it erupted from inside of me and I nearly screamed from the explosive orgasm that shook my entire body. It filled every bit of me with a glorious pleasure, greater than any I'd ever received as a man. A thought quickly ran through my mind, wondering whether this was normal for women, or possibly a side effect of that body's developed powers.

Kelly gasped, "Oooh, that was nice."

"Nice," I agreed in a daze.

Still, I continued to masturbate, losing nearly all inhibitions about doing so in my new body. The fact that Kelly was there was no longer a hindrance, but in a strange way...a turn on. It felt a bit more like having sex with someone rather than just playing with myself. I ended up bringing myself to several more orgasms before I finally let myself drift off to sleep...a huge smile of satisfaction on my lips.

Morning was a rather awkward time between Kelly and myself. Then again, that wasn't too surprising considering what had happened the night before. I couldn't help feeling embarrassed and self conscious, and it was pretty obvious that she felt the same as neither of us really said a word to each other. I supposed it was quite similar to the 'morning after' that you heard so much about.

After eating a late breakfast, I started for the bathroom, blushing again at the thought of having masturbated in her body. Of course, I had enjoyed it immensely, but that wasn't the point. The point was the lack of privacy, the way we both intruded on each other's most private moments, whether we wanted to or not.

Just as I turned the water on in the tub, Kelly's voice hesitantly asked, "T.J.?"

"Yeah?" I responded quietly.

There was a moment of silence before Kelly said, "About last night..."

I grimaced faintly, then gave a faint nod. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "We can pretend that it didn't happen."

"But it did happen," she said with a little more force, though no bitterness or anger in her voice. "And I wanted it to happen to." Kelly let out a sigh, then continued a little more quietly, "We can't continue like we have been."

"I know," I responded just as quietly.

After several seconds of more silence between us, Kelly said, "We're together now, whether we like it or not. And it looks like we're going to be this way for the foreseeable future."

All I could do was nod at that since it was perfectly true. But it was a little strange to finally hear it put into words.

"So we have to get past this discomfort," she blurted out in obvious embarrassment. "This isn't just my body anymore," she told me firmly, sounding almost as if she was telling herself that at the same time, "It's yours. And...and you have ever right to treat it as your body."

I took a deep breath, staring thoughtfully at the bath water as I responded, "What's yours is mine...and what's mine is yours."

With out current situation, that was probably truer than with anyone else alive. I'd certainly never heard of two people who had to share their bodies and lives like we did. And there was no way that we really could be selfish and remain sane. The only way that we could deal with our problem was by doing so together.

"Share and share alike," Kelly chuckled in agreement, "That's what I always say."

"At least until we get separated again," I reminded her with a grin. Still, I wasn't quite as hopeful about that eventuality as I had been, though I wasn't about to give up on it either.

"Right," Kelly agreed, apparently of a similar mindset.

Several seconds later, I climbed into the tub and started my bath. However, it was probably the longest bath of my life as I took my time and slowly examined nearly every inch of my gorgeous new body. I was still a little hesitant to do so, though Kelly had not only just given me her blanket permission, but she urged me on while I was doing it.

"Unbelievable," I whispered to myself as I finished running my hands over nearly every inch of my body. It was so smooth...so firm...so...sexy. And of course, I could still feel the power that resided within my body as well, which was just as unbelievable as the body itself.

"Yeah," Kelly slowly told me, "I did pretty much the same thing after I first got turned into Praxis. It was pretty weird going from short and blah to...to THIS."

"Blah?" I responded as I remembered her picture, "I think you looked pretty cute." Then I suddenly blushed in embarrassment, having said it without really thinking.

Kelly seemed embarrassed too, though she responded with a hesitant, "Really?"

I just nodded, taking a breath before half blurting out, "Yeah."

There was another moment of silence before she gave a weak, "Thank you."

Neither of us said a word as I got out of the tub and slowly dried myself off, taking my sweet time and gently caressing every one of my delectable new curves. God, I couldn't believe how unbelievably hot I now was. It was a whole lot easier to ignore before I'd gotten such a good examination of it. Now that I had, I was having a hard time tearing my eyes away.

With the towel wrapped around my midsection as I'd seen women do, I strolled back to the bedroom, beginning to feel just a little turned on again. The examination of my body and the thoughts which accompanied that were definitely having an effect. An effect similar to the one from the night before.

Once in the bedroom, I turned to face the mirror, then stared intently into it for several seconds before dropping the towel to the floor. I remained motionless as my eyes examined the reflection, trying to absorb every detail...as I admired every curve. Somehow, even though I'd been in that body for several days, it still didn't seem possible for that to really be me.

I carefully sat down on the bed and looked down at myself again, feeling even wetter than before...and I didn't mean from the bath. Feeling curious, I slowly lowered my fingers to my crotch and pulled them away, rubbing the wetness between them. It was definitely a different sensation that my old hard-on, though as I remembered the night before with a slight blush, I knew that it certainly wasn't a bad one either.

Just then, I heard Kelly whisper my name to get my attention. Then to my surprise, she gently added, "Make love to me."

"Kelly?" I gasped faintly, feeling a little confused as not only did I currently lack the equipment for it, but she lacked the entire body.

"Make love to...," she repeated a little more firmly, then corrected herself, "with me." There was a silent 'please' that I could sort of sense on the end.

Then I understood what she meant and licked my lips in response. Several emotions swirled through me at once, including embarrassment, excitement and arousal. And I felt sort of...honored that she wanted me to have sex with her. It made me smile with a delight that surprised me.

"I'd love to," I whispered in response, my hand reaching between my legs.

"No," Kelly responded, then in a sort of purr, she instructed me, "I'm moving my left hand to my breast..."

I smiled at that, then moved my hand as she directed, following her words even more as I started to slowly pinch and play with both of my nipples. Kelly continued to guide my movements as I...we played with ourselves. It was a very strange sort of masturbation because of that, yet oddly enough, extremely erotic.

"Oh yes..." I gasped after several minutes, amazed at how much better it was than the night before.

My whole body tingled with excitement and ached with arousal. It felt incredible...and I...we hadn't even orgasmed yet. This was just the buildup...the foreplay. There was no doubt that Kelly really knew that body and how best to work it. That thought just made me suddenly realize why it was so much better than my fingering myself the night before.

"Us," I whispered in realization.

The night before had been just me masturbating. But this...this wasn't me. This was US. It was both of us giving pleasure to ourselves and each other...together. No, it wasn't just masturbation, not anymore. This was something far more. It was as close as we could possibly get to actually making real love to each other considering our current situation.

Of course, I rather would have been making love to that body than in it, but I sure couldn't complain about the feelings. I would have loved to have sex...to make love to Kelly in that body. Perhaps once we separated. Then there was a quick thought that flashed through my mind, a realization that it wasn't just Kelly's body that I admired. It was her. I would have been quite pleased to make love to the real her as well.

However, I didn't have time to think about those things though as we finally came. The orgasm was incredible, made even better from the buildup that Kelly had ensured. It was no wonder that women loved foreplay.

"Oh God," I gasped in delight.

Kelly just laughed, "I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did."

"I'm sure I did," I responded honestly, savoring the afterglow.

"But it's not over yet," she told me mischieviously.

I raised my eyebrow at that, "Oh?"

"Check the bottom drawer of my night stand," Kelly instructed.

After I'd done as she asked, I was slightly startled, though not too much so to find myself staring at several...toys. Or at least there were several dildos of difference sizes and a vibrator.

"Oh no," I protested as soon as I saw them, "You're not getting me to..."

"Trust me," Kelly insisted, sounding slightly embarrassed, "you'll enjoy it..." Apparently, she might have the toys, but she wasn't used to showing them to other people. I certainly didn't blame her since you couldn't get too much more private. Then again, our situation already was.

I wasn't really sure how, but Kelly did manage to talk me into using her little toys. Perhaps it was because I was already in such a good mood, though I'm sure my curiosity played a part as well, whether I wanted to admit it or not. What I did know though was that even though they were extremely strange, making highly uncomfortable at first, I had to admit that they made me feel very good. Kelly truly did know how to get the best response from that body, much to my delight.

When I...we were finally through, I'd lost count of how many times I'd come. It was unbelievable and all I wanted to do was lean back with a dazed smile on my face, enjoying the sensations that continued to fill my body. Neither Kelly or I said much...nor did we really need to. Our shared body said everything that needed saying.

Then as I lay there, on an impulse I lit a cigarette and started smoking. After all, that was the stereotype of what you were supposed to do after sex. But more than that, it wasn't that I really wanted a cigarette since I wasn't a smoker, but that I wanted to give Kelly a treat since she enjoyed it. And for the first time, I began to get an idea why. Since I wasn't a smoker...it made me feel sort of naughty. Like I was doing something that I really wasn't supposed to. I had to admit that it was a strange sort of thrill that went rather well with what we'd just done. Still, I had absolutely no intention of making it any sort of regular habit.

A short while later, I finally got off the bed and once again stood facing the mirror. I smiled at the woman who was reflected back, and without a word, 'flipped' the mental switch to change back to my real form. Kelly seemed slightly startled at that, though I thought it was only fair.

Kelly didn't say a word, though she did smile back in the mirror, a faint look of gratitude on her...my face. This time with Kelly in control, I once again found myself going through the motions of inspecting my body, though it was also a body I was more than a little familiar with. Afterwards though, we didn't repeat the masturbation part. At least not this time.

During the next several days, Kelly and I continued to explore our new bodies, growing a little more comfortable at being in them, and in the fact that we were sharing them. Of course, we both wanted to get separated and back to normal, but we also had to face facts and deal with our current situation...even try to make the best of it.

Kelly and I spent quite a bit of time talking about ourselves, telling each other things that we'd never really told anyone before. It was amazing how easily it had become to open up to her. And she felt the same, even telling me the full story of how she became Praxis. Afterwards, I could really understand her hesitancy about scientists.

At the same time, Kelly had talked me into going out several times and stopping some criminals and saving lives. It hadn't taken too much talking though as I knew that I couldn't live with myself if I'd just sat by while others died when I could have done something. Of course, it also made me feel useful since I couldn't go out in public anymore unless it was as Praxis, and it made Kelly happy. Still, I knew that I was no hero and felt like a fraud when I did go out.

We had also talked a bit about our living conditions. Specifically, about my place which was currently unoccupied but filled with all of my things. There was little question that things would be a bit less complicated if we moved in together that way as well since we were bound together anyway. And of course, it would save a bit on rent. However, there was still the problem that all of my stuff wouldn't fit into Kelly's apartment, but we'd still need a place that had a quiet back way out for our excursions as Praxis. That was a problem though that we would continue to think about.

At the moment, Kelly and I were sitting in front of her computer as she typed away, doing some research on several new developed criminals. It amazed me just how many of them there seemed to be. I couldn't help wondering if that Mount Prometheus prison was big enough to hold all of them. Somehow, I rather doubted it.

While Kelly worked, I just silently watched. Oddly enough though, I didn't really feel that frustrated or helpless being unable to control anything. Perhaps it was because I had started to get used to it. Perhaps it was because I knew that she would give me control again whenever I needed or even really wanted out. Though most of all, I thought that it was just a measure of how much we had both come to understand and trust one another.

"I just thought of something," Kelly announced out of nowhere.

"What's that?" I asked.

She turned away from the computer for a moment and said, "Our jobs." She paused for a just a moment before saying, "I shouldn't have much problem since I can still work on my software from home like I always do. And it shouldn't be difficult to arrange things so that I don't have to make any face to face meetings."

"That could be awkward," I admitted thoughtfully, imagining how anyone she'd worked with before would react to seeing my body walk into some office instead of the girl they'd expect from Kelly.

"No duh," she laughed in amusement. "But what about your job?"

This was the first time that I'd really given it any consideration since the accident had happened. After all, I did have a lot on my mind. However, it did make me think of something else. Since I hadn't evacuated with everyone else, they might even believe that I'd died.

"I don't think that we have the time for me to go do your job," Kelly said, "as well as my programming and whatever else." By 'whatever else', I knew that she meant the whole Praxis thing.

"Forget about my job," I told her.

Kelly seemed a little surprised at that, "I don't want to get you fired..."

"Then quit," I chuckled. I quickly added, "It's just a job and I can always find another one whenever we get separated." Of course, I didn't say that I'd been getting a bit bored of being a security guard and watching monitor screens. I'd been thinking about moving on anyway.

"Well...OK," Kelly responded, still seeming a little hesitant.

"But there is one thing," I thought aloud. "You'll need to call in to my work and let them know that I quit. And...," I added with a mental frown, "that I'm still alive." I paused for a moment before telling Kelly, "They might think that I'd been killed in the accident and this will let them know that I'm still alive. Maybe tell them that I evacuated out the side and was just too shaken up to come back to work there. That should take care of things."

Kelly nodded thoughtfully, "Sounds good to me."

After this, Kelly turned back to her work on the computer while I became lost in thoughts once again. My mind shifted back to the amazement I felt at being fused to someone else, for who knew how long. And though I still longed to get separated and free again, I couldn't help but thinking that there was no one I'd rather be in that condition with than Kelly.

Kelly and I were sitting back and watching TV, with her in the drivers seat at the moment. And though I'd gotten to the point where that normally didn't bother me much, the current situation was a bit different. I was filled with annoyance as she clutched the remote for the TV, making me watch the damn soap opera she'd put on. I hated soaps.

"Come on," I groaned, though Kelly called it 'whining', "Change it to Jerry Springer. I think they're doing a show on people with stupid developed powers." I wasn't a big fan of the show, but it would be a hell of a lot better than what Kelly had put on. However, I was beginning to suspect that Kelly had put it on for no other reason than to mess with me.

"Oh yeah," Kelly responded, "I think I saw that one before. There's some redneck guy with the power to make himself grow breasts and a woman who can change channels on her TV without a remote."

"I can do that too," I chuckled. "Just walk over and push the button."

"Oh," Kelly taunted with a giggle, "I'd like to see you try it."

"Ha ha," I responded, "Very funny."

She laughed, "I thought so."

Then after several more seconds, Kelly abruptly announced, "I feel like some fresh air..."

Almost the instant that she said this, I felt the mental switch being thrown and control returning to me. I sat up, once again in the Praxis form and still holding the remote in my hands. I couldn't help smiling faintly as I stood up.

"I think that's a good idea," I told Kelly, absently toying with the idea of finding some show that I knew really annoyed her and watching for awhile. However, I certainly could have used the fresh air.

Just a minute later, I was out of the apartment and flying high into the sky. I smiled at the wind rushing past me and the shear thrill of flight. It gave me such a feeling of freedom, which was a welcome relief after spending some hours unable to even move.

It was still hard to believe that it hadn't even been two full weeks since the accident. Not even two weeks since my whole life had suddenly been turned upside down. In a way, it seemed like it had been a lot longer than that. As though I had known Kelly for some time more.

After thinking about it, I realized that the day of the accident had been both the worst...and best day of my life. The accident had shaken up my entire life, leaving me trapped in an alien body and a helpless passenger within my own. Yet at the same time, if it hadn't been for that happening, I never would have met Kelly.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kelly asked in my mind.

I was silent for a moment, blushing slightly at what I'd been thinking and wondering what to say. Finally, I gulped, then responded, "I was just thinking about how lucky I was to meet you."

Kelly was silent for a moment and I felt the uncomfortable, wishing that I hadn't said what I did. Then she responded, "I really like you too." I could feel the emotion at that, and not just in her voice. It was somewhat surprising.

Feeling a little uncertain about that line of conversation, I changed the topic with, "I wonder if that Genius girl found out anything..."

"I doubt it," Kelly sighed, going along with my change of topic, "But we can fly there and ask..."

"Sounds good to me," I agreed with an unnecessary nod.

Just then, I noticed something odd from the corner of my eye and stopped, hovering in the air as I turned to look. There was dark patch of sky some distance away, a swirling of black clouds that didn't look anything like the surrounding area. Somehow, I had a bad feeling that this wasn't an odd weather pattern.

"That doesn't look good," Kelly told me firmly, her voice going hard and changing tone slightly. She was projecting some of her Praxis persona, an indication of how serious she thought this might be.

"Really?" I muttered sarcastically, thinking that it might be a good idea to fly the other direction.

However, Kelly quickly said, "Let's go check it out."

I hesitated only for a moment before letting out a sigh. Kelly was obviously pretty intent on this so I started flying towards the mass of dark cloud, hoping that my feeling was wrong. We were supposed to just be out for fresh air, and maybe talk to Genius. Getting involved in something that could become messy was the last thing that I wanted or needed at the moment. Maybe it was nothing...

Once I was a bit closer to the cloud, I could see that it was maybe 200 yards wide at the most, though it was sort of swirling around slowly, making it seem all the more eerie and unnatural. Especially with the faint reddish glow that seemed to come from the center of the dark clouds...the eye of the storm as it was.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," I muttered.

"Me too," Kelly agreed, her voice firm and professional.

Then I tore my eyes from the storm and looked below, seeing that there was a huge church directly beneath the eye of the storm. A fairly impressive and old looking one at that.

Suddenly Kelly cried out, "Look...!"

It was then that I noticed the figure which was floating above the church, just off to the side a bit. To my surprise, it was a woman who was standing on some sort of silver metal disk just a little bigger than a garbage can lid...but a lot thinner looking. And there seemed to be absolutely nothing holding the disk up there.

The floating woman had raven black hair and was wearing some sort of costume that was a bit looser than spandex, seeming to be a little bit like leather armor in spots as well. Her clothes were mostly black, though with a decent amount of red mixed in as well. I could even make out a few very faint touches of silver, all in small buckles and claps.

"Oh shit!" Kelly gasped inside my mind, losing that professionalism for a moment as she spat out, "Blaspheme!"

"What?" I blinked in confusion, wondering what the hell Kelly was talking about. I knew that we were above a church, but I hadn't thought that she was the religious sort.

"Her name is Blaspheme," Kelly told me, regaining her composure and sounding a bit grim. "She used to be a nun, but then one day she mysteriously disappeared. She suddenly appeared again about six months later...with a whole lot of power and calling herself Blaspheme." Kelly paused for a moment before adding, "And for some reason, she absolutely hates anything to do with religion...especially the Catholic church."

"Then," I said slowly, still watching Blaspheme as she stood there nearly motionless, "she's one of the bad guys...er...girls?"

"Definitely," Kelly spat back emphatically. "She hasn't been around long, but she's fought the Protectorate twice and I've fought her once as well. I managed to stop her from destroying the Vatican...with the help of the Iron Saint."

I frowned, "Then she's probably not her for confession..."

"No," Kelly responded coldly, "I don't think she is."

With that, I flew down closer and called out, "Blaspheme!"

The woman in question turned to face me, sneering, "Praxis." She didn't sound too surprised. "Leave before I am forced do destroy you along with these disciples of folly."

I felt a chill go down my spine at that, and it wasn't because of her threatening me. There was something in the tone of her voice... Something...wrong.

Blaspheme glared down below at the church, then at me, announcing, "All such places of infection must be destroyed. The carriers.. eliminated." There was a cold harshness in her eyes as well as her voice.

"You're here to kill the priests," I gasped in realization.

However, Blaspheme just laughed in cruel amusement, "Not me..," she pointed towards the ground, "Them."

My eyes were quickly drawn to where she pointed, causing me to gasp as I noticed that there were three people heading straight for front gate of the church. And from the looks of them, there was no doubt that they weren't there to pray.

"One of them has a hostage," Kelly snapped in my head, making me realize that she was right.

It only took me an instant to realize that Blaspheme was just standing there and watching while those three below were the immediate threat. I was already on my way to the ground, landing just in front of them and getting a closer look.

One of the three was a woman who's body seemed to be made of a glowing bluish white energy. She sparked some, giving the impression that she might even be made of electricity. And she was hovering in the air, a cruel look on her face.

The second was a male figure who stood close to 8 feet tall and appeared to be made out of some sort of black stonelike material. He looked pretty nasty and his eyes glowed a sinister red. His right hand was wrapped around the neck of some man that he had just grabbed off of the street while everyone was running away.

Finally, the last of the three was a black woman in a green and black costume, who's eyes were glowing green. Her hands were clenched into fists, both of them glowing green as well.

"We've got to take them down," Kelly stated firmly, "Hard."

I shook my head faintly, almost imperceptibly. "We've got to get the hostage away first."

There was only a moment's pause before Kelly admitted, "You're right." She furiously spat, "I wish I could get at them..."

However, I didn't have time to talk with Kelly and demanded, "Let that man go!"

"Him?" the large stone man asked with a sneer. Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound of a neck breaking, just before the dead hostage dropped to the ground. "Like that?"

I was shocked at that, but Kelly snarled, "MOVE!"

There was no further hesitation as I took back to the air, having realized that not only was Kelly right, but that those bastards were already charging me. As soon as I was in the air though, they were all left behind...or at least I'd thought they were. A moment later, I noticed that the electric woman was flying after me.

A blast of electricity shot right past my shoulder, with me barely missing it. Suddenly a chunk of concrete flew straight at me as well, thrown by the huge man. That was easy to evade though as all I had to do was turn intangible. I just wasn't sure that intangibility would work against those electric blasts and wasn't eager to find out.

I flew around, avoiding the electric woman's attacks for nearly a minute before Kelly said, "The other ones..."

"What about...?" I started, then glanced back and was horrified to see the stone man literally tearing a hole through the church and making his way inside.

The black woman was going in as well, though she turned as a priest made a break from one of the smaller doors and started running for it. She gestured at him and a flash of green light shot out of her hands and hit the running clergyman. An instant later, his body crumbled into dust and she turned her attention to the building, using her power to disintegrate a large section of the wall. What she'd done that for, I had no idea since they already had a way inside.

"They want to ruin the church," Kelly told me, answering my unspoken question. "To destroy it completely."

"We can't let them..." I started, then froze as a burst of lighting shot right through my body, causing me to drop to the ground in agony.

"Ooooh," the electric woman laughed from over my head, "You can be hurt. And that was only a nick..."

"A direct hit," Kelly grunted, "Could kill us."

Or at the very least, leave us open for the others to finish us off. We couldn't afford to be hit again, nor could we afford to let these bastards succeed.

Just then, I noticed the stone man and the black woman going for the screaming people inside of the church, and not just clergy. There were a number of worshippers inside as well, and I had no doubt that these bastards would be just as willing to kill them as well.

"No," I whispered, putting a whole lot more emotion into that word than volume. I wasn't...couldn't let them murder those people...

Without another word, I shot straight into the sky, missing another blast from the electric woman. I was just about charge at her for a punch, but Kelly seemed to read what I was planning and exclaimed, "Don't touch her. We'd be electrocuted..."

I didn't doubt that Kelly knew what she was talking about. After all, she had more experienced with these developed types than I did, as well as had some research on those kinds of powers. And with the way the woman was glowing and sparking with electricity, touching her probably wouldn't be a good idea.

"Damn," I growled, my mind racing for a strategy.

"Watch out for the disintegrator," Kelly warned me. "We don't know her range. We might be out of it...but don't take any chances."

I grimaced in determination, my mind racing for ideas. Kelly suggested that we just charge in with everything blazing, even encouraging it, which seemed odd considering that she'd just warned me about both the electric woman and the disintegrator. However, she had made me pause to think...which might work out to our benefit.

Suddenly, I had an idea and let loose, firing my own energy blast...straight at the black woman...the disintegrator. The blast hit the ground beneath her, causing her to fall to the ground in a scream...part of her lower legs now missing, much to my surprise. However, I didn't particularly care...and apparently, neither did her companions.

With another idea beginning to form, I quickly landed back on the street, grinning faintly when I saw that the stone creature was leaving the church and the victims inside to come after me. A glance revealed that the injured black woman was glowing all green...just before she disintegrated herself. However, my attention was more on the approaching monster, and the electric woman who was charging down at me again.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kelly screamed in my head.

I didn't respond, knowing that I didn't have the energy to waste on too many blasts with both of those villains to deal with, as well as Blaspheme. Hell, I wasn't even sure that an energy attack would work on the electric woman and the big guy looked pretty tough. Instead, I had something else in mind.

"Trust me," I told Kelly.

As soon as the electric woman had flown to where I wanted, I grinned and let loose with another...much smaller blast than before. However, I wasn't aiming at the electric woman...but the fire hydrant a short distance behind her. It suddenly exploded with a torrent of water which sprayed out at the electric woman, just as I took to the air. As the water hit her, the woman screamed...sparks flying all over the place.

"What the hell?" Kelly gasped .

I just watched for a moment as the water not only hit the electric woman, but the stone man as well. Sparks had flown everywhere and a moment later, there was no sign of the electric woman at all, while the stone man was on his knees...looking dazed.

"Electricity and water don't mix," I told Kelly with a faint smirk. Who would have thought that my experience with electronics would come in useful for fighting super villains.

"You grounded her," Kelly exclaimed in surprise, quickly adding, "And the big guy got a nice zap from it."

"But not big enough," I commented grimly as I noticed him getting to his feet and seeming to shake off the electrocution attempt. Whether he was that tough or too much of her electricity had gone to ground, I didn't know.

With a grimace, I landed back on the ground and muttered, "Two down..."

"And two to go," Kelly finished.

The stone man growled, "You will die for that bitch." He started coming at me, snarling, "I'm going to crush your spine..."

"You're welcome to try," I announced with more confidence than I felt.

When he charged straight at me, I made no move to fly out of the way or jump to the side. Kelly cried out, "Don't just stand there..." However, that didn't made me move, even as his massive fist came flying straight for my face.

"Trust me," I told Kelly, turning intangible and stepping forward, going right through the huge monster that had just tried to punch me. And without a word, I jumped up, swinging my arm backwards to catch him in the back of his head, sending him flying forward. "Gotcha," I laughed.

Kelly gasped, "Wow," sounding impressed as well as surprised.

The stone man had howled in pain as he fell onto his face, though he quickly got back to his knees, holding his hands to the back of his head and cursing furiously. I'd hurt him. That might not have been enough to take him down, but it told me that he wasn't really invulnerable. Tough as hell, yes...but not completely invulnerable.

"Damn," she growled in my head, "He's getting back up."

I nodded and braced myself, suspecting that he wasn't going to fall for the same trick again. That was all right though as I had several other tricks in my book that I hoped would work. With that, I stood there, bracing myself for his next attack as it was obvious that he wanted to charge me again.

"Come and get it big guy," I dared him.

He came towards me slower than before, more cautiously. "You got lucky woman," he snarled, "but it ain't gonna happen again."

"We'll see," I smiled sweetly, gesturing for him to come get me.

With a loud roar, he suddenly swung his arm at me, moving faster than I would have expected. He actually caught me too, or at least grazed me. It was enough to send me flying backwards with what felt like a broken jaw. I was just thankful that I'd managed to avoid most of the force from his attack.

Though I had the ground hard, I quickly scrambled back to my feet. One of my hands was reaching for my jaw, though I saw him charging at me again and knew that I wouldn't have time to baby my injuries. If he hit me like that again and actually connected... Well, he could take my head off.

"You hit like a girl," I taunted him, thinking that it might have sounded better of my jaw wasn't hurting like hell and making me slur the words a little. The irony of the statement didn't hit me until later.

I took to the air to avoid this attack, or at least tried to. He grabbed my cape and used it to slam me back to the ground. The impact was jarring, even a little painful, though I avoided most of the potential damage by rolling.

As I rolled back to my feet, I braced myself, grimacing in determination to take this bastard down. I'd underestimated how fast he was and was paying the price for it. Well, that wasn't going to happen again. I'd dealt with people who were bigger, stronger and meaner than me before, and knew how to deal with them.

"Now I get to break you, little girl," he growled as he came straight at me again.

This time, I stood my ground until he threw his punch. But instead of turning intangible or trying to get out of the way, I blocked his punch. Or more accurately, I grabbed at his wrist and twisted, using his own arm and momentum to send him flying face first into the ground. And with all of the strength of my Praxis body, I twisted his wrist again, just as I pulled on his arm. I was rewarded with a loud cracking from his wrist breaking, then a pop as I dislocated his shoulder.

The stone man howled in pain, even as he tried to get back to his feet. However, I was in no mood to be sympathetic to his pain, taking advantage of his position to send my foot straight into his face and causing him to go flying back up.

"Holy shit!" Kelly exclaimed inside my head.

Even though the stone man was injured, he quickly returned to his feet. He was trying to raise his injured arm to fight with, but without too much success. His other arm however was ready, and from the furious look on his face...even with the obviously broken nose, he was ready to kill me. Or at least to give everything he had to try.

Instead of waiting for him again, this time I charged forward. When the stone man tried swinging at me, I used my arm to block the impact, while pushing myself down and forward, throwing my fist into his solar plexus with superhuman power. He staggered backwards, bent over in pain. I followed up with another punch to his throat...then with a little help from my flying power...another kick to the face. Within seconds, the fight was over and he was laying motionless on the ground.

"Damn," I grimaced in pain, grabbing at my store jaw now that I could afford to do so.

"How the hell did you do that?" Kelly gasped in amazement, "The way you took him down..."

I blinked, still rubbing at my jaw, "I used to take martial arts..."

It had been a long time since I'd taken Aikido or been involved in kickboxing. Neither interest had lasted more than a year, with kickboxing being less than half of that. Still, what little I remembered had certainly come in handy against that guy.

"Don't forget Blaspheme," Kelly reminded me grimly.

I nodded at that. She was the real threat if what Kelly said was true. And I had little doubt that it was.

After giving another kick to the now unconscious stone man, I flew back into the air, heading towards Blaspheme. She was still hovering in the air, scowling down at me and everything else. And she looked pissed as hell.

"You stopped my followers initiation," Blaspheme hissed, "And after I invested so much power in them..."

"If you have that kind of luck in your investments," I responded coldly, fighting back the urge to just charge straight at her, "then you should really stay away from the stock market."

"I'll take that under consideration," she growled back, her hands both beginning to glow red, along with her eyes.

"Careful," Kelly warned me, "She's a sorceress or something of the sort. You never know what tricks she's capable of."

Without a word, Blaspheme held out her hands shot out red fireballs. However, she wasn't aiming at me like I'd expected...but at the church. There were several explosions...as well as holes in the roof. Blaspheme held out her hands and stared to fire more.

"There are people inside," I gasped in horror, wondering how anybody could so casually do something like that. Then I decided to see how she liked it, throwing an energy blast of my own straight at her.

Blaspheme sneered as she snapped out her hands, blocking my attack with a glowing green disk of energy. However, I couldn't help noticing that the disk flickered slightly, even as it stopped my blasts. Nor did I miss the look in her eye...a faint look of strain, though I could have been imagining it. Still, I didn't really think that I was.

I took a deep breath, trying to quickly determine my next move when she suddenly took her turn at me, throwing tangled mess of glowing blue wire at me. A single glance was enough to reveal that it seemed to be some sort of barbed wire and that it was supposed to tangle me up, but I easily turned intangible and grinned as it passed right through me.

"The next one won't be so easily avoided," Kelly told me. "She has ways of getting me...us when we're intangible. And she knows that we can't stay that way long too..."

I grunted in response to Kelly's comments, dodging to the side and avoiding a fireball which had been thrown at me. At the moment, I didn't have the energy or concentration to spare for any real conversation, especially after the beating I'd taken fighting those other three...her followers, or whatever it was that she'd called them.

After another fireball attack, I scowled, deciding that I'd had more than enough of playing target...even if she did have that force field thingee. And with that, I charged straight at Blaspheme, who seemed slightly surprised by that move, though she did manage to throw up another force field right between my fist and her face. Still, after several punches, her glowing shield looked as if it was coming close to failing and I could see the strain in her face getting worse.

"She's been stretching herself too thin," I quickly thought to Kelly, "And she's getting tired."

"Then keep hitting her," Kelly snapped back unnecessarily.

Blaspheme's shield was beginning to fail and it was all that she could do at the moment just to defend herself. She couldn't even return the attack, for which I was thankful. However, I knew that I couldn't keep up my assault for long either, not as tired as I was. Those blasts had taken a bit more energy out of me than I'd wanted to spare, but still, I tried to focus enough spare energy together for one final blast.

Suddenly, Blaspheme spat, "Enough of this!"

She glared at me with a look of anger in her eyes, then without another word, the disk she was riding on started to rise higher into the air, with her on it. Before I was able to realize exactly what she was up to, she'd shot up into the glowing red center of the clouds...vanishing out of sight.

"What the hell?" I demanded, though there was no answer forthcoming.

A moment later, the swirling dark cloud started to pull inward towards the glowing center, reminding me almost of a toilet bowl that had just been flushed. Within mere seconds, all that was left was a red glowing ball with a dark aura...just before that too imploded and was gone.

"Where'd she go?" I gasped in surprise, quickly looking around for any sign of Blaspheme.

"She's gone," Kelly responded quietly, "We won."

I blinked at that in surprise as well as relief. It seemed hard to believe that it was over all ready, especially with Blaspheme just disappearing. Then, as it began to sink it, a smile began to form.

However, Kelly added, "But she'll come back. Her kind always does."

"Just great," I grumbled, wishing that Kelly hadn't gone and taken away my satisfaction so quickly.

Then with a sigh, I settled down on top of a building to rest for a minute, glancing down at the church, seeing that most of the people had already escaped from it while I was busy dealing with Blaspheme. And fortunately, most of the people hadn't been badly hurt at all. But unfortunately...not all had escaped unharmed...or even alive.

"We did our best," Kelly told me gently, "and we saved a lot of lives. Don't dwell on what we couldn't do."

There was a tone in her voice that told me that she'd been there herself. All I could do was nod, wondering how she'd dealt with it. I understood what she meant intellectually, but knowing it in my heart was another matter. Somehow, I didn't think that I'd ever look at that hero business the same way again.

As I stood there, I looked up into the now relatively clear sky, seeing no sign of the swirling dark cloud that had been overhead such a short distance before. That at least was a relief.

Then I frowned thoughtfully as I thought of Blaspheme, wondering what could have turned her into such a monster. What could have made her hate religion so bad? I didn't even really know if she was some sort of Satanist...or some sort of fanatical, extremist atheist. Somehow, I wasn't even sure that she knew those answers herself.

"You did good," Kelly said, interrupting my thoughts, "Real good." There was a pause before she added emotionally, "I'm really proud of you."

I smiled faintly at that, feeling rather honored by her words. "Thank you," I answered honestly, "That means a lot to me."

We were both silent for a minute as we stood there, staring out into the distance, both lost in thought. Finally, Kelly asked, "T.J.?" Her voice sounded hesitant.

"Yes?" I responded quietly.

Kelly was silent for another few seconds before she finally quietly announced, "I was really worried about you back there." She sounded rather nervous.

All I could think to say was, "oh..." She had been in exactly the same danger that I was, and a lot less able to do anything about it. If she was worried about me...

Then Kelly blurted out, "I don't want to lose you." Her voice was filled with emotion, and I could feel it more directly as well. It was enough to choke me up, especially with her next words, "I've never quite felt this way about anyone..."

"Me neither," I whispered, nearly surprising myself at the same time.

With that, I wrapped my arms around myself to give myself...and Kelly a hug. It was about the closest that we could come to the real thing, though I projected a mental hug at the same time. We remained like that for several minutes before finally deciding that it was time to clear out and discuss things in a more private setting.

It was early evening, and I was leaning back in my chair relaxing, wearing nothing except for a soft silk robe. This was a luxury about being a woman that I had come to enjoy, along with a few other ones, such as a long bubble bath. Kelly seemed to take great delight in getting me to pamper myself in one way or another, not surprising since she received the same benefits that I did.

We had just finished a nice dinner and I had settled down to work on a model mustang that I'd been putting together recently. It was certainly a nice change of pace after the hectic day that I'd had fighting some weird monster made out of slime. However, my thoughts quickly passed over the incident with the creature and went to the earlier visit with Genius instead.

I remember being pretty pleased when Genius had told us that she'd made some progress in finding a way to get us separated, even feeling hopeful. I'd finally be able to hold Kelly in my own arms...to kiss her with my own lips. I could scarcely wait.

However, that hope was stifled when she continued, letting us know that there was still a lot of work to be done. Any attempt to separate us would be highly risky and with two many possible side effects and results. There was even a good chance that one of us could die in the attempt, which was not acceptable to either Kelly or myself. Neither of us wanted to put the other through that kind of risk.

As a result, our visit to Genius had been rather useless. Kelly and I were still fused with no immediate end in sight. Nothing had really changed. Not that either of us had really expected anything to either.

It had been two months since the Kelly and I had first met. Since the incident that had caused a poor security guard's life to get crossed with that of the super heroine Praxis. In some ways, it really didn't seem that long at all, while in others, it seemed much, much longer.

Life had continued, with Kelly and I making the best of our situation. She provided the finances in the form of her freelance software work, while I continued doing her work as Praxis. I had even gotten pretty good at it, though of course I wasn't a real super hero. Just a fill in until we could get separated.

And of course, Kelly and I had moved into a new, larger apartment together. One with an even more secure back way out than the one she'd lived in before. It certainly made coming and going a bit easier since we didn't have to worry about whether or not some homeless guy might be hiding out in the alley when we were coming or going.

That very night was the two month anniversary of our...meeting. It was still rather hard to believe. We'd even celebrated it...our meeting, not the accident, with a nice candle light dinner that I had prepared. However, I had to admit that my going to work on the model afterwards wasn't really all that romantic, but at least I didn't put on a ball game... Kelly didn't seem to mind, though she was being a little quiet.

"Are you all right?" I asked Kelly, realizing that she had seemed a little...off for most of the evening.

"I'm fine," Kelly responded, sending me a warm mental hug.

However, I wasn't convinced, "Are you sure?"

Kelly was silent for a moment, then in a nervous voice, she asked, "Can you let me out?" That was what we'd taken to calling it when we flipped the mental switch and changed places.

"OK," I answered, already doing as she asked.

A moment later, my whole body underwent the familiar transformation back to my real form, while I was slipped back into the passenger seat. Giving up control was no longer much of an issue for me, though it was a little uncomfortable to suddenly loose the strength, power and vitality of my Praxis body. That was rather ironic since I was only returning to my own comfortable body.

Kelly stood up in our shared body and said, "Thank you." I could feel the nervousness coming from her, and not just in her voice.

Then she moved across the room and stopped in front of the full length mirror, standing there silently for nearly a minute, an odd expression on my old face. I could feel our shared heart racing, making me even more concerned about Kelly.

"Kelly...," I started quietly.

With that, Kelly dropped down to one knee and stared straight into our reflection in the mirror. There was expectancy and nervousness in her expression as she started, "I know that it's supposed to be the guy who asks..." She gulped, "But...I mean with our situation..."

"What...?" I started to ask in confusion.

Then Kelly blurted out, "Will you marry me?" Her eyes were looking straight into the mirror so that I could look straight into them. They were filled with love, nervousness and even a fear of rejection.

I just gulped weakly, a bit surprised at what Kelly had just done. I was suddenly filled with a burst of emotions, nearly being overwhelmed by them. Somehow, I wasn't sure what to think...what to say, or even what to feel. However, as stunned as I was by hearing that question, I felt even more thrilled since it was the very same question that I'd been intending to eventually ask her.

The words, "I'd love nothing more," escaped from my lips before I'd even realized that I'd opened them. Or at least my mental lips. Every bit of my heart was behind those words though and I didn't think that I'd ever spoken anything truer.

Kelly's eyes filled with tears of delight in the mirror and she started to grin excitedly, "Really?"

"Really," I responded gently, projecting every bit of my love for her as I said it. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you..."

The wedding was held just a month later, though it was a very small and personal affair. Neither Kelly or I had invited our family or friends, still not having revealed our current condition to them and not being willing to explain it then either. In the end, the only ones present were Genius, who acted as maid of honor, and Father Time, who performed the ceremony. And a wonderful ceremony it was, though Kelly and I flipped back and forth a number of times during it.

It might have been a fairly short engagement, but it seemed like far too long of one to both Kelly and myself. As ironic as it might seem, we were eager for the commitment and the promise to spend our lives together. One way or another...whether we were ever seperated or not...Kelly and I would remain together for the rest of our lives. And neither of us would have it any other way.

Author's Note: This is the fifth story in my Legacy Universe, though like the others is a stand alone. For those who aren't aware of it, this is the same universe that had The Miracle Legacy, A Change of Heart, Hardshell and The Praxis Crossing.

The rain was beating hard against my windshield, making it even harder to see through the dark outside. It wasn't the greatest driving weather, made worse by my being a bit tired. But I'd been through much worse. And I still had a good ways to go before I could pull my truck over and get a bit of sleep, at least if I wanted to make my delivery on time.

My name is Cole Shannon, and I was 6 foot 1, 270 pounds of lean...or not so lean, mean trucker. I was 36 years old with a slightly thick build, shaggy brown hair and a beard that I was somewhat proud of. Overall, I figured that I looked every inch the trucker that I was, including my old baseball cap and flannel shirt.

"C'mon," I muttered, glancing out the side window at the empty stretch of country around me. There probably weren't any people for a long ways...but then I saw a faint light a ways ahead, realizing that I just might be wrong. It was probably a farm house or someone who just wanted a bit of privacy.

Letting out a yawn, I plugged a tape into my radio and giving a faint grunt as a calm voice started to play. It wasn't the music that someone might expect from someone in my occupation, but more of an educational tape on American history. I figured that if I was going to spend countless hours behind the wheel, it wouldn't hurt to learn a thing or two while I was at it. Of course, I still had a nice collection of music tapes in a box under my seat as well.

Suddenly, there was something in the road immediately in front of me. I didn't have any time to react, barely even having any to halfway register that it was a large deer...an instant before it collided with my truck, flying down my hood and smashing into my windshield. It all happened so fast that before I even knew it, I lost control of my truck and slammed through the barrier and over the embankment.

The only thing that I had time for...that I could even think was, "OH SHIT!" An instant later, the whole world twisted around before exploding into pain...then finally...darkness.

I had no idea how long I was out, or even that I was out until I came to and found myself staring at a wall and feeling completely confused. Memories of the crash immediately rushed in, though the clearest thing that I remembered was the pain. I remembered that it had hurt worst than that time I'd been roughed up pretty bad in Chicago and put into the hospital. But the odd thing was, at the moment I didn't feel a thing. Not a single thing.

Feeling rather apprehensive, I tried to turn my head to look around, but it wouldn't move. I couldn't budge my arms either. Hell, I couldn't even feel them. That really began to worry me. Either I was on some really strong drugs...or... I didn't want to think about the 'or'.

Then another thought suddenly ran through my mind. It was the realization that I was upright, facing a wall on the other side of a large room. And from what little I could see of the room, not being able to turn my head and all, it didn't exactly look like a hospital.

Suddenly, a man stepped right in front of me, staring me straight in the face with a concerned look. He looked to be in his late fifties or so, with light gray hair and a goatee...not to mention a pair of glasses on his face. Another man moved beside him, looking at me almost emotionlessly. This man looked to be in his forties, with dark hair and a small scar on his forehead.

"Are you awake?" the older man asked, sounding both worried and hopeful at the same time.

I tried to respond, but was unable to move my mouth. It was as paralyzed as everything else. The younger man scowled at the older, then stepped off to the side and out of my vision. A moment later, I felt something. I could move my head slightly, but that seemed to be all.

"Aw...," the man in front of me announced, "You are awake."

"Yes," I responded, surprised that my voice felt strong and clear, though it seemed to sound wrong to my ears. Probably whatever medication they had me on.

"Do you remember what happened to you?" he asked, looking a little more hopeful.

"Yeah," I answered him quietly, giving a mental wince at the thought and trying to prepare myself for the worst. "A crash...I hit a deer..." I was surprised again at how clear the words were, even if they sounded odd. I'd imagined that they would probably have been a bit slurred.

The man nodded at that, looking faintly satisfied. The other man came into view again and commented, "The memory appears intact."

"Let's test that," the older one commented, giving me a steady look.

"What's your name?" he asked me, to which I answered.

That was followed with about a dozen more questions, each one something fairly simple, but apparently meant to check that I didn't have brain damage or anything. The very fact that they were checking for that didn't wasn't a good sign, but the fact that I could easily answer was. It certainly eased my mind slightly, but not much at all.

Finally, they seemed satisfied and the older man told me, "I'm Doctor Eli Lindquist, and this...," he gestured to the other one, "is Dr. Westerman."

I didn't respond to their introductions, being far too worried to think about being polite. With each passing moment, I started to feel worse and worse about what was going on. A thousand about what the crash had probably done to me quickly filled my mind, each one worse than the one before. All I knew at the moment was that I was alive and hadn't been left a vegetable.

"This is going to be difficult," Dr. Lindquist started, glancing at the other man for help, though he just shrugged, apparently satisfied to leave the talking to Lindquist for the moment. "You...you were severely injured when we found you."

That was the last thing that I'd wanted to hear and I winced badly, dreading the worst. It was as though for the last minute, I had been standing before Saint Peter...waiting to find out what my eternal fate was going to be. Then again, I'd already come extremely close to doing just that. But as bad as the accident itself had been, now I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it scared the hell out of me.

"You were in critical condition," Dr. Westerman elaborated, "The nearest hospital is an hour away and there was no possibility of your surviving that long."

"It was a miracle that you were still alive when we found you," Lindquist told me nervously. "If we hadn't heard the crash and arrived when we did..."

At that, they both paused to look at each other and I felt another sinking feeling. It took a bit of effort to keep from demanding that they quit pussyfooting around and tell me what was going on. But at the moment, I didn't think that being pushy was a good idea.

"How bad am I?" I asked quietly.

"Very." Lindquist responded quietly, then gave me an odd look before adding, "Or you were."

Westerman took a long look at me, frowning slightly. Then he glanced at his watch before telling the older man, "I will leave the explanations to you." He gave me a strange look before walking away.

"Um...yes," Lindquist sighed, adjusting his glasses. "I am not sure how to explain..." Then he sighed, "You see, we are not medical doctors. We're scientists, though some of our research does contain incredible medical potential."

"Not doctors...," I repeated, feeling even more confused than before. Then how was I still alive at all if I was as critical as they said?

Before I could ask, Lindquist continued, "Virgil...that's Dr. Westerman and I have been working in the development of advanced robotics systems. Specifically, in the creation of androids which might serve a number of useful purposes." He looked slightly embarrassed at that.

I just didn't see where this was going. Nor did I particularly care. I had a hell of a lot more important things to think about.

"Your body was mangled," he reminded me, "There was nothing we could do. Even if there was a hospital nearby, you wouldn't have survived." Lindquist paused to adjust his glasses again, even though they hadn't moved. It was apparently some sort of nervous habit. "In order to save your life...we had to take drastic measures. We transferred your mind into our prototype."

That statement was something of a shock, and all I could do was stare at him, wondering if he could possibly be serious. However, the expression on his face was definitely so.

"It has a highly complex crystal matrix brain," Lindquist explained. "And we transferred the contents of your brain into it. All of your memories and personality. Though to be honest, I wasn't completely certain that it would work..." Lindquist gave dramatic pause while I stared at him in shock, then he finished, "We couldn't save your body...but we could save your mind."

"Bullshit," I growled after a few seconds, "I ain't buying." Still, in spite of my forceful denial, I wasn't completely certain.

The doctor gave me a hurt look, as though insulted. "Yet that is the truth," he finally responded. "We knew that it would be difficult to accept, which was why we left the...your motor controls deactivated until we could explain."

Again, I told him, "Bullshit...," though this time without much force. I was far too afraid that he was telling me the truth, even if I didn't want to believe it.

"I'm afraid that there is another surprise as well," Lindquist told me with a faint smile, moving over to the side to push something, "I'll let you see for yourself..."

A second later, I could suddenly feel my body again...and I could move. I remained where I was for just a moment, moving my fingers and then taking a step forward, finding that I had been in some sort of receptacle thing on the wall. And then remembering Lindquist's claim that I was inside some sort of prototype android, I took a look down at myself and received the shock of my life.

"OH SHIT!" I blurted out.

With a single look down, I could see a pair of tits on my chest... I just gasped at the sight, unable to believe that I actually had a set of melons, just like some woman. However, as soon as I got past that enough to look down, I realized at those weren't the only things of a woman that I had. My whole body seemed to be female...or at least it looked like it.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable as I looked over my unfamiliar body, I gasped, "What the hell?"

There was one thing that was immediately obvious to me, besides the female body...or being completely naked. It was the fact that my skin looked weird as hell. My skin was sort of a pinkish flesh color, and sort of shiny as well, looking as though it was made out of plastic. A sudden thought ran through my mind that it probably made me look like some kind of human sized barbie doll or mannequin. That effect was only added to by several seams in my skin, especially around my joints.

Seeming to read my unspoken question, Lindquist said, "As you can see, our prototype hadn't been completed yet. Dr. Westerman and I had yet to replace the artificial epidermis with a more human looking one." Then he looked thoughtful, "And though the computer and control systems are fully operation, we had yet to finish creating the artificial intelligence programs that would have made it useful for anything more complex than following immediate direct orders." There was another pause before he looked at me with an embarrassed smile and added, "Then again, there no longer seems to be any need for an AI."

"I'm...I'm a robot!" I exclaimed, tearing my eyes from my body and staring at Lindquist.

"Not a robot," Lindquist responded just a little quickly, looking just a tiny bit insulted, "An android. No...a synthoid."

I just grumbled, "Whatever," to that. I didn't care if it was an android or a wind up toy soldier. The fact was, I wasn't human anymore. I was a machine. A stupid fucking machine.

However, in spite of that, I didn't really feel like a machine. But then again, what was a machine supposed to feel like? All that I knew was that I felt strange, but not nearly as strange as I thought I should have. As I ran my hand along my skin...or whatever passed for it, I could feel it, proving that I still had a sense of touch.

"It is actually a very complex artificial system," another voice came from the side. Dr. Westerman came in, apparently having heard our exchange, "Designed to mimic human functions very effectively."

"Indeed," Lindquist nodded agreement.

Then Westerman gave Lindquist an odd look before telling me with a hint of amusement in his voice, "In fact, Dr. Lindquist designed the prototype you currently inhabit to function in...adult entertainment."

I stared at one, and then both of them, seeing from the look of embarrassment on Lindquist's face, that Westerman had been telling the truth. Shit, I'd been turned into a walking, talking blow up doll. A human sized sex toy. It was not a pleasant realization, but then again nothing seemed to have been since I awoke. Excepting of course the fact that I was still alive.

"I know that this must be quite a shock for you," Lindquist said as he put a hand on my shoulder, "But this was the only way that we could save your life. Perhaps someday we can build a male model to transfer you into..."

Westerman winced at that, then muttered something about that being outrageously expensive and a ridiculous waste of money. I didn't think that I was meant to hear, but even from the other side of the room I could make most of it out. And after looking at him for a moment, I began to realize that he wasn't particularly happy about my being inside of his project...probably messing with whatever it was that those two had planned for it. But it wasn't like I could do anything about that.

"That would be great," I told Lindquist, not looking at Westerman as I said it.

After several more seconds of uncomfortable silence, Lindquist suddenly suggested, "Perhaps you might like to have a better view of your new body. It might help some..."

I just nodded, feeling too overwhelmed by the whole thing to do much more. One minute I was driving my truck and minding my own business, and the next thing I know...I'm roadkill. Then I wake up to find that I've been turned into some kind of wind up toy. A sex toy at that. No guy should have to deal with that.

"I need a drink," I muttered, then suddenly realize, "Can I still drink?"

"Your artificial body does not require food or water," Lindquist tells me, then smiles faintly, "Though it does possess the ability to consume both."

"The better to mimic human functions," Westerman added calmly. Then just as I was beginning to tiny bit better at least, he continued, "Though of course you would be unable to taste the food..."

Lindquist sighed, "We have yet to truly duplicate the senses of taste and smell."

Somehow, I had the feeling that they hadn't tried too hard either. After all, how necessary were either of those for a robot. At least my other senses...my hearing, touch and sight were all good. Though I couldn't help noticing that they were all a bit off as well.

Just then, Lindquist stopped walking and gestured to a mirror the wall. It took me a moment to realize just what that meant. I hesitated for several seconds, taking a look at both Lindquist and Westerman, then moving towards the mirror. I was definitely not looking forward to this, though I knew that I had to see what the hell they had made me into.

With the first sight of my reflection, I froze motionless, staring at it in disbelief. I had long blonde hair and a hell of a nice figure. My skin was inhumanly smooth, without a single hair other than what was on my head. And with my plastic looking skin, I did look like nothing more than a mannequin. Except perhaps a human sized barbie doll.

"Oh shit," I whispered, unable to take my eyes off of that image. I was a...a fembot. Like in that Austin Powers movie.

Lindquist didn't say a word, though he stepped beside as though trying to comfort me. After a minute, he interrupted me and asked, "Would you like some time alone?" All I could do was nod to that. He nodded back and then left the room with Westerman.

I had no idea how long I remained standing motionless in front of the mirror, though as soon as I wondered, the answer suddenly came to me. 19 minutes, 23 seconds. It was like the answer was fed directly into my mind, spooking me a bit. That didn't really make me feel any better about what I had suddenly turned into.

A short while later, Lindquist came back, looking rather uncomfortable. I guessed that I could see it from his point of view, where his wooden puppet had suddenly started moving around and thinking on it's own. It was like he was Gepetto, though I was sort of an anti-Pinnochio, having gone from being a real boy into a plastic doll.

Neither of us said much as Lindquist led me down several halls and into a spare bedroom where he said I could have some privacy. I just nodded, not saying anything as I went inside and closed the door, staring down at my alien body and trying to absorb what had happened to me.

While I sat on the bed, lost in thought, it took me some time to realize that the lights in the room were off. Glancing around, I didn't see any windows or source of lights, so I didn't quite understand where the green light I was seeing things in came from. Then I winced, feeling stupid as I remembered that I wasn't even in a human body anymore. It was my artificial eyes, giving me night vision of some sort.

"Great," I muttered bitterly, "I'm robo Barbie...with see in the dark action."

I continued to sit there though, doing nothing except staring at myself and wondering, "Why me?"

And as the hours passed, I grew increasingly depressed, sinking more and more into self-pity and shame. I felt humiliation and disgust for what I had become. I was a freak...a monster. I wasn't even human anymore. I was a thing of plastic and metal...a robot. A fembot. A fucking blow up doll. Thoughts that I would have been better off having died like I was supposed to have kept crossing my mind.

Eventually, something snapped inside of me and I started feeling disgusted at myself for an entirely different reason. I'd never believed in suicide before and didn't like the fact that I had been considering the idea now. Nor had I ever been the kind of guy who was into self-pity, so I didn't think that I should start up with it now.

Then I looked down at my hands yet again, realizing just how lucky I was to be alive at all. It was a miracle that I was still around, so I should be counting my blessings rather than pouting about HOW I was still alive. My hands...I realized that they were like prosthetics. A guy with a prosthetic leg was still human. It was just that more of my body was prosthetic than normal...a whole lot.

"I'm alive," I finally said with a sigh, a faint smile beginning to form on my face.

I stood up, experimentally moving my arms and legs before finally dropping down to my knees and bowing my head. Though I didn't do it very often...I prayed. If ever there was a time to give thanks to God, I figured that this was it.

When I was done, I left stepped out the door and started down the hall, knowing that I owed my rescuers a delayed, but very heartfelt thank you.

Several days later, I stood in front of the mirror, taking a long look at my reflection, still hardly able to believe that it was really me. I didn't quite cringe back at the sight of the moving barbie doll that faced me, but I still wasn't that comfortable with her either. Nor was I that pleased with what I was wearing...or what I wasn't.

"Damn Victoria's Secret," I muttered, uttering the words that I never thought that I would have heard myself say.

Though I had an artificial body that didn't feel at all cold, nor discomfort at walking around without shoes, I wasn't very comfortable at walking around without a stitch of clothes on, for modesty's sake if nothing else. And even if I didn't think of them that way, they were a symbol...something to mark me as human, not as a machine. So while I had thanked Lindquist and Westerman for saving my life, I'd asked them if they had anything for me to wear.

I had been a little less than pleased when the only thing Lindquist had come up with was some lingerie that he'd bought for his fembot. That was just further proof that he was a bit of a dirty old man, though I hadn't really needed much after seeing what kind of robot he'd built. However, the lingerie was the only thing around that would actually really fit my current body, so I had little choice but to wear it unless I wanted to go around buck naked...which I didn't.

With a bit of embarrassment, I posed just a little bit in front of the mirror, once again struck by the similarity to a store mannequin. A very well built mannequin though since my proportions were a little more like those of a barbie doll. Then with a frown, I buttoned back up the large white lab coat that I'd insisted on borrowing from my rescuers as well...much to Lindquist's unspoken disappointment.

"I wonder how long it will take to get the new skin," I mused, thinking about comments both Lindquist and Westerman had made about the work they still had to do on the cosmetic changes. Apparently my being inside of their project hadn't changed those plans, much to my relief. I'd be much happier when I could go out in public without feeling like a freak, or walk through a mall without worrying about being put into one of the store windows...

Several seconds later, I added, "Or when they can make me another guy body..." Somehow though, I didn't think that it would be anytime soon, and I didn't think it very appropriate to try pushing the doctors for more just yet.

As I turned from the mirror, I looked down at my still bare legs and feet, wondering how soon before I could get real clothes either. But with my build, I suspected that for anything much more than what I was currently wearing would probably require some specially made clothing...or a bit of looking. Either way, Lindquist had made a few vague promises about the next time he got into the city...though I wasn't holding my breath.

"Almost time for dinner," I sighed, knowing that it wouldn't do me much good. Sure, I could still eat small amounts and have something inside of me actually disintegrate it, but I couldn't taste it. Eating was no longer an enjoyable experience for me.

That was probably one of the worst thing about what had happened to me. I winced at the thought of not being able to enjoy a double bacon cheeseburger or a thick juicy steak with side order of chili fries. No more munching on twinkies while I drove, nor finishing off a six pack at home. It was a little depressing, knowing that I'd be missing out on my favorite foods.

I had learned other things about my new body during the last few days as well. For one, I didn't need to sleep anymore either, which gave me a lot more free time than before. Not that I really had anything to do with it at the moment. Of course, not having a human body anymore, I didn't have to breathe or go to the bathroom anymore either. Both were pretty odd for me, though they were easily overlooked unless I thought about them.

There had been a lot of things for me to get used to, or at least to try getting used to. I didn't think that I'd really gotten used to a single thing. Not from looking like a barbie doll, nor from now being a much shorter 5 foot 7. However, I was definitely trying. After all, I had no doubts that I was a whole lot better off than I would have been if they hadn't found me.

However, that just reminded me of my truck, making me wince at the very thought. I'd spent a lot of time in that baby so it kind of hurt to think that it was a total wreck now. But, as I had been reminding myself over the last couple days, that was over with and there was nothing that I could do about it now.

"Just deal with whatever comes," I told myself, for what had to be the thousandth time, "and move on."

A moment later, took a long look around the small room that the docs had let me use and then sat down on the edge of the bed, turning on the TV. It seemed that watching the tube was one of my few old pleasures that I could still enjoy. And I'd been enjoying it a good bit since I couldn't exactly go out and the docs tended to stay busy with whatever it was they were doing.

"Wish I had some chips," I complained as I flipped through the channels.

Then I saw a show that made me stop, a weekly series called Developments. It was sort of like one of those news shows about Hollywood and entertainment, except that it focused on the developed...people with weird powers and the latest new about them. I frequently watched the show because it was interesting if nothing else, and of course, because a lot of the developed girls were....well developed. And not to mention usually wearing spandex. There was nothing like a hot girl wearing spandex.

This time, Developments was going on about how Ms. Miracle and her team dealt with some alien invasion attempt in New Jersey, and how Praxis had fought some unknown villain who managed to escape. And of course, they gave reports about some unknown and apparently new super heroine in Miami, as well as some new big shot team of developed heroes who were supposed to be the best of the best.

After the show ended, I went back to flipping through channels, hoping that I could find something interesting. Then I paused, looking down at myself again in disbelief. Somehow, I didn't think that I'd ever get used to either seeing that body...or wearing it. But then again, I didn't really have much choice so there was no use whining about it.

With that, I put my hands on my large breasts, feeling them in my hand and having a hard time believing that they weren't real...even if they did look a bit like plastic. I could feel them in my hands...I could feel my hands on them. And they felt soft, not like the hard plastic they appeared. It was definitely strange, though I had to give a faint smile at the thought that at least the perverts had made their sex toy able to feel some pleasure.

"Some prosthetics," I muttered with another shake of my head. I was even sure that I could feel a bit of a warm lubrication beginning to build up between my legs. "One hell of a machine..."

Then I flipped a mental switch and turned off those sensations, amazed at how easy it was to do so. I could make myself horny or not...just by willing it. That was certainly a handy feature to have.

Deciding that I'd had more than enough of both that and TV for the moment, I left the room and headed out to find Lindquist. He seemed a bit friendlier than Westerman, who was distant if nothing else. Though Lindquist had gone out of his way to be friendly to me, I could tell that Westerman resented my presence to some degree. Not that I blamed him though.

I found Lindquist in his lab, working on something that I couldn't quite identify. But he stopped and looked up when he saw me, giving a nervous smile.

"What can I do for you?" Lindquist asked me pleasantly.

"Maybe some clothes," I reminded him, wondering how long I could get by with just lingerie and a lab coat. It was...embarrassing.

Lindquist just nodded at that, promising to get me some the next time he got into town. "But I have been thinking," he told me afterwards, "You might want to consider using a female name for the time being..."

That had briefly occurred to me as well just the day before, though I hadn't given it much thought since.

"Maybe you can flip your name over," the doc suggested eagerly, "Call your self Shannon Cole."

"Maybe," I nodded without much enthusiasm myself.

"Or," he continued, "you can just change your first name a little...becoming Carol..." I gave a faint grunt at that. "What do you think?"

After staring at Lindquist for a second, I responded, "I think I'll stick with Cole." He looked a little disappointed, though didn't push it. Then I reluctantly admitted, "That first one's not bad. I'll think about it."

"Good," he nodded, "very good."

"Now, about those clothes," I reminded him, earning a slight chuckle.

"I won't forget," he grinned back, adjusting his glasses. I was just a little nervous about what he might get me, though wasn't sure that I should push the issue just yet. I could end up giving him some ideas.

Several seconds later, he went back to work on what he had been doing, with me just watching silently. Finally, I couldn't resist asking him what it was.

"An upgrade on the android control system," Lindquist told me proudly, a faint gleam in his eyes. "It still needs a bit of work though." Then he paused to frown slightly. "I'm sorry. I know that you were hoping for the skinwork..."

"Yeah," I admitted, feeling just a little uncomfortable. Then I told him, "I really appreciate everything, but I was kind of hoping to at least look a little more normal." And then I quickly added, "But I don't want to rush you or anything..."

Lindquist chuckled, "I understand, and we are working on it. However, developing highly realistic synthetic skin is more difficult than it sounds." Then he gave me a grin before adding, "But we are almost there...."

I nodded at that, still feeling a bit uncomfortable for imposing on him. Though I didn't really have much choice, I hated having to rely on other people for everything...or making them go out of their way for me.

"Well," I told Lindquist sincerely, "Thanks. Thanks for everything."

I wasn't much for all that sentimental stuff and felt pretty uncomfortable saying as much as I was. So with that, I turned and hurried away before Lindquist even had the chance to turn it into some kind of soap-opera mushfest, leaving him to his work instead.

It had been a long night, but then all of them seemed to have been that way since my being turned into a human mannequin four days earlier. Since I no longer needed to sleep, it left me with lots of spare time at night. And because of that, I'd just spent the night watching late night TV, Discovery channel and playing solitaire. It was boring enough as it was, but not being able to really munch on chips or drink some beer while watching just made things even more bland.

"At least I can catch up on some reading," I muttered, patting the book that I had started reading a little while earlier. It was Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, which I had really thought appropriate. And it was certainly a little different than most movie versions that I'd seen.

After awhile, I looked over at the clock and was relieved that it was time for breakfast...even a late breakfast. That didn't mean much to me personally, but what it did mean was that the docs were bound to be up and about. And that meant someone to talk to...if they weren't too busy. Which they usually were. At least Westerman was...and he wasn't the talkative type even when he wasn't busy.

"Damn this," I tugged at my lingerie, shaking my head and wondering yet again when Lindquist was going to get me something else to wear. I was about to the point to start insisting on it. At least I didn't get cold and still had the lab coat to help cover things up just a little more.

Giving a shake of my head, I left the room and started for the kitchen area, though I found it empty when I got there. That wasn't much surprise though, so I just took a look around, fought back the urge to grab myself something to munch on since it wouldn't do me any good, then went to find the docs.

When I got close to the lab, I heard Lindquist and Westerman talking...loudly. And feeling curious, I stopped where I was and listened in, feeling the faintest bit guilty, but not enough to stop eavesdropping.

"We shouldn't have given direct control of it up," Westerman was growling.

Lindquist immediately came back with, "But he needed out help. I know that it's a setback...but he would have died otherwise."

"Maybe he should have died," Westerman sneered. "At least then our project security wouldn't have been compromised."

"I can't believe that you would say that," Lindquist gasped in horror.

However, before he could say anything further, Westerman continued, "But at least you did find something useful during this mess. The AI. We finally have the perfect way to create the adaptable mind and perspective that we'd been looking for. Instead of trying to duplicate a human's understanding of the world and ability to adapt to the unexpected, all that we need to do is download the actual contents of the human mind. All of the data that would be required and even missed is already there. Much simpler...and more effective."

"Virgil!" Lindquist spat, "You know that this was never my intention. Our work..."

"No," Westerman growled, "Your work was about satisfying your perverted fantasies. This technology is wasted on the sex toys that you had intended it for. That's why I've been developing the military aspects from the start."

My eyes were going wide as I listened to them getting even louder, and as the insults started to fly. It was obvious that Lindquist was pissed at Westerman, who's arrogant tone would have been enough to make a priest punch him. It was almost as if Westerman was taunting the older man, trying to make him angry. And I was beginning to think that it was about time for me to step in and try calming things down.

"I've always known that our ultimate goals are different," Westerman said as I began to move closer to the door, "And it appears that the time for us to part has finally come..."

"I won't let you," Lindquist started to tell him, his voice more filled with determination than I'd heard it before.

But Westerman quickly growled, "You don't have a choice."

There was a sudden loud bang, and I stepped through the door just in time to see Westerman standing there with a gun in his hand. Just several feet away stood Lindquist, with a look of pained horror and confusion on his face as his hands grabbed at his chest. Blood was dripping down his front, leaving droplets all over the floor.

"Consider this a termination or our working agreement," Westerman commented, sounding almost calm about it...though I could hear the underlying stress. Then he fired another shot, dropping Lindquist to the ground.

"Doc!" I gasped out in horror, staring first at Lindquist and then his murderer. I couldn't believe what I'd just seen happen and wasn't at all sure what to do about it. A part of me said to just turn and run, while a smaller part said that I should help the doc out somehow.

Westerman's eyes snapped towards me, a deep scowl forming on his face as the gun was now aimed at me. I gulped, suddenly feeling pretty damn afraid. Being killed once didn't make me any less afraid of dying again.

"Stupid machine," he spat, sounding almost as though he was talking to himself. "I had planned on dealing with you just a little later."

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded nervously, looking at Lindquist and pleading, "He needs a hospital..."

However, Westerman just scowled deeper, then smirked faintly as he lowered the gun. I started to sigh in relief, glad that he was going to let me get some help for Lindquist. But then, he just said, "Override code...delta sullivan three one nine."

Suddenly, I felt something click inside of my mind. I couldn't quite make out what it was, but I knew without a doubt that it was absolutely no good for me. Not in the least.

"What the hell did you do?" I asked fearfully, then grimaced and tried to put on a brave front. "You sick bastard..."

Westerman just gave a smug look, "Every computer system has a back door...and I just activated the password to mine. The computer system that you currently reside in responds only to my voice and is back under my control...where it belongs."

I took an instinctive step backwards, but he quickly ordered, "Stop. Don't move." And suddenly I did. It wasn't anything that I had meant to do, but I had no control.

"What...?" I started in horror.

"Quiet," Westerman told me, forcing me to immediately go mute. "You can stay here until I decide what to do with you."

With that, Westerman stepped next to Lindquist's body and glared down at him before turning to leave the lab. I was alone, helpless to even move or speak. And even worse, was the fact that I could see Lindquist still moving just a little...and groaning weakly. He was dying right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything for him...nor even turn away.

I watched in horror as Lindquist passed away in front of me, as well as more than a bit of guilt. He had saved my life, and I wasn't able to help him back. I hated owing other people, and I hated not being able to pay them back even more. And he'd even been killed partly because he had saved me...and there was no way that I could pay that back. Instead, all I was able to do was bear silent witness to his passing.

Westerman left me there for nearly a day, and it was a form of torture worse than any that I had ever imagined possible. I was bursting with rage and frustration, wanting to bust his head open so bad that I could taste it. However, that was not going to happen anytime soon, much to my further frustration.

When Westerman eventually came back in, he gave Lindquist's body a dirty look, and then shook his head in disgust. Finally, he only glanced at me before ordering, "Dispose of the body and clean this mess up."

Though I hadn't wanted to do anything, I found myself moving to do what he had told me to. It was as though my body had a mind of it's own...separate from my own. A mind that existed solely to follow orders. Just like any good computer I guessed, much to my disgust. I hated being a fucking robot.

After this, I helplessly did what I'd been told to. I dug a hole in the field behind the lab and buried Lindquist. Somehow, I was able to hold enough control over my body to give a silent prayer before I was forced to turn around and go back up to finish cleaning. Cleaning up the blood stains was not a pleasant job, but it wasn't like I could complain.

By the time I was finished, Westerman actually seemed somewhat pleased with himself. He even muttered something about, "Completing a job with only the objectives given...," and "Initiative in completing the instructions..."

I supposed that he might have been referring to the fact that he'd only told me to get rid of the body and clean up the mess, but I'd buried it and chose to use a mop without specifically being told to. I guessed that was the kind of thing that they had been trying to get the android to do for them...and I ended up making possible, just by being inside of it, even if not in control. Needless to say, I wasn't all that proud to be part of that success.

Then when Westerman was finished with me, at least for the moment, he just had me stand off to the side where I wasn't in the way. Without giving me another glance, Westerman left the lab, turning the light off behind him...and leaving me alone and helpless in the dark. And once he was gone, I wasn't sure whether to be more afraid or relieved about it.

By the time the doc came for me again, I was bursting with anger and resentment, not to mention a bit of fear. But at the same time though, I felt a tiny amount relief at the sight of him, a reminder that I had not been forgotten about as I had started to think.

"Time for work," Westerman said, though he was talking to himself more than to me.

Westerman did some work at one of the benches without even looking at me, at least until he finally told me to do some cleaning. Unable to refuse or even argue, I found myself going for the mop and bucket, then beginning a thorough cleaning of the whole lab...followed by cleaning of the rest of the building.

For the next two days, I spent all of my time either standing in the corner or doing work around the building at Westerman's instructions. It was frustrating and humiliating, but I had no choice. The doc had made sure of that. As far as he was concerned, I was a robot....nothing more. And I was more than a little sick of being treated like one.

"Come," Westerman told me, gesturing to follow him. Of course I did so, not having any other choice.

Westerman led me to one of the back rooms where there were some racks of electronic equipment, the purpose of which I couldn't even guess. He slowly looked some of them over before turning back to me.

"Move this rack and that one," he pointed to two of them, "to the far wall," he gestured over there, "and take the others into the storage room."

I wished I could have told him to do it himself, and that he was insane if he thought I could lift something as heavy looking as one of those racks, but I was still unable to talk. However, I was able to hesitate and look from the racks to the doc, the computer controlling me seeming to agree that I couldn't lift them.

"Do it," Westerman demanded impatiently.

That seemed to override the hesitation because I moved over and attempted to move one of the racks. However, as I had expected, it wouldn't budge. But at least, I suspected that I wouldn't have to worry about a hernia or anything in my fancy metal and plastic body. However, I wondered if there was something else that would break with too much effort instead.

"Damn," Westerman muttered, glaring at me as though it was my fault, until he shook his head and added, "I almost forgot..." With a frown, he told me, "Deactivate strength limiters."

Suddenly, I felt something shift inside of me. Not physically, but more mentally. I didn't really have time to think about that though as I was already going to work again on the racks. However, to my surprise, the one I was attempting to move did so with ease. And just a minute earlier, I hadn't even been able to budge it.

I was completely stunned, not to mention impressed with myself as I moved the racks as Westerman had directed, finding that they didn't really feel too heavy. And though I was slightly confused at first, it finally dawned on me why. I was in a damn robot body, which was apparently super strong. And since I doubted Lindquist would want his sex toy to be too strong and hurt him, he would have had to limit it's strength. Hence the strength limiters that Westerman had just removed.

"Cool," I thought to myself sarcastically, "Super strength..." But a fat lot of good it would do me. Especially when I couldn't even control my own body. Then again, the whole problem was because it wasn't my own body.

"Good," the doc commented, looking over the racks with a faint smile. Then he turned his attention to a large plastic box which had been sitting next to them, "Now for you..."

A moment later, I stood by motionlessly while Westerman undid some fastenings on the box and caused the front to open up. I was surprised as the contents of the box were revealed. It was a robot...a metal creature in the shape of a man, though it had to be about 8 feet tall. However, unlike the android body that I was currently within, there wasn't even a trace of artificial skin on it.

For several seconds, Westerman didn't move at all, just staring at the obviously unfinished android within the box. Finally, he moved closer and said, "Now I can get back to work on the military applications..."

Since I was unable to move or speak, all that I could do was think, "Oh shit." I had a feeling that things were going to get even worse.

It was nearly a week since Westerman had murdered Lindquist and I had become little more than a puppet. I was more frustrated than ever, though there was also a calm acceptance that I could do nothing about it. At least not yet. I still hadn't given up completely.

And though I was helpless to do anything other than what the doc told me, I had discovered that I did have a little freedom...though it was very little. I still had to do what he told me, but I could influence exactly how I did it. It was sort of like when I'd buried Lindquist's body rather than burning it or putting it in the garbage dumpster. The computer inside of me made me do the things, but it relied on my mind for the information on just how to do it. And because of that, I still had at least some small ability to choose my actions. Small...but there.

Westerman had made me move the big android to the main lab, where he had been working on it almost nonstop. And from what I learned, it was the military prototype which he had been working on behind Lindquist's back for some time. He'd been doing a bit of work on it here and there, after the technology had been proven to work on the prototype body I was wearing first. So I guessed, that made the thing my kid brother in a weird sort of way. However, I didn't feel very brotherly...or even sisterly towards it.

"Damn," Westerman cursed as he looked over his project. He ignored me, as he almost always did when not giving me orders, "The control system still isn't ready." Then he shook his head in frustration, muttering, "If I only had more funding."

That was the same complaint that he'd made a number of times in my hearing. Apparently, he and Lindquist had used up most of the money they had just making my body, with him using what little was left on more parts for his android. There wasn't enough to finish his project, which would have made me laugh...if I'd still been able to.

After several seconds of staring at his android thoughtfully, Westerman turned and gave me a speculative look. He rubbed at his chin for a moment, with me not liking the expression on his face in the least. Somehow, I suspected that he was planning on recycling the parts in my new body for use in that one...or maybe even tearing me apart and selling the pieces for spare cash. Neither appealed to me in the least. After all, I might not have had that body for long, but it was the only one that I had left.

Finally, Westerman smiled, ordering me to follow him, then adding, "It's time to acquire some new funding..."

A few minutes later, I was sitting in the back of the van and heading down the road. It was the first time since my accident that I'd left that building, and I felt somewhat uncomfortable being on the road again, even if I couldn't see where we were going. Perhaps even more because of that reason.

Eventually, the doc stopped the van and came into the back with me. He crouched down and gave me an odd look for several seconds, looking even a bit nervous. I just didn't see what he had to be nervous about since I was the one in his power. Still, he was undoubtedly nervous about something, and I wasn't sure whether to be happy or nor with that.

"What do you think of me?" he abruptly asked. I just looked at him, still being unable to talk. He realized that and told me, "You may speak again. Now answer the question."

"I think that you're a piece of shit," I told him honestly, putting every bit of bitterness I had into that statement. Damn it felt good to talk again.

Westerman didn't seem bothered by my words though. Not that I really expected him to be. "Understandable," he responded with a shrug. "Sometimes you must do unpleasant things to achieve a greater goal."

Then he got down to business, "There is a jewelry store half a block down the street. You are going to go inside and rob it of as much cash and valuables as you can. Then you are going to avoid capture and bring them to me, without anyone following you to my location." Then he put a duffel bag in my hand and asked, "Do you understand?"

"Yes," I spat back bitterly, hating both the fact that he was going to make me into a robber...a criminal, and that I couldn't even say no.

"Well then," Westerman paused to undo the buttons on my lab coat and touch one of my boobs, musing, "This might provide a useful distraction..." I just bit back the urge to really let him know what I thought of him.

Once Westerman had told me where to meet him, he opened the van door and carefully looked around outside. Then he gestured for me to get out and get on my way. With a feeling of dread, I climbed out of the van and watched as he drove away before I finally stepped out where everyone could see me.

"Whoa," one man exclaimed as I stepped onto the sidewalk, staring at me in disbelief. I couldn't blame him. Not only was I an almost naked woman, but I was an almost naked plastic looking woman on top of that. I was immediately the center of a LOT of attention.

As I walked down the sidewalk, I tried to ignore all of the stares and comments directed at me. All of the chatter from the people nearby. However, it looked much easier than it actually was as I wasn't able to respond to any of it. I wasn't able to do anything more than step around those who got in my way. The truth was, I felt pretty damn embarrassed. All I wanted to do was get out of their and away from it all...but the computer controlling me didn't give me that option.

"That mannequin is walking mommy," a little girl exclaimed as I walked past and into the door of the jewelry shop.

"Please no," I muttered aloud, begging myself to stop....trying to make the computer disobey Westerman's commands. But it was useless, as I already knew it would be.

I stopped in front of the counter and without my willing it, ordered, "Give me all of your money." But then on my own, I added, "And call the cops...they have to stop me..."

The clerk stared at me with her mouth open, looking extremely confused. Without waiting for her response, I punched through the glass case and started to put the contents into the duffle bag. After seeing this, the clerk started to dig at the cash register, realizing that it probably wasn't a good idea to mess with me.

Though I hated doing it, I quickly had their cash, as well as a good supply of jewelry. And just as I was about to leave the store, I was faced with a cop, standing there with his gun pointed straight at me.

"Freeze," he ordered, his voice shaking slightly. "Don't move...whatever you are."

"Thank god," I sighed, relieved that the cops were finally there.

The cop looked confused at that, then as I continued forward, unable to stop myself, he shot me. I felt an impact, knocking me back a tiny bit. But it didn't hurt. Not at all. Feeling stunned myself, I looked down at my chest where he'd shot me, seeing a slight crack in the skin...but that was all. Apparently, the docs had built me a whole lot tougher than I'd thought.

"Holy shit," the cop gasped, about ready to shoot again, though as I thought of it, my hand lashed out and tore the gun from his hand.

"Damn it," I growled, "You're supposed to arrest me..." That seemed to confuse him even more than he already was. Hell, the guy looked as though he was about to shit his pants.

Without any further hesitation, I pushed past the cop, breaking the gun in my hand before dropping the pieces. That was one of my active choices as I probably could have used it to help me get away instead. However, I didn't want to risk anyone being hurt because of me.

I silently cursed as I moved down the sidewalk, people running to get away from me. The very sight made me wince, though I also thought that Westerman had to be some kind of idiot. Did he really think that I would have been able to just rob a jewelry store and then get back to him without anyone noticing? With the way I looked, I doubted that I would have been able to do that even without having robbed the place.

Suddenly, the ground in front of me literally exploded, throwing me back. I scrambled back to my feet, then froze, shocked at the sight in front of me. It was a man. A man hovering a short distance away from me...several feet above the ground.

The blonde man had the looks to be an actor, and was dressed in a blue and white spandex costume. The white on his chest was framed by the blue to form a stylized letter F, and there were silver metal wrist bands and shoulder pads, as well as a white cape. And though the costume was a newer variation on his traditional uniform, there was absolutely no doubt that this was the developed hero called Force.

"Oh shit," I whispered to myself, suddenly feeling as though things were getting worse with every passing moment. Sure, I wanted to be stopped before I hurt anyone without meaning to, but having a super hero stop me seemed overkill.

"What's this?" Force asked with a look of amusement, "A walking mannequin?"

"Possibly animated by magic," a woman's voice commented off to the side.

A man's voice quickly added, "Or an android."

I looked at the others who were speaking and was sure that I would have peed myself had I still been able to. Having the famous Force there to stop me was bad enough...but this...

There were several other people in costumes forming around me. Though I'd never seen any of them before in my life, I knew exactly who they were. I'd seen them on TV, and just a week earlier I'd seen a story about them all on the show Developments. And from that, this was absolutely not good for me.

The girl who'd spoken was in her early twenties and had shoulder length black hair, and a costume of blue and white with gold trim. I recognized her as Omni Woman, and like Force, she was a former member of the Protectorate. Apparently her powers were....anything that she wanted them to be. And at the moment, they seemed to be flight because she was floating in the air with a cocky expression on her face.

Standing on the ground to one side of me was the other man who'd spoke. He was dressed in a black spandex bodysuit, though he had glowing neon red goggles, with matching neon bracelets and belt. And of course, he was holding a red neon quarterstaff in his hands. Not surprisingly, he was called Neon, known as being the unofficial super hero of Las Vegas. And though his costume might stand out everywhere else, there it would probably act as camouflage. But more importantly than his costume was the fact that he had the power to create force field objects out of energy...which happened go glow with a neon light, giving him his name.

A third man was floating in the air as well, his body sort of split straight down the middle with one side being entirely gold metal, while the other was all black. The only exceptions to those colors was that there was a circle on his chest, where those two colors were inverted from the other sides. He was called Eclipse, and though I didn't know much about where he'd come from, I remembered what they'd said about him on Developments. He apparently had the power of light and darkness, being able to create lots of light and energy, or lots of darkness.

Another man stood behind me, wearing a suit of blue and gray armor that covered his whole body. There was also a symbol on his chest that looked like a spider. He was the Arachnid, a famous hero from Chicago. He didn't seem to have any real developed powers of his own, but he did have some sort of high tech power armor which made him pretty strong, let him climb walls and generate some sort of metal cable webbing. And of course, there were the claws on his gloves which looked a little viscous.

And of course, there was Force who was floating on front of me. He was a famous member of the Protectorate, with a bit more power than I wanted to deal with now...or ever. I remembered that he'd had some sort of spit with the Protectorate and had formed his own team, a group of developed who were supposed to be the best and most powerful heroes around. That was why they were called the Elite. And at the moment they were all surrounding ME!

For a moment, all that I could do was stare at the powerful heroes who had me surrounded, knowing that these were some of the most powerful developed around. I was terrified, wondering what I had ever done to deserve having people like them come after me.

"Kind of lightweight for us," Neon commented disdainfully.

"Well," Omni Woman responded, "We were in the area when the call came in so we might as well deal with it."

Force just smirked at me, "Drop the bag NOW!"

"Why are we wasting time talking to it," Arachnid growled in a cold voice, "It's not even human, so let's just destroy it and be done with it." He was raising his hands to try doing just that.

I certainly wasn't about to just sit back and let him kill me, and almost the instant that the thought was formed, I was in motion. In a sudden burst, I was moving faster than I'd ever moved under my own power again, quickly sprinting through the space between several of the Elite and running away from them as fast as I could. Of course, the bag was still clutched firmly in my hand.

"Stop," Omni Woman called out, though the others were already beginning to chase after me.

There was a sudden burst of light in front of me, and the ground seemed to melt into a puddle of molten lava. However, my android reflexes took over and I swerved around it and kept moving with only the slightest hesitation. From the corner of my eye, I saw that the blast had come from Eclipse.

Several small metal spikes hit a wall beside me, contributed no doubt by Arachnid. An a bare instant later, I felt something hit my left arm. One of the spikes had gone right through it. In a strange way, it hurt a bit...yet it didn't at all.

I didn't have time to think about it though as that was followed by a blast of raw kinetic energy that tore a hole straight through the wall. A single glance back revealed Force was the one who did that. I felt a faint tinge of relief that they were trying to get me from a distance rather than confronting me face on since at least that way I had time to avoid them. However, I knew that I couldn't do it for much longer.

"Damn," I muttered to myself fearfully, knowing that I'd been damn lucky to have survived this long against some of the most powerful heroes around.

"I think I'll take a page from your book Eclipse," Omni Woman exclaimed with a smirk, standing on the ground about a twenty yards from me. "She can't run if she can't see..."

Suddenly a wave of darkness came pouring from Omni Woman's hands, flooding over everything. Within mere seconds, the whole area was covered in pure darkness, as thick as the blackest ink.

"NO," Force called out, "We can't see either..."

An instant later, my eyes shifted on their own and I suddenly found that I could see again. It wasn't very clear, nor even with much color. But I could see. And from the cursing I heard around me, I was apparently the only one.

Arachnid's voice growled, "I can see in the dark...but this..."

Not being one to ignore a free opportunity to save my own kiester, I quickly looked around for a way out, knowing that since they could fly, it wouldn't do much good to just run away. Then it dawned on me, being enough to bring a smile to my lips.

A moment later, Neon called out, "Turn it off..."

The darkness was already beginning to recede, but I'd already started to make my move. I threw a large chunk of broken brick down the street, making sure that I hit a car and made lots of noise. Then an instant later, I dodged through the open door of a clothing store that was just a short distance away.

I held my breath as the darkness faded away completely, or would have if I still had breath to hold. It was all that I could do to keep from running further away as fast as I could, feeling terrified, worse than that time when a group of drunks had chased me with baseball bats back in Georgia.

"Damn," I heard Force curse from outside the store, "It's gone..."

"I'm sorry," Omni Woman apologized, "I didn't think..."

"Nevermind," Arachnid said, "I heard her moving this way."

For nearly a full minute, I remained exactly where I was, as motionless as only an android could be. And when I was sure that they were gone, I slowly looked around, letting out a sigh of relief. Then I looked down at myself with a smirk, never having thought that looking so much like a mannequin could actually be a blessing. But as it was, dropping the lab coat and pretending to just be one more mannequin in a store full of them was the perfect disguise.

"At least they didn't look inside," I muttered, knowing that they probably would have just glanced right on past me as no one really pays much attention to a store mannequin...but not wanting to take a risk on it.

Though I wanted to make sure that they really were gone, I didn't look out the door to see, thinking that it might be a little risky. They might still be out there somewhere.

Then, just as I thought about how to get out of there, I found myself turning and walking out the back. I had been given a degree of control, but only as long as it was used to accomplish Westerman's orders...namely avoid capture. And now that I'd done that, I was forced to follow the rest...and return to him with the loot.

Fortunately, the rest of the trip back to the meeting place was without incident. I went through the back way, behind the stores and using the alley, avoiding people entirely. The parking lot was only a block away from the jewelry store so it wasn't difficult.

As soon as I saw Westerman waiting beside the van, I felt a sense of relief, knowing that at least this particular nightmare was over. However, there was no doubt that the rest of the nightmare my life had become still remained.

It was more than twelve hours since the robbery and I was once again standing motionless in the middle of Westerman's lab. He had seemed incredibly pleased by what I'd gotten for him, though I felt sick for having done it. Not that I'd had a choice. And apparently, he had even already found someone to take the jewels off of his hands, making him even more pleased.

"Damn you for being careless," Westerman growled, "almost getting caught..." Then he glared at me, "And worse...getting those costumed idiots involved."

I didn't say anything to that, though I was currently free to do so. He'd never removed my freedom of speech, though I sure as hell didn't want to remind him of that and get turned mute again. It was one of the few freedoms that I had left, and I wasn't about to throw it away with a viscous comment...not matter how satisfying.

Westerman shook his head, "And you let yourself get damaged." The tone in his voice seemed to say that he actually thought it was my fault that Arachnid had hit me with one of those spikes he shot.

All I could do to that was stand motionless, my left arm almost completely useless. It had been hit by one of the spikes, and damaged a bit worse than I'd first thought. And in the hours since then, it had more and more difficult to actually use, until finally it hung off of me, dead and numb.

Then Westerman stood in front of me, giving a good look over, a scowl on his face. Without a word, he pulled out his tools and went to work on me, removing my damaged arm at the shoulder, and then doing the same to my other arm. I was scared and confused, dreading that he was going to tear me apart and use me for spare parts. Or worse... I wasn't sure what would be worse, but I was afraid of it.

"Fortunately," Westerman muttered as he walked off with the arms, "I created alternate parts without that idiot knowing..."

Half an hour later, the doc came back, holding another pair of arms. He didn't say anything to me as he attacked them, though he did seem somewhat pleased with himself.

"Move your arms," Westerman told me, "Verify that they are in working order."

I fought back the urge to tell him exactly what I'd like to do with the arms, knowing that I wouldn't be able to. That override thing he'd put on me made it so that I didn't have any choice but to follow his instructions. So I slowly moved my arms around, silently pleased that they were both working just fine. However, I couldn't help noticing that they felt...different.

Westerman nodded faintly at that, seemingly satisfied. After I was done, he even gave me a brief smile, though it was only at his own ingenuity.

"These are special parts," Westerman announced.

I watched him, realizing that he was talking to me more now than he had before taking control of me. And had a suspicion that maybe he was just getting a little lonely without even Lindquist to talk to. After all, I'd been known to talk to myself and even my truck while being alone for long periods on the road.

"I designed them with prototype integrated weapons systems," he continued, no longer even looking at me, "though my former partner never would have appreciated how brilliant they are." Then he paused for a moment, a smirk appearing on his face as he finished, "Now you really are armed."

The pun was almost enough to make me groan, though I held my tongue again. It was better than being told to shut up and then having absolutely no choice but to do so. At least knowing that I could talk if I really wanted to provided me with some small sense of relief. It wasn't much, but it was all that I had.

After staring at me for several more seconds, Westerman shook his head faintly before turning his back on me. Now that I had given him what he had wanted, as well as an opportunity to try his gadgets, I was no longer of any interest to him. At least not at the moment. Instead, he turned all of his attention back to the android he had been working on...much to my relief.

For the next several days, things had gone back to their previous routine. I was kept either standing around like a statue, or doing chores that Westerman had set me to while he worked on his android. Fortunately, none of those chores had anything to do with robbing another jewelry store.

I was standing off to the side, watching as Westerman worked on something, alternating between being satisfied and frustrated. However, there was a new urgency to his work that had been lacking before. Urgency...and even a bit of desperation.

Apparently, robbing the jewelry store hadn't been the end of Westerman's money problems. From what I'd overheard of him talking on the phone and to himself, he had gotten a pretty bad deal for trading in the jewels I'd stolen, getting a whole lot less than they would have been worth. And he'd already spent that on parts for his project.

But to make things worse for Westerman, much to my secret delight, was the fact that he and Lindquist had gotten behind on paying their bills, and now he was being threatened with being kicked out of the building. That was unless he was able to pay them within the next several days, apparently being pretty far behind. However, I realized that unless he sent me out on another 'ATM' run, there wasn't much chance of that happening.

"Damn them," Westerman cursed as he worked, "shortsighted fools..."

He continued for another minute before shifting position and lifting what looked like some sort of helmet. After staring at it for a moment, he moved closer to his still skinless android and adjusted something inside of it before closing a panel on the chest.

"I need more time," he complained to himself, "The autonomous controls aren't ready... " Then he paused and scratched at his chin before smirking faintly, "Fortunately, my brilliance provided the solution...albeit a temporary one."

With that, Westerman slipped the helmet on his head, pushing a button on the side of it and then staggering slightly. A moment later, the android began to move...just faintly at first. It's hands began to shift...and then it sat up.

"Oh shit," I started to gasp in surprise, but caught myself and forced myself to shut up.

Westerman's android quickly moved to it's feet, it's size now even more apparent as it towered over Westerman and myself. It was at about 8 feet tall and looked extremely frightening. I didn't think that even a layer of human skin could have done much to tone down just how monstrous it appeared.

"Yes," Westerman chuckled, raising his hand in front of his face...the android mimicking his motion exactly. "There are certain advantages to controlling it directly myself."

Staring at the monstrous machine in front of me, I desperately wished that I'd been free to run away as fast as I could. Hell, it was all that I could do just to keep from yelling out. And it kept moving, slowly stepping around the lab as Westerman stood off to the side, somehow remote controlling it with that helmet.

"Very good," he mused to himself thoughtfully, "Though the balance feels awkward and slightly clumsy..." However, a moment later he grinned, "But the power..."

Suddenly, Westerman moved the android forward and lunged straight at a large rack full of electronics on the wall. Without the least appearance of effort, the android picked the rack up and tossed it to the other side of the lab, smashing it to bits. Westerman seemed pleased at this, though didn't say anything. He tried again with another piece of extremely heavy looking equipment, again with the same ease.

I was feeling really spooked at the sight of this, especially when I thought that he might turn that raw power on me. Sure, wrestling was fun to watch on TV, but I suspected that having me be thrown around like that would be a lot less pleasant, especially when I couldn't even fight back.

Apparently getting carried away, Westerman held out his arm...and suddenly a beam of red light shot out of the palm of his hand. It hit the wall and burned a hole right through it, making me feel even more afraid than before. Being thrown around would have to be a hell of a lot nicer than that.

Westerman seemed satisfied with his new display of power, and much to my relief he didn't try to do any more. He'd already destroyed half of his lab, and I guess that was enough for the moment. With that, he pulled the helmet off and the big robot went still.

"They think that they can threaten me," Westerman said, this time looking at me, gesturing around the lab, "That they can take this away from me." He turned and started walking towards the door, slipping the helmet back on his head, "But now I'm going to take something from them. Their funding...and their lives."

At that moment, the android started moving again and left the room. Westerman remained for a little longer, gloating over his success but seeming to need an audience for it. Namely, me.

"Soon I'll have all the funding I need," Westerman muttered, glaring at me as if it was my fault the robbery hadn't given him enough. Then he turned and was gone as well.

For a long moment, I just remained where I was, filled with mixed emotions. I couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself involved in. A thousand thoughts filled my mind, the same ones which had since Westerman had turned me into his puppet.

If I'd never hit that deer, I wouldn't be here now. I'd be on the road, cheerfully munching on chips while making my run. I'd still be a man...not a woman...or what looked like a woman. Hell, I'd still be human...and most importantly...FREE.

"If," I muttered to myself. "The most powerful word in the word. It can turn beggars into millionaires.

Of course, it was useless to wish that things were otherwise. I mean, if wishes were horses...all the roads would be covered with horse manure. Wishing for things to be different than they were was useless. If you wanted them to be different, you'd have to make them so.

"Fat lot of good that does me," I complained, relieved that at least I could talk again now that Westerman was gone. At least for the moment.

Deciding to take advantage of the only freedom that I had...and as a way to occupy the time, I started singing. "A thousand bottles of beer on the wall..." However, I only got through a couple bottles before I grew tired of that song decided to try a Reba Macentyre song, "It was the night the lights went out in Georgia...."

I sang for several minutes, not really surprised that I remembered every word for the song. Ever since I'd been turned into an android, I'd found that my memory seemed to be extremely good when I really wanted to remember something. I figured that it was probably something to do that I had a computer for a brain....though I didn't think that I thought like a computer. But then again, how were computers supposed to think?

What did surprise me though was the realization of just how good my singing sounded to my own ears. I'd never had much of a singing voice before, so it seemed pretty damn amazing. Hell, I thought that my singing sounded just like Reba's did on the radio. Without the actual music of course, but that didn't seem to matter as I could hear it inside my own mind.

"What?" I demanded of the air with mock disappointment. "Don't I get any applause?" Then I smirked and in my best Rodney Dangerfield voice said, "No respect. I don't get no respect..."

Then I paused again, frowning in realization that my impression had been dead on. I not only sounded like a guy again while impersonating him...I actually sounded like him. But how was that possible...? Suddenly, the answer came to me...given by the computer that was now a part of me. My voice synthesizer...

Of course it seemed obvious now that I thought about it. It was so novel, and I knew that playing around with it would make a good distraction from everything else. So I started doing impressions, with each of them being identical to what was in my memory...which seemed to be pretty accurate now.

After doing this for a couple minutes, something suddenly dawned on me. I frowned as an idea began to form, more as a question at first but then as a brief hope. I just tried not to let my hope get up too much.

"You are free to move," I told myself, this time using Westerman's voice.

To my immense relief, I found that I could move. I slowly took several steps and moved my hands, a deep smile beginning to form on my face. He'd programmed the computer to obey his voice...not realizing that it might actually come from someone other than him. The very thought of that made me laugh aloud, for what was the first time in a good while.

"Not bad," I laughed, jumping up and down to savor the freedom of movement. It felt great.

However, my mood was dampened as I remembered that all Westerman had to do was get close and tell me what to do again. But then again, if I ran off now and didn't let him get close... Then another idea stared to form. Sure, I might drive a truck for a living, but that didn't mean I was dumb.

"Override code...delta sullivan three one nine," I announced, repeating the code that Westerman had used to take control of me, and in his voice at that. I felt a faint shift inside of me and realized that it was working...or at least I hoped it was. "Change override code to....," my mind raced for something and I blurted out, "Pink guacamole fudge ice cream."

The instant that I finished saying it, I felt the computer part of me accept it. It worked. I'd changed the password and was out of Westerman's power. However, just to be certain, I instructed the computer not to obey Westerman's voice anymore, freeing me from him for sure. I also made myself a mental note to get rid of the override completely when I had more time.

At the moment though, I didn't want to hand around for Westerman to come back. I took one look around the lab and then hurried through the building. Just outside, I found a car sitting there, bringing a broad smile to my face. However, as I had expected, the van was missing. It only took me another minute to find the keys, right next to where I'd seen the doc take the van keys from previously.

I quickly hopped in the car and started the engine, thinking that I just had to get as far away from this place...and Westerman as possible. Then I paused, slowly looking back and remembering Lindquist. Westerman had murdered him...just like he was going to murder more people. There was a pang of guilt at that, as though it was somehow my fault. As if their saving me in the first place may have set the whole thing in motion.

"Damn," I spat after a few seconds, shaking my head and letting out a stream of curses.

I certainly wasn't any kind of hero and had never considered myself to be one. I was just a guy... A guy who watched wrestling, ate chips and drank beer. A guy who sometimes read A Tale of Two Cities or books on philosophy. And at the moment, I was a guy who felt responsible for Westerman and knew that I had to at least do something.

With a deep scowl, I turned the car on the road and headed towards the city as fast as I could, hoping that I could somehow find the doc and stop him before he did anything too bad.

When I arrived at the city, I made my way towards the offices of the company that held the Doc's loans. I'd seen the address earlier on a letter that they'd sent him, and my improved memory had made sure that I still had it. And as I got closer, I kept a very careful look out for the van.

"There it is," I gasped as I spotted the van parked in an out of the way place. I was fortunate to have noticed it, though I suspected that the computer inside of me might have helped a little as well. "Gotcha now..."

It didn't take me long at to find nearby parking space, and then to run to the van. I was barely even conscious of the fact that I was in public while dressed only in a silvery bathing suit and shoes, having grown used to walking around in next to nothing. And it helped that I was so intent on my target.

"Westerman," I growled as I literally tore the back door off of the van. Then I let out an, "Oh shit."

The van was empty. I'd expected Westerman to be sitting around in the back with the helmet at the very least, but obviously he'd decided to do that from somewhere else. A quick thought occurred to me that it was probably somewhere where he could actually watch what was going on a lot better.

"Damn," I cursed, giving a swift kick to the side of the van and putting a pretty nice dent in the metal. "What am I going to do...?" I was almost in a panic, and realized for the first time that I should have called the cops from the beginning.

Letting out a howl of frustration, I punched the side of the van as well, putting another nice dent in it. Then I turned and looked around, noticing a pay phone outside of a store a short distance away. And of course, a number of people who were watching me with mixed expressions of disbelief and fear. Some were starting to run away. I tried not to pay attention to them as I started making my way towards the phone so that I could call the professionals for help.

Suddenly, a wall of glowing red light appeared right in front of me, making me gasp in surprise. I quickly looked around then gasped again as I saw what had created the wall. Neon. And the rest of the Elite were all scattered about as well.

"Oh shit," I whispered, not liking the look of this one little bit.

"When we heard that there was a robot running around here," Force announced, "I suspected that it might be you again..."

