Tasha glared at me and stepped forward to put her arms on the mermaid’s shoulders shaking her gently. “Hey, calm down, everything’s okay. I’m Tasha and this is… well… this is some naked girl I just met and can barely understand who apparently doesn’t have a name.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 2 and, once I get back into a regular schedule again on Wednesday, I'll start posting this story on Saturdays since people seemed to enjoy the first chapter so much and the writing has been easy. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 2: Captives

I was vaguely aware of being moved, someone was carrying me. I was so very tired though and just trying to open my eyes seemed to take more energy than I had. “What happened? Why am I being carried? Did I get injured in the raid? Damn, whoever’s carrying me must be huge.” My memory was fuzzy and I felt strangely light, though my head and chest felt heavy. I was placed on something soft, maybe a bed from the sensations I was feeling along my naked skin. “Waitaminute… I’m naked!?”

I could feel the heat rise to my cheeks, okay probably not just my cheeks since I was embarrassed enough just thinking about it to probably have a full body blush going. I was about to open my eyes and look for something to cover up with when I heard someone speaking. “Is that all of them?” It was a deep male voice and he didn’t sound too impressed.

“Yeah, only five of them lived,” a woman’s voice responded. “The others all Activated, but their powers went out of control and killed them, and some of their roommates too. Some of the cells were pretty… messy.”

That voice was achingly familiar, like I’d heard it before. It took me several seconds to identify the speaker as Phantom. Then everything came back to me at once; the raid, the girls, the bomb, and the changes I’d gone through. Seeing as I had been carried and naked I had to assume that this wasn’t just the disturbing dream that I had been hoping it was. I was so ready to freak out, open my eyes and make a run for it right then, but my training took over. I firmly clamped down on those thoughts and controlled my breathing to make it appear that I was still asleep, not wanting to waste the chance to gain any Intel that might help me.

The man snorted in disgust. “Five out of twenty one girls. We lost over a dozen men in those raids, experienced in their powers and loyal to our cause. Five inexperienced little girls doesn’t make up for those losses.”

“The Zeta Bomb was designed to kill mutants by overloading their powers, you knew going in that it ran the same risks with non-Activated mutants,” another male voice commented snidely. “The radiation it gives off may not effect regular humans, but it excites the H Chromosomes, and sure that ended up Activating them, but less than thirty percent of Hypers are resistant enough to avoid explosive power overload. That’s why those idiots in Humanity Now didn’t use the damn thing, their tests said this was a risk. They only wanted to kill mutants and having a bunch of us completely lose control of our powers in public places would have risked too many human casualties for their liking. Shall I begin construction of a second Zeta Bomb for the group of boys Sir?”

The first man still sounded disgusted as he replied, “No, definitely not, destroy the blueprints and wipe all the data. We’ve lost enough on this venture already, for the boys we’ll try using stress stimulation to trigger them. What about the soldier you allowed to live Phantom, was there any sign of him?”

“No Sir, I believe that he met the same fate as most of the girls. Depending on the nature of the powers he developed it could have been very messy, left other telltale signs in the cellar, or left no trace at all. I believe it was the latter.” As the creepy teleporter finished answering I could feel my pulse quicken and I had to keep tight control over my breathing to not breathe a sigh of relief that they thought me dead. Not that it would change my current situation in any way.

“A shame,” the apparent leader replied, “we could have used a soldier. We’ll leave the girls in here for now so they can adjust until we can begin their education and assess their powers. Post a guard outside this room. Phantom, you and Jade will be responsible for educating them once they’re settled in. Mastermind, I want you to start with the education and stress stimulation of the boys immediately.”

I could hear the footsteps of the trio walking away and then a door closed in the distance and I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t like the sounds of the way he used the word ‘education’ at all. It sounded like ‘we’ girls were in for a healthy dose of brainwashing. I shuddered at the thought, both for being included as a girl and for the thought of brainwashing. I was about to risk opening my eyes to assess my situation when a female voice to my left said, “It’s okay, they’re gone, you can open your eyes now.”

I did just that, to see myself laying on a single bed covered with white sheets and pillow and a soft but sickeningly pink comforter. I cautiously sat up and remembering that I was still naked and now a girl I tried to hastily cover myself with my hands as I looked around. The room we were in was windowless, decorated largely in pinks and purples, possibly twenty feet square, and hosted three beds other than the one I was sitting on. On the bed beside my own was a black girl in a dirty blouse, jeans, and sneakers who appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. She had a nice figure for her age, looked tall and athletic, and she was pretty with café au lait skin, deep brown eyes, and shoulder length black hair that seemed to rival my own for curliness.

The girl gave me a somewhat nervous smile before speaking again. “Hi I’m Tasha, so you heard them talking too right? It looks like we’re all going to be spending a lot of time together so I figure we should maybe get to know one another.”

“Aye, I was tryin’ tae get Intel, an’ I’m sure we’ll be spendin’ loads o’ quality time t’gether, ya know wot wi’ the brainwashin’ an’ all.” I frowned as I spoke and wondered, “What the fuck? My accent hasn’t been this bad since I was a kid, it’s like I can’t properly control my tongue anymore. I usually have some accent, but not like this.” I began to mentally curse in Gaelic before remembering that she had introduced herself and that I should probably do the same. I wasn’t really sure what to say to that though, so I just shrugged as I looked down at my unfamiliar body in disgust. “Call me whatever ya want. I’m no’ exactly who I used tae be, ma ole name does’na seem tae fit anymore.”

That was when we heard the very frightened female scream from behind the door on the opposite side of the room that Phantom and Co. had left from. Tasha and I both leapt to our feet, running toward the sound. I nearly fell on my face as I hit the floor and got tangled in my ankle-length hair, but I managed to recover and reached the door just as Tasha was opening it with reckless abandon. The opened door revealed a bathroom with an honest-to-goodness mermaid laying in the bathtub totally freaking out. She looked close to Tasha’s age, wearing only a tight and very wet black t-shirt, and she had bright pink shoulder-length hair with lavender streaks, pale violet eyes, a slim but well-toned body, and at her waist her slightly tanned skin gave way to a pink, coral, and lavender scaled fish tail that was hanging half out of the tub and splashing the water with every shriek. We both stopped short in the doorway and I muttered, “Well, ya dinnae see tha’ every day.”

Tasha glared at me and stepped forward to put her arms on the mermaid’s shoulders shaking her gently. “Hey, calm down, everything’s okay. I’m Tasha and this is… well… this is some naked girl I just met and can barely understand who apparently doesn’t have a name.”

“Well excuuuse me if’n all ma clothes were burnt tae ash when ma body changed! At least ya got sumthin’ tae wear Tasha, an’ I’ll bet ya kin recognize yuirself in a bloody mirror too! Some o’ us weren’t so lucky. I’m guessin’ she was one o’ the unlucky ones too.” I gave the mermaid a sympathetic look and turned to look at Tasha again, towering at least six inches over me, before crossing my arms over my chest and grumbling to myself. That just made me more aware of my new breasts though, so I quickly dropped my arms to my sides. “Stoooopid new body.”

Tasha at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry, you’re right... look, I know that this can’t be easy for either of you, but since you seem to understand what she’s going through, maybe you can help her deal with it. I have a feeling that I should just let you two talk alone for a bit, I’ll go check on those other two girls and try to wake them up.” She left the room leaving me alone with the mermaid.

I approached the side of the bathtub, uncertain what to do at first. The girl had stopped screaming, but now she was clutching the sides of the tub with white-knuckled hands and was having troubles breathing. “Anxiety attack,” I noted to myself before placing a hand gently on her own. “I want ya tae close yuir eyes an’ take deep slow breaths ‘kay? Think o’ sumthin’ relaxin’ like a warm summer day at the beach. Yuir layin’ in the sunshine an’ listenin’ tae the waves lappin’ at the shoor. There’s nothin’ tae worry ‘bout, I’m right ‘ere wi’ ya, an’ I’m a friend. I think we could both use a friend right now, aye?”

After several minutes of slowly reassuring her that everything was going to be okay she calmed down enough to actually talk to, though she looked like she may panic again or burst into tears at any given moment if I didn’t handle this just right. I slowly and carefully explained what had happened to us and wheedled little details out of her in as friendly a manner as I could. Her name was Vanessa, she was fifteen, she liked surfing, and she had only recently lost her family in a boating accident, so she hadn’t had any time to make friends at the orphanage that she’d been taken from yet.