"You won't get away from me this time," Arachnid added, holding his clawed fingers out in a threatening manner.

If I'd still been able to, I was pretty sure that I would have shit my pants at this. Or at the very least, pissed myself. However, I wasn't able to anymore so perhaps that gave me enough edge to at least give the appearance of not being terrified.

"Um," Omni Woman turned to Force, "Didn't the report say that the robot was 8 feet tall?"

"An exaggeration," Force snorted, not taking his eyes off of me.

Deciding to make the next move, I called out, "I'm not the one you want..." They seemed surprised at that, "You need to stop him..."

"It's lying," Eclipse stated, firing a blast of raw energy straight at me. I was quick enough to dodge avoid it, but there was a nice hole where I had been standing.

The attack had horrified me, as well as made me realize that they weren't about to listen to reason. In fact, they reminded me of some cops that I'd run into before...being all smug and self-righteous. Being so positive that you were guilty that in their eyes, you'd already been tried and found guilty. Because of that, they weren't about to listen to me. It was a shoot first and ask questions later situation.

Not wanting to wait for them to attack again, I ran all out, but unfortunately away from the direction I really wanted to go since Neon's wall was still there. It only took several seconds for Arachnid to charge straight at me, obviously deciding that a direct physical attack would be a lot more effective.

"NO," Eclipse yelled out, "You're in my way..."

I threw Arachnid off of me, but he quickly regained his balance and charged again, this time with his claws stretched out. However, I managed to grab his arm, throwing him to the side. A second later, I realized my mistake as it had left me open for another distance attack.

A single glance revealed that Neon was standing back with a glowing neon green energy sword and a matching shield. The glowing parts of his costumes were now all of the same color. And he was beginning to move towards me with a purpose.

"My turn," Omni Woman exclaimed, picking up a car and actually throwing it at me. I managed to avoid it, but knew that I wouldn't be able to keep avoiding their attacks.

An instant later, Force came flying down straight towards me, catching me with a punch. I was suddenly thrown backwards....right through the window of a store. I managed to get back to my feet, stunned that I wasn't really hurt. Apparently I'd managed to twist myself enough to avoid the worst of the punch.

"Sporting goods," I muttered as I looked around what was obviously a sporting goods store. And I'd landed in the middle of some baseball stuff. Without any hesitation, I stood up and grabbed a baseball and baseball bat.

Before I'd even made my way to the window, both Arachnid and Neon were standing there. I grimaced and threw the baseball as hard as I could with Arachnid, giving a silent apology as it hit him straight in the chest and sent him flying back. As for Neon, I jumped forward with the baseball bat, however, he blocked the bat with his energy shield and started to swing the sword at me, hitting the store wall instead as I shot past him.

"I'm not your enemy!" I called out, but none of them seemed to hear me...or just didn't care.

Once again, Omni Woman came at me, this time deciding to make it up close and personal. I remembered how easily she'd lifted that car and wasn't very thrilled with the idea of mixing it up with her...or of hitting a girl for that matter. Even if I happened to look like one myself now.

"Careful," Force called out to her, "You've only got one power at a time." It didn't take a genius to realize that he meant that since she was really strong right now, she probably wasn't any tougher than normal.

Several more attacks came all at once, though I managed to grab Neon and throw him towards Omni Woman. She caught him, though seemed somewhat surprised by the move. I turned to Eclipse, who was getting ready to fire another blast at me, and changed position enough so that Omni Woman was between the two of us so he wouldn't dare fire.

"This isn't working," Omni Woman complained, "I need another power."

She stepped back out of the way, then stood where she was with a look of concentration on her face. That was the way she remained for about fifteen seconds. Then she looked up at me, a bunch of electricity moving around her hands. A moment later, she actually shot a blast of electricity straight towards me, though her aim wasn't the greatest.

I was getting sick and tired of being shot at from a distance and wished that I could do something back, when I suddenly realized that I could. Westerman had 'armed' me when he'd rearmed me. And my computer just fed the instructions on how to use it into my mind.

"Take this," I called out, a beam of red light shooting out of the palm of my hand, straight into the ground in front of Omni Woman. I had no intention of actually hurting anyone, but I hoped that a warning shot might get them to back off a bit.

It did...though I suddenly wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. I'd just escalated things to the next level, and wasn't sure that I wanted to know where that would lead. I was already being chased by some of the most famous heroes in the world...and was lucky enough to have survived so long as it was.

Then, Force fired a beam of raw force at me again, just as Arachnid jumped at me and got in the way. The armored spider hero was badly hit, his armor even looking cracked all over as he hit the ground instead. I wasn't sure that he would even be able to get up again. However, he still had enough in him to aim his arm at me...and shoot some sort of metal net out of it.

"Oh shit," I cried out as the net hit me with enough force to throw me back, and then stuck into the wall behind me. I was stuck.

"Got her," Force cried out triumphantly.

However, Omni Woman glared at him, "It looks like you got Arachnid instead." That just got her a glare back.

As I watched this, I suddenly realized something. Any one of these guys was more than enough to take me down without much problem. But together...together they kept getting in each other's way. They kept attacking me one at a time, not working together like the team that they were supposed to be. That was how come I'd lasted so long against them. They were their own worse threats...as was proven by Arachnid.

Though the observation might be useful, I first had to get out of that metal webbing that Arachnid had pinned me to the wall with. That wasn't very difficult though as I just had to use the energy blasts from my own hands to blast through part of it, then slipping out while they were all still distracted by Arachnid's being hit.

"She's free," Omni Woman cried out, firing a blast of electricity at me...or at least at where I'd been a moment before.

"I've got her," Neon announced, blocking my path with a glowing neon blue wall. Then he charged straight at me with that glowing sword of his.

"You've got to stop this," I tried telling him, though he swung at me with the sword. I jumped back, realizing that he was showing off a little bit more than just going straight at me. He probably wanted to look impressive to his friends.

Neon kept swinging at me, trying to drive me back before finishing me off. Force was calling for Neon to get out of the way, while Eclipse just floated in the air, waiting for an opening. However, Neon was so intent on getting me himself that he was getting in the way of the other's possible attacks. And that was good news for me.

Unlike some of the others, Neon didn't seem much for talk, though he was one for show. He kept slashing at me as I stepped back, and then jumped out of the way. As he took one more slash at me, I jumped out of the way, just in time for his energy sword to cut through a fire hydrant behind me instead. It suddenly exploded in an eruption of water, which startled him and gave me time to get further away. Unfortunately, it also gave an opening for the others to come at me again.

Force landed right in front of me, standing there with a smug expression on his face. I just glared at him, then wiped my soaking hair back out of my face. He was probably the most powerful of the group, being one of the most powerful heroes on the planet. And I had no doubt that I couldn't beat him in a face to face fight...even in my suped up body.

Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Omni Woman about to try blasting me from behind while I was distracted by Force. And at the same time, I took a step back into the huge puddle of water that was forming, realizing that I had an opportunity. And I used it. The moment that Omni Woman fired a blast of electricity at me, I jumped as high and as far as far as I could, getting out of the way while the blast hit Force head on instead.

"FORCE!" Omni Woman cried out.

In the huge blast of sparks, Force collapsed to his knees, though that wasn't all. Neon was soaking wet and still standing next to the fire hydrant. The electricity shot through the water and hit him as well, causing him to howl in pain before collapsing.

A single look revealed that Neon was still moving, but barely. Force had taken the brunt of the blast, but he wasn't nearly as affected as Neon. However, it had hurt him, which brought me some mixed feelings. Sure, he was trying to kill me at the moment...but he was one of the good guys.

"You idiot," Force screamed out at Omni Woman, while Eclipse just glared at her with an arrogant, superior expression.

She looked as though she felt horrible for hitting her own team mates, though I was thankful. If these guys actually knew how to work together...or at least stay back and out of each other's way, then they would have taken me down right away. My opinion of these heroes was really taking a nose dive. In a way, the feeling was a lot like discovering that Santa Clause doesn't exist.

"Westerman," I muttered, giving the brief hope that all of this chaos would have chased him away. However, remembering that single-minded determination of his, I rather doubted that. Those people were still in danger, and the Elite were providing the perfect distraction for him.

"I need to change powers," Omni Woman told herself. She hadn't said it very loudly, but it was loud enough for now much increased hearing to pick up. "Something to stop a robot..." Then she grinned as she finished, "Electro magnetic pulse blasts..."

Omni Woman paused at that and then took several steps back as if to further herself from the danger, and then she started the look of concentration that she'd had earlier while changing powers. I realized that her powers didn't change instantly. There was a period where she had to reset them. A period where she was helpless...

Not being one to waste an opportunity, I charged straight towards her. And though I felt incredibly guilty about it, I punched her in the solar plexus, though definitely not as hard as I could have. I wanted to incapacitate her, not kill...or even really injure her. And apparently, I'd got to her soon enough as she started to drop to her knees.

"Two left," I told myself, watching as Force got back to his knees and started to lift a car. Eclipse however was focusing on me, a sphere of black shadow beginning to form around his body, around the part that was all black. And without a word, he fired it at me, a stream of pure shadow. I barely managed to avoid it. "Damn..."

I ran, avoiding two more blasts from Eclipse, one glowing energy and the other pure shadow. And at the same time, Force was actually lifting a car to throw at me, though he still looked a bit shaken from that shock.

"Over here," I called Eclipse, "Hit me if you can!" He scowled at that, looking fairly angry, "You couldn't hit the broad side of the barn!"

Then, I turned and fired a blast at Force, knowing that it wouldn't hurt him, though I guessed right in that it distracted him. It distracted him enough so that he dropped the car right on his own head, which didn't to much to improve his temper. And then I yelled a couple more insults at Eclipse, already on the move.

By now, Eclipse seemed pissed, just as I had hoped. I just hoped...prayed that it didn't blow up in my face. If I still had a heart, I was sure that it would have exploded from the excitement and fear already. Then finally, he fired another blast of shadow at me. And again, I dodged out of the way. This time, his blast hit Force straight in the chest. Force let out a howl of pain, then collapsed to his knees, shaking badly and looking completely exhausted.

"You bastard," Force gasped, sounding just as tired as he looked. Obviously those shadow blasts of Eclipses took a lot of energy out of whatever they hit. Just as reported on TV.

"Thank you Developments," I grinned, always having known that TV could prove pretty education. Especially a show that tells all about those developed people's powers.

And then I looked up at Eclipse, the only member of the Elite who was still active. However, Omni Woman was started to get back up, as was Arachnid so I knew that I had to make this quick. Without a word, I grabbed Force, who was now too weak to resist, and threw him straight at Eclipse.

"Catch," I called out.

As expected, the flying hero caught his friend, though it knocked him back. And while he was completely occupied by his friend and unable to watch me, I took the opportunity to run down an alley and out of sight. I looked back after a minute and was relieved that no one was following. He probably didn't even have a clue where I had run off to...and hopefully was taking care of his hurt friends instead.

I paused in the alley to lean back against a wall, feeling as though I wanted to throw up...though it was more psychological than physical. I'd fought some of the biggest developed around...and to my complete shock, had actually won. Or least had managed to get away, which at the moment meant the same thing.

While leaning back, I looked down at my breasts, at the fully female looking body and shook my head. Who ever would have imagined that something that looked like an overgrown barbie doll could be so powerful. I sure as hell didn't feel powerful.

"Damn these clothes," I spat, realizing that if first Lindquist and then Westerman hadn't had such a thing for dressing me in skimpy clothes, then I wouldn't have been nearly so noticeable. And the Elite might not have caught me before I could do anything.

However, that just reminded me why I was really there. Westerman. He was still out there with that monster android of his, and it appeared that the Elite weren't going to be of much help in stopping him. It looked like it was still up to me. Damn.

I stood outside of a large building, scowling deeply as I did so. So far, I had seen no sign of Westerman himself, though evidence of his monster was right in front of me. Specifically, the fact that the front doors to the office building were completely blown in.

"He's already inside," I muttered nervously, saying what was already so obvious. I just hoped that I wasn't too late. Hell, I still wasn't even sure what I could do against it. But I had to try.

Still, I couldn't quite bring myself to go on. Not yet. I was terrified, not sure of what was going to happen. That android was huge, built for war. And I was inside of one that was built for sex. There wouldn't be any competition.

With a shake of my head, I reached down and grabbed my tits, muttering, "Super hero Barbie I ain't..."

For another second, I remained where I was, staring down at myself. Then finally though, the thought of Westerman and his android brought me out of it. What the hell was I doing waiting around when every second could count? It could very well already be too late.

And with that thought, I ran straight for the torn open doors of the building, and then up the stairs that were smashed in. The path of damage was easy to follow, as was the sound on crunching and crashing that I started to hear a short distance off. I grimaced and hurried even faster.

"Damn," I cursed, wishing that I knew where the doc was hiding. It would be a hell of a lot easier just to stop him and take away the helmet. In fact, that was what I had originally intended to do. But that just reminded me of that old saying about the best laid plans.

It was about the fifth floor when I caught up with the big guy and saw him leaving the stairwell. I cringed but charged straight at him anyway, punching him as hard as I could in the back and knocking him forward. I heard people scream about us, though I wasn't sure if it was because of the big android or myself.

"It's a robot," one woman screamed off from the side.

Someone else called out in shock, "Is that a mannequin?"

"Yeah," I spat out, "I'm a damn mannequin." I glared at the man, "You have a problem with that?"

The man just paled before turning and running, just as everyone else was already doing. I knew that I'd gotten there just in time. The offices of the people the doc was planning on killing were on that floor. If the Elite had delayed me any more...

Just then, the big android shifted position and turned to face me, it's head nearly scraping the ceiling. It looked every inch the weapon that Westerman had designed it to be, from the gray metal parts to what seemed to be some sort of huge gun where it's left hand should be.

"What are you doing here?" Westerman's voice came from the android. He was obviously stunned since he'd left me as little more than the mannequin I appeared back at the lab.

"Stopping you," I spat back, trying not to look as terrified as I felt. One thing about having an artificially generated voice was the fact that I could keep it from shaking.

Westerman didn't even move the android for a moment. He just stood there motionless before finally ordering, "Cease all movement."

I froze at that, not because I had to anymore, but because I wanted to. And because it gave me a good idea. I remained froze, until the android started to turn. Then I charged forward again and punched it again, this time in the side. However, he swung his arm back and caught me, sending me right into the wall with a heavy crunch. Fortunately, the crunch was from the wall...not from me.

"You're still moving?" He gasped in surprise, obviously even more confused at how I was no able to disobey his orders. That was enough to make me smile, even as I climbed out from the wall.

"And you're still an asshole," I responded, silently hoping that my distraction was letting everyone get away. I didn't see anyone left in the area, though that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Still not accepting that, Westerman demanded, "I order you to cease movement immediately." When I didn't stop, he growled, "Deactivate all systems." But again, it had no effect on me.

"What's wrong?" I demanded furiously, "Someone cut your puppet strings?" I'd had more than enough of being his puppet and was finding it incredibly satisfying to refuse his commands. Not to mention rubbing it in.

Though the android didn't show any emotions, I could still feel the rage that Westerman was feeling at that moment. He was obviously getting pretty pissed at me, which brought a smile to my face. But it also made me more cautious, not to mention more nervous.

Westerman made one more attempt, "Override code...delta sullivan three one nine."

I froze the instant that I heard him start saying that, terrified that I hadn't been able to really change the override. That maybe it had been designed so that it couldn't be. However, there wasn't that little shift inside of me and I let out a sigh of relief, now positive that it had worked. I truly was free of him.

"Nope," I told him, "I don't think so."

That seemed to be the last straw though as Westerman's android swung it's fist at me, with me barely managing to avoid it. The fist smashed into the wall and tore a heavy hole through it, making me wince, unable to believe that I could possibly survive a hit from something like that. Intellectually, I knew that this body probably could...at least for awhile, but mentally...I still thought of myself as an all too human truck driver.

"Stand still," Westerman growled at me from the android.

However, I laughed, "Didn't you already try that?" That only seemed to infuriate him more.

Without another word, the android started punching at me again, one after another. However, I was able to dodge them, finding that I was a bit faster and a lot more maneuverable than my hulking 'brother'. At the same time though, there was absolutely no doubt that he was a hell of a lot stronger than me too.

"Everyone get out of here!" I yelled, just in case anyone had been stupid enough to hide under their desks instead of running.

Suddenly the android raised it's arm and opened fire a me, releasing a blast of red energy. I'd barely seen it coming in time to drop to the ground, then roll out of the way. Remembering what that had done to the wall at the lab, I didn't want to risk taking any kind of hit from it. And I had to keep avoiding it as Westerman fired several more blasts, tearing apart the offices that were around me.

"Holy shit," I gasped in fear and awe as I glanced around, seeing what kind of havoc the Doc's killer robot could create. There was no doubt that I preferred Lindquist's idea of what a robot should be, even I was stuck inside of one.

Apparently deciding that he'd had enough with shooting me at the moment, Westerman had the robot stand there, leaving me trapped against the window. I couldn't really make it out past him, but a single glance behind me and then back at him gave me an idea.

"And I thought you were supposed to be smart," I yelled at him. Then I gestured around me, spitting out, "But you couldn't even think of anything better than what some drop out gang member would." He took a step towards me and I gave a mocking gasp, "Oooops, I'm mad. I'd better go do a drivebye... What an idiot..."

My taunting worked just as well on him as it had on Eclipse because as I had expected, Westerman charged straight at me. However, that was the only thing that went quite according to my hasty plan, because as I stepped to the side to let him charge straight through the window, he stopped short, lashing out and grabbing hold of my arm.

"Oh," but he taunted back, "But I am smart. Smart enough not to fall for such an obvious ploy..." I could feel the sneer behind the words, even though there was no visible expression to go with it.

I didn't have time to think and reacted more out of instinct than anything else. And perhaps because of some subtle information from my internal computer as well. An instant later, I lashed out. Instead of trying to pull away from him which would have been useless, I slammed myself right into him, shoving him straight through the window.

The only thought that ran through my mind was, "OH SHIT!" Somehow, I'd thought that he'd let go of me as he went through...but I was wrong.

Somehow, though I wasn't completely sure how, I instinctively shifted my balance in midair. It was probably more influence from my computer, perhaps assisting in my goals. And because of that, I was on top when we hit the ground, leaving Westrman's android to take the brunt of the impact. All 5 stories worth.

Rebounding off to the side, I silently thanked God...and then my computer. It didn't have a mind of it's own...only mine, but I was sure that it had a large role in saving my butt.

However, just as I was beginning to count my blessings, I realized that I'd started to do so too soon. The android was starting to get back up. And that was definitely not good for me.

"Where the hell is that bastard?" I muttered as I thought about how much easier it would be to just stop that asshole rather than fight his damn robot. Besides, his fighting by remote control just didn't seem fair at all.

I didn't have much chance to think about what I'd like to do to that asshole as his android was already taking several steps towards me again, showing no signs of being damaged in the fall. Then it stopped there for a moment, and instead of charging straight at me, it raised it's hands, giving me only a bad feeling before it fired a blast of red energy. But this time, I didn't even need to dodge out of the way as the blast missed me by nearly 10 feet.

"Wow," I whispered, not sure if my luck was getting better or his aim was getting worse. Come to think of it, I guessed they were the same thing.

Several seconds later, more blasts were fired, barely even in my direction at all. I was stunned to realize that Westerman hadn't been trying to hit me. He was showing off. The bastard wanted me to see just how powerful his combat android really was. Without a word, he fired more blasts of energy into walls and cars.

People were screaming as they ran away and several cars were crashing in the desperation to get away. Westerman hardly seemed to notice that as he cut loose with more energy blasts, though not seeming to actually aim at any of the people. It was as if he wasn't even thinking about the people at all...as if using the android to do all of that from a distance made it less real to him. Or made him feel less responsible. Then again, maybe it was just because he was a freaking sociopath who'd finally found a way to cut loose without fear of consequences.

Then Westerman paused, giving me enough chance to realize that most of the people had already gotten out of sight. That was a slight relief, though not nearly as much as if I could. I was seriously regretting that I'd tried coming after him rather than just running off when I could. What had I been thinking? I wasn't any kind of hero.

After only waiting a few seconds, Westerman changed tactics. He suddenly opened up with the gattling gun that was part of his arm...sending a rain of bullets everywhere. This time, I ran and jumped behind a car, landing flat on my stomach and being fortunate I did as the bullets almost cut the car in half a little higher up.

"Oh shit," I gasped, wincing as I glanced at him from under the car. He was still shooting, and not just at me. He was aiming at the buildings nearby, causing tons of damage. Windows were exploding everywhere.

"Very good," he laughed, "This will provide ample demonstration of my android's capabilities. Now I will have buyers lining up..."

"You're crazy," I called out, desperately hoping for the Elite to show up again. Even if it was to come after me. Dealing with guys like him was supposed to be their job.

Westerman didn't respond to that, at least not verbally. Fortunately, he didn't open up fire again. Instead, he started moving closer to me, probably wanting to look me in the face when he destroyed me. Or maybe, just to keep the damage to a minimum when he killed me because my new body was so expensive.

The reprieve from shooting didn't last long though as Westerman fired a blast of energy at the car I was hiding behind. That was all of the encouragement I needed to get my ass in gear and run again, avoiding several more blasts before I took cover behind a UPS truck. At least I hoped it would give me a second or two to try figuring out my next move.

"Please God," I looked up, "Get me out of here..."

Then I tried taking a peak around the corner, only to nearly have my head taken off by a blast of energy. The doc's laughter followed right behind, making me realize that he was still playing with me. That just pissed me off more. I was sick and tired of being shot at. First by the Elite, and now by him...

Finally having enough, and remembering that I was armed too, I called out, "MY TURN!"

With that, I stepped around the corner and opened fire with energy blasts from both of my hands. I could feel the strange tingling coming out of my palms, right before the red lights shot out. And I felt a pleasant stir of satisfaction as I was finally fighting back. My only regret was that I hadn't done so sooner, but that would have been hard to do with so many people around. Not to mention when I didn't even remember that I could.

"Gotcha!" I yelled out in delight, though only one of my blasts had hit Westerman. However, it had been enough to knock him back a tiny bit, and leave a heavy singe on the armored part of his chest where I'd hit. In fact, it even looked a little melted. But unfortunately, it wasn't enough to stop it. "Damn..."

I fired another couple blasts before jumping back behind the truck. The android was taking another crack at me, tearing holes in the truck and then opening up with the gattling gun again. I just ran, turning a corner and using the building as cover to return fire, hoping that I could do some real damage. However, so far I'd only done a real small amount. But unfortunately, his blasts were a hell of a lot more powerful than mine were.

"You might as well surrender," Westerman called out arrogantly. "As you can see...my combat android is much superior to that prototype..." Then after several seconds he added, "Still, I would hate to waste such a resource..." Left unspoken was the threat to do exactly that though if I didn't surrender.

I shook my head, clenching my fists tightly together. No way was I going to go back to being just a puppet. I might look like a mannequin, but that sure as hell didn't mean I was going to let myself be made into one again.

Deciding to give Westerman the response he deserved, I snapped around the corner and gave him another couple blast. I caught him straight in the chest with both of them, doing some damage to the metal armor, but not enough to destroy him. But that didn't stop me from firing again, this time deciding to try something different. This time...I aimed towards his hands. And to my amazement, I actually hit where I aimed.

"YES!" I exclaimed, giving silent thanks to both God and the computer inside me that had helped guide the shots.

I'd done it. I'd managed to take out his energy blasters, which left me with a few more options. The first one that came to mind was run, but instead, I turned and charged straight at him, knowing that it was probably stupid, but I was sick and tired of running. I jumped at him, catching him straight in the chest with a flying kick that I hadn't even known that I was capable of until that moment. The android was thrown backwards, though he caught his balance and seemed unharmed.

Westerman didn't say a word as he started swinging his fist at me, though I managed to avoid them. I'd already seen that the android was a lot slower and clumsier than I was. Whether that was because it was bigger and bulkier, or because Westerman was controlling it by remote while I was plugged directly into my body, I didn't know. Nor did I particularly care. It was something that I'd been counting on when I charged and planned on taking full advantage of.

For nearly a minute, Westerman and I traded punches and kicks. He would lash out at me and I would dodge or block, then strike back at him. I hit him a number of times and was sure that I'd actually damaged part of the android, but it was still going.

"Where are those developed heroes when you really need them," I asked as I gave a powerful kick to the androids waist, hearing a faint crunch. I couldn't believe how durable it was.

Finally, Westerman laughed, "Very impressive for a sex toy..." Then he charged straight at me, catching me with a punch that sent me flying backwards.

I hit the ground and rolled, having automatically shifted my weight to avoid taking too much damage. However, there was no doubt that I couldn't keep taking punches like that or I'd end up smashed to pieces like fine china.

Giving a glare at my feminine hands, at the tiny red lenses in the middle of my palms I wished that I had something more powerful to hit him with. That I had some kind of weapon that would actually do some real good against that monster.

Suddenly, I gasped, instantly knowing that I did. I just wished that my computer had fed me that information a little earlier. However, it only gave me a slightly more powerful weapon, not anything that would guarantee the android's destruction.

With that, the backs of my arms sort of opened up and a small piece of the inside raised up and shifted into position, forming a sort of gun. I winced at the sight of them as they were reminders of how inhuman my body now was, but felt a surge of relief as I knew they were also my only hope at the moment.

"Here goes nothing," I growled, charging straight at Westerman again.

Though there was no expression on his android's robotic face, I could feel the smug confidence that Westerman was giving off...even through the machinery. And I could imagine the look on his face as I suddenly opened fire with both of my arms...firing a pair of tiny round projectiles that were smaller than marbles...but made of concentrated explosives. They were tiny, but potent grenades.

"Tag," I spat as I changed direction, having aimed at what looked like the weakest parts of the android.

A pair of explosions knocked me off of my feet, though I quickly got back up and looked at the android...or at least what remained of it. One of the grenades had caught it in the waist where it was swiveling around, while the other had caught it in the neck. It had worked even better than I'd hoped. The android was nearly blown in half at the waist, only being partly still connected. The head however was completely removed.

I stood above the wreckage, shaking my head in disbelief. The body was still twitching around, though what was left of the head was about seven feet away and fairly whole. The glow in the eyes faded away as I watched.

For a moment, I just stared at the machine in disgust, not pleased with the fact that underneath my plastic looking skin was something similar. Something a lot less bulky and powerful, but something similar all the same. However, I put those thoughts out of my mind, reminding myself that I was lucky to still be alive. Alive...and free.

Without a word, I deactivated the grenades and launchers, pulling them back in and sealing my arms again. Then I told the head, "If you can still see me Doc...you lose." And with that, I fired a blast of energy at the head, destroying it completely, then turning my attention to the body and firing several more shots at it's exposed internals, making sure that it was taken care of too.

As soon as I was done firing, I felt a sudden weakness and staggered slightly. I suddenly felt...tired. Almost exhausted. It was the first time that I'd felt anything like that since awaking after the crash. For a moment, I just stood there, wondering what was wrong. Then it came to me...fed directly to my mind by the computer. I was low on energy. Each of those blasts had taken a good bit of it, leaving me barely enough to keep going.

"Oh shit," I whispered, wondering if I had to get some robot gas or something. But again, the information was fed directly into my mind. I had some sort of self recharging power core that would keep me going almost indefinitely. Theoretically at least. All that I had to do was keep from wasting more energy for a day or so and I'd soon be back to full power.

Giving a frown, I tore my eyes away from the android wreckage and looked around, seeing only faint signs of other people...but not of Westerman. Then I realized that the cops would probably be getting there soon...and maybe even some heroes like the Elite. I definitely didn't want to deal with them again, especially then.

"Damn," I muttered, deciding that I had better get out of there quickly. And, I looked down at myself, at my tits and curvaceous female body, plastic skin and all. Obviously I would have to do something to avoid attracting attention again, which could be rather difficult.

With that in mind, started to hurry out of the area as fast as I could, delaying only long enough to run into a store across the street to pick up a few items that I would need. Still, even with that necessary stop, I was still far enough away by the time the cops arrived.

It had been a full day since the fight with Westerman's android and the Elite, though it didn't seem quite that long to me. It almost seemed as though it was only an hour earlier, being so fresh and clear in my mind that I could hardly believe it. Hell, I could hardly believe that I had anything to do with fighting either those heroes or a monster android. That wasn't the kind of stuff I did.

Unable to help myself, I glanced around nervously, half afraid that someone was coming for me. Specifically, Westerman...and especially the Elite. I winced faintly at the thought, though I hadn't seen any sign of either the doc or the heroes.

Once I was finished looking around, I looked down, thankful that no one was giving me very much attention. Of course, the clothes that I'd taken from that store the day before were great for helping hide my plastic looking skin. Instead of going half naked, I was wearing a jogging suit, with an overcoat and hat. Now I was able to blend in on the streets instead of being stared at, at least so long as no one gave a very close look at my face.

"Maybe they'll just mistake me for Michael Jackson," I muttered sarcastically, thinking about my plastic looking skin.

I wasn't even sure what to think about what I had become. For one, I wasn't even human anymore. And for another, I looked like a woman, and a very well endowed woman at that. Of course that wasn't even taking into account that with my odd skin, I also happened to look like a mannequin. But then again, I reminded myself with a faint smile, I could live with all of that. It was being someone's puppet that I refused to accept.

Then I caught sight of something on the TV's in the electronics store window and moved closer for a better look. When I got there, I was slightly startled to see that it was footage of my fight with the Elite the day before. Someone had been recording the whole thing from the window with a video camera.

Without saying a word, I watched as it showed Eclipse and Force blasting holes in the street and walls while trying to hit me. It showed Neon cutting through the fire hydrant, as well as several cars being thrown around and crushed by the heroes. Even though I'd been there, the sight was disturbing. Especially when they showed all of the destruction that was left on the street after the fight...and the fact that it was the heroes who'd caused almost all of it.

"Oh shit," I whispered, shaking my head faintly. All of that video really made the Elite come out looking bad. "And they think that I'm some kind of super villain..."

Of course, me being some kind of villain was the most ridiculous thing that I'd ever heard. I was a trucker...not a villain. Then again, after Westerman had made me do that robbery, and then that fight I had with the Elite...I could see why they might think that. And that was why I had to keep out of sight and avoid notice, which wasn't going to be extremely easy considering my unique appearance.

As they finished showing the footage of my fight with the Elite, it went to a brief thing on the 'killer robot' which had torn apart a building and the street below just a short time afterwards. However, this time they only showed footage of all of the damage afterwards, not of me or the fight itself. I guessed that there wasn't anyone hanging around with a video camera that time.

"Why couldn't they get me saving people," I complained with a sigh, thinking that at least that way I might not have to hide so much. However, it was no use complaining about it.

After that store was over, I remained where I was for another minute, thinking about how bad things might get if the Elite came after me again. I had no doubt that the only reason I'd done so well against them was because they didn't know how to work together. After all, any one of them could have taken me down alone. But I guess that in the Elite's case, the whole isn't stronger than the sum of it's parts. At least at the moment. I wouldn't be so lucky again.

Then I tried to put the heroes out of my mind, remembering that they much more important things to worry about than me. If I kept my head down and avoided notice, I'd be fine. As I thought about it, I realized that it wasn't the heroes that I had to worry about. It was Westerman. The doc was still out there...and I knew that he wasn't done with me yet. I'd be hearing from him again. Of that I was certain.

Finally, I turned away from the TV in the window and slowly started walking down the sidewalk, deciding to deal with that problem when I came to it. At the moment, I was a mannequin and had no idea what I was going to do next, but that didn't bother me too much. I was alive and free...and those were the most important things.

Author's Note: This is the latest story in my Legacy Universe. Like the others, it is self contained and does not require having read any of the previous stories to be understood or enjoyed. The other Legacy stories in order of their being written are listed below.

The Miracle Legacy
Change of Heart
Hardshell
The Praxis Crossing
Manniquin

I grimaced, cursing the weather in frustration. It was too damn hot. Then I reminded myself halfheartedly that it really wasn't all that bad. It could have been a lot hotter out, like it had been the week before. Or even worse, it could be raining.

On a normal day, I wouldn't care about the weather. I'd been nice and comfortable inside of an air-conditioned office building. But not at the moment. At the moment, I was standing out in the middle of what looked like a large parking lot, next to the half demolished remains of a warehouse.

However, neither the parking lot nor the warehouse were what occupied my attention. Instead, I was watching the truck and the dozen men in sealed yellow suits who were carefully loading five gallon drums into it. Drums that were each clearly marked BIOHAZARD.

My name was Scott Felding, and I was a fairly tall and somewhat attractive man of 32. I would never be on any magazine covers, but I didn't have much difficulty in finding dates either...though I had yet to find the right woman to settle down with.

I also worked for Barion Morris Realtors. In fact, that was the reason that I was currently standing outside and watching the men in the biohazard suits working.

My company had leased the property to a smaller company, though it recently turned out that this was a front for some sort of mad scientist super villain. He had built some sort of laboratory within the facilities, though doing what I still did not know. All I knew was that some hero had found out taken him out, but there was a large mess left behind which required cleaning up. And my job at the moment was to was to watch the cleanup crew for my company.

Even though I had been watching the hazardous materials being removed for most of the day, I still wasn't even really sure what was in them. I had heard them mention that they thought it was waste products from various experiments and possibly mutagentic compounds, though that made little sense to me. I worked in property management...not biochemistry.

"We're almost done," one man called out from by the truck.

I looked over at the half dozen containers that appeared to be near the last of what they had found in the facility, but still had to be loaded into the truck. I nodded faintly, thankful that I'd finally be able to get out of there and back to doing my normal job. Baby-sitting these over hyped janitors was taking time away from my real work.

Suddenly, I heard a noise from above...just an instant before a massive ball of fire smashed into the ground on the other side of the parking lot. But a moment later, the ball of fire stood up...revealing itself to be a man...or at least what looked like a man made of fire.

"What the hell?" I demanded in shock, though fear quickly appeared as well.

The burning man stood there for a moment, looking somewhat dazed. Then the flames around him seemed to grow even more intense, burning into...melting the very concrete that he stood on.

But then, something else suddenly hit the ground as well a short distance away, though this time it was not a burning man. This man was not burning at all. Instead, he was well muscled and blonde with the square jawed good looks that everyone instantly attributed to either the perfect super hero...or actor. He was also dressed in a blue and white spandex costume. The white on his chest was framed by the blue to form a stylized letter F, and there were silver metal wrist bands and shoulder pads, as well as a white cape. And this man was familiar to not only me, but anyone else who watched the news.

"Force," I gasped, instantly recognizing the world famous hero.

Without a word, Force punched the ground, sending a sudden shockwave through the ground and knocking the burning man off his feet. However, the same shockwave knocked me off my feet as well.

I quickly scrambled back to my feet, seeing that the burning man was flying off into the air, with Force following close behind him. Force quickly even overtook the burning man, hitting him and slamming him back to the ground...or at least right into the top of the truck full of biohazard canisters.

The cleanup crew were already running, though I could only stare in shock as the truck started to erupt in flames. The burning man went back to the air and fired a stream of fire from his hands, straight at Force, though it seemed to do no good at all. Force even grinned before firing some sort of blast back, missing the burning man but hitting the ground below him, sending a massive shockwave out which shattered concrete...and sending me flying backwards.

"Oh shit!" I screamed, suddenly realizing just how much danger I was in.

I yelled out to get Force's attention, to let him know that I was right there. But to my horror, I realized that he didn't notice me...or just didn't care. How could he possibly have missed a bunch of guys in bright yellow biohazard suits running around beneath him? He had to know that we were there...

Force slammed the burning man into the ground again, then hit it himself. Just as I was getting back to my feet, he slammed the ground, sending out a massive shockwave that shattered the concrete...creating gaps and holes. And a moment later, the truck...still on fire...suddenly exploded.

I screamed in pain and terror as I was thrown back, fire erupting everywhere around me. But instead of hitting the ground, I continued to fall a little further before finally slamming to a painful stop. Though everything was happening so fast, a part of me was aware that I had fallen through one of the holes that Force had torn in the parking lot, and into one of the tunnels below it.

"FORCE!" I screamed out for help, or at least tried to since all that came out was a weak gasp.

There was no doubt that I was hurt, though just how badly I couldn't tell. Everything hurt too damn much. Though I could guess that I was probably burned from the explosion and fire, not to mention whatever the fall had done to me.

As bad as I was though, I was still holding on. I was still awake, which meant that I saw the half charred biohazard canister as it fell down into the hole with me. It hit hard, splitting open and spilling some sort of slimy goo all over me. I tried screaming, but that only let some of it get inside my mouth, causing me to choke as I struggled for breath.

Suddenly, my skin started burning...though it was hard to tell on top of all the other pain that I was feeling. But even then, something else hit me...dripping on me from above. Somewhere up above...probably by the hole was another leaky canister. Whether it was the same stuff as the one beside me or something else, I didn't know. Nor did I truly care. At the moment, I didn't care much about anything...even if I lived or died.

At the moment, my whole world had dissolved into nothing but pain, dizziness and confusion. But even that slowly faded away into nothingness.

I had no idea how long I remained there at the bottom of that hole, soaked with the biohazard goo, fading in and out of consciousness. My existence seemed to alternate between periods of nothing, and periods of awareness...awareness that was filled with pain and numbness.

At first, I silently prayed during my periods of awareness...prayed for someone to find me. I prayed for the pain to end. And I even prayed for a quick death, rather than the slower one which I was coming to believe awaited me.

Towards the beginning, my periods of consciousness could barely be called that. I was in pain, feeling as though my skin were on fire and everything within me was broken. Those periods were short, and my mind too dazed to even think clearly at all. I was barely even aware of my surroundings. But then my periods of wakefulness slowly became longer and more clear. The pain was replaced more and more with a numbness over my entire body.

Then came the time that I had been awake, staring up at the sky through the hole above me and slowly realizing that I had been awake for longer than any time yet. I kept expecting the darkness to claim me again, yet it did not. I remained awake...I remained aware. And then I became aware that the numbness was fading. I was slowly able to feel my body again.

"No pain...," I whispered, which was the most I was able to get out. They were the first words that I had spoken since I had fallen in and tried calling for help. They were the first words that I'd had the strength to even attempt.

As the numbness slowly faded away, I awareness of my body started to return. However, there was no pain. At least nothing like I had felt before. What I did feel though was a growing hunger. That just served as a reminder that I had no idea how long I'd been trapped down there without anything to eat.

But even as sensation in my body returned, I still could not move. At least not at first. Then even that slowly started to return, starting with my fingers and eventually spreading from there. It took a lot of effort, but I was finally able to lift my arm up. It wasn't far and I was exhausted, but I'd managed to do it. But that was just before sleep overcame me again. Not the dark unconsciousness that I had been drifting in and out of...but true sleep.

When I finally woke up again, I felt much better...and much stronger. But still, I remained motionless for some time before cautiously sitting up. I felt strangely calm as I did this, as emotionally numb as I had been physically. I supposed that I had just been through too much as was and couldn't handle anything more at the moment.

"I'm all right," I croaked out weakly, feeling a vague sense of relief at that.

With some effort, I managed to get to my feet, feeling disgusting as I realized that I was covered with something crusty. I absently realized that it had to be the stuff that had spilled all over me and started to wipe it away. However, my clothes started to crumble and fall away as well.

I didn't bother wasting more time with that, looking up at the hole above me and then the shattered walls all round me. I grimaced, knowing that I had to get out of there. I had to get away. With that new purpose in mind, I was filled with determination and slowly managed to crawl my way back out. Nothing else mattered except getting out...getting back to the surface..

When I finally got back to the surface, I took a look around the parking lot, or what was left of it. There were cracks and holes all over the place, as well as quite a few signs of things having burned. The whole area was a complete mess, though it didn't look like an extremely recent mess either.

However, I didn't waste much time thinking about the damage to the parking lot or the fact that there was no one there. Instead, I lay down on the ground and rested for awhile, having exhausted all of my energy just getting out of the hole.

After I'd regained enough strength, I sat back up again, noticing my clothes for the first time. They were all extremely pale, as if heavily bleached, and covered with the dried up crust of the biohazard goo that had spilled on me. And they were completely falling apart, as if extremely dried out and fragile.

But the clothes were the least of my concerns as my eyes caught sight of my hand, then shot wide in surprise. My hand was white...not just pale...but WHITE. Pure white. Chalk white. And it didn't even look like my hand. My fingers looked a little thinner...more delicate. And I had longer, sharper looking nails.

"What...?" I started in confusion.

I held both of my hands in front of my face, seeing that it wasn't just one hand that was affected. Then I slowly looked over the rest of myself, seeing that all of my exposed skin was chalk white as well.

It was only at this point that I realized just how strange my whole body felt. At first, I hadn't been thinking about it, being dazed from all the pain and numbness. There was also the fact that I'd known that I'd been hurt and didn't want to think about that, even if I wasn't feeling any more pain.

With that, I tore at my clothes for a better look, wincing as they crumbled away beneath my fingers. I was even more stunned as I saw what was beneath my clothes. Not only did my entire body seem to be chalk white...by there were two growths on my chest. It took me several seconds to realized that they weren't growths...they were BREASTS.

I took a deep breath as I stared down at them, "Impossible..." But as I looked closer, I couldn't deny that they were breasts. A woman's breasts. Nice...big...round...firm breasts...and on my chest as well. "This can't be..."

Suddenly, I was VERY thankful that I was still too much in shock to fully take in the horror and confusion of what was hitting me. If I wasn't still at least a little emotionally numb, I might even have screamed out in panic.

As it was, I tried to deny it, looking around instead. I couldn't make out everything about the parking lot and warehouse since the sun was in the middle of setting. But as I had seen earlier, there was no sign of the fire...of the cleanup crew...or of Force.

"Force..." I whispered, suddenly wondering why he hadn't saved me. How come no one had come to look for me in the hole? Why was I just left there...?

Then I suddenly remembered WHY I had been put in that hole in the first place. That fight... No, not just the fight. It was Force.

I remembered the way he suddenly slammed into the middle of our cleanup...not even seeming to care that there were people there while he was fighting. He didn't seem to care that there were all sorts of bright yellow containers and protection suits that were all clearly labeled BIOHAZARD sitting around either. Not even when he threw that fire guy right into the clearly labeled truck full of the stuff...or smashed up the containers.

"FORCE!" I growled out, more force my voice than I'd been able to manage since my accident.

HE was responsible for the accident. HE had brought the fight there, caused the explosion and everything else. Force was supposed to be some kind of super hero, but how could any hero be that careless...that reckless.

However, I didn't have time to just sit around and be pissed at Force. I grimaced and realized that since no one had found me, I probably wasn't expected just yet. So it was up to me to get to the hospital myself and find out what the hell had happened to me.

Unfortunately, I was nowhere near the hospital. In fact, I was much closer to the worst part of town. There was little in that area but a few warehouses, and close by there were the slums. And even worse, the Ruins.

The Ruins was a part of the city that had once been a rather nice residential area, though as the decades passed, it slowly became more low income housing. But several years ago, there had been a fight between several developed, leaving more than a block in ruins. Every building that was still standing afterwards had been condemned, leaving the area free for the homeless, drug addicts and gangs to move into.

Of course, there had been talk about leveling the Ruins and rebuilding something more useful there, and I had even heard some of that talk in my own office. However, it had yet to happen, and there was no set plans for it as of yet, due to local politics and economics.

But at the moment, none of that was of much concern to me. Nothing was except for getting to someplace warm...someplace safe...and finding something to eat. The hospital was definitely high on my priorities, but several steps below a nice juicy hamburger.

I quickly found my way into the Ruins, not having consciously intended on going into them. In fact, normally I would have steered clear of that place, though my current circumstance were far from normal. I was even a little startled when I looked around and realized that this was where I was at.

Most of the buildings there were half rubble, and the ones that were still standing didn't look in great shape either. The streets were littered rubble and long abandoned cars, or at least what was left of them. No one had done too much cleaning of the area after those developed had half leveled it, and it showed.

As I carefully made my way through the Ruins, I felt rather nervous...remembering some of the stories that I'd heard about that place. It wasn't a place that nice normal people tended to live anymore. Not by a long shot. Even the cops didn't bother going in there most of the time. However, it was too late now and I thought that it would probably be best if I just got through and away as quickly as possible.

Strangely enough, I had half expected to see the streets completely filled with street gangs and the like, though I barely saw anyone at all. And those I did see were mostly glimpsed at a short distance, running across the street or dodging into what was left of one building or another. I suspected that most of the Ruin's residents had gone to shelter since it was already dark out.

Then I finally heard some people talking and looked to see several people standing around a metal barrel with a fire in it. There were three of them and they didn't look like the gang members that I had imagined, but more like homeless people. Two of them were grizzled old men, and the third looked like an old bag lady, even having full shopping cart that she was leaning up against.

"Hello," I started, nervous about them but my empty stomach trumped my caution.

All three of them turned to look at me, and almost at once they all gasped in shock. The two men scooted back, looks of fear on their faces. Then one of them turned and ran away as fast as he possibly could.

"It's a vampire...," the second man screamed in terror, quickly turning to join his companion in running away.

The woman remained there for a moment longer, clutching possessively at her shopping cart, looking at me as if daring me to steal it. But as I tried smiling at her to show her that I meant no harm, that seemed to unnerve her more.

"Mine..." she whispered, suddenly looking around as if expecting her friends to be there to back her up against me. And after realizing that she was there alone, she too turned and ran away from me.

"Wait...," I tried calling out, though my voice was still too weak to carry far.

After a moment, I realized that they were all gone...having run away from ME. They had actually been afraid of me. That was something of as surprise, though I realized that I had to look like hell after spending who knew how long in that hole. Of course, there was my bleached skin too, but I didn't want to think of that.

Instead, I took the opportunity to look around where they had been gathered, to warm myself up a little around their fire. I'd begun feeling a little chilled, though definitely not cold enough to need it just yet. It wasn't really the fire that I was looking for though, but something to eat.

Though I felt a little guilty, my grumbling stomach quickly quieted that. I looked around and didn't seem much of anything except for that woman's cart, so looked in there at the pile of stuff that it was filled with. And to my delight, some of it was food. There were several slightly overripe fruit, some stale bread and a number of dried and canned items. Without hesitation, I started eating.

Only after I had stuffed my mouth did I really look at what else was in the cart. There were clothes, which I realized would be useful since my own had crumbled away. As it was, I was almost entirely naked, though I had been too dazed....and stubborn to pay that much attention. I grabbed a bunch of those up in my arms, as well as most of the food.

Then, I turned my attention to the newspapers. There was quite a large stack of them as well. I looked at the paper on top, my eyes going wide as I saw the date on it. Assuming that it was that day's paper, I had been out of it for almost a week and a half.

"Oh shit," I gasped as I dropped the paper back onto the stack.

However, as I stuffed an entire Twinkie into my mouth, I thought of something else and quickly started going through the stack. That bag lady had a paper from almost every day it seemed, so I dug down, looking at the front pages and the dates until I found what I was looking for.

"Here it is," I gasped as I looked at the front page article about the fight between Force and the burning man.

I frantically read through the article, using the light from the fire to see by. To my disgust, it made the whole thing look like the burning man's fault. Where was the explanation that Force had been the one to bring the fight into the middle of where we were working? Or that he had been the one to cause all the damage while going after him?

However, one line suddenly caught my attention. "...explosion caused the death of passerby Scott Felding who was incinerated in the blast..."

For a moment, a very long moment, I just stared at the article in horror. It wasn't possible... I was dead... Or at least everyone thought that I was dead. That would certainly explain why no one had come looking for me in the hole.

"Oh my God," I whispered in shock, realizing that everyone I worked with thought I was dead. My family and friends thought I was dead. Somehow, I was going to have to tell them that I was alive...

But then, I let out a loud yawn, the exhaustion setting in again since I had finally filled my stomach. I grimaced, realizing that I wasn't going to make it to the hospital. I wasn't even going to make it back home. So with that, I picked up everything that I'd found in the cart that looked useful, then made my way into one of the shattered buildings.

"Just great," I grumbled as I looked around the darkened interior, not feeling very safe. Especially when I reminded myself that every building around had been condemned. For all I knew, it could fall in on me at any moment. Then I muttered, "Relax," telling myself that if it hadn't fallen in yet, there didn't seem much chance of doing it overnight.

The dark interior of the building though did make me thankful that I'd taken a pair of candles and a couple books of matches that I'd found in the cart as well. They quickly provided me with enough light to make my way further inside.

Several times, I thought that I heard movement elsewhere in the moving, and not just the creaking. There were other people in the building, though I didn't think that any of them were really close to me. However, it was a reminder that I had to be careful of not just the building.

The building that I was currently in was still half standing and had at one time been an old apartment building or hotel, so it wasn't too difficult to find a room that was suitable for the night. And by suitable, I meant that it was empty of other people and had a door that I could close, as well as things that I could jam against it to keep someone from coming in.

Once I had barricaded myself into the room, I collapsed on the floor, wrapped in a blanket that I had taken and sleeping on a bed of clothes. It was the softest bed that I'd slept on in a week and a half, and I was immediately asleep.

When morning came, I wasn't sure whether it had come too soon, or not soon enough. I would have preferred the comfort of my sleep to dealing with reality, yet at the same time, I knew that I couldn't put it off. I was going to have to face things.

I grimaced as I lay there on the hard floor, thinking that I'd slept pretty well considering. Or at least I had, except for when I'd been awakened by the sound of gunfire somewhere in the distance, or someone screaming. But after those incidents, I was tired enough that I quickly fell back to sleep.

"Some neighborhood," I mumbled to myself.

Then I slowly sat up, feeling the new weight on my chest and quickly remembering what that weight was. I grimaced, quickly getting to my feet and trying not to look at my body too much. It was hard to avoid though since my clothes had almost entirely flaked away, and my chalk white skin was impossible to miss.

It was only then that I looked around, seeing the tiny apartment that I was in clearly for the first time since there was sunlight pouring through the shattered windows. It was even worse off than I'd thought the night before, with the windows all missing and several holes through the walls. There was even one section of the floor that was extremely buckled under, looking as though it could collapse at any time.

"What a shit hole," I grumbled, thinking that it was a wonder that the ceiling didn't fall in on me while I slept.

With that, I started for what I thought was the bathroom, feeling a bit disgusted as I saw what kind of mess it was in. Then I positioned myself to use the toilet, noticing for the first time that I was lacking the necessary equipment. That should have been a complete shock to me, though it wasn't. I'd been half expecting something of that nature since I'd noticed my breasts and feminine hands.

I winced, spitting, "Damn," as I looked between my legs, seeing that I did look just like a woman down there now. Except of course for the fact that my skin...and small patch of hair were chalk white.

Though I was definitely not pleased with the fact that I now had an innie instead of an outie, there seemed little that I could do about it at the moment. I grimaced, feeling angry though pushing it back. Instead, I tried focusing on practicalities...like straddling the toilet so that I wouldn't actually have to touch it as I did my business. It felt strange...familiar yet different at the same time.

Once I was done, I flushed the toilet...or at least tried to. The bowl had already been completely dry before my use, and flushing it hadn't changed that. Of course, it was obvious that there wouldn't be any water or electricity in a place like that, so I wasn't surprised. Just annoyed.

"Fucking shit hole," I complained.

Then I noticed the mirror. It was set over the sink, and cracked in several places. I knew that looking at it...or at myself in it would be a bad idea...a very bad idea. The very thought was terrifying. How badly was I scarred? Those people had run away in terror... But at the same time, I couldn't resist.

After taking a deep breath, I looked into the mirror and let out a gasp. My eyes widened at the sight, then I had to try wiping the mirror clean to make sure that I was seeing what I was seeing. The face staring back at me wasn't all scarred and deformed like I had half expected, though it sure as hell wasn't my own face either.

"Impossible...," I whispered, my hands going up to feel my face.

The face that stared back at me was definitely a woman's face, and one that probably would have been very beautiful if it wasn't for the fact the skin was all chalk white. And not just the skin either. I had long white hair, and thin white arched eyebrows. But the strangest part were my eyes. Like my skin and hair...they were pure white.

"Holy SHIT!" I blurted out, suddenly realizing why those people had run.

I no longer looked human. With my pure white skin, hair and eyes...I looked completely unearthly. Inhuman. Especially my eyes. They made me look as though I could have been a statue or something. No, even worse, they made me look like I was a creature of the night...maybe a ghost or vampire.

"No wonder they ran...," I whispered, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

Turning from the mirror, I returned to the pile of clothes and blankets that I'd slept on, then sat down to slowly explore my body. Though I was tempted to scream, I tried my best to be objective...to pretend that I was looking at someone else. It wasn't easy, but it did help a little bit.

As I'd already seen, my body was definitely all female now, at least as far as I could tell. And my skin was not only chalk white but very smooth. In fact, other than on my head and pubic area, I didn't seem to have a single hair left on my body.

I nervously looked at my breasts, thinking that they were absolutely huge. They certainly felt like it. Though I wasn't any kind of expert, I guessed them to be about a D cup or something. Whatever their cup size, they were round and firm. Perfect breasts...if they had been flesh colored, and of course, on a real woman rather than me.

Once I was finished, I had to admit that I had a very sexy and feminine body, and knew that if my skin color had been more normal, I'd probably have guys tripping over themselves to get close to me. But as was...I was a freak. An unnatural looking freak. And I hated it. Both the freak part, and the curvy woman's body part.

"Damn it," I growled.

Then after giving my body a look of disgust, I started getting dressed in the clothes that I'd stolen. None of them fit of course, and even worse, they were all dirty and probably infested with fleas or something. However, they were better than nothing and at least provided a way for me to hide my body from my sight.

Since I was dressed, I turned my attention to the next important business. Breakfast. My appetite was beginning to return, so I started in on the rest of my food cache. If nothing else, it helped to take my mind off my changed body for a few minutes, though just barely.

And when I had finished eating, I looked down at the newspaper that I'd found the night before. The one with the article. I picked it up and read through it again, then several more times, each time getting angrier and angrier.

"That fucking bastard!" I screamed out, thinking of Force.

Force had been responsible for the whole thing. He'd been so reckless...so careless. He was the one who'd brought the fight to where we were at in the first place, the one who destroyed everything nearby just to hit that burning man...and the one who didn't seem to care if anyone...meaning me, got hurt in the process...

I was furious as I thought about it. And I was even more furious as I thought about the article, which didn't even say a word about Force having caused the disaster. Instead, they blamed everything on the burning man. The villain. From what I'd seen, he'd been more trying to get away than anything. It was Force who had done all the real damage.

Suddenly, I remembered that this wasn't the first time. I couldn't help remembering the scandal from several months earlier.

At the time, Force had been leading his own team of developed called the Elite. They were supposedly the elite of the developed hero community, composed of some very powerful as well as famous heroes. However, most of them were known more for solo work than for being part of a team.

The Elite had been fighting some sort of living mannequin, but all of those powerful and 'elite' heroes couldn't even stop her. And in the process, they went too far, getting reckless and leveling half the neighborhood. It was Force and his team that had done that...not the mannequin...who somehow managed to get away. And the whole fight had been caught on video.

But as humiliating as that had been for Force and the Elite, it was made even worse when some kind of robot had appeared a short distance away from where they were at and leveled everything nearby. And as close as the Elite were...they didn't even show up to stop the robot. Instead, it was the very mannequin that they had just been fighting.

That whole situation had created a large scandal and was big news at the time. The Elite had become laughingstocks almost overnight and their team disbanded, with each of the members going their separate ways, apparently pretending that they had never even been a team in the first place.

"Force," I spat, knowing that it was exactly the same thing. He'd been reckless then...living up to his name and destroying nearly everything in sight, just like he had been at the cleanup.

I had no idea how long I just sat there, thinking about Force and what had had done to me. But eventually, I had to calm down and focus on more practical matters, such as getting home. And of course, getting to the doctor to see if they could do something. Of course, I knew that there was probably nothing that they could do for me. I'd never heard of any kind of normal doctor or medicine being able to deal with something like what had happened to me. However, I didn't want to admit that...or even think about it.

After wrapping even more clothes around myself to help hide my skin and hair color, I carefully left the room and headed out of the Ruins as fast as I could. The whole time, I thought about my home on the other side of the city and wished that I had my car. But unfortunately, I'd caught a ride to the parking lot with one of the cleanup crew, which meant that I was on my own.

I hated the thought of having to walk all the way home, but I knew that there probably wasn't much other choice. I didn't have the money for a taxi and didn't know who I could possibly call for a ride. Somehow, I couldn't think of a single person who could help me, who was close enough for me to actually tell what had happened. Or who might actually believe that I was me.

While I was walking, I couldn't help noticing the way people looked at me. They were looks of disgust, followed by quickly averting the eyes. Everyone seemed to think that I was a bag lady or something, but then again, I supposed that I looked like one, being wrapped up in dirty clothes the way I was. Of course, the looks were much better than the rude comments which where occasionally hurled in my direction as well.

It took me all day, and a number of breaks, but I finally got home. I let out a long sigh of relief once it was in sight, thinking only of how great it would be to take a nice long bath...to get off my aching feet, have a nice meal and sleep in my own comfortable bed. Even the doctor could wait until I'd had all of those.

However, when I got to the door and remembered that I didn't have my key on me, I let out a stream of curses. It must have been left back in that hole I'd been stuck in, or possibly even destroyed like my clothes and just about everything else. Either way, I wasn't going to be able to get in that way. But when I went to my window to see if I could get in that way, I was in for another surprise.

"What the hell?" I demanded, staring through the window at my empty living room. It was completely empty, not even any furniture or pictures on the walls. "My stuff..."

I made my way around, looking through all the other windows, but it was more of the same. My entire house was empty. Even my car was missing. I collapsed onto my front steps in shock, not sure what had happened or what to do next. I'd been gone for just a few days and I got robbed of everything.

Then I remembered the newspaper article. "I'm dead." I winced at those words.

My landlord must have heard about my supposed death and decided to clear my stuff out so that he could rent the place to someone else. Either that, or my parents had come down and done removed all my stuff themselves. And if they'd done it, then just about everything that I owned had probably already been given away to Goodwill or something.

"Nothing," I whispered in horror. "Nothing left..."

And I didn't just mean that there was nothing left in my house...nothing left that I owned. I had nothing...not even my own face anymore. Not even my own body. Even my own family thought that I was dead and gone. EVERYTHING that I had was gone. Nothing remained.

After that, I just sat on my steps and cried, feeling ashamed of doing so but unable to help myself. If this wasn't something worth crying for, I didn't know what was.

Some time later though, one of my neighbors came walking past, pausing to glare at me in disgust. That was a bit startling since we'd always been on good terms, but there he was, giving me the same dirty looks that everyone else did.

"Get going," he snapped at me, "this isn't a shelter..."

I stood up, suddenly feeling angry. I'd lost everything and that asshole wanted to talk to me like that? I tore back the hat and clothes that I was wearing to hide my face, giving him a full look. The look of shock and fear on his face was priceless and at another time might have made me laugh.

"Oh, I'll get going all right," I snarled at him, then paused to look back, "There isn't anything here for me..." Not anymore.

With that, I took a menacing step towards him, while he took a nervous step back. Then I grimaced and started walking again. My legs were already killing me from all the walking that I'd done that day, and I knew that the bottoms of my feet were probably covered with blisters. But at the moment, I wanted to get as far away from my former home as I could.

I only went about a block further though before I had to stop. It was already starting to get dark out and I was completely exhausted. Somehow, I didn't think that my legs could take much more of that at the moment. I needed a place to stay for the night and something to eat. However, I knew that at the moment, I would have trouble getting either.

In the end, I snuck into someone's backyard and made good use of their shed to sleep in. It wasn't very comfortable, but it wasn't really much worse than the night before. It almost seemed as though I was getting used to misery. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about the food at the moment.

The next day, I woke up sore and achy, barely having slept at all. It took almost all of my willpower to even get moving, especially after how much I'd overexerted myself the day before. However, the thought of being caught in the shed by the owners provided enough motivation to get me going again.

I cursed under my breath almost constantly as I slowly moved away from my former home, not sure where I could go or what I could do. I only knew that I couldn't stay there...I couldn't go back. Not to my home, not to my job and even my friends and family. Every one of them thought that I was dead and I couldn't face breaking their hearts by showing up alive again, and revealing what kind of freak that I'd been turned into. At least not until I could get turned back to normal, and I wasn't holding my breath on that one.

Just when I had thought that I'd lost all luck, I was delighted to find a five dollar bill on the ground. I stared at it for a moment, unsure if it was really there. Or maybe if someone nearby had dropped it. However, I quickly snatched it up and hurried away, hoping that if someone had accidentally dropped, it they didn't see me pick it up. Normally, I wouldn't have done something like that, but that wasn't normal circumstances.

"Finders keepers, losers weepers," I muttered to myself as I left the 'scene of the crime'.

Since I was half starving, the answer to what to do with the money was obvious. Food. And fortunately, there was a McDonald's right in front of me. If I'd had the energy, I would have run.

"Imagine," I muttered bitterly, thinking that a five dollar bill was a fortune or that McDonald's was the greatest food ever. It disgusted me that I'd been reduced to that.

As soon as I stepped inside of the restaurant, I was met with a number of hostile stares. I grimaced, trying to ignore them as I made my way to the counter anyway. The pimple faced kid behind the register looked rather nervous, glancing back to his manager for reassurance.

"Big Mac combo meal," I told him, nearly drooling at the thought.

"Sorry. Can you repeat that?," the boy asked. I groaned and repeated my order, but he shook his head, "I still couldn't make that out..."

It was then that I thought about the scarf that I was using to hide my face and slowly moved it back to give my order. The boy's eyes widened as he got a good look of my face...of my chalk white skin and dead looking eyes. He looked as though he was either going to scream or feint.

"Go ahead and stare," I snapped at him, aware of everyone behind the counter giving me those looks. I slapped my bill on the counter, "Just give me a Big Mac combo..."

"What the hell is she?" I heard someone off to my side demand.

Another person gasped, "God...those clothes... How can anyone live like that...?"

I grimaced, biting back the urge to yell and scream at them as I waited impatiently. The people behind the counter hurried to give me my order, even before people who'd been waiting there longer. It was obvious that they wanted to get rid of me, especially since they didn't even bother to hide their stares.

As soon as I had my food in hand, I hurried out the door, well aware of the people who continued to stare. One teenage boy even followed me for half a block, calling out names and insults before he finally lost interest.

"I can't believe it," I spat out viscously as I found a secluded spot where I could eat my meal in peace.

I was burning in rage as I thought about my experience in the restaurant. The way they'd treated me had been horrible...as though I hadn't even been human. Everyone who saw my white skin was like that. Suddenly, I realized one more problem that I now had because of my...accident. I had a college education....but I couldn't even get a job at McDonalds. Who would possibly hire a freak like me?

While I was sitting there, I heard something nearby...a bunch of yelling, followed by sirens. Curious, I looked around the corner and saw that there was a building on fire. Several cop cars were already gathering around, though no fire engines had yet to show up.

Suddenly, I saw THEM. It was the E.R.S. The Emergency Rescue Squad. Definitely a strange name for a super hero group, but these were an odd group of super heroes. All four of them were arriving in a floating pink bubble.

I stared at them, having seen them on the news a number of times but this was the first time that I'd actually seen them live. The E.R.S. was unusual in that it was the only super hero group that I knew of that actually worked for the city. They were all city employees, and most of them didn't bother with secret identities, though they did still keep the costumes and silly names.

First was Pursuit...a black man with a black and white spandex costume, with a gold police badge on his chest. He had been a normal cop before something caused him to develop the ability to run at super speeds. But instead of putting on a costume and being a super hero, he just continued to do his normal job...albeit with developed powers. This had made him such a media hit, that he had been given a spandex costume and code name anyway.

Next was Rescue, a blonde man wearing a red and white costume with a big red cross on his chest. He had a number of pouches and stuff on his costume as well to hold medical supplies. He was a real strange one among super heroes, having been a medic before gaining the ability to make force field bubbles. He used those to fly with, to get into difficult locations and protect people. But what made him an oddity was that he used his abilities not to chase down and fight criminals, but to find people who needed rescuing and getting them medical attention and to safety.

Pursuit and Rescue had both been such a big hit in the local news, that the city council had recruited them both for a team of developed devoted to dealing with emergencies. Sometimes those emergencies involved rogue developed, but just as often dealt with anything else that needed help.

Smoke was the next member of the team, a dark skinned, black haired woman with a black spandex costume. She had the power to actually turn her body into smoke...to sort of fly that way and get into tight spaces. Of course, she also had the ability to shoot fire from her hands, but that was sort of downplayed in the media due to it being more dangerous.

The last member of the team was Nexus, the only one who wore a mask and kept her real identity secret. She claimed in interviews that this was because she had a family that she was protecting. Nexus had dark brown hair and wore a costume that was mostly blue with some gold, also having a gold metal mask. From what I'd heard on the news, she was extremely strong, very tough and had sharper than normal senses.

As I watched, everyone of the E.R.S. arrived in Rescues' force field bubble, then immediately went to work. I was amazed as they hurried to get inside the building, then pulled everyone to safety. It was so quick...so efficient.

"That's the way heroes should be," I thought aloud, helping people rather than hurting them...like Force.

It didn't take long for the whole situation to be settled, with the fire department arriving the E.R.S. left the same way they'd arrived.

I waited a minute more, then wrapped my face back up and turned to continue on my way. But on my way to where, I didn't really know. I didn't have any place to go now. But after I had started, it suddenly dawned on me that I did know. That was why I'd been walking in that direction. I was going back to the only place left for me...the Ruins.

It had been four days since I had witnessed the heroics of the Emergency Rescue Squad, and two days since I had returned to the Ruins after having visited my old home for the last time. Somehow, I doubted that I would ever be able to return to that life, even if I should be cured by some miracle, and knew that the Ruins was the only place left to someone like me.

Currently, I was sitting in a place of darkness, lit only by the light that came from several small narrow windows up above. The walls and floor were both concrete, being softened up only by the small pile of blankets and clothes that I had managed to salvage. It was not a great place of comfort, but it was one of security. Or at least as much security as I could find in the Ruins.

After I had returned to the Ruins, I knew that I couldn't stay in that abandoned room like I had the first night. There were too many other people around, people staying in nearby rooms...and people who weren't all nice. There were gang members and drug addicts, several of which I'd witnessed getting violent from a distance. That was why I had chosen to find another place. A place that was a little more hidden....and a lot more secure.

I scrounged around for more than half a day when I had stumbled across it almost by accident. It was an abandoned...and apparently forgotten basement for one of the more heavily damaged buildings. Even the small slit windows at ground level were almost completely obscured by the rubble that surrounded the building.

Only the bottom floor of that building remained, though only half of it was really stable. I had been looking inside when I found what appeared to be where the rubble had collapsed. However, a second look revealed that there was a large opening in the rubble, and a bit of a hallway beyond. The hall didn't go far before becoming completely sealed, though in that short distance was a stairway down to the basement.

It was a small basement that was structurally intact, the most intact part of the entire building. Light came in through the two small and hidden windows to the street, and there was a metal door that could be locked from the inside. I had immediately realized that this would be the perfect place to stay while I was in the Ruins. It was both hidden and secure. And I quickly went about making it even more so, hiding the opening in the rubble to prevent anyone else from discovering it as well.

At the moment, I might have been in a place that was fairly secure, but that didn't make me feel much better. In fact, I was feeling pretty horrible and had been since I'd woken up a short time earlier. Every muscle in my body ached, especially my stomach. I was beginning to suspect that I had food poisoning, not surprising considering my dinner from the night before came out of a dumpster behind a grocery store.

"I can't believe I did that," I complained to myself with a grimace.

I'd been eating out of dumpsters. At first, I'd been extremely disgusted by the idea when I saw other Ruins residents doing so, but then my stomach started getting more insistent. Finally, I'd broken down and at least looked, being delighted when I found 'good' food having been thrown out. There were cans of food thrown out because they were out of their expiration date.

"I can't believe that I've been reduced to THIS," I spat out bitterly.

Just a few weeks earlier, I had a nice home, a good job and almost sixty thousand in my bank account. But now...now I a homeless freak who'd been reduced to living off of other people's garbage. If it wasn't so pitiful, it would have been hilarious.

Taking a deep breath, I poked at my breasts, having ignored them as much as possible since my transformation. It hadn't been easy, especially with the fact that they were so large...so prominent. And...God help me, so sensitive. At the moment though, they were even more sensitive than before, at least the nipples were. They were sore as well. "Maybe it's some kind of cancer," I thought aloud, having thought of that possibility before.

I didn't know what kind of changes that my body had really undergone due to that toxic goo, and for all I knew, my whole body could be riddled with it now. Sure, I'd felt pretty decent up until that morning...at least considering, but who knew how these things worked.

Just then, I realized that I felt something warm and sticky between my legs. I gasped, wondering if I'd accidentally pissed myself, but when I put a hand down there to feel...I realized that it wasn't. And when I pulled my hand back up to look at it, I was even more horrified to see that my fingers were coated in blood.

"Oh SHIT!" I cried out, staring at my fingers in horror.

My heart raced and I felt like screaming in panic. I was bleeding... I was bleeding and I couldn't get to the hospital for help. I jumped to my feet, my thoughts racing a thousand miles an hour. I was hurt... I had internal bleeding... The accident had hurt me worse than I thought and now I was hemorrhaging. I was going to bleed to death, right there in the middle of that hell hole called the Ruins.

I paced around in my little hidey-hole for the next hour, knowing that moving around so much was a bad idea, that it would make me bleed even faster, but unable to help myself. What else could I do? I sure as hell couldn't get medical attention like I was, even if I could get to the hospital. But strangely enough, even as I paced, I didn't seem to be bleeding any heavier, or even getting any weaker.

Then suddenly, it dawned on me. I froze where I was, staring down at myself in horror, my eyes going wide at the impossibility of it. "No way... It can't be..."

My hands quickly patted the flat area between my legs, the place that was formerly occupied by my male equipment. And as I did so, the sinking knowledge of just what the sickness and bleeding really were soaked in. It wasn't food poisoning which would have been much more comforting, or even internal bleeding. At least not of the sort that I had thought.

"I'm having a...a..." I stared down at myself, at the marks of femininity which protruded form my chest, visible even beneath the clothes I was wearing, "I'm having a God damn PERIOD!"

At that very moment, I didn't know whether to let out a scream of horror, a sigh of relief that I wasn't dying like I'd thought....or just burst out laughing at the ludicrousness of it all. Instead, I collapsed to the ground and started crying.

"Nothing should bleed this long and still be alive," I spat as I looked through a pile of trash, hoping to find something useful.

It was the second day of my period, and I was not happy in the least. I was sore, achy and in a VERY bad mood. And of course, there was also the fact that I was making a bit of a mess.

"No wonder women are such bitches when they're on the rag," I muttered, feeling pretty bitchy myself at the moment.

Though I hated the looking like a woman, my new period had shown that my transformation wasn't just skin deep. I now not only looked female...but apparently was one as well. And at the moment, I was hating that even more than before.

"How can they live like this?" I grumbled, "Every single month..." I could almost understand why women would want to get pregnant now. That way they'd at least get a break from their periods.

As ironic as it was, at the moment I would have killed for a sanitary napkin, a pad...or even tampon. Anything to clean this up a bit. As it was, I'd been reduced to wearing shorts stuffed with rags, which was neither sanitary or effective. Unfortunately, it was all that I had at the moment.

"That fucking bastard," I screamed out, forgetting my normal caution to stay hidden for a moment, "It's all his fault." Of course, I meant Force. With every day, I'd been hating him more and more. Every bit of my misery was because of him.

Then I paused as I caught sight of something in the pile of trash, being distracted from my troubles for just a moment. But only a moment. It was a big cutting knife. It was dull, a bit rusted...but still usable. Now if I could find a way to sharpen it, I'd have a useful weapon. And living in the Ruins, that would definitely be useful.

Once I had the knife, I slipped it into my clothes, taking a nervous look around. Fortunately, I didn't see anyone nearby. Of course, that wasn't too much of a surprise considering that most of the people that lived in the Ruins had been avoiding me, running away or hiding as soon as they saw me. Apparently, the people that I'd run into the first night had spread stories about me, and now everyone thought that I was some sort of living dead that might drink their blood or something. It was a but unnerving to realize that people actually thought of me like that, but it was a bit of a relief at the same time. It made people leave me alone.

"Alone...," I whispered sadly, knowing just how alone I really was now. I didn't have anyone anymore. It was definitely a lonely existence.

After a moment, I let out a sigh then gave another quick look at the trash pile. They might be avoiding me, but I wasn't going to push my luck and avoided staying out in the open for too long.

I picked up the few useful items that I'd found in my scrounging, then hurried away, determined to get back to the safety of my basement before anyone became brave enough to try coming after me. I was just thankful that I still had a few cas of veggies saved so that I didn't have to go looking for food again either.

While I was on my way back, I caught sight of some guy wearing rags vanishing into a building. I wondered if he was running from me, or if it was something else. But in the end, it didn't matter.

I continued moving to safety, when I saw someone else in the distance as well. However, this time it was a man who was just sitting there, not running away or anything. I watched for a minute, but he showed no signs of moving. That did seem just a little strange. After waiting for just a little longer, I started walking in his direction. I knew that it probably wasn't a smart idea, that I should just avoid him like I avoided everyone else. But the truth was, I was feeling a bit lonely, even if I told myself instead that I was just going to check it out.

When I got closer, I saw that he was an old man, looking to be in his fifties or so. It was hard to be certain though due to his old clothes and somewhat dirty face. He looked in my direction, giving a bit of a smile, showing that about half his teeth were missing.

"Howdy," the old man called out to me, his hand going to a hammer that was sitting next to him, but making no effort to pick it up or threaten me with it.

"Um....hi," I started nervously, not sure what to say. He was the first person that I'd really talked to at all since my transformation. And at the moment, I wasn't even wearing anything to cover my face, so he had a full view of my face.

"You have a nice voice," the old man told me. Then he abruptly changed the subject, "The name's Hank..."

"Nice to meet you," I told him as I moved closer, feeling nervous but a little more comfortable. He didn't seem dangerous.

It was just then that I noticed his eyes, and the fact that he wasn't looking straight at me. Sure, he was looking in my direction, but his eyes didn't seem to be focused. And they looked just a little cloudy.

"Are you blind?" I abruptly asked, staring closer at him and fighting back the urge to wave my hands in front of his face.

Hank shrugged, "Yep. Well...at least mostly. I've still got a little bit, but I can only make out light or some shapes when they're really close like..."

I let out a sigh, "That explains it..." No wonder he wasn't running. He didn't see my face...my pure white eyes or chalk skin.

Then Hank frowned, "You the one they been talking bout...? The ghost girl...?"

"I guess," I responded as I sat down in front of him, "But I'm not a ghost or anything. I've just got...a medical condition." That sounded a bit more reasonable than telling him that I was a mutant freak who'd been changed by toxic waste. "Never put much stock in talk anyway," Hank told me with a smile, "Glad to meet ya..." He held out his hand, which I shook.

I remained there and talked with Hank for a little while, finding that he was a rather nice old guy. Most of all though, it was just nice to be able to talk to someone...someone who treated me like a person, not the freak that I really was.

However, I wasn't completely comfortable with staying out in the open for too long, nor was I feeling well. My period was still making my life a living hell...or at least a bigger one than it already was.

Just as I was leaving, Hank called out, "Maybe we can talk again sometime." Then to himself, he added, "Nice lady. Too bad everyone's scared a her..." That last almost made me smile.

I was surrounded by darkness, lit only by the small fire that I'd built to provide light and keep myself warm. There was only so much that it could do for my basement home, but what it did provide was very welcome.

Then I turned away from the fire, looking towards the windows...knowing that no one would see any light from the fire on the other side. Not only were the windows positioned in such a way to much such a thing very unlikely, but I'd also build my fire in a spot where the light wouldn't even reach the windows.

It had been two days since I had met Hank, and thankfully, my period seemed to be slowing down. The whole experience had been something of a nightmare, and I didn't look forward to experiencing it again the next month.

"Mydol," I muttered, "Need to find some..."

Of course, that was on a very long list of things that I would like to get my hands on. The first on the list was Force's neck, followed by a cure and then a good comfortable bed and a great tasting meal. Unfortunately, none of those seemed very likely at the moment.

I had no idea why I was just sitting in darkness, doing nothing but wasting fuel for the fire and thinking. It was already late enough that I should have been in bed and sleeping, that was if I had a real bed worth the name. Fortunately, my pile of clothing had increased, making my bed a bit bigger and softer, though still no match for the real thing.

Then, I sat upright, hearing something coming from outside. I moved closer to the windows and listened, realizing that it was...laughter. That and singing. Neither of which were things that I'd heard in the Ruins since being there. I'd heard yelling, gunshots and all sorts of strange banging noises, but never anything like those.

I remained in my basement for a little longer, growing more and more curious about the noises that I was hearing. Finally, I couldn't bear it anymore. I just had to know. I had to find out what the hell was going on.

After taking a deep breath, I carefully left the safety of my basement, following the sounds until I found them, sitting right outside the building next to mine. There were four men, homeless men rather than gang members, and they were all sitting around a small bonfire, laughing and singing.

As I cautiously moved closer, I realized that one of them was Hank. And then I saw that they were passing a bottle around, each taking a drink before passing it to the next.

Suddenly, one of them caught sight of me. He stared at me for a moment, giving me an odd look before bursting out laughing. "It's that vampire lady..."

One of the others giggled, "She's gonna take our souls..."

But then Hank looked around, not even in my direction. "Why dontcha come have a drink lady...?"

"What?" I asked in surprise, even more surprised when the other three hadn't really objected.

"Why dontcha have a drink?" Hang grinned, holding the bottle out.

I hesitated, then slowly moved closer, taking the bottle from his hands. It was obvious that he and the other guys were pretty smashed, or otherwise they probably wouldn't have stuck around after seeing me there. But as I looked at them...at the dazed looks in their eyes, I couldn't help thinking that whatever they were on, it was more than just booze. I sniffed the bottle, suspecting that it was probably in there.

"Spiked," I muttered to myself.

"Drink up," one of the nameless men urged me.

"Yeah...," another grinned, "Drink our blood...."

I rolled my eyes at that and sighed said, "What the hell...?"

After hesitating only a moment more, I took a long drink, nearly gagging as I did so. It was some sort of cheap whisky...or at least I thought that it was. It was pretty rough going down.

"Smooth...," I gasped out, earning some laughs.

With that, I sat down with the others, feeling the effects of the booze...and whatever else was in there hitting me real quick. I soon felt real lightheaded and strange. But I continued to take drinks from the bottle as it was passed around to me. And before long, I was even singing along with the group.

Suddenly, I looked around and realized that everything around me looked extremely strange. That caused a brief thought that maybe it was acid in the booze, but that quickly passed as I was lost in the strangeness surrounding me. It was as though everything was made of sand...but with much tinier grains. Smaller than I could even see...yet somehow I could. I could sort of feel it everywhere...in the walls...in the ground....and even in the air.

"Wow...," I whispered in dazed amazement.

I just stared at pavement in front of me for some time, lost to almost everything else. It was like sand... Really...really fine sand. And with that thought, I giggled and started making a sandcastle. A really nice one...or at least that was my only thought at the time.

And after I had finished with my sandcastle, I turned my attention back to the others. I accepted several more drinks and joined them in more off tune songs before eventually falling asleep right there in front of the fire.

When I awoke in the morning, I felt less than at my best. I was chilly and my body ached all over from sleeping on the hard pavement. Even my head pounded horribly, another remnant from drinking too much the night before.

"This is worse than the damn period," I groaned as I slowly sat up, thinking that at least this would be gone by the end of the day and wouldn't keep coming back automatically every month.

Once I was fully sitting up, I looked around and realized that the others were gone. I wasn't sure whether to feel thankful for that or nervous. Who knew what could have happened to me, saying out alone in the open in the middle of the Ruins. I was damn lucky that nothing had happened.

Then I suddenly saw something that made me let out a loud gasp, making me more than half sure that I was still seeing things from whatever was in the booze the night before. Right in front of me, sprouting straight out of the pavement...no, actually MADE out of the pavement, was a sandcastle. Or at least a section of pavement that was shaped exactly like one.

"What the hell?" I blurted out as I stared at it, remembering how I'd built it the night before.

And the small castle in front of me was exactly like I remembered, except of course for not being made out of pavement rather than sand. I could only stare at it blankly, feeling stunned and confused. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Shaking it off for the moment, I took a quick look around me, remembering exactly where I was. Then I hurried back to the relative safety of my basement, locking the door behind me and only then letting out a sigh of relief.

However, for the rest of the day, or at least once the hangover wore off enough, I couldn't help thinking about the sandcastle. Or was that pavement castle? I remembered the strange way that I'd seen everything the night before when I'd built it, but none of it made any sense. I had actually made a sandcastle...out of the sidewalk.

Then, it suddenly dawned on me. "Hoy shit," I gasped, staring down at my hands in surprise. "I'm...I'm...I'm developed."

That biohazardous waste had done even more than just turn me into a girl and mutant freak. It had caused me to develop more than tits and white skin...it had caused me to develop super powers. But I still had no real idea what kind, or how I could use them again. Nor even IF I could use them again.

"Just my luck," I spat out, "I'd develop the power to make sandcastles...but only while drunk."

But once I had the idea, I wasn't about to give up just that quickly. I continued thinking about it...about the odd way everything had looked while I made it. Then I wondered if that might have something to do with it, and tried to get back into that frame of mind.

Then late in the afternoon, it happened. My vision seemed to shift and I gasped as I saw the world around me made up of countless tiny grains. Absolutely EVERYTHING was. And then I realized that I wasn't actually SEEING the grains, it was more like I was FEELING them. I was somehow SENSING them.

"It worked," I whispered in amazement, staring at everything around me.

After a moment, I turned my attention to the concrete floor, then slowly pushed my hand into it. The concrete easily moved aside, letting my hand go in, almost like it was sand or a liquid of some sort. I was in such awe of this, that I suddenly lost it.

"Oh SHIT," I cried out, trying to pull my hand free. It was no good though. My hand was actually stuck in my basement floor, just as surely as if I had held it there while cement was poured and hardened.

I struggled to pull my hand free for about fifteen minutes before I finally calmed down enough to try using my new power again. It took me another minute before I was able to sense things in that strange way again, but then it was easy to pull my hand free.

"YES," I laughed excitedly as I jumped up, wiggling my fingers experimentally.

I was so excited as I danced around that I immediately lost that sense again, but it didn't matter. Now, I knew that I could get it back. And that meant that I could do it again.

For the next two days, I practiced with my new ability almost constantly, working at it until I could shift in and out of that strange awareness at an instant. It was quickly becoming so easy that I barely even had to give any thought before I could sense things like that.

At the same time, I practiced with the ability to manipulate things like I had the pavement as well. And I'd soon found that it extended to more than just concrete and cement. I could do it with metal as well, shaping it in my hands as though it were putty.

"Not really much of a power though," I sighed to myself, thinking that it would be great for party tricks and the like. "Oh yeah," I muttered bitterly to myself, "I'm going to get invited to a lot of parties..."

I glared down at my white hands...then at the wall, bursting with anger at my situation. Suddenly, the wall seemed to explode inward, leaving a deep hole, almost a crater. I froze, my anger vanishing as I stared at the hole in amazement.

For a long moment, I just stared, too stunned to say anything. Then I slowly moved closer, nervously touching the hole, proving to myself that it was indeed real. Finally, two words slipped from my mouth, almost on their own. "Holy shit...."

There was of course absolutely no doubt that I was the one who'd done that. I'd done it in just the same way that I'd made the pavement into a sandcastle. But this time, I hadn't even touched it. I'd punched a hole right in the wall, all the way from the other side of the room.

"No way..." I whispered, knowing that there definitely was. I could use my powers without actually having to touch things.

Still feeling stunned, I sat back down, my mind racing as I tried to absorb what had just happened. I still wasn't sure what it all meant, or what it would mean. However, I knew that it was something big.

And to make sure that it hadn't been just some kind of fluke, I tried it again, this time focusing on the ground in front of me. I concentrated my will, focusing on it and watching as the concrete actually seemed to turn as fluid as water, then pull back of it's own will, leaving a small hole in the floor. After a few more seconds, I willed it to fill itself back in again.

"Yes," I grinned as I stared at the floor.

I tried it again, this time focusing on something else. I felt everything as though it were countless grains of sand which moved at my command. Instead of just willing them to part this time, I willed them to move up, to form into a small column that sprouted from the ground instead.

"YES!" I exclaimed loudly, jumping up and down in excitement. It had worked.

Then, I paused to think about my powers and what this meant for them. For a little while, I had suspected that all of the tiny grains I was sensing everywhere, were actually molecules. Sensing them...and moving them. And now it appears, that I had been doing it with my mind the entire time.

"Sort of like telekinesis," I mused thoughtfully, though I only seemed to be able to move the molecules around. "Molecular telekinesis," I corrected myself.

Molecular telekinesis...the ability to move molecules with my mind. It certainly didn't sound that impressive. In fact, it sounded almost pathetic. However, I wasn't stupid enough to think so. All matter was made up of molecules, and since I could move the molecules around that comprised matter...I could actually reshape it.

Suddenly, the implications of my power hit me. I had real power now...not just some party trick of being able to mold stone as though it were clay. I could actually reshape matter with my mind, and I somehow knew that I could do a LOT more than I'd just done. That was just scratching the surface.

I knew that I still had a lot to learn about my powers, about how to control them and just what I could do with them. However, at the moment, I wasn't thinking about that.

For the first time in weeks, I had something of value. The accident had taken everything I had...everything I was. It had even robbed me of my very identity. But now...now I actually possessed something again. Something that was mine and mine alone. And it felt great.

Just then, it suddenly hit me. In an blinding instant of clarity, I knew exactly what I was going to use my new powers for. I had a purpose again... A goal beyond merely surviving. I was going to do something that I'd only been able to dream of...and frequently had until then. I was going to get revenge. Revenge on the man who'd taken everything away from me...who'd turned my life into a living hell. I was going to kill Force.

Of course, I knew what that meant. Force was a hero...one of the most famous heroes on the planet. And since I was planning on killing him...that would make me the villain. But at the moment...that was perfectly fine with me.

I stood out in the open, giving a faint smile as the sun beat down on my skin. It felt good, especially since I didn't have my face covered and was letting anyone in the Ruins get a good look at my pale skin.

Normally, being out in the open like that would have made me nervous, but I'd been feeling a lot more confident since discovering the truth about the power that I'd developed. It had almost been like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, or more likely, I was no longer completely powerless...completely helpless to the whims of fate.

Picking up a pair of rocks, I stared at them for a moment before looking at their molecules, and then making them fuse together...forming into a single rock. I couldn't help smiling faintly at the results.

Ever since I had discovered that I was a molecular telekinetic a week earlier, I had been practicing with my powers quite frequently. Almost constantly. I had been trying to determine exactly what my limits were...what I could and could not do.

For one, my powers were a bit stronger than I had first thought, but they definitely had their limits. I could only affect things up to a 100 feet or so away. The further things were away from me, the more difficult it was to sense their molecules and more importantly...effect them.

And then there was organic matter. I had quickly found that I could barely effect any organic matter at all. With a whole lot of effort, I could cause wood to break down...but I couldn't reshape it like I could stone, metal or plastic. Then there was living matter...which seemed completely immune to my powers. I couldn't directly effect anything that was still alive, though whether that was an actual limit to my powers or a psychosomatic one, I didn't know. Nor did I really care.

Of course, I'd discovered just as much about what I could do as about what I couldn't. Probably even more.

When I'd first started using my powers, I'd used them around my basement, figuring that I might as well improve things while I was at it. I'd sealed cracks, made it more stable as well as more secure. Then I went to work on enlarging it, melting one of the walls and moving the space back a bit.

While I had been doing that, I had realized the possibilities and started to make a tunnel in order to create an escape route. And once I'd done that, I stretched the tunnel further, and then further still, until I had eventually created a series of tunnels that ran under half of the Ruins. I'd dug into basements, even ones that had been sealed by damage or buried. This had given rise to the further realization that my power gave me a way to get into places that no one else could.

Since I now had access to places that no one else in the Ruins did, I used it to salvage things that no one else had been able to. Things which would make my own life more comfortable. It hadn't taken long to turn my basement from a drab hole in the ground into something that I could possibly start thinking of as home.

My 'home' now had all the necessities of a real home, or at least as much as I could reasonably find. I now had a couch, as well as a real bed and mattress. Those were incredible luxuries after being so long without.

And then, there was my pride and joy. While I had been excavating tunnels, I had run across a water line. It hadn't taken too much to find some more pipes, then create another line from that which led right into my 'home'. I now had running water, and had improved upon that further just a few hours earlier by adding a bath tub.

"All the luxuries," I mused, feeling rather pleased with myself.

However, I still didn't have any electricity, which was something of an annoyance. Not that I had anything to plug into it at the moment. Perhaps I could find a small generator somewhere, though I wasn't going to count on it.

Then I frowned, thinking of the nearby lab which had been the source of the toxic goo. Somehow, I suspected that I'd been able to find a lot of useful stuff there still, though I had absolutely no intention of looking. I could almost feel my skin on fire at the very thought of it. There was no way that I was going back to that place. None. I'd already been having nightmares about what had happened there...about the fire...and about being buried alive in that hole, burning up with that toxic goo.

Shaking my head, I put those thoughts out of my head and then started walking back to my 'home'. I changed direction though when I saw Hank sitting out in the open with what looked like a bottle of booze. I hadn't really seen much of him since the night with the drinking...when I'd actually developed my powers.

"Hello," I called out to Hank when I got close to him.

"Hey Lady," he called back with a grin, looking in my general direction but obviously not at me. Not until I got a lot closer. I remembered him telling me that he could make out some general shapes up close. "Ain't seen ya in awhile..."

I just gave a wry smile at his little joke. "What the hell was in that stuff you guys gave me?"

Hank just shrugged, "Whiskey?"

"Okay...," I sighed, knowing that there had been something more than just that. "So," I asked, thinking about those other guys we'd been drinking with, guy's who's names I didn't even know, "do they still think I'd some kind of vampire...?"

After another shrug, Hank responded, "Nope." I felt a little better about that, until he added, "They think yer a witch. Castin hexes and stuff..." Then Hank suddenly looked more worried, "You're not...are ya? Yer not gonna cast some kinda hex on me..."

"Oh no," I groaned, realizing that my little sandcastle hadn't gone unnoticed. Not surprising since as far as I knew, it was still there.

Then I glanced back at Hank and reassured him that I had no intention of doing anything to him. Not like I even could since my powers didn't work that way.

After a few more minutes, I left Hank and returned to my 'home' via a back route through my tunnels. I was rather pleased with them, knowing that I could get back home safely and securely, without being seen, from a number of different places in the Ruins. All that I had to do was melt a hole in a wall or ground, go through into the tunnel on the other side then close it behind me.

Once I was back inside the safety of my basement home, I looked around, smiling faintly as I did so. It certainly had been improved a great deal since I'd first found it. Not only did I actually have furniture now, and a few rugs to cover parts of the floor, but I also had more light, thanks to a Coleman lantern.

I looked longingly at my new bathtub, realizing that I hadn't had a decent shower in... I hadn't had any kind of shower or bath since the morning of my accident. God, it had been far too long and I was feeling extremely filthy.

I didn't waste much time before stripping out of my clothes and filling the tub with water from my new line. It was cold since I didn't have a water heater, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing. Though I cringed at the temperature as I climbed in, I couldn't help very pleased as well.

"Finally I sighed," scrubbing myself clean and then climbing back out.

The water was pretty dirty and I knew that there would be a horrible ring. I'd known that I was dirty from going so long without a shower, but I hadn't realized that it had been quite that bad. It was only then that I realized one small problem. I'd never put in anything to drain the water, though knew that I'd be able to take care of it with my powers later on.

As I dried myself off, I caught sight of a large mirror that was laying against one wall...facing the wall. I'd found it and brought it back on impulse while scavenging...even broken pieces back together. However, I had yet to really use it, not wanting any reminder of what I'd become.

Then I looked down at my naked body, which I'd been trying to ignore since I'd first woken up in it. However, I hadn't been able to ignore it...or the fact that I was physically now a woman completely. That point had been more than made when I'd started my bleeding.

After several minutes of just standing there, I turned the mirror around, then stood in front of it. I stared at myself for a long time, my eyes going wide at the image. Of course, I knew exactly what it was that I was going to see so it wasn't a surprise.

But as I stared at my reflection, I did realize something that was a surprise. I definitely looked like a white skinned freak...but I was a beautiful white skinned freak. My eyes bulged as I stared down at myself, admitting for the first time that I was beautiful. Extremely exotic..but still beautiful.

"Damn," I whispered to myself.

Of course, my long hair was tangled and I really needed some proper grooming, not to mention some good clean clothes. However, overall I looked very good...especially considering my circumstances.

I ran my hands over my body, feeling it beginning to respond. It wasn't the first time that I'd felt a little turned on since my transformation, though I had purposely ignored it every other time. I wasn't completely sure why I wasn't ignoring my body this time. Perhaps it was because I'd already run through the worst part of womanhood and was beginning to accept that I would be like that for the rest of my life. However, I suspected that a larger part of it was my growing confidence. It was giving me the courage to actually deal with what I'd become rather than running away from it like I had been.

"Interesting," I commented about the new sensations that I was feeling.

I carefully touched one of my nipples, which was fully erect, feeling sort of like a tiny erection. My crotch on the other hand was definitely showing the effects as well, though in a somewhat different way. I was beginning to get...moist.

My hands continued to roam over my body, pausing to touch my breasts and vagina. I held my hand there, then gently began to rub it, gasping at the sensation as I did so. It was so strong. And it felt so good. With that, I moved over to my bed, sitting down so that I could give it all of my attention.

It didn't take me long before those powerful new sensations that I was feeling built to the point where they finally burst...exploding into a raging torrent of pleasure. It was an orgasm unlike any that I'd ever felt before in my life, more powerful than any that I'd ever had as a man. Whether that was because I was now physically a woman, or whether it was because I was a freak, I didn't know. And at the moment, I didn't care.

I continued to explore my body for the next hour or so, lost in the strange but powerful new sensations that had come along with it. And by the time I was done, I could only wonder why I hadn't done so sooner.

It was the day after I had first discovered the pleasures that could come along with my new body, and I was sitting in the middle of my bed, having just completed another session of masturbation. Though that might seem rather crude, there was little else for entertainment in the Ruins.

Finally, I sat up, looking at myself in the mirror again. I'd made a point of doing that much more frequently now, thinking that it might help me to accept what I'd turned into a bit easier. Still, that didn't mean that I was happy about having my entire life and body torn away from me like that. Not in the least.

I hadn't forgotten about my goal of getting revenge on Force. In fact, I thought about it quite frequently, though I knew that I wasn't ready for that just yet. At least not with any chance of success. As it was, I'd wanted to learn more about my powers and myself before I did so. The more that I knew what I was capable of, the better off I would be.

"Taking out a member of the Protectorate won't be that easy," I reminded myself, knowing that many had tried. I hated Force, but had to admit that he didn't get to be one of the most famous developed around by being unable to take care of himself.

With that, I decided that it was time for a little more training. I certainly wasn't going to kill Force just by fingering myself to the brink of unconsciousness. I still had a lot of work to do to get ready.

But once I was dressed, I cringed, knowing that I'd need to get some new clothes as well. Sure, I was able to clean my clothes in my tub now, but they were still nasty looking rags. I sure as hell wasn't going to inspire any kind of fear or respect from Force wearing that kind of garbage.

After this, I went outside, not sure whether to actually practice my powers since I seemed to have gained complete control over them already, or to go scavenging for more materials. There were still a number of things that I could definitely use. Especially some new food. That was always in short supply.

I had just been outside for several minutes when I heard some yelling from nearby. Though all my common sense told me that I should just high tail it back to safety, I was feeling a little cocky from my new powers and decided to check it out.

Turning around the corner, I saw a group of half a dozen men standing around. From the looks of their matching jackets and the guns that a couple of them had, it was obvious that they were a gang. One of several gangs that liked to use the freedom from the law that the Ruins provided.

"Look, we've got half the shit sold already," one of the gang members told the one who appeared to be the leader, holding out a bag as he did so, "We'll get the rest on the street by next week..."

"Good," the leader smirked as he took a second bag from someone else and looked inside. "Almost enough cash to buy those blasters that freaked out doctor is selling..."

"We'll be the top gang," someone else laughed.

I watched for a few more minutes, my eyes locking on the bag that I strongly suspected contained drugs. Then my attention locked onto the other one...the one with the cash. I couldn't help getting a little thoughtful at that. Cash was something that I could definitely use at the moment.

Once I made my decision, I stepped out into the open and started for the group. One of them noticed me and cried out, "What the fuck...?" This was followed by similar comments as the rest turned towards me, their weapons drawn.

Then I paused, glaring at the men in front of me. All of a suddenly, I was burning with rage. Not really at them...but at Force...at everything that had happened to me. I was finally going to cut loose with all that pent up rage inside of me, and they just happened to be a convenient target. I almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

Without a word, I caused all of their guns to melt in their hands, while simultaneously causing the ground beneath the bag of drugs to turn into quicksand pull it under. The men all stared at me in shock and horror, with two of them turning and running away immediately. A third hesitated only a moment, glancing between his leader and his running friends before joining them.

"Go," I stated, gesturing for the remaining three to run as well.

"What the fuck is she?" one of the men demanded.

"It doesn't matter," the leader snapped, "Get the fucking bitch..."

That was definitely not a smart idea, and I let them know that by making the ground raise up, then slam into them almost like a large wave. Two of them men were hit hard by the concrete wave and send flying. The last man standing was the leader, who stared at me with both fear and hatred. I was suddenly reminded of a cornered rat.

"Last chance," I told him coldly.

However, he didn't seem to want to be reasonable and almost in a single motion, pulled a knife and charged straight for me. I was startled for a moment, but quickly caught myself and turned the ground underneath him as soft as quicksand. He sank in up to his ankles, then I hardened it again.

"Not very bright," I muttered.

Then I noticed one of the men that I'd hit with the concrete wave, on his hands and knees, moving towards the money bag. I wasn't about to let him get it after what I'd just gone through, so made a concrete hand rise out of the ground and grab him around the ankle. He wasn't about to go any further.

I paused again, looking around to make sure that there weren't any more surprises, then I picked up the bag of money and calmly walked away. The gang leader screamed at me from behind, but I didn't pay him any attention.

Just two minutes later, I was back in the safety of my basement. And only once I was safe inside did I pause to open the bag and stare at the pile of cash in front of me. There was a lot of it, and from a quick going over, I guessed several thousand.

"All right," I grinned, feeling a surge of triumph.

I could barely believe what I'd done. I'd torn apart a small gang, buried their drugs under the ground and ripped them off of several thousand dollars. It was something that I never would have done before...never even would have imagined being able to do. But then again, I reminded myself, I was now a super villain.

Best of all, I wasn't penniless anymore. I had money again. Sure, it was drug money...probably even blood money. But the fact was, that didn't matter to me. I hadn't been involved in any of that and I needed the money.

Now, the big question was...just what was I going to do with all the money now that I had it? But after taking a look at my dishelved appearance in the mirror, I suddenly knew. I now had all of the power I needed to go after Force, but I was still going to need a whole lot of cleaning up as well.

Within two hours, I had taken a bath and put on the cleanest and nicest clothes that I had. Then, I left the Ruins, heading for the nicer part of the city. I felt horribly exposed like that...with everyone able to see my white skin. However, I was comforted by the knowledge that I had my power to back me up. It helped give me the confidence to do what I needed to do.

The first thing that I did was go into a clothing store to get myself something decent to wear. I made every effort to ignore people staring at me, though I couldn't help glaring at several of them, fighting back the temptation to give them something to really stare at. Like the ground swallowing them up. However, I managed to keep from doing that, resorting to only giving dirty looks to just about everyone who looked at me.

When I left the store a short time later, I had bought everything that I needed. Though I had been briefly tempted to try buying something sexy to see what I looked like in it, I had instead remained practical. I'd bought several pairs of jeans, T-shirts, a jacket and a nice comfortable pair of tennis shoes. And perhaps even most importantly, I had bought a bunch of underwear. They were unfortunately women's underwear, but I was realistic enough to know that they fit my body a whole lot better than male ones would.

I was a little less than pleased with the faint discomfort that that the new bra I was wearing gave me. I hadn't really thought about needing to wear a bra now that I was a woman until I'd seen them in the store, but it did make a bit of sense. But at the same time, I still wasn't sure that I even needed to wear one. Sure my new tits were fairly large, but they were also very firm. They hadn't felt at all painful from jiggling around without a bra like I'd heard some women saying. Perhaps not needing a bra was part of my strange mutation. However, I thought that it was better safe than sorry so had decided to wear one...for now.

Just as I stepped outside the store, a large fat man wearing a cowboy hat stood a short distance in front of me. And if he had been staring at me any harder, I would have thought his eyes would have popped right out their sockets.

"What on God's Earth are you?" he demanded. And from the looks other people nearby gave, I could tell that they were sharing his interest. "Some kind of freak..."

"Leave me alone," I warned, moving to go around him.

However, the man changed position to get into my way, and I could hear someone behind me laughing. I glared at him, beginning to get more than just annoyed.

"She isn't normal...," someone else exclaimed.

"No shit," a large black woman blurted out, "That thing ain't human... Look at them eyes..."

"I said what the hell are you?" the fat man demanded again, glaring at me as though I was some sort of threat, just by my mere presence.

"Damn," I growled, thinking that I preferred the attention I got while covered in rags.

Sure, there were a few sneers and rude comments, but for the most part people had avoided me...pretending that they didn't even see me. However, once they saw what I looked like without the rags hiding my appearance, they became a whole lot more interested...much to my growing disgust.

"Get the fuck out of my way," I snapped at him, again trying to get past.

But again, the fat man wasn't about to allow that. "Not till you tell me what the hell you are girlie..."

"What I am...," I said slowly, in a cold angry tone, "Is tired of dealing with assholes like you."

And with that, I concentrated on his rather large belt buckle, causing it to break apart...to disintegrate into dust. That was followed by a similar disintegration of the buttons on his pants. An instant later, his pants popped open, dropping down to his knees. And while everyone was staring and laughing at him, I used the distraction to move past.

"Fucking bastard," I growled to myself, thinking of that fat ass hole, and then of Force...the other bastard. The one I really hated.

With a snort, I tore my thoughts away from that, focusing instead on the business of the moment. I slipped on a pair of sunglasses that I'd bought in the store, hoping that since they hid my eyes, that they would help prevent quite as many stares. Not too likely considering my skin and hair coloring, but it certainly couldn't hurt either.

Of course I still received a lot of attention as I hurried down the sidewalk, though it did seem to have eased just a little. And it was much easier to ignore since I had already been able to release a bit of steam at that fat man's expense.

Several minutes later, I found what I was looking for. I paused in front of the beauty salon, feeling somewhat queasy about the very thought of going inside. Though my body was most definitely female, I was still a guy deep inside. However, I knew that I definitely needed to get something done about my appearance and that seemed the best place to do it.

With that, I stepped inside, taking in the gasps and stares from the few women who were already there, then removing my sunglasses and getting more. I wanted them to get the full picture and hopefully get over it so that I could get this going...and over with.

"Can...can I help you...?" one of the beauticians asked me nervously. She stared into my eyes, then would tear hers away...but be unable to keep them away for long.

"I need you to do something about this," I tugged at my hair, which was a bit tangled after those weeks of neglect.

"Of course," another woman...who seemed much calmer and more collected stepped in. "Right this way maam."

Soon my hair was being washed and lathered in shampoo. I lay back, wincing as she brushed it, working all of the tangles out. She seemed somewhat surprised at just how easily they did come out once she started on them.

"Such interesting hair," the woman commented nervously. "Is it natural...? I don't see any roots..."

I just grunted at that, thought I did feel somewhat comforted by the small talk. It made me feel like I was a real person again...not just a freak.

Though the woman who was working on my hair suggested the possibility to cutting it shorter so that it wouldn't get tangled again, and hinted at being able to dye it for me, I decided against either of those options. The long hair might be a little bit of a hassle of I wanted to keep it, and the color would certainly draw attention. However, I knew that those would both be like scars of battle...and serve to remind me of what I had become. And of course, who was to blame for that.

But while I was having my hair trimmed and styled, another woman came over and started working on my nails, giving me a manicure. Though I hadn't really thought about it, I realized that they probably needed some attention as well. They were longer than my old nails had been, almost like claws, and I hadn't been cut since I'd woken up with them. Still, they hadn't seemed to have grown much more or been too badly chipped in that time either. However, the manicure was definitely appreciated.

The whole process seemed to take a long time, yet it was over sooner than I might have expected. And strangely enough, I had actually enjoyed it. Not only had I enjoyed being treated as though I were human again, but I rather enjoyed the attention and pampering as well. It was no wonder that women spent large amounts of money for that kind of treatment.

Once I was done, I admired myself in the mirror, staring at my reflection in awe. My new hairstyle was a definite improvement, as were the slight makeup touches that they'd done to my face. It seemed to add the hint of color, making me look just a tiny bit more alive. Then I looked at my nails, which went into perfectly manicured points.

"Very nice," I admitted, smiling as I did so. I was rather pleased as I paid them, even giving women who'd worked on me a large tip.

I quickly hurried back to the security of the Ruins, feeling even more confident than before. The care that I'd received in the salon and my new clothes had made a definite improvement, not just in my appearance but how I felt. I felt more human than before.

And then once I was back home, I looked into my mirror, continuing to admire what they had done for me. I looked at my hands, stretching my fingers and then smiling. It was a pleasant smile at first, but it then turned into an almost cruel one.

"It's time," I announced, realizing that I was almost ready to go after Force. I was almost ready to take my revenge for what he'd done to me. "I have almost everything I need..."

As far as I could tell, I had almost everything that I needed to be a super villain and get my revenge. I had my motivation. I had my powers...powers which I had finally mastered after a lot of hard work and practice. I even had my super villains lair. Probably not nearly as nice as most...but it was what I had available.

"A name," I blurted out, realizing that I still didn't have a code name.

Every developed that I'd ever heard of, hero or villain had some sort of silly code name. It was some sort of rule as far as I could tell. And I realized, it would be necessary to actually be taken seriously among those people.

"Certainly can't use my own," I muttered thoughtfully, knowing that my real name wasn't of my use anymore. I sure as hell didn't look anything like a Scott Felding anymore. Nor did I really feel like I had as Scott. That name no longer applied to me in any way. It had been discarded along with my old body and buried along with that old life. "But what can I use...?"

I thought about it for a long time, realizing that it wasn't quite as easy coming up with a code name as I would have thought. At first, I thought about calling myself Vengeance, but thought that I remembered hearing of someone else calling themselves that. And I 'd thought of calling myself Nemesis...thinking that this would be appropriate as well. But again, I was sure that someone else was already using that name. It appeared that just about all of the good names had already been taken.

"I wonder if they have copyright code names," I spat in frustration.

Then my thoughts shifted to Hank, or more specifically, to the conversation we'd had when he told me that everyone thought that I was some sort of witch. Maybe I could use that. My powers were sort of like being able to catch a witches hex...

"Hex," I mused, my attention catching onto that single word. "Hexx...," I repeated after a moment, "With two X's."

That sounded a bit better, but it was still lacking. It was short and sweet. TOO short and sweet. It lacked any real 'ooomph' to it. It needed something...

After a moment more, I thought about Hank again, suddenly remembering what he always called me. Lady. Since he didn't know my name, he always called me 'lady'. I wasn't really...but it would be like my long hair...a symbol of what I had become. Something to remind me of what I had become...and why.

"Lady Hexx," I thought aloud, deciding that I rather liked it. It felt more...balanced. "That's it," I exclaimed more loudly, standing up and looking into the mirror and knowing that I finally had a name. "From now on...I am Lady Hexx!"

I felt a surge of pride at my new name, but suddenly paused, realizing that I was still missing one thing. I still needed a costume...

scowled fiercely as I silently stared at the wall, just as I had for the last twenty minutes. However, it wasn't really the wall of my basement home that I was staring at, but what was hanging from it. Or more precisely, the three things hanging from it.

"Which one," I mused as I stared at the three costumes.

When I had realized that I would need a costume to complete my revenge, something to fit the style and make Force take me seriously, I had immediately went to work gathering loose material and designing one. But in the end, I had created not one costume...but three.

While I had been creating my costumes, I had thought about my new body, deciding to use it to my advantage. I would show it off a little, using my new curves to distract Force. If I was going to fight him...someone that experienced, I would need absolutely every edge that I could get.

The first costume was a prime example of that. It was very skimpy and made of black material, showing a lot of cleavage and a lot of skin. It had thigh high stiletto heeled boots, a black bikini top and looked something like a dominatrix outfit, though it had a long red sash around the waist to add a splash of color to the otherwise black and white motif.

Though the first costume was extremely sexy looking, and I knew that it would certainly distract any man looking at me, I didn't have the first idea of how to actually walk in high heels like that. But at the time, I'd gotten a bit carried away. Of course, there was also the fact that it was also too sexy and I blushed slightly at the thought of appearing in public wearing something like that.

The second costume was toned down a little from the first, though still very sexy. It was a skimpy red one that still showed a fair amount of skin, and was decorated with several black metal skulls. I'd come up with that one to emphasize the whole vampire thing since that was what people kept thinking that I looked like.

However, after some thought, I realized that the third and last costume was my favorite. It was a green one piece thing that cut off at just the right place to show a decent bit of cleavage, while still remaining tasteful. It also covered my shoulders and arms, leaving my hands exposed. Around my neck was a black choker that I'd made with a small green stone set in it. And then there was the final touch, a cloak made out of a slightly darker shade of green.

I rather liked that costume. It wasn't quite as sexy as the first two, and perhaps I chickened out a bit, but it did make me feel more comfortable. And I thought that the cloak was a nice touch, giving a hint of mystery as well as being able to hide my strange appearance a bit.

"I guess you're it," I said, reaching for the green costume.

It didn't take me long to get ready, and soon I was standing there, feeling my heart racing. I was excited, nervous and afraid at the same time. The burning rage...the thirst for vengeance were right there, keeping me on edge. It was almost time.

"Finally," I whispered, thinking about what was ahead of me.

Now I had everything. Everything that I needed to be the super villain and kill Force. I had my costume, my name and my powers. But most importantly, I had motive. Motive to kill him...and thanks to a public appearance that he was scheduled to make in a few hours....opportunity.

And after taking a deep breath, I left my home, feeling a deep satisfaction that one way or another, this would soon all be over.

I closed my eyes, breathing deeply as I felt my heart race. It was almost there. The time for my revenge was so close that I could almost taste it.

Then I opened my eyes and looked out around me. I was at a recently constructed building, a new museum of the developed which Force was scheduled to ribbon for. He was apparently trying to get all the good publicity he could after the scandal with the Elite several months back. And that was good for me. It told me exactly where and when I could find him.

After waiting only several more minutes, I saw him. A flash of blue and silver dropped from the sky, directly in front of the building where several politicians and reporters waited. I grimaced faintly at that, then started to move into position.

"HELP!" I screamed out, dropping to my knees and covering myself with my cloak, "I'm hurt... I've been mugged and he's getting away...!"

So I wasn't the best actor. Actress. But that apparently didn't seem to matter as Force took the bait and stared flying towards me. Of course, how could he do otherwise with people watching. However, I didn't really want them watching, which was why I got to my feet and staggered around the corner, pretending to be hurt.

"Are you all right maam...?" Force called out as he came closer.

"He went there..." I called out, pointing to a neighboring lot that was just out of sight of the reporters.

As soon as Force landed on the ground, I cut loose with my powers. The very ground around him turned to quicksand and started to pull him under. And at the same time, I made the ground nearby rise up, planning to bury him from all directions at once.

However, I notice several of the reporters coming so gestured towards them, causing the ground to rise up into a large wall, blocking them from us.

"Go away," I screamed at them, pushing the wall back a bit, "This is between Force and me..."

Suddenly, there was an explosion as all the ground around Force was suddenly thrown back with incredible force. He was floating out of a small crater a moment later.

"I don't know who you are..." Force started, glaring at me arrogantly, "But you're going down..."

"The name is Lady Hexx," I hissed back at him, throwing my cloak back to let him get a full look at me. "And you already took me down." I spat it out with as much venom as I could.

It didn't appear as Force was really listening though as he fired a massive blast of raw force right in front of me, shattering the ground and sending me flying backwards. I winced as I hit and he just smirked, getting ready to do it again.

With a surge of anger, I caused the ground to suddenly shoot up at him from beneath, creating a pillar that hit him. And while he was disrtacted, I created a virtual tidal wave of rock and cement, sending it flying straight at him. However, he quickly turned and punched it, causing it to explode away just as it would have hit him.

Now Force flew straight at me, his arm raised to throw a superhumanly strong punch. I created another wall between us, realizing as I did so that I wasn't going to stop him that way. He'd already shown that. He was too powerful. But I still had no intention of quitting now.

"You fucking bastard!" I yelled at him, deciding to change tactics a little.

I used my powers to make a giant stone hand burst from the ground and grab him in mid air. I was going to crush him to death, maybe even drag him down and bury him at the same time. He struggled within the hand, and it took all my strength just to contain him. But it wasn't enough as he broke out of that as well.

My adrenaline was rushing wildly and my senses all seemed sharper than every before. I could feel all the molecules around me with extreme clarity.

"Come here bitch," Force growled out at me, "I'll snap you in two..."

Without saying another word, I lashed out again, throwing another wave of stone at him. I was determined to keep doing that until he was worn out...until I got him. Or until I died trying.

But this time, I caused the wall to explode early, tearing it to pieces so that he was bombarded with shrapnel and lots of rocks instead of just a single wall. And this time, I suddenly noticed something different. The rocks appeared to bounce right off of him without doing any harm...but I sensed more than that. Since I could feel the molecules, I could feel them all abruptly stopping an inch before they'd even touched him.

"Holy shit," I whispered, suddenly realizing that he wasn't really invulnerable. He had a force field.

However, I didn't have time to consider what that meant as Force pressed his attack on me, suddenly hitting the ground and slamming it, sending a massive shockwave towards me. I tried to get out of the way but was hit anyway and sent flying, hitting the ground with a painful thud.

"Damn," I spat, quickly getting back to my feet.

Force had taken this opportunity to put me on the defensive, blasting at me with his force blasts while I moved back, pushing wall after wall of stone up between us for protection. It wasn't getting me any closer to my goal though.

Then Force suddenly changed tactics slightly, flying above my stole wall and firing another blast straight at me. With only an instant to think, I remembered his force field and tried something new with my powers. I held the very molecules in the air where they were, refusing to let them budge as his blast hit my wall of solid air. My own force field. Still, it was a massive strain on me since I was holding the air there with nothing but my own power. But it worked. At least that one time since I didn't think that I could survive another one that way.

Knowing that I wouldn't be able to keep that up, I decided to change tactics myself. I concentrated, bringing the stone behind Force to life again. The very ground rose...forming into a 9 foot tall humanoid shape. It was a statue...a golem that was completely under my control.

"Gotcha," I growled, glaring at Force with all the hate inside me.

My golem swung at Force with it's massive fist, sending the hero flying backwards. However, he didn't seem to be hurt in the least. Instead, he charged straight for my golem, punching it, though I used my powers to keep the golem intact.

Force and my golem fought for several minutes, with him getting angrier and angrier. Suddenly, he punched my golem again, unleashing a massive concussion burst as he did so, sending pieces of my golem flying everywhere. That didn't bother me though as I knew that it would only take seconds for me to create a new one.

"Enough of this you fucking bitch," Force yelled at me, firing massive force blast right at me.

I blocked his blast with another wall, moving to the side as I did so. And from my new position, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Sparing a quick glance, I was horrified to see that it was some of the reporters, standing by and watching the fight.

Force flew up into the air, looking extremely pissed as he fired another force blast in my direction, one that seemed much more powerful than the ones before. But unfortunately, I knew that the reporters were right behind me...right in the way of his blast.

"NO," I gasped in horror, jumping to the side yet at the same time, creating a massive all of stone in front of the reporters to protect them from the spillover from Force's blast.

I stared at Force in horror, realizing that he was doing it again. He was so intent on getting me that he was ignoring everyone else nearby. Including the reporters which he damn near killed while blasting me. That fact suddenly reminded me exactly why I was the way I was. Why I had suffered so horribly. And of course, exactly why I hated him so much.

However, Force didn't seem to have noticed the reporters, or the fact that he nearly hit them. Instead, he was grabbing a car off the nearby street, holding it over his head as he glared at me.

It was then that I noticed it with my powers again. The car...he was holding it over his head but wasn't actually touching it. There were air molecules between his hands and the car.

Suddenly, I gasped in understanding, staring at Force in amazement. His powers...his powers weren't at all what I'd thought. They weren't at all what had been demonstrated and reported on TV. He wasn't super strong and invulnerable at all.

"Holy shit," I gasped in disbelief.

His powers.... He just manipulated that force field and kinetic energy. That force field not only made him appear invulnerable, but he could move the force field at will..., using it like an exoskeleton and making it move heavy objects while appearing that he was extremely strong. Then I realized that the flying was the same thing. He just made the force field rise...and it lifted him along with it.

But at the moment, that revelation about Force's powers weren't going to do me much good. I knew that I had to do something and in an instant, caused the car he was holding to melt in his hands. I made what was left of it spread over his body, wrapping him up in a thick cocoon of metal.

"Buried alive," I whispered, deciding that it would definitely be appropriate. Especially after the way I'd been buried in that hole.

Just as I turned around, letting out a sigh of relief that it was all over...I heard the metal creaking. I snapped back around, just in time to see the metal explode away from him. I was barely able to solidify the air in time to keep from being hit by the shrapnel.

"YOU BITCH!" Force screamed, launching a series of force blasts that destroyed nearly everything nearby.

While Force was attacking, I pulled as much stone and metal around me as I could, using my own cocoon for protection. Within moments though, he stopped and I was able to come out. I took a single look at Force's face and gasped at the look of raw fury that was there. He was pissed and ready to kill me. I supposed that I should have felt proud at being able to drive him to that point, but the truth was that I was worried. I suddenly realized that I had probably attacked him too early. I wasn't nearly as ready to deal with him as I thought. He was too powerful...too experienced. And at the moment, he was the one ready to kill me.

Once again, Force hit the ground and caused a massive shockwave which shattered the ground in all directions. Taking another clue from what I'd seen of him, I used the air to remain where I was, hovering a few feet above the crater that he'd created below me.

Though I tried using the air molecules to actually fly, I immediately discovered that it was a lot harder than I would have thought. In fact, it was taking almost everything that I had just to keep myself floating. Deciding to stick with what I was good at, I made a column of stone rise up from underneath me, giving me something to stand on again and then pushing me up higher in the air.

My actions seemed to infuriate Force more, who launched another attack, destroying nearly everything around...including the column that I had been standing on. I nearly screamed in panic as I started to fall, though I quickly caught myself, then noticed a woman about to me smashed as well thanks to Force's attack.

"GO AWAY," I yelled at her, even as I used my powers to protect her.

I cursed at her and the other reporters who were so stupid that they'd purposely get in the middle of something like that. But that only lasted a brief moment as I turned my full rage back to where it really belonged...FORCE.

Though I felt a brief bit of guilt for starting the fight when people were close, I knew that I'd purposely tried keeping them out of it. I'd tried keeping this just between me and Force. But Force... He didn't seem to care who was there. He was getting so reckless while coming after me that I was afraid that one of those bystanders was going to get hurt bad...or worse.

But while I had been trying to save that reporter, Force had moved on, grabbing another parked car from the street and throwing it at me. I used my powers to shatter the car in mid-air...leaving little more than dust and small shrapnel to even reach me.

Force let out a howl of rage, then ran back to the road, grabbing another car, holding it above his head as he glared at me with a look of raw hatred in his eyes. He floated a little off the ground, readying himself to throw the car.

Suddenly, I saw something that made my eyes go wide in horror. "NO!" I screamed out, seeing a pair of children's faces peering out of the car window. "THERE ARE KIDS IN THERE...!"

However, Force either didn't hear me or just didn't care. At that moment, I thought that it could have been either because he threw the car straight at me.

I was horrified as I watched this, and not for me. I would have been able to block the car with a wall...or even blow it up. But either of those would probably have been lethal to the kids. Just as hitting the ground would be.

Without taking time to think, I gasped out, giving everything I had to making a giant stone hand raise from the ground and catch the car. It would probably have to have been jarring...but nowhere near what it would be if it had actually hit.

Though I knew that I was leaving myself open to Force, I causing the car doors to melt off, letting the kids get out and clear. I yelled at them to run, creating a wall of stone behind them for further protection, then speeding it up by making the very ground move like a sidewalk escalator to move them along even quicker.

"Hurry," I called out, gasping, "This isn't right..."

There was something just not right with what was going on. I was the villain...and I was busy saving all the innocent bystanders while the hero was the one being reckless of their safety and putting them at risk. That wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

Just then, Force was beside me, picking me up in a single gesture and throwing me. I hit the ground hard, and would have hit much harder if I hadn't been able to use the air molecules to slow myself and act as a cushion.

Knowing that I didn't have the luxury of resting, I quickly came up with something new. Or more accurately, it was borrowed from Force's little trick with the force field. I summoned my powers to create another golem...one bigger than before. And this time, I formed it around me, until I appeared to be a 15 foot tall stone monster.

I was safe within the center of my stone shell, moving towards Force and feeling just a little more confident. However, I was also terrified. While we'd been fighting, I couldn't help realizing that I seemed to be outclassed. But I wasn't about to give up now. Not after all that I'd gone through because of him. I grimaced in determination and then used my stone armor's fist to punch at him.

At first, I had the upper hand. I punched Force and sent him flying. He even seemed bruised and tired after my attack. However, he was still standing, even more furious than before. It was then that he charged me, flying straight at me and punching my golem armor in the chest, unleashing a blast of his raw force at the same time. In that instant, my golem exploded and I was sent flying.

This time, when I hit the ground, I felt a horrible pain exploding from my side and arm. I rolled over on the ground, yelling out in pain. I strongly suspected that I'd broken my arm and ribs after that one.

Force flew up into the air and I could feel the raw concussive force building around him. He was going to blast me again, but more than that. I could tell that he wasn't going to just go after me this time. He was doing something more powerful, something similar to what he'd done to create the massive crater. He was going to level half the area.

But in that very instant, I saw my opportunity. Force was building his attack and had left himself somewhat vulnerable. I forced myself to my knees, knowing that if I could hit him with everything that I had now, I might be able to take him out when he fired.

However, I noticed something out of the corner of my eyes. Two kids...the kids from the car were still in the area. They were standing back behind a large chunk of rock that had been overturned, and right in the middle of Force's blast zone.

"NO," I screamed out in warning, my voice hoarse and tired. It didn't have enough power to reach Force and at the moment, I don't think that he'd even care if he did.

I knew at that moment that I MIGHT be able to hit Force, but probably not before he could throw release the blast.

Without thinking any further, I reacted, using the last of my power to raise the ground one more time, to form it onto a bubble around the two kids...and harden it as much as I could. Then I braced myself for the blast that was coming, determined to save those kids from it...even as Force finished what he'd started on me at the waste site.

To my surprise though, the blast didn't come. Instead, a man's voice yelled, "STOP THIS!"

Force slowly landed on the ground, looking tense but no longer powering up to fire that super force blast. And he looked pissed as hell.

Then a woman came running into the field, heading for the stone bubble that I'd just erected and screaming, "My babies...!" She was in a panic, obviously the kid's mother. With nearly the last of my energy, I released the bubble, causing it to dissolve so that the kids could come out.

"He attacked me!" another woman's voice yelled out. I looked to see a reporter...the woman that I'd saved earlier pointing at Force.

At that, I noticed several police officers coming towards us, looking nervously at Force and me. They had their guns out, obviously uncertain of the situation but determined to do their duty.

"You're under arrest," one of the cops yelled out. But to my surprise, he was pointing his gun and looking at Force. "For reckless endangerment and destruction of private property..."

"WHAT?" Force yelled out furiously, "You can't arrest ME. I'm HERO!"

"You have to come with us sir," the one cop said, trying to be very respectful to someone who was such a famous hero.

Force looked furious at the very idea, then howled out, "NO!"

At the same instant he yelled out, Force slammed his fist into the ground, sending a large shockwave straight at the cops. And as the ground exploded around them, the cops were thrown back...screaming in pain. And without even looking at the cops who were now on the ground injured, Force shot straight up into the sky, vanishing from view.

I stared up in stunned silence, shocked at what I had just seen. But then, I slowly sat up, wincing from the pain in my ribs and arm. It was only then that I noticed someone behind me. No...not just some one...there were four of them.

"Oh shit," I gasped, wincing again.

It was the E.R.S. The Emergency Rescue Squad, with their leader Pursuit standing right in front of me with deep scowl on his face. Rescue, Smoke and Nexus stood just behind him, none of them looking very happy either.

Then Pursuit looked at me, staring for just a moment before announcing, "You're under arrest..."

I didn't offer any resistance at all as Pursuit put me under arrest. I was far too sore and tired to fight back and doubted that I even had the energy left to use my powers. It was over and I knew it.

My eyes were closed tightly and I kept my body just as motionless as it had been for the last half hour as I continued concentrated. But then I finally opened my eyes, blinking as I looked around the small room that I was in, having little more than a cot, a toilet and a small TV up in the corner.

At the moment, I was deep in the bowels of Mount Prometheus. It was the super prison, especially designed to hold developed criminals. And I was one of them, locked away in my tiny cell.

Ironically, it was actually somewhat more comfortable than I had grown used to in the Ruins. Or at least compared to before I'd improved things a little with my powers. It was warm, I had clean clothes, blankets, a TV and best of all...plenty of food. Three hots and a cot as they might say.

I had been a prisoner there for just a week, ever since the fight with Force. There had been no trial, at least not yet. I had just been flown their almost directly. It was one of those new laws which allowed the more serious containment of potentially dangerous developed suspects until their trials. I also suspected that there were more than a few inmates that they never bothered to give a trial to and had no intention of doing so.

Mount Prometheus had a very effective method of keeping prisoners contained. I had a metal collar around my neck, a collar which contained among other things, a tracking device and an explosive charge that could be detonated if I attempted escape.

I didn't really have much chance of escape though as I was almost never released from my cell. It didn't even have bars, just a heavy door with video cameras to monitor me. Even my food was delivered.

Of course, the most effective method that they had was keeping my powers neutralized. The guards didn't say how, so I thought that it could very easily have been something in the collar or even something in the cell itself. However, I had also overheard several other prisoners saying that they thought it was caused by some developed who was hidden within the prison and who had the power to neutralize the powers of everyone else within a certain distance.

"Effective," I muttered to myself.

Then I turned my attention to the TV up in the corner, feeling thankful that they'd provided at least that for me. It was the only form of entertainment that I had, though there were only a few channels. Apparently, they thought that a distracted prisoner was less likely to try causing trouble. As if that were even possible there.

Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything new on the news. They were still going on about my fight with Force. There had been enough reporters there...and video cameras to make sure that the entire thing had been well captured. I hadn't realized just how well until I'd been stuck in the cell watching it. In fact, that had been just about the only thing on the news for the last week.

It appeared to be a huge scandal, with just about everyone shocked by what had happened. They were shocked by the way reckless way that Force had completely disregarded the safety of everyone around him...at how I had actually saved people that he as the hero should have. That just brought back further attention to the previous scandal that had caused the disbanding of the Elite.

But there was of course more to the scandal than just his complete and total disregard for anyone else while fighting. There was his actions afterwards. The reporters had caught him on camera as he attacked the police when they tried to arrest him. One of those cops had even ended up in the hospital, seriously injured. Now there was a warrant out for his arrest and Force had nearly become public enemy number one. At least that was how the news was making it look.

And as I stared at the TV, I couldn't help thinking that it was somewhat ironic. Sure, I didn't kill Force like I'd intended to, but in a strange way, I had destroyed him. Because of that fight, he had lost everything that he had. He'd lost his reputation as one of the greatest heroes and had instead become a wanted fugitive. A man who would endanger children and attack police.

"He's done for," I said, feeling a great deal of satisfaction from that. The world finally knew what he was really like. Of course, I still wanted him dead for what he'd done to me, but that would do for now.

After watching the news for another few minutes, I turned my attention back to my collar. Even if it wasn't what was neutralizing my powers, as I strongly suspect, it was an annoyance that I would need to get rid of before I could escape. I smiled faintly at the thought.

My powers were almost completely neutralized...but the operative word was almost. I could still sense things a tiny bit...and I could even still move a molecule or two at a time...with a lot of effort. I had been doing so for several days now, slowly moving the molecules in my collar so that I could eventually break it open and escape. However, it would still take some time and effort. But time was one thing that I seemed to have a whole lot of lately.

Just then, there was a hissing sound as my cell door opened. One of the guards gestured at me with his gun and announced, "You have a visitor. Come on..."

I was startled at that, not having any idea who could possibly be visiting me. I didn't even have a lawyer...unless it was some court appointed one. As I was moved down the corridor, I became more certain that this was the case.

A few minutes later, I found myself in a small room, watched by nearly half a dozen guards who waited just outside. They were taking the security very seriously. But then again, I supposed that would be normal when dealing with a lot of developed...powers or not.

I sat down and waited for a few more seconds before someone else entered the room through the opposite door. I was more than a little startled at the familiar sight. It was a black man in a black and white costume, with a shiny badge on his chest. It was Pursuit.

"Lady Hexx," Pursuit nodded faintly as he sat down on the other side of the table from me. "I believe that is what you call yourself..."

I nodded at that, not saying a word though wondering why the hell he was there. He was the one who arrested me for God's sake and I didn't know what he could possibly want with me now.

"I suppose that you are wondering why I'm here," he told me.

"You could say that," I responded cautiously.

Pursuit was silent for a moment as he just stared at me, with me staring right back. He tore his eyes away first, apparently uncomfortable with my pure white eyes.

"I've been talking with the governor," Pursuit finally said. "We've been reviewing what occurred during your attack on Force..."

"And," I encouraged, becoming curious in spite of myself.

"To start with," Pursuit told me, "the woman who's children you saved is a friend of the governor's niece. That has earned you a small amount of good will." Then Pursuit paused, adding after a moment, "And there is the political aspect. With all of the witnesses to your protecting those people, the governor thinks that he might be able to use that."

I wasn't really certain where this was leading, but I had a feeling that it was very important. Someone like Pursuit wouldn't be coming all the way to Mount Prometheus just to talk to me if it wasn't serious. "And what about you?" I asked, noticing that he'd mentioned things from the governor's point of view...not from his own.

Pursuit just stared at me intently. "Why did you attack Force? Were you hired to kill him? Were you trying to make a name for yourself by taking him down...?"

"It's personal," I spat out bitterly. Then I sneered, "Force made me the woman I am today..."

"But you didn't attack him when you had the opportunity," Pursuit pressed. "You saved the children instead."

I just shrugged at that. I knew that I'd missed my best opportunity to take out Force, but I sure as hell couldn't let those kids die. Especially not because of me.

After a moment, Pursuit smiled...faintly. "What I think Ms. Hexx...is that you have potential. We can use someone with your powers on our team..."

For a moment, I just stared at Pursuit in stunned disbelief. I was sure that I'd misheard him. I was a villain... I was in prison for hunting down a famous hero and doing my damn best to kill him. There was no way in hell that Pursuit could be saying what I thought he was saying.

At my surprised look, Pursuit continued, "The governor has suggested...and I agreed that we let you out on probation. The conditions are that you will join the E.R.S. and use your powers to help people. You will be on call to the state for emergency situations...disasters recovery, search and rescues....that sort of thing. And...," he sat forward slightly, stating, "I will act as your parole officer."

"You can't be serious," I stated, trying to keep my voice calm and steady.

However, Pursuit looked very serious. "What do you say? Do you walk out of her with me now...or wait for your trial?"

I leaned back at that, silently reminding myself that there was another option. I absently fingered the collar around my neck, thinking that I would probably have it off in just another week or so. Then I could escape. However, the thought of being on the run didn't really appeal to me very much.

"All right," I nodded my agreement. I'd just agreed to go from being a villain to a hero, and I hoped that I'd made the right decision.

After shaking hands with Pursuit to seal the deal, I was let out of that room and eventually out of Mount Prometheus entirely. Even my costume was returned to me, though it definitely needed a little cleaning and sewing up, both of which would be rather easy with my powers.

Over the next two months, things changed very drastically for me. I joined the E.R.S. as I had agreed, and went to work as a hero, helping to save people's lives for the city. For the most part, that involved different forms of rescues and assistance, though there were a few criminals that we had to fight as well. Some of them were even developed.

But as well as doing that work for the E.R.S. and the city, I was also called on a few times by the governor to do things for other parts of the state. For the most part, that came down to disaster relief and helping dig people out of rubble after an earthquake had leveled buildings and trapped them within.

My lifestyle had changed quite a bit as well. Instead of living in a basement in the Ruins, I was living in a nice apartment, paid for by the city. I was even given a small salary and plenty to eat. Of course, I felt slightly guilty at my good fortune and made sure to occasionally bring some food back to Hank and anyone else in the Ruins who needed it.

I was no longer Scott Felding, and at times it seemed as though I never had been. I was Lady Hexx now...freak...woman...and hero. Like it or not...I was what I was and had come to accept it.

It was strange, going from being a homeless freak to being thought of as a hero. But I was...I was saving people's lives and doing good deeds. And that gave me a great sense of satisfaction. And of purpose.

During the few times that I did meet up with other developed heroes though, I found that my reputation among that type wasn't as a hero. I was still seen as a villain... They resented me, blaming me for what had happened to Force. As if I had purposely framed him and destroyed his reputation. As if I had personally pushed him over the edge. The only ones who seemed willing to trust me, even not knowing about my past, were the other members of my team.

Even as I played the hero, saving lives and helping the city, I still had one thing that remained in the back of my mind. One thing that I thought about quite frequently. With us being the good guys...and with Force having a warrant out on him, I had little doubt that one day I would encounter him again. And when that finally happened...I was going to be ready.

Author's Note: This is the seventh story in my Legacy Universe, with the previous stories listed below for those who haven't read them. Like the other this is a stand alone story, though it might be helpful to have at least read the first, The Miracle Legacy.

The Miracle Legacy
Change of Heart
Hardshell
The Praxis Crossing
Mannequin
The Vengeance of Lady Hexx

It was late at night, much less than a half hour short from the stroke of midnight. Yet in spite of the lateness of the hour, everything was not completely covered in a blanket of darkness as might be expected, thanks to the light provided by the bright full moon.

Three figures garbed in black slowly made their way to the door of an empty building; a large shed which would be perfect for their current needs. The figures paused only momentarily before stepping inside.

"God... I can't believe you made me wear all this black," a blonde teenager complained as she gestured down at herself in disgust, "I feel like such a Goth..."

"Yeah," a second girl agreed, "What's with all this tacky black?"

"Stop complaining you two," the third girl ordered, glaring at her two companions before they all burst into a short fit of giggles.

With that, the 17 year old Melanie Chambers stood up straighter, looking at her two friends and clutching the package that she was holding just a little tighter. Melanie was a beautiful blonde, one of the prettiest as well most popular girls in her school. She was even captain of the cheerleading squad, a much desired position.

The two attractive girls standing beside Melanie were the blonde Chelsea and the brunette Brenda, both members of the cheerleading squad and Melanie's closest friends. Neither of them were particularly happy to be there at the moment, though they followed Melanie's lead, as they always did.

"We like... have to do this," Melanie firmly told the other girls.

"But this place is like so..." Chelsea paused, "Ewwww. Like, completely spooky..."

"It's just my dad's old shed," Melanie snapped.

"Brenda just shrugged, not looking very pleased. "Whatever. Let's just do this so I can go home..."

Melanie nodded at that, then opened the package that she had been carrying and started spreading the contents around. Then she held out a thick leather-bound book, opening it to the page that was marked with the pink bookmark. She stared at the page for a moment, nodding before she began setting the candles up in front of her and drawing the chalk pattern that was shown in the book.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Chelsea complained, earning a glare from both Melanie and Brenda.

"I'm going to show that bitch Michelle," Melanie snapped, "I'll teach her to steal MY boyfriend..."

"But isn't calling a demon kind of... going a little far," Chelsea asked.

"She does have a point," Brenda pointed out, "This is like... so Goth. I'll just die if anyone finds out..."

"Revenge is worth any price," Melanie announced as she lit the candles, "Even wearing these ugly clothes... At least as long as no one sees us..."

"I wish I never found that weird spell book in my uncles book store," Brenda muttered, then added, "Or at least never told you about it..."

"Zip it," Melanie told her, glancing at her watch. "It's just about midnight and it's a full moon... Now all we have to do is call up that spirit then send it after Michelle..."

With that, Chelsea and Brenda took their positions, each sitting beside a candle and facing towards the center of the triangle that they were forming. Melanie took her position as well, holding the book on her lap and carefully beginning to read the strange words that were written inside.

Melanie read the spell for the next minute, and as she was doing so, all three girls felt a cold chill along their skins. They squirmed, then let out gasps as the candles suddenly began to flicker.

"This is really freaking me out," Chelsea whispered to Brenda, who nodded but didn't say anything.

Suddenly, the flames from the candles shot up more than a foot high, turning a strange green color at the same time. Chelsea and Brenda each let out a loud squeal, while Melanie dropped the book with a gasp of surprise, having only half expected anything to actually happen.

Then without warning, there was the crash of thunder from outside... from a sky that had been completely clear just half an hour earlier. At the same time, the darkness seemed to increase around the shed, with dark swirling cloud beginning to form directly above their heads. A cloud that seemed to be composed of pure shadow.

"I really don't like this," Chelsea whimpered, while Brenda put a hand on hers, equally terrified but not sure what to say.

And just as they didn't think anything could get more frightening, there was sudden burst of red lighting bursting from the cloud above their heads... striking Melanie who let out an ear shattering scream. At that very instant, the candles suddenly dropped back to their normal flicker, while Melanie collapsed forward.

For a long moment, everyone was silent as they looked around, feeling the air charged with something strange. There was something else... a new presence. They could feel it. A scary presence.

"M... Melanie?" Brenda finally brought check on her still slumped forward friend.

With that, Melanie slowly sat back up, while Chelsea and Brenda both let out sighs of relief. But then, she raised her face as she stared at the other two... revealing her eyes. Eyes that glowed red and were filled with a deep malevolence. And then, Melanie smiled at her friends... a cold cruel smile.

Chelsea gulped with an increasing terror as she sat back, "Melanie..."

Suddenly, the air was filled with the fluttering of wings and a shadow flickered across the room before a dark shape landed on Melanie's shoulder. And without even a moment of hesitation, the black bird turned to them and cawed, "Nevermore..."

Sam leaned back from his computer and rubbed his eyes, simultaneously smiling as he listened to the soothing sounds of Pink Floyd playing in the background. He had been busy working for several hours straight and was somewhat startled to look over at the clock and see that it was already into the afternoon.

"Damn," Sam muttered, standing up to stretch, "Time flies when you're having fun."

With that, Sam shook his head, took a look out the window and glanced back at his computer. He had been working hard on his project for most of the day and the work had paid off well so far. His latest software project was coming close to completion. Just a few more days and he'd be able to turn it in and get the rest of his payment.

"Maybe I'll take Anne out for dinner," he thought to himself.

For a moment, Sam just stood there, thinking about his wife Anne. They had been married for 17 years, and unfortunately, haven't been able to go out together as much as he would have liked. But with their kids getting older and not needing a sitter, Sam thought that it was high time that he and Anne took a little time for themselves.

Thinking about Anne quickly led Sam to thinking about their two wonderful kids. There was 16 year old Todd, who was a pretty good kid and not too rebellious, and 12 year old Emily who was her mother's little angel. And that reminded Sam that it wouldn't be too much longer before they both got out of school.

"I think I'll take a walk before they get home," Sam thought to himself.

Being able to take walks in the middle of the day was only one of the many benefits of working from home as a freelance software designer. Of course, there were many others as well. Sam was his own boss and could work at his own pace with no one staring over his shoulder. He could take breaks as often and as long as he wanted. And he could even take the whole day off if he really felt like it.

After relieving himself in the bathroom, Sam looked at himself in the mirror. Not too bad, he thought, for being 38. He still had a full head of dark brown hair, with no sign of it thinning or receding. Sam hadn't even developed the beer belly that so many men tended to grow when they reached his age.

"Not bad," Sam mused, "Even if I do say so myself."

Of course, with Anne still having a good shape, Sam wasn't about to let himself go too much and risk losing her to some other lucky schmuck. It was much better to do a few sit-ups and walk a few miles than go through that.

It was only a minute later that Sam was out the door and walking down the quiet streets of his neighborhood. He wasn't completely sure where exactly he was going, not since he tended to just let his feet move and see where they took him. However, as usually happened, Sam found himself walking to the park.

The park was a patch of extra space in the middle of suburbia, little more than a large grassy field with a few picnic tables and trees scattered around to provide some variety. This was Bison Park, named not after the animal, but after a man who had one time had been a local civic leader.

"Not a bad day," Sam mused, as he slowed his pace in the park, "Not a bad day at all..."

Of course, he reminded himself with a chuckle, any day that he wasn't trapped in an office was a good day. And since he worked at home where he could spend more time with his family, that made every day a good day.

Suddenly, Sam froze as he saw the light appear ahead of him. All that he could do was stand still and stare at it in surprise... It was a swirling mass of light... almost as though a rainbow had been balled up and left to float in the air in front of him.

"What the hell is that?" Sam gasped out, quickly glancing up but the sky was completely clear. And it hadn't rained in days; so there was no way that it could be a rainbow... even some sort of deformed one.

After a moment, Sam cautiously stepped closer, thinking that it didn't look dangerous. It just looked like a swirling mass of colored light. And a rather pretty mass of light as well. Sam even smiled faintly as he suddenly thought that Emily would absolutely love that display.

Then without warning, the swirling light seemed to jump straight at Sam. Before he had even realized it, the light was all around him... Or more accurately, he seemed to be inside of it. He gasped, staring at the swirls of color moving all around him... surrounding him on all sides.

And then... Sam felt it. There was a warmth from the colors... a pleasant warmth that seemed to be soaking into him. He felt sort of... tingly. It would have scared him if it had hurt in even the least, but this only tickled at the very worst.

Sam just stared around him in awe and confusion, trying to make sense of it when he heard the voice. But it wasn't his ears that heard it. The strange voice seemed to be in his head.

"SAM JOHNSON," the voice filled Sam's head, "YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN."

"What..." Sam started.

However, the voice interrupted him, continuing as though it hadn't heard him at all. Perhaps, he suddenly thought, it hadn't.

"A DARKNESS HAS COME TO YOUR WORLD," the voice stated.

Suddenly, the light around Sam began to flash, showing images... images that he somehow associated with the voice. There were images of forests... of strange looking trees and birds. And then there was an image of a city... some sort of marble and golden city in the distance. It was filled with light; similar to the rainbow swirl that Sam was currently within. And though Sam couldn't make out any real details about the city or the people within it before the image vanished, he knew that it was glorious.

"A DARKNESS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO FIGHT," the voice continued.

The images returned, but this time they were harsh images... images of creatures straight out of nightmare rushing through holes of blackness into the streets of what could have been New York or any other big city. And then there was a silhouette... an image of shadow with glowing red eyes, which was quickly replaced by the image of a big black bird. But like the previous images, these ones flashed across too fast for Sam to get anything but the quickest impressions from before vanishing.

"THE POWER TO FIGHT THIS DARKNESS SHALL BE PROVIDED YOU."

"What are you talking about?" Sam demanded, trying to shake the images from his mind and focus on the voice. "I have been chosen for what? How?" Sam was getting even more shocked and confused by the moment.

However, the voice didn't respond. Instead, the swirling lights grew brighter... then imploded. Sam started to scream as the light all flowed inside of him, but them gasped at the sudden surge of raw energy. It didn't hurt... but instead was more of an intensification of the tickling sensation that he felt before. But this time, it was a thousand times stronger.

"Oh God," Sam gasped out, feeling it inside of him... an energy that was rushing through every fiber of his body.

After just several seconds, it seemed to stop and Sam collapsed to the ground, breathing hard but feeling all right. However, he knew that the energy wasn't gone. He could still vaguely feel it there inside of him. It wasn't burning around inside of him anymore though. Instead, it felt more... dormant.

Suddenly though, Sam somehow knew that he could make the energy active again. That scared him because he didn't know how he knew. He just did. Just like he knew that if he activated it, the energy would transform him somehow and give him the power to fight the darkness... whatever that was.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sam stood up and demanded of the voice, though he could see no sign of whomever it had come from or the mass of colored light. Not surprising since the light now seemed to be inside of him. Sam grimaced, looking around him and demanding to know, "Why me?" But again, there was no answer.

For a minute, Sam just stood there, looking around him and thinking that it was a good thing that Bison Park was empty. If there had been anyone around, he didn't know how he would have explained about that light and what had happened, especially since he wasn't too sure himself.

"What is this darkness," Sam asked again, this time to himself as he tried thinking it through, "And why was I the one they chose to fight it?"

The whole thing made little sense to Sam, and the more he thought about it, the more questions he had. In fact, almost all that he had was questions. He didn't know who that voice had been... Where was that strange place... that rainbow city that he had glimpsed in the vision? Of course, there were a thousand other questions too.

"Damn I'm getting confused," he rubbed at his temples. Then he gulped, "How am I going to explain this to Anne? She'll think I've lost my mind..." Yet at the same time, Sam wasn't completely sure that he hadn't. After all, seeing strange balls of light appearing in the air and hearing voices in your head weren't exactly signs of good mental health.

Of course, Sam reminded himself after he'd thought about it for a minute, there was one way to prove to himself that he hadn't lost his mind. That what he'd thought just happened actually had. And perhaps it might even help answer a few questions.

Sam closed his eyes, feeling the energy... the light inside of him. He could sort of picture it as a tight ball of swirling colored light deep inside, and all that he had to do was throw a mental switch to wake it up. And since that seemed to be the logical place to start looking for answers, Sam did just that.

Almost the instant that Sam did so, he could feel the light awakening, could picture the ball of light unraveling inside of him. The warm tingling sensation rushed through him again, and a second later, the light burst through his skin like a rainbow leaking out... and then began to swirl around him.

For a brief moment, Sam could only stand there stunned from the overwhelming sensations, staring at the swirling rainbow around him. It was similar, but not quite like when the light that had surrounded him just a short while earlier.

But then, Sam suddenly realized that the strange things he was feeling weren't just the same tingling as before. There was something else as well, though he couldn't really make it out. Sam felt his body... shifting. That was the only thing he could think of. It was like his entire body was changing.

This all happened extremely quickly, and before Sam could make out anything more than that he was changing... it stopped... The swirling lights vanished from around him, though he could still see faint traces. And at the same time, he was immediately aware that his body felt... different.

Sam stood there for a long moment, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths as he tried to stay calm and brace himself for whatever he was going to face. And with that, he slowly opened his eyes and looked down at himself, still not ready for the shocking sight.

Somehow, Sam bit down the shocking gasps of exclamation that threatened to burst from his lips, and even the quiet mutterings of disbelief. Instead, he took another slow breath to steady himself and silently surveyed the drastic changes to his body.

There were more than a dozen things that Sam immediately noticed, though the most obvious were the nice round female breasts pushing out from his chest. He estimated them to probably be about C cups... and very shapely ones at that. And from a single glance that swept down over the rest of his body, Sam could see that the rest of it looked just as female. And just as shapely.

"Um... I'm imagining things," Sam whispered, then announced louder, "I have to be." Yet at the same time, he realized that it was a girl's voice that he was hearing come from his mouth.

Trying to regain his composure and focus, Sam took another look at himself, trying to remain as objective as possible, which as the moment was not much. He definitely seemed to have a female body, and a very nice one from what he could see... which was actually quite a bit. Even his clothes had been changed by the light.

At the moment, Sam discovered that he was now wearing what seemed to be a green and yellow spandex costume that, from a glance, looked like it could have been worn by Brittany Spears in one of her videos. It consisted of only a single piece that covered him from the waist down, and a halter-top which covered his breasts and upper torso, leaving his midriff completely bare. Other than that, the only thing else that his costume consisted of was a pair of short fingerless green gloves on each hand.

"I'm practically naked," Sam muttered, though it wasn't quite true. Still, the costume was fairly skimpy and being spandex... or something of the like, didn't really conceal a whole lot.

Then Sam's eyes were drawn to his exposed skin, realizing that it was glowing. It was as though there was a faint light coming from just under his skin, giving it somewhat strange, thought not an unpleasant appearance. For a moment, all that Sam could do was stare at it.

Frowning, Sam looked up again, repeating his earlier demands of the voice, "Why me? Why did you choose me?" Then he couldn't help adding, "And why the hell turn me into a girl?" But of course, there were no answers, nor had he really expected any.

Letting out a sigh, Sam slowly reached up and felt his face. It felt soft and smooth under his fingers, and it was obviously not his face. At least not his normal face, though he certainly couldn't make out much detail from just touch.

Next, Sam slowly reached for his hair, discovering that it now reached down to the middle of his back, and when he pulled a handful in front of his face for a good look, he saw that it had turned blonde. Not just blonde... but a golden blonde that seemed to glow faintly from the same inner light that came from his skin.

Sam paused, knowing that he should be completely freaked out at having turned into a girl, but somehow he wasn't. It was as though there was some sort of inner assurance... and somehow, knowledge knew that it wasn't permanent. Sam couldn't explain it, even to himself, but he sensed that he could turn the light off... could flip that mental switch and change back to normal, just as easily as he had changed in the first place. If it hadn't been for that strange certainty that he could change back, Sam suspected that he would already be panicking.

"Still," Sam mused, just a little nervously, "It wouldn't hurt to prove it."

However, just as Sam was about to flip that mental switch again, two things suddenly occurred to him. He glanced around the park, still not seeing anyone but realizing that someone could come along at any moment. And two... that voice had said something about him having the power to fight the darkness... whatever that was.

"What kind of power did it mean," Sam muttered to himself. Then with a wry grin, he added, "Somehow I don't think that being able to change sex or glow in the dark is going to do much..." Then again, Sam silently reminded himself, since the powers were supposed to fight some sort of darkness, maybe being a living nightlight was the idea.

But as Sam stood there, he suddenly realized that he did know what kind of powers that the voice meant. He knew it the same way that he knew that he could change back to normal. The fact that he knew it was somewhat disturbing to him, though he tried to remain focused.

Sam grimaced, knowing that he just couldn't turn off that light and change back to normal until he'd at least tried out those supposed powers. There was absolutely no way that his curiosity would let him.

With that, Sam took a deep breath, and tensed himself. A faint ribbon of rainbow light swirled around him as if in anticipation. And giving a silent prayer, Sam suddenly shot straight up into the air, glowing a little brighter than before with a trail of rainbow tinged light trailing behind.

"I did it," Sam blurted out as he stared down at the ground, now more than fifty feet below him, "I'm flying..."

Then Sam was suddenly struck by the realization that he was more than a couple stories above the ground with absolutely nothing holding him up but a rainbow. He was struck by a surge of fear and immediately fell back under the influence of gravity, falling straight towards the ground. Sam let out a howl of terror but somehow reclaimed his control of the light and paused, hovering merely ten feet away from what would have been a VERY messy landing.

For a moment, Sam just remained where he was, breathing deeply and fearing that he had just filled his pants. Then he looked down again, gulped nervously and muttered, "Air brakes," suddenly thinking about a Bugs Bunny cartoon he used to watch as a kid, where the famous rabbit had pulled the air brakes on a crashing plane and kept it from hitting the ground at the last minute.

Once Sam had gotten over his initial shock and given a silent thanks for his safe recovery, he decided to land the rest of the way, thinking that flying might be just a little too dangerous. However, just as he stared to slowly descend, he noticed an old man standing out on the edge of the park by the street, staring at him.

"Shit," Sam muttered, guessing that the old man had seen the glowing light up in the sky and started moving in for a closer look. He certainly hadn't been there when Sam looked around a couple minutes earlier. "Just what I need... an audience."

Sam scowled, deciding that at the moment, an audience was the absolute last thing that he wanted to deal with. The whole situation was strange and embarrassing enough as it was and he didn't want a witness to it. After what had just happened, Sam didn't really like the idea of flying away, but it would be the quickest way to get out of there and get some privacy. So with a muttered curse, he once again rose into the air.

At first, Sam was quite afraid to be so far above the ground, realizing now just how dangerous it could be. If he fell again... But after several minutes, it grew a little easier and he became a little less afraid of losing his control and falling again. However, he remained a bit wary of it, especially when he looked at the ground or the tops of houses.

"If man were meant to fly," Sam muttered to himself, "he would have had feathers. Not rainbows..."

Somehow, Sam found himself taking the long way home. The very long way. He had meant to fly straight there, yet he couldn't resist trying out his new ability to fly, even if it did make him a bit nervous. He flew higher and faster than he had intended, and amazed himself at the same time with the fact that he had even dared.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Sam... a realization. Sam stopped flying and just hovered in the air, staring down at himself and gulping. He was flying... he was flying by himself. Did that mean...

"I've... I've developed powers," Sam whispered, shaking as he thought about it. "Does that mean I'm a developed..." God, he silently hoped not. However, as he looked down at the ground, and at the skimpy spandex clothing that he was wearing, he groaned. "I am..."

"Damn... damn... damn," Sam spat out, running his hand along the 'costume' he was wearing. "I can't be a damn developed. I've got a wife and kids..."

And he absolutely knew that things like becoming a developed only happened to people far away. People that you only saw on TV. Those kind of things never happened to people that you actually knew, much less to yourself. Unfortunately, there was little doubt that the strange voice had actually done it to him.

After a moment, Sam grimaced, "Once I get back home, I'm going to change back to normal and never use these weird powers again. I'm going to forget they even exist..." That would teach that damn voice to mess with his life like that.

***

Sam hovered high in the air, surrounded by a faint golden glow as well as a rainbowlike swirl of light. He grimaced as he looked at his newly female body and the spandex 'costume' that adorned it. The sight just reinforced his decision to go home and change back to normal, then forget that the whole thing had ever happened.

"These weird powers already nearly got me killed once," Sam muttered, thinking about how he'd nearly fallen to his death a short while earlier.

Then, just as Sam started to fly back home, he noticed the mall in the distance and decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a slight detour. After all, he'd already taken a long detour on the way home and he thought that a quick fly by of the mall, and maybe giving the people in the parking lot a glimpse of a 'real live developed', might make for a good final use of his new powers.

Less than a minute later, Sam was in the air above the mall, watching curiously when he noticed a TV news crew out in the parking lot, along with a small crowd of people. Sam wasn't quite sure what was going on, though from the big banners around the parking lot, he suspected that it had something to do with some made up celebration to attract more business to the mall.

Sam briefly thought about buzzing them, guessing that it would give the crowd a real thrill. However, that was a bit more exposure than he wanted to deal with. So instead, Sam started moving away, hoping that they didn't look up and see him. Suddenly, the idea of giving people a bit of a show was no longer quite so appealing.

"Besides," Sam thought aloud, "Todd should be home soon..." If not already, he added silently.

But just as Sam started to slowly move away from the mall, he caught sight of something down below... something that made him freeze for another look. Sam's eyes went wide as he saw what he could only describe as a... a creature.

"What the hell?" Sam gasped.

The creature was human sized, but only vaguely human in shape. In fact, it looked to be part human, part cat and part bat. It was covered with black fur and had a very feline looking head, with glowing red eyes. A pair of large bat wings spread out from it's back, though it wasn't using them at the moment as it crouched on the roof of the mall.

Suddenly, Sam felt something strange... a coldness coming from the creature. He let out a gasp, suddenly wondering if this creature was the darkness that the voice had warned him about. For some reason, he suspected that it was... or was at least tied to this darkness somehow.

"Too convenient to not be," Sam mused, knowing that developed and strange creatures weren't exactly normal in that area. So for him to be given those powers and a warning about a darkness, then see that creature so soon afterwards... Sam didn't think that it was coincidence.

Just then, the creature abruptly leapt from the mall roof... and dove straight down at the crowd, letting out some sort of roar as it did so. The air was filled with screams as the crowd scattered, which seemed to excite the creature, which then pounced at one of the people running away.

For a moment, Sam remained frozen where he was, staring at the creature and the scattering people in horror. What was that creature? Why was it attacking them? Sam didn't know, but at the moment, he was suddenly VERY thankful that he was up in the air and out of range. At least, he reminded himself, until it used its wings to fly up after him. Every instinct in Sam's body screamed to get out of there as fast as he could, and before he'd even given it any conscious thought... he slowly started moving further away from the scene.

However, a woman screamed and Sam winced, cringing at the sound just as much as at the sight. He grimaced, "I can't do anything," he protested against his conscience, "I'm not a superhero..."

Sam clenched his fists so tightly that his now longer nails dug painfully into his palms, threatening to draw blood. Though he knew that the smart thing to do was run, and his instincts screamed out at him to get himself to safety, he couldn't help worrying about those people. And more, there was a voice screaming at him from the back of his head, reminding him that this was what that strange voice and the light had given him those powers for. Too fight that darkness...

"I didn't ask for this!" Sam yelled to no one in particular. Whether it the voice that had given him those powers... or himself, he didn't even know.

Then in spite of everything that Sam's common sense told him, he dove down at that creature, knowing that he had the power to do something and he'd never forgive himself if he didn't and people died because of it. And a moment later, Sam hit the creature, punching it and sending it flying into a car more than a dozen yards away.

Sam stood up on the ground, clenching his fists and getting ready fight that thing if it stood back up. And stand back up it did, letting out a roar that revealed lots of sharp teeth, then tearing deep gouges in the side of the car with long sharp claws. It glared at Sam, it's glowing red eyes looking quite evil before it launched itself at him.

Somehow, though he didn't know how, Sam stood his ground, waited for the creature to get close, then punched it again, sending it flying once more. He gulped, amazed at just how hard he'd send that thing.

"How strong am I?" Sam gasped.

Though Sam knew that he was a lot stronger than normal, the same way that he knew he could fly, he sure didn't feel any stronger... nor obviously look it. He flexed his arm, which certainly didn't look like it could have knocked that creature all that way away, but it obviously had. Unfortunately, Sam didn't think that he was any tougher than normal. There wasn't any instinctive knowledge that he was suddenly invulnerable... which he was sure meant that he wasn't.

But before Sam could think about that any more, the creature was charging him again. This time, Sam flew up above it, earning a yell from the creature before it spread its wings and came up after him. Sam cursed as he went higher, then turned and punched the creature again, sending it back to the ground.

Sam hesitated a moment, feeling pretty nervous at the thought of those sharp claws. However, he knew that if he didn't do something about that creature now, it would come after him again... and probably all those people who were running away in fear, who didn't have ANY powers to protect them.

Deciding not to wait for the creature to come after him again, though it had been working so far, Sam decided to go on the offensive. Sam landed, tearing the door off a car with an ease that surprised him, noticing as he did so that the rainbow effect seemed to increase for a moment while he was doing that. However, he didn't waste time thinking about that before charging at the creature and smacking it with the car door.

The creature let out a roar, tearing the door right out of Sam's hands, then lashing out at Sam with its claws. Sam jumped back, but as the creature charged at him again, claws extended. Somehow he managed to avoid them, though it wasn't easy. That thing was fast.

Sam jumped up on top of a car to avoid the creature's next attack, and when it lunged up at him again... he was ready. With a growl of his own, Sam hit the creature with both hands, slamming it into the ground as hard as he could. And as a follow up, he hopped off of the car, then picked up the side and lifted. Two of the wheels came up off the ground with a surprising ease, though not effortlessly. A rainbow swirl of light surrounded him as he lifted.

"Take this," Sam growled, lifting higher and rolling the car over... right on top of the creature.

Though the creature's lower body was trapped under the car, it continued slashing out with its claws, tearing deep gouges in the metal. It growled and hissed, and as Sam watched, slowly pulled itself out.

"Not this time," Sam growled.

Deciding not to give the creature another chance to attack him, Sam didn't even wait for it to get all the way to its feet. Sam charged the creature, putting every once of energy he had into his punch. His fist glowed brightly, surrounded by a swirl of brilliant colors, which seemed to explode at the moment of impact, sending the creature flying into the side of a car.

Sam grinned in satisfaction, "Gotcha..."

The creature pulled itself away from the car, but it wobbled badly as it took its first step towards Sam. Then it paused... shaking badly before finally collapsing to the ground. This was a sight, which brought a smile of relief to Sam's face. It looked like it was over.

Still, Sam was extremely cautious as he crept closer to the creature and stood next to it, waiting for the expected horror movie 'surprise' where it would suddenly leap up at him again. However, the surprise wasn't at all what Sam had expected. The creature's features started to... change. As Sam watched, it seemed to shrink... to slowly become more and more human. Until finally, where the creature had been was now a naked man. A man who seemed vaguely familiar to Sam.

After staring at the man and trying to place where he might have seen him before, Sam suddenly realized that the crowd was starting to return and gathering around him. It appeared that their curiosity overrode their good sense once the obvious danger seemed to disappear.

"You kicked his ass," one man yelled out to Sam.

A moment later, a woman called out, "Who are you?"

Sam frowned, feeling rather nervous as he looked around. He wasn't at all comfortable with the fact that so many people where staring at him. Especially not with the looks that the men were giving him. And quickly remembering that he didn't have to stay and deal with it, Sam gave a rather nervous wave... then flew up into the air where they couldn't follow him.

"Home," Sam gulped out, already flying there as fast as he could, "And no more detours..."

As Sam flew, thoughts about what had just happened ran through his mind. The whole situation was so... strange. Never in a million years would Sam have thought that he'd be turned into a woman, be given super powers and fight a strange monster as well. And all within an hour. If someone had told him that just several hours earlier, he would have laughed his head off at the pure absurdity. But now...

"Just great," Sam grimaced in realization as he thought about that monster, "Now I'm not only a developed... but a superhero too..." It had definitely been a weird day. "Anne's never going to believe this..." And what the hell was he going to tell her?

When Sam landed in his back yard a minute later, he let out a sigh of relief and rushed into the house before anyone could see him. And once he was safe inside, he let out another sigh of relief. He was home, safe and sound. And from the look of it, he was there alone.

"Imagine that," Sam shook his head, "Me... a superhero."

That very thought still seemed preposterous, like some sort of adolescent fantasy. But at the same time, Sam had to admit that it was sort of exciting. Hell, he'd never been as excited as when he'd beaten that monster and saved those lives. In spite of his earlier determination to never change or use those powers again, Sam wasn't sure that he wanted to give it all up just yet.

Then Sam paused, hesitating a moment before looking down at himself again and gulping. With that, he rushed to the large front room mirror for a better look at himself and froze with his mouth open at what he saw.

"Oh..." was all that Sam could think to say.

Staring back at Sam from the mirror was the face of a girl... a teenage girl. She looked to be about 15 or 16, about the same age as his son Todd.

"I'm a kid," Sam blurted out, his hands reaching up to touch his smooth face. He couldn't believe it.

The girl... Sam looked young and pretty. Very pretty, with a very nice body and beautiful blue eyes that almost seemed to shine. His face was framed with the same golden hair that he'd noticed before, though now he got a much better look at it. There was little doubt that he would have been all over this girl if he'd run into her back when he was that age.

With his young female body and the costume he was wearing, Sam suddenly realized that he looked a bit like one of those teenage pop singers. He'd already thought that of the costume when he'd seen it, but the body went right along with that image.

And then, Sam noticed his ears. They were... pointed. His ears came to points at the tops, which gave him something of an Elven appearance, enhanced greatly by his glowing skin and hair.

"Weird," Sam whispered, hesitantly touching his ears and then shaking his head. "That damn voice turned me into some kind of elf girl..."

Sam just stared at his reflection, trying to make any kind of sense WHY. He couldn't understand why he'd been turned into a girl... or at least why he turned into a girl when he used his powers. Of course, he still didn't understand why he was given those powers in the first place either, but at least he had been told that it was to fight some sort of darkness. However, what did turning into a teenage girl have to do with using super powers or fighting darkness?

"None of this makes any sense," Sam shook his head, grabbing and his breasts and then gulping. They felt so... strange.

After a moment more, Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes, deciding that he'd had enough of that for the time. He felt for that mental switch and flipped it, feeling the rainbow lights swirling around him again before he opened his eyes and actually saw them.

Once again the rainbow swirls surrounded Sam, enveloping him and filling him. He could feel his body tingling yet again, the same sensation that he'd felt when it had transformed him into a girl. It only took the space of time that Sam needed to take several deep breaths, then the light all pulled back inside of him and went back into that dormant seed, while he had been returned to his normal male body. Even his own clothes had miraculously reappeared as well.

"Well," Sam took a deep breath as he checked himself over to verify that he was indeed fully back to normal, "That was weird."

Sam was relieved that his intuition... or whatever it was had proven correct and that he could easily change back to normal. Though he hadn't thought about it, there had been a small part of him that had been worried.

However, Sam realized that now there was something else to worry about. Like what in the world he was going to tell Anne about that... It was pretty embarrassing, yet the whole thing was far too big to keep from his family. And of course, Sam smiled faintly at the idea, knowing that it might also give him a chance to impress them with what he had done at the mall. Even if Anne would probably yell at him for risking himself afterwards.

It wasn't much longer before Sam's son Todd came home from school. He rushed into the house, looking excited, then hurried towards his room, barely sparing a nod for Sam. Sam was a little disappointed at the brief glimpse he'd caught of his son, but not surprised. Such behavior wasn't at all unusual for a 16 year old boy.

Less than five minutes after Todd had returned home, Emily came bursting through the door too. She was the spitting image of her mother, or at least looked like a 12 year old version of Anne. Emily was going to be a bit of a looker once she grew up a little, though the thought filled Sam with pride and worry at the same time. Emily grinned at Sam, calling out, "Hi daddy," before she rushed off to her own room as well.

"At least she could spare a hello," Sam chuckled to himself, knowing that it shouldn't be much longer before Anne was home from work as well. "Maybe I'll start dinner," Sam thought to himself as he started for the kitchen, deciding that he would 'spill the beans' about his day over the dinner table.

When Anne finally came home, Sam was determined not to let her slip past him like the kids had, so he met her at the door and surprised her with a kiss. "Welcome home," Sam told her with a grin.

"What was that for?" Anne asked, grinning back.

"Maybe because you deserve it for spending all day in that stuffy office," Sam responded, "Maybe because you're the best accountant in the state..."

"The state?" Anne asked with a mock warning tone.

"The world," Sam corrected, "And maybe because I just wanted to."

Anne laughed, giving Sam another quick kiss on the cheek before she went into the living room and turned the TV onto the news as she did every day. It was her custom to help relax after a long day. Sam didn't envy her commute or office existence, thankful yet again for his decision to go freelance and work from home.

After a minute, Anne looked at the dinner table and sniffed the scent of food in the air. "You made dinner," she noticed.

Sam just shrugged at that, "What else is a house husband going to do?"

With a grin, Sam turned away from Anne and took several steps towards the kid's bedrooms and calling out, "DINNER." He knew from experience that they might both have their radios or TV's on... but would still hear that magic word and be out in a minute.

Then Sam looked over at the TV, gulping when a moment later the news started showing scenes from the mall. His eyes widened when it actually showed HIM on the TV... or at least the girl him that he had been earlier. They had the whole damn fight with that creature on tape... It was all that he could do not to curse.

"Oh my," Anne gasped as she watched it, "That's our mall... There was a real superhero around here?"

Sam nearly choked, his mind racing as he tried to think of how he could explain this to Anne. This wasn't exactly the way that he'd intended to tell her.

"Anne..." Sam started.

But then Emily gasped, "Oh wow," from beside Sam. He hadn't even noticed his daughter coming up. Her eyes were glued to the TV and she moved closer, gasping, "Look at her... She's so pretty..."

"Hell yeah," Todd agreed as he came up too.

After watching Sam beat the creature on TV, Emily grinned excitedly, "I want to be just like her..."

Sam quickly turned to stare at his daughter, but at the same time, Todd announced, "I stopped at the mall on the way home from school and I actually saw her fly away."

"What?" Sam gasped, looking at Todd in disbelief. His own son had been there at the mall? He gulped, suddenly realized that the creature could have gotten Todd... If he hadn't stepped in to stop it when he did... "Oh God..."

"She was so hot," Todd exclaimed with a dreamy look on his face. A look that sent chills down Sam's spine as he immediately recognized it. It was the same look that Sam had when he'd fallen for that one girl a few months earlier and moped about her for weeks. Sam groaned at the realization that his own son had a crush on him... or at least his female alter ego.

"Oh shit," Sam groaned again, beginning to feel a bit sick.

Anne just snorted in disdain, "Well she looks like a little tramp to me."

For a moment, Sam just stood there, frozen in shock. He stared at his wife, then his kids. With each moment he felt the lead ball in his stomach becoming heavier.

Sam knew that what had happened to him that day was probably the biggest thing that had happened to him in his entire life, and there was no way that he would have kept that from his family... no matter how embarrassing it was. At least that was what he'd thought until just that moment.

However, after the conversation that they'd just had, there was no way that he could tell them now. It would be hard enough now that Anne had decided that his alter ego was a tramp, but with Todd having developed a crush on her... There was absolutely no way that he could tell them.

"Damn," Sam muttered under his breath, feeling a bit disappointed that he couldn't share his secret with his family. Then deciding that it might be a good time to change the subject, Sam announced, "Well guys... dinner's ready."

Dinner was strange, and very uncomfortable for Sam. He tried not to flinch as Emily went on about how great she thought that superheroine was... while Todd went on about how great he thought she was too... but for an entirely different reason.

After we had all finished eating, Emily cleaned up in the kitchen since it was her night, and Anne went in to help since I had been the one to make dinner. So while the girls were busy taking care of that, Todd and I went back to watching the news, seeing that they were showing more about my little fight at the mall.

"I guess a developed showing up around here is big news," Todd commented, "Especially one that cute..."

Sam just nodded at that, his eyes glued to the screen. They were starting to show some interviews with the people who had been around there watching.

One man who they interviewed was excitedly exclaiming, "I don't know who the hell she was," he told the camera, "but the way she was glowing and all... Damn that girl was glamorous."

"Well," the news anchor said when it shifted back to him a moment later, "it appears that even though her identity is still unknown... a lot of people owe their thanks to this mysterious glamour girl..."

"Glamour Girl..." Todd mused aloud, then announced, "That could be a cool name..."

Sam just grunted, not trusting himself to say anything more about the situation. He didn't know how to respond to anything about his alter ego. It was just too... uncomfortable.

But then, the news anchor disappeared while they showed a close up picture of the man that the creature had turned into, or at least a close up of his face. "The identity of the man left at the scene has just been identified," the anchor announced from off screen.

"Oh shit," Todd suddenly blurted out, "That's coach Higgens..."

"What?" Sam asked, staring at Todd in surprise.

"That's coach Higgens," Todd gasped, staring at the picture on TV. "He's our gym PE teacher... and coaches the football team..."

Sam just stared at Todd for a moment, feeling stunned at that. Then he quickly turned his attention back to the TV, seeing that they verified what Todd had just said. The monster that Sam had fought had indeed been Roland Higgens, a local high school gym teacher and football coach. But from his actions, Sam doubted that he had been in his right mind during that fight.

"This is too much," Sam sighed as he rubbed at his eyes, wondering yet again why in the world he had been chosen... and for what exactly. None of that weirdness fit into his nice normal suburban family life. Not in the least.

"What's too much?" Todd asked from beside him.

"Hmmm... this news," Sam said, changing the channel and the topic. "They're going to run this story into the ground..."

Then as Sam leaned back with a sigh, glancing at Todd who was already getting up to go hide in his room, he thought to himself that it had definitely been a strange day. It had not only been the strangest day in his entire life, stranger than anything he had even imagined could ever happen to him, yet at the same time he couldn't even say a single word to those closest to him.

That irony was not lost on Sam, who leaned further back in his recliner and muttered, "Glamour Girl my ass..."

Sam scowled, glaring at the computer monitor in front of him. He just couldn't seem to focus on his work or finishing up his project. All that he could think about where the events of the day before, and how he had chickened out on telling his family, even after having decided that he would.

"It's not like I had any choice," Sam muttered to himself.

He could just imagine how humiliated Todd would have felt after going on about how much of a crush he had on Sam's alter ego. There was no way that he could have done that to the boy... or himself for that matter.

Then Sam stood up from the computer to take a break, pausing for a moment to listen to the absolute quiet of the house. It was all his at the moment, with everyone else out on their normal daily business, whether that be school or work. Sam wasn't quite sure whether to be relieved at the quiet or annoyed by it. As he did ever day, Sam decided to be grateful for the temporary calm.

However, as soon as Sam caught sight of the local newspaper, his thoughts immediately went back to the day before. It was right there on the front page... a picture of his alter ego. And it appeared that they had taken a clue from one of the news anchor's comments the night before, because they clearly called Sam's alter ego by the name of Glamour Girl.

"Glamour Girl," Sam groaned, hating the fact that the news people had gone and made that name official. It somewhat annoyed him that when they didn't know someone's name, they actually had the audacity to create one and pass it off as fact. "And they call that news," he grumbled.

As Sam stared at the picture in the paper, he thought about what it had been like the day before. If it hadn't been for all the news about 'Glamour Girl', he might have thought that it had all been some sort of weird dream. But there was the evidence, right in front of him.

After a minute, Sam smiled hesitantly, even nervously. Once he'd gotten over his fear of falling, which had only been overcome by the greater fear of being torn to pieces by that monster, the flying part had been rather enjoyable. And as he thought about it, being able to toss a car around like that had been kind of interesting as well.

"I'm just lucky I didn't get killed," Sam told himself responsibly. "Running around like some damn superhero could have gotten me killed. Then where would Anne be?"

The knowledge that he could have gotten hurt was quite sobering, and had not been far from his thoughts since it had happened. In spite of all the stories about those developed who ran around and played superheroes, Sam knew that it wasn't a game. Running around in spandex could get you hurt... or worse.

"Still," Sam thought to himself, "It wouldn't hurt just to it out again..." After all, it wouldn't be like he would actually be doing anything dangerous.

With that, Sam closed his eyes and felt for the ball of dormant light within him. It was right there, just below the surface. It was so easy to feel that Sam was surprised that he hadn't really noticed it much. And just a moment later, it began to unravel... to fill him and then burst out of his skin in a swirl of rainbow colors. The ribbons of light danced simultaneously in and around Sam, leaving him unable to truly tell where he ended and they began.

Once the light withdrew, Sam just stood there motionless as he absorbed the changes. It was immediately obvious that he had once again become 'Glamour Girl' and was even wearing the same clothing. He slowly raised his hands to stare at the feminine fingers, then down at his returning breasts.

"I just hope Anne doesn't come home early and find me like this," Sam muttered, knowing that this was extremely unlikely as it wasn't even lunch yet.

Taking a deep breath, Sam looked into the living room mirror again, still stunned by the sight that met him. Of course it was identical to the day before, but that didn't make it any less impressive. Taking a man in his late thirties and transforming him into a teenage girl was somewhat... impressive.

Since Sam had the house to himself for some time to come yet, he saw no reason to be shy and stripped off his shirt, dropping it absently to the floor and staring down at his naked breasts. He smiled faintly, a bit embarrassed, though that didn't stop him from pulling off his pants. They seemed to cling to his very skin one moment, and the next they slid off with ease. It was almost as though they could sense that he wanted to take them off... so made it easy for him to do so.

"Yet one more mystery," Sam mused as he stared down at his pants on the floor.

Now completely naked, Sam stared at himself in the mirror once again, feeling extremely strange and somewhat uncomfortable as he did so. He looked like a teenage girl, so he wondered if that made this some sort of twisted pedophilia or something. At the moment, he certainly felt a little bit like a pervert.

Sam looked over his naked body, amazed at what he saw... at what he felt. Every single inch of him appeared to be one hundred percent female, which he still found hard to believe. However, as fascinating as it was to check his new body out, it was just too strange and he finally decided that he'd had enough.

"Time to go back to normal," Sam told the cute girl in the mirror as he willed the light to go dormant again.

The light quickly swirled around Sam yet again, returning him back to his normal self. At the same time, he suddenly remembered the clothes that he'd taken off and left on the floor, yet when he looked at them, he was startled to seem them vanish in a bunch of sparkles, leaving no trace that 'Glamour Girl' had been there at all.

"Convenient, I guess," Sam thought as he rubbed his chin. At least there would be no chance of Anne or the kids stumbling across any clothes left behind and putting two and two together.

Then on an impulse, Sam closed his eyes and willed the transformation back into Glamour Girl again. As soon as the transformation was completed, he looked down at himself, seeing that he was once again fully dressed in the clothes that he had taken off. He had suspected something of the sort might happen.

"I guess that would save money on buying extra spandex," Sam mused with a slight smirk. But it apparently also meant that he couldn't exactly change costumes either. What he wore when he transformed into Glamour Girl seemed to be the standard uniform.

Since Sam had discovered what he wanted to know, he thought about changing back to normal again but decided against it at the moment. Instead, he smirked, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to stay that way for a little longer, not as long as he didn't get carried away. And he had no intention of going down that uncomfortable alley again.

After that, Sam sat down in his new body to watch TV for several hours, occasionally pausing to poke at his new breasts and convince himself that they were indeed real. Eventually though, he decided that he'd had enough and changed back to normal so that he could get back to finishing up his software project.

"Weird voices and super powers don't pay the bills," Sam sighed as he went back to work.

***

Endless forests rolled past Sam as he flew over them, his eyes catching sight of the occasional brightly colored bird darting from the sanctuary of the trees. Soon the trees came to a break, revealing a great lake with perfectly still waters. The very surface looked as silvery as a well-polished mirror.

Then everything shifted and Sam found himself in the middle of a city, though unlike any city that he had ever seen before in his life. All of the buildings seemed to be made of marble and towered into the sky, along with spiraling towers and bridges nearly a dozen stories above.

A moment later, a dark shadow spread over the city, causing everything to darken into a grim twisted version of what it had been. And in an instant, the whole of the city around Sam had transformed into what could have been any major city that Sam had seen... except for what it might look like after a major disaster. Buildings were shattered, the roads and cars were all torn apart. And in dark sky above, Sam could see the flickering movement of bats... and creatures that he could not even imagine.

Suddenly Sam bolted upright in his bed, gasping from just how powerful and clear that dream had been. It was the same dream that he'd been having for the least several nights. And there was no doubt in Sam's mind that it had come from the voice that had given him his power, that it was some sort of warning. Or perhaps, he reconsidered; it might be his unconscious mind trying to make sense of all those images that the voice had shown him within that sphere of light.

"Stupid dream," Sam muttered, though it had been beautiful. At least the first part where he was flying and just going into that strange city. However, that second part with the shadows and all... He strongly suspecting that it might be some sort of reminder that the darkness was coming. "Whatever that is." He still didn't have any real idea what that voice meant.

Sam shook his head, then went to the bathroom to relieve himself. And as he was washing his hands afterwards, he looked up into the mirror above the sink and let out a gasp. It was Glamour Girl's face staring back at him.

"What the..." Sam gasped, quickly looking down at himself and seeing that he was indeed his normal male self. And when he looked back into the mirror, it was his own face that stared back at him, not that of the teenage girl he turned into. "Must be my imagination," he told himself, not quite certain of that.

Though Sam tried to shake it off, the brief image in the mirror had shaken him. He wondered if perhaps he had been spending too much time as Glamour Girl in the four days since he had first gained the ability to transform into her. Not likely, he decided after a moment.

Sam had only changed about once a day, doing so when his family was gone and he had enough time alone. He had transformed because of the excitement that his new form offered him, and the dangerous thrill that he got from flying. It was like a roller coaster... one that he controlled. He had flown up into the sky above, feeling almost like a real superhero, protecting the weak and helpless. However, Sam had to smirk slightly at that as the most heroic thing that he had done was to rescue an old lady's cat off of her roof.

"It's not like this is a crime infested slum," Sam chuckled, knowing that there hadn't been any real crime around for him to stop even if he had been a real hero. The closest that he'd come was that creature at the mall...

With that, Sam shook his head and tried putting thoughts about Glamour Girl and his powers out of his mind while he went about his morning routine and prepared to go to work. He had been working on a custom database for a local company that wasn't thrilled with the normal stuff on the market, and he'd promised to have it finished for them before the next week.

It was several hours later when Sam leaned back from his computer and glanced at his watch, seeing that it was coming up on lunchtime. He smiled faintly, deciding that it might be time to go for a quick flight and stretch his Glamour Girl muscles.

"Time to do that superhero on patrol thing," Sam told himself with a chuckle, "You never know when that darkness will show up..."

Of course he knew that he had no intention of actually doing any real superheroing or anything of the like. Nor did he expect there was much likelihood of running into that mysterious darkness. For all he knew, the creature had been it and he was now a free agent.

"Not like I ever agreed to the job or signed any contracts anyway," Sam sighed, getting up and stepping back from the computer so that he could will the change.

A minute later, Sam was once again Glamour Girl and standing in the middle of the living room. He checked his appearance in the mirror, still amazed though it was hardly the first time that he'd seen that reflection. Then he went out the back door and flew up into the air.

It was only once Sam was far above his house and looking down that a thought suddenly struck him. He had been flying right out of his own yard, with several other houses nearby. People could see him, and though he doubted that they'd ever think that HE was Glamour Girl, they were sure as hell likely to get suspicious if they saw her coming from his house. Fortunately, he was fairly confident that no one had seen him as of yet. Most of the people nearby were all at work around the time he'd used his powers so hadn't been around. However, Sam realized that the key word was YET. Sooner or later someone would see him... and then there would be a lot of questions. Questions that he didn't want to have to answer.

"I guess I'll have to be more careful from now on," Sam sighed, realizing that this would make things more difficult. But it would be safer that way.

Then while Sam looked down on his quiet suburban neighborhood, he smiled, suddenly having a great idea. He would drop in on Anne and surprise her for lunch. With his ability to fly, he should be able to get there a lot faster than he would be able to in his car, and without the hassle of traffic either. And once he got there, with a nice quiet spot and a snap of his fingers, he would be back to normal and ready to go.

Sam smiled as he quickly flew towards the city. It was a bit of a commute for Anne to drive there and back every day, but she thought that it was well worth it to their home in such a nice, family friendly area. Sam had to agree, but then again, he wasn't the one who had to spend that much time driving. And at the moment, he smirked slightly, not having to spend any time at all behind the wheel... and still arriving in the city much more quickly than Anne could ever hope to, even if the roads were perfectly clear.

Once Sam arrived in the city, he looked down upon all of the huge buildings, feeling somewhat nervous. It was one thing to fly about a quiet suburban area with few people watching him, but to do it in such a crowded place, with people who could be watching every move he made at any moment was just a little different. He silently reminded himself to be extremely careful about where and when he changed back to normal.

"This certainly beats looking for a parking spot," Sam mused as he looked down on the streets below. No stop lights. No idiots cutting him off. No driving around in circles and no having to pay a meter or parking attendant just to leave his car there. "Flying definitely has its advantages..."

But as Sam took his time heading towards the building where Anne worked, he caught sight of something in the distance. There was a flash of light from the top of a building, followed by second and a burst of smoke. Sam stared for a moment, then started flying towards it for a better look.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Sam mused as he moved closer.

When Sam had gotten close enough to make things out, he was startled to see that the rooftop of the building that he'd seen the flash of light coming from had a group of people fighting on it. There were five of them... and they were all wearing strange costumes.

Sam gasped, "Developed..." He'd stumbled onto one of those superhero fights that he'd seen on the news. Or that he'd been in, he silently reminded himself.

Pausing for a moment, Sam remained where he was and watched, trying to make some sense of what was going on. From what he could see, there seemed to be two sides in the fight, two of them on one side and three on the other. However, he couldn't tell which were the 'good guys'. Perhaps both were... or neither. None of it really made sense.

One of the developed was a woman who seemed to be made out of some sort of blue and white glowing energy that kept sparking around her. She was floating up in the air, shooting what looked like blasts of lighting at someone else from her hands.

Then, another one of them, a man dressed in a green and black costume that covered his entire body and looked something like a ninja uniform, yelled up at the glowing woman. "Stop playing with them Shokra... Kill them all!"

"I'm trying," the glowing woman... Shokra yelled back, obviously pissed. She even fired another blast of electricity as if to prove her point.

The man in green and black snarled, turning away from Shokra and jumping halfway across the roof in a single leap, lashing out at someone from the other side with his ninja sword. His would be victim was a girl who looked to be about 17 or 18, with short blonde hair and wearing a costume that was blue and gray with white trim. She gasped at the sight and held up her hands.

However, before the man in green reached her, another man who seemed to be made entirely of silver metal stepped in the way, catching the sword on his arm with a metallic clang. Then the silver man's hand stretched... melting and reshaping until it was a sharp edged blade as well.

Without a moment of hesitation, the man in green shifted tactics, apparently deciding to go for an easier target. He rolled to the side and lashed out with his foot... hitting the girl in blue with his foot and sending her flying backwards... and over the edge of the building.

Sam gasped in horror, and without even giving it any conscious thought, was diving after the girl. He flew towards the falling girl as fast as he could, his heart racing in fear of what might happen to her, though he knew that it was nothing compared to what she had to be feeling. And Sam knew something of that from when he'd fallen right after gaining his powers.

"Gotcha!" Sam cried out as he grabbed the girl up in his arms and took control of the fall. He used his powers to slow them both down, silently praying that he could do it. That was unlike anything that he'd done since gaining his powers, but all that he could do was try. "I hope I can hold us both..."

Somehow, Sam managed to bring them to at stop in the air, holding them where they were and letting out a sigh of relief. The girl stared at Sam with a look of shock on her face, then gulped nervously, "Um... thanks."

Sam nodded, not sure that he trusted himself to speak right then. He was just amazed that he hadn't screwed it up. That he hadn't dropped her, or stopped her too suddenly and broken her neck from whiplash. Both were considerations that hadn't dawned on him until after he'd had her well in hand.

"Can you get me back up there?" the girl asked, pointing up with a fearful look on her face. "My friends need me..."

For a moment, Sam just stared at her, half sure that this girl was crazy. She'd just been attacked and thrown off of a huge building... and she was eager to go right back up. Finally, he nodded weakly, "I'll try..."

With that, Sam started flying up, finding that it took a little more effort than normal since he was carrying a passenger in his arms, but it wasn't nearly as difficult as he had feared. Up he went until he reached the roof, where he set the girl back down.

"Thanks," the girl told him, already running back into the fight.

"She must be crazy," Sam gasped.

Sam gulped, suddenly realizing that he was now in the middle of the fight... and he didn't even know who was the good guy. But then again, from the way that the man in green had kicked the blonde off the building, Sam doubted that he was one of them.

Then Sam noticed the blonde that he'd rescued... She had made a ball of bluish white light appear in the palm of her hand... and then threw it. As soon as the ball hit the ground near the man in green, it suddenly exploded outwards, expanding rapidly until there was a ball of the white light about ten feet in diameter. And as soon as it reached that size, it popped and vanished like a bubble. But everything that had been inside seemed to be covered with ice. However, the man in green wasn't there, having slipped out of range just in time... though he had left his sword, which seemed to be covered with frost and shattered.

At the same time, the silver man was being hit by blasts of electricity from Shokra, and not seeming too bothered by that. His hands were back... but all of his fingers were stretched out and looking as sharp as knife blades. Sam wouldn't want to shake his hand.

Finally, Sam's attention went to the last person in the fight. She looked to be about 17 or so, with long brown hair and wearing a blue and violet costume. Her hands were glowing green and beams of green light shot out up at Shokra... who was dodging those and firing lightning back at the roof top almost randomly.

A moment later, the man in green was coming towards Sam, his fist raised as though to punch. Sam grimaced, realizing too late that he was in the middle of a developed fight and couldn't very well be a spectator. And since this guy was obviously not one of the good guys, Sam didn't think that he'd feel all that bad if he hurt him.

But as soon as Sam punched his attacker... the man split. There were suddenly two of him, each one identical to but smaller than the original. And both off them were coming at Sam. Sam lashed out with his arm, catching one of the two with his arm and sending him flying, though he split again in midair... again having two smaller versions.

"What the fuck?" Sam gasped out in confusion.

"He's called Locust," the blonde that Sam had rescued called out to him.

Just then, Shokra yelled at Locust, "Enough of this... We're outnumbered and we've lost the element of surprise..."

"AGREED," Locust responded simultaneously from all three of his smaller bodies.

Then with a stream of profanity, Shokra released a storm of electrical blasts all over the rooftop... hitting only the silver man and one of the small Locusts before she took off higher into the air.

At the same time, all of the Locusts were running... and each one splitting apart as they did so. Within mere moments, there were hundreds of him running around and bouncing all over the rooftop, each one no more than several inches tall. There had to be hundreds of tiny versions of him moving about.

"A swarm," Sam muttered in realization as he stared at them all, "A swarm of locusts..."

Sam ran to the edge of the building that the Locusts had vanished from, and he could see only faint traces of them vanishing from below. Somehow, he doubted that even in spite of that height, which had to seem MUCH further to them because of their size, that they would be hurt. He probably wouldn't have jumped off if there were a risk of that.

Just then, Sam realized that the remaining three were standing there, staring at him. He gulped, feeling nervous and hoping that they didn't expect him to continue the fight with them. Not when he didn't even know who they were.

"Relax," the blonde told the others, "She saved my life..." Then she turned to Sam, "Thanks again..."

"Um... no problem," Sam responded, still nervous but not nearly as much. The blonde didn't look like she was threatening him or anything.

"If you're on our side," the silver man demanded of Sam, "Then why did you let Shokra get away? You could have flown after her..."

Sam frowned, then offered a shrug of apology. The truth was that he hadn't even thought about it, nor did he think that it was any of his business when he didn't even know what the hell was going on. He didn't know who any of those people were or why they were fighting.

"What was that all about?" Sam asked, looking towards the blonde since she was the one who'd spoken up for him, and that he'd had the most contact with.

"Locust is an assassin," the blonde responded, "We stopped him from killing a target so he came after us for revenge and brought Shokra as backup."

"So who are you?" the man in silver demanded, standing there with his arms crossed.

"I'm..." Sam started, then took a deep breath, "I'm Glamour Girl." He winced slightly as he made the name that the media had stuck him with official.

"They call me Zero Kay," the blonde grinned at him.

"Zero Kay?" Sam repeated, thinking that it was a weird name. Then again, he guessed that was sort of standard for the developed spandex set.

Zero Kay shrugged, forming a ball of bluish white light in her hand, just as he had seen her do before. Then she tossed it to the side, where it once again rapidly expanded and popped, leaving everything within covered in frost and ice.

"Zero Kelvin," Sam gasped in realization of where the name came from. "Zero K. Absolute Zero."

"Yeah," Zero Kay grinned back, "I flash freeze things. Pretty much the same power as my brother Shiver. He's with Faction Zero..."

The name Faction Zero sounded vaguely familiar, though Sam was pretty sure that it was one of those superhero groups. He'd never really kept up on who all of those developed people were, though he thought that considering what had been happening to him, it might be a good idea to start doing so.

"I'm Chrome," the silver man announced.

With that, Chrome stood there and the silver metal that covered his body started to melt and flow right off of his body. A moment later, he was revealed to be a bald black man of about 18 or 19 years old. He stood in what looked like a puddle of mercury, yet at the same time, the silvery metal seemed to drying up and crumbling into a black powder.

"He makes some kind of liquid metal come from his body," Zero Kay told Sam, "and can shape it a bit..."

"Nice to meet you," Sam nodded, but Chrome just grunted.

Then Zero Kay gestured towards the other girl, the one with the blue and violet costume and the brown hair. "That's Channel." Channel blushed, looking a little embarrassed by the attention.

"And she shoots energy blasts," Sam nodded, remembering her doing just that. But she seemed a bit different during the fight than she did right then... More daring and outgoing...

"Not exactly," Zero Kay told him. "She channels the dead." At Sam's look of disbelief, Kay continued, "She sort of calls out for help, and some ghost that has the ability to help, and a reason to do so possesses her body. And while they're in control, they can even use whatever powers they had when they were alive."

Sam shivered at the thought of some dead person taking control of his body. "Sounds... freaky."

"Yep," Kay nodded.

Suddenly, Chrome demanded, "Where the hell is that lazy bastard. I didn't see him out here..."

"What?" Kay gasped, looking around and frowning, "Our secret headquarters gets attacked and he didn't even help defend it?" Then she snapped, "I'm going to kick his ass..."

Sam blinked, "Secret headquarters?" He didn't see anything that looked like a secret headquarters. Just an apartment building.

"C'mon," Kay gestured, "I'll show you..."

"You sure this is a good idea," Chrome asked her, eying Sam suspiciously but not pushing it any further.

A minute later, Zero Kay had led Sam down some stairs into through a doorway. After she gestured for Sam to go inside, he stopped and looked around in surprise. It was an apartment... that looked pretty much like any cheap apartment that he'd ever seen. There was even a coffee table covered with pizza boxes and soda cans, as well as couple beer bottles.

"This isn't exactly what I'd imagine a secret headquarters to look like," Sam admitted, thinking that it looked more like the place he shared with a couple of guys in college.

"We're a pretty low budget super team," Channel told him, obviously a bit embarrassed about it.

"It happens when you ain't got some millionaire giving you mansions and paying the bills," Chrome added.

"But what do you expect with a group called the Slackers?" Kay admitted, looking embarrassed as well.

"The name is Deadbeat's fault," Chrome muttered. "Why don't we change it to the Killer Quatro like I suggested?"

Zero Kay rolled her eyes, "Puh-leeze... We can't say how many there are of us in our name..."

"The Seven do," Channel pointed out.

But Kay continued, "And what happens whenever they gain or lose someone? Either their name isn't accurate anymore... or they have to change it."

Then before that talk could go any further, Chrome kicked the couch and gestured to the person that was sitting on it. Sam gasped in shock at the sight. The man sitting there looked to be in his mid twenties, but he looked... horrible. That was putting it mildly His skin was all gray and his eyes were sunken in. There was a stink about him and several flies buzzing around his head. And if it wasn't for the fact that he was reaching for a bottle of beer, Sam would have sworn that he was staring at a corpse.

"This here is Deadbeat," Kay told Sam, glaring at the object of their conversation. "Proof positive that just because someone is a lazy couch potato when they're alive doesn't mean that things are going to change any when they come back from the dead."

"Dead..." Sam whispered, taking an instinctive step back from Deadbeat, who nodded absently at him before turning his attention back to the TV.

"He's a zombie," Chrome snorted.

"I ain't no zombie," Deadbeat said, his voice a bit rough and gravely. "Not exactly... I'm more like a ghost..."

"He possesses dead bodies," Kay sighed, "At least until they get too bad. Then he has to go find another one to use."

"I'm just glad that my powers don't work with him," Channel commented, looking a little disgusted. "He can't possess me... even if I call for help," she told Sam, "But even if he could... I wouldn't let him anywhere near my body."

"I wouldn't want to be in your body," Deadbeat commented with a smirk. "At least not that way..."

Then Chrome demanded, "Where the fuck were you man? We were fighting up there..."

And while Chrome was busy yelling at Deadbeat, Channel and Zero Kay were both looking embarrassed. Sam guessed that having a cheap apartment for a 'secret headquarters', a team name like the Slackers and a member who couldn't be bothered to fight weren't exactly points of pride for them.

"Sorry you're not seeing us at our best," Kay apologized.

"We're not as messed up as we seem," Channel added. "We're actually pretty good at what we do."

"Not as good as the Protectorate or anything," Kay admitted, "But we do all right."

"Well," Sam gave an embarrassed smile, "I'm kind of new at this myself..."

Zero Kay grinned, "Cool."

Sam smiled nervously, feeling somewhat relieved that they weren't treating him as some sort of freak. But then again, being developed and superheroes, a glowing girl must be absolutely nothing unusual for them. Especially not when they had a walking dead guy as one of them.

Several minutes later, Sam was sitting down and talking with them, mostly listening as they excitedly told about some of the things that they'd done. Chrome seemed about the most eager to do that, showing himself as a little bit of a braggart. Or at least that was the impression that Sam got.

While sipping at the soda that Channel had offered him, Sam just nodded along, interested in the stories, even in spite of himself. He couldn't help staring at them a little while listening, but he was beginning to see that they weren't just developed or superheroes like he'd seen on TV. They were people... just like anyone else. They just happened to be normal people, or at least relatively normal people with strange powers. Sam wasn't sure if that made him more comfortable or less since he knew just how imperfect normal people could be.

After a short while though, Zero Kay looked at Sam thoughtfully, then asked, "So... you want to join us?"

"We can really use someone who can fly," Chrome admitted, giving Sam a welcoming smile. Apparently his suspicions had disappeared when Sam listened to his stories.

"Hey," Channel protested without much force, "I can fly too..." Then she blushed, "At least sometimes..."

Sam stared at them all in surprise, feeling somewhat stunned by the request, as we as a bit thrilled. "Um... wow," he finally responded. Then taking a deep breath, "I'm honored... but I can't." He shrugged apologetically, trying to think of how to explain to them without giving anything away.

However, Zero Kay sighed, "Let me guess... You won't have much time because of school and other secret identity stuff..."

"Something like that," Sam admitted with a nervous smile.

"Cool, I understand," Kay told him. "It's kind of hard doing the hero thing all the time when you've got school and everything..."

"Tell me about it," Channel muttered.

Then Sam looked at their clock and gasped, realizing that it was later than he'd realized. It was probably too late to meet up with Anne for lunch now. He grimaced at that, disappointed by that after he'd gotten his expectations up.

"Well," Sam sighed as he got up, "I've got to get going..."

"It was nice meeting you," Zero Kay grinned.

"Ditto," Deadbeat responded, not bothering to get up from his seat on the couch, for which Sam was thankful.

After a quick round of good-byes, Sam told them, "It was nice meeting you all too. Maybe we'll run into each other again."

And then, Sam waved to them all before jumping out the window and flying up into the air. As he left the building behind, he let out a sigh of relief. The Slackers had definitely been pretty nice, and it had been an extremely interesting experience talking to them. However, none of them knew who he really was. None of them knew that he was really a man... or that he was old enough to be their father.

"Too bad about missing lunch with Anne," Sam sighed as he started flying for home, deciding that he didn't regret at all what he'd ended up doing instead. "Guess it's a good thing I didn't call her and make plans ahead..."

***

Sam scowled as he looked down at the street and houses below, his eyes nervously darting from place to place, though seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Still, he looked... feeling it. Feeling something. Something... dark.

It had been a week since Sam had first gained his power and been warned that the darkness was coming. It had been a full week since he had fought that strange creature in the mall parking lot. And though Sam had not seen anything else like that creature, over the last couple of days, he had been feeling something... Something that reminded him a great deal of that creature. It was something that he couldn't put in words, but somehow, Sam was sure that he could feel the darkness nearby... just as he had when fighting that creature.

During the last several days, Sam had been feeling the darkness... more and more. He had been seeing things... or at least catching the faintest glimpses out of the corners of his eyes, though had never actually seen anything solid. Sam had never seen any solid proof that there was anything wrong... though he could still feel it.

"The darkness is coming," Sam muttered to himself, thinking of the warning that he had been given, and the strange dreams which had reinforced it. Now Sam was strongly beginning to suspect that the darkness was already there.

Though Sam's first thought had been to ignore those warnings and the nervous feelings that had started to form, to pretend that it had nothing to do with him, to remind himself that he had never asked for any of it... he couldn't. Sam had seen that creature at the mall, and like it or not... it did have something to do with him. That strange voice had made sure of that when it had given him those powers.

"I didn't accept responsibility," Sam had told himself, more than once. However, that didn't mean that he wasn't responsible.

Then, as Sam thought about that viscous creature... and the fact that Todd had been right there at the mall and could have been hurt by it, Sam realized that it was also rather more personal. That creature could have hurt his son... And if the darkness behind that creature was still around, it would probably be very dangerous for his whole family... and everyone else in the area.

Because of this, Sam had grimly decided to take the initiative and go looking for the darkness. Before it came looking for him and his family. He had been flying overhead, looking... searching for any sign of it. However, other than that nagging feeling that the darkness was somewhere nearby, Sam had not found a thing.