Now came the hard part, for me anyway. I had to get her focused on someone else’s problems for a bit, instead of her own, so she would realize that she wasn’t alone and so her brain could process things while she was focused on something else. Lucky me, I was the prime candidate. That complicated things since I didn’t want to reveal that I’d been a 30 year old man before. Finally I took a deep breath and said, “Ma body changed too ‘Nessa, I used tae be… taller, ma hair was waaaay shorter, an’ I never ‘ad these afore.” I hefted my new breasts, giving them a dirty look before turning my attention back to Vanessa. “I dinnae think I look the same either, I… I’m a wee bit scared tae look in the mirror,” I admitted reluctantly as I looked down at the white floor tiles.

I could feel her hand wrapping around my own and squeezing it in support and friendship. “What’s your name? You never told me.”

For a moment I wasn’t sure how to reply. How could such an easy question be so hard to answer? I knew that I could have just made up a name on the spot and ran with it when I first had the chance with Tasha, but it just didn’t feel right taking that big step and moving on with my life. It was like I was somebody who had lost a limb and I was trying to stay in denial in hopes it would grow back, and in a sense that really was what I was doing. “I dinnae ken, the person I was is dead. I’m diff’ren’ now, no’ just on the outside either. I feel diff’ren’ inside too, an’ the new me feels right y’know, an’ tha’ scares the hell outta me. An’ now there’s this fadin’ emptiness where the ole me use’tae be.” As I spoke I could feel a tightness in my chest, growing with each word. Once I had finished speaking there were tears streaming down my face and I was sobbing like a little girl, which I feared, given what I had discovered so far, probably wasn’t that far from the truth.

I don’t know how long we stayed there holding and comforting one another, but it was just what we both needed right then. Usually being this close and intimate with someone as pretty as Vanessa would have stirred something within me sparking the hormonal reactions, but there was nothing now but sympathy and a need to soothe and be soothed. After a while, by some sort of mutual consensus that I’m not sure either of us was aware of, we pulled apart.

“Sooo, I guess I’m a mermaid now,” Vanessa said taking a deep breath to steel herself. Then, nervously, she asked, “I don’t look too terrible do I?”

“Nae, yuir beautiful ‘Nessa,” I reassured her.

“It’s too bad I don’t have legs, or I’d go with you to face that mirror,” the mermaid said with a sigh. That’s when, just for a brief instant, her tail seemed to shift a bit. Scales began to fade to a flesh tone and the shape changed ever so slightly. “Whoa, that felt… weird. I wonder if I can…” It took a long while, but Vanessa was able to figure out what she had nearly done by accident and shift her tail into a pair of normal-looking female legs, though her lower half was as naked as I was.

“Ya mus’ be a Shifter o’ some sort, or a’ least tha’ seems tae be part o’ yuir powers,” I offered, pointing out the obvious.

“Yeah, but it’s not easy holding this form, it keeps feeling like I’m going to bounce right back to having a tail. It may be a while before I’m able to do it for long periods of time. Maybe I can hold it long enough for us to face the mirror together and go out to meet the others you talked about though.”

The mirror was difficult to face. I looked around thirteen years old, and a lot like my sister did at that age; long copper ringlets framing a pale heart-shaped face with a faint splash of freckles, a cute button nose, huge bright blue-green eyes, slightly pouty lips set in a cupid’s bow, high cheekbones, and a small chin. If things in the bathroom were standard sized, I guessed my height to be about five foot two and my body was that of a girl just beginning to blossom; slightly wide hips, a slender waist, long legs, and my breasts were what Vanessa guessed to be a B-cup. I didn’t care what letter they went by, they felt way too large for something that I didn’t even have yesterday. Given that my sister was at least a double D now though, and had always been on the large side compared to her friends while growing up, the size wasn’t all that surprising given my current overall appearance.

I just stared at my reflection for several minutes, trying to equate the image with who I used to be. Before I was six foot five, muscular and manly with a buzzcut, and I couldn’t see any of my old self in the tiny and fragile-looking waif I saw before me now, even my tattoos were gone. “So, what’s the damage?” my new mermaid friend asked in concern, breaking me out of my trance.

I bit my trembling lip, trying to force back the tears I felt coming. “I… look like some o’ ma fam’ly, but I dinnae see any o’ the ole me. You?”

Vanessa wrapped me up in a tight hug, holding me for a moment before turning back to the mirror. “I look mostly like I used to, but I used to be a blonde. I like this look, but it’s not exactly low-key… maybe I can…” her hair shifted, slowly fading from pink and lavender to an ash blonde. She squealed in delight, but then her gaze in the mirror fell on the depressed, puffy and teary eyed redhead beside her and she hugged me again. “We’ll get through this together, okay? Let’s go meet the others and maybe we can come up with a name for you, since you don’t seem comfortable using your old one.”

By the time we had entered the ‘dorm’ area, Tasha had already managed to wake the occupants of the other two beds, a set of nearly identical Chinese twins in skirts and tops that had seen better days, who looked even younger than my current body. She was talking quietly to them when one of them looked up, saw us approaching, and elbowed the other one to get her attention. They both stared at me for a long uncomfortable time, squinted their eyes and I tried not to blush at the slightly creepy attention I was getting as I spoke to the older girl. “Sorry ‘bout wot I said in there Tasha, ya were only tryin’ tae help, an’ I should’nae blew up a’ ya like tha’. ‘Nessa an’ I worked through some things, but I thought I should apologize.”

Tasha turned to us and was about to say something when the twins squealed in unison “Merida!”

Vanessa had managed to hold her human form long enough to sit on my bed, but then she lost it, reverting back to a mermaid, at least she didn’t seem to need to be in water to breathe. I sat down beside her staring at the twins in confusion when she giggled and elbowed me. “It looks like you have your new name.” By that time the twins had sped across the room and were right in front of us, running their hands through my overly long copper tresses and taking in every detail of my face with intent fascination. I found that more than a little disturbing since they hardly spared more than a few glances to the real-life mermaid who was sitting beside me and changing her tail back into legs.

It turned out that the twins were named Mei and Shu, they would be turning twelve soon, and that I looked just like their ‘very favoritest Disney Princess’, well technically it was supposedly a tie between this Merida person and someone named Mulan. I had never really watched cartoons much, so I didn’t really have any idea who either of them were, but I supposedly looked just like her and she had a Scottish accent too. When they found out that I was between names they decided that I would have to be named Merida and that was that.

“But tha’ name is no’ even Scottish, I… I think it’s Latin,” I argued weakly.

“Does it really matter?” Tasha asked. “It might be easier to just accept it, they’re not going to let go of this, and we need to call you something.”

“She’s right, besides I think it kind of suits you,” Vanessa put in from beside me. Since we had sat down she had been shifting back and forth between mermaid and a blonde human, so I figured that she was trying to get a handle on her new ability. I wholeheartedly agreed with that since she would need to gain some control and stamina with the ability if we were going to escape this place.

“Pleeeeeease!” the twins said as one, giving me the pouty lips and puppy-dog eyes. The cuteness was difficult to resist, even more so since it was in stereo.

I did the only sensible thing, I gave in. “Dammit, fine then, I guess I’ll be usin’ the name Merida then, but let’s get this straight now; I’m no’ gonna be yuir personal Disney dress-up doll or nuthin’ like tha’, aye?”

The twins gave one another a look that told me I would probably end up giving in on the living doll thing eventually as well, at least as long as they were around to have a say in the matter. One look at their devious little smiles and I knew that I was doomed. It was Vanessa who jumped on that comment though. “Speaking of dress-up, I hate to point out the blatantly obvious but you and I need clothes Merida. You don’t have a stitch and I only have a soaked t-shirt that’s feeling a bit too tight.”

“There’s no’ much we kin dae about tha’ right now, ‘cept maybe wrap ourselves in blankets, but we need tae discuss our situation,” I stated flatly. “These people kidnapped us, and did somethin’ tae give us powers, an’ ya kin bet tha’ t’was no’ fer our sake. I ‘eard them talkin’, an’ they’re gonna be tryin’ tae turn us intae good li’l followers fer their cause. We can no’ start drinkin’ the cult kool-aid. We ‘ave to assume tha’ any food will be drugged an’ tha’ they’re watchin’ us a’ all times.”

“There aren’t any cameras in here,” Tasha said with a certainty that had me staring at her.

“Ya checked?” I asked, my estimation of her intelligence going up a notch.