Sam let out a sigh of tired frustration and started to land back in an empty corner of Bison Park. He had recently taken to changing back and forth there rather than at home because there was much less likelihood of him being spotted... or anyone being able to connect the two of them. But just as Sam touched the ground, he froze... feeling it again. The darkness...

"What the..." Sam gasped, quickly looking around, though seeing nothing... yet.

It took a minute, but Sam quickly found it... the source of what he was feeling. He couldn't help gasping at the sight, staring for a moment in disbelief. There was another creature standing in the middle of the park, tearing apart what had been some children's playing equipment. It stood there with the merry go round in torn from its supports and raised above its head. The feeling of darkness reeked from it, just as it had from the previous creature.

"Oh shit," Sam gulped at the sight of it.

But even though this new creature radiated the same kind of aura... gave Sam the same kind of feeling of darkness as the last, it looked absolutely nothing like it. In fact, it looked more human, though not by too much.

This new creature was human in shape and undeniably female. However, she stood seven feet tall, had pure white skin and glowing red eyes. Her figure and features were somewhat attractive, or would have been had they not been so harsh. She had pointed ears, sharp teeth and long black hair, all of which gave her something of a vampiric appearance. Her clothing, if it could be called that, seemed to be more like lightweight black armor, which covered most of her body from the neck down.

Not sure what else to do, Sam asked the huge woman, "Why don't you put that thing down so we can talk..."

However, the woman just growled at Sam, then with a snarl, threw the merry go round straight at him. Sam easily avoided it, especially since her aim was more than five feet to the left of him. But she roared and charged straight at him, her armor covered fingers all stretched out and clawlike.

"Not this again," Sam groaned, flying up into the air before the woman could reach him. And when she let out yet another howl, this time filled with frustration, Sam called down to her, "Not too talkative, are you?"

From the lack of conversation, even a little profanity, Sam was beginning to suspect that she couldn't talk. Just like the creature at the mall...

Since Sam obviously couldn't reason with his opponent, he knew that he was going to have to use force. He grimaced at the thought, knowing how dangerous something like that would be but also knowing that at the moment, he didn't have a choice.

Sam snarled and dove straight at the monstrous woman, then punched her as hard as he could. His fist glowed with swirls of light as it impacted with her face, sending her flying back and straight through a tree. For a brief moment, Sam had thought that he'd done it, but she got back to her feet and let out another growl.

"This is getting tiring," Sam muttered, though the truth was that he was afraid. However, he wasn't about to back down now.

It was pretty obvious that the creature didn't share Sam's fear, as she didn't hesitate a moment more before charging straight at him. Sam grimaced, knowing that he could easily fly out of range again... but instead, he opted for another choice.

Sam waited until the huge woman was close enough, threw out his hands and unleashed another of his powers... one that he had instinctively known about but hadn't tried until that moment. It was as though a rainbow exploded from his hands and straight into the charging creature. The creature howled as it was engulfed in swirling lights, and to Sam's amazement... it dropped to the ground.

"It... it worked," Sam gasped as he stared down at the motionless creature.

But even though she wasn't moving, Sam hesitated in getting too close, once again clearly remembering in monster movies that the monsters always got back up for one final go. Sam was almost disappointed when like the one at the mall, this one began changing instead.

"Let's see what you look like," Sam whispered, still keeping his distance until the changes were finished.

Once the Amazonian creature had fully reverted to human, Sam just stood over her and stared in disbelief. She was a girl... A teenage girl of about 17 or so, with shoulder length black hair and several rings piercing her eyebrow. She reminded Sam of what Todd would call a Goth. That certainly seemed appropriate considering what she had just been.

But as Sam stared at the unconscious girl, he suddenly realized that he now had another problem. What to do with her? He hadn't had to worry about that issue after he'd fought the other monster at the mall since the cops were close by, but this time they were nowhere in site. And it was pretty obvious that Sam couldn't just fly over to the police station and drop her off. That might work in the comic books, but in real life there would be too many questions... not to mention the fact that he had absolutely no proof that the girl had just been a monster a short time before.

Finally, Sam shook his head, muttering, "What would a real superhero do?"

Unfortunately, Sam didn't have his own private prison for super villains, or a close friend on the police force. In fact, now that the girl was back to human, Sam wasn't even sure that she was really responsible for what she'd been doing. Or would have done had he not stopped her.

"Damn," Sam spat out, shaking his head before finally deciding to just do nothing.

He'd stopped the monster, and that seemed about all that he could do at the moment. So giving another nervous look at the naked teenage girl on the ground, Sam flew back up into the air, telling himself that it wasn't his problem anymore. Still, it just didn't seem right to leave a teenage girl lying around naked in the middle of the park, so he stopped at the edge of the park and used the pay phone to call the police. They'd get to the park before anything could happen to the girl. And if nothing else, they might be able to get her for public exposure.

Sam nodded and gave an occasional grunt to acknowledge that he was indeed listening to Anne while she explained her long and frustrating day at work, though the truth was that his thoughts were on anything but her story. Not that Sam would let her know this. After so many years of marriage, he knew better than that.

At the moment, Sam was barely even managing to pay attention to the dinner in front of him or the rest of his family who sat around the table. Instead, he thought about that Amazon creature that he had fought at the park a few hours earlier. The darkness was close by... he could feel it. Now if he could find it... or understand what he was supposed to do about it.

Suddenly, Emily blurted, "Guess what?"

Emily had been excited and looking as though she was about to burst ever since she had come home from school, though Sam couldn't figure out why. From the excited look on her face, he guessed that he was about to find out.

"I saw Glamour Girl today," Emily exclaimed proudly.

"What?" Todd asked, giving his little sister his complete attention for once.

Not sure what to say, Sam responded with a careful, "Oh..."

"She flew over my school," Emily announced with a broad grin. "I was going to my next class, and someone said that they saw Glamour Girl above us... and when I looked up, there she was. Right above my school..."

Sam wasn't sure whether to smile or groan from his daughter's reaction. He had flown over Emily's school that day, having been close by and deciding to stop over for a quick peak at where his daughter was. However, he hadn't thought that anyone would notice him, or that anyone would make such a fuss over it. Now Sam was beginning to think that it might have been a big mistake, except that when he saw how happy his little trip had made Emily, he decided that maybe it had been a good idea after all.

But while Sam was thinking about his flying over his daughter's school, Emily and Todd were still talking about it. "You can't see Glamour Girl's panties," Emily was protesting, "She wears pants..."

"Oh yeah," Todd sighed, "I knew that..." Then he quickly added, "I just think she'd look better in a skirt..."

After Todd and Emily continued their conversation, which for most other people would be considered arguing, Anne became annoyed. She scowled, then tried to change the subject, "So, how was school today?"

"All right," Todd mumbled, suddenly more interested on the food on his plate.

"It was great," Emily grinned, "It was really boring at first, and we had a test in math, and Kelly tried starting a fight with me, but then I got to see Glamour Girl..."

At this point, Anne groaned while Sam had to suppress a smile at the way that Emily had started bringing the top right back around to her favorite superhero. It still amazed Sam, both that Emily like Glamour Girl so much, and that he was actually her.

Anne quickly looked to Todd, "Surely your day was more than all right..."

Todd hesitated for a moment, looking a bit uncomfortable. Finally, he muttered, "It was weird."

"Weird?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Todd responded slowly, seeming a bit more animated as he thought about it, "School's been getting real weird lately."

"Because you're there?" Emily asked with a smirk.

However, Todd didn't take the bait and shrugged, "It's hard to explain. I mean... everything sort of feels... weird. Like I'm being watched whenever I walk down the hall. And some kids aren't acting right. They're acting..."

"Weird," Emily supplied with a grin.

Todd nodded, "Especially the cheerleaders. I swear, some of them are even starting to dress like Goths... And what happened with coach Higgens..."

Sam just gasped and stared at Todd in surprise as he absorbed everything that his son had just told him. Coach Higgens had been that monster at the mall. And then that girl at the park earlier... she had looked about high school age.

"Are you all right?" Anne asked Sam, looking a little worried.

"Fine," he told her with a weak smile, "Just thinking about a project I've been working on..."

"Well you take it easy," she told him, "Just because you work at home doesn't mean that you can do so during dinner."

"Of course," Sam smiled back.

Still, Sam couldn't stop thinking of what Todd had said. He thought about it for the rest of the night, and the more that he thought about it, the more suspicious that school sounded. Somehow, Sam was going to have to check it out a little more closely.

It was late in the next morning when Sam stood at the kitchen counter and sipped at his coffee. He let out a faint sigh as the caffeine began to do it's work, and strongly suspected that he was going to need the divine brew to get going even more than normal.

That night's sleep hadn't provided quite as much rest as Sam would have liked, thanks in no small part to the dreams. They were getting worse... both more vivid and more insistent. In them, he could see the darkness spreading, and it was as though they were telling him that there wasn't much more time. Soon the darkness would become too strong...

"I've got to do something," Sam muttered; just to get a good night sleep if nothing else. And then there was the consideration of what might happen to his family because of that darkness.

Especially Todd, Sam thought grimly. After all, everything that Sam had seen about the darkness indicated that it had something to do with Todd's school. And what Todd had told him the night before during dinner had made it seem even more so. Sam hadn't liked sending his son back into that kind of potential problem, but until he found something a little more solid, there was nothing that he could do to keep Todd away from school.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid about his school," Sam told himself, though deep inside, he was sure that he wasn't.

Sam thought about how he could get in to check out his suspicions, but there didn't seem to be anything good. Sure, he could fly over Todd's school, just like he had Emily's, and if the darkness was there, he was sure that he'd be able to sense it. Of course, that also left the problem that if the darkness saw him... then he would lose the element of surprise. And at the moment, Sam thought that this might be his greatest advantage.

Somehow, Sam was pretty sure that even if he went there, he wouldn't be able to sense the darkness as himself, only as Glamour Girl. "And it's not like Glamour Girl can just walk through the front door..."

Then, thinking that it might help him think, or at least get him into the right frame of mind, Sam set down his coffee and triggered the change into Glamour Girl. Once the light ceased swirling around him, he could immediately feel his no longer completely alien body. But still, he couldn't help running his hands over his feminine curves.

And shaking his head slightly, he muttered, "I'll never get used to that."

Sam frowned slightly and held his arm up in front of him, staring at it intently. The glowing skin was rather fascinating, though it did make him rather hard to miss seeing. And that made it VERY hard for him to sneak up on much of anybody, much less this mysterious darkness that he was supposed to be chasing down.

After a minute though, something occurred to Sam. He stared at his glowing skin again, this time a bit more thoughtfully. And with a silent prayer, Sam began to concentrate. To his amazement, the light that was coming from his skin began to dull. He willed the light to recede further, and it slowly did so. Within a short time, the light coming from Sam seemed to have vanished entirely.

"It worked," Sam whispered, not having been sure that he could even make the light pull back until then.

Sam stared at his now normal looking skin for a moment, then rushed to the nearest mirror. The glow had gone out from around his entire body, making him look pretty much like any other teenage girl. His glowing, golden blonde hair had even faded back as well to a somewhat more natural looking blonde.

Then once he had gotten over his initial amazement, Sam smiled weakly and muttered, "Well, I guess takes care of the problem about walking through the front door..."

Of course, Sam knew that this left a number of other problems. Problems with which he was going to have to find solutions... and quick. He didn't have much more time before it was too late. At least not according to his dreams.

For the next hour, Sam carefully thought about what he was going to have to do. He didn't particularly like it, but he didn't see many other choices.

Finally, Sam braced himself to do what he had to do and take the next step in his plan. He changed back to normal then drove to a store to buy some new clothes for his 'daughter'. Afterwards, Sam found a safe place and changed back into Glamour Girl, then toned down his light and put on the clothes.

"Time for another round of shopping," Sam grunted as he adjusted his somewhat uncomfortable clothes.

He had been forced to guess at his size and now regretted it somewhat. However, he had been expecting that and had already been planning on going out shopping again, even though he didn't really enjoy the thought.

"At least this time I'll be able to try them on and make sure they fit," Sam told himself as he started back towards the store.

Sam tried to hurry, as he looked through the clothes, though the very nature of his task, not to mention his unfamiliarity with it made it take much longer than he would have preferred. He tried keeping in mind what he had seen real teenage girls wearing, hoping that he'd never catch Emily wearing some of that stuff. And slowly, he picked out his selection, buying just enough for several days.

When it came time to buy a bra, Sam hesitated, not wanting to wear one and sure that he could do without. However, he reminded himself what the goal was grimaced, bracing himself for the inevitable. He stared at the garments that he'd had such familiarity with removing from a female body, but had never worn himself, realizing that he didn't even know what size he wore. Fortunately, a kind sales lady was happy to help him out.

Once Sam had finished with his shopping trip, he let out a long sigh of relief. Unfortunately, he still knew that the hardest part was yet to come. Wearing those new clothes in public and trying to pass himself off as the teenage girl that he appeared.

"Tomorrow is NOT going to be fun," Sam told himself grimly before changing back to his normal self and returning home.

***

Sam burned with a nervous anticipation as he faced the morning, and the process of getting his family out of the house. First was Anne, who rushed off to work, facing a long commute to work that was ahead of her. Then came the kids, Emily and Todd, whom Sam could barely wait to get out the door.

"Good luck in school," Sam told Emily as he rushed her out the door, then he weakly joked, "And don't go getting in any fights..."

"I won't," Emily giggled back.

Todd shrugged, looking a little less enthusiastic about going to school. In fact, he looked as though he wanted to bite someone's head off. Somehow, Sam saw a lot of coffee to get the boy going in the future. Like father, like son, or so they said.

"What are you up for so early anyway?" Todd asked him gruffly, apparently annoyed at the slight alteration of his morning routine. "You usually don't get up until we're gone..."

Sam gulped, not having expected that question. It wasn't an exactly inaccurate observation, though there had been other times that Sam had gotten up before they left. But then again, at those times he was usually still hanging around in his bathrobe and only getting up minutes before they left.

"I have an early phone conference with one of my clients," Sam lied, not having to put much distaste in his voice as it came with the very thought. There had been a couple of times when clients insisted on talking to him, either by phone or in person, at what Sam considered to be unreasonably early hours.

However, Todd just nodded absently, apparently not even really listening to Sam's explanation. Then with a deep scowl, he left the house on his way to school as well.

"Finally," Sam muttered once the house was empty.

For a minute, Sam just stood there, feeling relieved, yet at the same time, even more nervous than before. Now there was no longer an excuse to put this all off. He was going to have to go through with his plan or abandon them, and abandoning them at that stage reeked too much of cowardice. As much as Sam disliked the idea, he refused to be a chicken now.

"Put up or shut up time," he muttered as he went to the spare bedroom.

Once Sam was in the storage room, which doubled as a guest bedroom, he willed the transformation into Glamour Girl. He gasped as he felt the light filling him, then the strange sensations of his now female body.

Sam paused long enough to look down at himself and stare at his body, which he knew he would never get used to seeing. Then he shook it off and stripped out of his Glamour Girl clothes, dropping them to the floor.

"Let's see," Sam mused as he pulled the clothes that he'd bought the day before from their hiding place. There were two days worth of clothes. "Which should I wear..."

Rolling his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all, Sam made his choice and began getting dressed. He cursed almost all the way through the process, especially when he put on the bra. It wasn't quite as difficult to put on as he had feared, though it was a bit uncomfortable to wear. Sam just didn't like the constrained feeling that it gave him, though he reminded himself yet again that it was a necessity for what he had planned.

When Sam had finished getting dressed, he stood and stared at stared at himself in the mirror, almost immediately realizing that he'd almost forgotten something VERY important. He was still glowing. And after he pulled back the light, he nodded his approval. Now Sam really did look just like any other teenage girl.

Letting out a sigh, Sam muttered, "Oh joy..." However, he was a little more pleased at that than he would have liked to admit.

Sam picked up the small back pack that he'd also bought, stuffing his Glamour Girl clothes into the bottom, then putting a few other items that he thought he'd need for school, such as a notebook and some pens. Then he started for his car, but paused, suddenly realizing one other problem. He couldn't exactly drive his car to school at the moment, nor could he use his powers and fly there. That would give away the whole reason for his buying the clothes and going undercover in the first place.

"Damn," Sam muttered grimly.

Of course, Sam realized that he could either drive or fly to somewhere near the school and walk the short remaining distance, but that still provided the problem of what could happen if anyone actually saw him. No, he realized, it was too much of a risk. Instead, he was going to have to walk,

"At least it's not too far," Sam grumbled to himself, though he wasn't exactly looking forward to the walk. "I guess I won't be getting there before school starts..."

Then letting out a sigh of frustration, Sam started walking in the direction of the high school. It was even more annoying since he knew exactly how easy it would have been for him to either drive for fly, saving himself both the time and effort.

By the time that Sam arrived at the school, he had missed the starting bell and it was probably well into first period. However, that didn't matter to him as he was immediately faced with something much more important.

The moment that Sam had come close to the school, he could feel it. He could feel the darkness radiating out from the school, or perhaps, more like a black hole... he could feel it trying to draw everything else in. Sam shuddered instinctively, standing at the edge of the school and stared at it in horror and disgust.

"It's here," he whispered, his voice shaking slightly from the fear that suddenly swelled up.

Sam shook as he felt just how strong that darkness was. It was MUCH stronger than what he'd felt when facing either of those two creatures. In fact, it overshadowed those two entirely, and Sam realized that the power of this darkness was probably just as much stronger as well.

There was absolutely no doubt in Sam's mind, that somewhere within the walls of that school was the very darkness that he had been warned about. The darkness, which he had been having ever escalating nightmares about every night since he had gained his powers.

"Damn," Sam gulped, having to fight to keep his light contained. The power within him wanted to jump out at the very nearness of the darkness. "Okay," Sam told himself after a minute, "I know that it's in here somewhere... but I don't know where."

Or even what, he silently reminded himself. Sam had been looking and looking for the darkness, but he still didn't even know exactly what it was. The mysterious voice that had given him his powers hadn't been exactly very precise.

Then after a minute, Sam braced himself and stepped into the school grounds. He grimaced, trying to ignore the feeling that he could sense all around him. It was as though there were a dark cloud hanging about that he could see out of the corner of his eye. However, whenever he turned to look straight at it, it was gone... or at least not where he was looking.

But before Sam had gone very far down the hallway, he heard someone behind him and snapped around. There was a plump woman just a few years older than himself... his real age.

"What are you doing out in the hall?" the woman asked, a hint of suspicion on her eyes. "Do you have a hall pass?"

"Hall pa..." Sam started, then frowned, remembering that at the moment, he was just a high school student. "I'm new here," Sam told her, giving his best 'lost little girl' look.

The woman whom Sam assumed was a teacher, nodded, looking somewhat sympathetic. "And you got lost," she sighed before asking, "Can I see your schedule?"

Sam smiled sweetly at that, having come up with his cover story the day before. "I don't have one. We just moved in yesterday and I haven't registered here yet..." Then at the teacher's look of disapproval, Sam quickly went on, "But my mom told me that I should come here today anyway and look around."

"I'll have to call your parents," the teacher started, though Sam quickly told her that they had just moved in and didn't yet have a phone number. She let out a long sigh before shaking her head, "I suppose it won't hurt to let you stay for the day. But you'll have to have your parents come to the school and register as soon as possible..."

"Okay," Sam told her, "Thanks..."

After the teacher asked Sam a few more questions to determine what grade he should be in and what to do with him, she led him down the hall and to a classroom. She went inside for a minute to talk to the teacher, then gestured for Sam to come in as well.

"This is..." she started telling the teacher of that class, then paused to look at Sam questioningly.

"Sarah," Sam offered, having come up with the name the day before. "Sarah Jones..."

"Sarah is a new student and will be starting here soon," the teacher whose name Sam still didn't know told the class. "She will probably be in this class, but until her schedule is straightened out, I'll need someone to show her around for the day."

"I'll do it," one boy in the class raised his hand, grinning a bit lecherously. Several other boys seemed to have similar ideas.

Sam grimaced at that, knowing exactly what was going on in their minds since he had once been a teenage boy as well. However, it as a bit disconcerting to be on the other side of those kind of thoughts and fantasies, though he tried not to let it bother him.

"I'll show her around," one girl sighed, looking over at the boys who'd volunteered with a frown.

"Then I'll leave her in your hands for today," the teacher that had brought Sam there smiled and turned to leave, pausing only a moment to remind him, "And remember to have your parents come in right away for registration..."

Once that teacher was gone, the one who remained in class told Sam to take a seat. He hesitated a moment, glancing at the leering boys, then moved towards an empty seat next to the girl who'd volunteered to show him around.

Sam smiled nervously at the girl. She was rather pretty in the girl next door way, with dark blonde hair that was on the verge of being a light brown. And from the looks of her, Sam suspected that once she finished filling out, she would make for an attractive woman.

"Hi," the girl smiled back, "I'm Samantha Johnson... but everyone calls me Sam."

"Sam Johnson..." Sam repeated quietly.

For a long moment, Sam just stared at her in surprise, a sinking feeling beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. He gulped, continuing to stare at the teenage girl who had the same name as himself, his mind racing.

"Do..." Sam took a deep breath, "Do you ever go through that Bison Park?"

"Oh yeah," the other Sam responded with a grin, "I cut through there ever day on the way home from school..."

All that Sam could do was respond with an, "Oh..."

And though Sam's tongue remained tied, his mind was racing. Ever since he had been given his powers by that mysterious voice, he had been filled with unanswered questions. Time and again, Sam had been asking himself 'why me.' But now... now he knew. He wasn't the chosen one... It was a case of mistaken identity and the only reason that he had been transformed and given those powers was because he happened to have the same name as the person whom they actually had been intended for. Sam realized that this also explained why it was that he transformed into a teenage girl.

"An accident," Sam whispered, feeling somewhat stunned and disappointed. He had thought that he was special... that he was some sort of chosen one, but now he knew the truth and it was somewhat bruising to his ego.

"Are you all right?" Samantha asked Sam with a slight frown.

Sam gulped, forcing his attention back to where it was, "Um... yeah."

Just then the class teacher coughed for attention, "If you two are through talking..."

With that, Sam gave an embarrassed smile and sat still through the rest of the class. It was hard to just sit there after so long away from school, though it was interesting as well, but more for novelty's sake than anything else. Most of the information was old stuff, things that he'd learned back when he was in school but had long since filed into the back of his mind and forgotten about. Still, it was a refresher, as well as provided some new things.

When Sam went to Samantha's next class with her, he found that it was much the same. He was getting a lot of school experience and a better understanding of his kids actually spend their day, though there was still nothing unusual... or at least nothing that immediately stuck out as being tied to the darkness. However, that soon changed.

Once the second period was over, Sam was heading to the next one with his new friend who shared his name, feeling somewhat nervous. He was nervous, not because he'd seen something strange, but because he hadn't. Though he could feel the darkness around him, like some unseen threat, he didn't see anything to indicate where or what it might actually be.

Then Sam suddenly froze, catching sight of four girls coming down the hallway. The very sight of them sent a faint shiver down his spine, though he couldn't tell exactly why except that they were somehow tied to the darkness. They were all cheerleaders, and all four were very attractive. But there was something strange about them... something dark. On the surface, their eyes seemed normal, yet at the same time, they seemed like black pits. Their expressions were all identical masks, which somehow seemed blank yet cruel at the same time. And what those masks covered, Sam had no idea.

"Watch out for them," Samantha gently tugged Sam back, whispering, "I think that they might be on drugs or something..."

"Drugs?" Sam asked her once the cheerleaders had walked past.

Samantha just shrugged, "It's just a rumor, but the cheerleaders are all acting kinda weird so the word is that they're all on something..."

But before Sam could think of anything to say in response to that, Samantha grabbed his arm and urged him on to the next class. He nodded and went along, though his thoughts were still on the cheerleaders. Whatever was going on there with the darkness, they were involved. And so far, they were the biggest clue that he'd found to the secret of the darkness.

However, once Sam went into Samantha's next class, his thoughts were quickly torn off of the cheerleaders and the darkness by the sight of his own son Todd sitting at one of the desks. Sam gulped, trying hard not to stare at Todd, though it wasn't easy. It was even harder when a part of him was half afraid that Todd would see right through him and know him for who he was, not to mention the fact that it was extremely embarrassing for Sam to be seen like that by his son, even if Todd didn't know who he was.

After a brief explanation to the teacher, Sam sat down next to Samantha through the class, though he had to keep fighting back the urge to look at his son... to see if Todd was looking in his direction. Running into Todd was a complication of going undercover in that school that Sam hadn't really considered, though he now realized that he should have. And it was a complication that Sam definitely wanted to avoid.

It was about halfway through the class that Sam took his attention off of Todd and looked around at everyone else in the room then paused, his attention locking on a boy in the corner. He was big... possibly a football player. And Sam didn't know why, but somehow he thought that there was something wrong with him. Then it dawned on Sam. The boy's expression was similar to the ones that the cheerleaders wore.

"Oh," Sam whispered with a feeling of dread. Somehow, he suspected that finding another one like that was NOT a good sign.

The rest of the class was even harder to sit through than the first half. Now his attention was divided between glancing at Todd to make sure that Todd wasn't looking at him, and glancing at the guy in the corner, hoping that he didn't see Sam either. And on top of that, he had to at least pretend that he was paying attention to the lesson.

By the time that the class was finally over, Sam suspected that this would be a great way to get an ulcer. And of course, he knew that this class was only a start of the real stress. He still had the rest of the day... not to mention the rest of his mission to go.

When the class was over and they were leaving the room, Sam suddenly noticed the way that Samantha was staring at Todd. It caught him a little by surprise. Not sure what to say, Sam cautiously asked, "Who's he..."

Samantha blushed brightly, "Um... just a guy in class." But when Sam gave her a level gaze, she blushed even more, "Okay, I'm like... major crushing on him."

Sam blinked at that, at the way that she'd just admitted that she had a crush on his son. Sam smiled, feeling a surge of fatherly pride at that. "Does he know?"

"Oh no," Samantha gasped in embarrassment.

Sam stopped her in the hall at that, giving her a gentle smile. He hadn't known Samantha for long, but he did like her and decided to do Todd a favor. "Then why don't you tell him? Maybe ask him out?"

"I couldn't do that," Samantha gaped at him.

"It's the twenty first century," Sam reminded her, quoting something that Emily liked saying, "and those ideas belong in the last one." He cringed slightly, always getting annoyed when his daughter told him that his notions were old fashioned, though he had to admit that at the moment it seemed appropriate.

With a giggle, Samantha started a weak protest, "But..."

"No buts," Sam told her with a gentle smile, "Go ahead and ask him. Maybe he'll say yes..."

It was about this time that Samantha finally surrendered, then promised, "All right... I'll do it."

"Great," Sam grinned, suspecting that she and Todd might get along pretty well. And hopefully, having a real girl around might help take his mind off of that silly crush that he had on Glamour Girl.

By time that lunch had arrived a little later, Sam had spotted several more of those darkness zombies, or at least that was what he had started to think of them as. One had been another cheerleader, one a scrawny boy who fit into the 'Goth' description, and the third was apparently one of the more popular boys in the school.

"How many of them are there?" Sam asked himself grimly.

However, that was before Sam stepped into the lunchroom. He gulped, quickly spotting several more of the darkness zombies. They looked and acted pretty much like everyone else, but there was something about their expressions... and he could sense a darkness behind those blank masks. Sam didn't know what was making the kids like that, but it definitely couldn't be good.

"Why didn't the voice get the right person?" Sam asked himself nervously.

Then he'd be at home where it was and safe, while Samantha would be the one finding out about the darkness. And since she already went to school there, she probably would have already found the problem and dealt with it.

"But then SHE would be the one in danger," he reminded himself, hating the thought of seeing such a sweet girl like her getting hurt.

It was then that Sam felt a chill run down his spine, followed by an even increased sense of the darkness being present. He turned around, trying to act nonchalant as he looked for the source. But all that Sam saw were three more cheerleaders walking nearby.

Two of the new cheerleaders were darkness zombies... though they seemed a bit more... intense than most that he'd run into to. As if the darkness were just a little stronger in them. However, the third... The third cheerleader was a blonde girl who was wearing sunglasses so he couldn't get a good look at her eyes. But her expression, as cruel as the sneer on her face seemed, he could tell that it wasn't a mask like the others. She wasn't a darkness zombie.

However, for some reason, Sam couldn't stop staring at the last one. Though she wasn't a darkness zombie, there was something about her... something not right. Sam was sure of it.

"Ugh, the bimbo squad," Samantha muttered to Sam as she noticed him looking, apparently not fond of cheerleaders in general. "The one with the shades in front is Melanie, the head bimbo. The other two are just her usual sidekicks."

"I take it you don't like her," Sam commented with a faint smile.

Samantha snorted, "About as well as I like acne." She paused, as if trying to decide if she should say anything more before finally continuing, "She was always a snob, but lately she's gotten pretty mean..."

Then, as if to prove Samantha's point, Melanie stuck her foot out and tripped another girl, who fell face first into the ground, scattering her lunch everywhere.

"Watch where you're walking," Melanie sneered at the fallen girl, "You almost tripped me..."

"Definitely not on Santa's nice list," Sam muttered to his guide, who nodded full agreement.

Once they had finished eating and had left the cafeteria, Sam noticed one of the girl's who had been with Melanie, standing off to the side and talking to some skinny boy who was obviously not a darkness zombie. He looked both excited and nervous, and Sam could see why. Even if she was a darkness zombie, the cheerleader was very pretty.

"Why don't we find a nice quiet corner..." Sam overheard the girl tell the boy, who looked quite happy to do just that.

Sam just shook his head and scowled, trying to figure out what was going on with all of the darkness zombies running around. Then he just let out a sigh, telling himself to just be patient. All that he could do at the moment was watch and listen... and hope that he would learn more that way.

Before long though, he was sitting in yet another class next to Samantha, and to his great discomfort... Todd, who was in that class as well. And worse, this time Todd actually said 'Hi' and tried talking to him once or twice. Fortunately though, Samantha was there to distract Todd by gently and nervously flirting with him.

"That's my boy," Sam smiled proudly to himself while he watched Todd taking more interest in Samantha.

That class and the next both passed slowly, much like the ones earlier that morning, though without Sam discovering a single new detail that he could use. He saw a few more darkness zombies, but they were no longer quite so surprising. It was almost becoming common for him to see them, which made him feel very nervous.

But then, while walking through the hall to the next class, Sam spotted yet another darkness zombie. It had almost gotten to the point that Sam didn't give them a second look. However, he had to do a double take after seeing him, because he'd seen this one before. It was the very same boy who had gone off with that darkness zombie cheerleader. The boy hadn't been a darkness zombie before, but now there was no doubt about it.

Sam froze to stare at the boy with a sinking feeling. "Oh shit..."

Though he didn't know what to do, Sam could feel the urgency increasing. It was spreading. More kids were being turned into darkness zombies. And Sam gulped, suddenly worried that Todd could be next. There was no way in hell that he was going to let his son get turned into one of those things...

And with a grim expression, Sam continued following after Samantha, though his attention was on anything but her next class. The darkness was there, and though he'd seen signs and symptoms of it all day long, at least in the form of darkness zombies, Sam hadn't seen what was causing it all.

"Holy shit," Samantha exclaimed from in front of Sam.

"What's going on?" Sam started to ask as he caught up, then paused to gasp in surprise.

There was some sore of fight going on the middle of the hallway, if it could be called that since one of was completely dominating the other. The surprise however was in which of the two was obviously winning.

One of the boys in the fight was a fairly large guy, while the one who had him pressed up against the wall was a skinny... nearly scrawny boy who was about 5 inches shorter. However, all that Sam needed was a single glance to see that the smaller of the two was in fact a darkness zombie, while his victim most definitely was not.

As the darkness zombie lifted the larger boy up, there was a gasp of surprise from the gathered students, and a look of complete disbelief... and then fear on the larger boy's face. The smaller one gave a cold, cruel smile, obviously enjoying the it.

"What's going on?" Samantha gasped, repeating Sam's previous question.

Another girl glanced at Samantha, "Oh Sam..." She shrugged, looking somewhat stunned, "I don't know... I guess Brian tried picking on Casey... and Casey turned around and threw him against the wall. I've never seen anything like it..."

Sam was shocked at the sight, realizing that the smaller boy, the darkness zombie could hurt the other one. He thought about stepping in, but then realized that he might accidentally give something away. But then he saw a teacher stepping close and let out a sigh. At least until he saw the teacher.

"Oh shit," Sam whispered.

The teacher who was standing there was the same woman that he had run into upon first arriving at school. But now... now she was a darkness zombie. Teachers obviously weren't immune. And from the way that she was just standing there with a somewhat cruel sneer on her face, it was obvious that she had no intention of stopping the 'fight'.

But just a moment later, another teacher was there was well, this one not a darkness zombie. He quickly split the fight up, though for a moment, it seriously looked as though the skinny boy, the darkness zombie was going to turn on him too but then thought better about it. Within just a minute, the crowd of students that had gathered around to watch had all dispersed again.

Sam let out a sigh of relief that the trouble was over, but then he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes that made his heart threaten to jump. It was that darkness zombie cheerleader that had been with the boy before he'd become one himself. And she was just walking around the corner.

For a moment, Sam hesitated, then he turned to Samantha, "I've really got to get going..."

"What?" Samantha asked in surprise.

"I'll see you later," Sam told her as he rushed after the cheerleader.

Then leaving a somewhat confused Samantha behind, Sam followed the cheerleader. He didn't know what he hoped to find out, but so far she seemed to be his best clue as to discovering it. And his impulse to follow her seemed to be the right one as she didn't appear to be heading towards any classroom. Instead, she was heading out the back of the school.

Sam stayed far back, hoping that she didn't see him and growing more curious as she left school grounds. He had thought that the school was the center of everything, but if she was leaving...

After Sam had been following the cheerleader for awhile, she came to a small park where there were several adults and about a half dozen small children playing on the toys on the other side. The cheerleader just stood there for a minute, while Sam watched her, trying to figure out what was going on.

And then, just to confuse Sam even more, a black bird... either a crow or a raven landed on her shoulder. It remained there for only a moment before suddenly taking off again just as quickly.

Suddenly, Sam felt a cold chill run down his spine, just before she turned a bit and he could see that her eyes were now glowing red. The cheerleader snarled, just before her face started to stretch out. Her whole body began to shift and change until her clothes could no longer contain it and she burst right out of them. And once she was finished, she was no longer human, just another one of those darkness creatures.

"Oh shit," Sam gasped in horror.

Somehow, the cheerleader had transformed into some type of cat creature. She now stood more than 6 feet tall, though she hunched over, with black fur that covered her entire body. A tail dangled from behind her and her hands and feet were both clawed... and very dangerous looking. And finally, there was her head, which looked much more like that of a wild cat than a human, with a stretched out snout and a pair of evil looking eyes that glowed red.

Then Sam realized what her goal might be. He gulped, glancing at the people in the park, though they seemed all right at the moment. The cat creature was just crouched there, as if watching its prey. She showed no sign of doing anything... yet. Sam was going to have to do something, even if it meant him charging in and blowing his cover.

However, Sam quickly realized that he did have another choice. If he hurried... Taking a deep breath, Sam willed the transformation back to his normal self, then before he even had time to take a breath, he triggered it yet again. Just a moment later, he was once again Glamour Girl... back in costume and glowing again.

It seemed that Sam had finished changing just in time because the former cheerleader almost immediately started charging for the people. Sam had no idea why she was attacking them, but he knew that he had to stop her. He was already in motion the instant that he'd seen her move.

Sam hit the cat from behind, catching her by surprise and sending her flying. "Bad kitty," he snarled.

The cat turned around and growled at Sam, apparently just as talkative as her predecessors had been. Sam scowled as they glared at each other, wondering just what she was up to. Leaving school and attacking those people made no sense... All that she would do was hurt innocent people and create a lot of fear...

There was no time to think it out though as the darkness creature charged straight at Sam, using the same tactics as the other ones. Sam grimaced, already having experienced that kind of fight twice and getting more than tired of it. So he waited until she was close and then punched her, letting loose with a burst of brilliant light from his fist at the same time. As brilliant as he could possibly make it.

"Damn cat," Sam snarled as the creature flew backwards and hit the ground.

Sam looked up at the people in the park, who had noticed what was going on and had quickly gathered up the children and started running in the opposite direction. He let out a sigh of relief at that, thinking it a VERY good idea.

Then Sam turned his attention back to the fallen cat, who was already beginning to transform back into her cheerleader form. Sam let out another sigh of relief at that, glad that he'd managed to take her out with just a single punch.

"Well... that was easy," Sam commented to himself, though he couldn't resist silently adding the almost obligatory, "Almost too easy..."

Sam just stood there for a minute to make sure that the girl finished changing back to normal. Then he turned to leave, finally letting himself relax again. Just then, he heard a cawing sound and quickly glanced back to the girl to see that the black bird was back... and sitting on top of her naked body.

"What the..." Sam started, feeling a cold chill run down his spine as the bird turned to look at him.

Sam quickly looked behind him to see if there was another source, but there wasn't any. And when he looked back at the bird... it was gone. As well as the girl. There was no sign of either of them.

"Weird," Sam whispered, deciding that this was definitely NOT a good thing.

After remaining there for another minute, Sam shook his head and decided that he'd had enough of investigating for the day. He'd already learned quite a bit and would have think about what it all meant. Letting out a sigh, he knew that he'd have to go back to the school to learn more. That was not something that he was looking forward to.

With that, took to the air, then started flying home. He was so tired after all that he'd been through that he didn't want to go through the whole hassle of going to Bison Park or someplace else and then walking the rest of the way right then.

Just a few minutes later, Sam landed in his back yard, using the tree to provide some coverage from the neighbors... not that he thought any of them would be home or watching at that time. And once safely inside his home, Sam calmly walked to the living room, letting out a long sigh of relief.

"That was one hell of a day," he muttered to himself. And then with another sigh, Sam activated the transformation back to his normal self.

Suddenly, Sam heard a loud gasp from behind him. He snapped around, his heart nearly jumping as he let out a gasp of shock himself.

"D... daddy?" Emily asked with a look of complete shock and disbelief.

***

Sam stared down at his daughter Emily in shock and horror, seeing from the look of absolute shock on her own face... the confusion and disbelief in her eyes, he had no doubt at all that she had just seen the whole thing. She had just witnessed him transforming back from Glamour Girl into his normal self.

"Emily..." he started, not sure what to say.

However, Emily just continued staring up at him before gasping, "Daddy?" Then she took a deep breath and suddenly blurted out, "You were Glamour Girl!"

Sam winced at that. He had been trying so hard to keep the secret from his family and cringed at the knowledge that he had not only been found out, but found out because of his own carelessness. There had been a good reason that he'd been changing back and forth away from home, though he'd thought it was more to avoid the neighbors than his own family.

"You... you're not supposed to be home from school yet," Sam squeaked out.

"We were sent home early because a monster came to our school and tore it up." Emily gulped, "I was really scared..."

"A monster?" Sam gasped in horror.

"It only tore up the parking lot," she continued in a rush. "And almost no one got hurt..." Then Emily quickly changed the subject back to the one that Sam had dreaded, "You were Glamour Girl..." Then she stared at him as if demanding an explanation, or at least confirmation that she hadn't been imagining things.

For a moment, Sam was tempted to lie to her and tell her that she had been imagining things... But not only wouldn't Emily buy that, it would have been horribly insulting to her as well. So reluctantly, Sam nodded and admitted, "Yeah..."

Emily's eyes went wide, "YOU WERE GLAMOUR GIRL!"

"Um... yeah," Sam responded, feeling even more embarrassed and uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, then gestured for his daughter to sit down. Once she had, he paced back and forth for a moment before forcing himself to sit down as well. "I'll tell you what's going on," he told her, then firmly added, "But only if you promise not to tell ANYONE."

"But I can tell mom..." Emily started.

"No," Sam quickly told her. "No one. Not your mom... not Todd... and not even your very best friend."

"But..." She began to protest weakly.

"No one," Sam stated firmly. "Promise."

Emily sat there for a moment before finally nodding. "Okay... I promise."

Sam let out a sigh of relief at that. Emily had always been very good about keeping her promises and he was sure that he could trust his daughter. At least not to tell anyone intentionally.

"And no writing it down in your diary," he added as an afterthought. Emily nodded at that, still staring at him with a strange expression, as though she thought she were in some sort of a dream.

After a moment, Sam slowly began, "It started more than a week ago... the day Glamour Girl first appeared..."

Sam carefully told Emily almost everything that had happened to him, though he glossed over some of the details, such as how he had nearly fallen out of the sky the first time he'd tried flying and just how scared he'd been while fighting the monsters. Not to mention the recent discovery that the powers hadn't even been meant for him. It wasn't easy at first, but as Sam continued talking, he found it a bit easier to open up and even nice that he finally had someone that he could share his secret with.

Once Sam was finally finished explaining, he and Emily sat there in silence for nearly a minute. Finally, she blurted out, "WOW," and jumped to her feet. "My dad is Glamour Girl." And suddenly she threw her arms around Sam in a hug.

"Yeah," Sam smiled weakly, "It is kind of embarrassing though..."

That didn't seem to bother Emily though who giggled and begged, "Can you change into Glamour Girl? Please..." She gave Sam her best puppy dog expression.

"All right," Sam agreed with a sigh.

He looked around nervously, then went to pull the curtains shut. After what had just happened, he thought that it might be a good idea to play it better safe than sorry. There was no way that he wanted someone else to catch sight of him transforming through the living room window. Having one person discovering his change that way was more than enough.

"And now for the magic words," Sam grinned at Emily in excitement, willing the light within him to awaken and transform him. "Abracadabra..."

Just a moment later, Sam had transformed back into Glamour Girl. He glanced down at himself, at the teenage girl's body that he now wore again. Then he looked over at Emily, who was staring at him with an expression of complete awe and excitement.

"Wow," Emily exclaimed in delight, "That is so wicked..."

Sam grinned, "It is rather interesting..." He held out his hands to stare at them. "But it's kind of weird for me being like this..."

Emily just nodded. "You're so pretty..." She let out a sigh, "I hope I can be that pretty some day..."

"You're already pretty," Sam responded, not sure what else to say.

But Emily just stared at Sam before abruptly changing the subject again, "And you even have real super powers..."

"Yes," Sam smiled, having already covered that part before. But almost as soon as he'd responded to the question, Emily demanded to know what they were, even though he'd already told her that as well. "Let's see... I can fly... I'm pretty strong like this..." Sam flexed his arm, which made Emily giggle. "And I can sort of shoot light..." With that, Sam made the rainbow colors swirl around his hand, causing Emily to gasp in delight.

"So pretty..." she whispered, "Like a rainbow..."

Almost in spite of himself, Sam was beginning to enjoy this. It was rather nice having his daughter give him that look of hero worship, and he enjoyed making her happy.

"Oh yeah," Sam added a little smugly, "I can do this too..."

And with that, Sam started to do something new with his powers. The idea had come to him earlier, but he hadn't really found a reason to try it until then. He concentrated and the light around his hand began to shimmer, the swirling colors blurring and fusing. Then he held his hand out with the palm up... revealing a tiny image made out of light which looked exactly like Emily.

"That's me!" Emily exclaimed in surprise, then delight.

"A hologram," Sam explained with a smile. "An image made out of light..."

Emily didn't seem to be interested in the explanations or the science behind it however; she just wanted to look at it. She stared at the hologram, excitedly watching as Sam got rid of it and created several other ones, trying out that ability for his own amusement just as much as his daughter's.

Finally though, Sam got rid of the hologram looked to Emily. "Now," he started gently, "Tell me more about this monster that attacked your school..."

Sam was nervous, even afraid as he slowly made his way back to the high school. After the day before, that was the last place that he wanted to go, yet obviously the place that he needed to check out the most. The darkness was there and he was close to finding it...

He paused, thinking about the story that Emily had told him about the monster attacking her school. Apparently it had done so around the same time that he had been fighting the cheerleader cat. It had smashed through the parking lot, apparently interested in just causing destruction, though fortunately no one was seriously hurt before the police arrived and hit it with enough lead that it decided to leave.

"At least they can be stopped the normal way," Sam muttered, feeling a little relieved that it didn't necessarily take super powers to stop the monsters.

Then Sam thought about Todd and he grimaced, feeling a bit guilty. After what Sam had seen around that school the day before, there was absolutely no way that he was going to let his own son go back into that and risk getting turned into a darkness zombie himself. Because of that, Sam had been forced to take drastic measures.

While Todd had been fixing his normal protein shake for breakfast that morning, Sam had taken the opportunity to spike it with a bit of liquid laxative. It didn't take long at all before Todd was rushing to the bathroom with a case of the runs. Now Todd was staying home for the day, thinking that he just had the flu.

"I hope he's all right," Sam winced as he thought about it.

Sam had never even imagined that he would do something like that to his own son, but then again, he never would have imagined that there would be a danger of his son being possessed and turned into some sort of darkness zombie either.

Once Sam had arrived at the school, he pushed worries about Todd out of his mind. At the moment, Sam didn't have to worry about Todd who was still at home where it was safe and sound. It was he himself who was now in danger.

When Sam had left the house, it had been after telling Todd a story about having a long meeting in town with a client. Then he had rushed out to a safe place to change first into Glamour Girl, and then into his disguise as Sarah Jones. It had taken him a few minutes to even remember what name he had been using the day before. But he was going to have to remember it if he wanted to stay in character.

"Here goes nothing," Sam muttered, feeling nervous... even afraid. But he still took a deep breath and went inside.

Like the day before, Sam was late getting to school, this time missing the first period entirely as well as most of the second. However, he didn't really consider that much of a problem. It just meant that he'd have to be a little more cautious going inside. And on the plus side, he already had his cover story set up from the day before. So all that he'd have to do is find Samantha and go along for the ride again.

"And if any teachers ask," he muttered to himself, "I tell them that my parents are coming to register me later today..."

Sam was careful, waiting until class let out and then joining the crowds that surged through the hallway. Then he started for Samantha's next class, planning to meet up with her there.

But as Sam walked through the hall, he was stunned to realize just how many darkness zombies there were. They were everywhere... In fact, about half of the people that Sam saw were now darkness zombies, which he knew was NOT a good sign. Not in the least.

At the same time, it was obvious that the invasion from the darkness had not gone completely. The nervousness and tension on the faces of nearly every student who was not a darkness zombie was unmistakable, though it was obvious that they had even less idea of what was going on than he did... They only sensed that something was seriously wrong... but had no idea just what that was.

"It's a good thing I kept Todd home," Sam whispered, just wishing that he'd found a way to keep Todd home the day before.

By the time that Sam had finished the short walk to the class, he was not in a good mood. In fact, he was even more apprehensive than he had been upon first arriving, and he wouldn't have thought it possible. Whatever was happening with the darkness, it was spreading. And soon, he had no doubt, it would spread too far. Sam could feel the time running out.

Then Sam went inside the class and he let out a sigh of relief. At least now he'd have Samantha for company, and if nothing else, it would make him feel much less alone. She might not have the powers that had been intended for her, but just having her there seemed to offer Sam some degree of moral support.

However, as Sam slid into the seat beside Samantha, he froze, staring at her in horror. He gulped, feeling a heavy knot in his stomach as he looked into her masklike expression. They had gotten to her... Samantha was now one of them... a darkness zombie.

"Is something wrong?" Samantha asked, a cruel gleam in her eyes as she offered a false smile.

"Um..." Sam gulped, "Nothing..."

In spite of his enhanced strength, he felt a bit weak at the moment. And taking a deep breath, Sam shifted into his seat, knowing that it was going to be a VERY hard day. But then again, he reminded himself, trying to find some grain of hope in the situation, he now had a darkness zombie that he could keep a close eye on throughout the rest of the day, and perhaps learn something from. He just silently prayed that he could find some way to change her... and the rest of them all back to normal.

Sam had a hard time sitting next to Samantha for that, and the next class. Every moment, he was fully aware that she looked like the same Samantha from the day before and even acted mostly like her, but she was obviously not the same sweet girl. There was now a darkness in her soul, which made Sam cringe inside every time he looked at her.

Then came lunch, and by that time, Sam was feeling even more frustrated than before. There seemed to be nothing that he could do, and little clue as to what was even causing the problems. He had tried talking to Samantha about the tension, though she gave no real answers and he couldn't ask more without drawing suspicion.

Just as Sam was starting into the cafeteria for something to eat, Samantha grinned at him, and it was not a pleasant expression. "You want to see something cool?" she asked.

"Sure," Sam responded curiously, feeling a bit nervous as he suddenly remembered what had happened to that boy who had gone off with that darkness zombie cheerleader. However, this just might give him some answers so he nodded, "I'd love to..."

"C'mon," Samantha told him with a bit of a smirk, tugging on his arm as she started walking in a different direction. Samantha quickly led Sam to the gym, then gave a cruel smile as she ushered him inside. "Right in here..."

As soon as Sam stepped inside of the gym, he froze, gasping in horror as the feeling of darkness slammed into him like a wall. But that was nothing compared to the sight in front of him.

"Oh shit," Sam gulped.

The gym and everything inside of it looked as though they came straight out of some sort of nightmare. All of the walls, ceiling and floor were splattered with what seemed to be some sort of green slime and mold. But the condition of the walls was nothing compared to the people within... if they could even be called people anymore.

Sam shuddered as he looked around the two dozen darkness zombies that stood around the gym, each staring at him with a dark maliciousness. And he saw that one of them was the same Goth girl that the Amazon monster in the park had turned back into.

However, the darkness zombies were still the least of Sam's worries, because he also saw several... creatures crouching around the far side of the gym. One was covered with long, sharp looking spikes, one looked like a werewolf and there was even one that appeared as though it could have been made out of a nasty looking green slime. But none of them made a move towards Sam, and he could see why.

Then, Sam finally let himself really look at what was truly the center of attention for the gym. The center of power. A throne. A black stone throne set against the far wall, atop a small mound of human skulls. And of course, the throne was occupied.

The figure upon the throne was that of a beautiful teenage girl with long blonde hair. In fact, Sam immediately recognized her as Melanie... the head of the cheerleaders. However, at the moment, she did not look the least cheerful.

She was wearing some sort of purple and black costume that was decorated with a metal skull on the belt and wearing a black cloak with the hood back, and two metal broaches in the shapes of skulls holding it to her. The cheerleaders face had a cruel expression, made even harsher by her glowing red eyes.

Melanie was obviously the leader of these creatures... and Sam could feel... the source of the darkness. It came from her... Everything was coming from her. He gasped in shock. She had been right there in front of him and he hadn't even realized it...

Somehow, Sam was able to tear his eyes off of Melanie long enough to notice the two cheerleaders which stood on either side of her throne. They were the same cheerleaders that Sam had seen with Melanie before, though this time he knew there names, having asked around a little earlier.

The pretty blonde was Chelsea, and she was the very same cheerleader that he'd watched transform into that cat creature and then fight, while the other one, the brunette was named Brenda. Sam didn't know as much about her, but somewhere between when he'd seen her the day before and then, Brenda had gone Goth. She'd gotten her nose, eyebrow and lip pierced, was wearing dark red lipstick and now had a studded collar around her neck.

Suddenly, Melanie sat up straighter and loudly called out, "Edgar... Allen..."

A moment later, there was a fluttering of wings as two black birds flew down from the gym rafters and settled upon the shoulders of Chelsea and Brenda. Neither girl flinched or showed the least surprise at this action.

Melanie smiled faintly as she looked at Sam, and it was not a pleasant smile. Then she stepped down from her throne and announced, "Yet more recruits," as she took several more steps in Sam's direction.

It was only then that Sam glanced back and realized that he wasn't alone. The darkness zombies had brought in several other normal people... But before he could think through the full fearsome ramifications, several of the darkness zombies had grabbed him by the arms. Their grips were strong... stronger than a normal person. And they were pushing him towards the throne. Him and the other 'recruits'.

Sam gulped as he was moved closer to Melanie, not knowing what to expect. For a brief instant, he was tempted to throw them back, but he thought better of it... for the moment. Maybe he could learn more if he got closer...

Once Sam was several feet from Melanie, she raised her hand to touch him. He could feel the darkness radiating from her hand... from her. Her glowing red eyes were locked on him, but her expression was almost bored. As though she had done this quite frequently. And from the number of darkness zombies around, it appeared that she had.

Since it didn't look as though Sam was going to get anything else out of going alone, he was just about to break free. However, when Melanie's hand got several inches away from him, the light inside of him came alive of it's own will and flared out. A massive burst of rainbow light erupted from his skin, sending Melanie and the closest darkness zombies all falling backwards.

"THE NEW GIRL IS GLAMOUR GIRL," one of the other prisoners gasped on shock before a darkness zombie put a hand over her mouth.

"GET HER," Melanie screamed as she scrambled back up from the ground, looking pissed.

Before Sam realized what was happening or could think of what to do, he found himself grabbed from behind by slimy green tentacles. He let out a gasp, glancing back and seeing enough to realize that the tentacles were actually growing right out of the gym floor. Sam struggled against them, but they held him tight.

When Sam looked back at Melanie, he was startled to see that she was holding out her hand and staring at it with something of a look of horror. "DAMN," she snapped furiously, "I broke a nail..."

Sam blinked in surprise at that. Sure, a comment like that was expected from a cheerleader... But coming from the source of the darkness and these monsters?

"You BITCH," Melanie snapped as she turned to glare at Sam. She paused, taking a deep breath and calming down considerably. Then almost calmly, she continued, "So you're the one who's been bothering my servants..."

"That's me," Sam responded with a forced smile. Inside though, he was terrified.

Taking a deep breath, Sam nervously glanced beyond Melanie and let out a faint gasp. The cheerleaders... Chelsea and Brenda had both changed. Chelsea had transformed into the same black, catlike creature that she had before, while Brenda's transformation was much less extreme, but just as fearsome in it's own way.

The brunette cheerleader Brenda now looked like some sort of vampire, with pure white skin, long clawed fingernails and glowing red eyes. She sneered, giving a glimpse of her sharp looking fangs that seemed so eager to taste blood. The black bird... a raven, Sam guessed, was still perched on her shoulder

Then Melanie drew Sam's attention back by muttering, almost to herself, "The way you glow... Your blonde hair... You remind me of her..."

"Who?" Sam asked, trying to delay... hoping that he could figure out what to do.

"The bitch who left me there..." Melanie spat back with a sneer, "Ms. Miracle."

Sam let out a gasp of surprise, "What..."

Melanie gave him a dangerous glare and continued, "She threw me into that nightmare prison... where I would have remained if it hadn't been for this girl trying to summon a demon and calling me instead..." Her eyes bore into Sam, burning with a deep darkness. "I escaped into her body..." Then she gestured down at herself and smirked, "And here I am... close to returning to my full power..."

"Who..." Sam stared at Melanie in confusion, "Who are you..." He tried to keep his voice from shaking with the fear, "What are you doing?" She was certainly not just some high school cheerleader.

"Perhaps I should not tell you," she mused, "but I do have a taste for melodramatics."

For a moment, Sam just stared at Melanie, burning with curiosity and apprehension. He gulped, knowing from the moment that she had mentioned Ms. Miracle that this would not be good. Ms. Miracle was a major hero... and if Melanie... or whomever she was had been fighting Ms. Miracle...

With that, Melanie... or whomever was within her body stood up straighter, holding her hands out before proudly announcing, "I am Baron Nevermore..."

Sam let out a gasp of horror, having heard that name before. Just about everyone had. It had been all over the news some years back... Baron Nevermore had been the one to kill Ms. Miracle. Or at least he supposedly killed her since she had eventually returned.

"Still," the false Melanie mused, "I supposed that at the moment I no longer look like a Baron, so you may just refer to me as Nevermore." Then she gave a cold grin, "Though you soon call me mistress..."

"Never," Sam spat back with all of his refusal.

Melanie... Nevermore glared at Sam with an expression that almost seemed to be something of a pout. Then to Sam's expression, she stamped her foot on the floor like a petulant child, "You will, you will, you will..."

For a moment, Sam just blinked in confusion. That certainly wasn't the behavior that Sam would have expected of a world-class super villain, even one reincarnated in the body of a high school cheerleader. Then again, Sam suddenly wondered if maybe there was still a bit of Melanie in there. From that... and her reaction over breaking a nail, it sure seemed likely.

However, Sam realized that he didn't have time to worry about that at the moment. He had to figure out how to escape and stop her.

"You will soon have no choice," Nevermore explained, having regained control over herself and was no longer acting like a spoiled cheerleader, "Once my forces are strong enough, I shall plunge this world into a nightmare and become a virtual goddess..." She let out a cruel laugh at that.

"NO," Sam howled at the thought of what she would do to his kids... to his family.

And with a burst of strength that he didn't even realize that he still had in him, Sam tore loose from the tentacles and was free. But the instant that he was, he was pounced on by several darkness monsters, though he threw them to the side.

"You WON'T escape me," Nevermore hissed, glowing red balls of fire appearing in each of her hands. She threw them at Sam, one after the other, though she hit one of her own darkness monsters with them by accident instead. The monster let out a howl of pain before disintegrating right before Sam's eyes.

Sam remained frozen in terror for a moment, realizing that the situation had just gotten even worse. He had been afraid of Nevermore but hadn't realized just how dangerous she was personally until that very moment. She had killed her own creature and had another ball of glowing red fire forming in her hand already.

"Oh no," Sam gasped, his eyes darting around as he looked for something he could use... and then a means of escape.

Then he spotted it, and in a moment where thought and action were one, made his move. He shot up and exploded through upper gym window, turning on the speed to get away from the flying creatures that were trying to follow him. But he was faster and soon left them behind.

"Finally," Sam whispered in relief, his heart racing with fear and shame.

He had run away. Instead of fighting Nevermore and all of her monsters, he had ran away. That was not the action of a superhero...

"But I'm not a hero," Sam reminded himself grimly.

He was a family man. And he only had those powers by accident. They had never been intended for him. But still, he couldn't deny that he had to do something. There was no way that he was going to let that darkness take his family, and he knew that just running away from it wouldn't work forever. He would have to find a way to stop Nevermore.

"Damn," Sam spat out.

Sam knew that there was no way that he could do anything against Nevermore. She was too powerful. And Sam knew that with half of the school having been turned into darkness zombies, he was badly outnumbered as well.

But then, Sam realized something else. Baron Nevermore might be a powerful villain... the kind that the Protectorate dealt with... but from what he'd seen, that wasn't exactly who he'd been facing. Nevermore seemed to be some sort of fusion between Baron Nevermore and Melanie. Half powerful villain... and half cheerleader.

"Maybe there is a chance," Sam tried to convince himself.

However, there was still the matter of the darkness zombies and the monsters. Sam was more than a little outnumbered and there was absolutely no way that he could take care of the situation by himself.

With that thought in mind, Sam changed direction and started for the city, muttering, "It's time to call in the reinforcements."

***

Sam scowled intensely as he flew over the city, his eyes scanning for the right landmarks. He had flown there as fast as he could, having only stopped long enough to change out of the school clothes that he has escaped from Nevermore in, and back into his Glamour Girl uniform. And now he was almost to his destination.

"There," Sam muttered as he spotted the right building, the 'secret headquarters' of the Slackers. They were the only developed that he knew... and he only hoped that they would help him. That they could help him.

With that, Sam shifted direction slightly and started heading straight for the building, thankful that he had at least remembered about where it was. He had been more than half afraid that he wouldn't be able to find it again.

But as Sam drew close to the building, there was a sudden rushing of wind as something shot right past him. Sam froze, hovering in the air and looking around for what it was. And then he saw it... a figure floating up in the air above him, silhouetted by the sun.

Sam strained his eyes, then flew up a little higher, shifting position so that he could make out the figure much better. He was somewhat startled to see an angel... or at least that was his first impression, though he just as quickly realized that it wasn't exactly an accurate one.

It was a woman... a girl of about 18 or so, with somewhat dark skin and short black hair, as well as a pair of gray feathered wings sprouting from her back like those of an angel. But Sam quickly realized that she wasn't some heavenly creature, but another developed. She was wearing a costume that was mostly white but with a bit of black trim, as well as a few pieces on her shoulders, wrists and belt that were made of gray metal.

"You think you're going to catch us by surprise?" the girl sneered, glaring at Sam. "Well I don't think so..."

She suddenly dove straight at Sam, moving with incredible speed. Her fist hit him with incredible force, even though he was already in the process of flying back out of the way. Sam was sent flying back, gasping from the impact and sure that he was going to have a nasty bruise from that punch.

"Damn," Sam grimaced, flashing a burst of light in the girl's face as she came at him again.

The girl howled and covered her eyes, but to Sam's near surprise, she didn't start changing back into a normal human. But then again, he realized that he didn't sense the darkness from her so she wasn't one of those darkness creatures like he had suddenly feared when she'd attacked him.

Just as the girl was recovering, and Sam was bracing himself for another charge, a voice called out, "Stop that..."

Sam looked for the source and gasped at the sight of a small tornado coming in his direction. At least that was his first impression, though he quickly realized that it was another developed. A girl in a green and white costume with a long vortex of swirling wind trailing behind her. And as she got closer, Sam looked into the green metal mask, which covered half her face and thought that he recognized something familiar in what little of her face that he could see.

Then the tornado girl positioned herself between Sam and the girl with the wings before announcing, "The name's Mister Twister... and this here gal in my head says y'all better stop fightin..."

Blinking at that, Sam had to take another look at the tornado girl and only then realized why she seemed familiar. In spite of the new costume and Texas accent that she seemed to have developed, this was Channel...

"She says this here gal is a friend," Channel... or Mister Twister... or whatever she called herself announced, gesturing to the building rooftop. "Says we should have a nice talk down there..."

The girl with the winks gave Sam a suspicious look then nodded her agreement. And once Sam was sure that this girl wasn't going to attack him again, he slowly landed, with the winged girl and so called Mister Twister landing right behind him.

Almost as soon as they had landed, Mister Twister started to shimmer, then her costume faded away, leaving Channel standing there in the same blue and violet costume that he had first seen her in. Her expression changed as well and Sam realized that he had just witnessed her using her power to channel others... namely Mister Twister.

"Who are you?" the winged girl demanded of Sam. She glanced at Channel and seemed to relax a little though she still looked suspicious.

"This is Glamour Girl," Channel explained, giving a weak smile. "She's a friend..."

The winged girl stared at Sam for a moment more before nodding slightly. "Sorry for jumping you like that... I thought you were attacking..."

"Um... okay," Sam responded cautiously.

Channel gave Sam an apologetic smile and gave an embarrassed, "Sorry about that..." Then she gestured to the winged girl and told him, "This is Nike. She just joined us..."

"Nike?" Sam asked as he stared at her.

"As in the Greek goddess of victory," Nike responded grimly, "Not the shoe..."

Sam nodded and gave Channel a bit of a grin, "I guess you guys found your flier after all..."

"Yeah," Channel smiled back shyly, "But she can do other things too..."

"Oh?" Sam looked at Nike, who shrugged.

"Actually, my wings don't do much good," Nike stated, "I'm too heavy for them to lift me. I really fly because of this invisible force field I can generate around myself. All I have to do is will it to move, and I fly. The wings just help with stabilization and maneuvering."

Nodding thoughtfully at that, Sam couldn't musing, "She said you can do other things too... The force field?"

Nike nodded, seeming a little friendlier now that they were talking. "I'm nearly invulnerable when I have it on. And I can alter its shape to a limited degree... like this..."

With that, Nike held out her hand and had a brief look of concentration before she did a karate chop on the rooftop. Her fingers only came within a foot of the actual roof... but to Sam's surprise, a gash was actually cut upon... As if an invisible sword had cut the rooftop...

"I can stretch my field into blades or claws," Nike stated proudly.

"Sorta like my powers," another voice added as Chrome stepped onto the roof, without the metal that he drew his name from being visible. "Except with a force field..."

Nike snorted at that, quietly muttering, "Mine are better..."

"So what are you doing here?" Chrome asked with a smile. "Come to join us after all?"

Sam frowned, wincing as he thought about why he was actually there. "Actually..." He took a deep breath, "I need your help..."

Just a minute later, Sam was inside of the small apartment that the motley group of Slackers called their secret headquarters. He shifted slightly on the ratty couch that he was sitting on, nervously looking around at the group that surrounded him, seeing that they were each eager to hear what he had to say. He only hoped that they would help him.

There was one face across from Sam that was unfamiliar. It belonged to an overweight, middle-aged man... or at least that was what it appeared to be. However, from the pale, grayish skin, and the beer in hand, Sam had immediately realized that this was Deadbeat, now in a newer... and fresher body.

"You said you needed our help," Zero Kay prompted.

Sam nodded, trying to decide exactly what to say. Finally, he started, "A high school has just been taken over. And... and half the students have been turned into monsters and zombies..." He couldn't help glancing at Deadbeat as he said that last bit.

"Bummer," Deadbeat commented with a shrug, taking a drink from his beer.

"Or at least they're possessed by something," Sam corrected thoughtfully as they were not dead. Then he looked up, slowly taking in the others, "And it's spreading. Fast."

"These zombies and monsters are at your school, aren't they?" Chrome asked sympathetically.

All that Sam could do to that was respond with weak, "Sort of..." It was his son's school, and that was close enough.

With that, Sam started to give them a brief description of the darkness zombies... and of how they turned into the various monsters that he'd seen. He didn't know for sure if all the darkness zombies did, but it seemed that it was pretty likely.

"Nasty," Zero Kay muttered with a grimace. Then she grimly announced, "We've got to stop these freaks before they spread too much..."

"There's more," Sam told them reluctantly.

"More than an army of monsters?" Deadbeat asked in surprise.

Sam could only nod at that. "The one behind them..." He took a deep breath, "The one who made them that way is Baron Nevermore..."

"THE Baron Nevermore?" Nike gasped in surprise while the others just stared at him.

"That's it," Deadbeat gulped, "You're on your own..." He started to get up, muttering, "I may be dead, but I sure as hell ain't crazy enough to mess with someone like him... There are some things worse than being dead..."

"Sit down!" Zero Kay snapped at him.

Chrome muttered, "Chickenshit," though he looked a bit unnerved himself.

"He's... he's not quite himself," Sam sighed. "Or at least I don't think so. I've never met the old Baron Nevermore."

"Old Baron Nevermore?" Channel asked. "That's a strange way of putting it..."

Sam looked at Channel and told her, "Well... I guess it's sort of like your powers. He has a new body... He's possessing a teenage girl... and it looks like her personality is rubbing off on him..."

"Then how do you know for sure it's really him?" Chrome demanded.

"I don't," Sam responded grimly, "But that's who she claims to be, and from what I've seen... I believe her." Then almost as an afterthought, Sam told them, "At the moment, she's dropped the Baron part of her name though and is just calling herself Nevermore."

"Well I don't care what she calls herself," Chrome growled, "We'll go kick her ass... His ass... Or whatever..."

"But if this is Baron Nevermore," Channel started nervously, then paused to shake her head. "I mean, he's Protectorate level... Isn't he a little out of our league?"

Before Sam could think of anything to say to that, Chrome snorted, "What? Like we have their number on speed dial? How the hell do we even get hold of those guys?"

"We don't have much time," Sam admitted grimly. "She said that she was getting close to reaching her full power... And at the rate that the darkness is spreading, I don't think that it will be long before they reach critical mass and become unstoppable..."

The others all stared at Sam for a moment, giving him a look of surprise. But it was Nike who spoke first, firmly stating, "Then I suggest we hit them hard and fast... before they have time to get any stronger."

There was a moment of silence, as everyone looked at each other, then started to nod their agreement, some more reluctantly than others. Deadbeat looked particularly unhappy with the mission, but the look of determination on his face told Sam that even he would do what he could.

Just several minutes later, Sam had followed the others out of the building and down to an alley behind it. There he was introduced to their means of transportation, and old van that looked like any other van. Sam wasn't too surprised though as it fit right in with their 'headquarters'.

"I know it's not much," Zero Kay told him with a look of embarrassment, "But it'll get us from here to there..."

"And it's not like we have some billionaire sponsor to buy us a private helicopter," Chrome muttered.

And then, as if to purposely embarrass the Slackers even more, their van wouldn't even start. Deadbeat sat behind the wheel, cursing it and pounding the dash to no effect. Zero Kay just shook her head, looking almost mortified.

Channel grimaced, and a moment later, her expression changed. Sam watched with fascination as she got up and announced, "Looks like ya need a mechanic..." However, the tone of her voice had changed drastically.

While channel went to work under the hood, Sam glanced over at Zero Kay, "Is she..."

"Channeling someone?" Kay finished. "Yeah."

Sam blinked, "But her clothes changed earlier when she was channeling Mister Twister..."

"That only happens sometimes," Deadbeat grunted.

"Only when she's channeling someone with a real strong self image," Kay told him. "Like when she's channeling a hero or villain and gets their uniform."

Sam was a little startled at the mention of her channeling villains, though before he could think to ask about it, Channel asked Deadbeat to start the engine. This time it started right up. Channel had a bit of a smirk as she closed the hood, then paused while her expression shifted back to normal and she looked just a little bit embarrassed while climbing back inside.

"Finally," Kay and Chrome muttered at once.

There were a few nods of agreement and sighs of relief as they finally started to pull out of the alley and begin the trip. But at the same time, Sam could only grimace, feeling a knot of nervous tension in his stomach. Fighting big-shot villains might be old news for these kids, he thought, but it was still new to him and he didn't fool himself about just how dangerous it was going to be.

By the time that they arrived near the school, Sam was feeling even more nervous. He could feel the darkness, and that did not comfort him. It had grown so strong... Sam shuddered at the thought of what it would be like if that actually spread over the whole world like Nevermore wanted.

"For my family," Sam muttered to himself as he climbed out of the van, the reminder of why he was really doing this giving him the courage to continue. There was no way that he was going to let Nevermore or that filth anywhere near his family.

"This is it?" Nike snorted as she looked around, "I don't see any army of monsters..."

"Trust me," Sam responded grimly, "They're there..."

Channel just stared at the school, which was still nearly hundred yards away. She frowned, though her expression was a little hard to read. When she caught Sam looking, she explained, "I just wish that I could do something for once..."

"You do stuff all the time," Deadbeat grunted, gulping down the last of the beer in his bottle before tossing it into the van.

"No," Channel looked at him, "My replacements do stuff all the time. All I can really do is call up someone to do what I can't..." Then she let out a sigh and formed a determined look, "And speaking of which..."

With that, Channel's expression suddenly changed, which was immediately followed by her costume shimmering and doing the same. Gone was her normal blue and violet costume, replaced by something completely different. Her new costume was red and golden yellow, with a large golden yellow M covering much of her chest.

However, what surprised Sam the most was that he recognized that costume... Almost anyone would... It was the unmistakable uniform of Ms. Miracle.

Everyone stared at Channel in surprise, while Chrome gasped, "What the..."

"Who are you?" Zero Kay asked suspiciously.

Channel stood straight, her posture changed from what it had been previously. She started to glow with a faint golden light before she proudly announced, "I'm called Ms. Miracle. And I came to help..."

"No way," Chrome blurted out, "You can't be her..."

"What he means," Zero Kay started cautiously, as if afraid of offending her, "is that Channel can only bring up people who are dead..."

"And everyone knows that Ms. Miracle came back," Chrome finished for her, "She ain't dead no more..."

The person in Channel's body who claimed to be Ms. Miracle gave him an intense stare, then slowly looked around at everyone. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I can assure you that I am Ms. Miracle and I have never come back until now."

Sam just stared at her, his mind racing. But everyone knew that Ms. Miracle had come back from the dead... He'd even seen her on the news just a week or so earlier.

For a moment, everyone was staring at her in silence before Zero Kay muttered, "Either Channel's powers don't work quite like we think they do... or there's something off."

"An impostor?" Nike asked with a scowl.

"Maybe a clone," Chrome suggested, "Or an android..."

Ms. Miracle just shook her head impatiently, growling, "I'm just here for Baron Nevermore. That bastard killed me..." Then her expression suddenly turned sad. "I never even got to tell my son..."

"You have a son?" Kay asked in surprise.

However, Ms. Miracle quickly changed the subject, "Nevermind that." Her eyes narrowed, "We have to stop Baron Nevermore..."

"She's just calling herself Nevermore now," Sam pointed out, though Ms. Miracle only nodded faintly, not seeming surprised, either by the gender reference or the name change. Sam guessed that Channel had already told her since they seemed to have some sort of mental communication going.

Finally, Nike growled out, "Enough with the talking already. Let's just do this..."

There was no more argument... no more talking. Only action. With a silent understanding, Sam flew up into the air with Ms. Miracle and Nike, who were the only other ones who could fly. At the same time, Chrome, Deadbeat and Zero Kay charged straight for the school.

Sam grimaced, his heart racing not only at the thought that he was about to fight an army of monsters, but that he was doing so alongside Ms. Miracle. The real Ms. Miracle... one of the most famous heroes ever. And one who just happened to have been dead for years.

Nike suddenly cried out, "Look... a flying monkey..."

"What..." Sam gasped.

But then Sam saw what she was referring to, flying towards the school from the other direction. However, it wasn't exactly a monkey... but more like a gorilla with giant bat wings on it's back. And it let out a loud roar as it saw them.

"He's mine," Nike announced, already charging straight for him.

"We go after Nevermore," Ms. Miracle announced from Channel's body, diving back down at the school, with Sam only glancing back at Nike before following her.

As soon as they reached the schoolyard below, Sam gasped in horror at all of the darkness zombies, then quickly looked at the ground bound members who had just charged in as well.

"I don't see no monsters," Deadbeat called to Sam.

However, it was at that very moment that the darkness zombies chose to reveal themselves, with their eyes beginning to glow red. Sam thought that he heard an "Oh shit," from Deadbeat, though he couldn't be sure as he was too intend on the darkness zombies who were beginning to transform into monsters right in front of him.

"These are still students," Ms. Miracle called out. "Try not to hurt them too badly..."

"Easy for the woman who's already dead to say," Zero Kay exclaimed.

Sam grunted, quickly wondering if they could be cured... turned back to normal. He desperately hoped so. The thought of Samantha having to remain as one of those creatures turned his stomach.

"Thank God I kept Todd away," Sam muttered to himself, suddenly no longer feeling guilty in the least for what he'd done. A few hours on the toilet would be infinitely better than being trapped in that.

But then Todd had no more time to consider these things as the fight began. Both creatures and darkness zombies charged at the heroes, who now had to deal with the large numbers, without really harming them.

With a grimace, Sam quickly grabbed two of the creatures and threw them back at the largest cluster, taking out several more with the impact. Then he had to deal with more close up creatures, releasing a burst of swirling rainbow light into the face of the nearest.

Suddenly a cry of, "Look out," came from behind Sam. He snapped around, just in time to see Ms. Miracle lifting a creature that had been about to attack him from behind, high into the air.

"Thanks," He called back to her, then quickly returned his full attention to the creatures around him.

From the corner of Sam's eye, he saw a flash of bluish white light, obviously Zero Kay's powers in use. Once he had an open moment, he glanced over and saw that a large section of the ground covered with frost, and a number of creatures slipping about on the ice. However, she probably couldn't use her powers on them directly without killing them.

Ms. Miracle seemed to have an easy time dealing with the creatures, picking them up and tossing them to the side with ease. She would even fly some up into the air before dropping them upon groups of their fellow creatures. And she was fearless, but then again, that was not surprising as she was not only invulnerable but already dead as well. ' Chrome too was doing quite well, his silver metal shell making him impervious to their injuries, though he seemed to be limited to how much he could fight them back. Still, the blades that grew from his armor were excellent weapons, even if he could not use them to cut his opponents to ribbons, as he was clearly capable.

What surprised Sam the most was the sight of Deadbeat charging straight in without the least bit of fear. He never would have expected to see that one so involved in the fight, not considering his name and reputation.

"Come and get me," Deadbeat screamed out.

Then Deadbeat grabbed an alligator creature that was slashing at him and lifted it above his head, revealing that he was far stronger that a normal person. This creature was thrown at another, yet even more came at the dead hero. One of them a red skinned man with chitenous armor and a long scorpion tail growing from his back.

"Look out," Sam called to Deadbeat, rushing to his aid.

However, Sam was too late as the scorpion creature struck with his tail, driving the spike deep into Deadbeat's back... and out his front. To Sam's horror, he collapsed to the ground.

"NO," Sam yelled as he charged at the scorpion creature and punched it with everything he had, sending the creature flying straight into the school wall where it left a sizable hole. "Deadbeat," he turned to the fallen hero.

Then to Sam's surprise, Deadbeat was already getting back to his feat, grinning at Sam, "Don't hurt a bit..."

But before Deadbeat could get up entirely, several monsters jumped on him at once. Sam started to rush to his aid, only to be slammed into by a large scaly man wearing the shreds of a football jersey.

"Get out of my way!" Sam yelled at him, punching the former football player with all of his strength, though the creature just staggered and swung back.

Sam didn't have time to deal with him the hard way, so grimaced and punched him again, releasing his light at the same time. The burst of light, combined with the force of Sam's punch seemed to be enough as the creature was sent flying through the air, and almost immediately after hitting the ground some distance away, was already beginning to return to human form.

But by the time that Sam turned back to Deadbeat, he was horrified to see that he was too late. The creatures had already torn into him with teeth and claws, tearing his body to shreds. With a loud roar, one of them sent what Sam thought was Deadbeat's heart flying.

Sam was too shocked to do anything but stare in horror. They had not only killed him... they had torn him to pieces. Sam had seen the movies and knew that not even a zombie would be able to survive that...

Suddenly, Zero Kay called out, "Glamour Girl!"

Sam snapped around, then gasped as he saw what she had been calling to him for. Two black birds were circling overhead... birds that were very familiar to him. However, it was not the birds that had made Sam gasp, but what they were circling around. Floating in the air above them was Melanie...

"Nevermore," Sam whispered, feeling the cold chill run down his spine.

For a moment, Sam just stared at her in fear, knowing that as bad as things had been just minutes earlier, they had just gotten MUCH worse.

***

Nevermore hovered in the air just a short distance above the battle, watching silently as her two ravens circled about her. Everyone, including the darkness zombies and monsters paused in order to look up at her.

Sam gulped as he stared at her. Nevermore didn't really look at that dangerous, not with her pretty blonde cheerleader's body, yet with the darkness and power, which emanated from her, Sam had no doubt as to just how dangerous she really was.

Suddenly the ground started to shake and pillar of black stone erupted from the Earth beneath Nevermore, scattering her own monsters to the side as it raised up until it reached her. The pillar stopped at that point, leaving her standing atop it without her having had to move an inch.

At that moment, more than a half dozen darkness zombies and creatures came forth and stood near the pillar. Sam recognized the creatures that Brenda and Chelsea had become, and as well as two more monsters, there were three darkness zombies, each in a cheerleader uniform. After taking them all in, Sam guessed that this was the cheerleading squad.

It was then that Nevermore demanded, "Like, who the hell do you think you are coming to my school..."

"Your enemies," Ms. Miracle grimly announced as she came down and settled in the air a short distance in front of Nevermore.

For several long seconds, Nevermore just stared at Ms. Miracle, first with a look of confusion, then one of surprise and disbelief. "You..." Nevermore finally gasped out, her eyes going wide, "It can't be..."

"But it is," Ms. Miracle snapped back.

Nevermore smirked faintly and gestured down at herself, "It appears that we both came back with new bodies..."

"But this one was lent to me willingly," Ms. Miracle pointed out, the hatred dripping from her voice.

However, Nevermore just sighed, "What-ever..."

Sam was unsure of what to do. Though he thought that the best idea would be to just hit Nevermore now, he couldn't help looking up at Ms. Miracle for direction. After all, she was the real hero... the one with all of the experience in those kinds of situations.

"Maybe it's a good thing you came back now," Nevermore sneered, "I was just about to scatter my new army to spread fear and havoc... And with that kind of fear... my powers will grow exponentially..." Then Nevermore laughed, though it was a cold laugh. "Now you will be her to witness it... Or better yes," her eyes glowed a brighter red, "I'll just kill you again"

With that, Nevermore threw a blast of red energy from her hand, though Ms. Miracle easily dodged out of the way. And with that blast, the signal had been given and the fight was back on. Sam quickly went at the new cheerleader monsters, hoping that Ms. Miracle could take care of Nevermore... especially without getting Channel's body hurt.

Everything quickly erupted into chaos, even worse than the battle before Nevermore arrived. Because this time, Nevermore was there, throwing blasts of red energy around, almost at random. Several of them hit her own creatures, destroying darkness zombies and monsters. And, Sam realized with horror, removing any chance of returning those people back to normal.

Then Sam noticed that one flying monster was attacking Zero Kay from above. Sam gave a quick punch to the monster that he was fighting and flew to her aid. Without a word, he grabbed the creature's wings and used them to throw it straight at another creature that was trying to sneak up on Ms. Miracle from behind.

Suddenly, Nike flew through the air, just feet away from Sam, letting out a loud howl as she dove straight into three creatures at once. And then she kept going after them, so intent, so viscous that Sam was suddenly very thankful that she was on his side and not theirs.

But while Sam was watching Nike, he didn't see creature, which hit him from behind. Sam hit the ground with a grunt, just feet away from a mass of squirming tentacles, which had just burst out of the ground. One of the tendrils reached out and wrapped around his let, making him curse as he struggled to pull free.

"I've gotcha," Chrome exclaimed, already slashing through that... and several other tentacles with a long metal blade that grew from his armored shell.

"Thanks," Sam grunted.

Then he looked up to where Ms. Miracle was fighting Nevermore, or at least trying to. It seemed like something of a stalemate, with Nevermore throwing all sorts of energy blasts and green glowing balls at Ms. Miracle, who kept dodging them, and Ms. Miracle being unable to get close enough to Nevermore to do anything to her.

"I hope she's careful with Channel's body," an unfamiliar girl's voice exclaimed from behind Sam.

Sam snapped around, startled to see a very pretty teenage girl with blood all over her clothes. "Who the hell..." Sam started, wondering who this girl was and how she knew who Channel was.

The girl looked at Sam blankly for a moment, then smirked, "It's me... Deadbeat." She looked a bit embarrassed as she gestured down at herself, "I had to find a new body... And, Nevermore had conveniently killed this one a couple minutes ago..."

"Deadbeat?" Sam blinked in surprise, not sure that he completely believed it. He had been so sure that Deadbeat was really dead after seeing him torn apart like that, but then again, since Deadbeat possessed dead bodies, that kind of thing apparently didn't matter much.

"Yeah," he shrugged uncomfortably, "But this chick's body was all I could find. Besides, it ain't the first time..."

Sam would have loved to talk to Deadbeat more about that, but he knew that this was definitely not the time. They had a lot more important things to do than talk about their experiences as the wrong gender.

Just then, Zero Kay called out, "Forget these guys... We've got to go after the big fish..."

"Then I say we bring her down to OUR level," Chrome yelled back.

With that, Chrome charged straight for the black stone pillar that Nevermore was standing on and started slashing at it with his metal blades. He kept going at it in the same spot, putting several gashes into the stone, but obviously not doing as much damage as he wanted.

And while Chrome was doing that, Deadbeat was standing there behind him with a crowbar that he... or she had picked up somewhere, and was using it to bat at the darkness zombies and monsters that were coming towards them. It was almost hard for Sam to believe that this was indeed the same overweight guy that seemed more interested in drinking beer than saving the world.

After a minute of this, Zero Kay ordered, "Stand back..."

She was already standing there with a glowing ball of bluish white light in her hand. And once Chrome and Deadbeat had stepped back, she threw it straight at the pillar. The ball hit, then suddenly expanded into a large sphere, which just as suddenly vanished, leaving a coating of frost over everything that it had touched.

"Instant flash freeze," Key gave Sam a grim smile.

Then before anyone could do more, Nike landed in front of them, announcing, "My turn..."

Nike gave some sort of battle cry as she launched herself against the stone pillar, hitting it as hard as she could, using her force field to not only slam into it but to protect her from the impact as well. There was a shaking, and a large section of the stone started to crack.

Sam didn't wait for an invitation to give them a hand, going for the pillar as well, though doing so in a slightly different manner than the others. They had been attacking it at the base, but he knew that a bit of leverage might be able to do even more damage. That was why he hit it closer to the top, flying up there and using all of his enhanced strength to push it as hard as he could.

To Sam's relief, he heard a loud cracking sound, just as the pillar began to move forward. He pushed even harder, and it continued to move even further until gravity had taken over entirely.

"TIMBER," Deadbeat called out.

There was a horrible crashing sound as the pillar collapsed to the ground, along with a long stream of profanity from Nevermore, who had been unceremoniously dumped onto the ground amid her own creatures. She was definitely not pleased, as the sudden explosion that came from her and liquefied everything near her... including three of her own creatures.

"You bitch," Nevermore howled out, though whether she was referring to Ms. Miracle or Sam, he didn't know.

"And we're going to take you down in more than one way," Nike told her the air above.

"We're taking you ALL the way down," Ms. Miracle snarled furiously as she landed in front of them. "I'm going to send you all the way down to hell where you belong..."

"Been there, done that," Nevermore responded. Then her eyes narrowed as she glared at Ms. Miracle, "In fact it was your offspring who sent me there..."

"My offspring?" Ms. Miracle looked confused.

But while Ms. Miracle was distracted by that, Nevermore muttered something under her breath and a moment later, a mass of squirming tentacles burst from the ground beneath the heroine. And while Ms. Miracle was struggling with the tentacles, Nevermore took the opportunity to throw something else at her, what looked like a swirling mass of glowing red string.

"Channel!" Zero Kay cried out.

At the same time, Sam called out, "Ms. Miracle..."

When the glowing ball of string hit Ms. Miracle, instead of her bursting into flame or disintegrating, as Sam had feared, the string unwound and wrapped around her, trapping her up even more than the tentacles had.

Nevermore laughed, "I think that this time I will kill you slowly..."

"You're not killing anyone," Chrome growled as he charged straight at her.

However, before Chrome could even hit her, he was slammed by several of her monsters and thrown back, then buried beneath a mass of them. Sam would have been worried, but he was pretty sure that Chrome's shell could take it.

"Oh, but I am," Nevermore smirked.

Just then, two of Nevermore's monsters stepped to her on either side. One was a cat creature, and the other a vampiress. Brenda and Chelsea. It was obvious to Sam that for some reason, those two seemed to be Nevermore's favorites.

"Edgar," Nevermore called out, "Allen..."

The two raven's swooped down at that, one landing upon each of the monsters had had previously been the cheerleaders Brenda and Chelsea. As soon as the raven's set down, their eyes glowing a bright red shadows seemed to seep from the feet and into the bodies of the former girls.

"What the..." Deadbeat gasped.

Suddenly, the cat creature seemed to become just a little bit more human, though not much. She stood up straighter, a swirling mass of darkness moving about her body, almost as if alive. She radiated an aura of power and darkness even greater than before.

At the same time, the vampiress had a darkness about her as well, though it all seemed to coalesce within her hands and form into a single solid object. Within her hands was a large scythe, which appeared to be made of a black metal.

"Let me introduce Pit and Pendulum," Nevermore smirked, just before ordering, "Kill them all..."

Sam assumed that Chelsea, the cat creature was Pit because of the black swirl around her, and that Brenda had to be Pendulum since she had that black scythe. However, he didn't have time to give it much consideration before they leapt.

Chrome had dug himself out from the pile of bodies and used the blade from his armor to block Brenda... Pendulum's scythe. However, to Sam's surprise, the scythe cut straight through Chrome's blade, severing it entirely. Chrome jumped back in shock, his armor melting slightly and forming a new blade in place of the old. But he was now cautiously circling Pendulum.

At the same time, Deadbeat picked up one of the creatures and threw it at Pit, though Sam couldn't see whether he hit her or not since she had vanished into a swirling mass of shadows. There was no telling where she was in there, though that didn't stop Deadbeat from charging in after her.

"Bad kitty," Deadbeat growled as he disappeared into the shadowy mass.

Suddenly, Deadbeat was sent flying back out, several nasty torn in his new body due to Pit's claws. However, they didn't seem to bother him much as he sat back up, looking down at himself and grimacing.

"Guess I'll have to find a new body that much sooner," he muttered.

Then before Sam realized what was going on, Nike dove straight for Nevermore, but as Nevermore formed a ball of red fire in her hand to throw, Nike abruptly changed directions and hit Pit from behind instead, sending the vampiress straight into the mass of darkness that hid Pit. She didn't even hesitate before flying in there herself just a moment later.

While the others were busy dealing with Pit and Pendulum, Sam turned his attention to Nevermore... and Ms. Miracle. And he saw that Zero Kay had the same idea as she was in the middle of throwing one of her cold spheres straight for the villainess.

"I don't think so," Nevermore scowled, casually flipping her wrist and causing Zero Kay's sphere to stop as though it had hit an invisible wall.

"Fucking bitch," Zero Kay snarled, forming another sphere to throw.

This time though, Nevermore wasn't even allowing her to go that far, because before Zero Kay could throw her sphere, a mass of tentacles erupted from behind her, leaving her to give that her full attention instead.

"Now for you," Nevermore told Ms. Miracle with a cold sneer.

Sam wasn't about to let Ms. Miracle get hurt if he could help it, nor Channel for that matter since she would be along for the ride. He grimaced and flew straight at Nevermore, releasing a burst of rainbow light from his hands as he did so.

Nevermore screamed and covered her eyes, jumping back and cursing viscously. Spikes of stone began to erupt about her feet, as well as slimy green tentacles. She lashed around, her eyes glowing a brighter red than before, her aura seething with raw malevolence.

"Get me out of here," Ms. Miracle told Sam as she struggled to get loose from both the red tangled string and the tentacles which both held her in place.

But just as Sam reached for her, the ground started to rumble beneath them. He quickly looked up in time to see another black pillar of stone growing beneath Nevermore and lifting her off of the ground. And before Sam realized it, there was yet another one... this time forming beneath Ms. Miracle and the mass of tentacles, which held her tight.

"No problem," Sam muttered since he could easily fly up to the tops of the pillars.

Sam grimaced and flew straight to the top of the pillar, straight at Nevermore. The villainess seemed surprised, though only for a moment before she responded, sending a barrage of black spikes flying at him from her hand. Sam dodged, though knew that it wasn't going to be so easy to get near Nevermore now that she was on guard. Ms. Miracle had already proven that.

For some reason though, Nevermore momentarily looked worried as she stared up at Sam, but that quickly passed and she snarled, "Pit... Pendulum..."

There was a loud roar from below Sam, and as he glanced down, he saw the catlike Pit leaping up at him, a swirling mass of shadows dragging behind her. At the same time, Pendulum was scampering up the pillar, obviously getting in position so that she was closer to Sam as well.

"Damn," Sam flew higher, just in time to avoid Pit, who quickly fell back down to the ground.

"Get these guys off my back!" Sam called to any of the Slacker's that could hear him.

Then Nevermore threw a glowing red ball of energy at him, which Sam was able to dodge. But only too late did Sam realize that Nevermore had just been herding him back within range of Pendulum, who was already in midair with her scythe flying towards him.

"I've got your back Glamour Girl," Nike yelled as she rammed into Pendulum again, this time driving her towards the ground. "I'll take care of this bitch... You get Channel free..."

"Gotcha," Sam responded, already flying towards the pillar where Ms. Miracle was held prisoner on the top.

"SHE'S MINE!" Nevermore howled, "And you can't have her!"

Suddenly, Sam was hit from behind by a flying creature, one who looked like a humanoid bat. And while he was trying to regain his balance and figure out how to deal with his attacker, Nevermore struck.

"Glamour Gi..." Ms. Miracle started to call a warning.

However, the warning was too late as swirling ball of red string hit Sam from behind, just as a similar one had hit Ms. Miracle such a short time earlier. And before Sam barely even had time to register that he'd been hit, the string had sprung tightly around his body, and he was falling towards the ground.

This time it was Zero Kay who screamed out, "Glamour Girl," but it was a scream of fear rather than warning.

But then Sam hit, landing right on top of one of the darkness creatures. A creature that seemed to be made of green slime. It was a messy impact, though a soft one. And once Sam realized that he hadn't died, he let out a sigh of relief, followed by a gasp of horror. He was on the ground again, but he was tied up, unable to move and completely surrounded by monsters and darkness zombies.

"Oh shit," Sam squeaked out, suddenly wishing that he had never heard of Bison Park or that voice.

However, as horrified as Sam was, that was nothing compared to what he felt as he saw the next darkness zombie that was heading towards him with a malicious look on her face. It was Samantha... the one who should have become Glamour Girl.

"Sam..." Sam gasped out at her, begging, "You've got to stop."

To Sam's surprise, Samantha did stop, though his momentary relief was quickly gone. Samantha had started to change... to transform. Her skin was turning blue, her fingers stretching to claws... Samantha was becoming one of the creatures.

"NO!" Sam screamed out, struggling against the glowing red strings that held him as hard as he could. A part of him knew that he had no chance of breaking them if Ms. Miracle couldn't, but he didn't care. His rainbow aura swirled brighter as he tensed his muscles, then the strings that bound Sam suddenly burned away in the raw intensity of his glow.

Sam let out a roar of raw fury at what Nevermore had done to such good kids, still glowing as brightly as a flare. The darkness zombies and creatures all cried out and scrambled to get away from him, trying to cover their eyes. But Samantha, who had been right in front of him had collapsed to the ground and was shaking, already reverting to human form.

When Sam eased up a bit, he stared down at Samantha and gasped. He quickly checked her pulse, relieved that she was all right but afraid that it wasn't over for her. Somehow, he doubted that it would be that easy to free her... and any of the others from Nevermore's grasp that easily.

"The voice told me to stop the darkness," Sam whispered to the now unconscious Samantha, tears forming in his eyes as he did so. "It should have been you..." He scowled more deeply before promising, "I swear that I'll find some way to stop it..."

Sam stood back up and grimaced with a renewed determination. Somehow... somehow he was going to put an end to this madness. He was going stop the darkness. And that meant going for the head of the snake... That meant going for Nevermore. However, Sam looked up in her direction, knowing that first he would have to get close to her, and as he had seen, that was not easy.

But then as Sam flew back up into the air, a thought occurred to him. He remembered the trick with the hologram that he had shown Emily... Maybe... Maybe he could use that.

After taking a deep breath and focusing his attention, Sam willed the light to form and take shape. It took more concentration that he had expected, but his efforts paid off when an image that looked like an identical copy of him formed by his side. Completely identical except for the fact that it was slightly transparent.

"I wonder," Sam muttered, regathering his attention to attempt it again.

Just a moment later, a second hologram duplicate of Sam hovered beside him, and soon there were yet two more. Now Sam floated there, surrounded by four illusions of himself, though he did not remain there long. He willed his illusions to fly away from him, so all of them scattered in different directions.

"What?" Nevermore gasped as she looked back at Sam and saw several of him flying through the air.

With a howl of rage, Nevermore started throwing blasts of energy at them, while at the same time, two of her flying creatures started diving for Sam's illusions. The fact that they passed through the illusions didn't seem to stop them from trying to attack again.

Then, using the chaos and confusion provided by his distractions, Sam took a page from Nevermore's book and attacked her from behind. He let loose with a concentrated blast of rainbow light, but at the last minute, Nevermore shifted position so that instead of hitting her, the blast hit Ms. Miracle instead.

"NO," Sam cried out in horror.

However, an instant later, he saw that instead of hurting Ms. Miracle, his blast had caused the tentacles and strings that were holding her to burn apart. She burst free with a cry of, "I'm free..."

Nevermore snapped around with a look of horror, then yelled out, "Shadowlings..."

Suddenly, two swirls of shadows began to twist and form behind Nevermore. Two creatures took shape and appeared, each of them humanoid in shape, with a pair of batlike wings. And each of them was solid black, as though they were the deepest darkest shadows given solid form.

"Damn," Ms. Miracle growled, "Those things again..."

"You've seen them before?" Sam gasped, not taking his eyes off of either Nevermore or her latest creatures.

"Yes," was all Ms. Miracle said in response, though she stood as though ready for a fight.

Sam gulped nervously, "I'll take the right one..."

"No," Ms. Miracle told him, turning to look at Sam with a grim expression. "I'll deal with the shadowlings... You get Nevermore..."

"What?" Sam gasped in surprise.

Ms. Miracle was the real superhero... She was the one with all of the experience against Nevermore... And she was the one with a VERY personal reason for taking her down. It made no sense to Sam that she would ask him to fight her instead...

Before Sam could make any sense of Ms. Miracle's plan, the shadowlings dove at them both. Ms. Miracle shot out with blinding speed, glowing a bright golden light as she attacked them.

Then Ms. Miracle quickly looked back at Sam and yelled, "Your light... Use..."

However, she didn't get to finish what she was saying as one of the shadowlings tore at her with its long claws. And at the same time, Nevermore threw a ball of glowing red fire straight at Sam, who had to no more concentration to spare on Ms. Miracle.

Sam dodged Nevermore's attacks for a minute, looking for an opportunity. He had no idea how in the world he was supposed to get to Nevermore when Ms. Miracle hadn't been able to, though he sure as hell intended to find a way.

After dodging several more of Nevermore's attacks, Sam had an idea. He backed up a little, deciding to use the hologram trick again. He willed them to form, only two of them this time. Nevermore was watching him, so there was no surprise in that. In fact, she had seen him create them and knew which was the real one and which the fakes.

"Now to mix things up," Sam muttered grimly.

With that, Sam took a deep breath and willed his rainbow aura brighter, bright enough so that it was nearly like a flare, hiding him AND his illusions within it's glare, as well as providing a little room to work. Then after shifting positions, Sam and his illusions attacked.

"WHAT?" Nevermore gasped out in surprise, attacking all three the Sam's that were coming at her at once.

However, while Nevermore was dealing with the two illusions that Sam had created... as well as the third, which he had created under the cover of the rainbow flare, he hit her from the side where she wasn't looking for him. Nevermore went flying from the pillar, held firmly in Sam's hands as he knocked them both to the ground.

"I've got you," Sam growled at her.

Sam immediately realized however, that this still left the very important question of what to do with her. Nevermore had to be stopped... And as much as Sam hated it, his first thought was that he was going to have to kill her. But then, Sam thought of Melanie... the cheerleader whom Baron Nevermore had possessed. What of her? Surely he couldn't kill an innocent girl... But if it was the fate of the world at stake...

"Let go of me," Nevermore demanded, though Sam continued holding her arms, not giving her the opportunity to throw another spell at him.

As Sam clutched the villainess tightly in his arms, he cringed at the feeling of raw darkness, which radiated from her. It sickened his stomach. There was the darkness... the reason that the voice had looked for a champion. The reason that the voice had given him those powers.

Suddenly a thought ran through Sam's head. Although the voice had given those powers to the wrong person, it had given them to him for a reason. It had given them to him to stop the darkness... And he quickly realized that the best way to get rid of a room full of darkness was to simply turn on the light.

With a deep scowl, Sam grimly told Nevermore, "You're done for..."

And even as he said that, gathered up all his strength, all his energy and all his light. He willed all of the light within him to awaken, causing his body to flare brightly with a rainbow aura. However, he did not leave it at that, and seeing the cringing look of terror on Nevermore's face, Sam grew surer that he was doing the right thing and willed the light into her. He pushed it through his hands, gasping from the raw intensity of it.

"NOOOO!" Nevermore screamed out, though Sam barely heard her as he pushed more and more of his light into her body.

Finally, just when Sam was sure that he couldn't give it any more, he felt a sudden tearing in reality. And in an instant, the horrible stain that was the darkness fled from beneath Sam's hands. It was gone.

Sam dropped the body that he was holding, staggering at the exhaustion. He had used so much of his energy, so much of the light that his skin was barely glowing at all.

"Ooooh," Nevermore groaned from the ground where Sam had dropped her.

But as she slowly sat up, Sam saw that her expression had changed entirely. Gone were the glowing red eyes and the aura of dark maliciousness. Now there was something else entirely.

"Melanie?" Sam asked her carefully.

For a moment, she just looked up at him in confusion before responding, "Yeah... Who are you..."

Sam let out a long sigh of relief. Somehow, it had worked. He had been able to use his light to destroy the darkness within her. He had destroyed Nevermore... or at the very least driven him out of her body.

After staring at Nevermore... at Melanie for several more seconds, Sam slowly turned and looked around him. He let out a gasp at the sight. Wisps of darkness that looked like black smoke were billowing out of the darkness zombies. Their eyes were no longer glowing red and more and more of them were looking around in confusion. At the same time, all of the monsters had stopped fighting and had collapsed to the ground as well. And each of them were already well on their way to transforming back into their human forms.