The black girl nodded seriously. “Yeah, I took a good look before waking Mei and Shu, but I just know it too. I have this really strong sense that there are no cameras in here, not even hidden ones. It’s like how I knew when those assholes were gone earlier, and that you were awake but listening to them as well. I can’t really explain it, it’s just… I know. It could be that they don’t think they need them, they’re probably underestimating us because we’re kids.”

“Maybe she’s psychic,” Vanessa suggested before shaking her head in disbelief. “You know I’d never have considered that a realistic possibility until today. Waking up as a mythical creature sure does change a girl’s perspective.”

“I hope yuir right, tha’ could give us an early warnin’ of their comin’s and goin’s an’ such. Tha’ also means we can try tae figure out wha’ abilities we may all ‘ave an’ plan our escape.” With that in mind we began planning.

So she was going to be playing bad captor, big surprise there. “Oooh, I’m kinda wantin’ ya tae make me.” I knew it was risky to be pushing her buttons like that, but it was damn satisfying and I wanted her to be focused on me rather than the others.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 3 of MSPD, I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 3: Good Cop Bad Cop

We had decided that our first order of business would be to find out what powers we might have and how to use them whenever our captors weren’t around. Tasha and I couldn’t really be sure how long we had before they would start trying to reprogram us into good little drones. Tasha sensed though that with only five of us girls they would probably be focusing most of their efforts on trying to Activate and brainwash the boys first. We would actively resist any efforts to do so with us until we were ready to make our escape or they tried to physically separate us, and in the case of the latter we would stick together and make our escape at that point whether we felt ready or not.

If I were still my male adult self I’m pretty sure they would have gone for the full-out deluxe brainwashing package for me immediately. Probably drugs mixed in with telepathic suggestion and a little negative and positive reinforcement therapy. Luckily they were under the impression that I was one of the girls, and I figured that since there were only five of us girls that they would probably start light by a mix of more subtle techniques. Drugged food was most likely so we would have to be careful with that, but good captor/bad captor to encourage a little Stockholm syndrome was a definite possibility too. We would have to be suspicious of everything and not let them on to the fact that we were on to them, which would mean playing innocent and ignorant as much as possible and embellishing the ‘scared kids’ angle.

We had barely finished discussing the plan when Tasha sensed that our captors were on their way to check on us. Vanessa dashed to the bathroom to hop back in the bathtub, while the twins hopped onto Tasha’s bed with her to pretend to be scared and upset while she as the oldest of the group ‘comforted’ them. I practically dove under my blankets, wrapping them about my body tightly and doing my best to look both scared and pissed off, which wasn’t all that far from the truth once Phantom had entered the room. She was immediately followed by a tall woman whose entire body looked to be made up of green stone. She wore a skintight, sleeveless black and gold bodysuit and golden bracers and boots and with one hand she was pushing a rolling cart filled with food and drinks, while carrying at least a dozen shopping bags in her other hand.

I glowered at the familiar teleporter, hoping that my mutant power might be to fire lasers from my eyes. Nope, no laser eyes, dammit. It was taking every ounce of self-control I had right then just to keep sitting there with the blankets wrapped tightly around me. Every fiber of my being wanted to take her down for what she had done to my team, but I wasn’t sure that I could have taken her as Maddock. I may have still had all my training, at least in my head, but as Merida I was small, no stronger than any other girl my age, and still very uncoordinated and off-balance as I was trying to adjust to my new body. I hated that weakness, and myself for being that weak.

“Stick to the plan and play your role,” I told myself firmly. Being the fiery Scottish ‘lass’ that I was, it had been determined that I would be the hostile instigator to hopefully put them off balance while Tasha pretended to comfort the little ones and Vanessa practiced her shifting in the bathtub, hopefully out of mind as well as out of sight. “Wot the hell d’ya think yer doin’ kidnappin’ us like tha’?! Druggin’ us an’ throwin’ us in some dank dungeon like some sorta animals an’ then bringin’ us ‘ere! Why is there a mermaid in the loo, an’ where the fook are ma clothes?! Why the hell dae they ‘ave clothes an’ I’m layin’ ‘ere bare-arsed?!”

The twins burrowed closer into Tasha’s arms on the bed beside mine as the teleporter gave me a look that made me glad that she didn’t have laser eyes either. “Be quiet brat!”

So she was going to be playing bad captor, big surprise there. “Oooh, I’m kinda wantin’ ya tae make me.” I knew it was risky to be pushing her buttons like that, but it was damn satisfying and I wanted her to be focused on me rather than the others. Not only was that the plan, but I felt that if she did decide to hurt one of us or start a little brainwashing early on, I would rather it was me than the others since I was confident that I could handle a little pain and resist any brainwashing attempts better than them with the training I had had.

“If you insist, brat.” In a puff of smoke and displaced air Phantom vanished only to reappear beside my bed. Her arm shot toward me and she grasped my throat tightly as she lifted me off the bed. I struggled for air, choking in her grasp and then I felt a warmth rush through me, it was like there was this fire deep within me and it was spreading through my body until it covered my skin. Suddenly I wasn’t choking anymore, and I opened my eyes to see that same bright red glow from the when I had changed and Phantom staring at me in shock as she continued trying to choke me and failed.

“I thought ya were goin’ tae make me be quiet? Oooh lookie this, I’m still talkin’, ‘ow aboot tha’.” I smiled at her as I tried to figure out what was going on, and then it hit me. “I have a freakin’ force field!” We glared at one another for a long moment, me with that cocky smile on my face and her looking like she wanted to gut me with a rusty spoon. I wanted to punch her then just to add insult to injury, or I guess in this case it would be adding injury to insult, but despite her apparent inability to keep a solid grip on my throat she still had me at arm’s length and her reach was much longer than mine. I settled for a good solid kick to her midsection and I’m not sure which of us was surprised more when, with the sound of cracking ribs, it knocked the wind out of her and sent her flying toward the wall between the twins’ beds on the other side of the room.

Phantom managed to teleport before crashing into the wall, appearing back in the center of the room and wincing in obvious pain as she clutched her ribs on her right side. Once again we stared one another down as she stood there trying to look like she still had some control over the situation and I floated in the air a good foot over my bed. Still, this hadn’t been the plan. The plan had been for me to antagonize her, but get her to underestimate us and allow her to keep the illusion of control, and one of us having a force field didn’t mean we could all escape yet. We still needed time to figure out what other powers we might have to work with.

I felt for the energy inside me, trying to slow the flow of it while keeping that cocky smile on my face. The red glow began to flicker and I put on my best confused and exhausted expression as I cut off the energy off, fell to my bed, and pretended to pass out. I’m no great shakes as an actor, or I guess that would be actress now, but I think I was pretty convincing. The twins jumped onto my bed in concern, shaking me and calling out my new name. Phantom snorted in disgust and muttered, “Wake the girl up Jade, and explain their situation. I’ve had enough of that brat for one day, the next time she steps out of line I’ll kill her.” I could hear her stomping off toward the exit and slamming the door behind her as I continued to fake my exhaustion. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth though, the truth was that I had never felt more energized in my entire life.

“Ya can stop hammin’ it up now, she’s gone,” an unfamiliar voice broke the brief silence that followed. Her accent was familiar, but it was very faint, like she had been actively working on trying to lose it for a long time. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed it at all if my eyes weren’t closed and I hadn’t been straining my hearing. When I opened my eyes the green stone woman was standing at the end of my bed looking over me. Her expression as she looked me over was somewhere between wonder and confusion, but she seemed to shrug it off quickly. “Good thinkin’ cutting your powers out to make it look like you couldn’t hold them for long, she took it hook, line, and sinker. It’s not a good idea to piss her off though, much less humiliate her the way that you did.”

“It’s okay Merida, I think she’s really on our side,” Tasha advised. Then she turned to the green woman and added, “We can talk safely, there are no cameras or listening devices in this room.”

It turned out that Jade was the Hyper Affairs Agency’s inside-woman and, once Vanessa had been convinced to come join us, she began to explain the situation. She had been hoping that her agency would have been able to extract the kids before they could be moved to this new more secure facility, but she hadn’t been able to give much notice and she hadn’t known what exactly the Zeta Bomb was at that point, let alone that they had intended to use it. Fortunately she had been assigned to be the one to look after our needs and try to turn us to Omega’s cause. She was supposed to bring us our meals and socialize with us a bit, taking on the caring mother role while Phantom would come in once a day or so and be intimidating until Jade, and the drugs they were lacing some of our food with, began to make some progress. It was about what I had guessed they would be planning and I had to silently agree with Jade as she referred to it as ‘amateur hour’.