"It's over?" Chrome gasped as he looked around.

His silvery metal shell had a number of nasty looking scratches, tears and dents in it, but as Sam watched, it sort of melted and reshaped itself until it looked brand new and in perfect condition.

"We did it," Nike exclaimed, landing on the ground amid the confused and mostly naked students, who just moments before had been an army of darkness zombies and monsters. "We defeated Baron Nevermore..."

Sam nodded vaguely at that and rushed to where he had left Samantha a short while earlier. She was still there, seeming unharmed, unlike many who had been injured in the fighting. Samantha was even beginning to sit up, having the same confused expression as nearly everyone else as she looked around.

"What's going on?" she gasped. "How did I get out here..."

"Are you all right?" Sam asked her gently.

Samantha nodded, "Yeah, but my clothes..."

Her clothes were torn from her transformation, though since she had stopped before completing the changes, enough of them remained to cover her body and protect her modestly. There were a great many others waking up to find themselves completely naked.

Then Samantha suddenly stared at Sam with her mouth open, "Sarah?" she gasped out.

"What?" Sam gulped, surprised at her recognizing him. But then again, he glanced down at himself, with his skin no longer glowing... He looked like a normal person again.

That was quickly followed though by someone else nearby exclaiming, "Hey... that's the new girl..."

Another voice echoed, "The new girl is Glamour Girl..."

"Damn," Sam muttered without much force, "So much for a secret identity." However, he couldn't resist smirking, as he knew that none of them had the least idea of who he really was.

"You're Glamour Girl," Samantha exclaimed as she stared at Sam, "I can't believe it Sarah..."

"It's a long story," Sam told her. "But I don't have time to tell it..."

Just then, there was the loud sound of police sirens; just before the cop cars began to arrive. "Now they show up," Sam grumbled. "Where were they when the fighting was going on?"

"Actually, this is pretty normal," Ms. Miracle said as she came up behind Sam.

"What?" he asked.

Ms. Miracle shrugged, "When the police see these situations with developed, they usually know that they're outclassed so just stay back and watch to see how it turns out. Then afterwards, they come rushing in to get in on some of the credit."

"I guess we showed all of them," Deadbeat said as he shambled over, still in the teenage girl's body that was somewhat worse for the wear.

For a moment, Ms. Miracle just looked around before saying, "I guess it's time for me to go." Her expression turned sad and she muttered, "I just wish I had time to tell my son..."

But just at that moment, Ms. Miracle's body began to shimmer. Her costume seemed to vanish, replaced by another, while at that same moment, her expression changed dramatically. Sam knew that it was now Channel that he was looking at. Ms. Miracle was gone.

"I guess that we should get going too before the cops want to ask us a bunch of questions," Zero Kay announced.

"I just want to get back before the big ball game starts," Deadbeat muttered.

"You want to catch a ride back with us?" Zero Kay asked.

Sam shook his head, "Thanks, but I can manage."

"You did good," Nike exclaimed with a grin, looking a bit more approving of Sam than she had earlier.

"You're still welcome to join," Chrome told her.

"Thanks," Sam responded, feeling honored by those words, "But since the reason that I got my powers in the first place has been taken care of, I'm not even sure that I'll still have them for very long."

There were a few more kind words before the Slackers rushed off back to their van. Sam tried to fly away at the same time, but was annoyed to learn that he couldn't. He'd used up too much of his light taking care of Nevermore and didn't have enough for that.

"Damn," Sam grumbled, reduced to running away from the school in order to avoid the cops and the questions that he didn't want to have to answer.

Sam didn't know where to go, though he soon found a spot behind a cluster of trees beside the road where no one would see him. He let out a sigh of relief as he hid himself among them, then winced at the discomfort. It was only then that he looked at himself and realized just how many bruises and lacerations he'd received during the fight. Fortunately none of them were too serious.

"Just scratches," he muttered, wondering how he was going to explain those to Anne.

With that, Sam tried willing himself back to normal; only do discover that he couldn't. He let out a loud gasp, trying again, but he didn't have enough light to pull in and change him back.

"No," Sam gasped in horror. He was stuck. Stuck as a teenage girl. His heart raced and he had to struggle to keep himself from panicking. Somehow he managed to remain calm, or at least somewhat.

Sam closed his eyes and sat there for several minutes, just taking deep breaths. When he opened them up again, he felt a little better, though there was still the fear that he would be stuck... trapped as Glamour Girl. But then he looked down at his skin and paused at the realization that it was beginning to glow again. Not very brightly, but enough so that he could notice it.

"All right," he let out a sigh. His light was beginning to come back...

After remaining where he was for nearly an hour, Sam thought that he had enough light build back up for it to work. He gave a silent prayer, and was relieved when the light swirled around him and his own body returned. And he didn't even have a scratch on him.

Letting out another sigh, Sam muttered, "It worked."

And a moment later, Sam was on his way back home. He hurried, only just becoming aware of the time and the fact that it was nearly time for Anne to be getting home from work. Sam hoped to get back before she did, though as soon as he arrived and saw her car in the driveway, he knew that he'd failed.

"Hi honey," Sam said as he went inside and saw his wife already waiting for him, "How was your day?"

Anne just gave him a curious look. "Not bad. But where have you been? Todd has been home sick all day" There was the hint of an accusatory tone, and Sam gulped, knowing that if he didn't have a good explanation, than this simple question could turn into something a lot more serious.

However, before Sam had a chance to say anything, Emily suddenly ran up and gave him a hug. "Hey daddy," she grinned.

"Hi honey," he grinned back.

Then Emily looked up at him and asked, "How was that big meeting you said you were going to be at with those important clients?"

"You were at a meeting?" Anne asked, looking a bit more impressed.

Sam quickly glanced at Emily, who winked back at him. He couldn't resist grinning, suddenly feeling very thankful that Emily did know about his little secret. At least now he had someone to help cover for him like that.

"Oh yes," Sam told Anne with a wry smile, "And it was a very... interesting day."

There was absolutely no question about that, though Sam knew that 'interesting' might be something of an understatement. He'd actually met Ms. Miracle... And he'd not only fought Baron Nevermore, one of the most dangerous villains in the world and survived, but had actually defeated him as well. It had been a very interesting day indeed, though Sam intensely hoped that he never had another one like it.

Over the next two weeks, Sam was relieved to have life return to mostly normal. Nevermore had been taken of and had not been seen since. There had been no signs of any more darkness zombies or monsters in the area, nor had Sam felt even a twinge that anything of that darkness remained nearby. Even Sam's dreams had returned to normal. Gone were the nightmare warnings of the darkness.

The incident at the school had been all over the news for several days, though that eventually died down as there was no actual recording of the fight itself, and most of the students had no memory of the events that had happened. And soon, the reporters found other things more interesting, such as the brief appearance of the monster Grendel elsewhere in the state.

As might be expected, with all of the damage to the school, it had to be kept closed for close to a week for the cleanup and repairs. Todd had been quite pleased at that, though had lost some of his enthusiasm once he realized that those days would have to be made up for at the end of the school year. Fortunately, the damage had mostly been to the school courtyard rather than to the building itself.

Sam was mildly surprised, though also rather pleased to notice that Todd had gotten a new girlfriend. It appeared that Samantha had taken Sam's advice and asked Todd out, because they were soon dating and actually seemed to be a very good couple. Sam had good hopes for their future together, though he knew better than to mention it.

Once Todd had discovered that the new girl 'Sarah Jones' had really been Glamour Girl, he had complained frequently over the fact that he hadn't met her and hadn't recognized her. That amused Sam a great deal, though he was thankful once Samantha's presence dampened such comments. The thought of his son having a crush on his alter-ego still left Sam somewhat uncomfortable.

And then there was Glamour Girl. Sam had barely transformed into her since the fight with Nevermore. There was little reason for him to do so, and little need for a superheroine in their quiet suburban neighborhood. But Sam had other reasons as well.

Sam continued to think of the mysterious voice that had given him the powers, and why. He still had no idea who that voice was, or why he was so interested in having Nevermore stopped. And though Sam hadn't truly been the intended recipient, he had done his best, and by some miracle, managed to drive back the darkness. He had done what he had been asked to, what he had been given the powers for...

There was a part of Sam that felt reluctant to use those powers for something other than what they had been intended for. But more than that, he feared that since they were no longer needed, that the voice might return to claim them again. That it might take those powers back at any time. Perhaps even when he was Glamour Girl and needed them most.

However, Sam had not given up his role as Glamour Girl entirely. If anything, he remembered the sense of freedom that it had given him. He remembered it every time that Emily looked at him with that new expression of admiration. But more than that, until those powers were taken away, Sam knew that they... and Glamour Girl, would be there to protect his family.

Elsewhere, an old and long used cemetery lay quiet in the dark depths of night. The light from the moon glinted through the hazy fog, almost making it seem like a thing alive.

Suddenly a flash of movement swept through the silent graveyard, and in a flutter of wings, a solitary black bird landed atop an old tombstone, one so old and faded that the name it bore was illegible. Then the bird's eyes seemed to glow red as it opened its beak and cawed, "Nevermore..."

Author's Note:This is the eighth story in my Legacy Universe, with the previous stories listed below for those who haven't read them. Like the others this is a stand alone story, though it might be helpful to have at least read the first, The Miracle Legacy.

The Miracle Legacy
Change of Heart
Hardshell
The Praxis Crossing
Mannequin
The Vengeance of Lady Hexx
Glamour Girl

It was a great day for a picnic. The sky was clear, the sun was warm and the birds were all chirping in the trees. The whole park was absolutely perfect, especially since it was nice and quiet due to the sparseness of other people in it. Yes, it was definitely the perfect way to take a break from the stress of college.

My name was Thornton Michaels...and no, my parents didn't hate me. At least I don't think that they did, though giving me a name like that I couldn't be completely certain. Most of my friends just called me Thorn for short...mostly because they said I was something of a thorn in their sides.

To describe myself, I would have to say that I was a fairly normal 20 year old college student, was 6 foot 1, had light brown hair and was a little athletic, though not actually any kind of an athlete. At least I didn't get into any team sports, though I enjoyed skateboarding, mountain biking and motocross...though that's a whole different thing.

Of course, I couldn't have a real picnic by myself and was currently in the park with my girlfriend Kelly. She was a very pretty girl with long brown hair, and a great sense of humor. After all, she was dating me...and had been for the last six months.

"Pretty good potato salad," I told Kelly, mostly being polite as I never really cared for the stuff.

"Thanks," she smiled at me, making my heart flutter a little. "It was my mom's recipe..."

I nodded, taking another bite, then washing it down with some soda and chips. Then letting out a contented sigh, I looked out over the large pond that was in front of us.

After we had been there for awhile, eating lunch and talking about a variety of things, Kelly looked at me with a somewhat nervous expression. She'd been doing that for most of the day, and that made me a little nervous.

"Thorn," Kelly started slowly, looking uncomfortable as she did so, "I have something that I think I should tell you..."

"Um...," I gulped, not sure that I liked how that was starting. "You didn't used to be a guy, did you?"

"No," Kelly laughed, "Nothing like that?"

"Are you sure?" I pressed her with a grin. "I don't want to end up on Jerry Springer or anything..."

Kelly grinned, then shook her head. However, her expression turned a little more serious again. She gulped, not looking at me. In fact, she was fiddling with her hair, swirling it around her finger. It was something that she sometimes did when she was nervous.

"I'm developed," she blurted out, then looked me in the eyes.

"You sure are," I responded, looking at her pleasant C cup breasts.

"No," Kelly shook her head, blushing with embarrassment, "I'm a developed. I used to be a super hero..."

"What?" I blinked, staring at her in surprise before grinning, "I was almost a developed...." I held my fingers an inch or so apart and added, "I was this close..."

"I'm serious," Kelly insisted.

I just stared at her in surprise. "You are?" Then I blinked, "How...? Why didn't you tell me...?"

"I'm telling you now," she snapped in vague annoyance, then quickly told me, "Sorry. It's just not something that I like telling people...especially not with what my powers are." She paused for a moment, "I just thought that you should know..."

"Okay," I said slowly, my curiosity more than a little aroused. I stared at Kelly for a moment more before cautiously asking, "What are your powers...? How did you become developed...?"

Kelly gave me a nervous smile, then said, "I'm not really sure how I developed powers... All I knew was that when I was in high school, I just accidentally discovered that I had them." She paused thoughtfully for a moment before proudly announcing, "My power is to turn other people into developed... All I have to do is touch someone and I can make them develop powers...but they wear off after an hour..."

"Really?" I asked in amazement.

I had been dating Kelly for six months and had never suspected that she was a developed, one of those rare individuals who had real super powers. It seemed unbelievable. And the fact was, I was a bit jealous.

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, "I made a costume and started calling myself Catalyst. Then some of my friends and I formed our own super hero group...calling ourselves the Crusaders. I'd give them their powers and then we'd go save the day..."

"Cool," I gasped, staring at her with even more surprise and envy. I'd always wanted to be a super hero.

"It was at first," Kelly replied with a shrug, though she didn't look all that excited about it. "Unfortunately, there were problems..."

I blinked at that, "Oh?" I couldn't help wondering what might have happened to make it so bad. Had they dealt with a horrible villain who killed her friends or something?

"The fact is," Kelly sighed, "my only power is to give powers to others. So whenever we got into a fight or did anything, I couldn't really do anything. The others got to be heroes, while I had to stand back and let them protect me. Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be the only one who's a real developed and end up being little more than the team mascot? If they didn't need me to have powers, they probably would have dumped me..."

"Oh," I grimaced. Kelly really looked unhappy about it.

"I guess I started to resent them a bit," Kelly admitted, looking ashamed as she did so. "I mean, I was the one who started the group but I was treated almost like I wasn't even a real member. They got to be heroes, while I got to be a mascot..." She let out a long sigh, "And I guess they resented me too because without me they wouldn't have any powers at all."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I told her honestly. "But you said they were your friends..."

Kelly shrugged, "Sometimes you can forget things like that." She shook her head, letting out another sad sigh. "I know that a couple of them were pretty mad at me for deciding to go away to college after graduating rather than sticking around so that they could still be heroes..."

We both went silent after this, and I frowned, understanding why she had been so reluctant to tell me about her powers. She had the ability to give powers to other people and feared that people would only want her for that ability...for what she could give them rather than for who she was. It sounded like she had lost several friends that way...which was pretty sad. I didn't blame her for keeping it from me, and felt kind of happy that she had finally decided to tell me.

"You know," I said slowly, thinking that if she could tell me something like that, then the least I could do was share my bit with her. "When I said that I was almost a developed....I was telling the truth."

"What...?" Kelly blinked. I smiled, feeling a bit smug about catching her by surprise like she had caught me.

"Some time back, I was part of an experiment," I started to tell Kelly, pausing as I hadn't told anyone about this before. "They gave a bunch of people shots that had Ms. Miracle's blood in them or something, thinking that it might make us develop powers too. It didn't work for most of us, but a couple guys got powers."

I let out a sigh at that, a sigh of regret. For my whole life, I had always wanted to be special...to be developed and to be a super hero. And then when I'd had my chance, I'd missed it. All that I'd been able to do was watch other people get powers instead.

"There was one guy," I frowned, "I was eating dinner across from him when he suddenly started growing crystals on his body..." I could remember it so clearly.

"The people who got powers," I frowned, "They became the Miracle Men." I shook my head at that, then looked at Kelly as I added, "I guess that Ms. Miracle was in a coma instead of being dead. I figure that their messing with her to get her blood must have woken her up or something..."

Kelly just stared at me for a moment with a look of surprise on her face. Then she gasped, "Wow... You were almost one of the Miracle Men..."

"Yeah," I shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed, "But you know what they say. Almost only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades..."

"One of the Miracle Men," she muttered, shaking her head.

"Um," I decided to change the subject, "So how exactly do your powers work? I mean, can you choose what powers you give someone?

"No," Kelly shook her head. "The first time I use my powers on someone, I have no idea what power they're going to get. It seems kind of random. But every time I use my powers on them after that, they always get the same one..."

I just nodded at that, "Cool..."

"Actually, it's kind of overrated," Kelly told me with a grin. "I mean, my powers don't exactly make me a good super hero."

I laughed at that, "Yeah, what are you going to do...yell FREEZE OR I'LL GIVE YOU SUPER POWERS?"

"Exactly," Kelly grinned. Then she looked at me, her grin widening, "So...you want to try having powers?"

For a moment, I just stared at Kelly, hardly daring to speak. I'd been wanting to have super powers since long before I'd met her, so of course I'd been wanting to try out her abilities once she told me about them. But at the same time, it didn't feel right to ask...not after what she'd told me about her friends.

"Are you sure?" I asked her hopefully.

"Yeah," she responded with a nod, "I asked you, didn't I?"

I hesitated for a moment, caught between my eagerness to have actual super powers...even if only for an hour, and my fear of having Kelly think that I was only interested in her powers. However, her being the one to offer it was all that I needed.

"Hell yeah," I grinned at Kelly, "I want to try it..."

"Okay," Kelly warned me as she stood up, "I don't know what powers you're going to get so be careful... I don't want you to catch on fire and burn me or anything..."

With that, Kelly reached over and put a hand on my shoulder, then immediately stepped back, looking almost as eager as I felt. I felt a tingle the moment that she had touched me, a strange tingle that shot through my entire body.

"Whoa," I gasped in surprise.

But then, tingling suddenly seemed to explode inside of me, filling my entire body with something I couldn't describe, other than to say that it was incredibly intense. And in an instant, I felt my entire body begin to ripple and change... I gasped as my body rapidly reshaped itself, pulling in at one spot and pushing out at another. It was all happening too fast for me to make any sense of...

When the changes stopped, I collapsed to my knees, feeling completely fine and unhurt...just extremely disoriented. Disoriented and more than a little strange.

"Unbelievable," Kelly blurted out, "That's never happened before..."

I just took a deep breath as I tried to catch my bearings. Then I looked down at myself, gulping as I saw my chest pushing out into two very distinct looking bulges. My eyes quickly darted over my arms, my waist and the rest of my body. Everything was thinner and smoother. From just a single look...it almost looked as though I had turned into a girl.

"No way," I exclaimed as I stood back up. Even my voice sounded like a girl's.

I licked my lips, then stared at my arms...which were now completely hairless. They definitely looked like a girl's arms, especially with my girlish hands and longer nails. And taking a deep breath, I nervously poked the bumps on my chest.

"Weird," I muttered, "Very weird..."

"Yeah," Kelly giggled as she stared at me. "I've had some people change a bit when I used my powers on them... I mean, I've had one guy turn into a werewolf, a woman grown wings and one of my friends grew like a foot taller and a lot more muscular... But I've never had anyone have a sex change when I used my powers on them before..."

"Sex change...," I repeated, thinking that this had to make it official. Then I paused, reaching between my legs, which now felt sort of flat and empty. "Now it's official."

Then as I looked at Kelly, I realized something... I was shorter. I had to be. I was normally five inches taller than her 5 foot 8, but looking her in the eyes, there was no doubt that I wasn't that much taller than her anymore. As I tried to compare our heights, I figured that I had to be about 5 foot 9...maybe five foot 10.

"I'm shorter," I said in wonder, amazed at what Kelly had done to me with just one touch.

"And a girl," she pointed out unnecessarily. From the grin on her face, it was pretty obvious that she was enjoying this.

For a moment, I just stood there, not sure what to think. I felt so weird being a girl... It just wasn't right... But then again, I reminded myself, it was only until Kelly's power wore off. I could handle being a girl for an hour... In fact, it might even be kind of interesting.

"So what do I look like?" I asked Kelly, wishing that I had a mirror to check myself out in.

"Let's see," Kelly mused as she looked me over, "You're really pretty...and you have green hair..."

"Green hair?" I reached back and found that my hair was now down to about my shoulder blades. And as I held it in front of me, it was indeed green.

Then Kelly surprised me by grabbing my shirt and lifting it up, staring at my chest for a moment before saying, "I think you're about a C cup... Not bad either..."

"Um...thanks," I responded, not sure exactly how to handle her particular compliment. It was kind of embarrassing...

But after a minute of looking myself over, I gasped, "Hey, I thought I was supposed to get powers..."

"Didn't you know," Kelly grinned in amusement, "Being a woman is a super power..."

I let out a sigh of disappointment, having been looking forward to actually having super powers. But I knew that I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. It was just like the last time...get my hopes up only to have them snatched away.

"Hey," Kelly suddenly exclaimed, "You're glowing..."

"What?" I blinked and looked down at myself.

I was a little amazed to see that I was glowing... I had a sort of green aura around me. And I was even more amazed to realize that I could sort of feel it... I could feel some sort of light tug on it, pulling downwards.

"That's weird," I muttered, more to myself than to Kelly.

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the aura and the faint tugging that I could feel against it. And out of curiosity, I sort of mentally pushed back until the tugging went away.

"All right," Kelly exclaimed.

"Huh?" I opened my eyes and looked at Kelly...looked DOWN at Kelly. Two feet down. My eyes immediately dropped to the ground below me, a ground which I was no longer even standing on but hovering above. "I'm...I'm flying," I gasped in delight.

"Levitating is more like it," Kelly pointed out, "But it's a good start. I wonder how much more you can do..."

"I don't know," I grinned down at Kelly, "but this is pretty cool..."

For a moment, I just remained where I was, trying to figure out exactly what it was that I'd done go start levitating. Of course it had been when I'd pushed back against that tugging... But what in the world was that tugging... Then it dawned on me.

"Gravity," I gasped.

"What?" Kelly asked.

"I think this is some sort of antigravity," I gestured down at myself, thinking of the green aura.

Then I took a deep breath and concentrated on the aura again, just as I had when I'd focused on pushing away from the tugging. I pushed again, rising higher from the ground in response. And when I pushed harder, I went up higher faster. Then I reversed the direction I was mentally pushing in and slowly began to go down.

"I think I'm figuring this out," I called to Kelly as I went back up.

Once I was high enough, about thirty feet above the ground, I shifted my concentration to a different direction and found that I could move forward as well. In fact, with a little experimenting, I discovered that I could move in just about any direction I wanted to.

"Way to go," Kelly called out to me, grinning as she did so.

I just waved back down to her and called back, "It's sort of like antigravity..."

After having played around with it for a few minutes, I was beginning to figure out my temporary powers. It seemed to me that the green glow sort of insulated me from normal gravity, and once I was cut off, I could control my own gravity inside of it. I could make myself completely weightless within, and even fly by making the gravity pull me in different directions.

When I settled back down beside Kelly, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. My heart was racing with excitement. "That's a blast," I exclaimed in delight.

Kelly laughed, "You look like you're having fun..."

"Oh yeah," I grinned, "It's better than riding a roller coaster..."

Then Kelly let out a sigh, "I wish I could fly..."

I just nodded at that, not sure what to say. There was no doubt that this had to be kind of hard for her. She was the one who had real super powers, but she could never do anything with them but watch other people do things.

Then I suddenly had an idea. I took Kelly's hand and concentrated, trying to spread my aura and share it with her. And to my delight, it worked. It spread and covered her. She was inside my aura where I could control the gravity.

"What?" Kelly blinked in surprise.

I pulled my hand away, but the aura immediately faded from around her. It looked like I couldn't keep sharing my aura without physical contact.

"Let's see," I put my hand on Kelly's arm, "I want to try something..."

With that, I spread my aura over Kelly again, then grinned at her as I willed her to rise into the air with me. It was so easy... I didn't even have to HOLD Kelly. All that I had to do was touch her to control how gravity was affecting her.

"This is great," Kelly gasped in delight, though we were only about five feet above the ground.

"Yeah," I grinned back, "Thanks for letting me try this out..."

Then Kelly giggled and poked one of my new breasts, "So you're not mad that I gave you these?"

"Not when it lets me do this," I stuck my tongue out at her as I lifted us both up even higher.

Kelly and I both had a lot of fun just flying around over the park for awhile, trying out my temporary powers while we could. We both laughed especially hard when some guy saw us up in the air and just at there staring with a funny expression on his face.

Eventually though, Kelly and I landed back where we'd left out stuff. As much as I liked being that close to Kelly, it was kind of difficult to keep a hold of her for so long.

"That was fantastic," Kelly grinned at me after we'd landed. "Now I know what it's like to fly..."

"Me to," I shook my head, "I've always wanted to fly..."

A moment later, I suddenly realized that the green aura had faded away. However, with a thought, it returned. I smiled, then willed it off and on, back and forth as if it were a light switch until Kelly shook her head as though I were doing something childish but amusing. Then again, perhaps I was.

While Kelly was gathering up our stuff, I looked down at myself, trying my best to ignore the changes to my body, which wasn't easy. I tugged at my clothes a little, noticing that they were definitely pretty loose on me. That wasn't any kind of surprise though as I had definitely gotten shorter and smaller. I was only surprised that I hadn't really noticed my clothes being so loose sooner, but then again, I had been distracted with both my changed body and my new powers.

"Hey Thorn," Kelly asked, "Are you going to give me a hand here or what?"

"What?" I grinned at her.

Then I willed myself to glow and asked, "So, do you think Thorn would make a good super hero name?"

Kelly rolled her eyes, and I felt just a little bad about asking that. After all, I didn't think that she'd intended me to become a super hero or anything when she'd shown me her powers. I didn't think that she wanted a repeat of what had happened with her high school friends.

"Naw," Kelly shook her head, not looking at all offended. "Thorn kind of goes with your green hair, but that's more a code name for someone with plant powers or who has spikes growing out of your body. Besides," she looked thoughtful, "I think there might already be someone using that name..."

"I guess," I sighed, feeling a little disappointed. I'd always kind of thought that my normal name would have worked pretty good as a super hero name, but I guess Kelly was right. It didn't exactly go with my powers.

"You do have antigravity powers," Kelly pointed out, still looking almost as though she were taking the conversation seriously. "Maybe something like...Counterweight."

"Counterweight," I mused, deciding that I liked it. And it did go with my antigravity powers. "Not like it really matters though," I shrugged, "It's not like I'm going to have the powers long enough to be a super hero..."

That was definitely a disappointment, especially after I'd gotten a taste of what it was like to be developed. I liked it...loved it even. But on the other hand, I certainly wouldn't mind getting back to normal. Being a girl was too weird.

Then I looked down at my watch, which was a bit loose on my wrist, startled to see that it had been about two hours since Kelly had given me those powers. I'd been having so much fun playing around with them that I had completely lost track of time. Then I blinked in surprise... Kelly had said that the powers would only last for an hour...

"Um Kelly," I started, feeling a bit worried as I gestured down at myself, "How come this hasn't worn off yet?"

***

Kelly and I were in the car, driving back to her place. But even though it was my car, she was the one behind the wheel. I was just sitting in the passenger side, staring down at my new breasts in disbelief.

"You said it would wear off after an hour," I told Kelly, not even looking up. It wasn't the first time that I'd made that statement.

"It should have," Kelly told me, sounding worried and confused at the same time. "It's always worn off after an hour..."

I just poked at my breasts and shook my head slightly. Kelly's powers were supposed to have worn off after only an hour, and it had been well over two hours and I was still a girl. Then again, I couldn't help smiling a little as I still had my powers too.

Thankfully, it didn't take us long to get to Kelly's place. It was a small house that she shared with her roommate Claire, and that was also fairly close to campus. And also thankfully, Claire was not there at the moment so we had the place to ourselves.

Almost as soon as Kelly and I were in the door, I rushed to her bathroom to check myself out. I'd been dying to see what I really looked like since I had first changed, or at least after I had gotten over trying out my new powers. I could have checked myself out in the car mirror, but I had purposely avoided that as I wanted to see myself with a much better view.

"Holy shit," I gasped at the very sight of my reflection.

Kelly hadn't been kidding...I was pretty. I was very pretty, though I had to admit that I wasn't drop dead gorgeous. I wasn't super glamorous or stripper material, but more of a girl next door type, with of course the exception of my green hair.

"Figures I have green eyes too," I commented, thinking that they went pretty good with the hair.

Then I stepped back and tried taking in my entire body. I definitely had a pretty decent figure as well. Very nice without going overboard.

And since I just couldn't resist, I willed my antigravity aura to turn on, then lifted myself several inches off of the ground. I couldn't help grinning at that. It was kind of impressive.

"I'm still a girl," I sighed and shook my head as I settled back to the ground. "Weird. Very weird."

"Are you okay?" Kelly asked me with a worried look as I stepped out of the bathroom a few seconds later.

"I don't know," I told her honestly. "I feel kind of weird...but not as weird as I would have thought..."

Kelly frowned, "What do you mean?"

I frowned at that myself. "Well, it feels just a little strange being a girl...but..." I shook my head. "I've got a bit more up here," I gestured to my chest, then down to my crotch, "and less here, but I don't really notice that as much as I would have guessed."

"Oh," Kelly responded, then gave me an apologetic look, "I don't know what went wrong... My powers ALWAYS wear off after an hour. I don't understand it..."

"Well," I shrugged, turning on my aura and hovering a few inches off the ground, "I don't mind keeping the powers...but these..." I grabbed my breasts and gave her an embarrassed grin as I settled back to the ground.

"Hey," Kelly gasped, "You said that you were in an experiment to get powers..."

"Yeah," I shrugged, "But it didn't work for me." I sighed, still a bit disgusted by that fact.

"Maybe that has something to do with it," Kelly said thoughtfully, looking hesitant. "Maybe it did work...sort of."

I stared at her for a moment in confusion, then whispered, "Oh," thinking that I understood where she was going with that. "You think that your powers sort of kick started what they'd tried to do?"

"Yeah. It's the only thing I can think of..." Kelly nodded. She looked thoughtful for a moment before carefully suggesting, "Maybe...maybe it worked only part way... Maybe it left you with latent powers that I triggered..."

"Oh shit," I gasped, shaking my head. "But if that's true, then I'll probably be stuck like this..." I looked down at myself and shook my head. "I can't be stuck as a girl..."

"I'm sorry," Kelly grimaced, "I just wanted to show you my powers..."

"It's not your fault," I told Kelly with a sigh. "I mean, if your powers only last an hour..."

We were both silent at this and I frowned slightly as I paced. Then on a whim, I turned on my gravity powers and started walking up the wall. Since I could control my own personal gravity, it pretty much just felt like I was walking across the normal floor. Even when I started walking on the ceiling, my own powers made it feel as though I was the one walking normally.

"That is so weird," Kelly finally exclaimed after watching me for a minute.

"I know," I grinned, sitting down on the ceiling, which felt absolutely no different to me than if I'd been sitting on the floor. Still, the scenery and point of view were quite a bit different, which was actually pretty cool.

"Aren't you mad about being stuck like that?" Kelly asked a minute later, looking both worried and confused.

"A little," I admitted as I looked up at her, or at least it was up from my perspective. "I'm a little freaked about being a girl, but I'm still kind of jazzed about actually having these powers at the same time..."

Just then, Kelly and I both froze and the sound of nice coming from the door. And a moment later, her roommate Claire came in, her hands full with a bunch of books. And the moment that she saw me, she let out a gasp and dropped all the books to the floor.

"What the hell?" Claire gasped, staring at me in surprise.

"Damn," I cringed in embarrassment.

With that, I used my gravity powers to lift off the ceiling, shift my position and slowly settle back to the ground. It was amazing just how quickly I was learning to use my new powers.

"Um...," I started, trying to come up with some explanation as to why a green haired girl, dressed in oversized boys clothes was in her living room and sitting on her ceiling. And at the moment, I couldn't come up with a damn thing.

"Relax," Kelly told her, putting a hand on my shoulder and cringing, "It's Thorn. I used my powers on him..."

"Oh," Claire blinked, giving a faint nod but staring at me more with curiosity than disbelief. "But that's a girl..."

"A weird side effect," Kelly sighed, looking embarrassed.

I stared at them for a moment, more than a little surprised myself. Then I turned to Kelly, "She knows about your powers?"

I felt a little offended by that. After all, Kelly and I had been dating for six months, and she had only just now told me about her powers. It was somewhat unhappy to discover that her roommate had already known about them.

"I got drunk a few months ago and told her," Kelly admitted, looking embarrassed at that.

All I could say to that was, "Oh." I figured that if I said anything else right then, I might end up sounding as though I were pouting or something. Then I took a deep breath. "Did you...well...you know...?"

"Use my powers on her?" Kelly asked.

"Sure," Claire responded for her, looking fairly disgusted. "She gave me some kind of mind control powers..."

"And you didn't like them?" I asked, confused by her expression and tone of voice.

Claire shook her head, frowning. "It's no good having super powers when you can't even use them."

"You couldn't control them?" I asked, still feeling a bit confused.

"No," Claire shook her head, then giving me a steady look. "You just can't go around messing in people's heads like that. It's just...wrong."

"Oh," I nodded at that. It was a moral thing.

I guess it would be kind of wrong to be going in and looking at people's thoughts and changing them around just because you could. But on the other hand, I couldn't resist thinking, it could definitely be a lot of fun too. With that kind of power, I could get any girl I wanted and convince my teachers to give me great grades. So after a moment, I figured that maybe it was a good thing that I didn't get that kind of power.

"You're really Thorn?" Claire asked, staring at me in amazement. "Shit... I bet that's got to be weird for you..." She grinned at that.

"You have no idea," I sighed.

"What are your powers?" Claire laughed. "Looking pretty?"

"See," Kelly grinned at me, "I told you that being a woman was a super power..."

"Of course it is," Claire nodded her agreement. "We have the power to bring men to their knees..."

"And don't forget our wisdom and sense of style," Kelly added.

"Not to mention modesty," I rolled my eyes, earning a bunch of giggles from Kelly and Claire.

Kelly put her hand on my arm and said, "Actually, Thorn does something with gravity..."

I nodded at that, then used my powers to lift myself up high enough to touch the ceiling, then I settled back down. "Antigravity.

"Interesting," Claire commented.

Then I smiled, deciding that I wanted to show off a little more and try something else. I put my hand on top of the coffee table and spread my aura over it until it was under my gravity influence. And with just a tiny bit of concentration, the coffee table lifted off the ground... I was still touching it, but only on the top.

"It's sort of like when I brought you up," I told Kelly, "But I'm keeping my gravity normal while messing with gravity on the table..." Then I admitted, "It's a bit harder this way though... I think it would be easier if I had gravity be the same for me and the table at the same time..."

"It's certainly better than mind control," Claire told me. "At least you can actually do something with these powers..."

"Unlike giving powers to others," Kelly sighed.

"Hey," I told her as I put the table back, "I think your powers are kind of cool..."

"Thanks," Kelly grinned at me.

"So," Claire asked, "How much longer before it wears off?"

Kelly and I both froze at that, staring at each other. Most of the excitement of showing off kind of went away with that little reminder.

"Actually," I sighed, "I'd like to know that too..."

"He's been like this for over three hours," Kelly said quietly.

Claire gasped in surprise. "What? I thought your powers wore off after an hour..."

"They do," Kelly responded almost tearfully, giving me a guilty look. "Or at least they should. They always have before..."

"But...," Claire stared at me with a look of horror appearing on her face as the situation began to dawn on her. "But what happened?"

"I...I think that Thorn was already a developed," Kelly tried explaining. "I mean, I think he was a latent developed... He was developed but his powers were latent... They just hadn't turned on..."

"And you turned them on," Claire whispered.

"Yeah," Kelly nodded, giving me another guilty look. "I think that I just turned his powers on, but since I'm not the one who actually GAVE him those powers... I think that's why he didn't change back..."

"Crap," Claire muttered.

"Tell me about it," I responded with a shrug.

Then Claire just stared at me for a moment before slowly saying, "You sure are taking this kind of easy... I mean, if I had a sex change and couldn't change back, I'd be screaming..."

"I guess it could be worse," I shrugged, still not sure exactly what I felt about being stuck like that.

Sure, I didn't like the idea of being a girl for the rest of my life, of losing my own face and identity. But it didn't hurt at all, and in fact, when I wasn't thinking about my body, it was pretty easy to forget that it had changed. And then of course, there were those wicked powers which I was really getting to like. I kind of hated the thought of losing those forever.

"I don't know," I shook my head, "The whole situation is kind of strange. It's a lot to think about..."

After this, we all sat down in the living room and danced around the subject of my possibly remaining stuck as a woman for the rest of my life, though the thought was there. That was especially clear when Kelly and Claire tentatively brought up the subject of all the good things about being a woman.

Then of course, there came the inevitable call of nature. I grimaced a little as I went to the bathroom, thinking that I might have heard a bit of a giggle or two coming from Claire and Kelly behind me.

"Just great," I grumbled, "I guess I might as well get this over with.

At first, I just stood over the toilet as though I could still take a leak the old fashioned way. Then again, the lack of my old equipment down there was a definite reminder that this was no longer a possibility. It was kind of strange, as standing there just drove in the fact that I'd changed gender more than anything else had.

"Oh shit," I whispered, realizing for the first time just what being like that would entail. It wouldn't be just how I looked that would change...but nearly everything about my life. Even all the little things that I took for granted...

However, standing there and being philosophical wasn't about to empty my bladder, so I sat down on the toilet and went about doing my business. Fortunately, that part was pretty much the same as always, though it did feel just a little different.

"The same but different," I sighed. That seemed to describe a lot of things about the changes in my body.

Once I was finished, I made sure to wipe up pretty good. I'd heard a few comments about how girls had to be even cleaner than guys down there or they could get yeast infection. I had grimaced in disgust when I'd girls talking about that, but now I was somewhat grateful that I had heard it.

"Weird," I muttered as I just remained sitting on the toilet for another minute, staring at my empty crotch. I even had a patch of green hair down there.

I let out a sigh, then went about pulling my too large pants back on and checking my reflection out in the bathroom mirror again. It was strange to think that I might be stuck with that face in the mirror for some time to come.

"And this was just supposed to be for an hour," I muttered to myself.

Of course, I had wanted to have super powers...to be a developed. I'd wanted that for my whole life, and had even gone out of my way to get those powers...though it hadn't done much good at the time. But now...now it seems to have become a matter of 'be careful what you wish for...'

"Because you just might get it," I finished aloud, "You just might get it..."

With that, I went back out with the others, where we talked for a bit more before eating dinner. There was a bit of tension in the air the whole time, with none of us really sure how to deal with the strange situation that we were in. Or at least that I was in.

When dinner was over, Kelly suggested, "I want to try something..."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Well," she said slowly, "If my powers turned yours on...maybe they can shut them off again..."

I hesitated for a moment, not sure that I liked the idea of losing my powers so quickly after getting them. After spending years dreaming about becoming a developed, of gaining super powers, a part of me screamed that I couldn't just give that all up.

"Okay," I nodded, knowing that I had to be realistic. The powers came with a high price and I wasn't about to just let my whole life go in order to keep them. "Do it."

Kelly took a deep breath, then reached out to touch me. I suddenly felt the tingle run through my body...the same tingle that I'd felt when she gave me my powers.

"I've never used my powers on another developed before," Kelly said as she watched me hopefully.

"I...I feel it," I gasped.

My body was changing again, reshaping itself. I could feel the bone and muscle all moving around under my skin again. It was the same thing that had happened to me earlier...except in reverse. I grabbed my chest, feeling my breasts pull back and fade away. I reached down between my legs, finding that my crotch was no longer empty.

"It worked," I whispered as I stared down at my familiar hands. At my hairy guy arms. I was back to normal. I was all guy again.

Unfortunately, being back to normal also meant that I'd just lost my powers. I tried activating the antigravity aura, but there was nothing. I truly was back to normal, and couldn't help but feeling a twinge of disappointment at that.

"All right," Claire grinned.

"Thank God," Kelly smiled.

"Hey," Claire pointed out a moment later, looking thoughtful, "Since now we know that Kelly can change you back to normal, you can always try this out again sometime..."

"I don't know about that," Kelly glanced at me, "That was kind of a close one."

All that I could do was nod at that. "Yeah," I felt my flat chest, "Very close..."

"Still, at least you got a cool power out of it," Claire pointed out.

I had to agree with her on that, though I wasn't about to admit it. "If you count being a girl as a super power..."

"I do," Kelly laughed, with Claire quickly joining in.

"Well," I glanced at my watch, "I should probably get going." I frowned, "I do have some homework that I've been procrastinating on..."

"Well, I'm just glad that you're back to normal," Kelly smiled at me, then came over and gave me a hug.

"I had a great day," I told her, then added, "Well, other than being stuck as a girl..."

Kelly just grinned at that, looking a little embarrassed. At least she didn't look like she was feeling all guilty anymore. We kissed at that while Claire just sat back and watched with a bit of a smirk. I just wished that she'd go away so that Kelly and I could have a moment of privacy.

It was just several minutes later that I'd left Kelly, gave a brief nod to Claire and then hurried on home. However, I couldn't help thinking how much faster...not to mention more fun it would be to fly there instead.

Home for me was the dorm that I shared with my roommate Phil. It was small and cramped, but on the plus side, we each had our own room...albeit each about the size of a closet. I'd been roommates with Phil for awhile now, but had never developed the kind of friendship with him that Kelly had with Claire. In fact, Phil and I had an understanding... He does his thing and I do mine.

"Thank God," I sighed as I got home and looked in the mirror, seeing my familiar old face instead of the pretty green haired one. So why didn't I feel as pleased about getting back to normal as I thought I should?

With a shrug, I turned on my computer and settled down to take care of my homework. It had been such an interesting day that it seemed almost anticlimactic to end it by doing something as normal and boring as homework.

I had been working on my homework for only a little while when I decided to take a break and get something to munch on. It hadn't really been all that long since dinner, but that didn't really matter. I wasn't really hungry... I just wanted something to munch on while doing my work.

"Let's see," I muttered as I grabbed myself a Pepsi from the fridge that Phil and I shared, then reached for the bag of Oreos that I kept in there as well. There's nothing quite like an Oreo that's been kept cool in the fridge. The cream filling was almost like ice cream. "That should about do it..."

Suddenly, I felt a tingle rush through my body. It was the very same tingle that I'd already felt twice that day. I couldn't help but letting out a loud gasp of surprise, then another one as I felt my body beginning to shift and reshape.

Even before the changes were finished, I stared down at my feminine hands, knowing exactly what was happening to me. I looked down at the two shapely breasts that were once again pressing out from my chest. And I could see a bit of long green hair hanging down in front of my eyes.

Then I looked at the clock and realized that it was about an hour since Kelly had used her powers to change me back to normal. An hour... "Oh crap..." I shook my head in disbelief, "You've got to be kidding me..."

However, there seemed to be little doubt that Kelly's power had just worn off. And the irony wasn't lost on me that her powering wearing off had only returned me to the condition I was in when her power hadn't worn off when it was supposed to. The whole situation was just too weird.

For several minutes, I just stared down at myself, half sure that this had to be some kind of weird joke. But then I shook my head and slowly reached for the phone. Once the other end picked up, I sighed, "Kelly...I have a problem..."

I talked to Kelly on the phone for several minutes, explaining that her power had worn off and that I had turned back into a girl. Unfortunately, there was nothing that she could do at the moment...if at all. Still, I would have to wait till the morning before finding out for sure.

"Oh joy," I muttered as I hung up the phone.

For a moment, I just stood there and shook my head. I wasn't sure whether to be horribly disappointed by the fact that I was a girl and would be at least until the morning...or relieved.

"At least I have my powers back," I smiled weakly.

But just then, I heard a key turning the lock on the door and froze, knowing that it could only be Phil coming back from wherever it was that he was at. I quickly looked down at myself, knowing that there was no way in the world that I could explain that to him.

"Damn," I muttered, already rushing out of our shared common room and into the relative safety of my own room. I barely managed to get the door shut in time. "Damn," I muttered again as I realized that I'd left my snack behind.

I waited a minute then cracked my door open and peaked into our shared room. Unfortunately, Phil had turned on the TV and settled down to watch something.

"Just great," I grumbled in annoyance. Now there was no way that I could go get my snack.

So with that, I just plopped down on my bed with a sigh. I remained there for a minute or so before I glanced over at my computer and remembered what I had been working on before I'd gotten up to get a snack.

"I might as well finish it up," I sighed. It wasn't like I really had a lot else that I could do at the moment.

It didn't take me very long to finish my homework up once I gave it my attention. However, giving it my full attention was the problem as I had a bit of a distraction just then with my body being changed and all. But somehow I managed to focus on the task at hand.

With my homework done and out of the way, I settled down on my bed and just sat there for a minute, looking down at my tits and hands. Then I slowly smiled, feeling kind of curious about my new body. I'd already explored my new powers quite a bit, so it only made sense to check out the body that had come along with them.

I wasted no time in stripping out of my clothes, which was sort of a relief as they were once again too large for me and somewhat uncomfortable because of that. My clothes all went to the floor, then I stood up, wishing that I had a mirror that I could really check myself out in. However, I didn't bother to keep any kind of a mirror in my bedroom. In fact, as far as I knew, unless Phil had one in his room, the only mirror in our dorm was the one above the bathroom sink.

At first, I just stood there and looked down at myself. I'd been able to tell that I had a pretty decent body with all of my clothes on, but seeing myself naked only verified this and made it more clear. It was even better than I'd thought.

"Man I wish I had a mirror," muttered as I slowly ran my hands over my legs. The skin was so soft and smooth...

Then felt my breasts. They were nice and shapely, and felt oh so nice to touch. I couldn't believe how sensitive the nipples were. It was incredible, just like it was incredible to think that these breasts actually belonged to ME.

And finally, I turned my attention to the new space between my legs. Of course, I'd already checked the new equipment down there out while going to the bathroom, so the sight was nothing new. This time though, I checked it out a little more carefully. It was even more sensitive than my new nipples.

"Very weird," I mused after I had finished looking over my changed body. It was definitely strange...just about all of it, but not really all that bad. The powers were definitely the best part of it though...

After I had finished checking myself out, I just sat back and played around with my new parts some since it felt so good. While I masturbated, the pleasure grew stronger and stronger until I finally exploded in an orgasm. It was stronger than any orgasm that I'd ever felt...and spread over my entire body.

"Very nice," I gasped to myself as I started up round two.

Eventually though, I was finished and ready for bed. However, I went to bed feeling better than I ever had before in my life. Even as I slipped off to sleep, I suspected that I was going to have some pretty nifty dreams.

***

When I awoke in the morning, I was somewhat startled to discover myself floating in midair, just a foot or so away from the ceiling. To my relief, my powers didn't suddenly cut out with my awakening and drop me back to the ground. That could have been painful.

"Jeez," I muttered as I slowly shifted the gravity and lowered myself to the ground, "What a way to sleep..."

Once I was back on the ground, I looked up and shook my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe that my new powers had kicked on in the middle of the night without my even activating them.

"I guess I'll have to be careful about camping like this," I gulped at the sudden thought of floating away in the middle of the night. That would definitely not be good.

With a sigh, I went to go get some breakfast, but as soon as my bedroom door was halfway open, I saw Phil sitting in our shared space eating a bowl of cereal. I quickly pulled the door shut again, gulping at the thought of what would happen if he caught me like that.

"Thorn?" Phil called after me, though I didn't answer.

"Damn," I whispered, knowing that I couldn't let Phil find out about what had happened to me. If he found out, then it wouldn't be long before half the campus knew that I'd had a sudden sex change.

I locked my door with a frown, ignoring Phil when he called out my name a second time. Fortunately he was silent after that, and I could just imagine him shrugging and going back to his breakfast.

Then I looked down at myself and let out a sigh. I was still a girl and a buck naked one at that. I sure as hell couldn't just walk out the front door with Phil sitting there...not looking like I did now. And certainly not without any clothes either.

"Let's see," I mused as I turned to look around my small room.

If I was going to go anywhere, the first thing that I would need would be some clothes to wear. All of my own were too large, and though I could put those on and go with it like I had yesterday, I would rather have something that fit just a little more comfortably.

It only took me a few minutes to find what I was looking for. I had a pair of shorts which I could tighten up to fit, and a T-shirt that had always been a little tight on me. Of course those weren't stylish fashions, but they would do for the moment.

Then I looked at my shoes for a moment. They were too big for me at the moment and had slipped around a bit the day before. I could easily get them to fit a little better by putting on several pairs of extra socks, though decided not to bother. I could do without for the moment.

"Who needs shoes when you can fly?" I grinned to myself as I came off the ground.

Of course, I still had to get out of the room which meant going past Phil. Except of course, I no longer had to. I glanced at the window and smiled. There's more than one way out of a dorm room when you can fly, even when you happen to live on the third floor.

It didn't take me very long to fly over to Kelly's place, though it took a little longer than I'd wanted as I tried avoiding attention. I felt a strange mixture of embarrassment and glee when several people looked up and actually saw me in the air.

"Knock, knock," I called out as I landed by the back door. I figured that Kelly might not appreciate the attention that I'd get if I landed in front of the house where everyone could see me. As it was, I'd been pretty careful to avoid being seen by anyone close to her place.

After ringing the doorbell, I only had to wait a minute for Kelly get there. I was actually a little disappointed that she hadn't heard me calling out as I landed, but I still gave her a somewhat embarrassed smile as she opened up.

"Thorn," Kelly gulped at the sight of me.

"Yeah," I gestured down at myself, "I'm back to this again..."

Kelly wasn't surprised at that since I'd talked to her the night before just after changing back into a girl. But she still looked a little surprised anyway.

"Um...come in," Kelly gestured, then gave me a bit of a smirk, "You need a bra..." At my blank look, she pointed to my shirt where my nipples were pretty visible and said, "You're kind of showing."

All I could say to that was, "Oh..."

"You want something to eat?" Kelly asked me as she went for the kitchen.

"Sure," I nodded, "I had to skip breakfast to keep Phil from seeing me..." Then thinking of my roommate, I looked around, "Where's Claire?"

"Class," Kelly shrugged.

"Cool," I grinned, "It's just the two of us..." Then I bent over to give Kelly a kiss, but she pulled away.

"Sorry," Kelly grimaced, "But I'm not into girls..."

"But," I started to protest. "I'm not really a girl..."

"You sure look like one to me," Kelly pointed out, much to my disappointment.

Unfortunately, I had to admit that she did have a point. I looked every bit a girl. Then I let out a sigh, "At least these powers are pretty cool..."

"Well," Kelly sighed, "I can try getting rid of them again..."

"If you must," I rolled my eyes and held out my hand for her to touch, while at the same time looking forward to getting my normal body back.

As soon as Kelly touched me, I felt the changes in my body. I had to loosen my shorts as they were getting a little too tight. Even my shirt, which had been fitting fine, even a bit loose just moments before now felt a little tight.

"Well, it worked," I told Kelly, "Again..."

"Let's just see if it stays working this time," Kelly told me with a worried expression.

Kelly and I sat down and ate breakfast at that, with me telling her about what I'd been doing since changing back to a girl the night before. I even told her that I'd checked my body out, though I neglected to go into any details. Somehow, I wasn't sure that she'd appreciate the novelty of my little game of grab-ass with myself.

However, about an hour after Kelly had changed me back to normal, I felt the tingling and once again changed back into my green haired girl form. It had worn off AGAIN.

"Oh shit," I whispered, having had a bad feeling when I'd changed back the night before and having it even worse now. Something told me that this was NOT a good sign. "Change me back again..."

"I can't," Kelly shook her head. "Whenever I give someone powers and it wears off...I always have to wait half an hour to an hour before I can do it again. I think that this is probably the same way..."

"How can this be the same way?" I demanded in annoyance, "You're taking powers away...not giving them to me."

"I don't know," Kelly admitted with a sigh. "I've never used my powers on another developed before... And I've never taken anyone's powers away before." Then she frowned, "But I think... I think that I've just found a new part of my powers..."

"Oh?" I encouraged.

Kelly nodded thoughtfully, "I don't think I cured you...or that I even can. I think that I've just discovered how to temporarily take powers away from developed instead of just giving them to normals..."

"Well...that could be useful," I pointed out, not seeing how it really could be since she had retired from being a super hero.

"Maybe," Kelly frowned, looking at me with the same guilty expression from the day before. "But I think it means that I can only change you back to normal for an hour at a time..."

I just stared at Kelly for a moment, absorbing what she had just said. If this was true, and I had no real reason to doubt that it was, then I truly was a real developed. And...and that meant that I would remain a developed...and a woman for the rest of my life. Though the first part excited me, the last was a hard bit to swallow.

Still, I wasn't going to just accept the idea that I would remain a woman for the rest of my life without more proof. Once Kelly was able again, I had her transform me back to my old male self. But once again, an hour later I had reverted to my female body...my new body.

"It looks like I'm stuck like this," I finally admitted, looking down at myself. I slowly touched my breasts and sighed, "And it looks like these are here to stay..."

"I'm sorry," Kelly told me quietly.

For a moment, I just remained silent, trying to take it all in... Or at least trying to take in the fact that I was going to remain a woman for the rest of my life. Strangely, I wasn't as completely horrified at the prospect as I could have been. After all, it wasn't like I had turned into some hideous monster or anything. In fact, there was a part of me that was almost glad.

"At least I get to keep these powers," I grinned to Kelly, who could only stare at me in disbelief.

I suppose that it would be hard for Kelly to understand. In fact, it was a little hard for even me to understand. Sure, I was pretty shaken up about losing my manhood...about being trapped as a woman and even losing my own identity. I couldn't very well run around using my old driver's license or anything. But on the other hand, there were the powers that came with it...

I had dreamed of being a developed...one of those rare special people for my entire life. Where some people dreamed of being movie stars, rock stars or sports heroes, I had always fantasized about having super powers. Of being unique and having special abilities.

Now, thanks to that experiment and Kelly acting as a catalyst to the latent abilities that I had gained during it, I'd finally gained my dream. I had finally become a developed and gained super powers. That was literally a dream come true. And looking at it from that perspective, turning into a girl to gain my lifelong dream was actually kind of a small price to pay.

"I can't believe you're not freaking out," Kelly gasped.

"Well," I shrugged, not sure how to explain it.

"You're not gay, are you?" Kelly asked in disbelief.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked her. After all the time that we'd spent together, she should know very well that I wasn't gay. "Then again," I added thoughtfully as I looked down at myself, "I guess I qualify as a lesbian now..."

"Well I wouldn't think that most guys would take a sex change so well," Kelly grumbled.

"It's not that I like being a girl," I told Kelly, feeling a little embarrassed. "If I could change back into a guy, I'd do it in a moment. But..."

After hesitating for a moment, trying to decide how to explain what I was thinking, I decided to just be honest. I told Kelly about my lifelong dream of being a developed, and even of being a super hero. It had always seemed like a kind of embarrassing thing to admit to someone, but it was the truth and I wanted her to know.

"My God," Kelly gasped when I was finished, "You're actually enjoying this..."

"Well, the power part at least," I shrugged, giving an embarrassed grin. "And being a girl is pretty weird, but it's not the end of the world or anything."

"What about your family?" Kelly asked hesitantly, "What are you going to tell them...?"

I just sat there for a moment, frowning. Kelly and I had never really talked much about my family, but then again, there wasn't really much to talk about.

"What family?" I asked her. "I don't have much of a family. My mom's an alcoholic and I haven't seen her in nearly two years. And I haven't seen my dad since the divorce when I was seven..."

"I'm sorry," Kelly blushed, "I didn't know..."

"No problem," I shrugged. "In fact, not having a close family was one of the requirements for that experiment I told you about..."

Then as I sat there next to Kelly, thinking about my family, or lack of one, I couldn't help wondering if that might have had something to do with my lifelong wish to be developed. Maybe it was a way of compensating, of wanting to be special and unique rather than mostly ignored as I had been. It was something to think about, but at a later time.

"What are you going to do about school?" Kelly asked me after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"Well," she rolled her eyes, "I don't think you can go looking like that..." She pointed at my chest, then frowned, "Unless you go public with your changes and prove your identity I mean."

I looked down at myself and let out an, "Oh..."

Then I gulped, realizing that Kelly had a point. A very big point. Not being able to go to my classes or finish my degree was something that I hadn't even given the least consideration to. Even if Kelly helped me with her powers, there was no way that I could finish things up with only being myself for an hour at a time.

"I'm sorry," Kelly started to tell me again.

However, I put my hand on hers and gave her a weak smile. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's mine. Remember what they say about being careful what you wish for..."

Of course I was pretty bummed out with the realization that I wouldn't be able to finish my degree. Especially after I'd already put so much effort into it. But that was sort of like being turned into a girl, something that I didn't like but couldn't do anything about. It was one more part of the price that I was going to have to pay for finally gaining my wish. The price was more than I'd ever imagined and it just kept getting steeper.

"Well," I said slowly, more to myself than to Kelly. "I guess I just have to keep focusing on the positives..."

In spite of the downsides, there were definitely some serious upsides to my condition as well. Those were what I needed to remember.

"Kelly," I looked her hopefully, "If I'm going to be a super hero, I'm going to need a costume..."

She stared at me for a moment, as if trying to decide whether I was serious or not. Then she nodded thoughtfully, giving me a reassuring smile, "Then I'll help you... Back in the Crusaders, I used to make all our costumes..."

With that, Kelly grabbed some pens and paper and we began sketching some ideas for super hero costumes. Some of them were pretty bad, and then there were some that looked good on paper but Kelly insisted would look lousy in real life. I had to bow to her experience. Eventually though we came up with a design that I liked.

"I'll get to work on it right away," Kelly grinned at me, looking rather proud of herself. It looked as though she were really getting into this whole thing. That was something of a relief for me because I didn't know what I'd do if she'd insisted that it were a bad idea.

"Thanks," I told Kelly with sincere gratitude.

With that, I gave her a big hug, but when I tried to kiss her as well, she pushed me away with a firm, "I told you, I'm not into girls." She looked apologetic, "I'm sorry..."

"Yeah," I sighed, adding Kelly to the list of things that I was going to lose because of my changes. I had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before I heard that 'let's just be friends' speech from her. That was not something that I was looking forward to. Not at all.

"Well," I told Kelly, "I guess I should be going home..." I paused at that as I suddenly remembered my roommate. "Oh yeah...Phil..." It wasn't going to be easy sneaking in and out past him or keeping him from finding out.

I was just about to Kelly's door when she called out, "Wait..." As I turned back to her, she looked a little uncomfortable before giving me a weak smile, "You can't just keep living there... I mean, unless you go public with this..."

"I'll lose my identity and everything associated with it," I sighed, quietly stating the obvious. I was going to lose school...and the dorm since that went along with it. "But I can't go public," I said quietly. "It would be too embarrassing... And besides, I don't think that they'd accept me like this..." I gestured down at myself. "I'd be kicked out of school anyway, and even if I wasn't, there would be just way too much attention..."

"I'm sorry," Kelly repeated what was seeming to become her favorite statement.

"Don't be," I told her with a smile that was a little more forced than I would have liked. "It'll be all right. Besides, if I'm going to be a super hero, I won't have time for school..."

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence before Kelly said, "I was thinking... I was thinking that since you can't really stay at your dorm, you could move in here with me and Claire. We have room and I'm sure she won't mind..."

At first, I thought that Kelly was kidding, but she wasn't exactly the type to make that sort of offer lightly. And from the look on her face, I could tell that she was serious. My next thought was to turn her down, but she did have a point. I couldn't very well stay in the dorms and I was going to need a place to live.

"All right," I agreed with a nod. "But only until I get everything straightened out..."

"Great," Kelly grinned at me. "I can change you back for awhile so that you can pick everything up from your old place... But first..." She looked me over with a nod, "If you're going to be like this for good, you're REALLY going to need some new clothes."

"New clothes?" I frowned as I looked down at myself. Kelly did have a point about that too. My old clothes didn't exactly fit me all that well anymore.

"In other words," Kelly grinned even more broadly, "Shopping trip..."

From the look on Kelly's face, I was afraid that she was going to drag me out the door right then and there. However, she decided that I would have to be dressed a little more appropriately before going out in public to shop for more appropriate clothes. It seemed to me as a bit of a catch 22. And fortunately...or unfortunately, she had the answer to that too. Her own closet.

After Kelly had begun looking through her own closet, she gave me a careful look, "Actually, I think that you're a little closer to Claire's size... But between the two of us, I'm sure that we'll have what you need..."

"Oh joy," I responded, rolling my eyes.

"While we're at it," Kelly paused, "I really should measure you. For your costume..."

Kelly wasted no time in pulling out a tape measure and going over my measurements. It was a bit embarrassing, but I sat there and quietly cooperated as she did so and wrote down the results. But the moment that she was done with that, she was back to the closets.

By the time that we were finished, I was wearing a pair of Claire's slacks, one of her shirts and a pair of her shoes. The girl clothes were a little embarrassing, but I reminded myself that I was going to have to get used to them. And I had to admit, they certainly fit me better than anything that I owned.

"At least they aren't pink," I commented aloud, earning a bit of a giggle from Kelly.

Soon after this, Kelly and I left for the clothing store. I felt more than a little uncomfortable walking into the women's section, especially the lingerie section, but I was determined not to act all weird about it. Like it or not, I was a woman now and was going to remain as one... That was something that I was going to have to get used to, so I figured that I might as well start.

"I guess we should start with a bra," I suggested to Kelly, who seemed a little surprised by my being the one to suggest it. Knowing her, I figured that she was going to take me right to the bras and watch me squirm and argue as she suggested that I would need one. In fact, I had probably taken away most of her fun.

It didn't take long to discover my bra size thanks to Kelly's experience in the matter, and even less to grab a few of them as well as the panties. Then we were on to the next section...shoes. Fortunately that was much less embarrassing and I managed to get away with only the tennis shoes, in spite of Kelly's insistence that I'd need more.

"This is going to kill my bank account as it is," I reminded Kelly with a scowl. "But since I won't be paying for classes anymore..."

But as we continued with the search for a new wardrobe, Kelly told me, "This isn't a REAL shopping trip you know. This time we have too much that we have to buy so we won't have time to really try everything on..."

Kelly's statement didn't really make a whole lot of sense to me, but I wasn't about to argue it. Kelly was obviously getting into the whole shopping thing and I wasn't about to discourage her from helping me even more.

Eventually though Kelly and I left the store with quite a bit of new clothing and items which she insisted that I would need, though I wasn't even sure that I saw the purpose of. It hurt though, spending that much money on CLOTHES when I still had a dresser and closet full of them back home.

"Jeez," I muttered under my breath after leaving the store, "It would be so much easier hauling this stuff if I made it a little lighter..." Unfortunately, that would mean a very noticeable green glow, though I suppose that my green hair was nearly as noticeable.

Somehow, I managed to make it through the day, though pretty much the whole thing had been spent shopping. I'd never imagined how exhausting it could be just going out for new clothes, but then again, I'd never really done it with Kelly before either.

By the time we got back to Kelly's place, it was getting fairly late. There was of course no way for me to move my stuff over even if I still had the energy, so I just crashed there and planned to move later on.

When I woke up in the morning, I didn't know where I was at first. But as soon as I saw that I was floating a couple feet above the floor of Kelly's storage room, what was soon to become my bedroom, it all came rushing back to me.

"Oh yeah," I grumbled as I settled to the ground, sat up and poked at my breasts. "Two nights with these things down, a whole life left to go..."

I frowned a little as I made my way to the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror for a few minutes and wondering if I'd ever get used to this. Of course, the fact that I had no choice certainly helped provide the motivation to do so.

"I guess I should take a shower too," I muttered, sniffing at my arm pit and scowling. I'd been in such a hurry the day before that I hadn't even thought about it.

"Definitely," Kelly said from behind me. I turned around and saw her standing there at the bathroom door, holding her nose with a look of mock horror. "You might want to make that a bath though..." Then she pointed to several bottles on the side of the tub and added, "Make sure you use conditioner when you do your hair..."

"Gee thanks," I rolled my eyes. She reminded me of my mom. Or at least she reminded me of what I had always thought a real mom should act like. Mine hadn't been much of a real mother since I was pretty young.

"You'll need it with that hair," Kelly grinned. "Have fun..." And with that, she closed the door and left, much to my relief. I normally enjoyed showering with her, but I wanted a little more privacy this time.

"Just me and you," I poked at one of my breasts, "and you," I pointed at that other.

When I settled into the bath a minute later, I let out a sigh of relief. It felt so nice... It was so easy to just slip into the water and soak there for awhile. I was enjoying where I was so much that I didn't even bother to start washing myself for at least ten or fifteen minutes.

While I was washing myself, I was completely amazed at just how soft and smooth my skin felt. Then I noticed something and stared at my arms a little closer. I didn't have a single hair on them, not even the very fine ones that most women had. I didn't have those on my legs either... In fact, other than what was on my head and between my legs, I didn't see a sign of any other hair on my body.

"I guess that will save me the trouble of having to shave my legs," I grinned. "Kelly will be so jealous..."

Then, I began playing around with my body a little, mostly just feeling it up. My new parts felt pretty damn good and they reacted so well... That was definitely the most memorable bath that I'd ever taken.

Eventually though, the bath ended and I climbed out, admiring my naked body in the mirror for several more minutes. It was a hot body and well worth admiring, though I would have much rather admired it on someone else rather than myself. Still, I had to admit to myself at least that if I was going to be stuck as a girl, at least I was a good looking one.

Once I had finished with that, I got all dried up and into my nice new clothes. They certainly felt more comfortable on me than my old clothes did. Then again, they were actually made for my new body where my old clothes weren't.

"I guess I really will have to get used to wearing girl clothes," I shrugged, deciding to just accept it and move on.

But then came the serious business of all that I had to take care of that day. There was no doubt that I could put it all off and take care of it later, but I decided to take care of it then as part of my effort to accept and move on. There was no doubt that I would remain a woman, so I didn't want to hold onto some false hope.

Kelly gave me a jolt of her power, changing me back to my old male body. I wouldn't be able to remain like that, so I made good use of my time in going to the campus office and officially dropping out of school. It hurt to have to do that, but I couldn't addend classes in my new body and Kelly couldn't keep me in my old one long enough to finish a single class.

"Don't worry," Kelly comforted me, "Once you're all settled in, you can always finish your degree online..."

Finishing my degree online was great, and something to definitely think about for later, though it did have one major problem. How in the world would a degree in my real name do much good for me looking as I did now? But that was a problem for another time.

After that, I turned my attention to moving out of my dorm room. Fortunately Phil was in class rather than hanging around, which made it much easier since I didn't have to explain why I changed from the old me to the girl me right in the middle of packing. And also fortunately, most of the furniture belonged to the dorm so I didn't have to worry about that.

"Hey," I grinned to Kelly as I lifted my large TV with one hand and no effort, "With these antigravity powers I could make a killing as a mover..."

Kelly just grinned, "Show off..."

By late afternoon, everything that I had needed to take care of had been done. I had officially left the college and moved out of my old dorm. All that anyone knew was that Thornton Michaels was just another college dropout...like so many others before him.

The whole thing was a little depressing, though I tried not to think of it that way. It wasn't that my life was over... It had just changed. The day of Thornton Michaels was over, but the day of Counterweight had just begun.

***

It was several days since I had moved out of my old dorm and in with Kelly. Fortunately, Claire didn't have a problem with me being there and actually seemed to think that it was a good idea. Still, it was a little weird for me living with two girls...even if I was one now as well.

I hadn't really done much since I had moved in except for play around with my new powers and just try to get used to being a girl. That might not sound like much, but that last part alone kept me pretty busy.

Then of course, there was the problem with Kelly. She was great about helping me out and trying to help me get used to my new life. However, she had made it perfectly clear that she wasn't a lesbian, which made continuing our physical relationship out. I was becoming more her best friend than her boyfriend, which was somewhat uncomfortable for me to think about.

I had just finished with my morning bath, a new ritual which I was really beginning to enjoy. I had even sworn to myself that from then on, I was going to take a bath over a shower whenever possible. There were so many advantages to just soaking... And with a smile as I thought about how good what I had been doing in the bath had felt, I adjusted my new robe around me and went into the living room where Kelly was already waiting.

"What's up?" I asked, seeing the look on Kelly's face. There was no doubt that she was up to something, though I hoped it wasn't another makeup lesson like the day before. We'd spent nearly two hours with her just trying to teach me how to use the stuff.

"You look like you're in a good mood Thorn," Kelly grinned at me.

"I was," I paused suspiciously, "What are you up to?"

Kelly just gave me a look that seemed to scream, 'who me?' However, I knew her too well to fall for that. Then she just grinned, "I have a present for you..." And with that, she reaches over for a box and hands it to me.

For a moment I just stood there with the box in hand, then I slowly opened it, half suspecting that a bunch of those springy snakes would jump out at me. Nothing actually jumped out at me, but I still gasped, "Wow," when I saw what was inside.

Without a word, I carefully pulled the contents from the box and held it up for a better look. It was a costume...the very same costume that Kelly and I had designed together. She had finished making it...

"Wicked," I grinned as I turned it over.

The costume was mostly a single piece spandex bodysuit which covered everything from the neck down. It was about two thirds black, with white under the arms and arm pits, around my torso and on part of my chest. But there was more... The costume also had a pair of green metallic shoulder plates and bracers for the back of my forearms. It also had a pair of green leather belts which would sort of hang loose and cross over each other, with a single round belt buckle which worked for both of them.

"Totally wicked," I whispered as I looked it over again. "It looks even better than I'd imagined..."

"Try it on," Kelly urged, "I want to see how it looks on you..."

"You don't have to tell me twice," I responded with a grin, dropping my robe and climbing into the costume right there in front of Kelly.

The costume was a snug fit but comfortable. Kelly really had made it to my exact dimensions, which made me even more excited. She must have put a lot of effort into getting that costume just right.

"Well?" I asked as I slowly turned around, letting Kelly get a good look.

"You look great to me," she grinned, "But you're the one who has to wear it. What do you think?"

"I think I should have gone with blue and gold instead of black and white," I told Kelly with a straight face.

"WHAT?" she gasped, her expression making me burst out laughing.

"It's perfect," I assured her with a grin, "Absolutely perfect."

Still, I couldn't resist going to the mirror to check myself out. The costume definitely looked good on me, and I felt a nervous excitement to be wearing it. Now I not only had my super powers and a cool code name, but a great costume to go with them. It was literally a dream come true.

"So," I asked Kelly with a grin, "Does this mean that I'm a super hero now?"

"It takes more than a costume and powers to be a hero," Kelly told me, her expression going more serious. "It's pretty dangerous..."

"I know," I told Kelly with a nod, going more serious myself. "I'm not naive. I've given this a lot of thought..."

"I just want you to be careful," Kelly said as she gave me a hug. Then she stood back and gave me something of a forced grin, "So why don't you go try it out..."

"Just what I was thinking," I grinned.

After reassuring Kelly that I would be careful and wouldn't do anything stupid, though I had my fingers crossed at that last, I left the house, looked both ways and then flew up into the air. I rather hoped that no one had seen me take off, but was realistic enough to realize that it probably didn't really matter. After all, with my green hair and the fact that I didn't have a mask, it wasn't like I could have a real secret identity.

"Well," I muttered to myself, "My real identity is a secret..." Unfortunately, it wasn't like I could just change back into the old guy Thorn anytime I wanted.

However, as I went higher and higher into the sky, all other thoughts faded away. I was lost in the thrill of flying, of being able to do so under my own power. It was better than any roller coaster could ever be. And it was mine...all mine.

I had no idea how long I just flew around up there, shifting gravity this way and that to pull me along. Flying that way was becoming easier and easier, though after awhile, I took a break and just hovered in the air with zero gravity. I felt like an astronaut as I rolled around in midair.

But then, as I thought about how much I felt like an astronaut floating around in space, I came up with another idea. I grinned as I lowered myself back down to the ground. Then I shifted my gravity, letting it pull on me in the same direction as normal, but with much less force.

"One small step for man," I grinned as I took a jump, going a good ten feet in the air before I came back down. "One giant leap for mankind." Then I chuckled as I took another small jump in lowered gravity, "Just like hopping around on the moon..."

After jumping around in lower gravity for awhile, I decided to go back to flying. Jumping was fine, especially when I could jump both extremely high and extremely far, but shifting the gravity a little more and actually flying was even better. It was like jumping so high that I never came down.

It was just a short time later though that I noticed several cop cars racing down the street with their sirens blaring. At first, I just hovered in the air and watched them in curiosity. But then I gulped in realization.

"Damn," I muttered, my eyes following the cops and then glancing down at myself, or more specifically, the costume that I was wearing. "I'm supposed to be a super hero....so act like it."

With that, I started following the cop cars, keeping a good distance as I wasn't sure if I'd be needed or not. Still, if there was any chance that they could use me, I wanted to make sure that I was able to get there in time to help.

However, before the cops even got to their destination, I spotted it from the air. It was hard to miss with the other cop cars around there and the gunfire that I could hear. I moved in for a close look at let out a loud gasp.

"Holy shit," I exclaimed.

I could scarcely believe what I saw as it looked like a scene straight out of a movie. There were half a dozen guys dressed in black running out of the bank. The fact that they were all wearing ski masks and carry guns and duffel bags was a pretty good clue as to what had just gone down.

"A bank robbery," I scowled.

My heart raced with excitement. This was it...my first outing as a super hero. My baptism of fire as I guess they'd call it. This was my chance to become what I had always wanted to be...a super hero.

Since I wasn't sure of the exact procedure, I landed on top of a car a short distance in front of the robbers and stood there in a heroic pose as I announced, "I'm Counterweight and you're in trouble..." Jeez, that sounded cheesy even to me.

"What the fuck?" one of the bank robbers exclaimed in surprised.

"Shit," another of them blurted out, "It's a fucking developed..."

Then almost as one, four of them pointed their guns at me and, and only then did I remember that being bullet proof was NOT one of my powers. I let out a curse as I jumped backwards behind the car, just before they started opening fire.

"Not a good idea," I gulped, wondering for the moment what in the world I had been thinking of when I'd decided to become a super hero. Of course it had been my dream for years, but the reality wasn't quite as glamorous as I had imagined. Not that Kelly hadn't already warned me of that. "This is NOT going well..."

For a moment, I remained where I was, taking cover behind the car which seemed to be enough to keep the bullets from reaching me. Until that moment, I had been thinking how incredibly cool my powers were. But now, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell good antigravity powers were for being a super her.

"Why couldn't I get invulnerability and super strength instead," I muttered to myself.

However, once they stopped firing, I did suddenly come up with a use for my antigravity powers. I turned around and grabbed hold of the car, concentrating and spreading my antigravity aura around it. Then with a grin, I shifted the gravity just enough to cause the car to rise about six inches off of the ground.

"Super strength," I grinned.

I smirked a bit, knowing that to anyone watching it would almost appear as though I was super strong and actually lifting the car. Of course, even if I did have super strength, there was no way that I'd be able to actually lift a whole car just from the door like that. The weight and leverage just wouldn't allow for it. The door would come off first. But I wasn't using strength to lift the car, I was using gravity and that was a whole different situation.

And with that, I pushed the now weightless car which was easy to move in that state. It shoved it before me as I ran forward, using it as a battering ram. I heard a loud thud and figured that this might be enough.

"Gotcha," I grinned as I let the car drop and flew a dozen feet into the air.

To my delight, I'd caught two of the robbers with that move, and they were trying to get up from the ground. It looked as though one of them might even have a broken arm as a result. The cops were already in motion, having stood back while they were charging out of the bank but now going straight for the robbers now that they were on the ground and had dropped their guns.

While the cops were handcuffing the two downed robbers, I looked around for the others and noticed that they'd jumped into a car and were already driving off. I remained where I was for only a moment, wondering how the hell they could have driven off when there were at least a dozen or so cops scattered about.

"You'd almost think that these cops liked having super heroes come in and take care of everything," I muttered to myself.

But I didn't have time to take care of that. I'd made a decision to be a super hero and stop those criminals, so that was exactly what I was going to do. I wasn't about to stop now just because I'd taken down two of them and the rest had run away.

Though I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do just yet, I quickly flew after the car, realizing that with the way that they were driving, they were going to hit someone real soon. And I wasn't about to let that happen.

With that, I dove down and landed right on the car roof, immediately spreading my aura and reversing the gravity. Suddenly, the car was no longer drawn to the ground, but to the sky above. And in an instant, it began falling...upward.

I continued holding onto the car roof as we went up, something which was easy to do since I was within the same field as the car and more than capable of controlling which direction gravity pulled on me. I slowed down the rate of fall slowly reversed gravity until it all balanced out and we just stopped and hovered...a couple hundred feet in the air.

Then I grinned as I heard the men inside the car yelling and screaming. There was pretty clear panic in their voices, a fact which I just loved. Then one of the men shouted, "That fucking bitch is on the roof.... Shoot her..."

"I wouldn't do that," I called out to the men in the car. "If anything happens to me, the car falls. And if the car falls..." I let them think about that for a minute, then smiled as a bunch more cursing followed.

"Now this is what you're going to do," I yelled to them, "You're going to drop your weapons out the car window... And if you don't, I'll just go and drop them myself..." I put a bit of menace into that last and it obviously worked as the guns went falling out the window.

Since that was taken care of, I shifted gravity once again and slowly brought us back to the ground. I even settled us down right next to where a bunch of cops were waiting, staring at the descending car with looks of awe.

"Here you go," I let go of the car and dropped it the last couple of feet. I bet the guys inside were pretty shaken up from that.

And almost as soon as the car had hit the ground again, the cops rushed up to it and pulled the men inside out. The bank robbers almost seemed grateful for the cops hauling them away, and I smirked as I noticed that more than one of those four had pissed their pants.

"God I love being a super hero," I grinned as I waved at the cops and flew back into the sky.

I was unbelievably excited by what I had just done. It was the most thrilling thing that I had ever done in my life. And it was an adrenaline rush unlike any other. Not just because of the danger or the fact that I had actually had my first super hero experience. It was more than that. I had finally lived my lifelong dream...

When I finally returned to Kelly's place...now my place as well, I was as giddy as a schoolgirl and as high as a kite. I'd never been more jazzed in my entire life and wanted to share it with her.

"Guess what," I cried out as I ran into the living room, a huge grin plastered on my face.

"Let me guess," Kelly grinned back, "You stopped some bank robbers..."

I blinked at that, "How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," Kelly shrugged. Then she laughed, "Actually, I was just watching it on the news a few minutes ago..."

"On the news?" I gasped in surprise. "How'd they get that on the news so fast?"

"Well," Kelly grinned, "They were already starting to cover the bank robbery when you showed up..."

"I didn't see any cameras or TV people," I grumbled, feeling a bit upset at being caught by surprise like that.

Kelly just rolled her eyes. "They didn't have any, but someone had called the TV people and they were interviewing a couple cops immediately afterwards..."

All that I could say to that was, "Oh..."

"I was kind of worried," Kelly admitted, looking a little embarrassed. "I glad that you're all right. I guess I shouldn't worry, but I know what goes on out there..."

"It was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be," I admitted to her, feeling a bit embarrassed at that. "My powers don't exactly make doing that stuff by myself as easy as they could be..."

"That's why a lot of developed work as teams," Kelly told me, having gone entirely serious. "Everyone has their own powers and they can work together and cover each other's weak spots..."

"I guess," I sighed, thinking back to just how close I had already come to being on a super hero team. "I wonder what it would have been like being one of the Miracle Men..." Not that I hadn't wondered that same thing a million times in the past.

"It's their loss," Kelly told me. "Now let's get you changed out of that. I'm kind of hungry and was thinking of going out to eat..."

I stared at my approaching enemies in horror, taking another step back but not being able to go any further. They had me pinned up against the wall and there was no way that I was going to be able to escape.

"Don't be such a baby," Kelly snapped in annoyance.

Claire just rolled her eyes and said, "It's for your own good..."

"No way," I shook my head, "You've got to be kidding. Forget it..."

Kelly just snorted and held up the box of tampons, "Look Thorn... I know that you haven't had your first period yet, but sooner or later you're bound to. You really need to learn about your new plumbing while you have time..."

"Jeez," Claire shook her head in disbelief. "For someone named Thorn, you sure are a wimp... Some big tough super heroine you are..."

"Hey," I tried defending myself, "That stuff's gross..." Even I knew that I sounded like a petulant child at that.

This time it was Kelly who rolled her eye, then announced in exasperation, "Fine then. If you'd rather wait to learn about hygiene until after you start having your period..."

"And don't forget yeast infections," Claire chimed in.

"All right," I growled in frustration as I surrendered to the inevitable. I gave an exaggerated bow to Kelly and said, "Please sensei, teach me your wisdom..."

"A bit melodramatic?" Claire glanced at Kelly who just shook her head.

A minute later, they started my lessons in feminine hygiene, trying to teach me everything that I would need to know about my new body. Some of what Kelly told me was just rehashing the stuff from health class, though this time I paid a little more attention now that it actually had a bit more to do with me personally. However, they also gave me advice on such things as the best way prepare for my 'monthly visitor' and why I should carry tampons and Midol with me, even when it wasn't my time yet.

As much as I hated to admit it, their lessons were quite practical and I was sure that they would come in quite useful in the future. Of course, they were also extremely embarrassing and I was quite uncomfortable sitting there through them all. I rather would have been back doing some more makeup lessons.

Finally though, it was Kelly who brought the lessons to a stop. "I'm sorry," she apologized, "But I've got to get going to my aerobics class..."

"Finally," I muttered under my breath, more than glad for the little break.

"I should get going too," Claire added, "I've got a computer programming class to get to..."

"That reminds me," Kelly rolled her eyes, "I've got to get that paper for my history class written... It's due Tuesday..."

I just frowned at that, reminded of how I had to drop out of school. Of course, I reminded myself, I could just get around to doing an online class and getting my degree that way.

But then Kelly noticed my frown and came up, "Don't worry," she assured me, "Everything is going to be fine..." And with that, I felt the tingle of her powers rushing through my body.

"What?" I blinked in surprise as my body reverted to my old male form. "What's this for?" I asked.

"Just so that I can do this," Kelly grinned as she pressed up against me, getting my 'little buddy' all up and excited. It was nice having him back, even if it would only be for an hour.

After I gave Kelly a nice long kiss, I grinned, "Very nice..." Then I whispered in her ear, "Do we have time for more before you have to go?"

"Fraid not," she looked a bit disappointed at that, then grinned, "But we can always spend a little quality time together tonight..." Her hand went for my once again male crotch to let me know exactly what she meant.

"I'll definitely be looking forward to it," I told her enthusiastically.

"Puh-leeze," Claire rolled her eyes. I blushed in embarrassment, especially as she pointed out, "You're still wearing girl clothes..."

I looked down at myself and grimaced, "Damn..." I'd thought that they felt way too tight, though I had been too distracted by Kelly to give it much intention.

Kelly and Claire both had a good chuckle at that, which kind of ruined the whole mood. Fortunately, they were both out of the house in just a couple minutes, leaving me along to change out of those clothes and have a little time alone.

When I went back to my room and looked my male self over, it was hard to believe that this was only temporary. It was hard to believe that I had barely spent any time at all as a guy over the last few days. Kelly had changed me back once or twice, but we hadn't been able to take full advantage of that time. At least not as much as I would have liked.

After I spent a few minutes reacquainting myself with my old equipment, my little buddy began to respond. It took a few of my favorite fantasies to get him up to the job, but since he was up and awake and Kelly wasn't around, I decided to take care of him by hand...for old times sake.

"Too bad," I muttered after I'd finished jerking off, "It feels better as a chick..." Not that I'd ever admit that to Kelly or just about anyone else. "I guess there are advantages to that form besides super powers..."

But as I had expected, Kelly's power wore off after just a little while. I could feel the tingling rush through my body just moments before the changes began. Once again, I felt my body reshaping itself, the breasts growing and swelling from my chest even as my hair grew longer and green. And of course, there were the changes in my genital region...

Once the changes were complete, I took a moment to check myself out again. Damn, it was enough to get me turned on. Though I didn't like to admit it, there was something a bit erotic about actually being turned into such a hot chick. Again, that wasn't something that I was going to tell Kelly either.

While I was checking myself out again, I was getting rather excited and my body was really responding. Of course, that wasn't much of a surprise as I started getting turned on a little just about every time I looked at my new self in the mirror. This time, I let myself go with it and began fingering my equipment.

"Ooooh yeah," I purred to myself, "That feels good..."

I kept playing with myself for a bit, loving the incredible sensations that they produced. My whole body just tensed up and built up a powerful sexual pressure, a pressure which finally exploded into raw orgasmic bliss.

"Oh yeah," I gasped out with a grin, "That part is definitely better than for a guy..."

Of course, I grinned mischievously to myself, I couldn't be absolutely certain with just that one try and would need a few more attempts to compare it with. Just like a scientific experiment... God I loved the scientific method...

***

I awoke with a smile, still delightfully dazed from the night before and mildly surprised to actually find myself still in bed rather than floating above it. That was something of a first since my powers seem to kick in automatically while I slept, leaving me to wake up a foot or so above the bed or even on the ceiling.

Then grinning to myself, I looked over at Kelly, who looked so beautiful sleeping beside me. She was like an angel, with her brown hair spread about her like a halo. It was all I could do not to bend over and give her a wake up kiss. Unfortunately, I was fully aware that she would probably not appreciate the sentiment all that much at the moment.

"Too bad," I whispered to myself.

After remaining where I was for another minute, I slowly started to climb out of bed, being careful not to wake Kelly up. Somehow, even after the fun that we'd had the night before, I didn't think that she'd be all that comfortable waking up next to me as I currently was. When we'd went to bed, I had been a guy, though that had obviously worn off again.

As soon as I was outside of the bedroom and had the door closed behind me, I looked down at myself and cupped my breasts, letting out a sigh. It was a pity that Kelly wasn't willing to experiment, because I was kind of curious about trying my new body out.

"I guess I'm a lesbian now," I muttered to myself, silently thankful that I hadn't suddenly started feeling attracted to guys. There were already more than a few strange things for me to get used to and I didn't need something like that added to it.

With a shrug, I went to the bathroom to take care of my morning business, and perhaps even get in a nice long bath before my new roommates were up and about. But as I began to pour the water, I noticed something sitting on the counter, something that had been left there from the day before.

I stared at the box of tampons with a look of thinly veiled disgust and wariness. So far I had been lucky enough not to have my first period, or even the early signs of one. But I was realistic enough to know that it was only a matter of time. That was a fact that I was still trying to accept.

"Sooner or later," I thought about Kelly and Claire's lessons from the day before, grinning slightly as I added, "Hopefully later..."

Then, almost as if to prove to myself that I wasn't intimidated by the box, or at least by what it represented, I picked it up and slowly read over the directions. I didn't need to as Kelly and Claire had already explained it all in embarrassing detail, but I read the back of the box nonetheless.

Once I was finished with that, I set the box back down, feeling a little more sure of myself. Sure, I would have to deal with periods now, but half the planet did without much problem. And if girls like some of the total ditzes I knew could deal with them, then so could I.

Since that was done and over with, I was able to give my full attention to my bath and just how nice it felt. And since I was in such an accepting mood of my new body, I even poured in a little of Kelly's bubble bath. It as a bit girlie, but then again, so was I now.

After my bath, I slipped on Kelly's cotton bath robe and went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. But on second thought, I decided to make it, thinking that if I couldn't wake Kelly up with a kiss, maybe I could wake her up with the smell of bacon instead.

The rest of the morning was quite pleasant. Kelly was pretty happy to wake up with breakfast already made, happy enough to change me back to a guy as a 'thank you' for a bit of a makeout session before she had to go off to class. I definitely could have handled doing that for a bit longer.

Eventually though, sometime later in the day, I decided to put on my costume and go out doing the super hero thing. I got ready to go out 'on patrol'. I was pretty new to the whole super hero thing and wasn't sure what else I could be doing. It wasn't like I had some sort of Counter Cave where I could hide out and watch porn until I heard reports of super villains over the police scanner.

"I wonder how other heroes do it," I muttered to myself.

Just flying around until you stumble across a crime seems sort of...frustrating. And it seemed like a pretty big waste of time too. Still, I didn't really have anything else to do, so that was exactly what I ended up doing.

"I've got to get me a police scanner or something," I sighed after I'd been flying around for nearly an hour. It was fun flying, but I hadn't done anything more heroic than helping some old guy get his cat off the roof.

But then I saw them...the police cars, racing down the street with their lights flashing. I smiled faintly at the sight, thinking that this had worked for me before so maybe it would work again.

"Take me to the crime," I grinned, hoping that it wasn't another bank robbery.

However, I followed them to where they were going, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't a bank robbery. In fact, after staring at the chaos below me for a minute, I actually wished that it was a bank robbery.

"Oh shit," I gasped out.

There were about a dozen or so people in uniform, and by uniform I meant that they were all wearing dark blue jackets with the same symbol, a golden crown plastered across the back. And all of these people, mostly men in their twenties, but also a few women, were running from store to store, hauling away bags full of stolen money and articles. But as three men ran out of a jewelry store, I suspected that these ones had more money than articles.

But even though the gang of looters were causing quite a bit of havoc, stealing nearly everything of value on the street and chasing the citizens away, they were obviously not the real threat. The true threat, or was that threats, were a pair of men who were quite obviously developed.

The two men were busy keeping the police busy, and were obviously providing protection for the looters as well as a large distraction so that they could go about their business. And it was also quite obvious that the two men were developed due to the fact that one of them was picking up a car and throwing it at the police, while the other one just stood there and laughed as the bullets bounced off of him.

Not only were these two men developed, but they almost looked as though they could be twins. Both of them were 7 feet tall, heavily muscled white men with completely bald heads. Even their costumes were almost identical, the only difference being in the color. One of them wore a costume that was green and gray while the other one had a costume that was red and gray.

"Oh shit," I whispered again, suddenly feeling more than a little nervous.

It had been hairy enough dealing with the bank robbers, and they didn't have any super powers. But these guys were developed... I'd never been in a fight with a developed before and this would be the first time. However, I'd always known that it would be a part of being a super hero and was determined to go ahead and do what I had to do.

"They look like bricks," I commented to myself, trying to think of how I could deal with them.

Since they were bricks, which meant that they were developed who possessed enhanced strength and toughness, then they would be pretty hard to take down. But on the plus side, that also meant that they had fairly simple and obvious abilities and that I wouldn't have to worry much about them pulling out any trickier powers. At least that was what I hoped that it meant.

After taking a deep breath, I lowered myself closer to the ground and loudly announced, "I'm Counterweight... Now why don't you boys step back and let the nice cops do their jobs..."

The two men looked up at me, one of them calmly but the other with a look of surprise. The calm one, the one in the green costume yelled back, "I'm Smash..."

Then the other, the surprised one in the red costume added, "I'm Bash..."

"Smash and Bash," I muttered. "How corny..."

"Now come down here so I's can smash ya," Bash yelled up at me.

"Shouldn't HE be the one who smashes me?" I gestured to Smash. "I figured you for more of the bashing type..."

"Just take care of that flying bitch," one of the looters yelled out to Smash and Bash. "If she stops us, you guys won't get your share of the take..."

"You heard the man," Smash grinned to Bash. "Let's get her..."

Without a moment of further hesitation, Smash tore a street lamp loose from the street, while Bash ran over to a fire hydrant and tore that loose. He didn't seem bothered by the burst of water that erupted from where the hydrant had been, and in fact barely seemed to notice that he was getting wet as he threw the hydrant at me.

I managed to avoid the fire hydrant, and then the street lamp which quickly followed. However, the street lamp had come pretty close. And it dawned on me that my powers weren't exactly suited for dealing with these guys. All they had to do was throw all that heavy stuff, and if they hit me just once... I shuddered at the thought. This was NOT going to be easy. Not in the least.

"Don't make me have to disintegrate you," I bluffed, hoping that they wouldn't realize that I was lying about the power to do that.

"If she coulda done that," the same looter who'd called out before told them, "she woulda done it already..."

"Damn," I grimaced, hating it when the bad guys used logic.

However, that didn't seem to matter much as Smash and Bash were already in motion. They couldn't touch me directly, but they had obviously realized that if they threw enough stuff at me then they were bound to hit me sooner or later. And that was something that I definitely wanted to avoid.

Since being on the defense wasn't going to do me much good and my powers weren't very good for offense, I had to find some way of dealing with them. And hopefully I could figure out how to stop them before they stopped me.

Then I remembered how I had dealt with the bank robbers and grinned to myself as I thought that it would be a good time for a repeat. With that, I landed on the street a short distance from them and grabbed a car. After stretching my antigravity field over it and raising it about a foot above the ground, I shifted gravity about 90 degrees so that from the car's perspective, the direction that Smash and Bash were in was down.

Though my antigravity field would only remain on the car a few seconds after I had ceased touching it, that was more than enough for it to do what I intended. The car went flying, straight into Smash, sending him back several feet back. Unfortunately though, he didn't go down like I'd hoped.

"I'm gonna smash you," Smash howled as he picked up the very car that I'd sent flying at him and threw it back at me.

I quickly reversed my own gravity and shot upwards, managing to avoid the thrown car. And at the same time, my changing position also let me dodge the mailbox that Bash had sent in my direction as well.

"Damn," I muttered in fear, not sure what I could do against those two other than to just keep smashing them with cars. I was terrified, but I grimaced and tried to focus on doing what I could do.

As soon as I settled back to the ground in order to grab another car, Bash came charging straight at me. I gulped in terror, but instead of running away, I decided to use that opportunity. I stepped to the side and touched him, shifting his own gravity and sending him flying straight into Smash. This time they both went tumbling over onto the ground, though unfortunately they both also got back up a few seconds later.

Just then, I felt something hit me in the back. It snapped around in time to see one of the looters throwing a rock at me. And the other looters looked like they were going to get in on the act...from a safe distance.

"Oh great," I complained bitterly, "As if I didn't have enough trouble with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum...."

And then, as if arriving right on time to make things even tougher for me, another costumed figure stepped around the corner. It was wearing a blue cloak which covered the head and obscured the body so that I couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman. However, the cloaked figure was holding some sort of gold metal staff...

"The mysterious mastermind of this whole mess," I grimaced.

Then the blue figure turned, revealing the figure beneath the cloak, which was definitely female. She was wearing some sort of blue and light blue costume with a gold metal belt. The briefest glimpse of her face revealed that she wore some sort of gold metal mask that covered the upper part of her face.

Suddenly the woman sprung into motion, surprising me as she lashed out with her staff and caught one of the looters in the arms, making him drop his bag of stolen goods. Then she swung her staff at another looter, this time getting him in the legs and sending him flying to the ground.

Though the woman turning out to be on my side was a surprise, I didn't have time to keep watching her as I had to deal with Smash and Bash, who were both ready to go at it again. I grimaced and prepared to deal with them, though was sidetracked once again as one of the looters jumped me.

"Let me go," I snapped, hitting him with my aura and doubling his own personal gravity.

I hadn't even realized that I could increase gravity until that very moment, but at the same time, I could sense that my powers in this regard were pretty limited. I could only double the current gravity, not increase it any further than that.

The man hit the ground under his new weight and I jumped back, giving him a swift kick in the ribs before I turned to deal with my two developed foes. Somehow, I didn't think that increasing their gravity was going to do much against people as strong as Smash and Bash.

Smash got to me first, but I was ready for him and managed to touch the side of his body and send him flying right into Bash again. Then as they were struggling to get up, I grabbed Bash's ankle and charged him up with my aura as much as I could. I grimaced and reversed his gravity, then let go as he went rocketing straight up into the sky.

I watched with a smile as Bash went up higher and higher, until my aura cut out and he was once again under the power of regular gravity. Suddenly, he began dropping, hitting the ground with enough force to put a small hole in the street.

"Damn," I gasped aloud.

To my surprise, Smash went running over to check on his partner. I was a little surprised at that as I hadn't expected any super villains to care at all about anyone else. But then again, I guess that under those weird powers and wild costumes, even super villains were still people. Or at least I assumed that most were.

Since the two bruisers were occupied, I was able to spare a glance at the woman in blue. She had taken out about a third of the looters. The rest of them were either in the process of running off or grabbing their weapons, which mostly consisted of knives, and attacking her. However, her bo staff gave her the edge in distance and she was able to take most of them out before they got too close to her.

As their fight got closer to me, I grabbed one of the men who as just about to attack her from behind and doubled his gravity. The sudden increase caused him to drop the golf club that he'd gotten somewhere and was about to hit her with. Then it was an easy matter of giving him a couple of good kicks while he was trying to recover.

"Not very sportsmanlike," I muttered to myself, "but it works."

"Thanks," the woman in blue exclaimed as she turned about.

As she turned, I saw that the cloak of her hood had fallen back while she had been fighting, giving me a good look of the brown hair which hung about her shoulders. I also got a good look at her face, even though it was largely covered with the gold metal mask. But from what I could see...from her voice...

I gasped in recognition, "Kelly?"

"It's Catalyst," she grinned at me. "I thought you could use a hand..."

"But," I blinked in surprise, "I thought that you'd retired..." And I glanced at the bo staff in her hand which she'd been handling with incredible skill, "You said you couldn't handle yourself in a fight..."

"Those aerobics classes I've been taking," Kelly admitted with a bit of an embarrassed smile, "They're actually martial arts classes. I've been taking them ever since I left the Crusaders..."

But before I could ask Kelly more about what was going on, about what else she might have been keeping up her sleeve to surprise me with later, there was a booming sound. It grew louder and then a wall in a nearby building exploded outward.

"Oh shit," I gasped as a figure began to emerge, "This can't be good..."

The man was large...in fact, he was nearly identical to Smash and Bash. He was a 7 foot tall, heavily muscular bald man. Even his costume was the same as theirs, though his color scheme was gray and blue.

"Hey Crash," Smash called out to him as he moved away from Bash who was beginning to get up, but very slowly. "This bitch hurt Bash..."

"Smash, Bash and Crash," I muttered, shaking my head. "I hope that there isn't a Dash or Lash showing up soon..."

I gulped at the sight of the latest bruiser, realizing that he must have been sitting back as some sort of backup in case something happened where he was needed. And unfortunately, at least for me, it looked like he had decided that this time was now.

"As if I hadn't been having enough trouble with just two of them," I sighed.

"Damn," Kelly muttered from beside me, "I'd almost forgotten why I didn't like doing this too much..." Then she shook her head, "How about you start with those two and I'll deal with these guys," she gestured to the looters, "and help you afterwards."

"Sounds good to me," I sighed.

With a single look, I saw that Bash was back to his feet, though he was staggering a bit and looking rather dazed. I'd hurt him. Not enough to take him out of the fight, but I had hurt him. And that was the best news that I'd had all day. Unfortunately though, he was still up and active, and there were still Smash and Crash to deal with.

"Come here little girl," Crash called out, "I'm going to teach you what happens when you mess with me and my brothers..."

With that, Kelly charged straight at the remaining looters, most of whom started to run away from her, apparently deciding that they should keep their distance. However, I didn't have time to focus on what Kelly was doing as I had my own set of problems to deal with.

Since I obviously couldn't go against those three head on, I had to come up with another new tactic. I took to the air to give me a moment to think, then smiled faintly as I remembered how I'd dealt with the bank robbers. It was perfect.

I took a deep breath as I landed on top of a nearby car and spread my aura. Crash and Smash were charging straight at me, but I shifted the gravity and lifted both the car and myself up into the air before they arrived. I remained atop the car as we ascended, going up higher and higher. I could hear the villain's cries of frustration as I moved well out of their range.

"If a little fall can hurt Bash," I told himself, "a big impact is sure to hurt them as well..."

With that, I adjusted the gravity in order to aim myself a little, then suddenly cut loose from the car. Normal gravity immediately began pulling the car back down to the ground. It not only fell, but the pull of gravity caused it to fall faster and faster, accelerating at a rate of 9.91 meters per second.

A few seconds later, my aim proved to be accurate as the car smashed right into where Crash and Smash were standing. I laughed at the irony of them being taken out by a smash and a crash. Or maybe that was a big boom and a crunch.

"Gotcha," I called aloud, laughing as I did so. Then with a grin, I lowered myself back towards the ground.

But as I got closer, I saw that my aim hadn't been quite as perfect as I had hoped. I had hit Crash pretty much dead on, and he was in a big indentation on the ground with pieces of the car covering more than half his body. He was groaning and moving, but he didn't look as though he was going to get up.

Smash on the other hand had been hit, but not was as direct a hit or getting as much damage. He was groaning as he struggled to his feet. His arm hung a little limply, but there was a look of absolute fury on his face that let me know that he wasn't about to give up just yet.

And of course, Bash was still around as well, moving over to check on Crash and Smash. He looked at his two fallen partners, or perhaps brothers as Crash had referred to them as being. Then he glared at me as well. I just groaned. Sure, I had managed to take one of them out and hurt two, but I had also managed to make it personal.