On the unfortunate side, she had no idea where this new complex was. They had all been teleported here, nobody was allowed outside the complex itself, they were teleported to and from missions, and there was some kind of energy field that blocked any sort of communication devices such as cell phones or tracking devices. There were also no outside lines or computers with internet access, at least not in the places that Jade was allowed access to. Even when she had gone out shopping Phantom had teleported her there and arranged a time and place to meet to pick her up again. Jade was pretty sure that the complex was underground somewhere, but it looked like Omega really wanted to keep this location under wraps.

“You girls should eat somethin’,” the woman finally said after her explanation. “I can’t really be sure which foods they drugged though, it could be any or all of them. The pizzas, sodas, and chips are fine, I got those myself while I was out shopping and they haven’t left my sight.”

Tasha pointed to some bowls of cherry Jell-O, a pitcher of orange juice, and some cupcakes, the only real beverage besides water and the only desserts on the cart. “Those are drugged,” she said with that unnerving absolute certainty of hers.

Jade’s eyes widened in response, “Interestin’, are ya just makin’ an educated guess or is there more to it?” She had let a little more of her accent slip out in her surprise and there was something about it that was nagging at me. There was something in her gravelly voice too, something that I just couldn’t put my finger on.

“We think it’s her thing, or at least one of them,” Vanessa put in. “She does that all the time, we’re getting used to it.”

As we all ate, carefully avoiding the things that Tasha had pointed out, we discussed our abilities so far and our changes, and Jade seemed worried about us, asking if there were any physical issues, pains, or anything else concerning since we’d been Activated. Then we moved on to possible escape plans, given what little information Jade had been able to provide about the layout. “Wot aboot the air ducts?” I asked after a bit of thought once we were finished eating. “They have tae be getting’ air in ‘ere somehow an’ some o’ us are pretty small.”

Jade shook her head sadly. “Not unless ya can squeeze through a six inch pipe. I already thought of that and checked. I may have a few things that can help us though. While I was out shoppin’ for you and I was sure that Phantom was busy elsewhere I got my fiancé to bring me some things from home and slipped them in with my purchases. I needed to report to him anyway since he’s my contact with HAA. I got some clothes fer all of ya. I had to guess at the sizes, so I hope they fit okay.”

She was starting to unpack the shopping bags when one of the twins, I think it was Mei, suddenly asked, “How do you go shopping like that anyway? Don’t you get a lot of attention?”

“The real Jade doesn’t care much about the attention, which is how the HAA was able to track and capture her last month just after she was recruited by Omega. My fiancé asked me to take her place as a favor and try to pass on any information until we could bring them down. I was really hopin’ that we could do that before they completed this base.” She grumbled the last unhappily as she sorted through the bags, extracting some dresses in various sizes, undergarments, and some kind of shoes that I later learned were called ballet flats. She had also bought a wide variety of personal hygiene and hair care products for us to use until we escaped.

I wasted no time in putting on the simple white dress, sports bra, and panties she handed me after giving me a good once over. Sure they were girly and the panties had cartoon kittens on them, but they were clothes and at the moment I would have worn just about anything. It took me a moment to figure out the bra and dress, but Vanessa helped me to get everything on after changing out of her wet top and into the slightly more adult-looking undergarments and bright blue dress that had been handed to her. “So since yuir no’ the real Jade, I’m guessin’ yuir a Shifter?” I asked while trying to extract my hair from under the dress.

Not-Jade shook her head. “I’m a Tinker actually, I mostly do contract work for the military and governmen’ agencies and I created a body suit specifically for infiltration missions like this. It projects a force field and photon-driven image of Jade, contains a voice synthesizer to make me sound like her and has sensors inside the mask to realistically copy my facial movements onto the projection in real time. Underneath that I’m wearin’ a lightweight exoskeleton with miniaturized hydraulics to mimic her strength. Neither was tested under long-term conditions yet though, which was why I needed to be doin’ the infiltration myself, in case something went wrong or needed to be tweaked. It’s all a bit uncomfortable and breathin’ is a bitch, so I need to take the mask off whenever I get time alone. So while I was shoppin’ I just took off the mask an’ set the suit to project casual clothes instead, kinda like this.”

She tapped a few spots on her wrist, and Jade’s body and outfit changed into a casual jeans, hoodie, and sneakers combination. Her suddenly shiny white gloved hands reached up for her head, now a shiny white hood and mask that covered her whole head and face, and fumbled with something around her neck. Then she pulled her hands back over her head, revealing a very familiar face with bright blue-green eyes and bright copper hair, a face that could be my own in a decade or two from now. “Blair?!” I gasped as the other girls looked from me to my sister and back at me again in confusion.

Blair’s brow furrowed and she looked at me intently for a long moment before taking my hand and pulling me toward the bathroom. “Excuse us girls, but I think that ‘Merida’ and I need to have a little talk. Alone.”

I hadn’t bothered to stop until I was a few feet away from where the other girls were gathered and staring. “Wot the fook?!"

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 4 of MSPD, it's a little shorter than the last few, but it's on the right day at least and I felt it was a good spot to end the chapter. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 4: With Great Power

Blair’s brow furrowed and she looked at me intently for a long moment before taking my hand and pulling me toward the bathroom. “Excuse us girls, but I think that ‘Merida’ and I need to have a little talk. Alone.”

The moment that Blair and I were in the bathroom with the door closed behind us she looked at me suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest as she gave me a good once over with her eyes and then finally spoke. “Okay, who the hell are ya? Why do ya look like me at your age? And then there’s yuir accent, an’ how the hell dae ya know my name?!”

Answers to her questions weren’t exactly foremost on my mind at that point. She wasn’t the only one who was shocked, and I was pretty pissed that she had deliberately placed herself in danger without even telling me. “Ya think you ‘ave questions?! Why the hell didnae ya tell me ya were doin’ this kinda work?! Yuir a fookin’ Tinker, ya dinnae ‘ave the powers or trainin’ fer this kinda mission. Wot the hell were ya thinkin’ o’ doin’ if’n yuir l’il gadgets were disabled or ya were discovered?! Ya didnae even think o’ tellin’ me?! I always call or email ya tae let ya know if I’m goin on a dangerous Op! You’ve been doin’ this fer a bloody month an’ no’ one word outta ya?!”

Blair’s jaw dropped and she just stared at me for a long moment before blurting out, “Maddie?!”

I clenched my tiny fists by my sides at her little nickname for me. “Dinnae call me that! I hate tha’ bloody name! Especially now!” That was when everything hit me at once, the botched mission, the deaths of my team members, my first encounter with Phantom, the bomb going off, my changes, the new ’girl’ in the mirror, and the situation that I had been trying to calmly deal with since waking up. I just couldn’t take it anymore and I broke down into a sobbing mess for the second time that day.

“Oh God… that was yuir unit they sent in after the girls…” I barely heard her speak the words as she wrapped her arms around me and held me tight. She held me for a good twenty minutes while I cried it all out, telling me that everything would be okay and that she’d help me get through this. Finally when I had managed to get myself to merely a bit of crying and sniffling Blair said, “I’m sorry Mad… Merida was it? I didn’t want to worry ya an’ I didn’t have much notice before I got told about this. I don’t usually do this kind of thing, an’ I should have sent you an email, but I barely had time to finish the exoskeleton and bodysuit before Jade was supposed to meet her contact with Omega.”

“Phantom killed ma whole team,” I said still buried in her arms. “Reaper may ‘ave gotten away, but I cannae be sure. She only left me alive ‘cause she was hopin’ I would Activate. I couldnae save any o’ them an’ when the bomb went off I hid in one o’ the cells hopin’ I’d be safe. Tha’ poor girl, she started tae change an’ then she jus’ screamed an’ vanished. I dinnae ken wha’ I kin dae when we’re out o’ this place.”

“You can’t go back to the military, that’s fer sure, even if you didn’t look like a minor now, the Liberty Accords would prevent it. That’s why I can’t work on anything for the military or government that’s even close to being related to weapons technology, an’ another reason I had to be the one to do this, the exoskeleton could be classified as a weapon, I can’t legally make it for or allow any military or government agency to possess it. I was the only one who could be allowed to use it,” she explained.

The Liberty Accords had been ratified six years ago by the United Nations after several nations had attempted to create superhumans for military purposes. The superhero Liberty was Activated in one such experiment, but overall the results of such experiments had been either unsuccessful or complete disasters for the countries involved. The Liberty Accords prevented any of the signatory nations from trying to create superhumans or using Hypers for any military purposes. It also severely restricted what kind of technology that Tinkers and other intellectually gifted Hypers could produce for and sell to the military or government agencies.

I shook my head sadly. “I’m no’ jus’ worried aboot myself Blair, these girls ‘ave nobody an’ now they’re mutants on top. Dae ya really think they’re gonna find fam’lies tha’ will take them in? Mos’ people would jus’ end up usin’ them. They may no’ even be safe a’ the orphanages now, if we all manage to get outta ‘ere alive.”

“We’re all gettin’ out of here,” my sister replied sternly. “Then you’re stayin’ with me and Andy, all of ya. I’m not goin’ to have us get them out of here safely jus’ to let somethin’ worse happen to them, or you. I’m your only living relative so technically I should be your guardian anyway. We have a big enough house and I’m bringin’ in plenty of money to support all o’ ya.”

*Merida!* The instant I heard Tasha’s panicked voice I jumped to my feet and reached for that fire deep within me to summon my force field as I threw the door open and silently wished that I had a weapon of some sort as well, even a knife would be better than nothing when running into some unknown danger. I stepped through the door to see all of the other girls staring at one of the twins, whose left arm suddenly ended just above the elbow. She was moving her arm forward and back in curiosity and as she did so her arm would disappear further or reappear.

“What are you doing Shu?” her twin asked in wonder.

I hadn’t bothered to stop until I was a few feet away from where the other girls were gathered and staring. “Wot the fook?! I ‘eard Tasha scream ma name, is everyone okay?”

Blair, who had adjusted her disguise so that she once again looked like Jade, gave me an odd look. “I didn’t hear anyone screamin’ an’ I was right beside ya.”

“I didn’t scream… at least not out loud,” Tasha mumbled, looking down at her feet. “I might have thought about screaming for you, but I mean look at what she’s doing. Anyone would freak out a little.”

Blair watched Shu for a moment in interest before speaking. “It’s like she’s reachin’ into some sort of warped area of space time that only she can sense, some kind of portal, or pocket dimension, or somethin’ maybe? What were ya doin’ when it happened?”

Vanessa gestured to the foods left on the tray, quickly pointing out. “We were trying to figure out how to get rid of the drugged foods so they think that we’ve been eating them. We can flush the juice easy enough, but that won’t work as well for any solid foods they decide to drug and there aren’t a lot of good places to hide them in here.” The mermaid then cast a reassuring look and a smile in my direction. “I don’t think we’re in any danger Merida, you can probably power down and lose the knife. You know it’s a bit creepy when you do the force field thing, your eyes glow and your hair just floats in the air around you.”

“Wot knife?” I blinked in confusion before looking down at my hands. There, in my right hand, was a sort of opaque red combat knife. I just stared at it for a moment before willing both it and my force field to vanish. “I kin make constructs? Tha’s jus’ like…”

“Mom’s powers,” Blair finished as I trailed off. “I think you have a more powerful version of Mom’s powers. Her energy constructs were crimson colored too, but she could only create and manipulate small things like little holograms. She could have never covered herself with it like you do.”

The others were all looking at us intently, even Shu had lost interest in her new ability to look from me to Blair and back again. They deserved to know, I couldn’t tell them everything, but they deserved to know some of it. So looking down at my feet and probably turning bright red I told them, “Blair is ma sister.”

“We haven’t seen each other since our parents died last year,” Blair put in. “Maddie… err Merida used to look really diff’rent so I didn’t recognize her right away, I jus’ thought that she looked a lot like me at first.”

Blair was figuring by then that she would have to leave soonish to report her ‘progress’ to Phantom and the man in charge, who went by the name ‘Quill’. So we figured that we should discuss our plans. Blair approved of what we had so far and wanted us to get as much practice with our powers as we could whenever we were alone. She also let us in on her plans. Blair had had Andy bring her a device that would help her to find the source of whatever was generating the energy field and blocking communications, as well as a small EMP device that would hopefully disable it. If it was a person instead of a device that was causing it Blair would have to improvise. Either way, once the field was down her tracker would start transmitting to HAA and she left me her cell phone so I could call in other backup in case things went pear-shaped.

With that done Blair said her goodbyes and reminded us that she would be back in the evening to bring us supper before leaving with the food cart. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening in training. Those of us who had some idea what our powers were practicing with them, such as Vanessa and Shu using their abilities over and over to try and increase their control and longevity. I split my time between trying to get used to my new body and playing around with the new constructs application of my powers. Tasha was working with her newly discovered ability as well. She may not have called me physically earlier, but she had discovered that she could speak mind to mind with any of us with a little bit of focus. She couldn’t read minds or anything like that, but communication between minds was possible for her and it was a lot easier to practice with than her sixth sense.

As for Mei she seemed to be getting frustrated at her lack of powers thus far. It wasn’t long before dinner when that changed though, as Vanessa’s other ability made itself known and pushed over the dominoes of two other surprises in the process. Vanessa had been out of the water since before we ate lunch and she had been starting to get itchy and thirsty so I was walking with her back to the bathroom in case it was a mermaid thing and she needed to soak for a bit. We had just made it to the door when the water erupted out of the bathtub flying toward us both and wrapping itself around Vanessa like some sort of liquid shell.

She hovered above the ground in her watery cocoon wide-eyed for a moment before the water began for shift around her, covering her tail and keeping her hovering a foot off the ground as the mermaid stared at the tiny jets of water leaping and swirling through the air between her hands. “Ummm guys… I think I can control water.” She grinned over at me and giggled. “Check it out Merida, I bet I can splash Tasha from here.” A portion of the water around her body shot toward Tasha, but far more quickly than Vanessa had intended, almost like it had been shot from a fire hose. “Eep! No!”

Everything seemed to happen at once then, almost too fast for me to follow. Tasha suddenly vanished before the water could hit her, reappearing beside us and seeming just as confused as we were by it, and the water kept on flying through the air, right toward Mei who was sitting on her bed. Mei jumped in shock and fear and a pale golden glow surrounded her as a tiny little naked blonde pixie with translucent green wings appeared out of nowhere and yanked her off the bed and out of the way of the water blast. Once Mei was safe the pixie looked around, her eyes finally settling on Vanessa, and she looked pissed. She launched herself toward us and I quickly summoned my force field again. That was about when Mei yelled, “No! Stop!”

The pixie stopped, giving Vanessa a final dirty look before turning around and fluttering back toward Mei. I breathed a sigh of relief and let my force field drop again as Shu, who had been staring wide-eyed at the whole incident was the first of us to speak. “Well, that was weird.”

*Cease fire Merida!* Tasha shouted into my mind as she teleported back toward Shu’s bed.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 5 of MSPD, I figured since I'm still awake and it's technically Saturday now, I'd just go ahead and post it. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 5: Once upon a *BOOM*

Over dinner that evening Blair warned us all that when the time to escape came, it would likely be with very little warning and we would have to be prepared to move quickly. By that time Mei’s pixie had vanished to wherever it had come from, but Blair had been able to see it before it did. The pixie had puzzled my sister a bit, because it was “very lifelike, and too independent to be a mere illusion or magical construct.” Regardless, she wanted us all to keep practicing with all our powers as much as we could so that when it was time to escape we’d be ready.

Blair was able to stay with us a few hours that time since her instructions from Quill and Phantom were to bond with us and start talking about their ‘noble cause’ while the drugs from our food were doing their job. Tasha had once again been able to tell what foods were drugged and they were quickly disposed of. After dinner Blair insisted that we each have a bath or a shower while we had the opportunity and then change into the nightgowns that she had bought for us when she had gotten our other clothes.

Vanessa had a bit of a problem trying to bathe since it became harder to keep her tail shifted into legs while she was even partially submerged. Blair assumed that it was instinctive for her to change while under water and felt that trying to keep shifted in water while using her hydrokinetic abilities would be good training for our resident mermaid. I was the last to clean up, mostly because it was an experience that I wasn’t looking forward to. Not only was I now in the body of a girl, and a kid at that, but I also had ankle-length hair that was going to be a bitch to wash and dry.