"Gonna fuck you up," Bash snarled.

"We're gonna fuck you up good," Smash added.

With that, Smash tore another lamp post from the ground and swung it like a baseball bat. There was no way that I was going to get close enough to use my powers on him again as long as he had that thing, and I was pretty sure that he wasn't going to sit still long enough for me to drop another car on him.

Bash yelled a bunch of profanity and started throwing things at me. There was a tire from a car, a chunk of rock, and a piece of metal that I couldn't identify. All I could do was fly back and dodge the flying junk.

After a minute of just dodging junk and staying out of Smash's reach, I decided that I was going to have to get offensive again. It wasn't going to be easy, but there was still something I could do.

I flew back towards another car and charged it up, sending it flying straight at them. Smash jumped to the side in time, but Bash wasn't as fast. He got hit good, and I think that it did a bit of damage since he was already hurt, but I wasn't about to count on it. But before they could recover, sent another car flying at them, this time catching Smash.

"Gotcha," I muttered, "I just hope that these guys are insured..." I felt kind of bad about wrecking these people's cars, but I didn't see anything else nearby that I could use.

Then while Smash was distracted from the impact, not to mention unarmed as he had lost the lamp post, I ran up to him as fast as I could, touching him on the back and covering him with my aura. I reversed his gravity and launched him straight up into the air before turning my attention to Bash and doing the same thing to him.

"What goes up must come down," Kelly exclaimed with a bit of a laugh. That was all the reminder I needed to get out of the way before it started raining muscle heads.

I laughed as Smash and Bash came back down, almost landing right on top of each other. It looked like our fight was beginning to take a toll on them as they were both looking pretty bruised and battered. However, neither looked as though they were going down anytime soon and I knew that I couldn't keep that up for much longer.

This time, I didn't wait for Smash and Bash to get back to their feet before I went after them again. I charged them up and immediately sent them back into the air again for another round of dropsies. It might not be enough to stop them for good, but it was certainly going to slow them down a bit.

"You bitch," Smash snarled as he slapped me away to keep me from doing that to him yet again. "I'm gonna smear ya all over this street..."

"You've done a smash up job of it so far," I teased him, knowing that it would get him even more pissed off.

Then he made a lunge at me in order to grab me, but I saw it coming and grabbed his arm instead. In just a moment, I had covered him with my aura and changed gravity. However, this time I decided to do something just a little different. Instead of just sending him up into the air, I decided to go up with him.

Smash and I flew up into the air, even higher than when I'd sent him up alone. I took him up further, higher and then grinned as I let go.

"Bye bye..." I waved at him as he started to fall again.

I took my time in returning to the ground, and when I got there I found that Smash was STILL up. He was staggering, barely even managing to remain on his feet at all. But he wasn't down completely.

"Stubborn bastard," I muttered.

But while I was staring at Smash, Bash came at me. I heard Kelly call a warning, which gave me enough time to shift my gravity and yank myself to the side. Then I quickly reached around and grabbed Bash's ankle.

Instead if sending Bash up into the air, at least WAY up, I just neutralized his gravity and reversed it only just a hair. I still held onto his ankle while he floated above me, just like a helium balloon.

"Hey, lemme down," Bash demanded, while I just laughed.

"It looks like you have things well in hand," Kelly laughed as she came up.

Then Kelly walked up to Smash and hesitated just a moment before touching him. She took a step back and watched with a look of amusement as Smash began to shrink... He grew smaller...skinnier. His costume began to hang loosely on him. And in just a few more seconds, Smash had turned into a fairly ordinary looking guy.

"You took away his powers," I gasped in realization.

"Yeah," Kelly grinned, "I guess my powers actually can be useful in fighting developed after all..."

"Well," I licked my lips, "how about using them on Bash here..."

"Hey," Bash tried struggling, not doing to much as he was floating in zero gravity with no leverage.

A moment later, Kelly had touched Bash and he began to shrink down and lose his powers as well. I smiled and let him drop unceremoniously to the ground, knowing that he was no longer any threat. And he wouldn't be for about an hour.

"I guess that takes care of that," I told Kelly with a grin, and a sigh of relief that it was all over with.

"Now the cops will show up and take care of the mess," Kelly told me, gesturing to the distance where I could see several cops standing back and waiting. "They usually wait until things are over with since they can't do much against developed..."

I let out another sigh, then gave Kelly a weak smile, "Let's get out of here and get something to eat..." Then I chuckled, "And a bath. Definitely a bath..."

"Sounds good to me," Kelly grinned, then added, "So, what do you think of my costume?"

"Cool," I grinned, "Very cool."

Kelly looked rather pleased at that. "Thanks. I made it myself..."

Just then, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and snapped around, seeing a swirl of darkness just a short distance away. The darkness faded and there was a small group of people standing where it had been. A group of people that were all wearing bright colored costumes. And more than that, a group of people whom I immediately recognized.

"The Miracle Men," Kelly gasped from beside me.

All that I could do was stare at them, at the super hero team that I had once been so close to joining. And all that I could think to say was, "You're too late..."

***

The world was a strange place, filled with odd coincidences and irony. This was something that I had learned especially well during the past week since I had changed into a girl and become Counterweight. And at the moment, there was yet another odd coincidence...or five of them, standing right in front of me.

I scarcely noticed the three super villains or the dozen or so looters whom I had played a large part in taking down just a few minutes earlier. Even the cops who were rushing in to arrest the defeated criminals barely drew any attention. Instead, I was staring at a spot in the middle of the street which had been completely empty just a minute earlier, yet now contained five individuals who appeared out of nowhere...literally.

These were the Miracle Men, a super hero group that I knew well. It was a group that I had strong ties to and whose career I had followed very closely ever since.

Standing in front was Ms. Miracle, a tall statuesque blonde who was incredibly gorgeous and everything that a female super hero should be. She was even wearing her traditional red and gold costume. It was Ms. Miracle that had given the group their name, not to mention their powers. Our powers...as mine had come from her as well. And behind Ms. Miracle were other four group members.

There was Rumor, a girl with short black hair that had a single white lock in it, which matched her black and white costume. Her powers were like her name, to be insubstantial, though she could teleport as well, which was how the Miracle Men had suddenly appeared in front of me. The last time I'd seen her in person she had been a bit more Goth than she was now.

Standing beside Rumor was a gorgeous redhead in a blue and dark blue costume with white trip. She was called Splash because of her ability to control water.

Surge was a tall skinny guy in blue and dark gray costume with gold metal trimmings. Like his name suggested, his powers were electrical. I didn't know the specifics, but from what I'd seen on news footage and the episode of that TV show Developments that focused on the Miracle Men, he could throw balls of electricity or something.

And the last member of the group was Quartz, a black guy wearing a black and green costume with white trim. It wasn't until that very moment that I realized the similarities between his costume and mine, though they were mostly in color scheme. However, his powers were completely different from mine, being the ability to create crystal.

"Stop where you are," Ms. Miracle demanded grandly, "We won't let you continue this destruction..."

I just rolled my eyes at that, "Um...excuse me," I started sarcastically, gesturing to all of the fallen villains and looters, "Those are the bad guys. WE are the good guys who stopped them. If you would have gotten here a few minutes earlier, you could have lent a hand. But now you're too late..."

"He...she's right you know," Kelly told them with a shrug, "You just wasted a trip..."

I was feeling a bit smug at the moment at having taken down the bad guys before the Miracle Men even had even arrived. It was a real boost to my ego, which had been a bit hurt by how I'd missed my chance to join the group while others had made it. And with that, I started walking up the wall of the building behind me, going up about ten feet and then sitting down and leaning back a bit. To me it felt as though I was sitting on the floor, but I knew that it had to look somewhat odd from their perspective.

"Hey Mike," I waved at Quartz, "How's it going?"

"What?" Quartz blinked in surprise at my having used his real name. After all, it wasn't public knowledge. "How'd you...?"

I just smiled at the look of surprise on his face, and nearly laughed as I saw the similar looks on the other's faces.

"Who are you?" Rumor demanded.

"Oh, introductions," I grinned. "I'm Counterweight. That's Catalyst..." I gestured to Kelly, who nodded her head. "Sorry, I'm not sure I remember your name," I looked at Rumor, "It's Betty...or Beth, isn't it?"

I didn't really know most of their real names and only knew that Quartz was Mike because we'd talked for a bit before his powers kicked in, and I couldn't help remembering it. As for Rumor, I'd asked about her briefly when I heard that the strange Goth girl had developed powers as well, though I'd never actually spoken to her until that moment.

This time Rumor looked even more surprised, but it was Quartz who demanded, "Who are you? How do you know our real names?"

"You probably don't remember me," I grinned, feeling a bit smug, "But I was eating dinner right next to you when your powers kicked in for the first time."

"What?" Ms. Miracle gasped. God, I loved causing that reaction.

"Oh yeah," I tried being as casual about it as I could, though the truth was that I had sort of fantasized about meeting them again since I had gained my own powers, "I was part of Project Miracle too..." I paused a moment, then shrugged, "It's just that my powers took a little longer to kick in than yours did..."

"You're kidding," Quartz gasped, his eyes going wide.

"That is unusual," Surge commented thoughtfully. "I was under the impression that if our powers hadn't activated at that time then we never would have developed..."

Ms. Miracle just gave me a skeptical look.

"And I was under the impression that she was dead," I gestured to Ms. Miracle. "McKenzie sure seemed to think so when he gave that spiel..." I figured that more of this inside knowledge would help provide my bonafides and prove that I was genuine.

Kelly just shook her head as she watched me, though I couldn't miss the smile on her face. I couldn't quite tell whether she was embarrassed at my showing off or amused by it.

"Hey," Kelly suddenly turned and started towards the cops who were in the middle of hauling away Smash and Bash, "Be careful with them... Their powers will come back in less than an hour..."

While Kelly was busy talking to the cops, or at least warning them, I turned my attention back to the Miracle Men. Or at least to Ms. Miracle. It was hard to believe that I had a living legend standing right there in front of me, though of course I wasn't about to let her or anyone else see me looking nervous about that.

Just about every member of the Miracle Men was staring at me, except for Splash who seemed more interested with the contents in the window of a clothing store, which was by some miracle undamaged in the fighting. Then Surge went and whispered something to Rumor and Ms. Miracle, though I couldn't hear what it was.

"Since you were part of the project," Ms. Miracle started carefully, "I was wondering if you would be willing to come with us for an examination. I'm sure that McKenzie would like to know why your powers developed so much later than ours..."

"Maybe some of the other volunteers have delayed powers as well," Surge added.

I glanced at Kelly, feeling a little nervous. Then I nodded, "Sure..."

Maybe they could even figure out a way to get me back to being a guy, but let me keep my powers at the same time. As it was, if they did have a cure, a way to permanently change me back to a guy that included my losing the powers, I wasn't sure that I would have taken it.

"But there was a catalyst that finished turning mine on," I glanced at Kelly with a grin.

It was just a minute or so later when Kelly had finished up with the police and we were all ready to leave. As soon as Ms. Miracle nodded to Rumor, I braced myself for her teleportation, having no idea what it would feel like.

Rumor's powers caused a swirl of shadows over us all, and the world grew dark and faded out, but just for a moment. As quickly as the shadows around us had formed, they were gone, revealing that we were standing someplace else. It looked much like a gymnasium, with exercise equipment and such scattered about.

"Welcome to our home," Rumor announced with a slight snort.

"McKenzie ain't gonna like this," Quartz muttered under his breath.

"Maybe not," Surge grinned back, "but I'm sure that Dr. Alvere will love it..."

"Then again," Ms. Miracle said thoughtfully, looking around, "If someone who supposedly failed to develop from the project can develop later on, I'm sure McKenzie will want to know immediately..."

"Who's this McKenzie you keep mentioning," Kelly asked.

"We'll introduce you," Splash grinned.

I had to fight back the urge to stare at Splash, or Ms. Miracle for that matter. But with Kelly standing right there, I had to be pretty careful about just how closely I looked at other women. Then again, I reminded myself, they couldn't possibly be interested in me unless they were lesbians, nor did they have anything that I didn't have myself. Of course, that didn't mean that I didn't still think that they were both pretty hot.

A moment later, a man in a gray suit came into the room. He was tall, with brown hair that was peppered with gray. His expression was serious and he had a pair of intense looking eyes that stared straight at me. There was no mistaking McKenzie, the same man who had seemed to be in charge of Project Miracle back when I was part of it.

"Who are these people?" McKenzie asked in a calm tone. He almost sounded as though he was asking what time it was.

"These are Counterweight and Catalyst," Ms. Miracle stated. She glanced at me before adding, "Counterweight says that she was part of the project..."

"She got the same shot we did," Quartz interrupted, "But her powers took longer to kick in..."

"That's why we brought her," Surge commented, "We thought you guys might want to check her out..."

With that, Ms. Miracle went over and talked to McKenzie for a minute. And though I couldn't hear what was said, they kept glancing over in my direction. I just glanced over at Kelly, who gave me a reassuring smile and shrugged.

Finally, McKenzie nodded and turned away while Ms. Miracle gave me a faint smile and told me, "Right this way..."

Ms. Miracle gestured for me to follow and then led me down a hallway and into some sort of doctor's office. And the doctor who was already waiting inside was a woman in her 50's or so, with hair that had been brown but was now heavily streaked with gray.

"This is Dr. Alvere," Ms. Miracle introduced me to her. Then Ms. Miracle went on to explain exactly why I was there to the doctor, who suddenly grew more interested and gave me a look of intense speculation.

"I wonder," Dr. Alvere mused to herself. "If this is true, then we may have created several dozen potential developed without even realizing it..."

"Well," I shrugged, "My powers didn't just turn on by themselves. I had an external catalyst..."

"That would be me," Kelly raised her hand for attention. "Part of my power is to temporarily activate powers in non-developed. However, they kind of jump-started hi...her dormant powers."

"Fascinating," Dr. Alvere looked at Kelly, "I'd like to talk to you about your own powers once I'm done with this examination..."

However, Dr. Alvere didn't spend any more time with Kelly before pulling me into the back where she began the examination. The word examination might be a little much as it was less of a physical and more of something else. She asked me a few questions about the nature of my powers, took a blood sample from me and had me lay down and go through some sort of scanning machine, and that seemed to be about the end of it.

"Well," I shrugged once we were done, "That was easy..."

It was only about twenty minutes after we'd started that Dr. Alvere seemed to be through with everything. McKenzie had down back up again and stood there with Kelly and all of the Mystery Men. However, McKenzie was giving me a rather suspicious look.

"There are unmistakable traces of the Miracle serum in her body," Dr. Alvere finally announced, looking down at a sheet of paper. "All biological indications are that she did indeed receive her powers the same way as the others."

"So she's really one of us?" Quartz asked.

"There is one small problem with that though," McKenzie stated, glaring at me with even more suspicion. "Quartz says that you claimed to have been in the same group as him, yet all of the women in that group have already been accounted for."

I gulped, hating to suddenly be put on the spot like that. Just when I'd thought all of my bonafides had been checked out, he goes and pulls that. And from the looks that the Miracle Men were giving me, I figured that I'd better give them an answer.

After a moment of consideration, I took a deep breath and said, "That's because I wasn't a woman when I went through the project." I had a hard time keeping my voice steady as I continued, "Before my powers kicked in a week ago, I was a guy."

"WHAT?" Several of the Miracle Men gasped at once.

"I don't know why," I shrugged in embarrassment, "But when my powers kicked in I went through a sex change as some sort of side effect." I took a deep breath as I looked up at the various Miracle Men, daring them to make something of it. "I know, it's kind of weird..."

At that, McKenzie, Dr. Alvere and the Miracle Men all gave a quick glance at Ms. Miracle, though I didn't see why. Maybe they were looking to her for guidance or something, but she did look a little embarrassed. Maybe she blamed herself since the serum that gave me my powers was taken from her blood.

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence that McKenzie broke by looking to Kelly, "Catalyst... Our files said that you were a member of a group called the Crusaders but that you all suddenly disappeared from the public scene a little over a year ago..."

Kelly nodded slowly, "I thought it was time to move on..."

She didn't offer any further explanation than that. But then again, I guess that it was none of their business. I guess my little sex change was none of their business either but that hadn't stopped me from mentioning it.

"I wouldn't mind running a few more tests on you," Dr. Alvere told me, looking at me with a thoughtful expression. I didn't particularly like that idea, but wasn't about to write it off entirely just yet.

"Do you have a way to reverse the serum?" I asked more out of curiosity than any urgent desire to return to normal. "A way to change me back?"

"No," Dr. Alvere shook her head, looking somewhat apologetic. "But have you attempted to transform yourself back? There is a good possibility that you might be a skitzomorph..." For some reason, her eyes quickly darted to Ms. Miracle and back.

I frowned and slowly shook my head at that. Actually, I had tried willing myself back to normal several times just to see if I could, though nothing had happened. Of course, that would have been too easy. So it looked like if I wanted to spend any time as a guy at all, it was going to be because of Kelly.

"No," I told her with a slight frown, "I'm not a skitzomorph..." However, I couldn't resist glancing at Kelly and we shared a faint smile.

A few minutes later we were all gathered in a commons room where we could sit down and talk. Dr. Alvere had remained behind in her office, apparently going over the scans that she'd taken of me, while McKenzie had gone off in a different direction.

While we sat around getting comfortable on the various couches and chairs, I noticed something that surprised me a bit. I was a bit amazed to notice that the members of the Mystery Men were joking around with Ms. Miracle, treating her as though she were one of them rather than one of the most famous heroes on the planet. And I was just as startled to see that she not only didn't seem to have the least problem with that, but was joking around with them too.

I glanced at Kelly who sat beside me, though I couldn't tell if she was thinking the same thing I was or not. It was a little difficult to read her face when she had that mask on.

"So...you're really a guy?" Rumor asked with a look of amusement.

"That's an...interesting side effect to your powers," Surge commented, his eyes quickly darting to Ms. Miracle and then back.

"Wow," Splash grinned, "That's kind of cool..."

"Yeah," I shrugged in embarrassment, "I'm still trying to get used to this myself..."

"So this is where you guys hang out," Kelly commented as she looked around, obviously impressed. "It's certainly a lot better than the garage we used back in the Crusaders..."

"You used a garage?" Splash giggled, "That is so cheap..."

"Well a bunch of high school students can't exactly afford a high tech secret hideout," Kelly pointed out with a bit of a smile. "In fact, the most high tech piece of equipment that we had was probably our microwave..." There were a few chuckles at that.

"Well, I'm Sabrina," Splash grinned.

Rumor and Surge both looked at her as though she had just given away their greatest secret. However, Ms. Miracle laughed, "It's not like it will hurt to introduce ourselves..." Then she paused, "But I guess I can't really give out my name..." She gave me a strange look and let out a bit of a sigh.

"I'm Kelly," Kelly introduced herself.

"Mike," Quartz nodded, then glanced at me, "But you already knew that."

"Beth," Rumor sighed, giving me a bit of a glare as she did so. I wasn't sure if it was because I had already known her name when we met back at the fight, or because I wasn't completely sure what it was.

"And my name is Allan," Surge stood up and gave a slight bow which made me roll my eyes.

Since I was the only one who hadn't given their real name besides Ms. Miracle, I shrugged, "I'm Thorn."

Splash...Sabrina blinked at that. "I thought your name was Counterweight?"

"Um, Thorn is my real name," I told her, wondering if she really was as big of a ditz as she seemed. I was beginning to get the impression that she should have been a blonde rather than a red head.

"That's an unusual name," Ms. Miracle commented neutrally.

"Well I'm an unusual guy...er...person," I responded with a shrug, earning a couple chuckles and another strange look from Ms. Miracle.

"How about a game of cards while you're here?" Quartz...Mike suggested. "I can go get a deck..."

However, McKenzie stepped into the room and announced, "I'm afraid that there's no time for that now. We have another mission..."

"What is it?" Ms. Miracle demanded, already on her feet and ready to go.

McKenzie just stood there for a moment with a scowl on his face, glancing at me and Kelly and obviously considering whether or not he should say more with us there. But he apparently decided that we were okay and nodded just slightly.

"Some kind of invisible wall has appeared around Manhattan," McKenzie stated, "It's cut off all traffic to and from the island as well as most communication."

"Oh shit," Quartz exclaimed, "That sounds serious."

"Do you know what's causing it yet?" Surge asked.

"Not yet," McKenzie responded grimly. "But that is why you are going in to investigate."

"But if no one can go in or out...," Quartz started in confusion.

Ms. Miracle just smiled and glanced to Rumor, "Except by teleportation..."

"I'm guess we'll drop you two off on the way," Rumor told me and Kelly.

"I'm coming with," I announced, giving Ms. Miracle and the others a determined look.

It was my very first super hero team up and I wasn't about to be left out of it. I glanced at Kelly, who hesitated a moment and then nodded her own agreement.

McKenzie looked as though he were about to argue, but Ms. Miracle told him, "We don't know what's on the other side of that invisible wall so the extra power might be useful."

"Very well," McKenzie nodded his reluctant agreement.

"Then let's get going," Quartz exclaimed, "I've been wanting to bust some heads all day..."

With that, he looked at me as if it were my fault that he hadn't been able to do so earlier. Then again, I guess it was my fault. After all, I was the one to take out Smash, Bash and Crash, or at least Kelly and I had.

Rumor took a deep breath and then the darkness spread out from her. Just a moment later, everything vanished from around me, only to be replaced by something else. Gone was the little room that we'd been sitting in, and in its place was a whole city of skyscrapers.

"Damn," I whispered as I looked around.

"So this is Manhattan," Kelly commented.

I was a little startled to notice that all of the people who were passing by on the street didn't seem at all concerned about the invisible wall around their city. Then again, I realized that they probably didn't even know about it yet. And I suspected that this might be a good thing.

"Be careful," Surge cautioned, sounding just a little nervous, "We don't know what's going on around here..."

"Keep an eye out," Ms. Miracle commented, then added, "I'm going to check things out from the air..."

"I'll go with you," I told her, lifting myself a foot or so into the air. "If we both look in different directions, we should be able to find anything strange twice as fast."

Ms. Miracle nodded and after I smiled at Kelly, the two of us went up into the air together. "We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes," she told me, then called out to the others, "Wait here, but be careful..."

With that, Ms. Miracle and I flew off into opposite directions. I frowned, looking around but not seeing anything that really looked out of the ordinary. There didn't seem to be anything around that could be causing that invisible wall around Manhattan. Or at least there didn't seem to be anything obvious.

However, it didn't take me much longer before I found something. The street below was empty, or at least nearly empty with only a few people running away. Whatever was going on was obviously happening in the direction that they were running away from.

But as soon as I went just a little further, just far enough to see on the other side of the building, I let out a, "Holy shit..."

There was a large section of street that was almost entirely gone. There was just a hole there, a crater filled with rubble and dust, with the buildings and cars near it not looking any better. There were at least a dozen cars that were smashed flat or torn to pieces, with the walls of the buildings shattered in and torn apart.

And then there were the cops... It took me a moment to even realize that they were there as there cop cars were just as shredded as the rest, and the cops themselves were scattered about on the ground, except for two of them who just seemed to hover a dozen feet above the air with looks of absolute terror on their faces. They were screaming and it looked like they were pounding against some sort of invisible wall and trying to get out. Suddenly, the cops dropped and fell to the ground, hitting with what looked to be a painful impact. But as the cops were still moving around, it was obvious that they were still alive.

I took the entire scene in with just a single glance, and only then noticed the figure that was hovering in the air above the damaged area. It was a man who was laughing loudly, obviously enjoying the destruction.

Then, I he shifted position just enough so that I could get a good look at him. The man was well muscled and blonde, with what some might call rugged good looks. He was wearing a spandex costume of blue and white, with the white on his chest framed by the blue to form the letter F. His costume also included a long flowing white cape, as well as chrome wrist bands and shoulder pads.

"Holy shit," I gasped out in shock at the sight of him.

For a moment, all that I could do was stare in silent disbelief at the man who had caused all of that destruction. I could hardly believe it... I recognized him... I knew that man, or at least knew of him. He was a hero...and had once been one of my personal heroes... I had seen the destroyer, and he was Force.

***

I hovered in the air, glancing down at Kelly and the Miracle Men who waited several hundred feet below me. I had returned to the meeting place a few minutes earlier but had decided to wait until Ms. Miracle returned as well so that I wouldn't have to explain what I had found twice.

Glancing down at my wrist, I muttered a brief profanity, wishing that I'd thought to wear a watch. I guess something that practical didn't exactly go with the spandex costume, though it was something that I was seriously thinking of adding once I got home. However, even though I didn't have a watch on me, I was pretty sure that it had been longer than the 15 minutes that Ms. Miracle and I had agreed to meet back there in.

But then I finally saw her coming. I nodded and slowly descended back to the ground, sighing at the eager looks of curiosity on the faces of those who had waited there patiently while Ms. Miracle and I had scouted around.

Before Ms. Miracle had even touched the ground, she was already announcing, "This isn't just an invisible wall around the city... It's a dome... A giant bubble..."

"So flying over the wall isn't an option," Surge muttered as if having been considering that option.

"But did you find what's causing it?" Rumor asked.

"I'm afraid not," Ms. Miracle shook her head, "I didn't find anything..."

"I did," I interrupted, immediately having every pair of eyes on me. "I found out who created the force field..."

"Well don't make us wait," Quartz demanded after I hesitated.

I took a deep breath, then blurted out, "It's Force."

There was a moment of silence while they all stared at me, but then Kelly blurted out, "What?"

"Force," I repeated quietly, then looking around, "You know...blue and white spandex. Used to hang with the Protectorate... He's the one behind this..."

They all stared at me with silent disbelief, even Kelly. I didn't blame them. Force was a hero, one of the greatest heroes in the world. While Ms. Miracle had always been famous as a solo hero, at least before her miraculous resurrection, Force was best known as one of the core members of the Protectorate, the greatest and most powerful group of heroes on the planet.

Of course, that was before Force had left the Protectorate for some reason and formed his own group called the Elite. Unfortunately for Force, the Elite had quickly fallen apart, then he had become embroiled in a scandal after recklessly injuring several people during a fight, and even attacking the police. After this, he had disappeared from the public view while more reports of his being extremely reckless in past fights began to surface. There were even several accidental deaths which he was now suspected of being responsible for.

But now Force was back, having emerged from hiding for some reason or other. I had no idea what his goal or reasoning was, only what he had done. And I made sure to explain this in great detail to the others.

"You must be wrong," Splash gasped, "Force would never do something like that..."

"Maybe he just finished chasing off the villain who was responsible," Surge pointed out, though his voice held a hint of uncertainty.

All that I could say to that was, "I know what I saw."

"Well, let's go check it out," Ms. Miracle said.

"It might be pretty difficult for me to teleport us there," Rumor pointed out, "I have a hard time going someplace that I can't picture..."

"I can take you all there," I suggested thoughtfully. As they all turned to look at me, I grinned, "Everyone hold hands..."

Once everyone was holding hands with someone else, all except for Ms. Miracle, I spread my aura around the group and lifted us all several feet above the ground. I heard several gasps at that, though couldn't place who they came from.

"Hold on tight," I told them all, "You don't want to get separated from the group and fall out of my aura..."

With that, I lifted us all higher into the air, while Ms. Miracle stayed close just in case anyone did slip loose. I didn't think that it was necessary, but it certainly didn't hurt to be careful.

"I feel like Wendy from Peter Pan," Rumor laughed.

"I know what you mean," Kelly grinned, "This is just like pixie dust.."

I grinned at that, feeling just a little self-conscious but even more proud. I always did like attention, which might be one of the reasons that I'd always wanted to be a hero.

We all arrived at the scene of the damage just minutes later. The crater was still there, as were all of the crushed cars and a bunch of new police and medics who were running about. But there was no sign of Force.

After I had set everyone down outside of the shattered street, they began to spread out and look at the damage. The police and medics seemed to have things handled as far as the injured went, though that didn't do anything for the source of the damage and injuries.

"I guess he moved on," I told them with a frown.

Splash gave me a look that said something like, "I told you so..."

"Or maybe not," Ms. Miracle said, pointing up.

I looked to where she was pointing and spotted him, a lone figure standing atop a building. He was hard to make out from that distance, but I had no doubt that it was Force. Then, perhaps realizing that we had noticed him, Force stepped off of the roof and just remained standing in midair before slowly descending.

As Force descended, there could be no doubt that this was indeed the famous hero. He radiated confidence and power, not to mention the fact that he was wearing his standard uniform, with the signature white cape flapping about.

"Force," Splash whispered.

"Did you come to help me?" Force asked of Ms. Miracle with a somewhat arrogant smile. He didn't even look at anyone else, as if Ms. Miracle were the only one even worth giving any attention to.

"Did you create that dome around the city?" she demanded, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Of course," Force responded with a tone that left no doubt that he was proud of that fact.

"But why?" Kelly demanded.

Force barely spared her a glance before telling Ms. Miracle, "To protect the city of course..."

"Protect it from what?" Ms. Miracle asked, quickly looking around for any sign of a threat.

"From everything," Force stated forcefully. "This city is under my protection and NOTHING is going to harm it."

There was something in Force's expression that I didn't like, something in his eyes. It was something wild...something dangerous.

"I am going to protect this city from any and all threats," Force announced with a somewhat wild look in his eyes, "I'm going to prove that I'm still the greatest hero in the world!"

We all went silent at that, and as I nervously glanced at the others, I could see that all of them looked just as uncomfortable with our current situation as I was. Even Ms. Miracle looked uncertain about what to do next.

"You're the one who attacked them," Ms. Miracle gasped out, "You're the one who did that to the police..."

Force snarled, "They attacked me... They attacked me as soon as I explained how I was going to protect them." Then he scowled, "It's obvious that these police were corrupt... And now I realize that it goes all the way to the top... I'm going to have to remove them and the rest of the corrupt police department and leaders..." Force was getting more excited with every moment, and looking more...scary.

"My God," Quartz gasped in shock.

"It appears that I will have to take complete responsibility for protecting this city by myself," Force announced, "They say that if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself..." Then he paused, a cold grin forming on his face as he looked around at all of us, "Unless... Unless you help me..."

"I don't think so," I spat out, "You're a fucking loon..."

"WHAT?" Force snapped to glare at me.

"You heard her," Quartz exclaimed, his whole body suddenly becoming covered with crystal, so much so that he looked as though he was actually made of the stuff. "You're crazy...!"

"You traitors," Force gasped out, "You're all against me too..."

Suddenly Force lashed out, sending a wave of raw force at us. Fortunately, Ms. Miracle and Quartz took the brunt of the blast, while the rest of us were just knocked back. I scrambled back to my feet, staring at Quartz, whose crystal shell had been badly cracked.

Ms. Miracle looked at Quartz, then back to Force, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Get him."

Before I had even realized it, Force was under attack. Surge fired a ball of electricity at him while Ms. Miracle charged forward and punched him with thunderous force. However, all it did was knock Force back a little. He didn't even look the least bit injured.

Force didn't hesitate before striking back, punching Ms. Miracle. I wasn't even sure that his fist actually connected, though she did go flying back....through another building's wall as though it had.

The rest of the Miracle Men were immediately leaping into action. Quartz, even though his shell was cracked, was getting up and charging at Force, throwing crystal spikes at him as he did so. Surge was throwing several more electricity balls and Splash getting a bunch of water from a fire hydrant, and making it move around her, completely under her control.

"It's times like this that I wish I had a more offensive power," Rumor exclaimed.

Kelly just nodded at her, "Trust me...I know what you mean."

Splash seemed to have decided that she now had enough water to get in the fight, because she shot it at Force as though it was some sort of energy blast. In fact, it seemed to hit him as though she were spraying water from a fire house, with perhaps even more pressure. Unfortunately, that seemed no more effective than anyone else's attacks.

Since just about everyone else seemed to have gotten in on the act, I decided to give it a go as well. I ran for a nearby car and did my gravity trick on it, sending it flying at Force. Of course it didn't do much to him since he was either invulnerable or had some sort of personal force field, but it certainly made me feel better.

If nothing else, I think that my attack might have weakened Force a bit, because when Ms. Miracle suddenly flew at him and gave him a heavy punch, it actually sent him flying and looked like it looked like it actually hurt him. But she didn't let up with that and charged at him yet again.

Ms. Miracle and Force flew up into the air, throwing punch after punch at each other. First one would be thrown back, and then the other. They took turns, both of them smashing into the sides of the buildings as they went up, getting more and more ferocious with their attacks on each other. Ms. Miracle even fired some sort of energy blasts at him from her hands, though it didn't seem to do any more good than Splashes overblown squirt gun had.

"Damn," I whispered as I watched the fight above me.

I was about to start moving up to help Ms. Miracle when Kelly told me, "I think she's got this handled..."

Though I frowned at that, not liking the idea of just sitting back, I had to admit that Kelly had a point. If anyone could stop someone like Force, it would have to be Ms. Miracle.

After several minutes, the fight started coming back towards the ground again. I flew up a little higher for a better view, but still keeping far enough back so that I wasn't in the way.

Suddenly, Force started to laugh. He had a grin on his face, and as Ms. Miracle dove at him, he just gestured and she was thrown into the side of a building with immense force. He hadn't even laid a finger on her, and I realized that he must have been playing with her the entire time.

A large amount of rubble fell from the building where Ms. Miracle had hit... It would have landed right on top of Rumor, and in fact did. But she turned dark like a living shadow, and the rubble felt through her as though she weren't even there. She climbed out of it without even a scratch on her.

"I'd better get anyone away from here," Rumor stated, pointing to where several people had come out of the buildings for a better look at what was going on. Most people seemed to have been smart enough to stay hidden inside, or to have run off when the trouble had started. But there were a few stragglers and she wasted no more time in getting them to safety.

"I'll help," Kelly exclaimed.

I was about to offer my own help, but I looked up to where Ms. Miracle had vanished, having a bad feeling about it. She climbed out of the building, looking pretty battered and exhausted. But almost as soon as she'd started to fly out, she was suddenly flung to the ground, once again without Force having laid a finger on her.

"This doesn't look good," I muttered, having a bad feeling as Force lowered himself back to the ground, an arrogant expression on his face.

Ms. Miracle got to her feet, then as one, the Miracle Men charged at Force, all save Rumor who was busy trying to evacuate the nearby people. Ms. Miracle fired her golden energy blast, Surge fired some sort of electrical ball while Splash and Quartz both attacked in their own fashions.

"Get that bastard," I yelled out, well aware that my own powers were not well suited to that kind of offensive attack. That had to be something like how Kelly felt.

All of the attacks just smashed off of Force's invisible force field, knocking him back a bit but obviously not really hurting him. Then he suddenly exploded, releasing a blast of raw force and kinetic energy in all directions. It was enough to throw me and everyone else backwards, though Ms. Miracle and Quartz once again took the brunt of the blast as they were the closest.

"I tire of this game," Force snarled, "I will teach you traitorous villains a lesson about standing against a great hero such as myself. And once I am through with you, I will tighten my protection of this city..."

Somehow, I had a feeling that Force's idea of 'protection' wasn't exactly a good thing. Not anymore now that he had maybe only a few marbles left, and I wasn't even going to count on that. However he'd lost his marbles, it was pretty obvious that he'd lost them but good.

However, Force wasn't finished with the Miracle Men, and instead of letting them get back up for another attack, he acted first. Ms. Miracle, Surge, Splash and Quartz were all suddenly lifted up into the air, and from the way that they were pounding their fists against nothing, it looked like he'd trapped them in some sort of invisible force field bubbles.

"Just like he did with those cops," I muttered, thinking about my scouting where I'd first seen him. Then I gasped, "Oh shit..."

With most of the Miracle Men out of action, the only ones left to deal with Force were Rumor, Kelly and myself. And none of us were exactly well suited to taking down one of the most powerful heroes in the world. In fact, I had the most offensive powers of the three of us, but that didn't mean anything. I was well aware of the fact that tossing cars at him wouldn't do much good due to his force field, and with his ability to fly on his own, my little gravity tricks were pretty much useless as well.

"Damn," I whispered, my heart racing with fear.

As much as I knew that I had almost no chance against Force, I still had to try. I wasn't about to just let him get away with this...or do who knows what with the Miracle Men.

Since Force seemed distracted by his prisoners, I decided to use the opportunity while I could. I ran for the nearest car and hopped on top, immediately covering it with my aura and launching it and myself straight up into the air.

"Higher," I told myself, "I need to get higher..."

I had no idea exactly how high I could go before I'd run into the force field dome, but I hoped that I was high enough when I finally stopped and decided to drop the damn thing. After all, if I went too high I'd run into the damn field and squish myself, not to mention the fact that I wouldn't be able to aim my damn bomb, and at the moment that was VERY important.

"Well," I grinned weakly, "I always knew that Chevy's were bombs..."

And with that, I reversed gravity and released the car, remaining atop it and guiding it until I was sure that it was going to hit where I was aiming...namely, right on top of Force's head.

"Gotcha," I yelled out as the car impacted with immense force.

Unfortunately, I realized that using force against someone who was a master of it was not exactly the best idea. However it was the only idea that I had at the time.

Force had seen the car coming and must have strengthened his force field at the last minute. The car hit and exploded, shrapnel from it scattering everywhere. Force was driven to his knees from the impact, looking shaken and a little dazed, but otherwise unharmed.

"Oh shit," I whispered, knowing that I wasn't going to get another chance at an attack like that.

Still, I wasn't about to just roll over and die just because my little bomb hadn't worked out quite as well as I'd hoped. Instead, I decided that I had best keep at it while I was on a roll. And with that, I landed beside another car, raised it from the ground and charged straight at Force, using the car as a battering ram.

"You stupid girl," Force yelled as he slapped the car aside.

Just then, ANOTHER car suddenly dropped out of the sky and landed right on top of Force. That one seemed to have caught him by surprise where mine hadn't, but it didn't look like it had been dropped from as high up either and had little more effect than my own car had.

"What the hell?" I stared at the completely totaled car in surprise, wondering where it had come from.

"I dropped that one," a voice said from behind me. I snapped around to see Rumor standing there. "A little teleportation," she shrugged, looking exhausted, "But moving that much mass took a lot out of me. I don't think that I can do it again..."

"Too bad," I sighed, "We could have used another one..."

"More than you think," she pointed out, "When you dropped your car on him, his other force fields weakened.... He nearly dropped them..." She pointed at the Miracle Men who were floating in the air, prisoner in Force's invisible force fields.

I stared at her, and then Force, understanding what she was getting at. Holding that big dome around the city, the Miracle Men, his own force field as well as fighting at the same time was draining him. Even he couldn't keep it all up.

"So we just keep attacking him and hope that he gets tired?" I demanded of Rumor, "I hate to tell you this, but I don't think that either of us have enough power to make him use that much energy..."

"He's already had to drop the force field around the city," Rumor told me. At my skeptical look, she added, "I went and checked on it..."

"But we still need more," I told her, taking a deep breath as I prepared myself to throw everything I had at Force.

But suddenly, an 8 foot tall naked woman who seemed to be made entirely out of gold came running straight at Force. She charged him, punching at him with what had to be immense power because he went flying back and into the wall of the building behind him.

"What the hell?" Rumor and I both gasped at once.

However, it was obvious that Force was not out of the fight as he immediately fired a force blast at the giant gold woman, sending her flying back not only into the wall along the opposite side of the street, but straight through it.

Just then, a cop came running up towards Force. I screamed out, "Get away from here..." There was no way that a cop's gun was going to do anything to someone like Force.

For a brief moment, the cop glanced at me and I let out a gasp of surprise. His eyes were glowing red. He quickly turned his attention back to Force and fired some sort of bright red laser beams from his eyes. They bounced off of Force, or at least his force field, though it obviously got his attention.

"What the hell?" I gasped, wondering where the gold woman and this developed cop had suddenly come from.

It was then that I looked down the street towards Kelly, who was touching some cop and then jumping back....just moments before his body became covered in a blue fire. It was Kelly... Kelly hadn't just brought in reinforcements...she was creating them.

The cop who was now covered with a blue fire started running towards Force, then seemed surprised when he found himself up in the air. Obviously flight was part of his powers and he was more than a little surprised at that, though to his credit, didn't let it distract him for more than a moment before he started throwing blue fireballs at Force.

After this came a paramedic woman who seemed to have gained the ability to make illusionary copies of herself. The only reason I knew that they were illusions was that when Force attacked them, the attack would go right through them as though they weren't there, and then they would promptly vanish.

More reinforcements came as Kelly grabbed several civilians who insisted that they could help out. This created a man with super speed and woman with the rather useless ability of making flowers grow from the ground around her. There was another man, though he didn't appear to have developed any powers at all, though I suspected that he had. I just figured that it was something like mind reading or enhanced senses. Some ability that just wasn't going to do much good.

I wasn't about to just stand back and watch all of these people attack Force though. I grimaced in determination, grabbed the nearest car....even though it was already halfway destroyed, and used my gravity powers to fling it at Force. I followed that up with another car.

All of us kept hitting Force, one after another, with whatever means of attack that we had at our disposal. Obviously some of the people's powers weren't going to do much good, but a bunch of rocks being chucked at him at super speed seemed to be rather effective.

Several minutes later, there was no doubt in my mind that it was beginning to work. The Miracle Men began to wobble in the air, as though their prisons were losing stability. Force was losing his energy or at least becoming far too distracted to keep it all up at once. And then...the Miracle Men all suddenly dropped to the ground, free of the force fields which had been holding them.

"YES," I shouted out in excitement.

Ms. Miracle was the first to react, immediately flying straight at Force again and punching him with enough strength to send him flying through a wall or two. He climbed out of the rubble with a furious expression, nothing even resembling sanity remaining on his face. He screamed and let out a massive force burst...shattering cars and ground, as well as everything else in front of him. Fortunately, the speedster had grabbed the woman with the flower power and yanked her to the side in time.

"You're under arrest," the laser eye cop shouted, firing another blast, while the gold skinned Amazon went charging at him.

Force knocked those cops to the side, then fired several force blasts at those around him, creating massive destruction in the buildings nearby. However, his blasts looked a bit weaker than his earlier ones had been. He was definitely getting tired.

"ENOUGH!" Force howled out, firing a blast directly at Ms. Miracle and sending her flying back into the golden Amazon. Then he growled, "I will destroy all you foul criminals!"

And with that, Force unleashed everything he had in a massive burst of raw kinetic energy and force which exploded in all directions at once. There was a wave of destruction, and the laser vision cop was caught in the front...and his body shattered.

Ms. Miracle, Quartz and the golden Amazon were caught in the blast as well, though they were tough enough to survive it. The speedster managed to get himself and of the others who were close to Force out of the way as well, while I managed to reverse my gravity and shoot up into the air and out of range just in time.

"NO," I gasped as I saw the mangled cop, who had died fighting as a super hero. I grimaced in determination, turning my attention to Force. "Damn you..."

For a brief moment, I remained in the air, glaring at Force. Then...I thought I saw an opening. I saw a moment of weakness as he staggered there, and immediately dove straight at him.

"You bastard," I snarled as I punched Force as hard as I could in the face.

My hand was killing me from the force of that punch, but it was obvious that it had gotten through as Force staggered back and clutched his broken nose. Blood poured down his face, a clear sign that his force field had failed.

Knowing what Force was capable of, I wasn't about to give him a chance to catch his breath or regain control. I grabbed hold of him and shifted his gravity, sending HIM flying into the nearest wall. Then I rushed at him and shifted his gravity again, this time sending him up into the air...

However, when Force came back down, he obviously had enough in him to create a force field again and keep himself from feeling the impact of the fall. But that wasn't all as he quickly got back to his feet and readied himself to fire another force blast...this one obviously intended for me. I had no doubt about my ability...or inability to survive a direct hit.

"None of you vile filth can defeat a true hero," Force snarled.

But before Force could fire his force blast at me, a voice behind him exclaimed, "Tag...you're it."

"What?" Force gasped as he snapped around in surprise.

Kelly only stood there with a smug grin on her face. "I said tag...you're it," she told him, just before swinging her metal staff and hitting him in the ribs with it. And as soon as Force tried catching himself, she lashed out again, taking him out with a second swing to the side of his head.

"No fucking way," Quartz exclaimed as he staggered over, his crystal armor badly shattered and barley looking as though it could remain together for another minute. "She just took out Force..."

For a moment, I just stood there, feeling horribly disappointed that I hadn't been the one to finish him off. That I hadn't been able to strike the final blow. But then I reminded myself that you can't always be the big hero. And besides that, I think that it was definitely about time for Kelly.

"You're under arrest," one of the super powered cops exclaimed as he pulled out his cuffs. He paused nervously, "I don't think these can hold him... If he wakes up..." There was fear in his eyes.

"Don't worry about it," Kelly responded with a grin. "He won't be a threat to anyone for at least an hour. That's how long it will take before his powers turn back on..."

"Then we'd better get transport here immediately," the cop who was covered with blue fire exclaimed. "We'd better get him to a nice padded cell in Mt. Prometheus before then."

We were all silent at that. Everyone was fully aware of the reality of what had just happened. Force...had been one of the good guys. One of the most famous good guys, an idol to millions and a hero for kids to look up to. But we had all been forced to bring him down...and to send him to prison like a common super villain thug. It was kind of heart breaking.

Not sure what else to do, I gently put my arm around Kelly's shoulder and told her, "Congratulations." Then I asked, "How does it feel to be the big hero for once."

"It feels great," Kelly grinned at me.

"Now that you've defeated the most powerful hero in the world," I asked her, trying to lighten the mood, "What do you plan to do next."

"Bed sounds good about now," Kelly sighed tiredly, and I couldn't help but nodding agreement. "Yeah, bed sounds VERY good."

***

I let out a long sigh as I slowly settled back onto solid ground and returned to normal gravity. Then I stretched out a bit, being sore and tired, as well as more than just a little bit sweaty. But still, I was in a pretty good mood in spite of all that.

For the last hour or two, I had been working pretty hard, training to improve my control over my powers and my ability to deal with dangerous situations. It had been McKenzie who had suggested it, and it wasn't the first time. In fact, it was actually my third training session with the Miracle Men.

"I'm glad that's over with," Quartz commented as he shed his crystal armor. It all just shattered at once and crumbled to pieces around him.

"Very good Counterweight," McKenzie nodded at me as he walked towards me. "Though I do wish that Catalyst could have made it as well."

"Me too," I nodded.

Unfortunately, Kelly was busy with her classes at the moment. As for me, I had plenty of free time now that I was no longer in college. Strangely, I actually missed going to class, but that was part of the price I paid for becoming a real super hero.

It was hard to believe that it had been a whole week since the incident with Force. Almost right afterwards, they'd actually asked me to join them, and I eagerly accepted, though only on the conditions that I could do it part time...at least until I got a little more used to things, and that Kelly was part of the deal. They had happily accepted those conditions, making us both reserve members.

I couldn't help wondering though, if it made any real difference that I was a reserve member of the Miracle Men rather than a full fledged member. Over the past week, I had been hanging out with them quite a bit, doing several training sessions, such as the one that we had just finished up, and even socializing a bit.

The night before, Kelly and I had actually gone out to dinner with the Miracle Men, or at least all of them except for Ms. Miracle. I guess she was too big and famous to be able to ordinary things like that.

But on the plus side, Rumor...Beth had brought her boyfriend Dave, who seemed like a really nice guy. I somehow got the feeling though that I'd seen him somewhere before, even if I couldn't quite place where. I was also a little surprised when Beth introduced me to him since I had seen the way Beth looked at Ms. Miracle, and had figured that she was a lesbian.

Just then, McKenzie brought me out of my thoughts with the statement, "I have something for you..."

"Yeah?" I blinked, hoping that he hadn't noticed me daydreaming.

McKenzie nodded and handed me a large manilla envelope. I just stared at it for a moment before opening it up and looking inside. I was more than a little surprised by what I found.

"What...?" I gasped as I pulled out a driver's license. A driver's license with MY picture on it. My CURRENT picture.

"I thought that this might prove useful," McKenzie smiled at me. "I know the problems that your...changes created, so I arranged to have some new identification created..."

All that I could do was stare at the other contents of the envelope because the driver's license wasn't the only thing inside. There was also a birth certificate, social security card and high school diploma, as well as a few other pieces of paper. And all of them were in the name of Michelle Thorn.

"I had to take some liberties with the name," McKenzie explained, which was not a problem with me. In fact, I was kind of pleased that I could still use Thorn as my name, even if it was officially my last name rather than my first. "And I have also made arrangements for your old college credits to be transferred to your new identity..."

"Transferred...," I whispered, staring at him for a moment as what he said sank in.

I would be able to go back to college... I would be able to finish getting my degree... And it means that I would be able to have a civilian life as well as a super hero one.

"Thank you," I grinned at him, meaning it quite sincerely. "You have no idea how much this means to me..."

Then I surprised both McKenzie and myself by giving him a quick hug. I was a bit embarrassed once I was through though, thinking that I might be picking up a little more of that girl stuff than I'd thought... I mean, there was no way in hell that I would have hugged another guy like that before... Then again, I wasn't a guy anymore...at least not most of the time.

After I was through with that, I hurried to the locker room to clean up and get changed. The Miracle Men all had their own rooms where they could do that in, but I didn't have that luxury. In fact, I didn't even have my own car there and had to rely on Rumor to take me home in awhile.

As soon as I was in the locker room, I stripped out of my costume and hurried to the shower stall. The water felt great, though nowhere near as good as a nice long bath. Mostly, I was glad to get clean again, though my nipples were beginning to respond to the way that the water was massaging them.

"Not bad," I sighed, pushing back the urge to rub at them myself a little. It wasn't exactly the right place to be playing with myself at. "Yeah, there are definitely some good things about being a chick..."

I let out a sigh at that though, thinking that with all the good things that came with my body, there were definitely some downsides as well. I wasn't quite sure whether to place the loss of my old identity as a plus or minus since I hadn't really been anyone special, and McKenzie's gift had just made it a little easier for my new one. Of course, there was one other downside which still bummed me out, though I tried not to think about it too much.

"Kelly," I whispered.

Ever since I had changed, Kelly and I just hadn't been able to be the way we used to be. Kelly just didn't like girl's and had no interest in trying it out, which left me more as a girlfriend than anything else most of the time. Of course there were the periods where I could be changed back to being a guy, but that only left us an hour at a time, which really limited how much we could do. It just wasn't the same.

Pushing those thoughts from my mind, I left the shower and dried myself off. Then I wrapped a towel around my middle, smirking slightly as I had to do it so as to cover my breasts, something that I never had to worry about as a guy. And as I used a smaller towel to start drying my hair, I looked at the mirror above one of the sinks.

"It's kind of strange what we can get used to," I sighed.

I had gotten quite a bit more comfortable in my body in the two weeks that I'd possessed it, no longer even being surprised by the face of a girl that looked back from the mirror. In fact, I wasn't even surprised, or really bothered by the lack of equipment down below whenever I unzipped to go to the bathroom. Of course I still had a little adjusting to do, though I wasn't worried much about that. You can adjust to anything when you don't have a choice.

"A small price to pay for these powers," I smiled to myself, briefly willing my glowing green aura to flicker on and then back off.

Then I glanced back to where I had left the envelope with the papers that McKenzie had given me, smiling as I thought about it. It was such a relief, knowing that one of my largest problems caused by my change had just been taken care of. I had a legal identity again.

"Of course this might be a problem," I muttered as I touched my hair.

There weren't exactly a whole lot of chicks with green hair running around. I wasn't a very famous hero, and not many people would recognize me, but since I didn't bother wearing a mask as Counterweight, it would only be a matter of time. I might just have to get me a wig or a scarf to cover my hair up if I wanted a secret identity, or at least to go back to school without getting hassled.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't even notice that I was no longer alone. It wasn't until I caught a glimpse of Ms. Miracle standing behind me in the mirror, dressed only in a white cotton robe, that I realized she was even there.

"Kind of strange getting used to, isn't it?" Ms. Miracle asked me gently. "The sex change I mean..."

"Yeah," I admitted, trying hard not to stare at her chest. It was the first time that I'd seen her out of her costume, and she was definitely as hot out of it as in. I just secretly wished that her robe would sort of 'pop open' and reveal the rest of her body, feeling just a bit guilty for thinking that at the same time.

"Don't worry," she assured me, "You'll get used to it soon enough..." Then she abruptly asked, "Have you had your first period yet?"

I nearly choked at that. That was a pretty damn personal question to ask someone. But I slowly shook my head and frowned, "Not yet..." And hopefully not EVER.

Ms. Miracle just smiled knowingly at that. "The first one is the worst... But once you get used to the idea, it's not quite as bad as all that. Trust me...you'll survive."

"Um...thanks," I told her, not exactly sure where she was going with this little talk. But I could see from her nervous expression, which in itself was pretty strange, that she was up to something.

"I've been thinking about it," Ms. Miracle told me with a nervous smile, "And I've decided that we should talk..."

"Oh," I responded, feeling a bit apprehensive myself. "About what?"

"Your...changes," she smiled weakly. "I know what you're going through... I understand..."

All that I could do was stare at her blankly for a moment, "What?"

Ms. Miracle let out a long sigh, then muttered, "McKenzie will probably kill me for this..."

After taking a deep breath, Ms. Miracle began to...change. Her features all began to shift... Her hair began to pull in, to become shorter, while her breasts began to deflate. Every feature of her body was altering at the same time, while I could only stare in complete shock and amazement. And when her changes had finished, there was a guy sitting in her place, wrapped in her cotton robe. I was so stunned from the changes that it took me a moment to realize that I even recognized him. It was Dave, Rumor's boyfriend whom she'd introduced me to the night before.

"Surprise," she...he smiled weakly.

"What the...?" I jumped back.

"I'm not the original Ms. Miracle," Dave told me with a frown, not even looking at me. "She never came back from the dead....though I wish to God she had." He looked up at me, his eyes looking a little teary, "She was my mom..."

"Your mom," I squeaked out, still staring at him.

Dave nodded sadly, "Yeah. But I didn't know it until after I went through Project Miracle and came out like this..."

At that, Dave began changing again, this time in reverse. His hair lightened to blonde and grew out while his features became more feminine. Even his...her breasts once again pushed out into the pair of magnificent mounds. The change was somewhat familiar as I had watched myself change back several times while standing in front of the mirror.

"It gave me a sex change too," he...she told me with an embarrassed smile. "It was only when I came out of the process looking like Ms. Miracle that I even learned that the original had actually been my mom. So of course, since I looked like her and had all of her powers, they started calling ME Ms. Miracle. That was just as hard to get used to as the sex change..."

"Wow," I whispered, hardly able to believe what she was telling me. She wasn't the real Ms. Miracle...and never had been. She was just another guy who'd been changed....like me. And now that she had pointed that out, I think that I vaguely remember seeing her...or at least seeing Dave back during the project.

"I got a sex change with my powers, just like you," Ms. Miracle told me, still looking just a little embarrassed, "Though it turns out that I'm a skitzomorph and can change back to being a guy when I need to."

For a minute, I just stood there, staring at her as I absorbed everything that she had just told me. It was unbelievable, but no more so than anything else that happens around developed. No more so than the original Ms. Miracle coming back from the dead, or at least not much more so.

"Thanks," I told her, "But why did you tell me?"

Ms. Miracle paused for a moment before answering, "I thought that it might help you to be able to talk to someone who's gone through the same thing you have..." Then she shrugged, "And to be honest, I thought it would be nice to talk to someone else who understands what it's like..."

"I appreciate your trusting me with this," I told her, feeling rather grateful. "I guess it is nice to know that I'm not the only one who's been through this..."

She just smiled at me before saying, "I've got to go... Beth is expecting me..."

After Ms. Miracle left the locker room, I just stood there and stared thoughtfully at the door, and then back to my reflection in the mirror above the sink. It was definitely nice to know that I wasn't alone, that there was someone else out there who understood what it was like for me.

Then with a shrug and a faint smile in the direction of the sink and mirror, I turned my attention back to getting dressed. The training exercise and my little talk with Ms. Miracle had been very interesting, but I was eager to get back home...and back to Kelly.

It was only half an hour or so later when Rumor dropped me off at my new home and immediately vanished. I smiled as I looked around, quite thankful for such quick and easy transportation.

"It must be great to be a teleporter," I thought aloud, "Get wherever you want to go in no time at all and I bet it saves a bundle in gas money..."

Of course, I smiled to myself, there were certain advantages to my powers as well. Being able to fly was a complete blast, and though it wasn't exactly super strength, I could still use my powers to lift and move heavy objects.

With a sigh, I dropped the duffel bag that held my costume onto the floor, absently thinking that I was really going to have to wash it. Of course, I realized, it might be a good idea to get a couple more costumes made as well so that I would still have something to wear if one of them was dirty or got torn up in a fight. I just hoped that Kelly would be willing to make me a couple more.

"But enough of that," I grinned as I held up the envelope with my new papers. I couldn't wait to show Kelly and let her know that I was going to be able to start taking classes again.

It was about then that Kelly's voice called out, "Is that you Thorn?"

"Yeah," I called back, just a little surprised since I had been expecting Kelly to still be in class.

"Good," Kelly exclaimed as she stepped around the corner, wearing a red silk robe.

"What is it with robes today?" I muttered, thinking that first it was Ms. Miracle standing in front of me in a bath robe and now Kelly.

Then Kelly just smiled and undid the sash at her waist, dropping the robe to the floor. She stood there wearing only a sexy red nightly. It was quite a number and was already getting me pretty excited. But as if that wasn't enough, after she stood there long enough for me to get a real good look, she came up and surprised the hell out of me by throwing her arms around me and giving me a passionate kiss.

"Oh wow," I gasped once I was able to breathe again.

For a moment, I just stood there, having to look down at myself to make sure that I was still a chick. Kelly had NEVER kissed me when I was a girl before, and had made it plenty clear that she had absolutely no interest in doing so. But I was indeed still a chick, which my erect nipples and warm and gooey underside definitely attested to.

"Wow," I repeated, a little shaken up by that unexpected kiss and the way that Kelly was pressing her oh so delicious body against my own. "I didn't think you liked girls..."

"I don't," Kelly responded with a suggestive smile, "I just like you..."

"Not that I'm complaining," I told her with a broad grin, "But what brought about this change of mind..."

Kelly burst out laughing at that as she stepped back. "Change of mind is right..." She paused for a moment, then asked me, "Do you remember what powers Claire gets when I use mine on her?"

"Yeah," I nodded slowly, "She has some kind of mind control..." Then I froze and stared at Kelly in disbelief. "But you said she won't mess with anyone's mind..."

"She won't mess with the mind of someone who's UNWILLING," Kelly corrected me with a smile, "But I asked her to mess with mine..."

"You've got to be kidding," I gasped, staring at Kelly in disbelief.

Kelly looked a little embarrassed but told me, "She didn't turn me into a lesbian or anything... I still don't like women... All she did was alter my perceptions and remove my inhibitions about this one thing..." Then Kelly took a deep breath, "She made it so that I can find you just as attractive like this as I do when you're a guy..."

"You did that?" I whispered, feeling sort of teary eyed that she would go through something like that so we could stay together. "To be with me?"

"For us," Kelly smiled, "I don't like only having an hour at a time..."

"Me neither," I admitted.

For several seconds, I just stood there, staring at Kelly and smiling at the way she was looking at me. I kind of missed that expression.

"It's definitely been one hell of an interesting day," I told Kelly, thinking about Ms. Miracle's revelations and now this. Then I grinned suggestively, running one hand over her breasts and smiling even more when she didn't pull back.

"Well it's about to get a lot more interesting," Kelly purred at me.

"Oh yeah," I grinned, my heart racing in excitement while the rest of my body responded in a somewhat more...pleasurable way. "You don't know how much I've been wanting to do this."

I'd been fantasizing about a little lesbian action with Kelly since I had changed. I'd been dying to know what it was like for a woman...and as a woman. This was literally a dream come true.

Then as Kelly and I started towards her bedroom, I couldn't help smiling as I thought about all that had happened to me in the previous two weeks. I'd been turned into a woman, become a developed super hero and member of the Miracle Men, as well as had discovered just how remarkable my sexy girlfriend was. And with all that, there was no doubt in my mind that I was the luckiest guy...girl on the planet.

Author's Note:This is the ninth story in my Legacy Universe, with the previous stories listed below for those who haven't read them. Like the others this is a stand alone story, though it might be helpful to have at least read the first, The Miracle Legacy.

The Miracle Legacy
Change of Heart
Hardshell
The Praxis Crossing
Mannequin
The Vengeance of Lady Hexx
Glamour Girl
Counterweight

I walked down my long driveway with a scowl on my face, miserable from the fact that I was soaking wet. But that does tend to happen when you've walked several miles in the pouring rain. And then as if to make things even worse, I accidentally stepped in a large puddle that I hadn't noticed.

"Damn," I grimaced, "Why did I ever take that job anyway?"

Of course, the answer to that question was pretty simple and obvious. I was trying to save up enough money to buy myself a car. Ever since my dad had made clear that he couldn't afford to get me a car and that I was going to have to pay for it myself if I wanted one, I had been working my butt off and saving money.

My name is William Hartkey Junior, though most people just call me Will. That had always seemed better than being called Little Bill, since my dad went by Bill, or even worse... Junior. I guess I was a pretty normal 16-year-old guy, standing about 5 foot 10 and with hair that was at the right shade where you might have a hard time deciding if it was dark blonde or light brown.

I had just spent a good part of the day working at one of the stores in town, and I was getting pretty close to how much I would need. At the rate that I was going, I would be able to afford a new car in just a couple more weeks, probably before school started up again. But after work, I had to make the long walk home in the rain. And since I lived several miles out of town, in what had once been a small farm, I was reminded even more as to why I needed that car in the first place.

"What came first?" I muttered to myself, "Going to work so I can afford a car... or needing a car so I can drive to work?" It seemed to be one of those unsolvable questions that philosophers loved to ask.

When I finally reached the door to my house and stepped inside, I let out a sigh of relief, thankful to be out of the rain. However, it wasn't to last as I was immediately set upon by my mom, who was less than pleased about me dripping all over her floor.

"Go dry up and get some fresh clothes on," my mom ordered me, then quickly changed it to, "No, go and take a hot shower first..."

I didn't miss the irony in the fact that the cure to being soaking wet was to take a shower. But once I was done and dressed in dry clothes, I had to admit that I felt much better. And I felt even better still when my mom brought me a bowl of tomato soup to help me warm up some more.

"Betcha wish you had a car," my 11 year old sister Sandy teased me. Then she smirked, "Maybe you can borrow my bike next time..." I just cringed at the thought of riding to work and back on a pink bicycle.

"No thanks," I told her, "I'd rather walk..."

"Too bad my car's broke," my mom commented, "or I could have given you a ride."

"You'd think dad would get it fixed," I grumbled between slurps of my soup, "I mean, he takes the truck with him when he goes to work and we don't have any way of getting around."

Then I looked up at my Aunt Denise, who was staying quiet during this exchange, though she did have a bit of a smile. Aunt Denise was my mom's sister and had been staying with us for the last two months, though this had really been the first time that I'd seen her since I was a little kid. She hadn't exactly done much visiting until recently, so I was just getting to know her.

Aunt Denise was in her mid to late thirties, with shoulder length dark blonde hair. I guess she was fairly pretty for her age, or would have been if she'd put more effort unto it. As it was, she often looked tired and a bit sad, though I didn't know why. In fact, I realized that I didn't know a whole lot about her other than that she was some sort of scientist. She didn't exactly talk much about herself.

"Hey Will," my mom suddenly exclaimed, "Do you want some fresh milk? I traded some of our chicken eggs to the Murphy's this morning for some fresh milk from their cows."

"Ewwww," Sandy scrunched her nose with a look of disgust, "How can you drink that stuff? It's not even pasteurized... You'll get sick and stuff..."

My mom just laughed at that, then looked to Aunt Denise before saying, "She reminds me of you sometimes..."

"I'm don't think I was ever that bad," Aunt Denise protested with an embarrassed smile. "Okay, maybe a little when I was a little girl." Then as if to prove that she had changed, she said, "I'll take a glass of that fresh milk..."

I just sat back and smiled as I finished my soup, glad to be home. In fact, the only thing that was missing was my dad, sitting around and complaining about some of the lazy new guys at work. But, I figured that I'd get enough of that once he got home.

"I need a car," I complained as I walked along the side of the road.

There was no doubt that I was past tired of walking to and from work every day. Going several miles each way might be good exercise, but I'd already had plenty of exercise and would have preferred a nice and easy drive instead. After all, a car would not only get me home with so much less effort, but in a hell of a lot less time as well. With a car, the trip would only take a few minutes as opposed to the countless hours that it felt like it took.

"At least it's not raining today," I muttered, glad that I didn't have to go through another downpour like the day before. And at least I was pretty close to home already as well.

Just then, I suddenly heard a loud roar and a crunching sound. I snapped my attention to across the field next to me where one of the trees on the other side of it came falling down. But that wasn't all as another tree quickly followed. And then, I saw it... A massive figure stepped out from the cluster of trees and into the field.

The creature, which was the only word I could use, was absolutely enormous. He... and the creature was most definitely a 'he', was completely naked and was sort of like a human or gorilla in general shape. However, he stood about twelve feet tall and was bursting with muscle. Large bonelike spikes came out of the creature's shoulders and elbows, and he had what looked like some wicked looking claws on his fingers as well. He had long, dark blue hair and a face that was stretched into a sort of vicious looking snout.

"Oh shit," I gasped in sudden terror, feeling as though my knees were turning to rubber. This creature looked mean, vicious and powerful. But more than that was the fact that I recognized him. I'd seen him before on TV. "Grendel..."

I didn't know much about Grendel, only what I'd seen on the news. And what little I had heard wasn't good. Grendel was some sort of unbelievably powerful monster that destroyed just about everything it came across, and it seemed to like fighting various developed heroes, especially the Protectorate. The one thing that immediately knew for certain was that if Grendel was here, then we were all in deep shit.

Perhaps I was in shock, or just too scared to run away. Either way, I remained frozen where I was, staring at the massive blue monster as he slowly walked across the field. But he didn't really seem as angry or violent as I had imagined. Instead, he was sort of staggering a bit, even looking tired. He took several more steps, then collapsed to his knees.

"What?" I blinked in surprise, completely stunned to see the monster Grendel just falling over like that

I was even more surprised when a moment later, Grendel began to change. He began to shrink, becoming smaller and less muscular. The bone spikes which grew out of his shoulders and elbows seemed to sink into his body. And then, even his skin and hair color started to change color. As I watched, Grendel was slowly becoming more and more human.

"Holy shit," I whispered in disbelief. "I can't be seeing this..."

I watched for nearly a minute before my curiosity got the best of me. Even though I knew that it was stupidest and most foolish thing that I'd ever done, I began to move closer. Grendel didn't really seem like much of a threat anymore, and I just had to see what he was turning into...

When I got closer, I was able to see the final stages of Grendel's transformation into a human in more detail. And as amazed as I had been by everything else, nothing had prepared me for the realization that Grendel was no longer a 'he'. Grendel was most definitely turning into a woman.

"No fucking way," I gasped, not sure that I could take another surprise.

But then, Grendel finished his transformation and I was given the biggest shock yet. Grendel hadn't just turned into an ordinary looking human woman...but one that I recognized as well.

"Aunt Denise?" I blurted out.

Aunt Denise was now laying on the ground completely naked, right where Grendel had been a minute earlier. She blinked and sat up, looking around and then gasping as she saw me standing just a few feet away. It was then that she apparently realized that she had no clothes on and tried to cover herself up.

"Will..." she squeaked out in horror. "Not here..."

I didn't say a word. I didn't know what I could say. I mean, I had just seen Grendel turn into my aunt... That was sort of like finding out that Godzilla or King Kong was one of your relatives...

"Oh no," Aunt Denise gulped.

At this point, I suddenly remembered that this was my own aunt sitting there naked in front of me. I wasted no time at all in taking off my jacket and handing it to her. She gave me a look of appreciation as she tried to cover herself up.

Then she quietly asked me, "Did you see...?"

"You... you were Grendel," I told her quietly.

Aunt Denise nodded faintly, looking pretty shaken up. Then she started to quickly look around, apparently just realizing that she was next to naked in the middle of the field, and that there was a road where anyone driving by might see her. I guess it was lucky that no one was driving past at the moment.

"What's going on?" I demanded, "How...?"

"Please," Aunt Denise held up one of her hands, "Not now... Please don't run..." Then she took a deep breath, becoming a bit more calm and in control as she added, "I'll explain once we get back to my lab."

When Aunt Denise had mentioned her lab, she was referring to our old barn. She had taken it over shortly after coming to visit and made it into some sort of laboratory. But she had kept it locked up pretty tightly to keep anyone from going in and interrupting her experiments.

I had a very hard time making it back to our barn without asking all of the questions that were bursting to come out. But somehow, I managed to bite my tongue and keep them under control.

Once we got back home a short while later, we went straight for Aunt Denise's lab, avoiding the house so that no one would see us. And as soon as she unlocked the door and let us in, I got my first look of the place since she had taken it over.

Aunt Denise had really cleaned out the barn, and her lab seemed to consist of a refrigerator freezer, and several tables, which had been set up and were covered with all sorts of items. There were dozens of vials and bottles of strange things, a microscope and several odd pieces of equipment that I couldn't identify. It didn't look nearly as fancy as any laboratory that I'd seen on TV, but it did look sort of professional and there were a lot of things, which left me clueless as to what they were for.

I was a little surprised to discover that Aunt Denise also kept some spare clothes in her lab, and once she had finished changing into them, she was finally ready to start explaining.

"Let's see," Aunt Denise started, pausing to swallow a couple of pills. Then she gave me a forced smile, "Something to help my nerves..."

"Okay," I said, watching her carefully and half expecting her skin to start turning blue again at any moment.

Aunt Denise frowned and sat down on a stool, gesturing for me to do likewise. "I appreciate your being patient," she told me a moment later. "I know that you must have a lot of questions."

"Only a few million," I responded with a forced smile.

"Very well," Aunt Denise nodded. "I owe you an explanation." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath, then slowly started, "I used to work at a highly classified research facility that was indirectly connected to a part of the government. The facility was broken up into multiple labs, each one working on a completely different project and most of us not even having any idea of what the others were doing."

"Sort of like an Area 51 kind of thing?" I asked her

Aunt Denise just laughed, "Sort of. But as far as I know, Area 51 is mostly just a decoy..."

"Really?" I blinked, just a bit surprised at that.

But Aunt Denise continued, "My project was to create a super soldier... I was creating an engineered virus using nanotechnology, which would drastically increase a soldier's physical strength, power, endurance, aggression, and general ability to fight and survive in battle. But I knew that having soldiers becoming permanently enhanced like this would make them unstable and difficult to control, so I tied these enhancements to their survival instincts. This way they would only trigger and become fully enhanced when they needed to be."

Aunt Denise paused at that, looking down at the floor with an intense expression of guilt and sadness. "I was just a scientist," she whispered, "more interested in the ability to do something than the ethics behind it..." She shook her head sadly, "Unfortunately I had to learn the hard way..."

"What happened?" I asked, guessing that turning herself into Grendel wasn't a part of the project.

"There was a major accident in my lab," she told me with a scowl. "I later learned that it was sabotage... One of my rivals had wanted my virus to look like a complete failure and be canceled so that he could get the funding to start his own super solder project using cybernetics..."

I just stared at her in amazement, "Wow..." That was like something right out of a movie.

"He took a DNA sample of an unknown alien species from another lab," Aunt Denise continued, "and contaminated my virus with it. And then he sabotaged my safety equipment just as we were about to test the virus on an ape."

"Damn," I whispered.

Aunt Denise nodded, "As you might guess, things went wrong and I was accidentally infected with the contaminated virus. The contamination caused the virus to mutate, and it began augmenting the alien DNA instead of my own. That was what turned me into Grendel."

I stared at Aunt Denise for a minute, taking in everything that she told me. It was hard to believe that this kind of stuff could happen in real life. But then again, this was a world where people like Vigil and Ms. Miracle existed and had developed powers. I guess a lot of weird things that I never heard about had to be happening all the time.

"Can... can you control it?" I asked Aunt Denise, still a bit nervous. "I mean, how much are you in control?"

"I can't," she frowned, once again looking guilty. "The change automatically triggers when I'm in danger... If I'm injured or just afraid of my life, I transform." Then she told me, "It can be a life threatening injury, but all that it takes is a cut, a bruise... and sometimes just being that time of the month. Earlier this morning I accidentally twisted an ankle... And as soon as that happens, I turn into Grendel... I become a mindless monster that's only good for fighting and surviving."

Aunt Denise was silent for a minute, just looking extremely tired as she thought about her past. "I've been on the run ever since," she told me. "There are people after me... So I hide and try to avoid attention until Grendel eventually shows up again."

"Do mom and dad know?" I asked her.

"Your mom does," Aunt Denise answered. "I told her several years ago..."

I didn't know what to think of the revelation that my mom knew something this monumental and hadn't even told me or dad. It was hard to believe that my mom was capable of keeping that kind of a secret. She could hardly keep quiet about a surprise birthday party, but somehow she had managed.

Deciding to change the subject just a little, I asked, "What happened to the guy who did this to you?"

"He was badly injured during my first transformation," she told me, not sounding as though she felt too bad about that. "He later rebuilt himself with cybernetics and started calling himself Cyberius, until one of his other cybernetic creations turned on him and killed him."

"Is it contagious?" I suddenly asked, remembering that it was some sort of virus that turned her into Grendel. I instinctively backed up a little bit. "Can other people catch it?"

"No," Aunt Denise reassured me with a faint smile. "The virus bonded with my DNA as soon as I was infected... I could give you a blood transfusion and it still wouldn't do anything to you."

I let out a faint sigh of relief at that, then asked, "What about a cure? If you made it, shouldn't you be able to cure it?"

"I've been trying," Aunt Denise admitted quietly, gesturing to her lab and all of the equipment that surrounded us. "Unfortunately, it's not nearly that simple." She gave me a steady look, "The virus that infected me was contaminated and had mutated. I'd need a sample of the alien DNA that contaminated the virus, and I don't even know what species it came from. I would require my original, untainted version of the virus, which I do not have. All of my notes on it were destroyed in the accident and subsequent manifestation of Grendel. And lastly, I would require a sample of my own DNA before the mutation so as to filter out the alterations... And unfortunately, I don't have this either."

"Oh," I responded, not completely sure about half of what she had just said. All I knew was that it all sounded pretty damn complicated. "I guess you'd already have done it if you could..."

"It is difficult finding proper facilities when you're on the run," she responded wryly. Then she gave me a grin, "Fortunately, I think that I'm very close to finding a cure..."

"Really?" I blinked in surprise, "But I thought that you just said..."

Aunt Denise just gave me a smug grin. "Just trying to make you understand how difficult it's been..."

"But you said that you needed all those things," I accused.

"I needed my own unaltered DNA as a filter and comparison," she told me with a smile. "Fortunately, your mother gave me a sample of hers. And as we are full sisters, I believe that her DNA is close enough to my own to work."

"And the rest of that stuff?" I asked, still trying to make sense of it all.

"It's been a lot of work," she admitted with a frown. "I have been working on completely recreating my original virus... I think that it's almost ready... Between that and your mother's DNA, I should be able to isolate the alien DNA. My hope is that I will be able to use all of this to create a retrovirus that will filter out the mutated strain and return my DNA to a more normal human standard. I only fear that my virus may have mutated further, or have become so engrained in my DNA that removing it would be impossible."

Since I still wasn't completely sure about everything that Aunt Denise had told me, I just nodded my head and said, "I'll keep my fingers crossed."

"Thanks," Aunt Denise told me with a smile.

"Um," I looked at the clock, which was sitting on the edge of one of the tables, "I think I'd better get going inside or mom will wonder why I'm late..."

"Okay," Aunt Denise grinned as she got up to leave the barn with me, "Just one more thing..." She paused, looking just a bit embarrassed, "Do you think that you can not mention any of this to your mother? I'd rather that she not know how close I came to... well, not after she's been so good to me here..."

I hesitated for just a moment before grinning, "Well... for a price."

After I had told Aunt Denise just what that price was, she burst out laughing and told me, "I think that can be arranged."

I leaned back and smiled, hesitating only a moment before taking a deep bite of my freshly made chocolate chip cookie. There was nothing as good as biting into a cookie that had just come out of the oven and having it melt inside of your mouth.

"Delicious," I complimented my mom.

"Thank you," she responded with a slight nod, "It's a good thing that you were able to get home while they were still warm..."

"Yeah, it is," I grinned. "Thanks to my new car. Now I can get home in just a couple of minutes..."

I still couldn't believe that I finally had my own car, and I'd gotten it a bit earlier than I'd expected. Of course, I had Aunt Denise to thank for that. In exchange for keeping her secret, I had only asked that she convince my mom and dad to lend me the rest of the money for my car. Fortunately for me, she had been very convincing.

When I had first started my job in town, I had been thinking that I could quit as soon as I had enough for my car. But now that I had the car, I had discovered that I would still need to pay for insurance and gas, as well as the little bit that I now owed my mom and dad.

After I had complained to my dad that I was still going to have to use so much of my time at my job, he had laughed and told me, "Get used to it. You'll be working like that for the rest of your life."

"Joy," I muttered sarcastically, "Something to really look forward to."

However, I couldn't get too upset about my still having to work since I now had my car. I finally had transportation to and from work, so I wouldn't have to walk several miles in the raid.

I smiled as I helped myself to another cookie, then grabbed a few more of them to take out to Aunt Denise. She was still out in her lab, where she had been working almost nonstop since she had told me about her secrets two weeks earlier.

"Aunt Denise?" I called out as I knocked on the door to her lab, "I've got some cookies for you..."

A minute later, she opened the door and gestured for me to come in before quickly closing the door again behind us. "So how's the car working out for you?"

"Great," I grinned at her, "It's a hell of a lot better than having to walk everywhere..."

She nodded, "Trust me... I know. Being a fugitive, I haven't always had access to any transportation besides my feet."

I only nodded back at that, suspecting that things must have been pretty hard for her. Her whole life had been destroyed the moment that she'd been infected by that Grendel virus. From what I'd seen, her time living with us was the only bit of normalcy that she'd had in years.

"So," I said carefully, "You've been spending a lot of time out here..."

Aunt Denise was silent for a moment, then began to smile. She gestured to her work station and proudly exclaimed, "I'm getting closer... Much closer."

"Yeah?" I asked her with a grin, knowing that this had to be great news for her.

"I think that I might have succeeded in recreating my original strain," Aunt Denise told me, "Or at least something close to it."

"Really?" I grinned, knowing that this was a major part of what she would need for her cure.

"I've attempted to strain the alien DNA from my blood," she told me, "and injecting a sample of that into my virus in order to duplicate the original contamination. My hope is that by recreating the original mutated strain that infected me, I can use it to create a new virus that reverses my mutation."

"I hope it works," I told her honestly.

Aunt Denise smiled, "Thanks." Then she went into the fridge and pulled out a vial, holding it up for me to see. "Here it is."

But before I could think of what to say, she set it down on one of the tables next to her microscope and went to work. Aunt Denise didn't really explain what she was doing at first, though I could tell that she was taking a bit out of the vial and giving it a good look under the microscope.

"I never examined the contaminated strain before I was infected," Aunt Denise told me, "Of course, that makes this more difficult."

"I'd imagine," I said, just so that I had something to say.

Aunt Denise nodded faintly as she reached for several other vials. "I'm about to add a sample of the contaminated strain to a sample of your mother's DNA. Hopefully it will produce results similar to my own blood sample. And if so, I'll know that I'm on the right track."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed," I told her.

"Thanks," Aunt Denise sighed, "The fact that I don't have the proper facilities or equipment makes this quite a challenge."

Aunt Denise scowled and turned back to the table. But as she reached across, her hand brushed against the corner of some piece of equipment. She let out a loud gasp and yanked hand back, her expression immediately turning to one of horror.

"NO," she exclaimed with a note of panic.

"What's wrong?" I demanded.

A moment later, Aunt Denise held out her hand. She'd just scratched herself...and it didn't even look like a bad one. Then I noticed that her hand was turning blue and I gasped in realization. But it was more than just that... Her skin was all taking on a bluish tinge, and she was getting bigger. Her clothes were becoming tight on her.

"NO!" Aunt Denise cried out again, this time getting angry. She was looking downright pissed.

Aunt Denise let out a loud yell of rage, then she lashed out at the table with her arm, sweeping across half the contents and causing them to go crashing to the floor.

"Aunt Denise," I cried out, running to help her. I didn't know what I could do, but I wasn't thinking about that, only that I needed to help her.

"GET AWAY," she snarled at me, lashing out with her arm again, but this time hitting me rather than the table. I went flying back and hit the floor with a gasp of pain.

At this point, Aunt Denise's clothes were beginning to tear at the seams and her skin was becoming even more blue. I only stared at her on terror as she frantically grabbed for the contents of one of her tables, finally picking up a bottle of pills and gulping half the contents down at once.

A moment later, she paused, her skin no longer seeming quite so blue. The anger faded from her expression as she began to shrink back to her normal size. Bit by bit, the changes that she had been going through reversed themselves, until she stood there, looking just as she had been before scratching her hand.

"Thank God," Aunt Denise gasped as she grabbed the table for support. She looked weak and shaken, hardly able to stand. "A genetic stabilizer," she commented, letting out a sigh of relief. "It can stop me from changing into Grendel if I get it soon enough... Sometimes... If I'm not too injured or in too much pain... It isn't reliable, but it sometimes helps..."

Aunt Denise finally looked at me, an expression of guilt and fear on her face. Suddenly, her eyes went wide in horror. "Oh no..."

I looked down and suddenly noticing that I was bleeding. I'd torn my hand open on some of the shattered glass when Aunt Denise had thrown me to the ground. Then I realized that I was sitting in the middle of a bunch of liquid and shattered glass, remnants of what Aunt Denise had thrown from the table. And to my shock, I realized that these shattered vials included everything that she had just been working on...

Aunt Denise and I stared at the mess, at my soaked and bloody and, and then at each other before simultaneously exclaiming, "Oh shit..."

I leaned back in my chair, frowning as I stared at my half completed model car. It was a half completed Porsche, though unfortunately, I hadn't been able to give it as much concentration as it deserved. Unfortunately, I was too distracted to give much of anything much attention at the moment. And the only reason that I was in my room and working on the model at all was because I didn't want to face my mom and Aunt Denise arguing again.

It had been two days since the accident in Aunt Denise's lab, and my mom had barely said two words to her since. Or at least my mom hadn't said two words to her in a normal volume, though she sure had yelled a good bit. But the yelling part seemed to be over and now she was just glaring at her sister. I think that one of the only reasons that she wasn't still yelling was that my dad and Sandy were both around, and neither of them knew about Aunt Denise's little, or make that, rather LARGE secret.

"Just great," I sighed, absently flicking one of my model pieces with my finger. After the accident, Aunt Denise had quickly taken a sample of my blood and tested it. To my horror, I had not only been exposed to Aunt Denise's virus...I had been infected by it.

"It's been contaminated," she had immediately exclaimed, "It's mutated..." I had already learned from my conversation with her that those two words were NOT good when relating to that virus.

It turns out that a couple of the other vials that had shattered on the floor and contaminated the virus were one of my mom's blood, and one of Aunt Denise's. Aunt Denise said that she had absolutely no idea how this might affect the virus, or me, though she immediately went to work trying to find out. Now she was desperately trying to find a way to get it out of me.

Fortunately, I hadn't shown any signs of turning into a rampaging blue monster since then. In fact, the only symptoms that I've had were that there were a couple of times when my fingers and toes tingled a bit.

Of course, when Aunt Denise ashamedly admitted what had happened to my mom, she was pissed. My mom probably would have immediately kicked Aunt Denise out on her ass, if it wasn't for the fact that she was the only one who could get that virus out of me.

"Just great," I groaned, holding up my hand and staring at it. I gulped, feeling more than a little worried and letting out a sigh of relief that there was no trace of blue in my skin. Then I looked at small bottle of pills that was sitting next to me. Aunt Denise had given me some of her genetic stabilizer pills, 'just in case.' I REALLY hoped that I wouldn't have to use them.

"I don't want to be like her," I thought aloud.

I knew how much that virus had ruined Aunt Denise's life. It had turned her into Grendel... It had turned her into a monster, then made her go on the run. She hadn't been able to have anything resembling a normal life for years. I definitely did NOT want anything like that for myself.

"At least mom's not yelling at her anymore," I sighed.

After a few more minutes, I decided to go take a walk. That was always a good way of clearing my head. Of course, I was well aware of the irony. I'd been moaning and groaning that I wanted a car so that I wouldn't have to walk, and now that I have one, I still go for a walk when I want to think things through.

I decided to take some back roads and had walked several miles from home, in the direction away from town, when I froze. Something was wrong... I didn't know why I knew this, only that I did. It felt like someone was watching me.

Suddenly, a man's voice called out, "Ho there young man."

"What the?" I jumped in surprise, then snapped around to see who was talking to me. But I didn't see anyone. Then I thought to look up. "What the hell?"

Floating in the air was a man, or at least I assumed he was a man. But since he was completely covered in armor, he could have been a robot for all I knew. And then he lowered himself to the ground, landing just in front of me so that I could get a better look. He was wearing some kind of full body armor that was mostly red, but about a quarter of it was white. It covered his entire body, leaving no hint of his real body exposed. Even his head was covered with a red helmet that showed no signs of eye slits or anything else. And then, he had a red cape on as well.

"I am Beowulf," he introduced himself proudly.

He gave a pause at that, either to let me absorb his name or to see if I had recognized it. But the only place that I recognized his name from was the old story... And the fact of just which story that was sent a chill down my spine.

"Have you heard of the monster Grendel?" Beowulf asked.

"Um... yeah," I responded, then quickly added, "I've seen him on the news."

"Good lad," Beowulf nodded, "Would you happen to have seen him by any chance?"

My heart jumped at that question, and I gulped before nervously answering, "Um... I saw him on TV."

"That is not quite what I meant," Beowulf told me. "I have reason to believe that the monster is in this area, and I am intent on finding him."

"Grendel's around here?" I asked in mock surprise, "I think I would have noticed a giant monster."

"Perhaps," Beowulf responded, "But this monster seemingly has a way of hiding."

I stared at Beowulf for a moment before asking, "What are you going to do when you find him?"

"Why, I'll stop him of course," Beowulf answered confidently. "And I will stop him for good. This monster is far too dangerous to continue to wander free..."

All that I could say to that was, "Oh..."

"Then you have seen no signs of this monster?" Beowulf asked me. "Of course not... You would have already said something..."

"Um, no," I shook my head, "I haven't seen anything..."

"Thank you for your assistance anyway, young man," Beowulf told me as he began floating into the air again. He gave me a slight wave and said, "Good fortune," before flying away.

I stared up into the sky for a minute, not taking my eyes off of Beowulf as he flew away. My heart was racing, and I knew that this was not good. At least not for Aunt Denise.

"I've got to tell her," I gasped, remembering how she'd told me that people were after her. I just hadn't really considered that one of them might be a super hero... Or at least I kind of assumed that Beowulf was a hero, due to his name, flashy armor, and his intent on stopping a monster. But unfortunately, this also meant that he was after Aunt Denise.

After a few more seconds, I turned and started running back towards my house. I ran as fast as I could, not even sticking entirely to the road, but taking short cuts over a field and cluster of trees. I had to get back and tell Aunt Denise as soon as I could.

I was halfway through the trees when suddenly my foot dropped into a hole that I hadn't seen. There was a loud crack, followed by an intense surge of pain through my leg. I screamed and dropped to the ground, already knowing that my leg was broken badly.

"Oh God," I howled, staring at my leg where there was a spot of blood soaking through my pants. I wasn't in a very calm state of mind, but I knew enough to recognize this as the sign of a compound fracture.

I grabbed hold of my leg, not touching the part where the bone had to be sticking out of my skin. It hurt horribly and I was sure that I was crying. But then I noticed my hands and gasped... tearing them away from my leg and staring at them in disbelief. My fingers had all turned a bluish color, and it was quickly spreading.

"NO," I gasped in horror.

For a brief moment, I held onto the hope that my pain was causing me to see things. But it quickly became obvious that it was much more than that. My skin continued to become more blue, while at the same time, a strange itching, burning sensation began to flood through my body. It felt as though my entire body were on fire... from the inside.

I screamed in pain, but the sensations only grew stronger. I could feel something happening to me. My bones were moving, growing and stretching. My muscles were twitching like crazy and moving around inside of me. A million overwhelming sensations had hit me at once so that I was barely even aware of the fact that my clothes were becoming tighter and tighter on me. Then they burst at the seams and slowly fell away, leaving me naked and hardly even aware of it.

My body continued to grow and change, though the pain began to fade, only to be replaced by something else. I felt... good. I felt damn good. I had no idea what all the new sensations that I was feeling were, only that I suddenly felt strong and powerful.

Once the changes stopped just a minute later, I remained where I was. My first thoughts were of surprise that I could still think clearly. When my skin had started turning blue, I had been expecting to turn into some sort of mindless monster, yet it was now obvious that I hadn't.

I slowly stood up, finding that my sense of balance was way off. I had forgotten all about my broken leg until I stood on, and then realized that I didn't feel any pain or discomfort from it at all. But when I automatically looked down to check on my leg, I found my view blocked by two large protrusions from my chest.

"What the..." I started, then paused at the unfamiliar sound of my voice.

For a moment, I just froze, staring down at my blue skin. Then I slowly reached for my chest, finding that there were two large, round orbs pushing out. I gulped, as I immediately knew what they reminded me of. Hell, I was a 16-year-old guy, and what teenage guy doesn't think about girl's breasts? I had to shift position a bit to see the rest of my body, and I could immediately see that I was completely naked, that I was completely blue...and that I seemed to be completely female.

"What the hell?" I gasped, grabbing between my legs but finding my usual equipment missing.

My heart jumped at that, but I quickly tried to tear my eyes from those issues and look over the rest of my body. I definitely seemed to be female, but a very big one at that. All of my muscles were thick and bulging, but I seemed to have a lot of girl curves at the same time. It wasn't an easy thing to face, so I just continued to see what else had changed.

"Oh man," I groaned, staring at my hands. My fingers didn't end with normal fingernails, but with thick, sharp claws instead.

On a sudden impulse, I scraped my fingernails... my claws against a tree that was next to me and easily cut through the bark and wood.

"Wow," I whispered, shaking my head in disbelief.

After this, I quickly finished up my self-examination, finding that I had sharp bone spikes sticking out of my shoulders and elbows, and that my hair had grown down to about my lower shoulder blades, and turned dark blue. I had no idea how many other things had changed, only what I could see with such a quick going-over. However, it was enough to give a basic picture of what I must look like.

"Like some sort of girl version of Grendel," I said aloud, somewhat stunned by that realization. "I've turned into some sort of... some sort of She-Grendel."

I stood there and just stared down at myself in confusion and disbelief. A thousand thoughts suddenly ran through my mind at once. But dominating those thought was the question... If I looked so much like Grendel, if I had been changed by the same kind of virus, then didn't that mean that I might have the same kind of power?

I flexed my arm and stared at the powerful looking muscles, knowing that I sure as hell felt pretty strong. And without a word, I reached for the nearest tree, one with a diameter of about 6 inches. My fingers dug straight into the tree trunk, and with only the slightest effort, it snapped in half.

"Holy shit," I gasped, holding the broken off tree in my hands. It didn't really feel any heavier than if it had been made out of Styrofoam. "I've been turned into a developed..."

With just a little force, I was able to easily snap the tree again and again. Soon I had torn a whole tree to shreds, with just my bare hands. It had been so easy... so effortless. I couldn't resist the temptation to do it again with a much larger tree, this one about two feet in diameter. But even this tree was no match for my new strength.

"I can't believe how strong I am," I whispered, wondering how strong I was compared to someone like Ms. Miracle.

Suddenly, the thought of Ms. Miracle and other developed heroes reminded me of Beowulf and why I had been injured in the first place. I snapped up and looked around me, momentarily afraid that Beowulf might be watching. Fortunately, there was no sign of him, not even in the sky above me.

"I've got to get back," I reminded myself, "I've got to warn Aunt Denise..."

But at the same time, I knew that I had to get back to Aunt Denise for more than just the warning. I had to find out what the hell her weird experiment had done to me... and if she could fix it. Sure, I was getting a big kick out of just how strong I suddenly was, but there as the little problem of the fact that I had been turned into some sort of blue freak. And a female blue freak at that.

"I'm like some kind of giant Smurf," I grumbled.

Then I suddenly realized that I had a few problems with it came to getting home. First, I was some sort of freak now, and second, I was completely and totally naked. It was going to be pretty damn hard to avoid notice looking like this...

"Clothes," I whispered, picking up what was left of my clothes after I'd grown out of them. I was a bit stunned when I held what was left of my pants and saw how small they were. They were like the pants of a little kid. "How big am I?"

I gulped, not sure that I wanted to know the answer. So instead, I tried to be practical. I used what was left of my shirt to make myself a loincloth. It wasn't much, but it made me feel a little better... and just a little less naked. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything I could do about those things on my chest. I was just going to have to make sure not to be seen.

Once I was as ready as I was going to be, I carefully made my way back to my house, sticking to clusters of trees as much as I could and trying not to be seen. Fortunately, it wasn't a very populated area, so I managed to make it back without much trouble.

"Thank God," I sighed once I made it to the barn that served as Aunt Denise's lab. I took one more quick look around to make sure that no one saw me, then I opened the door. Or at least I tried to open the door since the whole thing tore off in my hand. "Oh shit..."

I gulped and quickly slipped inside, only to find Aunt Denise in there, staring up at me with an expression of complete shock and disbelief. Of course, there was more than a hint of fear in her eyes too.

"It's me," I exclaimed, holding up my hands to show that I wasn't any kind of a threat... "I turned into this..."

Aunt Denise's eyes went even wider and she gasped, "Will?"

I could only nod my head at that and slowly walk towards her, stunned by just how small she looked. She looked so short to me now, and I easily towered over her by two and a half feet. That would make me around eight feet tall.

"It looks like your virus messed me up but good," I told her, feeling embarrassed as I gestured down at myself.

"You can talk," she gasped.

"You noticed that?" I responded with a bit of sarcasm, trying to lighten the mood to keep me from going crazy if nothing else.

After a moment, Aunt Denise blinked and licked her lips, then shook her head. "I can't believe it... Oh Will, I'm so sorry... I never intended to do anything like this to you..."

"I know," I answered quietly. Then I frowned, "Can you...fix this?" I gestured down at myself, "Can you change me back?"

"I don't know," she scowled, "But I'm certainly going to try... It should be a lot easier than curing myself at least..."

Suddenly, something else occurred to me. "You change back and forth between being normal and being Grendel? Will I change back too?" I certainly hoped so. The thought of being stuck as I was, was NOT something that I wanted to contemplate.

"I don't know," Aunt Denise sighed. "The virus mutated... It obviously works differently than mine does, but how differently..." She shrugged at that, looking tired.

"Just great," I said, looking for somewhere to sit down.

I grabbed one of the stools that Aunt Denise had brought out for her lab, but it was small, like it was made for a kid. Or at least that was how it seemed to me. And when I tried to sit on it anyway, the whole thing buckled under my weight and left me sitting on the floor.

"Just great," I grumbled again, letting out a sigh of annoyance.

"Wait here," Aunt Denise told me, then turned and hurried out of the lab.

Aunt Denise came back a minute later with my mom right behind. My mom took one look at me and her jaw dropped open. For a brief instant, I thought that her eyes were actually going to pop out of her head.

"Will?" she gasped in disbelief.

"Um... hi mom," I waved at her and gave her a sheepish smile.

My mom stared at me for a moment more before suddenly turning to Aunt Denise and demanding, "What the hell have you done to him?" Then her voice got even louder.

I let my mom yell and scream for about a minute or so before I finally interrupted, "Hey, lay off..."

She looked up at me, looking a bit intimidated by my size. I didn't blame her, and silently decided that it might be a good idea NOT to tell her just how strong I was. If she was afraid of my size, I could only imagine her reaction of she saw me ripping trees up with my bare hands.

"It was an accident," I told my mom a little more gently, "Aunt Denise certainty didn't mean to do anything like this..."

"I've already been working on an antidote for him," Aunt Denise said, "And reversing his mutation will be much easier than my own."

My mom moaned and groaned for a few more minutes, staring at me with a strange look on her face. She finally decided to go back in the house and leave Aunt Denise and myself alone.

Once it was just the two of us, I told Aunt Denise, "Oh yeah, there's something I need to tell you..." I frowned, wondering how I could have forgotten about something so important, even for a few minutes.

"What's that?" Aunt Denise frowned.

"Beowulf," I stated simply. When she gave me a blank look, I continued, "I met a guy called Beowulf a little before I changed... He was all dressed in armor and looked like some kind of super hero. He told me that he was looking for you...for Grendel."

"Oh no," Aunt Denise went pale, "I wish people would leave me alone... At least half the time I turn into Grendel, it's because people like this are after me... And I don't have time for this now. I need to cure you."

"But what if he finds you?" I asked him. "I mean, he looked like he meant business and he said something about ending Grendel once and for all."

Aunt Denise let out a tired sigh, then said, "Tell me everything about him..."

I told her everything that had happened with Beowulf and everything that I remembered about my encounter with him. Then for good measure, I told her about how I'd run straight home to tell her about him, and how my trip resulted in my transformation.

"I was pretty worried," I admitted, "I hope he doesn't find you."

"Me too," Aunt Denise agreed with a frown. "I've never heard of this Beowulf, but it makes sense that eventually one of Grendel's enemies would use that name. I'm just surprised that it hasn't happened before..."

I just nodded at that, "I guess." Then I looked down at myself again and frowned, "This is weird..."

"Wait here," Aunt Denise told me, "I'll be back in a minute."

"Just great," I groaned as Aunt Denise rushed out of her lab again. Since she had come back with my mom the last time she'd done that, I wondered if she'd come back with my dad or sister this time. "God, I hope not..."

When Aunt Denise returned a few minutes later, I was surprised to see that she had a large mirror from off of my mom's bedroom wall in her hand. "I thought that you might like to see what you look like..."

"Thanks," I responded, feeling a bit embarrassed as I looked into the mirror.

I let out a gasp of surprise as I saw my reflection, unable to help but doing so. I gulped, unable to believe that this was actually me. In fact, there was no way that I would have believed it if I hadn't already examined myself.

"Holy shit," I whispered.

The creature that stared back from the mirror was definitely a woman, and had all of the curves and breasts to prove it. Hell, my breasts were literally the size of beach balls, and possibly even larger. They were big, even in comparison to the rest of me. However, I might now be female, but I couldn't exactly be called sexy. My body was a little too bulky and muscular for that since I was built like a large female bodybuilder. Still, I guess there was something attractive with my features, even if I was pretty weird looking, so I couldn't really be called ugly either.

There were of course a lot of similarities between Grendel and myself, such as the blue skin, long blue hair, claws and bone spikes on my shoulders and elbows. But there were also a lot of differences as well. Obviously, I was not only female but intelligent, which were the two biggest differences. I was shorter, by close to four feet, and my proportions were a lot more human.

I reached up and felt my face, noticing that my face was much more human as well. My teeth were all a bit sharp looking, but I didn't have the snout and even more vicious teeth that Grendel did. In fact, if I kept my mouth shut, I looked a lot like a normal woman...other than the blue skin and yellow eyes.

"No way," I gasped, "I can't believe I look like that..."

Of course, the whole image in the mirror wasn't unexpected since I'd already looked myself over right after my transformation. But seeing myself in the mirror and getting a better 'whole picture' view was more than a little stunning.

"It is rather... startling," Aunt Denise said, looking a bit nervous.

"Oh shit," I gulped, "What am I going to do?"

I stared at my reflection in horror, suddenly realizing that this could be a SERIOUS problem. There was no way that I could go to school, my job... or even out in public looking like I did. I was a freak... a complete and total freak.

"You've got to change me back," I blurted out to Aunt Denise, "I can't be stuck like this..."

Just then, I suddenly felt a strange tingle rush through my body. I gasped out as it grew even stronger, turning into a burning pain. As I dropped to my knees, I realized that my body was changing again... My bones and muscles were cracking and moving under my skin, creating an intense agony.

"WILL!" Aunt Denise cried out, rushing to me.