In the end Blair managed to coerce me into a shower, with the bathroom door firmly shut and her on the other side of the shower curtain to help me through it. I managed to get my clothes off, but that wasn’t much of a stretch since I had been naked for half the day already. Still, I was hesitant to step into the bath when the time came, I could feel the panic welling up inside my chest as I thought about touching the body of this strange young girl who looked like my sister. My first experience taking a leak in this body had been bad enough, I had felt like some sort of sick voyeur, and a shower was probably going to be a lot more intimate than that was.

“Nae, I cannae dae it,” I said, shaking my head wildly and refusing to move.

“Ya need to get used to this sooner or later. Does yuir body really feel that wrong to ya?” Blair asked watching me in concern.

“Nae,” I admitted after getting my breathing back under control. “Tha’s wot scares me. It should feel wrong and it… it feels like me, but up ‘ere in ma ‘ead there’s still the ole me thinking tha’ doin’ anythin’ like tha’ tae this girl’s body is wrong. It’s like all there is left of the ole me is mem’ries an’ everythin’ I was says this is wrong.”

Blair sighed and wrapped me in a hug. “Listen… Merida. This is you now, right down the genetic level if I’m right. Ya need to start acceptin’ that and stop thinkin’ of it as someone else’s body. Yuir not Maddock anymore. Ya still have his memories, and I’m glad that ya do, because that means yuir not gone, just different. Keep the memories, but ya can’t hold on to the same person ya used to be, it’ll only cause ya misery. Yuir Merida now and ya need to get to know her and figure out who she is, and the first step is admitting to yourself that this isn’t some other young girl’s body, it’s yours. Now grow a pair and take a shower.”

I hated to admit it, but she was right, I needed to be Merida, not Maddock thinking that he’s trapped in some girl’s body. It wasn’t going to be easy and I wasn’t sure that I could leave Maddock completely behind, but I guessed that I’d at least always have his memories. So, crying and sniffling a bit as I tried to put my life as Maddock behind me, I hugged Blair back tightly and took a step back toward the dreaded shower. Then I hefted my breasts and told Blair, “I already did grow a pair,” while firmly telling myself that they were mine, Merida’s, and I shouldn’t be scared of my own body.

It was quite a while later when I finally finished my very awkward shower, with Blair giving instructions on everything from proper feminine hygiene to hair and body care the whole time, and me trying to make myself be okay with the whole process. A majority of that time was spent on my hair; washing, rinsing, conditioning and then rinsing again, and then trying to get it somewhat dry. By the time I was done and Blair was taking a hairdryer to my insanely long copper tresses I was really missing Maddock’s old buzz cut.

“It took you long enough,” Vanessa teased as I came out of the bathroom in my nightgown, a terrible pink knee-length thing with sparkly lavender unicorns all over it.

“Screw you, I ‘ave a lot more ‘air now an’ it takes forever tae dae anythin’ with it. I should jus’ chop it all off,” I grumbled. That was met with a chorus of horrified gasps and expressions that looked like I just casually stated that I wanted to put my hand in a blender. “Wot?” I asked, wondering what I had said wrong.

“You can’t chop it all off! It’s so long and beautiful, and I don’t think you have a single split-end,” Tasha objected. “Maybe get it trimmed it to a more manageable length once we’re out of here, but you should keep it long, some girls would die to have hair like yours.”

“They kin ‘ave it,” I muttered, “I keep gettin’ tangled in it. Blair did’ ya ‘appen tae bring any scissors?”

The twins each grabbed one of my arms, unleashing the full power of their puppy-dog eyes on me in stereo. “Pleeeeease don’t Merida,” they begged.

I folded like an origami crane, letting out an exasperated sigh. “Fine, I won’ chop it all off, but I need a way tae keep it out o’ ma way.” With that the twins started looking through the hair care products Blair had brought, coming up with a pair of brushes and some dark green hair ties. Then they sat me on my bed and began the arduous process of brushing and then braiding my hair. It would probably still be long and heavy when they were finished, but at least I wasn’t going to keep getting tangled in it. As they took care of my hair I decided to practice with my constructs by having Blair tell some of the stories that Mom used to tell us, while I tried to make the constructs look and move like Mom had when we were kids.

I wanted to start with my favorite of course, Princess Peony and the Amazing Egg. Peony had been the main character in all the stories our Mom told us, and the stories usually ended with her learning a valuable lesson and making an animal friend. So as Blair began telling the story, I began making tiny constructs of trees and Princess Peony walking through them. “Princess Peony was out in the forest one day, when she came upon a strange egg. It wasn’t a chicken egg, or a robin’s egg or any other kind o’ egg that she was familiar with. No, this egg was purple with pink spots an’ was too big to fit in her hand, in fact she had to cup both hands to hold it.”

I carefully created the tiny egg and had Peony bend over to pick it up with both hands. My constructs weren’t as good as Mom’s and they tended to become a little unstable and shaky if I put too much energy into them, but I was hoping that this would help me improve. “Peony searched all over the forest, carryin’ the egg and lookin’ fer whatever bird could have laid it, fer it must ‘ave been a great bird indeed to lay such a large and beautiful egg.”

The next scene took place in Peony’s castle and that was a bit difficult to create with the drawbridge, walls towers, and such, but I gave it my best shot. At least the only moving thing would be Peony carrying the egg. “Alas, Princess Peony could not find the great bird, so she decided that since she could no’ find the egg’s mother that she would try to get it to hatch and raise it ‘erself. So Peony carefully carried the egg back through the forest, down the road, over the drawbridge, an’ into ‘er castle, where she made a nest in her room from straw and covered the egg with warm blankets.”

I had peony sitting upon the egg in the nest, lying beside it, gently rubbing it, and then creating another construct for Peony’s mother as Blair continued the story. “Peony tried sitting on it, sleeping with it, an’ even talkin’ to it, but the egg just wouldn’t hatch. After three days she began to give up on it ever hatchin’ an’ was very sad. Peony’s mother asked, ‘why are ya so sad?’ When Peony explained, ‘er mother told ‘er, ‘Sometimes things take longer then we want to happen, but if you really want something, then ya need to be willin’ to wait for it, even if it’s a long time an’ ya have to work hard. Havin’ to wait an’ work hard for somethin’ makes it even more special when ya get it.’ So for weeks Peony tried to be patient as she continued to care for the egg, keepin’ it warm and talkin’ to it about all the fun they would have together when it finally hatched.”

I made the egg in the nest start to quiver and shake as Blair told about the egg hatching. The little Peony snoozing beside the egg jumped up and started to happily dance in response to my thoughts. “Then one fine mornin’ Peony awoke to see the egg movin’. It shuddered an’ shook. It bounced an’ jiggled. Peony danced happily as the egg cracked an’ then cracked again, finally fallin’ apart as her new friend appeared.” I made the egg quickly vanish leaving a tiny little dragon in its place. “It was no great bird that hatched as Peony had imagined, but instead a tiny pink dragon that thought Peony was ‘er mama. This was no’ what Peony had been expectin’, but Peony was patient an’ worked hard to care for it, an’ they became the very best of friends.”

By then the twins had finished brushing my hair and were ready to start braiding, but they stopped to applaud with Tasha and Vanessa as the story ended. I blushed a bit at that and muttered, “Mom coulda’ done better.”

“Yuir jus’ learning about your powers, Mom had hers for years before I was born,” Blair chastised before smiling at me. “Okay, we did yuir favorite story, now let’s do mine before I have to leave you girls to sleep.”

We were near the end of Princess Peony, Periwinkle Pony, and the Pirates when I began to feel the strain of using and controlling so many constructs. Still I felt that I wasn’t doing badly for a first timer. The story needed a lot of constructs with the tiny dragon Peaches, Peony, Periwinkle the pony, the pirate ship, and the pirates, not to mention the tiny little cannonballs. Periwinkle wasn’t so much a pony as a small Pegasus of sorts; pony-sized with little wings and a horn on her forehead, so I was working with a lot of fairly elaborate constructs. I blame that for my mistake.

There was this big scene with Peony riding Periwinkle through the air while they and Peaches dodged cannonballs fired from the pirate ship. I was so focused on moving all the constructs and quickly creating and moving the cannonballs that I started pushing too much energy into the pinball-sized cannonballs. At first I wasn’t too concerned about them being a bit unstable and seeming to vibrate to whatever sense let me control my constructs, but then they started actually exploding when they hit the floor and leaving scorch marks roughly six inches in diameter on the carpet.

“Whoa incoming!” Vanessa half-shrieked as she scrambled backward and away from the area I had been constructing the story in.

*Cease fire Merida!* Tasha shouted into my mind as she teleported back toward Shu’s bed.