Aunt Denise grabbed me and I noticed that she wasn't quite so small anymore. She was getting less tiny with every passing moment. I was shrinking... I looked down, seeing that my skin was changing color, going back to normal. My whole body was going back to normal.

A minute later, I collapsed the rest of the way to the floor, sore and exhausted... but normal. I had turned back into myself, a normal teenage guy. Once I'd had a chance to catch my breath a bit, I sat up, checked to make sure that my parts were all there, then I looked into the mirror to see my normal face looking back.

Finally, I let out a sigh of relief, "It's over..."

But Aunt Denise stared at me, giving me a sad look as she shook her head. "I'm afraid that it's not over yet. It's just beginning."

I grimaced, bracing myself for the horrible pain that was about to come. At the moment, I wished that I could be somewhere else, anywhere else. Hell, I'd even rather be off in Iraq than going through the torture that I was currently experiencing.

"Quit being such a baby about this," Aunt Denise scowled, "You're acting like this is the first time that you've ever had a shot."

"But it's not a shot," I glared at the syringe in Aunt Denise's hand, "You're taking blood out of me like some kind of vampire..."

"Quite being so melodramatic," she sighed, sticking the needle into my arm so that she could take another blood sample.

It had been a full week since I met Beowulf and been temporarily transformed into a female Grendel. In that time, Aunt Denise had insisted on taking a sample of my blood every day for testing, and I still hadn't gotten used to it. The very sight of the needle sent shivers down my spine.

"At least you're not turning blue this time," she commented with a wry smile.

I just nodded at that, thankful for that fact myself. Just about every other time that Aunt Denise had stuck me with that needle, my skin had started to turn blue in the area and I had been able to feel the transformation beginning. But somehow, I was able to keep the transformation from going any further. I didn't know how I did it, only that I did.

"I wish I could will myself not to change like that," Aunt Denise sighed, "It would save me a LOT of trouble. But I suspect that your control is strictly limited and that if you suffered any larger injuries, you would transform again regardless of how much you might will otherwise."

"How much more of that stuff are you going to need?" I asked, glaring at the vial of my blood. "Haven't you taken enough already?"

"I need it to test your stability," she told me with a frown. "The virus has obviously mutated and bonded with your genetic code. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be mutating any further. This makes it much easier to formulate the antidote for your condition."

"How... how close are you?" I asked cautiously.

Aunt Denise was silent for a moment before giving me a reassuring smile, "Very close. I've been modifying a version of the antidote that I'd been working on for myself..."

"Cool," I sighed, not sure what else to say.

I frowned, thinking about how close I had come to transforming again several times during the past week. But each time, I had been able to feel the change coming on soon enough to will it back down. This time, I had been able to keep it from even starting.

"Good thing," I gave her a grin, "I don't think that I want to be stuck as some sort of blue skinned girl Grendel. It would be just a bit too weird... But on the other hand," I mused, "I did kind of like being that strong..."

"I wouldn't really know," Aunt Denise frowned, "I'm not exactly conscious when I turn into Grendel, so I have no control over him and his power, and very little memory. You don't know how many times I've suddenly found myself laying naked in the middle of a field or forest, wondering how I got there and how many people I might have hurt."

"I couldn't imagine," I sighed, thinking about how horrible such a life would have to be. "Did you ever think of putting yourself into some sort of protective custody?"

"Many times," she frowned. "I've locked myself into room where everything was padded and made extremely safe so that I wouldn't injure myself. But then, my period came and I changed anyway... And another time, I turned myself over to some people who worked for a part of the government. They promised that they'd keep me safe and work on a cure, though all they really wanted was to learn how to control Grendel to use him as a weapon."

I stared at her for a moment before saying, "I'd imagine that didn't work out very well."

"No," she responded with a deep scowl.

The fact that she stopped there and didn't say anything more about it was a pretty good sign that this didn't end well for the people involved. Then again, I had a feeling that nothing ended very well for anyone who got in Grendel's way.

"Anyway," Aunt Denise suddenly changed the topic, "I was thinking that we could take a break and head into town for some ice cream."

"Sounds good to me," I grinned back. "I'll drive..."

Now that I finally had a car, I was pretty eager to use any excuse to drive it. And of course, there was the fact that Aunt Denise didn't currently have a car of her own, so it was either I drove or we walk.

Aunt Denise grinned and repeated, "Sounds good to me."

A few minutes later, we were in my car and racing down the road. I was probably going a little faster than I should have been, but there were never many cars out the way I was going, and I had no fear of being spotted by a cop.

"Maybe we should go and jump a river," Aunt Denise grinned at me, "I almost feel like I'm in Duke's of Hazzard."

"That new movie?" I asked with a grin.

But she just looked at me and shook her head sadly. "Today's youth..."

Just then, I suddenly noticed something up ahead of us. A red figure up in the sky descended to the road. Beowulf was standing in the middle of the road and I had to slam on the breaks in order to avoid him.

"Oh shit," I exclaimed, my eyes going wide.

I swerved at the last minute, leaving the road a bit and slamming the corner of my front end into a tree. I slammed forward, suddenly VERY thankful for my seat belt, otherwise my head would have slammed into my steering wheel.

"What the hell?" I screamed as I jumped out of the car, "You could have killed us you fucking moron!"

Beowulf didn't seem at all bothered by my yelling at him, though it was hard to tell since his helmet covered his entire face. However, he did nod and respond, "My apologies lad... My sensors had indicated that Grendel was present. I did not notice your vehicle approaching until it was too late.

"You're a lunatic," I howled, "You could have killed us. And look what you did to my car."

I gestured to my car, only then noticing that Aunt Denise was staggering around on the other side of it. Since I had been all right, I had thought that she was too. She hadn't seemed hurt in the car. But as she turned to look at me, revealing her yellow eyes and bluish skin, I let out a loud gasp.

"Oh no," I gulped, my heart jumping.

"What is it lad?" Beowulf demanded. "Is your companion injured..."

I stared at Aunt Denise in horror, my heart suddenly jumping at the sight in front of me. Aunt Denise's skin and hair continued to turn blue. Her face was starting to push forward into the beginnings of a snout, while her clothes were bursting at the seams. She dropped to her knees as she continued to change.

"Aunt Denise," I gasped, then blurted out, "Oh shit..."

Beowulf seemed almost oblivious to this as he was looking around us, scanning the field in the opposite direction for any sign of Grendel. The irony that he was completely missing Aunt Denise's transformation into Grendel just a short distance away didn't escape me, though at the moment I hardly considered that funny.

Then suddenly, a loud roar came bursting forth as the creature who had been Aunt Denise stood up, finishing up the final parts of his transformation. His muscles swelled outward in one more surge, and his inhuman power became just that much more apparent before it finally stopped and Grendel stood there before me.

"Tis the creature," Beowulf gasped in surprise.

For a brief moment, Beowulf just stood there motionless, staring at Grendel. I thought that it was as though he had finally found what he was looking for, but didn't know what to do with it. But that thought was quickly put to rest.

Beowulf suddenly threw out his arms, firing beams of red energy from each of his palms. One of them hit my car, going straight through one side and coming out the other, while the second beam hit Grendel, but seemed to do little more than make him mad.

"Be away from here lad," Beowulf commanded, "Tis too dangerous..."

I staggered backwards, staring at the scene in horror. I had no idea who to root for. Sure, Beowulf was the hero and Grendel was the monster who had caused more destruction than a dozen hurricanes, but at the same time, Grendel was my Aunt Denise. There was no way that I was going to root for the guy who was trying to kill her.

"RUN," I shouted, "Get out of here!" However, I wasn't sure who I was yelling that to.

The enormous Grendel let out a roar, looking around with an expression that showed no signs of intelligence. And with another roar, he grabbed my car, lifting it off the ground with ease... and threw it straight at Beowulf.

"You shall not catch me unawares," Beowulf shouted as he flew out of the way of the car, leaving it to smash into the ground some distance behind him.

"My car," I gasped in horror. "I just bought that..."

But then I realized that the loss of my car was pretty minor at the moment. I was standing less than thirty yards from Grendel, a monster who had leveled whole towns and faced off against the entire Protectorate... and won. This was NOT a good position to be in, even if Grendel really was my Aunt Denise... somewhere deep inside.

Beowulf floated in the air, then fired several more beams of red energy at Grendel, who just roared in response. He barely looked as though he'd noticed the attack, other than to become annoyed by it.

"Foul beast!" Beowulf yelled out, "I shall slay thee..."

Just then, Beowulf held out his arms and red energy blades formed from the back of his hands. Each was like a sword blade, which came out a foot and a half beyond his knuckles, and seemed to be made of the same energy that he had previously shot at Grendel. And without a word, Beowulf flew straight for Grendel, apparently unconcerned about getting within arms reach of the monster.

But Beowulf changed course at the last moment and used one of his energy swords to slash through the tree that my car had crashed into. The glowing red blade went through it as though it were nothing, and a moment later, the tree fell straight on top of Grendel.

Grendel let out a horrible roar, loud enough to make me cover my ears. Then he smashed the tree apart with one hand, shattering it to splinters and looking as though he were only swatting a fly. He was revealing his true power, the unparalleled strength, which had led to the government declaring him a natural disaster.

This didn't seem to scare Beowulf though, as he charged at Grendel again, this time slashing him with both energy blades. Grendel staggered back, obviously injured this time. There were two nasty gashes across his chest where the blades had sliced through his thick skin. A faint green glow emanated from the wounds, which to my surprise, began to close up again.

"This can not be," Beowulf exclaimed, "I injure the beast it and heals..."

Grendel roared yet again, no longer injured from Beowulf's attack, but obviously pissed off by it. But from what I'd seen and heard, pissed off seemed to be Grendel's normal mood.

"Aunt Denise did say that her original virus was supposed to heighten aggression," I muttered, wondering if the alien DNA that had contaminated it might have been from an extremely aggressive and hostile race to start with.

Beowulf's energy blades vanished, and he fired several more energy blasts at Grendel, yelling, "I shall defeat you yet..."

With a loud roar, Grendel jumped over fifty feet into the air, straight at Beowulf. But armored hero was too fast and got out of his way, leaving the monster to slam back to the ground a short distance away. And with another roar, Grendel tried again.

"You shall never best me," Beowulf taunted Grendel as he lowered himself back to the ground some thirty yards in front of him.

Grendel showed no signs that he understood what Beowulf was saying. He just snarled and looked as though he were about to roar again. But to my surprise, instead of a roar coming from Grendel's mouth...it was a green energy. A massive blast of green energy burst right out of Grendel's throat, while Beowulf was right in it's path.

"NO!" I cried out.

But Beowulf slammed his arms together, and a shield of glowing red energy formed around him, just an instant before Grendel's blast hit. The green blast completely covered Beowulf, burning everything around him and destroying the cluster of trees that were some distance behind him. Beowulf himself though seemed unharmed.

"I come prepared for your tricks," Beowulf called out, rising into the air again. Then Beowulf finally noticed that I was there and pointed to me, "Begone lad... I know that you wish to witness my victory, but this battlefield is far too dangerous..."

I just turned and ran, though only a short distance. I found a place to hide in the ditch beside the road, hoping that Grendel wouldn't notice me. Aunt Denise might be somewhere inside of that thing, but I had a feeling that he'd go through anything and anyone in his path, even if they were family.

"Tis time to call upon my loyal followers," Beowulf announced, firing several more energy beams at Grendel, then using his red force field when Grendel through a tree at him.

"Damn," I muttered as I watched this, "Where the hell can I get one of those force fields? That thing is cool..."

Just then, Beowulf's 'followers' arrived, or at least I assumed that these were his followers. Five men wearing suits of armor that were very similar to Beowulf's, except that they were all white, came and joined the fight. Each of these newcomers looked identical to each other, except that they each had a different animal painted on their chests in red. One had a dragon, one a griffin, one a lion, one a snake, and the last looked like a hawk or eagle.

None of these newcomers spoke a word that I could hear as they floated in the air and opened fire on Grendel with the same kind of red energy blasts that Beowulf had been using. Being attacked by six people at once seemed to be enough to injure Grendel, though like everything else, that only made him even more angry.

Grendel spat out another blast of green energy at the cluster of his armored attackers. Each of them brought up a red force field, but the one with the lion symbol on his chest was hit hardest and was thrown backwards in the air. And once Grendel's blast was over, he wobbled around in the air before finally dropping to the ground.

Lion got back to his feet and looked as though he were trying to fly again, though he couldn't get more than two feet off of the ground. It looked like Grendel's blast had damaged his armor, or at least his ability to fly.

A moment later, Grendel was charging straight at Lion. Beowulf and his other followers opened fire on Grendel, but it did nothing to slow the monster down. Lion threw up his hands and fired his energy blasts straight into the oncoming monster's face, but even that didn't slow him down and Grendel was on him.

There was absolutely no hesitation on Grendel's part as he grabbed Lion and tore him right in half. I gasped in shock and horror, until I realized that there was no blood at all. In fact, a few parts of metal were falling out of Lion's body.

"He's some kind of robot," I blurted out, relieved that Grendel hadn't just killed someone right in front of me.

Then without any warning, Lion suddenly exploded, in what I assumed was some sort of self-destruct. It was like a miniature nuke going off in the middle of the field...creating a massive dome of white hot flame and energy that ripped through everything. I could feel it even from my position in the ditch where I had immediately ducked down.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," I gasped, carefully peaking out of the ditch, stunned at just how much this fight had escalated.

I stared at the field, which was covered with black smoke. But as the smoke cleared, it revealed a large, blackened crater... with Grendel standing right in the middle of it, apparently unharmed. The most I damage that I could see on him was that his skin seemed blackened in spots, and even that was fading as I watched.

Beowulf flew straight down at Grendel, his energy blades extended again. He drove one of his blades straight into Grendel's chest, right where his heart should be. Grendel let out a horrible roar of pain and rage, then swung his arm, backhanding Beowulf as he tried to fly back out of the way. And with that powerful blow, Beowulf was sent flying, this time not under his own power, where he finally crashed into the middle of a group of trees.

Grendel roared again, then charged straight towards where Beowulf had vanished from view. He went straight into the group of trees, tearing them out of his way with only the slightest effort. Within moments, Grendel himself had vanished from view, and the only way that I could track his passage was with the path of trees being knocked down.

"Holy shit," I gasped, stunned by what I had just witnessed.

I stood where I was for a minute, staring in the direction the fight had moved in shock. I couldn't believe just how much destruction both sides had been capable of. And the way that Lion had exploded...

Then I suddenly realized the exact direction that they had all taken off in. They were heading straight towards town. I gasped, my heart jumping as I thought about what kind of destruction they could cause. They could easily level the entire town.

"Oh shit," I gulped, realizing that they didn't just have to worry about Grendel, but Beowulf too. I'd seen the way that Lion had exploded when Grendel had taken him down. If the other four all had bombs like that inside of them as well... "Double shit..."

Grendel was an unstoppable and unbeatable monster who could just as easily level the town and kill everyone in it as he could swat a fly. Beowulf and his followers were packing quite a bit of firepower themselves, and if they got into it with Grendel in the middle of town...

Several thoughts ran through my mind at once. I had to get to town to warn everyone so that they could evacuate. I had to stop them from reaching town. I had to stop Grendel. And I had to save Aunt Denise. Of course, all of those were pretty much impossible for me as I was not only powerless, but sitting out on the side of the road without even a car.

"Maybe," I paused, "Maybe I can do something..."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my knife, with my hand shaking a bit as I did so. I unfolded it, staring at the blade for just a few seconds before wrapping my hand around it. Then, with a deep breath, I clenched my hand around the blade as tightly as I could and yanked it at the same time.

"Damn," I dropped the knife, wincing as I opened my hand and saw the deep gash that I had just given myself. I was bleeding all over the place.

A moment later, I felt it, the tingling, which indicated that I was about to change. It was just like the first time I had changed, or every time Aunt Denise had taken my blood. But this time it was stronger, stronger than all but the first time I had felt it, and I doubted that I could will it to go away if I wanted. But I didn't want it to go away. Instead, I wanted to summon it.

"Oh yes," I gasped as I embraced the burning tingle and the changes that it would bring.

I stared at my hand, which was already turning blue. My nails were growing longer, sharper and harder. Then the agony truly began as the burning and changes rushed through my body. I began to grow larger as my body surged in size.

"My clothes," I whispered, as they grew tighter on me. I had forgotten to take them off, which meant that I was going to grow right out of them again. And it was too late to do anything about that now. "Damn..."

There was a loud tearing as my clothes burst at the seams, though I had much more important things to worry about. I gasped as I grew out of them, feeling my body surging with more and more power. My whole body continued to swell larger, becoming more female and more inhuman.

Once the transformation was over, I finally dropped to my knees, letting out a sigh of relief as the intense agony finally went away. The power that came with my changed body was pretty cool, but I could definitely do without the pain that came from getting there.

"Okay," I took a deep breath, getting back to my feet and standing there for a moment. I was filled with a sense of immense strength and power. And remembering just how easily I had been able to tear up those trees during my first transformation, I exclaimed, "I think I'm better than okay..."

I flexed my arm, staring at my muscular bicep, savoring the strength that I felt within it. I suddenly felt like I could do almost anything, and as far as I knew, I just might be able to. But that just reminded me of why I had transformed in first place.

"Grendel and Beowulf," I grimaced, thinking about what would happen if they reached town. "I'd better get to work.

I stood silently, savoring the feelings of raw strength and power, which surged through my body. I felt as though I could do anything, as though nothing could stop me. It was a very heady feeling, though I knew that I couldn't let myself get distracted by it.

After a minute, I slowly looked around. I was currently an 8 foot tall, naked blue chick, standing in the middle of the road. If any cars were coming, it would be a good bet that I'd distract them from driving. And remembering that something along these lines was what had caused me to crash, I wasn't about to intentionally do that to someone else.

"Damn Beowulf," I growled, furious at him for causing me to wreck. If he hadn't been standing in the middle of the road, that never would have happened, my car wouldn't be trashed, and Aunt Denise wouldn't have turned into Grendel. "We'd be in town having ice cream..."

Then I grimaced and stared into the distance, seeing a flash of green energy shoot up into the air somewhere in the distance beyond the trees. Grendel and Beowulf were still fighting, and getting even closer to town.

I finally stepped off the paved road and into the gravel beside it. In spite of the fact that my naked foot was on all of those sharp rocks, I barely even felt it, much less felt any discomfort. My skin was now thick and hard enough that I could walk around barefoot just as easily and comfortably as I could in shoes, if not more so. This was something that I'd been a little too preoccupied to notice during my previous transformation.

"My car," I muttered, going straight towards it.

When Grendel had thrown my car, he had done a LOT of damage to it. The whole thing was crushed in and the frame was badly bent. It was obvious with only a single glance that it was totaled and would never run again.

"Damn," I muttered, reaching for my car and lifting it off the ground with ease. It felt no heavier than if it had been made of Styrofoam. I held it there for a moment, marveling at my strength and just how light the car felt in my hands. I could feel my claws sinking into the metal when I squeezed. Then with a sigh, I casually tossed it to the side, "Damn... And I just got that thing..."

I was pretty pissed about my car, but more than just that. I quickly looked back in the direction of town, scowling and realizing that I couldn't let myself get distracted. I had transformed myself for a reason, and it was time to get to it.

With that, I started running in the direction of town, following the path of destruction that Grendel and Beowulf had left. They went through a cluster of trees, leaving a lot of them torn down, shredded or blasted to pieces. They went through another field, leaving huge gouges and holes. And this continued all the way to the edge of town where I finally found them.

When I arrived at the scene of battle, I was a little startled to realize that I must have run at a flat out sprint for over a mile, and I didn't feel any more winded than if I'd just walked across a room. But I didn't have time to marvel over what my new body was capable of a the moment.

Grendel let out a loud roar, while Beowulf's followers were a good distance away, blasting him from the air. Even being blasted by four individuals at once didn't seem to really hurt him, though he was pretty pissed off, which was nothing new. But Beowulf was taking advantage of these attacks to fly by and quickly slash at Grendel with his energy blades, which easily cut through his tough hide.

My plan to warn the town about the oncoming fight was a little late to be useful, as they obviously already knew. Grendel and Beowulf were fighting within clear view of the town, and several people were standing back and watching in awe. Of course, the smarter people had already hopped into their cars or trucks and left town as fast as they could.

Suddenly, Beowulf exclaimed, "Ho... there's another monster."

It took me a moment to realize that he was referring to ME. But before I could fully digest his comment, Beowulf opened fire on me. He fired those red energy blasts from his hands and caught me straight in the chest. I staggered back, my skin burning where he hit me.

"What the fuck was that for?" I screamed out, pissed off that he would just attack me for no reason.

"My word," Beowulf exclaimed in surprise, "The beast speaks..."

"Who the hell are you calling a beast?" I demanded.

Beowulf fired more of his red energy blasts at me, one of which caught me in the shoulder while the other missed. I glared at him, getting more and more pissed by the moment. He was attacking me for no reason, even after he knew that I wasn't some mindless monster.

I glared at Beowulf, feeling my anger burning in my gut like a bad case of gas. A moment later, it erupted... It felt like I was letting out a loud belch, but instead a blast of green energy shot out of my mouth and just barely missing hitting Beowulf.

"Yuck," I grimaced, having a bad taste and weird tingling sensation inside of my mouth and throat. "That is gross..."

"The She-Grendel attacks," Beowulf called to his followers, "We must destroy her as well..."

"Destroy..." I blinked in surprise.

But before I could protest that I wasn't their enemy, two of Beowulf's followers dove down and started to blast me. Eagle and Snake were both shooting at me with their energy beams at the same time, and wherever they hit my skin, they hurt like hell. A quick look down to my breasts, which had just been blasted, revealed that they weren't doing any real damage, or at least nothing that wasn't healing in just a second or two, but that didn't mean that I liked being shot.

"It's like being shot with a BB gun," I grimaced, remembering a little game of BB gun tag that I'd once played with a friend when I was younger. I hadn't liked being hit then, and I sure as hell didn't like it now.

I tried protecting myself from the painful little stings, but it didn't do much good. I had two opponents, both attacking me over and over from a distance, while I couldn't do much to hit them. Of course, I could belch out another green energy blast... if I could figure out how I did it in the first place.

"Stupid robots," I grimaced, trying to think of something that I could do.

Then I saw a rock near my feet. It was probably a bit bigger than a bowling ball, but at the moment, it fit in my hand as though it were just a baseball. And with a silent prayer to hit my target, I threw the rock as hard as I could. Unfortunately, my aim wasn't as good as I'd hoped and I missed my target.

"Damn," I spat.

However, I wasn't about to just give up on a good idea. Next, I grabbed a large rock, one that was a decent 3 feet across. There was absolutely no way that I would have been able to lift that rock normally, but as I now was, I lifted it with ease. It felt so light in my hands that I hardly believed that it could do any real damage, even as I threw it.

"Take that," I yelled out.

This time, my aim was a better, but Snake turned on his force field, which shattered the rock against it and knocked him back. Unfortunately though, it didn't seem to do any real damage, though it did cause him and Eagle to back off a little and play defense. I followed it up by throwing a few more rocks at them, just to keep them away from me.

I took this brief opportunity to check on Grendel, then gasped as I saw him charging straight towards the town. The few people who were stupid enough to stay and watch scattered, and I hoped that it wouldn't be too late. Grendel grabbed a truck that was parked on the side of the road and casually tossed it several hundred yards.

"No," I gasped, running straight at Grendel. I couldn't let him get any further into town. I couldn't let him hurt anyone. I cringed, knowing that Aunt Denise would be horrified at having done something like that.

Grendel was busy swatting at Beowulf and his followers, so it was pretty easy for me to get ahead of him and stand in his way. After belching out another energy blast, which missed Beowulf and completely obliterated the feed and grain store, Grendel let out a roar and continued his march towards the center of town.

I braced myself, feeling terrified as that massive monster advanced towards me. He towered over me, making me feel small in comparison, even though I happened to be 8 feet tall. And his power... I could feel his power radiating out from him. And as I looked at him, I somehow knew that as powerful as I now was...he was much more so. He was at least twice, possibly three times as strong as me.

"Oh shit," I gulped, knowing that I didn't stand a chance against Grendel. Sure, I could slow him down, but if he really put forth the effort, even I couldn't stop him. "Not good..."

A large part of my mind screamed that I should do the smart thing and just get out of his path. No one stood in Grendel's path and walked away unharmed. Even the entire Protectorate, the greatest super hero team around could barely contain him most of the time. But at the same time, I knew that Aunt Denise was inside that monster somewhere. And as she was family, I felt responsible for stopping her... or at least stopping the creature that she had become.

"Stop," I demanded, bracing myself just several yards in front of Grendel.

To my surprise, Grendel did just that. He stopped and stood there, looking down at me. But there wasn't any of the anger and viciousness that I had been seeing from him, at least not directed at me. In fact, he seemed almost calm as he looked at me.

"I... I can feel you," I whispered, staring back at Grendel, realizing that I could feel more than just his power. I could feel his very presence. It was strange... like there was some kind of link between us.

But this moment of calm didn't last as Beowulf came charging in, both of his energy blades going. He shot right past me in a high speed hit and run, with me realizing that he'd cut my stomach wide open only after he was out of range.

I gasped and dropped to my knees, grabbing hold of my stomach in shock. But to my relief, the injury was already sealing up. It hurt like hell, but it wasn't going to kill me. By the time I got back to my feet a minute later, my wound was completely gone, though there was still a faint discomfort that was quickly passing.

"Fucking bastard," I snarled, getting even more pissed off. I felt the churning in my gut again, this time recognizing what it was. "Eat this..." And with that, I let out another belch of that green energy, this time aiming straight at Beowulf. He blocked it with his force field, but it still knocked him back a good distance. "God, that's nasty..."

Just then, all four of Beowulf's remaining followers came flying by, firing energy blasts from their hands. Several blasts hit Grendel, several hit me and some even hit a car just a short distance away. I winced at how much they stung, though I didn't bother checking for damage since I knew just how fast I now healed.

Then I looked to the car that had been hit and muttered, "Holy shit..." There were blast holes that went all the way through the car... and deep into the concrete street. They had gone through steel and concrete like a hot knife through butter.

I stared at the holes in the metal for a moment, suddenly realizing just how powerful those energy blasts were. And since they didn't really hurt me, other than cause a bit of a sting, I had to wonder just how tough I was now. Of course, with the ease that Beowulf's energy swords cut through both my hide and Grendel's, it said something for just how powerful those things had to be.

Just then, Beowulf flew straight at me again, his swords both drawn. He must have decided that I was the easier target and that he should get rid of me first. And this time, he looked like he was pretty damn serious because his blades were at about my neck level. I couldn't read his mind, but I was sure that he meant to decapitate me.

I was bracing myself for Beowulf's charge, which wasn't easy since his followers were all blasting me at once. Suddenly, Grendel stepped in front of me and let out a loud roar as he blocked Beowulf's attack.

"You... you protected me," I gasped in surprise, never having expected such a thing from Grendel, even if he was aunt Dense deep inside.

I scowled, wincing from the rain of energy blasts, which was really stinging. Grendel didn't seem bothered by them, but I wasn't quite as tough as he was. And as I looked around, I realized that the ground was really suffering from the constant rain of energy blasts.

"We have to get out of town," I told Grendel, "We have to get go back there..." I pointed to the field where we had been fighting just several minutes earlier.

Grendel growled a bit and slowly started walking in that direction, leaving me stunned. Grendel had done it again. He'd done what I told him to.

Beowulf and his followers continued to blast as us from a distance, even though it didn't do much but make us both pissed. I suspected that their goal was to wear us down, to overwhelm us with so many small injuries that we'd eventually fall, much like how a grown man might if a large swarm of bees kept stinging him.

"Damn, I'm getting tired of this," I winced as another painful blast caught me in my shoulder. "We've got to get away from these guys..." Unfortunately, I knew that it wouldn't be that easy. It was five against two, and the five were all airborne.

Just then, Grendel shifted position, blocking me from all of the energy blasts. He stood between me and Beowulf's followers, taking all of the attacks himself. Of course, Grendel wasn't about to just stand there and take things. He roared and belched out more of those green energy blasts. I felt my own gut churning with more of the stuff myself, though I held back and kept from releasing it... at least for the moment.

"The great beast Grendel protects the female," Beowulf called out, "No matter. We shall destroy them both."

"And you call yourself a hero," I yelled out to Beowulf, "Heroes don't attack ladies..."

"You are no lady," Beowulf called back. "You are merely a monster in female form..."

I was really getting tired of this, "Blast him," I told Grendel, pointing at Beowulf.

Grendel belched out an energy blast, aimed at Beowulf. Beowulf blocked it with his force field and was sent flying back. He immediately returned fire with his energy blasts, catching me in the thigh with one of them.

"The beast obeys her orders," Beowulf exclaimed, sounding surprised.

"I guess you do," I grinned to Grendel, no longer frightened of him. I could feel him... could feel that he had no hostility or intention to harm me. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He was obviously trying to protect me.

"Tis as the ancient story foretold," Beowulf called out, "The true power behind Grendel is his mother..."

"His mother?" I blinked in surprise, wondering how Beowulf had decided that I was Grendel's mother. Sure, in my current form I looked older...even adult, but I didn't think that I looked anywhere near old enough to be Grendel's mother. "This is insane..."

"Slay them," Beowulf ordered his followers, "Slay Grendel and his mother..."

"I'm getting sick of this," I said, glancing back to make sure that we were indeed moving away from the town, "Take him out," I pointed to one of the followers, the one with the snake on it's chest.

Grendel gave one of his deafening roars, then jumped into the air, higher and farther than I'd ever seen anyone jump before. However, Snake saw this coming and flew back out of the way, so this kind of direct attack wasn't going to work.

"If he can do it," I realized, grinning to myself.

I took a running start, then jumped as hard as I could towards Griffin, hoping that I could catch him by surprise. I nearly had him when Eagle suddenly flew in and hit me in the side, knocking me off course and giving Griffin a chance to move out of the way.

"Damn," I exclaimed.

However, I immediately saw that my attack wasn't completely wasted and reached out, grasping hold of Eagle's foot as he tried to fly away from me. And since I had a good grip on him, I dug my clawlike fingernails into his metal armor and brought him back down with me, slamming him on the ground as I landed.

"Gotcha," I grinned at the satisfying crunch.

Eagle's armor was badly damaged from the impact, and he tried to get up, without much success. Just then, I thought that I heard a faint beeping coming from him. My heart jumped as I remembered what had happened when Grendel had taken out Lion.

"Shit," I gulped, realizing that I wasn't quite as tough as Grendel so there was no guarantee that I'd survive the self-destruction which I was sure was coming.

My first thought was to just run, but I suddenly had another idea. I quickly grabbed the broken Eagle and threw him into the air as hard as I could, right towards the area where Beowulf and the other followers were hovering and firing energy blasts. Eagle flew past them...then suddenly exploded.

"Yes," I grinned triumphantly.

When the light had cleared a moment later, I saw that Beowulf and his followers had been caught close enough to the blast to take some of the effects, just as I had hoped. One of the followers, Snake, had apparently been the closest because he just dropped straight out of the sky and smashed into the ground.

"Grendel," I called out, "Sic em..."

Grendel let out a roar and jumped into the air, this time getting up fast enough that he got his hands on Dragon...and destroy him with a single swipe of his fist. As the pieces of Dragon fell, I didn't even know if enough of him survived to self-destruct. However, I decided to keep away from the wreckage, just in case.

I jumped as hard as I could again, this time going straight at Griffin... His armor was charred, and he wobbled a bit as he flew, but otherwise he seemed unharmed. He quickly moved to the side and opened up to shoot at me with his energy blasts. It stung, but I'd been expected that.

"Gotcha," I smiled as I noticed Beowulf flying straight towards me with his energy blades out.

Gravity was already doing it's work on me and pulling me back towards the ground. Beowulf came at me faster and faster, looking as though he meant to finish me off. I waited until he was right on me, slashing one of his energy blades in the direction of my neck, and I finally let loose. I belched a blast of powerful energy straight into his face, right when he wasn't expecting it or had time to set up a force field.

"I can't believe I just did that to a super hero," I muttered to myself as I hit the ground.

My eyes quickly darted to Beowulf, who had been badly damaged by my attack and who dropped to the ground like a rock. He remained motionless for a moment, then slowly got back to his feet, revealing just how badly damaged his armor was. The whole thing was covered with cracks and dents, and a section of his helmet was missing, revealing the jaw of a Caucasian man, though I couldn't see any more details than that.

Beowulf staggered a bit, then held up his arm. The red energy blade appeared from his wrist, though it flickered and went out just a moment later.

I stared at him for a second, suddenly realizing that this was my opportunity. He was on the ground, his swords weren't working, and he was practically helpless. With only a few steps, I could get my hands on him and it would all be over. It would be so easy to just tear him to pieces, and I surprised myself with just how eager I was to do that... This was really getting to me, and I was really getting caught up in it.

"No," I muttered, keeping myself in check. It just wasn't right to go beating up on an unarmed person, even if he had been trying to kill me just minutes earlier.

Beowulf looked as though he were about to try using those energy blasts of his on me, but then decided not to. He probably realized just how useless they would really be, and that they would only piss me off even more. Instead, he began go hover in the air again, looking rather wobbly as he did so.

"I shall not forget this, mother of Grendel," Beowulf called down to me as he flew up and out of range, "I shall return. You and your monstrous child shall both be slain..."

And with that, Beowulf joined Griffin in the air and they slowly flew off, leaving us alone. Or at least as alone as we could be considering the fact that there were still a few people from town who'd stuck around to watch the whole fight.

"How the hell did he come up with the idea that I'm Grendel's mom?" I shook my head in amazement. "Sure, we look sort of alike, but for all he knows I could be his sister... But his mom?" Grendel let out a bellowing roar, then slowly started stomping towards town again. "Stop," I ordered him, relieved when he did just that. "Good boy. Stay close to me..." He grumbled but did just that.

I stared at Grendel, then laughed. The idea that Grendel, one of the world's most powerful developed, and one of the worlds most notable monsters, would do whatever I told him was amazing. I could hardly believe it.

Just then, I heard a creaking sound and turned to look at Snake. Beowulf's follower, who had fallen from the sky after the explosion was getting back to his feet. He was pretty damaged, with cracked and burned armor, as well as a missing arm. He stood there for a moment, then began to walk, though it was more of a slow stagger. I thought that he was going to explode, but instead, he continued walking in the direction that Beowulf and Griffin had flown off to.

"I wonder," I mused, thinking that if Snake was going back to Beowulf, I could probably follow him. I grinned at the idea of finding Beowulf, wherever he was hiding, and taking the fight to him. But then I shook my head, deciding that it was too much trouble. "Destroy him," I told Grendel

Grendel charged straight at Snake, giving him one swipe with his powerful claws, which tore the robot to pieces. Then, as if to make sure that there was nothing left, Grendel stepped on what had been Snake's torso and blasted his head with a blast of green energy.

"Get back," I called to Grendel, "He might explode."

But after a minute, it became clear that Snake wasn't about to selfdestruct. Perhaps Grendel had destroyed that part of him, or perhaps it had been wiped out in the previous blast. I didn't know, nor did I care. Beowulf had lost another one of his followers, and I wouldn't have to worry about this particular one showing up to attack Aunt Denise again.

"Come on," I told Grendel, looking around at the destruction, then at the town and the people who were quietly watching, in spite of all common sense saying that they should have run. "Let's get out of here..."

Grendel let out a booming roar, loud enough to make me wince. But when I hurried off to the other side of the field and into a cluster of trees, he followed me. Of course, he knocked down just about every tree in his path, and I had to admit that I did that a bit myself, just because it was pretty cool and I liked trying out my new power.

However, I quickly realized that Grendel and I were leaving far too much of a trail. Anyone who was interested in following us would be able to do so with ease. So I tried doing things a little differently. I only hoped that Grendel would cooperate for what I had planned.

"Grendel," I told him, gently putting my hand on his larger one, "I want you to relax..."

I took a deep breath, hoping that this would work. I wasn't sure how long it would take otherwise, or if I had the patience to wait.

"You don't need to be big and strong to survive now," I told Grendel, "You're safe now so I want you to try bringing Aunt Denise back..."

I could still feel that strange link to Grendel, so I felt it a moment later when some sort of switch was flipped inside of him. I could feel a shudder run through his body, and a moment later, the link began to waver and weaken.

Just then, I noticed that Grendel was changing... The spikes on his shoulders and elbows were less prominent and he was getting smaller. He no longer towered over me by four feet, but was looking me in the eye... and then up at me.

"It worked," I gasped in amazement, watching as Grendel continued to shrink and change, becoming more and more human with each passing second. His skin color began to fade, as did his masculinity. In a moment, his features became more feminine... and more like Aunt Denise's.

Once the changes were completed, Aunt Denise lay naked on the ground in front of me. She was so small compared to me that it was hard to believe that just minutes earlier she had towered over me. Then she opened her eyes, looking around in confusion and exclaiming, "What..." Then she saw me and her eyes widened further.

"It's okay," I reassured her, kneeling down. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Vaguely," she frowned, "I remember the man in the road and then changing... But after that, it's extremely blurry..."

I nodded at that, then looked around, "We'd better get home..."

"Yeah," she responded, trying to cover herself up a bit.

Since I thought that it would be a good idea to get home as fast as we could, and knew that Aunt Denise wouldn't be able to travel very fast without any clothes or shoes, I picked her up. She was so light that I could easily hold her in my arms, sort of like I might a large baby. However, she was NOT happy about this.

"Put me down," Aunt Denise complained, "I am perfectly capable of walking."

"Maybe," I told her, looking around quickly for any sign that Beowulf or someone else might have followed us, "But this is faster..."

I ignored Aunt Denise's protests and raced home as fast as my powerful and tireless body would let me, though I worked hard at avoiding notice as well. And as soon as I reached home, I slipped unto Aunt Denise's lab and set her down.

"What's going on?" she demanded, looking at me with an extremely worried expression, "What did Grendel do this time? And why are you like that?"

I just looked down at her and grunted, then looked at myself. My body was still that of an 8 foot tall, blue skinned, freak and girl version of Grendel. I couldn't very well keep going around like that... no matter how powerful I was.

Closing my eye, I tried to remember what I'd been thinking about the last time I had changed back to normal. I thought about how easy it had been to get Grendel to change back. And to my relief, I felt that little switch to off inside of myself, followed by the painful sensation of transforming.

"Oh God," I gasped as my bones and flesh reshaped themselves. I grimaced and tried to bear the pain, knowing that it would soon be over. I would soon be back to my normal old self.

"Are you all right?" Aunt Denise asked, rushing to my side as soon as I had finished transforming back into a 16-year-old boy.

I gave her a weak smile, "Just fine..."

Then I stood up, suddenly feeling extremely embarrassed and tried covering myself. Running around naked while I was a powerful creature that just about no one would recognize was one thing, but as myself... That was a different story all together.

"Um..." I blinked, not looking at Aunt Denise as I blushed, "I think we should get dressed first..."

"Good idea," Aunt Denise nodded. "First clothes... then story time."

I climbed out of bed with a sigh, disgusted at having to get up. But it was morning and I couldn't very well stay in bed all day, no matter how comfortable it was.

After I'd gotten dressed, splashed some cold water on my face and halfheartedly ran a comb through my hair, I made my way to the kitchen for breakfast. I wasn't surprised to see that everyone else in the house was currently there, except for my dad who had already run off to work.

"Morning," I said as I glanced around.

Aunt Denise was sitting at the table, smearing jam on her toast. My mom was standing at the counter, pouring herself a cup of coffee. And Sandy was cheerfully gulping down her bowl of Captain Crunch.

"Hey Will," Sandy grinned at me, "Did you hear that Grendel came to town yesterday?"

"Tom Walston and Cheryl Marks both called us about that yesterday," my mom gave her a sharp look, "Remember?"

"It's in the morning paper," Aunt Denise scowled, setting the paper down on the table in front of me.

"Front page," my mom scowled, glaring at both me and Aunt Denise. She hadn't been happy when we told her what had happened the day before, and she didn't seem to be in a much better mood.

I gulped and picked up the paper, staring at the large photo that they had plastered over the front of both Grendel and myself in my transformed state. They'd caught a good picture of me pointing to Beowulf while Grendel blasted him at the same time. Then I quickly read through the article.

"What the..." I gasped in surprise.

My mom coughed, and when I glanced up, I saw her giving a meaningful look to Sandy. It was a reminder that we weren't free to talk about what had really happened. I scowled, nodded faintly and went back to the article.

The article said that Grendel and a female version of him had come bursting through the middle of town, without any provocation, and that a superhero called Beowulf had shown up to chase them away. Of course that wasn't what had really happened, but Aunt Denise had warned me that the news often got facts wrong when it came to Grendel.

But of more personal interest was the fact that the article talked about me and speculated where a female version of Grendel might have come from. It pointed out that I was intelligent, could talk and even ordered Grendel around, then suggested that perhaps I had been the one behind Grendel and was secretly controlling his destructive rampages from the very beginning.

"No way," I shook my head.

And the final part of the article, which stunned me was that they were calling me Grendel's Mother, as though that were my official name or title. All I could figure was that someone had overheard Beowulf calling me that and the paper had reported it as fact.

"When you're done eating," Aunt Denise told me with a knowing look, "I'd like your help with something..."

"How come you never ask me to help?" Sandy demanded, apparently feeling left out.

"Maybe when you're a little older," Aunt Denise told her. "Right now, I need someone a little bigger to help me move some boxes."

"Ew," Sandy gave an exaggerated cringe at the thought of physical labor. "Never mind..."

I nodded, wolfing down the bowl of cereal that my mom set down in front of me. I wanted to see what it was that Aunt Denise really wanted, since I was pretty sure that it was a whole lot more important than moving boxes.

Once I was finished eating, I went outside with Aunt Denise and immediately blurted out, "I can't believe I was in the paper... But why are they calling me Grendel's Mother?"

"Well," Aunt Denise smiled, "You must admit that you do have a strong resemblance to Grendel when you transform. You also look like an adult. And since Grendel does what you tell him..."

I just grimaced, "It's just weird... I mean, people calling ME a mom..."

"I'm not too surprised," she sighed. "Shortly after I started transforming, someone decided that it would be a good idea to name the monster I turned into after the giant monster from the old story. Sooner or later, one of Grendel's enemies was bound to call himself Beowulf after the protagonist of that story. And since there is both a Beowulf and a Grendel, it makes sense that people would start looking for other references to the story as well...hence Grendel's Mother."

"Ugh," I grimaced again, "It's still weird."

"I think that you should probably read the story," Aunt Denise frowned, "Assuming that you haven't read it already..."

"Nope," I shrugged. I knew a few basics about the story, but I'd never actually read it. Aunt Denise sighed, "The education system in this country certainly is deteriorating..."

"Dad says the same thing," I grinned at her, "But I tried getting him to help me with my math homework, and he couldn't figure it out..."

When we got to Aunt Denise's lab, she let out a yawn and I finally noticed just how tired she looked. "I was up most of the night," she explained, "working on your cure..."

"Really?" I blinked in surprise.

And Denise just nodded and sat down on a stool in front of her work bench. "I can't stay here anymore... Not after what happened yesterday. I just wanted to take care of this while I still could..."

"But we chased Beowulf away," I protested, "You don't have to go..." I stared at Aunt Denise, only having really known her for several months but feeling hurt at the thought of her leaving.

"He'll be back," she responded sadly. "Him or someone like him. They always come after me. If I stay here, they'll find me. If I stay here any longer, I'll be putting you and your family in danger. I don't have a choice..."

I stared at her for a moment, not liking it but understanding what she meant. But since I didn't want to think about her leaving right then, I abruptly asked, "Why did you... I mean Grendel do what I told him yesterday?"

"I've been thinking about that," Aunt Denise responded. "I don't remember much from my time as Grendel, but I remember feeling a connection to you... It's more of a lingering feeling than a specific memory, but I think that Grendel considers you to be the leader of his pack or family unit." She frowned thoughtfully, "It is quite possible that the alien DNA that both Grendel and you possess is from a matriarchal... or female dominant society, and that this was an instinctive reaction."

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

Aunt Denise sighed, "I'm afraid that I don't know anything about that race, so it is pure speculation. There are other possibilities as well."

"Such as," I urged her to continue.

"It's possible that somewhere in my subconscious, I recognized you," Aunt Denise admitted. "But perhaps a little more likely is the fact that the viral strain that you are infected with contains my own DNA. Grendel might sense this and see you as a part of himself."

"Weird," I sighed, "Very weird."

"Definitely," Aunt Denise smiled, "But thankfully you were there. If you hadn't been there to contain the situation, there is no telling what Grendel might have done or what damage he might have caused."

"I don't know," I frowned, "Beowulf and those guys looked like they were getting you... him on the run."

Aunt Denise just laughed at that. "Appearances can be deceiving. Whenever Grendel becomes injured or threatened, he becomes even more powerful. The more that they attacked him, the more powerful and destructive he would have become."

All I could say to that was, "Oh."

"You kept things from getting out of hand," Aunt Denise told me with a grateful expression, "And you may have prevented a lot of people from getting hurt. You have no idea how much that means to me."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I didn't say anything. I just sat there, feeling awkward for a minute. Then I abruptly told her, "It was weird... I mean, I was fighting a super hero and everything. I never thought I could do that kind of thing... I guess I got a little carried away." I stared at the ground in embarrassment, remembering just how easily I had gotten caught up in the whole fight.

"I'm not too surprised," Aunt Denise replied slowly, a thoughtful look on her face. "The virus was designed to increase aggression... In fact, it's amazing that you weren't a lot more aggressive. Look at Grendel. Fortunately, you retain control over your transformed self." I could see the envy and sadness pass over her face as she said that.

"Good thing," I nodded agreement, shuddering at the thought of becoming some sort of mindless monster like Grendel. "I'd hate to be like that." I gave Aunt Denise a sympathetic look, easily imagining how hard it had to have been on her. Her entire life had been destroyed because of Grendel.

"A very good thing," Aunt Denise told me with a serious expression. "You have no idea how lucky you are, not to have that kind of thing hanging over your head." Then she paused to smile, "But in just a few minutes, you'll be even luckier."

With that, she turned and went into the refrigerator, pulling out a small glass vial and holding it up to the light. There was a look of intense satisfaction in her face as she did so.

"Is that it?" I asked quietly.

Aunt Denise nodded. "It's a derivative of the cure I had been working on for myself. It attacks the mechanism, which triggers our transformations and eats away at the virus. Within one week of taking this, all traces of the virus should be removed from your system."

"Great," I responded, without as much enthusiasm as I would have expected.

"I worked all night to finish just this small amount," Aunt Denise told me, yawning as she did so. "I was only able to make a single dose, but it should be enough."

"You said it was based off of your own cure," I thought aloud.

"Yes," Aunt Denise nodded, looking at me curiously.

"Does that mean it'll work for you too?" I looked at her hopefully. Maybe she had finally done it. Maybe she had finally found a way to stop turning into Grendel.

Aunt Denise shook her head, "I'm afraid not. If I had taken this retrovirus soon enough after my own infection, it would have worked. However, I have been infected for so long that every cell in my body is contaminated."

"Then it wouldn't do anything for you?" I frowned in disappointment.

"Well... it wouldn't be entirely useless," Aunt Denise admitted with a weak smile.

"Oh?" I urged, knowing that she couldn't just leave it at that.

"If I took this antivirus," she told me, "It would severely weaken most of the virus throughout my body... even removing some of it. However, it would not be nearly strong enough to remove it all. This is why I have been having such a difficult time with a cure. I believe that it would cause my virus to go into remission... but that isn't a true cure. Remission could be months...or even years, but my virus would eventually become active again and Grendel would return. And after this, my virus would have developed an immunity to further uses of this cure."

"Wow," I said, not sure what else I could say.

"I had been hoping to be able to make it strong enough to completely remove my virus," Aunt Denise frowned, "Though it is beginning to look as though I may have to try a different tactic."

Aunt Denise held the small vial up to the light then transferred the contents into a syringe. There was a look of concentration on her face, as though she were afraid to make any mistake with it at all. Of course, if something did happen to the antidote, it wasn't like she had more.

"You will have to control your urge to transform when I inject this into you," she told me with a frown. "If you do transform, your immune system will overwhelm the antivirus."

I stared at Aunt Denise for a moment, then the syringe in her hand. That was my cure... the thing that would remove that virus from my body and return me to normal. It would keep me from ever turning into that blue Amazon again. My heart raced at the very sight of the syringe.

"No," I said quietly, frowning as I did so.

"What?" Aunt Denise blinked in confusion.

"I think you should take it instead," I told her quietly. Then I gave Aunt Denise a serious look, "You need it more than I do."

Aunt Denise stared at me in surprise, "Don't be ridiculous. You need this..."

I held up my hand and shook my head. My heart continued to race as I stared at Aunt Denise, trying to make her understand. "You need it more," I insisted. "I can control it... I can keep myself from changing, and when I do change, I'm still in control of myself. But when you change..." I shook my head at that.

"Will..." she began gently, putting a hand on mine.

But I wasn't about to change my mind. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I was sure that I was right.

"If you take it," I told her, "You'll go into remission and can work on a finding a real cure without turning into Grendel... If nothing else, it'll give you time. And if you do start turning into Grendel again, I can keep him under control. I may be the only one who can." I stared at her intensely, "I can be insurance against Grendel."

With that, I stopped and let what I'd said sink in. Everything that I had told her was true and made a lot of sense. With my power over Grendel, I was the perfect person to stop him and keep him under control. And there was no way that I would be able to do that if I took Aunt Denise's antivirus.

There was one other reason that I didn't want to take the cure. I LIKED being able to turn into an 8 foot tall blue chick. I liked the strength and power that came from that body. I liked being able to bench press a tank or toss a Volkswagen. It was so incredible that I didn't want to give that up. Of course, I couldn't tell Aunt Denise that. I was a 16 year old guy, and what guy would ever admit that he liked turning into a girl... even an unbelievably powerful one?

Aunt Denise stared at me with a strange, almost pained look on her face. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She felt so guilty about infecting me, and so desperately wanted to cure me... But at the same time, she couldn't deny the logic in what I'd said. Nor could she ignore the fact that I was probably the ONLY person on the entire planet who was able to keep Grendel from doing the things that he was known for.

"You... you're right," Aunt Denise finally admitted, looking sad as she said it. "If I cure you, I'm still in the same situation... with a monster inside of me that can harm countless people. But if I take the antivirus myself, it will put Grendel out of commission... perhaps long enough for me to find a real cure. And if he does return, you can always keep him under control. You can stop him from hurting people..."

"You take it," I said quietly, gesturing to the syringe.

Aunt Denise nodded slowly, then frowned, "But once I have a cure... I'll cure you. By then, I might need a stronger antivirus for you as well... but I can manage."

"I can wait," I told her with a forced smile. "I mean, I can keep from changing when I don't want to..."

"Unless you're too injured," she pointed out.

"Even then, I can control myself." I reminded her. "It's not that big a deal to me. I mean, not like it is to you."

"Your mother would kill me," she protested weakly.

"She'll understand," I pointed out. "Especially since it might help you get cured..."

After a minute, Aunt Denise nodded again, not having any more reasons to argue. She stared at the syringe for a moment, then pulled out her bottle of pills.

"I had better take my genetic stabilizer first," she told me as she swallowed three pills. "I don't want the injection to trigger a change..."

Aunt Denise waited a few minutes for her genetic stabilizer pills to start working, then she carefully injected herself in the arm. For a brief moment, I was afraid that her pills weren't working because her arm started to turn blue in the area, though it quickly reverted to normally coloring.

"Well," she gave me a sigh of relief as she set the empty syringe aside, "I hope it works, because the longer my virus is in remission and Grendel remains dormant, the better it will be for everyone."

"Amen," I agreed.

We just sat there and talked for a good hour or so before Aunt Denise swallowed a few more of her genetic stabilizer pills. Then she used another syringe to take a sample of her own blood. And after examining it under the microscope, she turned to me and smiled.

"It seems to be working," she exclaimed. "It will probably be several days before the process is completed, but I can already see my virus going into remission."

"Great," I grinned at her. "Now you won't have to worry about Grendel..."

"Not for awhile at least," she smiled back. Then her expression turned sad. "I'm afraid that it doesn't change the fact that I have to be leaving though..."

"What?" I blinked. "If you won't turn into Grendel..."

"But my presence still makes things dangerous for now," she frowned. "I should probably start packing my belongings..." Then she gave me a weak smile, "But I'll still be in touch. After all, you'll need to know how to find me if Grendel comes back..."

"You'd better keep in touch," I grinned back, trying not to show her how sad I was that she was leaving. "But before you leave... I think you still owe me some ice cream from yesterday..."

Aunt Denise just laughed at that, "Then I guess we'll have to take care of that..."

I scowled as I walked beside the road, not at all pleased by the fact that I was reduced to traveling everywhere by foot again. It had been a week since the tragic loss of my car and there wasn't a single time that I went to or from work that I didn't regret it immensely.

"Damn Beowulf," I muttered, "If it wasn't for him making me wreck..." Of course, I overlooked the fact that Grendel had been the one to toss the car and total it.

Then I let out a sigh, thinking about Aunt Denise. She had hopped on the bus and left town a few days earlier, just as she had said she would. I had been pretty sad to see her leave, though I understood her reasons.

"I hope she can stop running some day," I frowned. "Maybe when she finds a real cure..."

Thinking about Aunt Denise wasn't improving my mood any, nor was thinking about my car. Since it had been destroyed by Grendel, my insurance company was refusing to pay. Apparently, destruction as a result of a developed was not covered under my policy.

"Damn insurance company," I spat out, knowing that I was going to have to save up for a car all over again. And I still owed some money to dad. "That's just not fair."

Just then, I heard a sound from above me. I looked up and gulped at a familiar sight, the sight of a man in red and white armor.

"Oh no," I groaned as Beowulf landed just in front of me.

Beowulf looked a lot better than the last time that I'd seen him, and his armor looked like it could be brand new. There were no signs of his helmet having been shattered or the scratches and cracks that had been covering his armor. But for all I knew, it might very well be a different set of armor.

"Ho there lad," Beowulf greeted me, "Tis good see that you were not harmed in the monster's rampage..."

"Um...yeah," I responded, "I just wish the same could be said of my car..."

Beowulf didn't seem to notice the tone of accusation in my voice as he continued, "I successfully chased the monster away from yon town, yet he managed to escape me..."

"Um... yeah," I nodded, remembering it happening a different way than that.

"I have regained my strength," Beowulf announced, "Now I resume the hunt for the monster Grendel... and for his mother."

I gulped at that, my heart jumping as he mentioned hunting for Grendel's Mother as well as for Grendel. I had expected people go hunting after Grendel, but I'd never considered that they might want to come after me now as well.

"Well lad," Beowulf asked me, "Would you happen to know which direction they went?"

"I think," I took a deep breath, trying to remain calm and not look suspicious, "I think that someone told me that when they ran off, they went north..."

"North," Beowulf mused aloud. "I thank thee young man..." He nodded his head slightly, then suddenly started floating up into the air again. "Your assistance is appreciated," he called out before flying off again.

"He's gone," I let out a sigh of relief, glad to see the hero flying out of view. "Thank God."

Then I smiled, thinking that since Aunt Denise had actually gone south when she left, I just might have helped throw one of the people hunting her off of her trail. And if she didn't turn into Grendel again, that should give her a good chance to really vanish.

I was almost in a good mood as I stared walking down the road again, though it quickly soured as I once again remembered the fact that just a week earlier, I could have driven home from work. And it galled me a little to know that I could just transform and run the rest of the way home with ease. Unfortunately, it would be far too risky to do something like that.

"I have to keep it a secret," I sighed, knowing that it could cause a lot of problems if the blue woman who had become officially known as Grendel's Mother was seen in the area again.

Once I got home a short while later, I went inside for a quick snack, then hurried out to the barn which had served as Aunt Denise's lab. I smiled as I unlocked the door and went inside, looking at all of the equipment, which she had left behind for safe keeping. Her entire lab was still there, though mostly pushed off to the side.

"It's my secret clubhouse now," I said aloud, thankful that Aunt Denise had trusted me to look after her equipment until she could send for it. "Maybe I should call it the Barn of Solitude...or even the Grendel Cave..."

I thought about other fancy names that I could call the barn for a few minutes, though I quickly discounted them. The whole idea of having a secret place and then giving it a big and fancy name just seemed pretty ridiculous. If it really was a secret, then who else would know about it in order to call it that?

"Finally," I grinned, carefully locking the barn from the inside. I didn't want anyone to come sneaking in on me, especially Sandy or my dad. "I'm finally alone..."

A moment later, I stripped out of my clothes and set them to the side. Then I stood in the middle of the barn and took several deep breaths, closing my eyes and feeling deep inside of myself. And with just a little concentration, I flipped the mental switch that I'd learned to feel deep inside of me.

"It's working," I gasped as my skin started to turn blue. I grimaced and braced myself for the painful transformation, thankful that I didn't have to actually injure myself to transform anymore. If I wanted to, I could do it just by willing it... "I just wish it didn't hurt so much..."

My body continued to transform, to grow bigger, stronger, and more powerful, not to mention more feminine. It hurt like hell, but I still smiled a little as my chest expanded outward into two large, round breasts, knowing that my transformation would soon be complete and I would feel MUCH better.

"Oh yes," I gasped once the changes had finished. "I definitely feel better now..."

I stood to my full height of 8 feet, taking a deep breath and savoring the raw sensations of unbelievable health and power. It was a feeling unlike any other, and one that I could easily get used to. Unfortunately, I had to limit myself to feeling like that for only an hour or so a day, and then only while hiding out in the barn so that no one would see me.

"It's worth it though," I grinned, flexing my arms and staring at the muscles. "Too bad I'm not as muscular as a guy..."

After just standing there and savoring my transformed body for a bit, I looked at myself in the mirror, which had been left in the barn. I still wasn't sure that I would ever get used to seeing something like that looking back at me, but I was sure as hell getting a lot closer.

I smiled and carefully went to the corner and picked up the special project that I had been working on for the last several days. I had only finished it up that morning, right before work, and I could barely wait to try it on.

"I'll finally be able to wear some clothes like this," I grinned broadly, "Well...maybe not clothes exactly."

Once I was dressed, I stood in front of the mirror and admired my work, feeling quite pleased with myself. Instead of seeing a completely naked blue woman in the mirror, I saw one with a loincloth and bra or bikini top made out of silver chain mail.

"Not exactly real clothes," I admitted, "But they work."

I knew that getting any kind of real clothes to cover my body, even custom made ones, would be extremely difficult and extremely expensive. And there was also the fact that my new body was so tough that I could easily tear any normal fabrics as though they were made of toilet paper, and do so without even realizing it. Metal chain mail, however, was strong enough and flexible enough to serve my needs... especially since I was dressed so scantily.

Of course, if I ever struck it rich, I would get something much better. Maybe some clothes made out of titanium or something. But considering the fact that I had to make anything I wore myself, and without any real resources, I thought that I did rather well.

"It's better than being completely naked," I grinned, though that wasn't really all that bad in my new body. In fact, it was kind of fun to show it off.

Then I took one more look at Grendel's Mother in the mirror and reminded myself why I had created my new clothing. I had no idea when Aunt Denise might turn into Grendel again... But if she turned into Grendel again, or if she just needed me to protect her from the people who were after her...I was going to be ready.

"Don't you worry," I grinned, standing to my full height, "Mother will take good care of you..."

Author's Note:This is the tenth story in my Legacy Universe, with the previous stories listed below for those who haven't read them. Like the others this is a stand alone story, though it might be helpful to have at least read the first, The Miracle Legacy.

The Miracle Legacy
Change of Heart
Hardshell
The Praxis Crossing
Mannequin
The Vengeance of Lady Hexx
Glamour Girl
Counterweight

I frowned nervously as I climbed out of the limousine and stared at the mansion which was spread out before me. Then with a quick glance back at the chauffeur, who made no move to leave the car, I slowly started walking towards the main entrance.

Coming home was never a pleasant experience, though this mansion could hardly be considered a home. Very little of my childhood was actually spent in this house as I had usually been away in various expensive boarding schools. No, this mansion was not a home but was merely the place where my mother lived. I frowned at the thought of my mother, feeling even more nervous as I did so.

My name is William Alexander Darque, named for both William the Conqueror and Alexander the Great. With a name like that, certain things were expected of me, though I showed little sign of meeting those expectations. I had just turned 21 last week and was still working on my college education at an expensive ivy league school.

I had been doing quite well at school until I received a letter from my mother, immediately summoning me home. I had dropped everything and hurried to the airport as fast as I could, knowing that it was not a good idea to keep my mother waiting. Of course, I was extremely curious as to why she would summon me like this, but I was certain that it had something to do with my father.

A surge of conflicted emotions filled me as I thought of my father. He had been a rich and powerful man, but not the sort you can brag to your friends about. In fact, I never spoke of him to anyone, and for very good reason. My father was what is commonly called a 'super villain'. He called himself Lord Dark and was a brilliant scientist who used advanced technology to try gaining power and even take over the world. But six years ago, during one of his most ambitious schemes at world conquest, several super hero teams, including the Protectorate stopped him, causing one of his machines to backfire...killing him in the process.

When my father had been alive, he had been a dangerous man. He might not have had any actual developed powers, but he more than made up for that with his technology and keen mind. In fact, I had once watched an episode of the TV show Developments, where they did a list of the top ten most dangerous super villains. Lord Dark had been number seven on the list.

I frowned as I thought of my father, never having really known the man. When I was growing up, he was always either off on one of his long 'business' trips or I was away at boarding school, so we never spent any time together and he was never very interested in me when we did. In fact, I didn't learn about his 'occupation' until just after he was killed.

Taking a deep breath, I turned my attention back to the front door and the reason I was there. I adjusted my suit, making sure that I looked presentable, then pushed the doorbell. It was unnecessary as my mother already knew I was there, but she could be quite particular about following through on formalities at times. I was not looking forward to seeing her. She was a bit...eccentric. But I guess you had to be if you were going to be marry a super villain.

When I opened the door, the butler greeted me with, "Welcome home Master William. Do come in..."

I didn't say a word as I went inside, my thoughts lingering on my parents and the question of what this trip was for. There was little doubt that this did not bode well for me. I was very worried, though I did my best not to show it.

Then my mother stepped into view and I had to gulp to keep from shaking. Intellectually, I knew that she had to be in her fifties at least, though she certainly didn't look it. Instead, my mother looked to be in her thirties, and with a body that any 20-year-old girl would kill for. It was tight and firm, with C cup breasts that showed no trace of sagging, just as her beautiful face showed no sign of wrinkles or aging. Even her raven black hair, which went down to her shoulder blades held no trace of gray.

Of course, my mother's youthful appearance was not natural, though neither was it the result of botox and plastic surgeries. It was the result of a special process that my father had developed. Those who go through the process are given perfect physical health and conditioning, along with a body that remains this way. Part of this means that they have extremely fit bodies, without ever having to exercise, immunity to just about every disease, and their aging process is drastically slowed. Tragically, all of the materials and notes for this process were lost when a group of super heroes destroyed one of my father's secret bases. I considered this especially tragic as it meant I would never be able to use the process myself.

My mother was currently dressed in her customary, near all black, in an outfit which was simultaneously sexy yet sophisticated. She even stood there in a pair of stiletto heeled boots and was smoking a cigarette from a long cigarette holder. With one look at my mother, I could easily imagine her as the head of a powerful company, or as a dominatrix, though I would never admit either to her.

"William Alexander," my mother greeted me, her voice filled with it's usual arrogance. There was little affection in her voice, but she did look pleased to see me in her own fashion. She watched me for a moment with a calculating look in her eyes before nodding ever so slightly.

"You asked me to come," I responded with a gentle smile, not showing how annoyed I was at being ordered to drop everything and come home.

She nodded slightly, "You may take your things to your room and rest until dinner. Afterwards, I have something to discuss with you."

I frowned at that, knowing that this was just my mother's way of telling me to stay out of her way until dinner. Of course, I didn't like being dismissed like I was one of the servants, but I knew better than to say anything at the moment. So I just smiled, responded, "As you wish mother," and then went upstairs.

"Some things never change," I muttered to myself bitterly, wishing that I would have the courage to stand up to my mother. Unfortunately, she was not the type of person that you do that to if you knew what was good for you.

At the top of the grand stairwell was a large a large portrait of a man. He was handsome in an arrogant sort of way, with jet black hair and a beard. I stopped in front of the painting and stared at the image of my father for a moment, frowning slightly as I did so. He was a man that I barely knew, yet even six years after his death, his shadow still dominated my life. Every day, I was filled with the fear that someone at school would discover the truth about my father and that my shame would be made public.

I shook my head and quickly walked down the hallway, passing a large, ornate mirror. I paused to stare into it, unable to help but notice the similarities between my own features and that of my father. Of course, I lacked the beard or the look of arrogance, though I did have the same jet black hair and dark eyes. I had seriously considered bleaching my hair so as to make my the resemblance less noticeable, though the one time I had suggested doing something that to my mother when I was a teenager, her verbal lashing about the 'dishonoring' of my father nearly left my ears blistered.

A minute later, I arrived at my bedroom, though it hardly felt like MY room. During what time I had spent here while growing up, I had never been allowed any say in how it was decorated. I had never even been allowed to put up the posters that most kids did. My mother never knocked before coming in, nor even hesitated about looking through what should have been my personal items. In fact, knowing my mother, I would not have been the least surprised to discover that she had placed a wiretap or other surveillance devices in there. After all, I had discovered them in my dorm rooms more than once over the years.

I silently looked around the room, which was well decorated and reminded me a good deal of an expensive hotel room. There was a feeling that it was there more for show than for actual use, which was the way it always had been. But as I looked it over, I mentally noted all of the places that might currently be bugged. It was a habit that I'd gotten into a long time ago, once I'd realized that my mother might be watching my every move.

"At least my bags have been brought up already," I noted as I saw them by the bed. One of the servants must have carried them up from the limousine during the short time I was talking with my mother.

Since it seemed I was expected to wait and stay out of the way, I sat back and pulled out a book to read. Horror novels from the likes of Steven King and Dean Koontz were one of my vices. They were like the junk food of literature, and though my mother disapproved of such things, I enjoyed reading them. I suspected that one of the reasons I did enjoy them so much was just because my mother did disapprove.

Eventually, it was time for dinner and I went to the large dining room. My mother and I were the only ones eating there, while the servants delivered dishes that had been prepared by her personal chef. At first, we didn't talk much, then she finally brought up the subject of school.

"I am less than impressed with your grades," she said simply, her tone indicating that she expected MUCH better.

I frowned at that comment, wanting to point out that I had a 3.9 grade point average, though I knew that it would do little good. My mother expected perfection and would not be satisfied with anything less. "I will do better," I told her instead.

The dinner was excellent, though the dinner conversation was less than pleasant. Most of my mother's polite conversation was similar to the comment about my grades, pointing out things that I could have done better and showing her general disapproval.

"Your father would be ashamed," she told me with a scowl after we had finished eating, "You must always remember his legacy."

"Yes mother," I responded.

She held out her hand and snapped her fingers and one of the maids came rushing over, handing her a cigarette holder with a cigarette already in it. The maid lit the cigarette for my mother and hurried away, while my mother took a draw on it and sat there, looking almost like some sort of old style movie star.

"The reason I summoned you home," she said, finally getting to the point, "is your father's Legacy."

"Father's legacy?" I asked, having suspected that it was something about my father, though not feeling very pleased at having it confirmed.

"Come," she ordered, setting her cigarette holder down and walking away. Of course, I immediately followed with a nervous curiosity.

Mother led me halfway across the house and to the large library, pausing only to place her hand against a glass plate on the wall. A moment later, a large section of the wall moved aside, revealing a hidden elevator. I was not at all surprised by this as I knew about the secret elevator, as well as the connected lab that my father had build under the house. However, it was very unusual for my mother to take me down there.

As soon as we had gone down the elevator into the lab, I slowly looked around. It had been several years since I had last been down there, though nothing seemed to have changed. Of course, I wasn't really expecting it to have since mother kept everything as it was as a sort of memorial to my father.

The lab wasn't a single room, but actually a series of connected rooms, each seemingly dedicated to a different purpose. One was obviously a workshop, another a storage room for various inventions and devices, while a third seemed to be some sort of planning or control, with walls that were covered with video screens. There were several smaller rooms as well, though I hardly think that bathrooms and closets were unique to super villain lairs.

"This is nothing compared to Lord Dark's other lairs," mother commented as she gestured around me.

I just nodded at that, not being at all surprised since I knew that at least one of his secret bases which had been destroyed by the Protectorate had been a small island. Another of his lairs had been inside of a mountain. This lab was small, but it was close and convenient when he was home. I guess that even super villains sometimes bring their work home with them.

Mother quickly walked across the lab with a sense of purpose, barely even looking at the things which surrounded us. She stopped in front of a large display case which held my father's spare costume. It was a suit of black armor with a red skull symbol on the belt. There were two broaches at the shoulders, each one a metallic red skull, which held the cloak to his costume. This was the infamous uniform of Lord Dark.

"The time has come," mother stated. "The time has come for you to take up your father's mantle and continue his work."

"What?" I gasped in surprise, sure that I had misheard her.

But she stared at me with an intense look that brooked no arguments. "You are finally of the age to take up your father's legacy and become the new Lord Dark. It had been too long since those people murdered him, and the world must be made to remember his greatness. They will bow before Lord Dark..."

I stared at my mother, more than half sure that she was insane. She had that look of obsession in her eyes, the same one that she had whenever she talked about my father and his great legacy. It was a look which shared me shitless and always had.

"But mother," I protested, trying to quickly think of a way to change her mind, which was a nearly impossible task at the best of times. "I am not father... I am not worthy of being Lord Dark..."

"You are your father's only son," she stated firmly. "His blood runs through your veins. His greatness is hidden within you. You WILL follow in his footsteps. You WILL honor your father's memory, and you WILL remind the world of the greatness that is Lord Dark."

"Oh God," I whispered, wondering what in the world I was going to do. I'd never had any intentions of following in my father's footsteps and trying to take over the world that way. But my mother was obviously expecting just that. "I still have to finish school first," I said, trying to a different tactic.

However, my mother did not seem concerned with that little detail. "The world has waited too long for you to come of age as it is," she said dismissively, "I will not allow it to forget your father for a moment longer. Lord Dark will be remembered forever, and we will both assure it."

I had no idea how, but a short while later, I found myself doing exactly what my mother wanted. She was used to always getting her way, and to my shame, I was used to doing what she wanted. So I began getting dressed in my father's armor while my mother explained all that it was capable of.

My father's armor was filled with advanced technology which made it a very dangerous weapon. One of his favorite discoveries was a form of force field that absorbed parts of visible light, creating a sort of black glow. He used this extensively, especially in his armor. It was capable of creating a force field bubble around the wearer, which could not only protect him but give him a form of flight. It could also fire beams of this energy as a form of black energy blast. There were of course other tricks as well, though those were the most noticeable.

As I got dressed and listened to my mother's lecture, I couldn't help thinking of my father. He was a firm believer in the saying that any technology that is sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic. Since technology was reason and logic, it could be understood and dealt with. But magic was something that people didn't understand, and people feared what they did not understand. This was why he frequently disguised his technology as magic, masquerading as a sorcerer rather than a scientist. It was a psychological edge which he used to mislead his enemies and make them fear him..

Though I had not actually known of my father's secret while he was still alive, I learned quite a bit about him after his death. After my mother had revealed his identity as Lord Dark, I had spent a great deal of time studying him, as well as all of his enemies. This left me with a clear understanding of my father's tactics, as well as those of most super heroes. I had originally learned all this as a morbid curiosity, never considering that it might actually become relevant to my own life.

"You are nearly ready," my mother stated proudly, holding up the cloak that went with the costume. It was black on the outside and red on the inside. With a dark gleam in her eyes, she draped the cloak over me and connected it to the skull broaches. "You look much like your father."

"Thank you," I responded, not sure what else I could say. However, this was not something that I had ever really been proud of. If Hitler had any children, would they have been proud of him? Would they be pleased to look like one of the most notorious monsters of all time? Somehow, I doubted it. Not unless they were as twisted as he was. I doubted that my mother would approve of any comparisons between my father and that other villain, though, so I kept those thoughts to myself, as I always did.

I took a deep breath, feeling extremely awkward in the armor. I didn't like wearing something like that at all, especially knowing that if any law enforcement or super heroes saw me in it, they would assume the worst and treat me as a criminal. Of course, my mother's plans were for me to become that very criminal which didn't make me feel any better at all.

Then I activated the shadow mask. This was a trick of the armor which generated one of those dark force fields around my head, making my face look all black and lost in shadow, even without the cloak, and giving the additional benefit of acting as a helmet to protect me. My mother seemed quite satisfied at this point and admitted that I now looked nearly identical to my father while he was in armor.

"The world will not know what hit them," she laughed cruelly. "They will shudder at Lord Dark's return and quake in fear. By the time we are done, they will think of him whenever they look at the sky,"

I had little idea of what my mother had in mind and less interest in helping her. But as always, I was to scared...too much of a coward to do anything but what she told me. I was beginning to hate myself for going along with whatever scheme she had in mind, though I couldn't seem to help myself.

"I have been working on one of your father's plans for years," mother said. "It will drive fear into the heart of the world, punish them for what they did to him and ensure that he is never forgotten again... It is time for us to bring this plan to fruition."

"What plan?" I asked hesitantly, "What's going on?"

"You will find out the details soon enough," she responded. "First, though, you must make your presence known. You will retrieve an item that we require...and alert the world that Lord Dark has returned. You will do this and honor your father's legacy..."

An hour later, and after a little practice with my father's armor, I was ready to leave for my mission. I activated the force bubbled around me and floated off the ground, and then in the direction I needed to go. Unfortunately, I hated the fact that I was up in the air so high, and without anything underneath me, but there was little I could do about it.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered in bitter self disgust. I'd always let my mother push me around and tell me what to do, and this time it was leading to certain trouble. Yet I still went along anyway. "It's for my father's legacy," I told myself, trying to convince myself that it was a good idea and what I needed to do, though it did little good.

Flying...or at least standing up in the force field bubble while it carried me through the air, didn't get much better with time. I rode in it for probably close to an hour, trying my best not to look down. It was damn freaky to look down and see the ground way below my feet, with nothing holding me up and I didn't think I'd ever get used to it. Fortunately, I finally arrived at my destination.

I hovered in the air above a large building, staring down at it and grimacing. From what my mother told me, what I was looking for was stored inside. It was a law enforcement storage facility for non-dangerous evidence of super villain crimes. Apparently, one of my father's devices which had been confiscated by the Protectorate had somehow ended up there after his death. It was my mission to get it back.

"I just wish I knew what the damn thing does," I muttered, thinking that it was only fair that I know what I was risking my neck for. Unfortunately, my mother had decided to keep that to herself so that she could explain it later in some dramatic revelation of her grand plan. "Whatever it is," I told myself, "It can't be dangerous or they'd never store it here..." Unless of course, I reminded myself, they didn't know it was dangerous. I decided not to think about that possibility.

After taking a deep breath and preparing for what came next, I started to descend. But before my feet even touched the ground, a bunch of armed guards with automatic weapons came rushing out of the building. I was surrounded in mere moments and ordered to surrender myself immediately.

For a second, I just stood there motionless, tempted to throw my hands in the air and surrender. But I knew that this wasn't an option for me at the moment so I took a deep breath and continued to step towards the building. The guards opened fire, spraying me with a hail of bullets, though none of them were able to get past my armor. Intellectually, I'd known that my armor would protect me, but I was still terrified of being killed. I nearly even filled my pants and was thankful when I didn't.

"It's official," I groaned in disgust, "I'm a super villain now..."

I grimaced in determination, then continued with my mission. I held my hands out and fired energy blasts from my hands, blowing a large hole in the side of the building. However, I was careful not to hurt any of the guards as I did so. Then I entered through the hole, looking for my goal.

"Where is it?" I muttered, using a sensor in my armor to lead me to a large room, and then to a box on a shelf. "This seems to be it..."

I tore open the box, dying to find out just what it was that I had gone through all of this for. But the moment I saw the contents, I was filled with even more questions. The only thing in the box was a black metallic sphere that was just a little larger than a basketball. It had a few strange indentations in it, and a few small red crystals set into it. Now that I had it, I was still just as much in the dark as I had been before.

Since I had what I had come for, it was time to leave. I had to get past the guards again, which wasn't really much of a problem. The most difficult part was doing so without injuring them, but I was determined to do this without anyone getting hurt.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," I grimaced, wishing that I were anywhere else.

I already felt guilty for breaking into that building and taking the sphere, and it was getting worse by the moment. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't really stealing since the sphere really belonged to my father, but that didn't do much good. I never would have imagined that loyalty to my family would lead me to do something like this. It wasn't much of a family, but it was the only one I had.

Once I had gone back through the hole in the building, I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that all I had to do now was make the trip home. But that hope was immediately dashed when a woman dropped from the sky and hovered in the air in front of me, glaring at me with a determined expression.

The woman was tall, at least 6 feet with a very athletic but sexy looking body. She had short black hair, cut in a feminine fashion and a red and white spandex costume that covered everything below the neck. It included a red cape and a red metal belt with some sort of gold buckle and red gem in the center.

I stared at the woman in surprise, taking a moment to remember who she was. Thanks to all of the time I had spent online, learning about all the various developed heroes and villains, I was able to recognize her as a hero called Praxis.

"Oh shit," I muttered to myself.

The good news, for me at least, was that she wasn't known to be associated with any team, so I would likely be facing only her. The bad news, though, was that she was supposedly pretty powerful.

"I don't think that belongs to you," Praxis exclaimed with a threatening glare.

"Actually," I responded, "It does..." My father owned it, and since he was dead, that meant that it rightfully belonged to me and my mother. Or at least that was my reasoning at the moment. It was either think that way or think of myself as a thief.

Praxis wasn't interested in talking about ownership of the strange sphere, or anything else though. She charged me, flying straight at me and hitting me with a powerful punch. I went flying back, smashing into the wall of the building I had just left. Praxis immediately came at me again, hitting me hard enough to shatter the stone behind me and blast another hole in the wall. If it wasn't for my armor, I would have been nothing more than a smear.

I finally reacted by punching Praxis back, feeling guilty for hitting a girl but being desperate to avoid the beating that she was determined to give me. She grunted and went backwards. I followed up by firing one of the armor's black energy blasts at her, though she went intangible so it passed right through her. I was actually relived at that since I didn't want to hurt her or anyone else.

"I've got to get out of here," I muttered to myself, quickly looking around for the best way to escape.

Then it dawned on me. The way I flew in... But before I could activate my flight bubble, Praxis blasted me with some sort of red energy blast, which hurt like hell, even though my armor. I was knocked back, dropping the black sphere as I hit the ground. I quickly scrambled to my feet, only to be blasted and sent flying backwards again.

"No," I grimaced, firing an energy blast at her while I got back to my feet.

"Surrender now," Praxis told me, "and I might not break every bone in your body..."

I gulped, suddenly quite afraid. This wasn't what I wanted... This wasn't what I'd ever intended my life to turn into. I was NOT some super villain, in spite of what my mother was trying to turn me into. But there I was, breaking into some sort of law enforcement facility and fighting a super hero... It had to stop. I couldn't do this kind of thing.

"It looks like I'm going to shell you like a lobster," Praxis exclaimed.

Suddenly, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to get out of there. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was afraid of Praxis and the whole mess that my mother had gotten me into. And in an act of desperation, I activated another trick in my father's armor, a blackout wave. It sent a burst of pure darkness all around me, giving me a chance to escape.

Praxis screamed, "I can't see...."

I didn't waste time attacking Praxis, only throwing the dark force field bubble around me and shooting up into the sky. My heart raced in terror and all I could think of doing was getting away from there...

"That's it," I exclaimed as I flew home as fast as I could, "I'm through with this whole super villain thing. I don't care if it is my father's legacy..."

"How could you?" my mother screamed at me the moment I returned home. She was furious, more so than I'd ever seen her in my entire life. Normally, she was calm and in complete control, though that control had broken at the news of my failure. "How could you return home as a failure?"

I winced under my mother's verbal barrage, wondering what I had ever done to deserve such a family. She called me weak, cowardly and a disgrace to my father's legacy, among other things. I had experienced her anger before, though never to such a degree.

While my mother was continuing her rant, I just struggled to get out of the armor as fast as I could. Over the last few hours, I had really come to hate it. The armor, along with my mother, reminded me of what a complete and total failure I had been as a super villain. In my first time out, I not only ran into a super hero and ran away, but was so terrified that I completely forgot what I had gone there for in the first place. If my encounter with Praxis had taught me anything, it was that I was not meant to follow in my father's footsteps.

Once I had finished taking off the armor, I let out a sigh of relief, along with a groan of pain. The armor had protected me during my fight with Praxis, though not quite as well as I would have hoped. I had several bruises from the shear force of her attack.

"Just look at you," my mother sneered, "A coward and a failure. Your father would be ashamed. You ran away from a woman...just ONE woman, and you didn't even retrieve the Refractor Core..." She glared at me with a look of disgust, "I need that if I am going to complete your father's plan..."

"I'm sorry mother," I quietly told her.

"You certainly are," she snapped as she suddenly slapped me, hitting me so hard that I stumbled back. My whole jaw felt bruised. "Your father would never have failed in such a critical mission."

"I'm not my father," I grimaced.

"You are not even close," my mother responded with a look of disdain.

For a moment, I just stood there and glared at her with a growing anger. For my whole life, I had been intimidated by my mother. I had been so afraid of what she might do that I had meekly done whatever she told me, without ever giving any voice to my own opinions. I was still intimidated by her, but I was also angry. I was angry with the way she always treated me, and with the way she had just sent me off into a dangerous situation without any care about my welfare. All that mattered to her was my father and his legacy. I realized now that this was all that had ever mattered to her.

"You will go back out tonight," mother told me with a look of grim determination. "And this time you will not return without the Refractor Core."

"No," I told her grimly, surprising both her and myself. Normally, I would have just gone along with whatever she told me, but I was too angry for that this time. I'd finally had enough. Then I pointed to my father's armor, "I'm never putting that on again..."

My mother's eyes seemed to flash with fury and she started, "Your father..."

"Is dead," I interrupted her, earning an even darker glare. That was the warning that I should stop and deeply apologize for my impertinence, but my long delayed rebellion was building momentum. "He died doing this world conquest thing." I shook my head, then looked at my mom, silently pleading for her to try understanding my point of view for once. "I'm tired of living in his shadow, and I'm not going to get killed repeating his mistakes."

"I see," mother responded after a moment of silence. She gave me a look that was as hard and cold as an arctic glacier, then calmly stated, "You do not deserve the honor of being his heir..." And with that, she abruptly turned and walked out of the room, leaving me there alone.

Once my mother was gone, I let out a sigh of relief, feeling shaken by the realization that I had finally stood up to my mother. After so many years, I knew that it was about time and I was excited to have finally done it. Of course, I knew that there would doubtlessly be consequences for my defiance, but for once, I was willing to take them. It had been well worth it to be my own man for once.

I savored my small victory for a minute before rubbing at my sore jaw and thinking about how hard my mom had hit me. I would definitely have a bruise there, added to the ones I received during my fight with Praxis. If I'd only thought to activate the armor's force field, I could have prevented those earlier ones. Fortunately, I did know how to heal the bruises much faster than normal.

A minute later, I was standing in a small room that was just off to the side of my father's lab. Beside me was what looked like a large Jacuzzi, filled with a bubbling yellow liquid. This was the Phoenix Chamber, one of my father's earlier discoveries, and quite possibly a direct predecessor to the special process he used to improve his and my mother's bodies. Soaking in it for several hours could heal minor injuries and generally improve your health. Unfortunately, it was also mildly addictive or I would have bathed in it every chance I could.

"Here we are again," I said as I undressed and slipped into the liquid for what was only the second time in my life. The first time had been several years ago, after I'd broken my arm. Thanks to the Phoenix Chamber, my arm was healed in a matter of days rather than weeks. "Oh yeah, that feels good..."

I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes as I soaked in the warm liquid, feeling extremely comfortable. The bruises seemed to be fading away as I sat there and I could almost feel the improved health taking hold. Sadly, any health benefits that the chamber gave would fade in just a short time, but since any injuries it healed would remain healed, it still served it's purpose.

It was about half an hour later when I finally climbed out of the Phoenix Chamber and cleaned the yellow liquid off me. My bruises had all been healed and I felt fantastic. Of course, the health high would fade soon enough so I was determined to enjoy it while I could.

Thanks to the Phoenix Chamber and my finally having the courage to defy my mother, I was in a pretty good mood as I left my father's lab. I was even able to put the super villain incident which led to those things out of my mind for the moment. But that good mood fled the moment I saw my mother standing there, smoking a cigarette from one of her cigarette holders and glaring at me with a dark expression.

"You've disgraced your family and your father's legacy," my mother stated grimly, giving me an icy glare. "You've proven that you are unworthy of your father's legacy and that you do not deserve to be his heir..." Then to my surprise, she reached behind her back and pulled out a strange looking gun, which she pointed straight at me.

"Mother," I gasped, staring at the gun in shock. I couldn't believe that my own mother had just pulled a gun on me. But before I could say anything more or plead for her to stop this, she pulled the trigger. There was a flash of green light and my body suddenly went completely numb. I collapsed to the floor, unable to move and barely even aware of what was going on around me.

My mother stood over me with the gun still pointed at my chest. "It is time for someone worthy to become Lord Dark's heir...," she announced. "You said that you do not wish to live in his shadow, but you will... The whole world will..." With that, she fired the gun again and this time I lost consciousness.

I had no idea how long I floated in the dark sea of unconsciousness, only that I occasionally bobbed back towards the surface, catching the faintest bits of awareness from the waking world before I was pulled back down. The only thing that I could remember from these brief periods of near consciousness were lights, confusing sounds and even stranger sensations.

When I finally regained consciousness, I slowly opened my eyes, only to wince at the brightness of the lights and groan at the horrible throbbing in my head. I tried to ignore the migraine and the feeling that I had just woken up with a bad hangover. Instead, I tried to make sense of what was going on, though it was hard to think clearly with my head feeling as though it were about to explode.

I took a deep breath and looked around, taking a few seconds to realize that I was in my father's lab again. I was also leaning back in some sort of reclining chair. I remained where I was, just taking in the observations and trying to put the pieces together.

"She shot me," I whispered to myself, my throat feeling a little dry. I couldn't believe it, but my own mother had just shot me. And considering that I was in my father's lab, I had no idea what else she might have done to me as well. This terrified me and I wasn't sure that I was ready to face whatever it was that my mother was up to this time.

After a few minutes of remaining motionless and letting my headache recede, I slowly began to sit up, only to discover that I had something attached to my head. I removed some sort of headband with wires coming out of it and dropped it to the side. Only then did I notice my hand...

"What the?" I gasped in surprise, staring at my hand, which was NOT my hand. It was a woman's hand, with feminine fingers and perfectly manicured nails. They even came to points, just like my mother's.

I stared at my hands for a moment, then scrambled to get out of the chair, noticing that my hands weren't the only thing that was wrong with my body. As soon as I was on my feet, I stared down at myself, seeing two noticeable and feminine bulges on my chest. Even my clothes weren't my own. They were nearly all black and looked like the same outfit that my mother had been wearing. I was even wearing the same high heeled boots, nearly losing my balance and falling over as a result.

"Oh shit," I whispered, still confused but beginning to get an idea as to what was going on.

I turned my attention to the chair I had just climbed out of, seeing another identical, but empty chair just a few feet away, and that both of them were attached to a strange looking machine. I'd seen this device in my father's lab before, but had no idea what it was designed for. At least until now.

"It's a body switcher," I gasped in realization. The fact that I seemed to have somehow turned into my mother gave proof to this idea. "She stole my body..." But when I looked around, I saw no sign of my own body or of my mother.

Taking a deep breath, I reached between my legs and felt the empty spot, then I ran my hand over my firm, flat stomach and the rest of my body. A quick look was all it took to reveal that my entire body did seem to be that of my mother, though I couldn't be completely certain without undressing.

"MOTHER!" I called out, both scared and angry at the same time. I wanted to know what she was up to, and why in the world she would take my body. However, there was no answer, which made me even more nervous.

After a minute, I decided to go look for my mother, planning to demand an explanation for this. But as soon as I took my first step, I discovered that it was not very easy walking with my entire balance completely thrown off. And the fact that I was wearing my mother's high heeled boots certainly didn't help me either. Still, in spite of nearly falling flat on my face, I made my way through the rooms of my father's labs, using the walls and various pieces of equipment for support.

When I finished looking through my father's lab, I was a little startled to realize just how quickly my sense of balance had returned. I was no longer having to use anything for support as I walked, even with the high heels. In fact, it seemed to be easier to walk in them with each passing minute.

"Strange," I scowled, then called out, "Where are you mother?" But of course, there was no answer.

I had already verified that my mother was not in the labs, but I decided to look through them again anyways, this time looking for clues as to what she had planned. It didn't take me long though to get a very bad feeling about things. If my missing body and mother weren't frightening enough, I quickly noticed that my father's armor was missing as well, along with a number of his inventions.

"This is NOT a good sign," I grimaced, going to the elevator so that I could check out the rest of the house.

The house was too large to search through the entire thing quickly, though a look through the main rooms showed no sign of my mother. I asked one of the maids, "Have you see my m...my son?" Somehow, I didn't think that she'd tell any of the servants about what was going on.

"No ma'am," the maid answered quickly, giving me a look of complete subservience. "Not since dinner ma'am..."

After I excused the maid to return to work, I shook my head, hardly able to believe the way she'd reacted towards me. The servants had always been completely obedient to my mother, and my father when he had been alive. But as for me, they would do what I told them without question, yet only because they had been told to do so by my mother. Otherwise, they normally seemed to almost ignore me.

I scowled and looked out the window at the darkened night sky, muttering, "Where is she?"

Then I suddenly had an idea. I hurried to the security station and pulled up the surveillance tapes from the last three hours. Since I had been unconscious for about three hours, that was all I really needed to check. My hunch was proven correct as one of the surveillance cameras caught the image of Lord Dark flying away from the house with a number of devices from my father's lab trailing behind him in another black force field bubble.

I watched the video for a moment, wondering where my mother could have gone. Then I suddenly remembered that she was planning on sending me out for the black sphere, what she called the Refractor Core again once it was dark. Since I had refused to cooperate, she must have decided to take care of that herself.

"Damn her," I grimaced, "And damn me for going along with it in the first place..."

I just stood there for several minutes, feeling angry and frustrated, as well as more than a little scared. Being in my mother's body was strange and completely unnatural. I felt...uncomfortable to say the least with that situation and desperately wanted to get back to my own body.

Since there didn't seem to be anything I could do until my mother returned home, I decided to get a better look at that body switching machine in the lab. If nothing else, that might kill some time and distract me until my mother returned. But when I went returned to the elevator, I was annoyed to find that it had closed and locked itself up again after I'd left.

"Just perfect," I muttered sarcastically, frustrated at my mother's paranoid security within her own house. She was the only one who could open the elevator, so I was completely locked out of the lab until her return. Then I paused, slowly raising my hand and staring at it in realization. "I have the key..."

I held my breath for a moment before pressing my hand to the glass plate beside the door, worried about what my mother might think of my entering the lab without her permission. Then I shook it off, bitterly reminding myself that she was the one who'd stolen my body and left me with hers. If that left me with the master key to everything in the house, she should have thought of that beforehand.

The moment I was in the lab, I went straight for the corner with the body switching machine. I stared at it for a moment before noticing that something was wrong. There was a panel in the front that seemed to be missing and a hole in it's place. I could see a few wires and connections dangling inside.

"Mother," I whispered, realizing that she must have removed a part of the machine. But why? Knowing my mother, it could only mean that it was a vital piece and that she didn't want the machine used without her permission. Was this because she didn't want to risk a chance that I would take my own body back? Or perhaps it was so I wouldn't use the machine to trade bodies with someone else... This way she could control exactly who was in her body...and keep track of me. Any of these reasons seemed paranoid, but they were all consistent with my mother's need for control.

I stared at the hole in the machine with a cold chill running down my spine. I scowled, knowing that this was NOT a good thing. Not in the least. If my mother had gone through the trouble of disabling the machine, it could only mean that she had no intention of switching back with me when she returned home. She was up to something... She was up to something big and had told me as much herself. The only problem was, I still had no idea what that something was, only that it was based off of one of my father's plans. That alone was a very bad sign.

"I have a feeling," I whispered to myself, "that she won't be switching back until she's done with whatever it is." But remembering her words about 'someone worthy' becoming Lord Dark's heir, I felt a horrible weight settle into my gut. "Or maybe longer..."

I was NOT in a very good mood when I left the lab a few minutes later. But there didn't seem to be anything that I could do about my situation at the moment, other than wait for my mother to return and then try convincing her to change her mind. My chances of doing that were not good, so I was trapped in my mother's body and feeling helpless about the situation. This only served to frustrate me even more.

When I went back up to the main house, I was relieved to find that I had it almost entirely to myself. The servants had all gone to bed, except for a maid who stayed up every night until mother went to bed. She didn't get in my way, and was nearly invisible, though I was still aware of her presence in the next room.

"I can't believe mother would do this to me," I scowled. But the truth was, I could believe almost anything of my mother.

After a few minutes, I sat down in my mother's chair, a comfortable leather one where she always relaxed at the end of the day. At the moment, I thought that this was the perfect place for me since I definitely needed to relax. Perhaps calming down might let me thing my situation through a little better. And if nothing else, it might make me feel like strangling someone just a little less.

Almost as soon as I was comfortable in the chair, the maid suddenly appeared beside me. Without a word, she offered me a tray which held a glass of red wine and my mother's cigarette holder, cigarette already in place. It took me a moment to realize that the maid was just following the normal routine that my mother went through nearly every night. I hesitated for a moment, then decided if I was going to be stuck as my mother, I might as well BE my mother.

I took the glass of wine from the tray, then picked up the cigarette holder. I brought it to my mouth, just as I'd seen my mother do countless times before. And as I expected, the maid reached forward with a lighter. I took a slow drag, wincing slightly from the rough smoke hitting my lungs.

"You're excused for the night," I told the maid, deciding that I wanted some privacy.

"Yes ma'am," she responded with a slight bow before hurrying off.

I took a long drag from the cigarette, holding the smoke in my lungs for a moment before blowing it out overhead. I felt sophisticated for smoking this way, yet somewhat ridiculous as well, as though I were a child playing at being grown-up. With a frown, I drowned the taste with the rich flavored wine.

A moment later, I was finally overcome by my curiosity. I left the chair and went to the large, ornate mirror which decorated one wall, staring at my reflection. It was definitely my mother standing there, looking quite familiar with the glass of red wine in one hand and the cigarette holder in the other. However, it was immediately obvious that no matter how much I looked like my mother, I was not her. I didn't stand in quite the same manner, nor did I radiate the same aura of arrogance and control.

"Still," I mused, "It is a remarkable resemblance..." Someone who didn't know my mother quite well would never have been able to tell that I wasn't really her.

I stood there and smoked, trying to look as much like my mother as possible while I did so. The image was quite impressive, making me look more confident and sophisticated. However, it was not an activity that I particularly enjoyed, so I put the cigarette out and finished off the glass of wine.

"An interesting habit," I mused as I thought about the way it felt to be smoking, "though not one I think I'll ever pick up."

Still, it was easy to see why my mother enjoyed smoking. The nicotine certainly provided a pleasant feeling, though I knew that for my mother it was more the image it presented. And I knew that it was not as though my mother actually had to worry about the health effects of smoking. The special process that my father had put her through made her immune from cancer and nearly every other disease, as well as ensured that no matter what she did to her body, she would always remain in perfect health.

In fact, as I considered the healthiness of my mother's body, I became aware of just how good I felt. In fact, I felt absolutely incredible. I somehow felt energetic and more alive than ever before. Before this, my migraine and the strangeness of the situation had distracted me from noticing it. But now that I was calmed down and thinking about how my body actually felt, I couldn't escape the sensations.

"Amazing," I whispered as I looked down at myself with a whole new perspective. I was now inside of a body that had gone through my father's process, and I could feel the different. "I feel unbelievable..."

I stared down at my feet, at the stiletto heeled boots that I was currently wearing. When I had first awoken in this body, I had been so out of balance that I could barely even stand, much less walk in these things. But I'd gotten used to them fast...impossibly fast. I had been walking around in them with such ease that I had scarcely even noticed that I was still wearing them. My mother had an incredible sense of balance, and it was obvious that I had inherited this along with her body.

"Interesting," I mused, "Very interesting..."

For a moment, I just stood there, silently thinking about the fact that I now had a body that had gone through father's improvement process. It was something that I had been dreaming about for years, ever since I had learned of it. However, the truth was that I had always dreamed of my own body going through the process, not of being thrust into my mother's.

Then on a sudden impulse, I bent over and put my hands on the floor, then lifted my lower body up until I was doing a hand stand. My balance was shaky for just a moment, but that passed and I was able to remain there in a perfect hand stand with no effort. I lowered my feet back to the ground, then went and performed a cartwheel across the living room.

"In high heels at that," I marveled at myself.

Intellectually, I had known, or at least strongly suspected that my mother was capable of something like this. I had heard enough about the process and what it could do to a human body. But I had never before seen it in action. My mother had never shown off or given any demonstration of her physical abilities. In fact, she had always avoided doing anything physical, thinking that it was beneath her.

"Now I really wish that father hadn't lost the process," I sighed, shaking my head.

My body...my mother's body had been amplified to the peak of her human ability and her full physical potential had been unleashed. It was impressive as hell. Technically, I did not think that my mother would be considered a developed since her abilities were still within the human range, though she was certainly close.

"Why couldn't you ever create backups and duplicates of your work?" I scowled, thinking of just how many discoveries my father had made and then lost because of this. This had to be one of his most frustrating traits.

However, the thought of my father and his various brilliant discoveries only brought me back to thinking of my mother, and the question of what it was that she had planned. I scowled, shaking my head and knowing that I wouldn't get any answers until she returned, whenever that was.

Since I had nothing to do but wait until my mother returned, I settled down to distract myself again by reading. However, I soon found that the book was a little less interesting now that my own life had turned into a Steven King story. Still, I was stubborn enough to keep at it for at least an hour.

When I finally grew tired of attempting to distract myself with a book, I set it down, deciding that it might be a better idea to just go to bed. After all, it was rather late and it had been a busy day. And maybe, I held out a slim bit of hope, when I woke up in the morning I would discover that this had all been a dream, perhaps caused by accidental exposure to a hallucinogen in my father's lab.

I went to the bathroom and frowned, feeling uncertain about whatever nightly routine I should follow. I didn't feel comfortable using my own toothbrush in another body, yet the idea of using my mother's seemed rather disgusting, regardless of the fact that I was in her body. So instead, I decided to skip that and just take care of the more important business.

"Oh joy," I groaned faintly as I stared at the toilet.

After a minute of just standing there and feeling unsettled, I grimaced and undressed enough to relieve myself. I reminded myself to sit down as I went about my business, finding the sensations somewhat familiar yet different at the same time. Thankfully, the relief was the same as always.

I frowned as I made my way to my bedroom, then paused, suddenly wondering what the servants would think. There was no doubt that it would seem quite strange for my mother to be sleeping in my own room. And since I had no intention of letting anyone else learn about this embarrassing switch, including the servants, sleeping in my mother's room became the obvious option. She might not be pleased about that when she returned, but she could hardly blame me since she was the one who had put me in her body.

As soon as I was within her bedroom, I closed the ornate wooden doors behind me and looked around. The room was impeccably decorated, of course, with a large and luxurious bed. All of the sheets where silk and there was no doubt that it would be extremely comfortable to sleep in. My mother always demanded the absolute best of everything, and it definitely showed.

I ignored the mirror as I removed my mother's clothes, dropping them unceremoniously to the floor. I tried ignoring my body and treating it all matter of fact, though it was not easy. In the end, I couldn't resist the curios urge to turn and look at the large mirror which hung from the wall. There stood my mother, in all her naked glory. It was a very uncomfortable moment before I quickly turned around and climbed into bed.