The twins, who had been braiding my hair and trying to watch the story at the same time had also jumped back a bit, yanking on my hair in the process and causing me to yelp and lose all concentration. The constructs vanished, leaving us all staring at the scorch marks on the floor. “Wot the hell was tha’?”

“You’re asking us?! Those were your cannonballs!” Tasha snapped, gesturing wildly at the scorch marks.

“I think that Merida is just tired,” Blair suggested, “this power is still new to her and she was trying to control a lot there. We were also going for close to an hour non-stop so it’s understandable.”

“But those things actually exploded!” Tasha pressed.

I swallowed the lump in my throat trying not to think about what would have happened if it had been a larger construct as I offered an explanation. “I think I might ‘ave pushed too much energy intae them an’ they became unstable.” What if I had hurt one of them, or worse killed one? I had killed before of course, plenty of times, but they were always people who deserved it, never innocent kids, and I had always been in control of myself at the time. I hadn’t really been in control then though had I? I’d been trying to show off and do too much and had ignored something important. What if I did it again in a more serious situation? What if I couldn’t fully control these powers? I wanted to crawl into a deep hole, as far as I could from the others.

“I’ll say they were unstable!”

“You’re not helping Tasha,” Vanessa snapped, glowering at the older girl. “Can’t you see that she feels bad enough already?”

“I… I’m sorry, if you hadn’t noticed I tend to freak out easily,” Tasha mumbled looking away guiltily.

“We’ve noticed, but you’re going to have to get used to weird shit happening around us, because weird shit is our life now. We all need to stick together, not start snapping at each other whenever we get surprised,” Vanessa told her as she came and took my hand in hers. “It’s okay Mer, we’re all fine, nobody’s hurt and we know you didn’t mean it. You were doing fine until then, it’s like Blair said, you’re just tired and you were trying to do too much.”

“Just think of this as another aspect of your powers that you need to learn to control, I think yuir doin’ fine so far, Mom would be proud,” my sister assured me as she reached over to hug me. Then she hugged the others as well before saying, “I should be headin’ off to ‘report’ and search for the source of that energy field though, you girls finish braidin’ her hair and then ya should all get some sleep.” Then she left the room with the food cart, leaving us to ourselves.

I didn’t say much other than, “Good night” as Blair left and I was left deep in my own dark thoughts, barely managing a “Thanks” for the twins with a sad sigh once they had finished braiding my hair and tied it off. The braid was really heavy, but at least it was mostly out of my way. I still kind of wanted to find a hole to hide in, far away from the others, but maybe just hiding under my blankets once the lights were out would do.

“Awwww, I wanted to know what happened with Periwinkle Pony,” Shu said as she returned to her bed.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Mei replied with a giggle. “She went to Princess Peony’s for a sleepover and they all became bestest friends.” The gold aura from earlier appeared around her and a life-sized Periwinkle, looking just like my construct, with the colors that Blair had described in the story, and very much alive appeared beside her own bed as she climbed in and under the covers.

I climbed under my own covers as Vanessa snatched up a bikini top that Blair had thought would be useful for her while in the bathtub and headed to the bathroom to get comfortable in her own ‘bed’. Tasha turned out the lights and the room dropped into near total darkness until my eyes adjusted. I watched the others until well after they had fallen asleep, making a mental note that Periwinkle had vanished almost as soon as Mei had drifted off. I thought I was the only one awake when I heard Tasha in the bed beside mine say, “I’m sorry Merida… I shouldn’t have overreacted, I just… panic sometimes. I’m actually a little jealous of you, you always seem so in control and sure of yourself despite everything happening and I’m not sure how you manage it, since I have a feeling that you have the most to adjust to of any of us. Please don’t let what I said bother you, it wasn’t really your fault and we need you too much.”

“Who the hell are you, and how did you get that information?” the General’s voice half growled on the other end.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 6 of MSPD, I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 6: Escape

Day two of our captivity, started with ‘Jade’ and Phantom bringing in breakfast. Phantom didn’t stay long and, as we both spent most of the time she was there glaring at one another, I noticed that she was trying to hide the odd wince of pain whenever she moved or turned too quickly. I knew just how much broken ribs hurt, but she had gotten off easy in my opinion so I didn’t exactly feel much sympathy for her. Once we had all made a show of hugging and happily chatting with ‘Jade’ though, Phantom left after a brief threat for me to behave myself, ‘or else’. I wasn’t really feeling too great myself so I merely gave her an unladylike snort as she made her little threat and left.

Breakfast turned out to be a variety of sugary kids’ breakfast cereals, milk, and some orange juice. Tasha’s sixth sense had warned us that the bastards had spiked the milk this time around so we all had to eat the cereal dry, but at least the orange juice was drug-free. After we had gotten dressed we began working with our powers while Blair tried to get some idea of exactly what they were, though she would have been able to do that, and test our limits, better in her lab. Most of our powers seemed somewhat obvious, except for the twins, but Blair was concerned that there could be secondary more passive abilities as well or physiological issues, particularly with me and Vanessa.

To tell the truth I was having similar concerns. I had not slept well, and not just because I had been blaming myself for losing concentration the night before. In the early hours of the morning I had started to get cramps in my abdominal area and they had been getting progressively worse the whole morning. By the time Blair had left us, to ‘report in’ and try to find the source of the signal interference, I was feeling very uncomfortable and in a bit of pain, though I tried not to show it to the others. I didn’t dare practice with my powers either though, for fear of blowing something up.

I staggered to the bathroom, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the cramps and the feeling like someone had been poking and twisting my insides with a rusty bayonet. It was as I pulled down my underwear and sat down to go about my business that I noticed the small blood stain. There was blood dripping into the toilet as well from between my legs. "Something’s wrong! The change must have damaged me inside!" My soldierly discipline collapsed as I started to panic, uncertain what to do. I tried to get a grip on myself. "No dying until you finish the mission. Get the girls safely out of here first!"

I just sat there uncertain of what to do. I couldn’t let the girls see me like this, especially the twins. They couldn’t know about this. They all needed me to be the strong one and get them through this. A knock at the bathroom door made me jump and I winced at the discomfort it caused me. “Mer, are you okay? You’ve been in there a while,” Vanessa’s voice came through the door sounding concerned. I sat there frozen, unsure of what to do. I needed to say something to reassure her that I was okay, but the words just wouldn’t come to me.

The door was thrown open and Vanessa rushed in. When she saw me sitting there staring at my blood-stained panties she quickly shut the door. “Oh, okay, you’re just having your period, do you want me to grab you some of the tampons or pads Blair bought?” Then she seemed to realize that I was in shock. “OMG… this is your first isn’t it? Didn’t your mom or Blair give you ‘the talk’?”

As what she was saying penetrated my panicked thoughts I broke down crying. I couldn’t be sure if I was happy that I didn’t seem to be dying, or upset that this officially put the final nail in Maddock’s coffin, though it was probably a mix of both. I hadn’t even thought of that as an explanation; the women in my life never really advertised that they were on the rag, I never asked, and I certainly never thought that it would ever apply to me. Vanessa held me while I cried and gave me ‘the talk’, then once we had both finished she got a new pair of the cartoon panties and some tampons and panty liners for me from the hygiene stuff that Blair had bought us and showed me how to use both of the latter.

“I thought I was dyin’,” I admitted once I managed to calm down. “I thought tha’ somethin’ wen’ wrong when I changed, I didnae e’en think o’ this. Tae be fair though, this is only ma second day as a girl, an’ ma new body ne’er came wit’ an owner’s manual.”

“Second day as a girl?” the mermaid repeated before a pensive expression settled onto her face, replaced quickly by realization. “OMG you were a guy before?! That makes so much sense! The way you move, how you told me you were different before, how much you were freaked out about things like your new looks, how your own sister didn’t know who you were, and how you seem to know nothing about being a girl.”

“Aye,” I admitted, unable to look her in the face. “I was older too, part o’ a Spec Ops team sent in tae rescue ya girls. Phantom killed ma whole team an’ I could’nae stop the bomb, so I hid in one o’ the cells. The girl in there jus’ faded intae nothin’ an I guess Phantom thought I was ‘er when she collected us, ‘cause I became a girl aboot the same age.”

Once we left the bathroom together, I told the others the whole story, minus any sensitive military details, since I didn’t figure that there was any point in hiding it anymore. “That’s got to suck,” Tasha said as she looked me over sadly. You got a gender swap and you look like the one of the youngest here. Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable? Your body I mean.”