At first, I didn't think that I would be able to get to sleep. I feared that I would remain there for half the night, too aware of my new body and too busy thinking of the events of the day. But surprisingly, I drifted away into slumber much more easily than I would have imagined.

I awoke in the morning, less than pleased to find that I was still in my mother's body. After a moment, I sat up, pulling the sheets to the side and staring myself with a deepening scowl. But I forced myself to remain calm, knowing that it would do me little good to get mad. At least not yet.

"It seems that it was no dream," I muttered, reaching over and pulling the chain beside the bed, then quickly covering myself up again.

"Yes ma'am," a maid came in, answering the summons.

"Is...is my son back yet?" I asked, wondering if my mother had returned during the night.

"Not that I am aware of ma'am," the maid responded. "Shall I check his bedroom for you?"

After I'd told her to go check, she hurried to the room that I had been staying at, then talked to the other servants before returning to me with a report that there was no sign of my real body. It seemed that mother had not returned home, which I did not take as good news. But while I was thinking about this, I had the maid fetch my breakfast.

Once the maid had left, I slipped on one of my mother's black silk robes which hung in her private bathroom, then I sat back to eat my breakfast. I picked up the morning paper that the maid had brought me as well, frowning as I saw what was on the front page. It was a picture of Lord Dark, or at least of me in my father's armor.

"Damn," I muttered, reading through the article.

I had only read through several paragraphs of the article when I gasped in surprise. The article started off by telling about how I had gone to the building and been chased off by Praxis, who recovered the item that I had been trying to steal. But then the article went on to say that Lord Dark returned last night and nearly blew the building up.

"Mother," I gasped.

I just stared at the newspaper for a moment before I continued reading. It went on to say that Praxis had been waiting in case Lord Dark returned, and when he did, the two of them had a big fight. Praxis was injured during the fight, though the witnesses said she recovered enough to fly away a short time afterwards. However, the article also made it very clear that Lord Dark severely injured several guards and got away with whatever it was he had come for.

"Damn," I angrily threw the paper to the side, furious not only with my mother but with myself as well.

I sat there, feeling sick to my stomach. It was my fault. I could have prevented this... I could have kept those people from getting hurt if I hadn't dropped the sphere and left it behind, or if I hadn't refused to go back. I knew that this was foolishness, that I couldn't really blame myself for my mother's actions. But I couldn't help feeling this way.

"I can't believe that mother would do this," I whispered. But the truth was, I could. I did. I had known what she was capable of all along. I knew that she wanted that Refractor Core, and I knew that she would do anything to get it. I felt another surge of guilt at that.

I had no idea of just how long I remained sitting there in stunned silence, wallowing in my guilt and self pity. My thoughts kept running around the ideas that people were hurt because of me, and that perhaps having my body stolen like this was some form of karmic punishment. Then I finally shook it off, accepting how foolish it all was. It wasn't my fault that my mother had injured those people any more than it was that she had stolen my body.

"Lay the fault where it belongs," I reminded myself, as though doing so aloud would make it easier for me to fully accept. "Mother..."

After a few more minutes, I decided to accept a piece of advice that my mother had frequently repeated, and that was to be practical and do what needed to be done. I was quite aware of the irony in that as I went to her walk in closet. It was as large as a whole room, and nearly everything in it was black.

"Such variety," I muttered sarcastically as I looked for something to wear. "And doesn't mother have any shoes which aren't high heels?" However, I knew that the answer was no. She was quite fond of the extra height advantage they gave her, especially since she always seized any advantage she could get.

It didn't take me too long to find an outfit. It consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt, white pants, and knee high black leather boots with stiletto heels. I'd seen my mother wearing the very outfit before, and knew that it was quite sexy, though not really any more so than what I had been wearing the day before.

As soon as I had finished dressing, I ran a brush through my hair a few times and decided to leave well enough alone. I didn't know how to apply makeup and little interest in doing so even if I did. And it certainly wasn't as though my mother's face actually needed any.

A minute later, I began a search of the house for any sign that my mother had returned without the servants knowing. It wasn't as though I didn't trust the servants, but for something this important, I felt getting personally involved was more importantly. However, as I more than half expected, I found no sign that mother had returned, nor any clues as to what she was currently up to.

"I only have one clue," I muttered, "The black sphere... The Refractor Core..." Unfortunately, I still had absolutely no idea what it was for. If I knew that, I might understand why mother was so intent on retrieving it...and what her other intentions were.

Then I froze, suddenly knowing where I might find some of the answers I was looking for. I immediately returned to the lab, already having looked there during my search, though this time I had a much better idea of just where to look. I went to the control center, a room with monitors covering nearly every wall. And in the very center, there was the main control console, the access for my father's computer system.

"There should be something in here," I said as I slid into the chair behind the console.

The monitors all remained blank, a black background with a red skull in the middle. It was my father's logo. I touched the keyboard in front of me, but this screen saver didn't clear. I looked for a power button, then realized that the power was already on or the logo wouldn't be flashing at me.

"How the hell do I get in?" I scowled, looking around. Then I saw it, a small glass pad on the side of the console, almost identical to the one on the lab door upstairs. "I hope this works..."

The moment I put my hand on the scanner, the logo vanished and the computer system opened up to me. I let out a sigh of relief, then hoped that it would actually have something about the Refractor Core in it, and that this wasn't yet another of my father's inventions where all notes had been lost.

I entered a search for the Refractor Core, and to my relief, it appeared. Images of the black sphere appeared on various monitors around the room, along with a large variety of technical data which made no sense to me. But there was more than that There were also links to other devices, plans and notes. I silently started to read through the information, feeling a chill run down my spine as I went deeper and deeper into it. With every passing minute, I became more and more horrified.

"She couldn't," I gasped.

Mother had told me she was going to complete one of father's old plans, and I had just found nearly every detail. But the end results of that plan would be so extreme that even father had abandoned it as going too far. If mother was willing to continue that project, even after my father had abandoned it as being too dangerous, than that said something very frightening about her mindset. I didn't want to believe she was capable of such a thing, but I was beginning to know better. I had seen the obsessed look on her face. She might very well be capable of anything now.

I sat there for a minute, feeling confused and even scared. I was not a particularly brave man, nor had I ever really claimed to be. My mother terrified me, now more than ever before. But I knew that I couldn't just let it go. If she was going through with this, and I was nearly certain she was, than I had to do what I could to stop her. For once in my life, I would not only have to say 'no' to my mother...but would actually have to actively oppose her.

"I can't let her do this," I said grimly, trying to build up my courage. If I felt bad about what she'd done to those guards while retrieving the Refraction Core, than I would feel infinitely worse if I did nothing this time. "I have to stop her..."

Of course, stopping my mother was much easier said than done. She was obsessive, determined to ensure my father's legacy...no matter what the cost. Talking to her would be completely useless, and force was out of the question. Not only was she in my body, but she had father's armor as well. But after thinking about it for awhile, came to a solution.

"I don't have to fight her," I mused as I stared at one of the monitors on the wall. I smiled faintly, knowing that my mother's plan required at least one more component which I didn't think she possessed. "All I have to do is keep her from getting it..."

According to my father's notes, the last component had been confiscated by the Protectorate during a raid on one of his bases and had been taken back to their headquarters for safekeeping. I activated the tracking device which father included in most of his inventions, verifying that it was still there.

"Mother doesn't have it yet," I let out a long sigh of relief, "Thank goodness for these tracking devices..." Unfortunately, those very same tracking devices were what had led us to the Refractor Core. Without that, mother might not have found where it was and this whole situation might not exist.

At first, I was quite satisfied with the knowledge that the component was in Protectorate custody where my mother could not easily get it. That meant I wouldn't have to do anything. But then, I suddenly remembered something which changed the entire situation. About a year after my father's death, the Protectorate had moved to a newer and larger headquarters. But the tracking signal was coming from the ORIGINAL headquarters.

"Oh shit," I gasped, suddenly going pale.

I had no idea why the Protectorate would have left the critical component behind when they moved. Perhaps they accidentally forgot it. Perhaps they simply didn't consider it important enough to bother with. What I did know was that the component was unguarded and easy game for my mother.

I scowled at the monitor in front of me, a deep determination slowly building. There was no choice... I was going to have to get that component before mother. It was a race to see which of us could get to it first, but since she'd already had a large head start in knowing about it, I couldn't afford to waste any time.

I slowly climbed out of my rental car and looked at the rest area alongside the road. It was small, grungy place which was utterly deserted beside myself. Fortunately, that made it perfect for my purposes since I didn't want any witnesses at the moment.

"And it even has a rest room," I observed with a faint smile.

After I had made the decision to do something, I had immediately made all the necessary travel arrangements for my trip, then searched my father's lab for anything which might be of help. So now, a mere six hours after making that decision, and following an uncomfortable plane flight, I was on the final stage of my journey. I only hoped that I was fast enough.

Without a word, I pulled a black case from the car. It was just a little bigger than a normal briefcase, but was far from anything which would be considered normal, in spite of it's bland and unassuming appearance. It was something I'd found in my father's lab, made of extremely tough material, and locked so that it could only be opened with my mother's thumb print...which I happened to have. Most importantly, it also had special cloaking technology built within, so when it passed through an X Ray machine, such as at airport security, it would only show some completely innocent items, regardless of what was really inside.

I paused for a moment, annoyed at the amount of time I had wasted at the airport, especially since there was a way I could have avoided it all and arrived at my destination MUCH faster. I knew that my father had a private plane somewhere, and that my mother had been using it. Unfortunately, I had no idea where she kept the plane, so it did me little good.

"No time to worry about that," I muttered, grabbing the black case and going straight for the small building with the rest rooms.

I nearly walked straight into the men's rest room without thinking, though caught myself just in time. I grimaced, remembering just how embarrassing it had been to do that early in the airport. Of course, I was the only person in the rest area at the moment, so it wouldn't really have mattered much if I did use that one, but there is a certain principal to the thing.

Once I was in the women's rest room, I set the black case down on the sink and opened it up. I silently removed the first item, what looked like a black spandex bodysuit which covered everything from the neck down, except for feet and hands. I'd learned that it was made with a form of super kevlar, which made it a very effective form of armor. It was also an absolutely perfect fit for my mother's body, though I'd never imagined she owned anything of the like until I found it next to where my father's armor had been stored.

A few minutes later, I had removed my clothes and then slipped on the new outfit. Of course, it was a perfect fit and quite comfortable, though this was no surprise since I'd tried it on before leaving the house. I took a moment to admire just how well it hugged my mother's curves before putting on the thigh length high heeled boots which came along with it.

"High heels and body armor," I shook my head. "Only mother would combine the two."

With a sigh, I reached into the case and pulled out a black gun holster and belt with my father's red skull logo on the buckle. I removed the logo, deciding that it was inappropriate considering my mission and snapped the rest into place around my waste. Like the outfit, it fit perfectly, making me more curious as to why my mother had such things.

Then I carefully pulled out the gun and stared at it. I was not unfamiliar with firearms, having learned to shoot at the age of twelve. My parents had insisted on my being familiar with a variety of such weapons while growing up. I hadn't known of my father's occupation at the time, though now it made more sense. However, I didn't recognize the model of this particular gun and had never seen anything like it. It seemed to have a built in silencer, yet was as powerful as a 357 magnum, without any of the recoil. I'd tested the weapon before leaving the house and had been quite impressed.

I scowled at the gun for a moment while checking the safety and putting it in the holster. I had no intention of actually using that weapon on my mother, and not just because she was in my body or in a suit of armor that it could never pierce. But, considering the stakes, I didn't know if there might be something else I might need it for and wanted to be prepared...just in case.

The last thing I pulled from the black case was the very same stun gun that my mother had shot me with. THIS was something I would have absolutely no problem shooting her with. Unfortunately, it was too big to fit in the holster or I would have merely replaced the other gun with it. As it was, I found a way to clip it to my belt so that I could still carry it with me.

I paused to look at myself in the bathroom mirror, admitting that the outfit created quite an interesting image. However, I felt rather ridiculous in it, especially since it made me look so sexy. Then again, everything mother wore was sexy.

"Spandex body armor," I shook my head with a scowl, "I look like some kind of developed super hero..." Then I gulped, glancing to the red skull logo that I'd removed from the belt. "Or a super villain..."

Once I was satisfied that I was ready, I grabbed the empty case and returned to my rental car. My destination wasn't going to be much further, and now that I was dressed to face whatever I might have to, I was eager to get it done and over with. Time was still a critical factor.

But as I got back on the road, I couldn't help getting my hopes up. Perhaps, after there was no way mother could complete this scheme, she might just give me back my body. If not, I was more than ready to use the stunner on her, then find the missing part from the body switching machine so I could just take my body back.

It didn't take me long to get reach the city that was my destination, though I pulled off the main road before entering it and followed a smaller road off to the side. I soon found myself entering what could only be called the slums, if that. It was an area filled with old abandoned and condemned buildings. Many of them looked as though bombs could have gone off in them and none of them looked very livable. But none of those buildings was my true destination.

Then I saw the building that I was looking for, though it wasn't easy to miss since it stood out like a sore thumb among these other buildings. It was three stories tall and in MUCH better shape than any of the ruins around it. In fact, it was obviously much newer as well.

"Protectorate headquarters," I said as I saw it. Technically, it was only their former headquarters, but that was a minor detail. I'd read a lot about it in my father's files before coming and was curious to see the inside.

I climbed out of my car and went straight for the large double doors in the front, not even giving any consideration to possible security. After all, why should there be security when the people who owned the building had completely abandoned it? Unfortunately, I quickly learned just how mistaken I was.

Before I came a dozen yards from the main entrance, five people stepped out of the doors and stood there in my path. All of them were dressed in spandex costumes and all of them were glaring at me with expressions that suddenly made me think that I'd made a big mistake. Then, I realized who they were. This was the Guard.

The Guard is a group of developed heroes, a branch-off of the Protectorate that's mostly composed of former members and alternates who united under a new group name. I'd read about them, but had never considered that I might possibly encounter them.

The first was Radiant, a tall statuesque woman about 6 feet tall and looking like a fitness model. She had shoulder length brown hair and a white and blue costume with a blue cape. She was also wearing a blue domino mask, which confused me a little since I knew that in the past she'd gone about in the same costume without any mask at all. It made no sense to go without a mask to suddenly wearing one. But I also knew that she was one of the most experienced of the group, and a member of the Protectorate at the time they'd fought my father. She was extremely strong, invulnerable, could fly and shoot energy blasts from her eyes.

Next was Interface, a Hispanic man in his mid twenties, with dark hair and a red and gray costume that had metal shoulder pads and arm bracers. I didn't know anything about where he'd come from or where he got his powers, though I remembered him because his powers were so unique. From what I'd read, he was a tactile telepath and a tactile technopath, able to read minds and computers with the same ease.

Standing beside Interface was a blond woman wearing a flowing white costume that almost resembled a dress. She wore an expensive looking diamond necklace and had a belt around her waist which looked as though it were made of diamonds too. The woman was named Diamond, and had the power to actually create diamonds, which she usually created in the shapes of throwing blades and threw at her opponents.

Warchild looked like a 10-year-old boy, dressed in a black and white costume. However, he was far older than he appeared. From what I'd read, he had once been a soldier in Vietnam but had been severely injured and left quadriplegic. He'd been paralyzed from the neck down for several decades until he volunteered for a regeneration experiment, which had the unexpected results of regenerating him back to childhood and giving him the powers to fly and generate massive amounts of energy at the same time. I stared at him for a moment, realizing that this apparent child was actually an experienced combat soldier and quite possibly the most dangerous of the group.

The last member of the Guard to be standing there was one that I'd never heard of before she'd joined the group. I knew little about her besides than her name and apparent powers. She was called Mannequin, and was dressed in a green spandex costume that covered her entire body, except for her long blond hair. Her powers seemed to be enhanced strength and toughness, though I couldn't be entirely certain as she was something of a mystery.

All of the Guard were glaring at me but it was Radiant who demanded, "What are you doing here Madame Dark?"

"Madame Dark?" I blinked in confusion, then looked down at myself and gasped in understanding. The reason that mother had the black body armor with father's red skull logo... Mother was not just the widow of a super villain, but a super villain herself. "I'm not..."

But before I could explain myself or even fully grasp what was going on, the Guard were in motion. Each scattered in different directions, though Warchild flew up into the air, his hand covered with a reddish orange glow, just before he fired energy blasts from them, aiming straight at me. I was able to jump to the side and avoid being hit, though only because of my mother's enhanced body and reflexes. From the melted hole in the ground, it was a very good thing that I was able to avoid those blasts or I would have doubtlessly been killed.

"What the hell are you doing?" I screamed out as I jumped to the side to avoid diamond throwing knife that Diamond had aimed straight at me.

Unfortunately, when I avoided Diamond's attack, I accidentally ran straight into Mannequin, who immediately wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. I struggled to get loose, though it did little good as her grip was as hard as iron.

"We've got you," Diamond announced with an arrogant tone as she walked up to me. She calmly put a hand on my arm and suddenly a bunch of diamond crystals began to form from that point and spread out around my body until my arms were pinned to my side with a large ring of diamond.

"Who is she?" Mannequin asked Radiant, "You seem to know her..."

"She calls herself Madame Dark," Radiant answered her teammate, "Over the last few years, she's been behind various thefts of advanced technologies, mostly relating to a former villain called Lord Dark. But this isn't her normal style. She usually stays behind the scenes and has hired help do the dirty work."

"She's a rip-off of Lord Dark," Interface stated, "She showed up after his death and seems obsessed with him for some reason..."

"She's not a rip-off," I grimaced, wondering for a moment if I should just remain silent since I was learning more about my mother than I'd ever guessed, just by listening to them. "She's his wife..."

"What?" Radiant stared at me with a look of surprise.

"I'm not her!" I spat out angrily, "I'm not Madame Dark..."

"Yeah, right," Warchild snorted.

"I'm NOT," I protested, wondering how I could possibly convince them. Then I looked to Interface and exclaimed, "He can read my mind and see that I'm telling the truth..."

Interface scowled, then told Radiant, "It couldn't hurt..."

"Don't waste time with this bitch," Warchild spat out, "I've got better things to do than listen to her lies."

"Do it," Radiant told Interface, pausing to glare at me suspiciously.

Interface stared at me, his eyes suddenly turning a solid glowing green. Then he held up his hand, which had green lines forming all over it, almost like some sort of circuitry just under his skin. He didn't say a word as he placed that hand on my arm, causing the same glowing green circuit patterns to spread out along my arm. And just then, I felt a presence in my head...

"Oh God," I gasped, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the realization that a stranger was actually in my mind, looking at my thoughts. It was the worst invasion of privacy that I could imagine, not made any better by the fact that I'd actually given him permission.

A few seconds later, the presence vanished from my mind. Interface pulled his hand away from me and his eyes reverted to a much more normal appearance. He blinked for a moment, then announced, "He's telling the truth..."

"He?" Mannequin demanded, staring at me, though I couldn't read her expression due to the green spandex mask which covered her entire face.

"You can let him go," Interface told Diamond, "He means no harm..."

Diamond gave Interface a skeptical look before nodding faintly and touching the diamond ring which held me prisoner. A moment later, it crumbled to dust, leaving me free to move my arms again.

"Who are you?" Radiant demanded suspiciously, "What's going on?"

I took a deep breath, suddenly feeling extremely worried. "My name," I said slowly, "is William Darque..." I stared at the ground, feeling ashamed as I admitted, "Lord Dark was my father and the woman you called Madame Dark is my mother."

There were gasps of shock and snorts of disbelief at that. But all of them were staring at me with hostile and suspicious looks, except for Interface who had a neutral expression.

"My mother," I said, looking up and meeting their eyes, "She wanted me to continue my father's legacy, to become the new Lord Dark and complete one of his plans. When I refused, she stole my body and used it to become the new Lord Dark herself. She's obsessed with my father and completing his work...regardless of the consequences..." I had to stop at that, shaking a little as I thought about what those consequences would be.

"Why did you come to our headquarters?" Diamond demanded.

"I didn't know it was your headquarters," I admitted. As far as I knew, the location of the Guard's headquarters was not public information. "I thought the old Protectorate headquarters would be empty..."

"And why did you come here?" Radiant asked, her tone more curious than demanding.

I hesitated for just a moment, looking around and realizing that this could very well work in my favor. In fact, I was certain that having the Guard operating out of this building was the best thing that could have happened. They could guard the last component from my mother, which seemed almost destined considering their team name.

"When my father was still alive," I scowled, slowly looking around, "he invented a device to coerce the world leaders into surrendering to him. It was, in his opinion, the ultimate weapon for psychological warfare."

"Some kind of mind control?" Diamond asked with a thoughtful look.

I shook my head at that, "No...not directly. But it was intended to create fear and panic... It's a...darkness generator, based in part on the technology he used in his armor. It's intended to convert the planet's ionosphere into a massive darkness field that absorbs all light. All light that comes from the stars, moon and Sun will all be blocked out. The whole world would be thrown into darkness."

"It sounds annoying," Warchild scowled, "But not too menacing..."

"You don't understand," I glared at him, about to explain when I was interrupted.

"People are afraid of the dark," Mannequin pointed out. "And there are a lot of superstitious people... Imagine what they'd think when the sun suddenly gets blotted out..."

"There will be chaos, panic and riots all over the world," Diamond gasped, looking horrified.

"Worse," Interface scowled, looking worried.

"Much worse," Radiant grimaced. "Remember, it was a heavy layer of dust in the atmosphere which blocked out the light and killed the dinosaurs off. If all sunlight around the world is cut off..."

"Temperatures will drop," Mannequin whispered, "Most plant life will starve...and the rest of the food chain will follow."

"If it lasts long enough," Radiant grimaced, "it could lead to the end of most life on Earth."

"Let me guess," Warchild said sarcastically, "This Lord Dark was going to keep this darkness going until everyone surrendered to him..."

"Originally," I responded quietly, feeling quite uncomfortable with the way they were all staring at me. "But he realized that it had a serious flaw in time and dismantled the device."

Radiant stared at me for a moment before asking, "And just which flaw is this."

"Once activated," I answered grimly, "It can't be turned off..." There were gasps at that and I quickly continued, "The ionosphere dark field would become self-contained, no longer needing the machine. The light and energy it absorbs would be enough to keep it powered indefinitely. My father knew of no way to deactivate the field once it was created, so he abandoned the project. His goal was to conquer the planet, not destroy it."

"Very interesting," Diamond commented, "But what does this have to do with why you're here?"

"I assume that your story is leading to something specific," Radiant said with a deep scowl.

"Madame Dark means to use that machine, doesn't she?" Mannequin asked me. "You said she was trying to complete one of Lord Dark's plans..." There were several gasps at that, followed by looks of grim determination. I just nodded sadly, feeling guilty for my part in trying to help her.

Warchild stared up at me and demanded, "Doesn't the bitch know what that will do?"

"She knows," I answered quietly, knowing that she had access to the same notes that I did as well as the time to read them more thoroughly. "She just doesn't care." I took a deep breath, then explained, "Mother is completely and totally obsessed with ensuring my father's legacy, no matter the cost. And unfortunately, she's decided that covering the world in everlasting darkness is the perfect way to do this."

There was a long moment of silence as the Guard absorbed this information. Then Radiant looked at me with a deep scowl and quietly repeated the question I had been asked several times already. "And the reason you're here...?"

"I'm here to stop her," I answered grimly. "As far as I know, mother is only missing a single component of the darkness generator, and I'm trying to prevent her from getting it."

"And where is this last piece?" Warchild asked, his expression just as dark as my own.
I stared at each member of the Guard in turn. Then without a word, I slowly turned and pointed straight at the building they had come out of.

The Guard's control room was quite similar to my father's, with computers, electronic devices and monitors all around the walls. But not only was the Guard's version larger, where my father had a central control console in the center, they had a large conference table. It wasn't the round table inspired from King Arthur that one might expect of a super hero group, but shaped more like a horse shoe so that no one sitting there would have their back to the primary monitor screen.

I slowly looked around the room, frowning as I did so. All of the monitor screens were filled with pictures of my father or mother. After I had told the Guard what was going on, and had given them nearly all the information I possessed, we went into their headquarters and Radiant pulled up some files on my parents to let the other members know who they would be dealing with. I was somewhat stunned as some of it, especially the information about my mother's activities was new to me.

At the moment, they were replaying video footage that had been taken from the storage building when my mother had returned for the Refractor Core. The image looked exactly like that of Lord Dark since the shadow mask hid her face. There was nothing physical to reveal that it was my body in my father's armor...or my mother in my body in my father's armor. All the cameras showed was Lord Dark, miraculously returned from the dead and viciously attacking Praxis.

"If I didn't know better," Radiant commented, scowling at the screen, "I would swear that this was the real Lord Dark."

"A big difference between the first time he fought Praxis and the second," Warchild commented thoughtfully.

Interface gave me a knowing look, reminding me that he had been in my head and knew who was really at the first fight. I gulped nervously, feeling extremely uncomfortable at being in a room full of super heroes who might take me down because of my brief attempt at being a villain. But to my surprise, Interface said, "Perhaps the difference is due to gaining more experience with the weapons as well as being prepared for a fight."

"Makes sense," Warchild nodded.

Just then, a girl's voice exclaimed, "I can't believe he'd beat up Praxis that way... She's my friend..."

I quickly turned to see a newcomer entering the room. She was a girl of about 11-years-old, with reddish brown hair that was done up in pig tails. She wore a pair of coveralls, a pair of goggles on her forehead and a tool belt around her waist. I stared at her in surprise, wondering why a little girl was in the Guard's headquarters, and why she seemed somewhat familiar. Then it came to me. This was Genius, a former member of the Protectorate who was forced to leave the team due to legal reasons involving her being underage.

"It's a good thing that Praxis healed right up," Genius exclaimed, glaring at the video of 'Lord Dark' on the main monitor, "Or I'd REALLY be mad at that jerk."

A man stepped through the door right behind Genius. He was in his late thirties and dressed in a black outfit with a white square at his neck. On top of all this, he wore a blue cloak with the hood pulled back. I recognized him as Father Time, a Catholic priest with some sort of time manipulation powers. He'd briefly been a member of the Protectorate but left at the same time Genius was forced off the team. I was definitely surprised to see both him and Genius there since I'd never heard of either of them being associated with the Guard. Of course, I'd never heard anything about the Guard being in the Protectorate's original headquarters either.

"Maybe you can help us with this one dear," Diamond told Genius, "Advanced technology is your specialty after all..."

"Sure," Genius grinned proudly.

I explained what I knew of my father's darkness generator, feeling silly to be telling this to an 11 year old girl, even if she was some sort of super genius. Genius listened intently, nodding a little before asking if I had the blueprints and schematics for the device.

"It would really help me design a counter for it if I knew how it works," she told me with a thoughtful expression.

"No," I shook my head, "Nothing like that. I found some notes on the device and how to reassemble the modules, but no schematics. All those details were apparently lost when his island headquarters was destroyed. My father had a bad habit of never backing up any of his data, so if he lost it, he had to start over from scratch."

"That would explain it," Radiant muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. "I always wondered why Lord Dark never rebuilt that antimatter cannon..."

"If there are no blueprints," Genius smirked, "then if we destroy this last piece, there's no chance of reassembling the darkness generator and activating it..."

"That's what I was thinking," I told her with a weak smile.

"So what exactly is this part?" Genius asked, "The Protectorate left a lotta stuff they'd confiscated here in storage, so it would be easier if I knew what we were looking for."

I blinked in surprise at that, feeling rather foolish. I'd never really considered that they might have too many confiscated items to easily locate the particular component I was looking for. I had sort of assumed that just mentioning it was something they'd taken from Lord Dark would be enough for them to know what I was talking about.

"My father's notes just referred to it as the Helix," I explained. "It's a cylinder, about four inches across and three feet long."

"It doesn't sound familiar," Genius mused, "But this Lord Dark guy got killed when I was still in diapers so I've never run into him or any of his tech..."

"When I was here with the Protectorate," Radiant mused, "we had a database of everything we put into safekeeping."

"About that," Genius responded, looking down at the floor with an expression of embarrassment, "You see, before you guys moved in here, there was kind of an accident with an electromagnetic weapon that wiped out all computer data in a one block radius..."

"Then it appears that we will have to look for this Helix the hard way," Diamond announced with a look of annoyance.

"I can't believe the Protectorate let a little girl use this place as her own private lab," Warchild shook his head in disgust.

"Hey," Genius protested, "I'm the same age you are... In fact, I believe I'm a little older..."

Warchild scowled, which made him look like a pouty child. But instead of arguing with Genius and reminding her that he was a lot older than he looked, he just turned and walked out of the room. Genius snickered and followed behind him, calling out taunts about 'little boys' needing to mind their elders.

"Is it always like that around here?" I asked with a frown.

"Pretty much," Mannequin nodded. I couldn't tell for sure because of the mask, though I was almost certain that she was grinning. "Genius doesn't get along with most kids her own age because of her intelligence so she's latched onto Warchild. They both get treated like kids when they're really a lot more. In fact, I suspect she even has a crush on him..."

"Enough gossip," Diamond said, "I believe we have something to find..."

A few minutes later, we were standing in front of a large metal door with a both a computer keypad and a hand plate, similar to the one on my father's lab door. After Radiant entered a code and let her hand be scanned, the door opened and we stepped into a large room which could only be described as a warehouse. There were lots of shelves and racks all through the room, each filled with a variety of boxes and strange objects. In fact, there were a LOT of boxes.

"Good luck finding it in here," Mannequin said.

"It's bound to be in here somewhere," Radiant sighed, "We just need to look for it."

Just then, Warchild and Genius came into the room as well. Warchild had a grin on his face and looked just like any other kid, though his expression turned grim and serious a moment later. Genius laughed and handed him a Gummy Worm from a bag she was holding. He accepted it with a smile.

"What do you think, little boy?" Genius teased Warchild. "Where should we start looking?"

"I'm old enough to be your grandpa," Warchild reminded her with a scowl, though he seemed to be holding back a smile.

"Well I don't have a grandpa," Genius shrugged, "Or any other family. I'm a genetically engineered orphan, unless you want to count the company Globotech. But since the courts ruled they don't own me and I am a person, I don't think they have much claim either."

"Yes," Interface smiled, "But that same court ruling also meant that you were legally an underage human child and forced you off the Protectorate."

Genius didn't look happy to be reminded of that. She shrugged, slurped up a couple of Gummy Worms, then started to wander down one of the rows of shelves, looking for the Helix. I and all of the others joined her in the search.

We searched for about ten minutes before Interface snapped, "There are too many boxes... This is going to take forever..."

"Hey," Genius protested, "Don't blame me... It's not my fault the database got wiped out..." However, she did have a somewhat guilty expression on her face.

"I don't believe we've used this particular computer since moving in," Interface mused as he walked to a computer console in the corner of the room. "It might be possible for me to recover the database..."

Interface stared at the computer and his eyes turned the same glowing green that they had been when he'd used his powers on me. The glowing green circuit patterns appeared on his hands again, and as soon as he touched the side of the computer, it spread all over it as well. His eyes suddenly began having faint ones and zeroes flashing across them at high speed, making the whole thing all the more eerie.

"The files were extremely corrupted," Interface said in a strange voice, "But I am able to salvage some of what we need."

Just then, a green light projected from Interface's eyes, creating an image in the air in front of him. It was a floating hologram of the Helix, though the image was definitely incomplete. It was blurry and small parts of it were missing, though it was still recognizable as the same component I saw in my father's files.

"That's it," I exclaimed unnecessarily.

Interface was accurate when he said that the file was corrupted. Sections of it were scrambled or missing entirely. But enough of it was still understandable to let us know which row of shelves the Helix had been stored on. After that, it was fairly easy to locate it.

"It doesn't look all that impressive," Warchild commented as Radiant lifted the black metal cylinder.

"I'll take a closer look at it," Genius said, her expression turning to one of pure business.
Genius immediately took the Helix to her lab, which had a lot of similarities to my father's. However, I couldn't imagine my father ever having pink ceilings or posters of boy bands and unicorns on the wall, which she did. But in spite of the childish decorations, Genius was all business.

Radiant and I were the only ones to stay and watch Genius go about her work. She put the Helix through several tests, using machines which I'd never seen before and had no clue as to their function. But there was no doubt that she knew what she was doing, easily making me forget that she was only a child.

"I don't think it's going to be as easy to destroy as we'd assumed," Genius finally commented with a scowl, setting the Helix down on a table in front of us.

"Why not?" I asked, "It's the only way to be certain that my mother doesn't get her hands on it."

Genius didn't say a word as she reached to the base of the cylinder and pushed. The whole metal case slid up, revealing that it was just a shell for that which was inside. There was a long glass cylinder, filled with a thick looking green liquid. And in the middle of that was a spiraling metal helix which resembled a the famous double helix of DNA.

"The core contains some highly unstable and dangerous materials," Genius commented, looking first to Radiant and then to me. "If it gets in contact with the air, it could easily detonate."

"Detonate?" Radiant asked with a look of alarm.

"It's equivalent to a small nuclear warhead," Genius shrugged. "There's no detonator or anything to indicate that it was intended as a bomb. Quite the opposite in fact. It seems to be quite safe and stable as long as it's sealed up like this. Unfortunately, I don't have the necessary materials to safely dismantle the thing here."

"Just great," Radiant grimaced, not looking any more pleased about this revelation than I was. "You mean we had a nuclear bomb in our headquarters and we didn't even know about it..."

"Not exactly nuclear," Genius shrugged, "But the effects are close enough."

"Why didn't anyone in the Protectorate notice this?" Radiant demanded, though I wasn't sure if she was really aiming that at Genius.

"The outer shell," Genius pointed out, carefully closing the cylinder back up again. "But scanning techniques are a LOT better than way back then..."

Once we had gathered the rest of the Guard and told them what was going on, they were less than pleased. Diamond and Warchild kept glancing at me, giving me suspicious looks that seemed to say that they thought the whole situation was my fault.

"What are we going to do about this new Lord Dark?" Diamond asked Radiant, "How are we going to find him?"

"I don't think we need to," Radiant responded thoughtfully. She gestured to me, "From what she said, the new Lord Dark needs this Helix and will probably come here for it."

"So you think we should just wait around in case he shows up?" Warchild snorted.

"We won't have to wait long," I told announced. "My mother is not very patient when it comes to getting something she really wants, and she will desperately want this last component. I guarantee that she will be coming here for it very soon."

"I've deactivated tracking device you told me about," Genius said, "Maybe she won't be able to locate it."

"She already knows it's here," I frowned, knowing that mother had probably been tracking the Helix for some time. In fact, I suspected that the only reason she hadn't come for it already was that she knew the Guard were present. But now that she had father's armor... "She'll be coming for it before you get the chance to move it very far."

"Well this is our concern now," Radiant told me, "We'll take care of things from here."

I stared at her in surprise for a moment, hardly able to believe that she'd just dismiss me like that. Of course, I reminded myself, they were all developed and super heroes, while I was just a college student who was trapped in his mother's body. I didn't have the training or the skills necessary to fight 'evil doers' and the like. As far as they were concerned, I would just get in the way...or worse.

"I'm not going anywhere," I grimaced, telling myself this just as much as them.

"You most certainly are," Diamond glared at me.

I took a deep breath, feeling nervous and gathering my courage. But after having finally stood up to my mother, doing it to these people was relatively easy. "I said I'm not going anywhere."

"It would be safer for you if you did," Interface pointed out.

"First," I held up a finger, "I'm already involved in this up to my neck...and beyond. In fact, I'm involved in this much more than any of you, and none of you would have the least idea of what was going on if I hadn't told you. Second," I held up another finger, glaring around the room at every member of the Guard, "This is my mother that you're planning to deal with, and I know her and what she has intended much better than any of you. That very knowledge and experience may be crucial to stopping this mad plan..."

Radiant frowned, "But..."

I glared at Radiant and held up my third finger, "And finally, my mother is currently occupying MY body. I'm going to get it back and make damn sure it's in one piece when I do." I continued to glare at her, letting her know just how serious I was about this.

"Very well," Radiant sighed, "You obviously have every reason to stay."

Since it was decided that I would stay and help deal with my mother, the other's didn't argue it and started to relax. Diamond and Warchild still didn't seem completely pleased by my presence, but neither said a word as they left the room. And as everyone else began to disperse, Mannequin offered to give me a quick tour of the headquarters.

"We haven't been using this place very long," Mannequin told me, "But it is still in good shape. Genius and Father Time have been taking care of it for awhile."

I just nodded as she took me through the building, showing me the training rooms and living quarters, while bypassing both the labs and storage sections since I'd already been to those. The tour was fairly quick, revealing that the headquarters was a little smaller than I would have expected, though I was still fairly impressed.

"If the Protectorate left this place to go to a bigger one," I shook my head, "I can only imagine what that must be like."

"I wouldn't mind seeing it myself," Mannequin chuckled, then explained, "I haven't been in the hero business for very long and haven't met many others outside of the Guard. Sometimes, I still have a hard time believing that I'm running around in spandex like this. It's certainly not a job that I ever really intended. Unfortunately, I have a...situation which prevents me from doing any normal work, so it was either become a hero, become a villain, or be broke and homeless."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I asked, "Have you worked with the Protectorate yet?"

"Not really," Mannequin shook her head. She paused for a moment before carefully explaining, "I've met Force and Omni Woman, but only after they'd left the Protectorate. It wasn't exactly a pleasant encounter either."

"I'd imagine not," I frowned, thinking of Force, the world famous hero who had gone insane. "I heard that they sent him to Mount Prometheus...that prison for developed criminals."

"A prison full of super villains," Mannequin shook her head, "Being there would have to be tough for anyone, but for someone like him..."

"Yeah," I nodded my understanding. Since Force had been a hero and put a number of the other prisoners in there, they would undoubtedly tear him to pieces of given a chance.

A short while after this, Mannequin had to excuse herself so that she could take care of monitor duty. Apparently, she and Interface were tasked with keeping watch so that the rest of the Guard could relax until they were needed.

I soon found myself wandering to a common area where there 'relaxing' members of the Guard were mostly hanging out. It was something like a living room, with two couches, a number of chairs and even a few small tables. There was even a large TV pressed up against a wall, though it was being monopolized by Genius who'd claimed it for some video games.

Sitting at a small table was Radiant, who was sitting back and flipping through some papers with a slight frown. It took me a moment to realize that her domino mask was gone, only to be replaced by a pair of wire frame glasses. It was a somewhat unusual sight as they made this muscular 6 foot 2 woman almost resemble a librarian.

Radiant noticed my staring at her and adjusted her glasses with a slightly self-conscious smile. "One of my powers," she explained, "is being able to fire energy beams from my eyes, but that puts a great deal of stress on my eyes. Unfortunately, I eventually discovered that it was damaging my vision. I used to be able to read a newspaper at twenty yards, but now I need corrective lenses to see clearly."

"Your mask has glasses built in," I exclaimed in realization.

Radiant nodded at that and touched her glasses, "But I feel more comfortable reading with these."

A moment later, Radiant turned back to whatever it was she was working on. I looked around at the others, my eyes locking on Diamond, who was polishing a very sparkly diamond about the size of a baseball. Mother had some large diamonds, but this was undoubtedly the largest diamond that I'd ever seen.

"Very impressive," I told Diamond. "With those powers, you must be quite wealthy."

Diamond gave me a cool look, as if trying to decide whether I was worth talking to or if she should just dismiss me. Then she gave me a somewhat smug look, "I do well enough, though probably not as well as you imagine."

"Oh," I responded, unable to take my eyes from the massive diamond in her hand.

"This," she said casually, handing me the baseball sized diamond, "is composed of a lower quality diamond that will disintegrate into base carbon in a matter of minutes. Most of the diamonds I create dissolve quite rapidly."

"That's too bad," I told her sympathetically.

But Diamond just waved that off dismissively, "It's largely intentional and part of a deal I made with the government. If I don't flood the market and drive down diamond prices, I am allowed to create and sell a limited amount of high quality diamonds every year."

"That's understandable," I responded, realizing just how easily her powers could wipe out the diamond industry if she didn't hold them back. I started to hand the large diamond back to her but it suddenly crumbled into a fine black dust, getting it all over my hand. "Ugh..."

I stared at Diamond for a moment, admiring the diamonds that were part of her costume before turning and finding a comfortable place to sit. I leaned back, silently watching the others for a minute, well aware of the fact that they might be polite and even friendly to me, but that I was still the outsider...and the offspring of two super villains. It was amazing that they weren't a lot more hostile towards me for that alone.

Then after a few minutes, Warchild turned to me and asked the question I had been expecting for awhile. "So, why are you so determined to stop all this? I mean, you are Lord Dark's kid, so why aren't you going along with the rest of your family?"

"You mean, why don't I have more family loyalty?" I scowled.

Warchild nodded, "Pretty much..."

I sighed, trying to think of how to best phrase it. "The truth is," I explained, "I barely knew my father. I didn't even know that he was Lord Dark until after his death. My mother never truly cared about me, only my father and his legacy. Once I made it clear to her that I wasn't going to follow in my father's footsteps and become the clone of him that she wanted, she lost all interest in me other than the fact that I still had his blood in my veins. And you can see how she took that," I gestured down at myself, scowling as I did so.

"So you want revenge on your mom for stealing your body," Warchild smirked.

"A bit," I admitted with a little embarrassment, "But I want my own body back even more. Of course, I also have little interest in conquering the world and even less in seeing it destroyed."

"I must say," Radiant commented, looking at me with a speculative look, "If that really is your mother's body, it certainly is younger looking than I would expect..."

"One of father's experiments slowed down her aging process," I explained. Then, just because I was feeling a little intimidated by all of them having developed powers, I decided to show off a little. I flipped over and did a hand stand with just one hand, adding, "It had a few other benefits too..."

That brief demonstration seemed to catch their interest and lightened the mood a bit further. Within a few minutes, we were all talking and showing off what we could do. And for a little while, I was almost able to forget the dark legacy which loomed over my head.

When I awoke in the morning, I was a little startled to find myself immediately wide awake and fully charged, even if it was my second morning in that body. It was quite a bit different from my normal morning grogginess, and an advantage of my current body that I could easily get used to.

I sat up in bed and looked down at my naked body, feeling a bit uncomfortable at the sight but not looking away. "It's like switching from driving a Volkswagen Bug to driving a pink Porsche. You might not like the color, but you can't help but love the performance."

A moment later, I stood up and stretched, marveling yet again at just how incredible my mother's body felt. It was so strong, limber and energetic that it was easy to forget how much I was supposed to hate being trapped in it. Once again, I desperately wished that my father hadn't lost his notes on that process, or I'd be able to enjoy the same level of health and fitness in my own body.

"After I get my own body back," I mused, "I'm definitely going to start working out at the gym." Unfortunately, I knew that it would take a lot of work to get anywhere near the level my mother enjoyed without any effort at all.

With that, I slowly looked around the tiny bedroom that I had spent the night in. It was even smaller than most of the dorm rooms that I had seen at college. Still, I knew I was fortunate that the Guard had put me up for the night in one of their rooms. And to it's credit, the room shared a bathroom with the next room over rather than requiring the use of a communal bathroom and shower.

"At least now I know why the Protectorate moved to a bigger headquarters," I chuckled.
I sighed and bent down to stretch a little more, putting my hands flat on the floor without bending my knees. Then I shook my head as I straightened up and walked to the bathroom, hardly able to believe how different this body was.

"I suppose I should take a shower," I mused as I looked at the shower stall. I had avoided taking a shower yesterday, so was not only overdue for one now but in desperate need. Fortunately, I wasn't feeling as squeamish about my current body as I was then.

As soon as I was in the stall and under the stream of hot water, I let out a sigh, amazed at just how good it felt. Obviously, my skin was much more sensitive than before. I just stood there for several minutes, savoring the sensations before I shook myself out of this distracted state and remembered that I was in the shower to wash up, not to play around. But I was pretty tempted to do the latter as well.

"I shouldn't goof off too much," I grimaced, "Mother could arrive at any time and I want to be ready for her." Since she didn't come during the night, there was no telling when she might decide to make her move. Of course, whoever was on watch would warn me and everyone else if mother did arrive, but I still wanted to be prepared.

When I got out of the shower stall, I took my time drying off, slowly looking over my body. It was the first time that I'd really examined the body that I was currently wearing. It was so strange, and difficult to believe that this was actually my mother's body. I was tempted to examine it further, but I shook it off and forced myself to get back to business.

I wrapped a large towel around myself, being careful to have it around my chest as a woman would rather than just around my waist as was normal for me. I was so lost in thought as I walked out of the bathroom that It took me a moment to realize that I'd walked through the wrong door and into the room I shared the bathroom with.

"Sorry," I started to say automatically as I noticed Mannequin's costume spread out over the bed. But I didn't see her, only a plastic mannequin that was in her chair.

Then to my surprise, the mannequin spoke, "It's all right. I should have locked the door."

I stared at the human sized plastic doll in the chair, my eyes going wide in realization. "That's why you're called Mannequin..."

Mannequin stood up, her naked body looking exactly like that of a mannequin or a human sized Barbie doll. Her skin looked like flesh colored plastic and it had all sorts of seams and splits in it, mostly around the joints. She frowned and reached for her costume to cover herself, though she didn't seem to be in too big of a hurry.

"It's why I wear the full body spandex," Mannequin explained as she began to put her costume on.

I continued staring at her, unable to escape the feeling of familiarity. At first, I thought that it was just because she looked like Barbie, but then it dawned on me. "You're the robot that fought the Elite..." She'd even hinted as much to me previously when talking about her unpleasant meeting with Force and Omni Woman. They had been members of the Elite, a short lived super hero team that had broken apart after fighting a robotic woman that looked like a mannequin.

"The other reason I wear the costume," she grumbled. "And don't believe what you heard about that incident on the news. There's more to the story than they'll tell."

"I...I never would have guessed you were an android," I told her in surprise. She had acted so human that if I hadn't seen her outside of her costume, I never would have guessed.

"I'm a synthoid," she responded with a forced smile, "Or at least this body is. I used to be human but got into a bad accident. They transplanted my mind into this body to keep me alive."

"So I'm not the only one in the wrong body," I forced a smile.

"Nope," Mannequin shrugged. "And I used to be a guy too, so we also have that in common."

"REALLY?" I gasped.

Mannequin nodded, "It's a long story. Maybe I'll it to you later."

"I'd like to hear it," I told her sincerely, deciding that it was nice to know someone else was in the same boat as me, or at least in one close enough to have a little understanding. Still, I didn't think that Mannequin or anyone else would understand what it was like having an infamous villain like Lord Dark as a father and an obsessed woman as their mother.

I quickly returned to my own room and got dressed in the spandex body armor again. It felt strange to be wearing it for so long, though the fact that everyone else around me wore costumes made me feel a lot less ridiculous. The real problem was my hair, which took a lot longer to dry than I would have expected.

"I should just cut it all off," I grumbled to myself, thinking of my mother's reaction when she got her body back bald. "That would teach her to steal my body."

Once I was finally dressed and ready, I left my room and joined the others who were already up and about. Radiant and Warchild were just coming off of watch while Diamond and Father Time took over. Everyone seemed relieved that nothing had happened during the night, but over the next few hours, there was a growing frustration and impatience as well.

"She is going to come here," I insisted more than once, knowing that my mother wasn't about to just give up on the Helix. I was just as certain as ever that she would make a move for it soon.

Warchild was starting to ask if I was certain about my mother's plans, for what had to be the tenth time that day, when suddenly an alarm started to sound. Every member of the Guard immediately rushed towards the command center and I followed close behind, my heart racing with fear and excitement.

"Is Lord Dark attacking?" Radiant demanded the moment we entered the room.

"No," Diamond scowled, gesturing to the monitor screens around the room, "We have another problem."

I stared at the monitors, seeing images of a man in armor floating in the air and firing beams of red energy out of his hands as he attacked what looked like some kind of aircraft manufacturing plant. I let out a faint sigh of relief when I saw that it wasn't my father's familiar armor. This man's armor was blue and white and in a style that was obviously inspired by ancient Roman centurion armor. It even had a helmet with the trademark mohawk in blue. Then I noticed several strange details, such as his chest had what looked like a dove with olive branch on it and his blue cape was pinned with a broach in the shape of a peace symbol.

"Peacemonger," Warchild spit out bitterly.

"Who?" I blinked in surprise. I'd read quite a bit about various developed heroes, especially the groups, though there were so many costumed villains that I'd only studied the major ones. The man in the monitor was one that I didn't recognize.

"Peacemonger," Radiant answered with a scowl. "He's a militant pacifist."

"Isn't that an oxymoron?" I asked with a faint smile.

"Perhaps," Radiant told me, "But he is very dangerous."

"He used to be an extreme antiwar activist," Diamond explained calmly. "He somehow bypassed the security of an experimental weapons facility to destroy everything they were working on. But he suffered some accident there instead which gave him his powers."

"But a villain with a peace theme?" I shook my head, wondering what the world was coming to.

While Radiant was typing away at their computer, apparently gathering information on Peacemonger, Interface explained, "He believes that war is inherently evil and therefore, anyone and anything which supports war is evil and must be destroyed. He's obsessed with stopping war at all costs. He'll avoid harming civilians most of the time, but he hates anything related to the military."

"He started off attacking military bases and destroying their weapons," Diamond picked up the explanation, "Then about a year ago, he became involved in an attempt to use a nuclear weapon on the Pentagon. Shortly after this, he acquired a nerve gas that was supposed to permanently pacify all aggression in those exposed. We stopped his plan of flooding the world with it, starting with Washington DC."

"Neutralizing aggression doesn't sound too bad," I frowned thoughtfully.

But Diamond shook her head, "He tested it on the residents of a small town first. It not only removed aggression, but all creativity, initiative and willpower, effectively lobotomizing them. Now the government has to take care of over a hundred of these human sheep for the rest of their lives since they don't even have the initiative to eat when hungry on their own."

"My God," I whispered, staring at Peacemonger's image in horror.

"Peace at all costs," Warchild spat out, "That bastard reminds me of some of the assholes I ran into when I came back from Nam. He's just like that prick who told me I deserve to be a helpless cripple for the rest of my life because I served my country."

I just stared at Warchild, once again reminded of the fact that he was a lot older than he looked. There was a grim and hardened look in his eyes at that moment which no real 10-year-old boy could ever have. This was the look of a hardened combat vet, and I realized that in his view, Peacemonger was the embodiment of all the worst traits from the more extreme antiwar protesters who'd spat on him and called him a baby killer after the war. His dislike of Peacemonger was personal.

"His ultimate goal of world peace may be admirable," Diamond scowled, "But his chosen means are just as bad as what he claims to be fighting against."

"A villain with a peace motif," I repeated in disbelief, "Who ever would have thought it."

"At the moment," Radiant grimaced, "He's attacking a plant that makes planes for the Air Force."

"Well let's go kick his ass," Mannequin exclaimed.

But Radiant shook her head, "We can't leave the Helix unguarded. We have to be prepared for when Lord Dark comes for it."

"If he comes for it," Warchild muttered to himself.

"SHE will come for it," I told him grimly.

"Enough," Radiant glared at Warchild, then looked around the rest of the Guard members.

"Warchild and I will go deal with Peacemonger while the rest of you remain here."

Just a minute after this decision, I watched as Radiant and Warchild took off in the team's ship, a small VTOL capable vehicle which looked almost as though it could have come from outer space. Genius just looked smug when I commented on how cool the ship looked as it took off, giving me a good idea who created it.

Once they were gone, I returned to the control room to keep an eye on what was going on with this Peacemonger character. The truth was, I was not only curious as to how the situation turned out, but wanted to see the fight when Radiant and Warchild arrived.

"I can't wait to watch them kick his ass," Mannequin exclaimed, "I just wish I was there..."

"It is quite fortunate that television news crews arrive on the scene so quickly," Diamond commented with a faint smirk, "And that they have so little sense as to get close to such danger. Otherwise we might not get to watch these types of events."

"I don't know," Interface mused, "I've heard about one news cameraman who's a developed and has his own personal force field."

"So why didn't he put on spandex and fight crime?" I grinned at Interface.

"I don't know," Interface grinned back, "Perhaps because he weighs three hundred pounds, and it's not muscle."

We laughed at that, then turned back to the monitors. Peacemonger had already leveled the entire factory to the ground and was currently in the middle of smashing the smaller pieces of the planes he'd destroyed, when Radiant and Warchild arrived. They immediately went straight at him, slamming him with everything they had.

"It's a wonder he didn't get away before they arrived," Diamond snorted. "We really must work on our speed."

"Maybe I can work on a teleporter," Genius mused thoughtfully. "It would be so much faster..."

"You'd think the Iron Avenger would have gotten to him first," Genius commented. "I mean, that is close to where he usually operates and all."

Just then, there was a thunderous booming sound and the building began to shake. That was almost immediately followed by the deafening sound of alarms from all around me. The monitors on the walls all began to switch to pictures of the headquarters from various angles.

"It's Lord Dark," Mannequin yelled before running from the room with Diamond, Interface, and Father Time close behind her.

"Mother," I grimaced, realizing that she must have been watching and waiting until the Guard was no longer at full strength.

I suddenly felt extremely nervous...even afraid. The idea of confronting my mother in such a way was much easier to accept before it was so close at hand. But I grimaced, took a deep breath and ran after the others. I had already made up my mind to keep her away from the Helix and I wasn't going to back out now.

I rushed through the facility until I nearly ran into Interface who'd stopped right in front of me. There was a massive hole blown through the wall of the headquarters, and just inside of it was a figure in very familiar armor, hovering mere inches off of the floor. My father's old armor looked quite imposing, especially since the hood was pulled up and the shadow mask was turned on.

For a moment, I just stood frozen, staring at my mother in silent horror. I had never realized just how intimidating that armor could be until just that moment. The fact that my mother's face...my face was covered in darkness only made it even more so. And when she turned to look at me, a cold chill ran down my spine.

"You," my mother growled, the voice modulator in the armor making her voice sound eerie. "You traitor... You betrayed your family!"

"No," I gulped, gathering my courage and spitting back, "You betrayed me when you stole my body!"

"You don't deserve to have the blood of Lord Dark flowing through your veins," she snarled at me.

Then to my surprise, mother threw up one of her hands and fired a blast of dark energy at me. I jumped to the side, managing to avoid the attack, thanks to the reflexes and agility that I'd inherited with her body. But even then, it was close. I don't know if mother's attack was truly meant to kill me or just to prove some point, but that was all the Guard needed to attack.

"Get him," Mannequin shouted, suddenly firing red energy blasts at my mother from the palms of her hands. However, the blasts just bounced off without doing any apparent damage.

Interface and Father Time stood back while Diamond and Mannequin attacked my mother with just about everything they had. However, Diamond's thrown diamond blades had even less effect than Mannequin's energy blasts. And when Mannequin charged forward to punch my mother, a single blast of dark energy sent her flying back and through a wall.

"Mannequin!" Interface called out, running to her.

"I'm all right," Mannequin called back as she climbed out of the wall, her costume burned though she seemed unharmed.

"Thank the lord," Father Time exclaimed.

Mother laughed cruelly at that, "Yes, you can thank me for that. And you can thank me again once I destroy her..."

"Damn," Mannequin grimaced, "We could really use Radiant and Warchild's power right now."

"Not to mention Radiant's experience fighting the real Lord Dark," Diamond exclaimed, creating a diamond shield which she used to block one of mother's dark blasts. The force was still enough to knock her to the floor, though the shield did save her life.

Father Time slowly stepped forward, "If I can get close enough, I can freeze him in time..."

"STOP THIS!" I yelled at mother, "This is insane..."

"Silence," she yelled, firing another blast of dark energy at me. "I will not be spoken to that way."

I avoided mother's attack and finally reached for the stun gun on my belt. My hand shook as I took aim, hardly able to believe that I was doing this. And with a wince, I pulled the trigger, firing at my mother. But the stun gun had no more effect than throwing a wadded up sheet of paper at her.

"HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME WITH MY OWN BODY," Mother screamed.

Suddenly she lashed out, firing one dark blast at me and another straight at Father Time. Diamond jumped in the way, using her diamond shield to block the attack on her teammate while I jumped to the side, growing even more grateful for my increased agility. If it wasn't for my mother's body, I never would have been able to survive her attacks. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on me.

"I don't have time for this nonsense," mother exclaimed impatiently, "I have a mission to complete."

A moment later, the world exploded into darkness as mother unleashed a blackout wave. I staggered, unable to see a thing through the pitch black cloud which covered everything, even my hand in front of my face. That was followed by the sounds of dark blasts and explosions.

"He's blasted a hole through the inside wall," Mannequin exclaimed, "He's trying to get away."

There were more sounds of energy blasts and explosions, followed by mother demanding, "How can you still see?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Mannequin taunted.

A minute later, the darkness cleared and I was able to see clearly again. However, there was a large hole in one of the inside walls and no sign of either Mannequin or mother. Or at least I thought there was no sign until I heard some more explosions from somewhere further inside the building.

"Come on," Diamond exclaimed, "We have to stop him..."

"Damn," I grimaced, wincing at the sound of yet another explosion.

After hesitating for just a few seconds, I ran through the hole with the others, following the path of destruction left by my mother. It soon became obvious that she wasn't just wandering aimlessly through the building, but that she was going straight towards the lab, where the Helix had been left.

"She must have paid attention to where the signal was coming from right before Genius cut the tracking device," I muttered. "We should have moved it somewhere else..."

I arrived in the lab a minute later and stared at the wreckage around me. Mother and Mannequin were fighting in the middle of the lab, firing blasts of energy at each other. Mannequin held out her arm, which split open in the back, and fired some sort of marble sized grenade which hit mother and exploded, destroying her cloak but nothing else. Then I noticed the Helix clutched in mother's hand. She'd found it.

"Enough of this," mother snarled, "I have what I came for."

"Lord give me strength," Father Time exclaimed as he rushed forward, "I will stop you..."

But mother lashed out before he had a chance to use his powers, hitting the priest and sending him flying back until he hit the wall with a loud thud. She turned to look at me for a moment, glaring at me from her dark visage, not saying a word. But I could feel the anger which was directed at me. And without a word, reached behind her and pulled out a black metallic sphere the size of a soft ball, then dropped it on the ground.

"Oh no you don't," Diamond exclaimed, throwing a handful of diamond blades at mother but doing no good.

"It is almost over," mother exclaimed, sounding more as though she were talking to herself than anyone else, "His legacy will be written across the very sky..."

Then mother held up her free hand and unleashed several dark blasts, causing everyone to jump out of the way. With the path cleared, she went right out the hold she'd blown into the lab, firing several more blasts behind her to keep us from following.

I stared in horror at my mother as she vanished from view, knowing that there was nothing I could do to stop her. With my father's armor, she was nearly invincible. Then I quickly looked at the black sphere she'd dropped and gasped. There were glowing red numbers on the side, counting down. It went from 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 and then...

"I've got it," Father Time exclaimed, gesturing to the sphere which suddenly started to glow blue. The numbers stopped counting down and remained frozen at 1 second, suspended at that moment of time.

"Damn," Mannequin growled, "That fucker got away..."

"With the Helix," Diamond grimaced.

Interface scowled, "I wish my powers were more offensive..." He looked at Father Time and said, "Are you all right. It looked like he hit you pretty hard."

"I think my arm is broken," Father Time winced, clutching one arm while keeping a careful eye on the bomb that mother had left behind.

"It seems," Diamond commented, glancing from the bomb to me, "That your mother truly doesn't care much for your well being...or even that of her own body."

"She's obsessed," I gulped, shaking as I said it. "Completely and totally obsessed."

"And he has the last component he needs for that darkness generator," Diamond grimaced. "This is not good. Not good at all."

By the time Radiant and Warchild returned from their mission an hour later, Genius had already disposed of the bomb and the rest of us were there waiting in the command center, except for Genius who was cleaning up her lab. Needless to say, Radiant was not pleased about our failure to stop my mother.

"It was like he was waiting for you to leave," Mannequin spat out bitterly.

"Damn," Radiant scowled, leaning back in her chair. She removed her domino mask and replaced it with her wire frame glasses, thoughtfully rubbing her temples as she did so. "It fits with something that Peacemonger told us while he was being hauled away in shackles."

"What's that?" Interface asked intently.

Radiant sighed, "He said that someone had sent him information that a new Top Secret bomber was being built there for the Air Force."

"Peacemonger was a stinking decoy," Warchild grimaced. "Lord Dark sent him to cause trouble, knowing that we had a history with him and wouldn't be able to resist taking him down."

"Leaving the Helix here unguarded," Interface frowned, then looked at me. "It would have drawn all of us away from here if it hadn't been for her warning."

"Not like it did much good," Mannequin growled, "That bastard still went through us like we were barely there."

Father Time looked down at the temporary cast that Genius had fixed him up with, then observed, "He was quite effective."

"It seems that we've been underestimating this new Lord Dark," Diamond stated.

"He's just a dangerous as the old one," Radiant nodded her agreement. "Perhaps even more so since this one is more obsessed."

"Since he has the Helix," Interface pointed out, "we have a serious problem. I don't know how long it will take him to assemble this machine, but I doubt it will take too long. We are on a serious time limit."

I just sat back and silently listened in on this conversation, still feeling shaken up by the encounter with my mother. I knew that she was dangerous, even insane...but I had never thought that she would actually try to kill me. In spite of the fact that she had and that she was trying to destroy the world, she was still my mother.

"What about you?" Warchild suddenly asked, staring straight at me. "The whole reason that you're here is that you said you all about this new Lord Dark and could help us. So, where the hell is he hiding out at?"

"I don't know," I admitted quietly, slowly looking around the table at all of the members of the Guard. Then I took a deep breath and announced, "But I know how to find out."

The Guard's unique aircraft was roomier on the inside than I would have guessed, though still a little cramped since it was full. At the moment, every member of the team was crammed inside, except for Father Time and Genius who remained at the headquarters.

"Are we there yet?" Warchild asked with a smirk, trying to be funny though no one laughed.

"Almost," Radiant commented from the controls.

"Just down there," I pointed to the ground a few minutes later.

Radiant nodded and slowly settled the craft down onto the vast front lawn of my family's mansion. The moment that it was stopped and the hatch opened, I climbed out and paused to take a deep breath and look at my home.

"This is where Lord Dark lived?" Warchild asked with a look of surprise. "I would have expected him to live in some dark and spooky castle in Transylvania or something."

"I hope you're right about this," Radiant scowled. "We don't have time to waste on false leads..."

"Do you have any other leads?" I asked, not bothering to look at her as I started walking towards the front door.

I walked into my living room with the Guard following close behind. The servants might have been surprised to see a group of super heroes standing there, though they didn't look it and none of them asked any questions. Of course, none of the servants would dare question my mother and since they thought I was her...

"You should all wait here," I announced as I went to the hidden elevator, "My father might have set some traps in case anyone who isn't authorized enters his lab."

"I would prefer if one of us came with you," Radiant said with a frown. Then she added, "I'll come... If there are any traps, I'm pretty hard to hurt."

I hesitated a moment before nodding, "Okay... I'm not even sure there are any traps."

When the elevator doors opened up and we stepped within, I held my breath, half afraid that some death ray would activate and shoot Radiant. Perhaps I was being a little paranoid, but knowing my family, I didn't think that it would hurt to be prepared. Fortunately, nothing happened either in the elevator or when we stepped out of it.

"So this is where Lord Dark worked from home," Radiant mused as she looked around. "I suppose that it's hard to imagine that even villains have a home life and sometimes bring their work home with them."

"The Cleaver's we weren't," I told her, going straight for the control room and putting my hand onto the plate that would unlock the main console.

A minute later, I was typing away while Radiant just stood back without saying a word. Since we had deactivated the homing device in the Helix, there was no way I could track that the same way that I had before. Fortunately, I remembered that mother had taken the Refractor Core with her and it had a tracking device installed as well.

"It seems that mother forgot to deactivate it," I smiled as the computer pinpointed a location.

I stared at the computer for a moment, seeing that the location it had identified was in the middle of nowhere. I frowned for a moment, then asked it to provide all information it had on that location. What it revealed a minute later left me a little startled.

"You've found him?" Radiant asked with an urgent tone in her voice.

"Yes," I nodded, not taking my eyes from the monitor. I pushed a few buttons and suddenly every monitor in the room was filled with the information in front of me.

"It seems that before my father had died, he was in the middle of constructing a new base of operations," I told Radiant. "Ironically, it was almost right across from a previous one in the side of a mountain that you and the Protectorate destroyed."

"I remember that headquarters," Radiant gasped, "That's where we destroyed his antimatter cannon. But why build a new one so close?"

"Maybe he thought it would be the last place you'd think to look for him," I shrugged, "Whatever the reason, it was only halfway build when he died. It looks like my mother decided to finish the construction about a year ago."

Radiant stared at the monitor for a moment, her hands clenched tight. I watched her in fascination, well aware that she was a veteran hero and former member of the Protectorate who had fought side by side with Vigil and most of the other major heroes in the world.

"Just out of curiosity," I asked, feeling a little embarrassed as I did so, "But why did you leave the Protectorate?"

Radiant was slightly startled by the question and slowly responded, "It was because of a romance that went bad. It was...awkward to stay after I caught Force cheating on me. That bastard always did have an enormous ego, and it only got worse over the years. I shouldn't have been so surprised when I found out what happened to him."

"Oh," I responded, feeling a little surprised and even a little honored that she'd tell me something so personal.

But Radiant immediately turned her attention back to the monitors and said, "We don't have time for gossip though. We have a job to do."

"Sorry," I quickly told her, feeling guilty at the way I'd momentarily forgot the importance of what was going on. "Then let's go."

"You should probably stay behind where it's safe," she told me.

I shook my head at that, "Not a chance. Besides, my mother is the one who finished this headquarters, so I have the key to the front door right here." I held up my hand, knowing her habit of using her own DNA and biometrics in locks.

Radiant reluctantly nodded her agreement and a few minutes later, we were back in the Guard's aircraft and on our way. We at the mountain range fairly quickly but flew low through the valleys to keep any radar from spotting us. Then we found a spot where we could safely land.

"Why hasn't that bastard activated that damn machine yet?" Mannequin demanded, "Not like I'm complaining or anything..."

"Because it should take about six hours to charge." I told him. "And assuming that mother came straight here and installed the Helix, it's very likely that the time is close to up. The machine could be activated at any time."

"So we don't have time to waste chatting," Warchild growled. "I'll fly ahead and take point." With that, Warchild nodded to Radiant then flew straight towards the main entrance of the headquarters.

"He's right," Diamond said, "We don't have any time to waste."

We all rushed after Warchild, and though Radiant could have easily flown ahead, she remained with the rest of us for both support and power. Diamond was braced with a diamond shield on her arm and her other hand ready to create diamond throwing blades. Mannequin was off to the side a little, ready to fire those energy blasts from her hands. And I was in the middle of the group, with Interface following up behind with some sort of plasma rifle clutched in his hands.

"Why couldn't I have gotten one of those?" I muttered, jealously glancing at Interface's weapon. Of course, I was armed with a stun gun and the other firearm I'd found with my mother's body armor, and I knew that I'd never use something like that on my mother, but the idea of having that powerful a weapon was nice.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose just ahead of us. There explosions and flashes of light, and I saw Warchild up in the air, firing blasts of orange energy blasts at the ground. Then I noticed a missile flying straight towards him, but he casually blasted it out of the sky before turning his attention back to the ground.

"Come on," Radiant flew ahead, with everyone else running towards the fight.

But by the time I got there, the fight was over. I saw the remains of a dozen robots, all melted and scattered about. There were even a few antiaircraft batteries destroyed as well. It was obvious that Warchild really didn't need out help dealing with that situation.

"I missed the fun again," Interface complained, "And I lugged this thing up here for no reason."

"It's just starting," Radiant told him with a scowl, "There'll be enough for all of us to do."

Then, as if on queue, two dozen men in armor came rushing towards us. Each of them was armed with an energy rifle of some sort, and all of them were pointing towards us.

"Lackey's," Diamond spat with disdain, "Why do bad guys always rely on lackeys..."

"I wonder where they all come from?" Interface grinned, "With as many lackeys as we keep running into, you'd almost think there's some sort distribution warehouse that sells them in bulk."

"Take them down," Radiant ordered, "But don't hurt them."

I didn't think that it was going to be as easily done as said, especially when the attackers all started shooting. We were outnumbered by two to one, but the Guard didn't seem bothered by this at all. Each scattered, doing their own thing.

Mannequin charged straight towards a group of them, grabbing one guy and picking him up with one arm then casually tossing him straight into one of the others. Warchild just flew up into the air and started firing energy blasts at them, seeming to aim at the ground in front of those guys instead of directly at them.

"Lousy bastards," Interface grimaced, firing his own energy rifle back at them, "I hate having to use this thing. Damn, I wish my powers could be more useful..."

Radiant just stood there and took a direct shot from one of the lackey's energy rifles without any problem, then flew straight at him, casually tossing him to the side. She smiled, grabbed a small boulder from the ground and tossed it towards a few more.

I stared at this whole thing for just a minute, feeling amazed to watch the Guard in action. Then I realized that these guys were really shooting at me and that I could end up dead if they hit me. So with a grimace of determination, I pulled out my stun gun and started firing back, hitting two of them with my first three shots.

It only took a few minutes to take out all of the lackeys but it seemed like a lot longer. It was the scariest thing that I'd ever dealt with in my entire life, other than my mother. But for the Guard, it seemed like nothing. They were acting like they went through small armies of heavily armed guys every day, and perhaps they did.

"Now come on," Radiant, gestured to the large metal door in the side of a cliff, "We've still got a job to do."

A minute later, we were standing in front of the heavy steel doors which blocked our way to my mother. I stared at them for a moment, then smiled as I saw the hand plate off to the side. Several seconds after placing my hand against the plate, the doors began to groan and slide open.

"At least you're useful," Diamond commented.

"Well," I smiled pleasantly at her, "I warned you guys about my mother's plans. I found where she was hiding and I opened the doors. What have you done so far?"

But before Diamond could respond to that, there was a strange roaring sound from up above us. I looked up and gasped in horror at the sight of three large metal robots, flying in the air. Each of them was at least twelve feet tall and had gattling guns in place of their hands.

"You guys go ahead," Warchild said with a scowl, his eyes locking on the robots with a deadly seriousness, "I'll take care of these things."

"Good luck," Radiant said, gesturing for us to go inside while Warchild flew up into the air and straight at the robots.

"You're just going to leave him?" I gasped in disbelief.

"Warchild can take care of himself," Mannequin assured me.

"Damn," I muttered to myself, feeling exceedingly nervous. "I feel like I've just walked into the lions den." That was pretty strange considering that the lion in question was my own mother.

We had barely gone inside of the complex when we were attacked by three more of those armored lackeys. This time, my stun gun was already in hand and I took them all out with ease. I was becoming quite thankful that I'd brought it with me.

"Where the hell did mother get these people?" I muttered to myself with a shake of my head. I never would have guessed that she'd gotten so far into the villain thing that she'd already have a bunch of hired thugs working for her. Of course, I never would have imagined that she was secretly running around in spandex body armor and calling herself Madame Dark either.

"So where the hell is Lord Dark and that machine?" Mannequin demanded.

"Let me find out," Interface responded with a look of determination, walking to one of the unconscious soldiers that I'd taken out with my stun gun. His eyes suddenly turned green and he placed his hand on the man's chest. The green circuit lines which appeared every time Interface used his power returned and spread. A few seconds later, he stepped away from the man, announcing, "He's down this way..."

Just a short distance down the hall, we came to another heavy metal door, somewhat smaller in scope to the main one to the base. But this time, it didn't open when I placed my hand against the scanner plate.

"It looks like someone changed the locks on you," Diamond smirked.

"I'll take care of this," Interface said, his eyes turning green as he reached for the wall. A moment later, the door slid open. "If the key doesn't work, use a lock pick..."

"You do have your uses," Diamond commented with a faint smile.

I just nodded and went through the doorway, pausing to stare at the massive room and gasp in surprise. The room itself had to be at least 50 yards across, with the very center of the room being occupied by a large tower machine that was strange looking but frighteningly familiar. This was the darkness generator that we were here to stop. I even saw the Refractor Core attached to it towards the top.

Just then, the menacing figure of Lord Dark stepped out from behind the machine. Mother was still wearing father's armor with the shadow mask activated, hiding her face in darkness. She had even replaced the cloak which had been damaged during her raid on the Guard's headquarters. While the other's immediately rushed into action, I just stood there, staring at her with a cold fear.

The Guard all opened fire on my mother, though none of them could pierce my father's armor. She stood there for a moment, taking the attack without a word, then suddenly going on the offensive herself. She fired dark blasts at Radiant and Diamond, the first flying out of the way while the second blocked it with a large diamond shield.

"This thing isn't doing much good," Interface glared at the energy rifle in his hands.

"Damn it mother," I snapped, firing the stun gun at her, "Stop this insanity!" I knew that the stun gun couldn't get through the armor, though shooting it at her made me feel much better. I kept firing it at her until suddenly it went dead in my hands, having run out of whatever powered it.

"How dare you interfere," mother snarled, glaring at me with a look that sent cold chills down my spine. "How dare you stand in the way of your father's dream. How dare you turn your back on his legacy..."

"Father never wanted this," I yelled back at her, "He never used this machine for a reason..."

But mother was obviously not in a mood to listen to reason, not that she ever was. She immediately fired several dark blasts, one of them right at me, though I was easily able to jump out of the way. Radiant wasn't quite fast enough and took a direct hit which slammed her straight through a heavy wall. A moment later, she climbed back to her feet, looking a little dazed but otherwise unharmed.

"Damn," Interface snarled from beside me, firing several more shots at mother with his energy rifle, "This isn't doing any good. We have to take care of that machine before it can be activated. If I can touch it, I can override it's computer and shut it down..."

"Then you shall never touch it," mother yelled, somehow having overheard him, perhaps due to some trick of the armor.

She fired a dark blast straight at Interface, though I threw myself into him and knocked him out of the way, just barely in time. But that wasn't enough as mother fired several more blasts, these ones intercepted by Radiant and Diamond.

"Come," mother yelled at me, "Come back to me. Take your rightful place by my side."

"You're fucking insane," I screamed at her, "You'll destroy the planet..."

Mother just stood there for a moment before announcing, "Very well. You have betrayed me for the last time." And with that, a glowing red ball of energy formed in her hands. She held it for just a second before firing it straight at me.

I immediately ran to the side, but to my shock, the glowing red ball actually changed course in midair and continued coming straight at me with increasing speed. My heart jumped at the realization that this was some sort of targeting blast that was locked on me. I jumped to the side again, running as fast as I could to get out of the way though it only came after me even faster.

"I've got you," Mannequin cried out, suddenly jumping right in front of the red sphere. It didn't have time to change course and go around her so hit her straight in the chest. What followed was an awful scream and the most horrible sight I had ever seen. Mannequin's whole body burst into flames, searing straight through her costume and right into her skin beneath. Her skin immediately blackened, melting and crumbling. Within a mere second, there was no sign of her costume, her hair or even her Barbie doll skin. The only thing left was a charred, blackened ruin in the general shape of a woman, which fell to the ground motionless.

"Mannequin!" I cried out in horror, realizing that she had just sacrificed herself to save my life. She had saved me from my own mother. "NOOOO!"

"You bastard," Interface screamed, opening fire on my mother, who just laughed it off as the blasts bounced from her armor.

"Look," Diamond cried.

I looked back at Mannequin, tears running from my eyes as I did so. To my surprise, what was left of Mannequin was moving again. The charred mass which looked like the monster from some horror movie was getting back to it's feet and looking as though it were ready to keep fighting.

"Mannequin," I cried out again, this time in relief that she was still alive.

My relief was short lived though as mother immediately fired a double dark blast at Mannequin, hitting her straight on and sending her flying back to slam into the wall. Mannequin collapsed to the floor again, this time not getting back up.

I glared at my mother, getting more and more furious by the moment. I hadn't known Mannequin for very long but I had considered her a friend. But that was just like mother. She NEVER wanted me to have any friends or anyone outside of the family. This was just like her to take away anything and anyone who meant anything to me.

Radiant screamed in rage and flew straight at my mother, punching her with every bit of her enhanced strength and sending my mother flying back and threw a wall. Mother climbed back out, apparently unharmed. She fired several dark blasts at Radiant, then one of those glowing red balls that had hit Mannequin a few minutes earlier.

"Now," Diamond called out to Interface, "Now that Lord Dark is distracted."

Interface stared the rifle in his hand and I could see the urge to just keep shooting at my mother with it. I understood that urge all too well as I'd used up the full charge of the stun gun on what I'd known was a useless attack. But a moment later, Interface dropped the weapon to the ground and started running straight for the darkness generator.

"No you don't," mother called out as she saw him. But before mother could attack Interface, Radiant punched her again.

"Got it," Interface laughed as he began to reach for the side of the large machine.

But just then, a strange humming sound started to come from above us. I looked up to see six metallic spheres the size of basketballs floating towards us, each of them black with the ghostly image of a red skull within. I gulped, suddenly having a very bad feeling about these things.

"What the hell are those?" Interface demanded.

Suddenly, a long black tentacle shot from the ghostly skull mouth of the sphere that was closest to Interface and wrapped around him, yanking him back from the machine before he could use his powers to access it. Then the sphere pulled Interface even closer to it, wrapping him up even tighter.

"It's got me," Interface yelled out unnecessarily as he struggled to get loose.

A moment later, the ghostly skull image vanished, leaving a smooth metallic black sphere with a tentacle sprouting from the middle of it. But that only lasted a second as the sphere pulled Interface even closer then started to melt all over him, looking like some sort of thick metallic black tar that was intent on consuming him.

"HELP!" Interface screamed, frantically struggling as his whole body was being covered, without any success. "I can't get loose..."

Interface was almost entirely smothered with the black material which covered every inch of his body except for his head. And just when it looked as though that would be next, it stopped spreading. It solidified, leaving Interface trapped within, unable to move.

"Get me out of here," Interface screamed.

"I'm trying," Diamond yelled, rushing towards him but then being snatched in a tentacle from another of the spheres.

"I've got my hands full here," Radiant called out, being thrown back as mother hit her with a dark blast.

"Damn," I exclaimed as one of the spheres flew towards me. "Father and his twisted inventions..."

I grimaced and pulled the second gun from my holster, immediately firing several shots into the floating sphere with no effect. The shots went right into it's surface, the holes sealing up almost instantly. But that didn't stop me from firing several more shots. Suddenly, the sphere not only stopped coming towards me but dropped to the ground, hitting with a splat as it melted all over the place.

"What the hell?" I gasped in surprise. Then it dawned on me. There must be something inside the spheres, some sort of chip or something which controlled the liquid metal. And if you happen to take that out...

"How'd you do that?" Diamond yelled to me as she tried fighting off a tentacle with a diamond shield and ax.

"It's got some sort of control system inside it," I yelled back, turning my attention to a second sphere heading towards me. "If you can hit it, the whole thing collapses."

I didn't have time to explain any further as I had another sphere to deal with myself. I fired three shots into the sphere's mass before I took it down this time, and by the time I looked over to Diamond, I saw that it was too late for her. The sphere she'd been fighting off had gotten past her defenses and had just finished sealing her up the same way the other one had Interface.

"We could really use Warchild about now," Interface exclaimed.

I just nodded and looked around, relieved that there were no more spheres coming towards me. Unfortunately, this was because the final two spheres were going after Radiant. Both of them were melting over her at the same time, while she struggled to get free from them. She was strong enough to keep them fully freezing her in place, but not strong enough to break free from them entirely.

"God, it's like I'm glued to the floor," Radiant cried out as she tried to fly up, only to get a foot away from the floor before the black mass pulled her back into place.

Mother just stood back and watched Radiant for a moment, then burst out laughing. She slowly looked over the room, her eyes locking on me for a little longer than they did on anyone else. The fact that I was still free of the sphere's didn't seem to bother her at all she didn't consider me any kind of a threat. And I knew that I wasn't. My gun, the only weapon in my possession, was completely and totally useless against that armor.

"I shall let you all live long enough to see the final triumph of Lord Dark," mother exclaimed, gesturing to the darkness generator. "You shall see the final proof of his brilliance and power..." Then she glared straight at Radiant, "And then you shall all pay for what you did to him."

"You can't do this," Radiant cried out frantically, "You'll destroy the world."

Mother didn't respond to that, other than to flip a switch which caused a large section of the ceiling above the machine to open up, revealing the sky above. She stood there for a moment, staring silently at the machine, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Mother!" I cried out, "You've got to stop this. You'll throw the world into darkness and everything will."

"The world deserves it," Mother suddenly snapped, glaring at me. "The world ignored the greatest man who ever lived. They denied him and then destroyed him. But when the world is plunged into darkness...they will all know that it was due to Lord Dark. For the rest of their lives, they will know that this never would have happened if they had accepted the gift of leadership that he had offered them..."

"YOU'RE INSANE!" I screamed.

But mother just turned away from me, as if I was no longer of any consequence or importance. And I could see that in her twisted mind, I wasn't. The only thing that mattered to her know was completing her insane mission. A moment later, she pressed a button on the machine and it began to hum. A ball of pure blackness formed right above it, building stronger and more powerful with every passing moment.

"NO!" all of us cried out at once.

Radiant doubled her struggled to get loose from the black mass which held her, though it had little effect. She grimaced, then managed to pull one hand just free enough to tear the domino mask from her face. An instant later, twin blasts of blue energy burst out of her eyes and blasted into the side of the machine.

"STOP!" Mother cried out in horror as something in the side of the machine exploded.
Diamond looked relieved and then horrified, "If you shatter the Helix, we'll all die..."

"Better us than the world!" Radiant yelled, using her eye blasts on the darkness generator again and again.

Each of Radiant's blasts caused small explosions and parts of the machine went flying. The shattered ruin of what had been the Refractor Core landed just feet away from me, the side torn in half enough for me to see countless mirrors and crystals spilling out.

Mother tried to block Radiant's attack, but it was too late. The darkness generator was already too badly damaged. The mass of black energy which had been forming above it began to contract...then suddenly exploded, sending me flying to the floor. But since mother was standing right beside the machine, she took the largest brunt of the explosion.

I remained curled up on the floor for a minute, terrified that the Helix was shattered and that we would suffer the nuclear explosion that Genius had warned of. But to my relief, there were no further explosions. I slowly sat up and looked at the destroyed ruins of what had been the darkness generator, letting out a sigh of relief.

"God DAMN it!" Radiant growled and I turned to see that while she had been busy using her eye blasts to destroy the darkness generator, she hadn't paid any attention to the black mass that she had been struggling with. As a result, it had finished spreading and solidified, locking her in place just as completely as it had Interface and Diamond. "I can't get any leverage to break free..."

I looked at Diamond, Interface and Radiant, all of whom seemed unharmed from the explosions, perhaps being shielded by the very material which held them in place. I briefly wondered how I would free them, then I turned my attention to my mother, who was on the ground after taking the blast head on.

"Mother...?" I whispered, suddenly feeling extremely worried. But whether I was worried about my mother being dead, about her possibly still being a danger, or just about the fact that it was my body on the floor...I didn't know.

But then mother began to move, slowly getting back to her feet. The armor had taken a lot of damage and there were several cracks and gashes right across the front. The shadow mask had dropped so her face...my old face was open and exposed. From the stubble on her cheeks, it was obvious that she hadn't shaved since taking my body, perhaps with the intent of growing a beard to look even more like my father.

"Damn you all," mother grimaced, glaring at me with a look of pure hatred.

"It's over," I told her quietly. "Let's go home... We can switch bodies back and maybe get some family counseling..." There was no doubt in my mind that my mother needed a lot more than just counseling, but it was the only place I could think to start.

"I will kill you all for this," mother spat bitterly, a glowing red ball of energy forming in her hand. "I will see each and every one of you dead..." The look that she gave me made it very clear that I was included in this statement. She wanted me dead as well.

For a moment, she stood there with a few small sparks coming from one of the gashes in the armor. The armor wasn't fully functional or she would have kept the shadow mask up. However, it was still powerful armor and from the glowing red ball of energy in her hand, obvious that it was still dangerous. Then she turned and looked at Diamond, who was the closest person to her. She gave a cruel smirk, then walked over to the imprisoned hero.

"No," I cried out, but mother only stopped when she was standing right beside Diamond.

"You will be the first to pay for this," mother hissed at Diamond. Diamond blinked, then glared at mother without saying a word. It was as though she were silently daring mother to do it.

"Stop it," I yelled at mother, "Leave her alone..."

My mother made no move to stop or back away, nor did she show any sign that she had heard me. Instead, she raised her arm, obviously intending to just slam the glowing red ball into Diamond's face. And after seeing what it had done to Mannequin, I had no doubt that it would prove extremely lethal.

For a moment, I just stared at my mother in horror, knowing that I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't let her murder another person, especially not using my body. So with a deep breath, I raised the gun and pointed it straight at her. My hands shook, but I managed to take aim.

"Do you really think that you can shoot me?" mother sneered, finally looking at me again. "Do you really think that I would fall for such a bluff? If you shot me, you would lose any hope of ever getting this body back. You would never do that." And with that, she turned and shoved the glowing red ball straight at Diamond's face.

Diamond screamed but I was barely aware of it as I pulled the trigger. There was a loud gunshot, and an instant later, my mother's head exploded in a spray of blood. She collapsed to the floor, half her head missing. The glowing red ball faded from existence before her body even hit the floor.

I dropped the gun and collapsed to my knees, completely shocked by what I had just done. I had just killed my own mother...and my own body at the same time. The full realization of what this immediately hit me with full force. There was nothing in the world that could compare to the horrible weight which settled into me at that moment.

A minute later, the black material which held Interface in place suddenly melted away, leaving him standing there in a puddle of good. He looked a bit shaken but ran straight to Diamond, holding up a silver device the size of a marble, "I finally found the control mechanism and overrode it," he explained, giving me a deeply apologetic look, "I really wish I could have done it sooner..."

As soon as Interface had found the control mechanism in the material that held Diamond, he deactivated it and freed her as well. He immediately rushed to free Radiant, while Diamond slowly came towards me.

"You...you saved my life," Diamond whispered, staring at me in disbelief. "Thank you." She gave me a sympathetic look and told me, "I know this means you'll never get your own body back. I'm sorry..."

I just grunted, not in any mood to really be consoled. I knew what my actions would mean before I pulled the trigger and that hadn't stopped me from doing so. But that didn't mean that I had to be happy with what I did.

Once Radiant was free, she held her mask back to her face, scowling, "Damn, now I'll need a stronger prescription."

"Better blind than dead," Interface reminded her.

"Will you be all right?" Radiant asked as she came over a few seconds later. She held out her hand and helped me back to my feet, "You did what was necessary..."

Suddenly, Warchild's voice called out, "Is it over already?" I looked up to see him flying into the room from the opening in the ceiling. From the tears in his costume and the beginnings of a bruise which covered half his face, it was obvious that he'd had a hard time of it. "Sorry it took so long," he grimaced, "There were more of those robots than we'd seen..."

"It's over," Radiant nodded, gesturing towards mother's body, "Lord Dark is dead. Again."

"But so's Mannequin," Interface winced, looking pained to admit it.

"Shit," Warchild spat, looking towards the blackened ruin that was Mannequin, "I didn't think robots could die..."

Radiant just nodded sadly, then said, "Let's finish cleaning up here so we can go home..."

It had been an extremely long and hard week for me since my mother's death, and one which I thought would never end. A life shattering even such as what I had experienced was not something that could be just shaken off. You couldn't just shrug off such a thing and immediately move on, though I knew that I would have no choice but to at least try.

Every day, I would wake up and look at myself in the mirror, knowing that the face I saw was now mine, that my mother's face and body would be mine for the rest of my life. But as strange as that was and as hard as it would be to fully accept, it was far from the hardest thing I'd had to face.

I never would have imagined that some day I would be forced to arrange and attend my own funeral, but as hard as it was, I had little choice. Standing there above the coffin, staring down at my own face was like a nightmare, sending a cold chill through my very being. My mood wasn't made any better by the lack of mourners. The only people who had even come to see 'me' off were a couple of students of my school whom I'd barely even known. It was quite depressing.

Then there was the guilt. I know that my mother was insane, that she was about to murder someone and that I had little choice but to do what I did. If I had just stood back, I would have been just as guilty of murdering Diamond. But she was my mother. She might have been an obsessive, sociopathic, body thief who was out to destroy the world...but she was my mother. I couldn't help but feeling horrible about her death, especially when I was reminded of it each and every time I looked into a mirror.

My only consolation was that the Guard had kept what really happened to my mother a secret. No one outside of us knew anything about her having stolen my body or having any connection to Lord Dark. As far as everyone else was concerned, William Alexander Darque had been the victim of a vicious mugging. No one would know the horrible truth.

I sighed and shook myself out of my thoughts, looking around the Guard's aircraft which I was currently riding in. I glanced out the window at the ground which was fast approaching and then to Diamond who was at the controls.

Radiant had contacted me and said that she'd like me to show up at their headquarters for a 'debriefing.' But since we had already talked about the mission, I had a feeling that this might just be a way to check up on me and make sure that I wasn't going off the deep end.

"We're here," Diamond said just before we landed.

Entering the Guard headquarters was quite a bit different from the first time. Not only did I arrive in their own aircraft, but I was welcomed with open arms rather than greeted with suspicion. Instead of wearing the spandex body armor, I was dressed in casual clothes, a sexy black outfit I'd found in my mother's closet and a pair of stiletto heeled boots. I knew that I no longer needed to dress so sexily, but I had to admit a certain feeling of pride and vanity when I considered just how good they all made me look.

"I'm glad you could make it," Interface greeted me as I went into the building. "We're not ready for the meeting quite yet, so if you'll be patient for a few minutes."

As I went into the common room, I saw Warchild sitting back and talking on the phone. He hung up a minute later, then told me, "It was my daughter... She's been worried about me since she saw this..." He pointed to the bruise which covered half his face, received during his fight with the robots.

"Daughter?" I blinked, surprised yet again by the reminder of his true age, though I knew I shouldn't be.

Warchild nodded, "I've been staying with her and her kids when I'm not here. It's pretty weird because everyone always assumes that I'm one of her kids when we're together. But, it's not like it's easy to get a job or a place of my own when I look like a kid."

"I'd imagine not," I responded.

"Being a kid again might have a few problems," Warchild grinned up at me, "But it's a hell of a lot better than being a cripple."

"I was wondering," Interface mused, giving me a speculative look. "I can't call you by your original name and it would be too weird calling you Madame Dark... So what name are you using now?"

I hesitated for a moment, then slowly responded, "Elsbeth. It was my mother's name. But I think I'd prefer it if you just called me Beth."

"Well...Beth," Diamond gave me a slight smile, "I have something for you..."

With that, she held out her hand, opening her palm to reveal a diamond necklace. The diamond which hung from it was huge, the size of a silver dollar and shaped unlike any diamond that I'd ever seen before. it was fairly flat, almost like a disk, but with intricate patterns running through it. There was no doubt in my mind that this had to be a one of a kind, unlike any other diamond in the world.

"It is a thank you for saving my life," Diamond told me with a sad expression, knowing what it had cost me to save her. "I know that you have probably not been a woman long enough to fully appreciate beautiful jewelry, but I suspect that it is only a matter of time."

"Thank you," I responded quietly, stunned by such a gorgeous gift. If it had come from anyone else, I would have suspected that it cost them millions of dollars to create. But since it had come from someone who actually had the power to create diamonds... I smiled at Diamond and slipped it around my neck, "It's gorgeous..." That seemed to please her a great deal.

I remained in the common room, talking with Diamond, Warchild, Interface and Father Time for several minutes before Radiant came in. She adjusted the glasses, which I noticed were a different pair than she'd been wearing the last time I'd seen her. "I'm glad you were able to make it. I know how busy you must be right now."

"Well, you did send a limo for me," I gestured to Diamond with a faint smile, "so how could I refuse?"

A few minutes later, we were all seated at their horse shoe shaped conference table. Genius and Mannequin were conspicuously absent. I stared at Mannequin's empty seat, unable to help but feeling a surge of guilt. After all, it had not only been my mother who'd killed her, but she had done so in my body. That made me feel like I was somehow an accomplice to that act.

Just as we were beginning to get started, the door opened and Genius stepped in with a smug look on her face. "Sorry I'm late," she grinned, "But I was finishing up an important project."

"Come on in," Radiant said, gesturing to a chair.

Genius just stood there and gave a mock pout, "Aren't you even gonna ask what my project is?"

"Okay," Radiant rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation, "What is your project?"

Radiant beamed at that and proudly announced, "I was working on Mannequin." There were gasps from around the room but Genius quickly continued, "She wasn't damaged quite as badly as we thought. Her external systems were wiped out and her motion control was broken, but all her core components were intact. So I fixed her." Then Genius looked especially proud as she casually added, "And I made a few improvements."

With that, Mannequin stepped through the doorway, wearing nothing but a green bikini. However, it wasn't the same Mannequin that I knew. Gone was her shiny, plastic looking skin and all of the seams which made her look like a human sized Barbie doll or mannequin. Instead, the Mannequin who now stood in front of me looked just like a sexy, blonde, HUMAN woman. There was no sign that she was anything other than a normal woman.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Mannequin grinned holding her hand up and staring at it. "I can't believe that I look human again..."

Everyone suddenly jumped out of their seats and excitedly ran over to her. The words, you're back, you're alive, and congratulations seemed to burst from nearly everyone's lips at the same time.

"I'm glad you're still alive," I told her once things had calmed down. I stared at her for a moment, feeling an intense relief. "So Mannequin, how does it feel to come back from the dead?"

"Again?" Mannequin grinned, "I've been dead before. It's not a fun experience. And call me Shannon. It's my real name. Now that I look human again, I think I should start using a human name when I'm not in costume."

"Shannon," I tested the name, then asked, "How can that be your real name? You said that you used to be a man..."

But instead of being upset at having been caught in this contradiction, Mannequin...Shannon shrugged, "My real name is Cole Shannon. Now I think Shannon Cole is a little more appropriate..." She gestured down at herself and her very feminine looking body.

"It sure is," Warchild nodded enthusiastically. "If I was only ten years older..."

"Well you're not," Genius glared at him possessively.

Once things eventually calmed down, we got back to business and the meeting began in earnest. For the most part, it was just updating us all on how all the loose ends from my mother's operation had been tied up. Mother's hired thugs had all gone to jail, the equipment in her base had been destroyed or confiscated and there wasn't enough left of the darkness generator to ever put it back together. For that, I was extremely grateful.

"Then it looks like we won't have to worry about Lord Dark again," Interface smiled as we finished up, "Either of them."

"God, I hope not," I shook my head, "Trying to conquer the world like that is stupid and foolish." That seemed to be just of answer that they were all hoping to hear from me.

I stayed at the Guard headquarters for another hour or so after the debriefing before finally deciding that I had to get home. Mannequin gave me a ride in their aircraft, dropping me off on my front lawn and promising me that we'd talk again. I waved good-bye as she flew back off, then turned and went inside.

"I'll be having stuffed lobster for dinner," I told one of the servants as I walked past.

"Yes ma'am," he answered before promptly heading to the kitchen to inform my chef.

I went straight to the library and the elevator to my father's lab. I paused to glance at my father's armor, which had been taken off my mother and returned to the case it had rested in for so long. The spandex body armor I had worn while fighting her was in the case beside it. I hoped that I never needed to wear that armor again, but was smart enough to keep it close just in case I did.

A few seconds later, I was staring at the body switching machine, which was once again whole and functioning thanks to my finding the missing components in my mother's base after her death. However, the machine would do me little good now that my own body was gone. Of course, I could use it to switch bodies with another man in order to become male again, but I was more than a little hesitant to do so. For one, I didn't like the idea of giving up my only family connection and handing my mother's body over to some stranger. Another reason which I kept to myself was that I was truly coming to love the new energy, health and vitality of my current body. That was something that I was becoming more and more reluctant to give up, even if it meant remaining a woman for the rest of my life.

"Still," I smiled at the body switching machine, "You just might come in useful some day..."

Then I turned and went to the command center, quietly slipping behind the console and activating the computer. I stared at the monitor for a moment, thinking that it had been quite enjoyable to spend time with my new friends in the Guard, but that it was time to get back to work.

After my mother's death, I had gone through all of her financial records, trying to discover everything that I now owned. That led me to searching through her private records and then my father's. I had been going through all of his files, becoming surprised as I realized that not all of the notes and designs for his inventions were lost. Some of them remained, such as the ones for the Phoenix Chamber.

One device which I found notes on caught me by surprise. Apparently, father had used some sort of mind control device on our servants to ensure their absolute loyalty and obedience to him and mother. This certainly explained their complete subservience to my mother over the years and now to me. But what truly stunned me were the hints that my father made about having used the device on my mother to ensure her loyalty. If this was true, then her obsession with ensuring my father's legacy might not have been her fault. She might very well have been one of his victims, never even knowing it herself. Unfortunately, it was too late to ever find out for certain.

"Father was an idiot," I muttered to myself, wondering how he could have wasted so much time and effort with those theatrics and world conquest attempts. "He was a brilliant idiot, but an idiot nonetheless..." Sadly, my mother was no better, even if that was due to father's influence.

My father had been a brilliant inventor, but if he'd had any business sense at all, he would have realized that he already had the means to conquer the world, right at his finger tips. And he could even have done it legally with one of the worlds most powerful tools...money. If he'd patented his inventions, he could have created untold wealth for himself. The vitality process he'd used on himself on my mother alone would have been worth countless billions. Influential people and world leaders would have done ANYTHING for the perfect health and drastically extended life span that it offered. But he'd thrown such financial opportunities away in exchange for the melodramatic ones.

Unlike my parents, I had no interest in conquering the world. Like I had told the Guard, even attempting to do so was foolish and stupid, not to mention very messy and dangerous. With as many crazed villains who'd tried it so far, none of them had really succeeded and more than a few had ended up dead or worse for their efforts. But as a business major, I couldn't ignore certain opportunities which my parents had completely overlooked.

I leaned back and smirked as I considered the plan that had been forming since I'd found the Phoenix Chamber notes a few days ago. This was something that my parents never would have considered but which seemed obvious and simple to me.

"The Phoenix Spa...," I mused aloud.

My plan was to create a spa for the wealthy, using a watered down version of the Phoenix Chamber so that they wouldn't guess the direct source of their increased physical well being. I would be improving people's health and making money at the same time. With the boost in health being only temporary and with the Phoenix Chamber being somewhat addictive, I knew that I could also count on a large number of return customers.

Just then, a thought passed through my mind. I couldn't help wondering what would happen if I let some people use the full strength version of the Phoenix Chamber. People could easily become so addicted that they would do nearly anything for another bath in the regenerative liquid. There was something about that idea which tickled the back of my thoughts and seemed to linger, though I pushed it off to the side.

"The Phoenix Spa," I smiled, wondering what other discoveries that my father might have left around that I could use. There were definitely some interesting possibilities, though it would take quite a bit of time and consideration to figure it all out. Still, I could be patient.

After awhile, my thoughts shifted back to everything that had happened to me and everything that I had lost. I felt a surge of guilt and depression as I mentally made a list of them all. Everything that had happened was a direct result of my father and my mother's obsession with his legacy. I grimaced, suddenly feeling tired and disgusted with it all. I was sick and tired of feeling bad because of their actions.

"No," I grimaced with determination, promising myself, "No more."

I took a deep breath, becoming more and more determined to stop focusing on the past and what I lost. I wasn't going to whine and pout about it anymore. I was going to stop pouring over the negatives of my situation and start looking at the positive.

With that, I stood up and looked down at my new body, knowing that it wouldn't be easy to completely accept it as my own, but determined to try. In fact, thanks to all the health and vitality benefits of my body, I was already well on my way.

"The positives," I mused, mentally listing them all and feeling more confident and pleased with each passing moment.

I was now a sexy and extremely healthy woman with vast wealth, a guaranteed business plan and incredible scientific resources. With all of those things, there was suddenly no doubt in my mind that I could accomplish anything that I put my mind to. I could even conquer the world if that was my inanition, though it most certainly was not.

After considering this for an hour, I was no longer feeling at all depressed. Instead, I was feeling utterly fantastic, excitedly considering all of the possibilities which were now open to me. There were so many that they seemed limitless. With that, I calmly turned and walked out of the control room, a new confidence in each sexy step that I took. The time for worrying about my father and his legacy was done and over with. From now on, I was going to focus on creating my own legacy.