I considered for a moment how to explain it to them before finally responding. “Only this new complication, but tha’s prob’ly ‘cause I was no’ expectin’ it, an’ the cramps an’ such. Blair tol’ me once aboot wot ‘appens when we Activate. Powers and form kin be heavily influenced by wot yuir thinkin’, feelin’, or the conditions ya Activated in. I was worried aboot all o’ ya girls an’ ya were mostly really young, so tha’ sorta explains why I’m so young an’ look like ma sister. But since there’s often trauma involved when folks Activate, yuir H Chromosomes try tae spare ya more trauma and kin alter yuir mind tae be comfortable wit’ yuir new form. Ma body feels… right tae me since I woke up yesterday, an’ and tha’s been scarin’ me. I tried thinkin’ o’ m’self as a guy last night while lyin’ awake, picturin’ m’self in ma old body an’… it made me feel sick. I dinnae think I could go back, but I ne’er wanted tae be a girl, an’ I ‘ave no idea how tae be one.”

“Don’t worry Merida, we’re gonna teach you to be the best girl ever!” Mei encouraged, looking toward her sister and the pixie she had summoned earlier for confirmation and grinning like a maniac.

The pixie nodded as Shu did the same, with a grin that matched her sister’s. “We’re gonna totes make you the girliest girl ever!”

“I’m all for helping her adjust and learn,” Vanessa put in calmly, “but maybe we should take it slow and let her ease into it girls. I mean like sure we can teach her all this stuff, but she needs to be able to put it into practice at her own pace.”

At supper time Blair came in looking a bit rushed and checking her watch after getting the food cart in place. “Okay girls, eat fast and make sure ya give yuir nightgowns and anythin’ else that ya want to bring with ya to Shu to put away. We have exactly twenty-seven minutes before that mini EMP goes off an’ then my tracker start’s transmittin’ an’ everything goes into high gear. Merida, as soon as the lights go out, get yuir force field up an’ try callin’ in yuir contacts. Ya shouldn’t have any problems getting’ a signal, I built that phone myself, we could be a mile underground an’ it would still work. Two miles might be pushin’ it though.”

We all ate as quickly as possible after being told which foods were safe to eat and then Shu opened one of her holes in the air and stared shoving in practically everything that Blair had brought for us the other day, except for what we were currently wearing. We had barely finished when the lights flickered for a moment and then went out completely. I summoned my force field immediately, bathing the room in a ruddy light as I started dialing the number that my team members had been instructed to only use as a last resort.

“Hello,” General Nelson’s voice came up as he picked up. It was an encrypted cell phone that he kept for situations where a team was in deep shit and wasn’t sure who else they could trust. I was only using it because I sounded like a little girl now and didn’t want the switchboard giving me the runaround because they thought I was playing a prank.

I quickly jumped into what I had to say before he could say anything more. “General Nelson I ‘ave a message fer ya from Cpt. Maddock Ainsely. ‘Mad Mac’ is in the lion’s den as lone wolf, the pack ‘as been hunted an’ he needs support from Alpha Wolf. Identification confirmation is three-se’en-charlie-foxtrot, whiskey-se’en-four-one, alpha-six-two-nine-romeo.”

“Who the hell are you, and how did you get that information?” the General’s voice half growled on the other end.

“I cannae explain now Sir, but ‘tis me, Cpt. Ainsley, an’ I could really use some backup ‘ere. I’m in Omega’s ‘eadquarters wit’ the HAA inside agent an’ four o’ the kidnapped girls, an’ attemptin’ extraction. HAA agents should be en route soon, I dinnae ken the location so yuir gonna ‘ave tae trace this cell signal or coord’nate wit’ HAA.”

“If you’re Ainsley, then what did I say to your team before you left the base?” the General asked.

“Ya tol’ us tae come back in one piece an’ the drinks would be on you. An’ then ya tol’ me tae take some time and visit ma damn sister while I was ‘ere.”

“Good enough, I have a feeling that we’re going to be having a long talk when I get there soldier, but I’m glad that at least two of you got out of that mess alive. I’ll have local units coordinate with Agent Smith from HAA and I’ll be on the first plane I can get there. You keep yourself and those girls alive until help arrives, that’s an order.”

“Aye Sir!” I replied as I disconnected the call. Then I checked the text that had come in while I was talking to the General and smiled as I turned to Blair and the others. “Help is on the way. Andy said tha’ they got yuir location an’ are mobilizing, an’ General Nelson is gonna ‘ave local military coordinate wit’ them.”

“Okay, let’s get the hell out of here then an’ find an exit,” Blair said with a nod.

“We all stick t’gether,” I ordered everyone. “Co’er the twins an’ keep yuir eyes open. Tasha let us know the minute somethin’ feels off. ‘Nessa, get as much water as ya think ya kin ‘andle afore we leave this room, your prob’ly gonna need it. Mei, we’ll hold yuir power in reserve in case we need a surprise. Shu try tae keep on yuir toes an’ stick close, I know yuir power is no’ suited for combat. Blair, use the strength an’ durability from yuir suit tae try an’ keep me an’ ’Nessa covered.”

Once we were all prepared we exited the door into a hallway with a lot of similar doors. The halls seemed to be cut from stone rather than built, so I guessed that we were actually underground. At least they had emergency lighting so we could see where we were going without my force field as the only light. “This is the female dorms area, male dorms are on the other side of the complex an’ there’s a guarded steel door in the common area tha’ I think may lead outside,” Blair explained as we followed her.

“Shit, someone’s coming!” Tasha gasped as she pointed down the hall in the direction that we were going.

I turned to look at Vanessa who was hovering off the ground with her lower half in a large sphere of water. “As soon as ya see ‘em hit ‘em wit’ a water blast.” I didn’t like putting that much pressure on her, but she was really the only one of us with ranged abilities and we didn’t have any weapons.

A dark-haired woman walked around the corner ahead of us and a burst of water flew past me to nail her square in the chest, just as she noticed us. The blast sent her flying back a good six feet where she got up laughing. “Nice try kiddies, I actually felt that, but I have Cat three invulnerability, so if that was your best shot you should all just pack it in and go back to your room like good girls.”

“So much fer stealth,” I muttered, launching myself toward the woman as quickly as I could, while creating a boxing glove construct around my fist and pouring enough energy into it to make it wildly unstable. She may have had invulnerability, but she didn’t carry herself like someone who knew how to fight and I seemed to be both faster and stronger whenever I had my force field on. I needed to take advantage of that and hit as hard and fast as I could and hope that the explosive properties of the energy combined with my strength and speed would have some sort of effect.

I nailed her in the solar plexus with a loud explosion and enough force to send her flying back, into and then through the thick rock wall twenty feet ahead of us. “Let’s move! We dinnae wan’ tae be ‘ere when they come tae investigate.”

We tore off at a run, all of us sticking close together, as Blair led us down hallways and into the common area where the door she mentioned was. That’s where Phantom and four others were waiting, three men and an Asian woman in bright yellow spandex. Phantom wore a vicious smile as we all ran into the room and stopped cold. “You can kill that traitor Jade, but the boss wants the others alive,” she instructed. “It looks like they’ll have to learn the hard way now.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing tha’ I’m neither Jade nor a traitor,” my sister replied while deactivating her disguise and removing her mask and hood. Then she casually added, “Engage combat mode.” Her bodysuit exploded at the seams as whatever she was wearing beneath it expanded, covering her in some sort of dark green power armor with a helmet, a full face plate, and a pair of what I thought might be weapons on her forearms that were humming loudly. Then a pair of tiny missiles about the size of ballpoint pens launched from her shoulders straight at Phantom.

Phantom quickly teleported out of the way making a grab for Tasha as she reappeared, though Tasha had already teleported away herself. The missiles though, kept along their intended path, right past where Phantom had been and hit the walls to either side of the large pair of steel doors, which exploded outward. Two of the people Phantom had with her failed to move quickly enough and were caught in the blast, falling to the floor, either unconscious or dead.

I went after Phantom as Vanessa launched high pressure water blasts at the woman in yellow, who was apparently a speedster as she kept deftly avoiding her attacks and Blair attacked the last of the three men who suddenly burst into flames. "Blair! 'Nessa! Switch opponents!” I called out as Phantom avoided another of my attacks. “Tasha! Get the twins outside an’ find cover!” Now Blair was firing energy blasts from her forearms at the speedster, one almost hitting and succeeding in getting the woman’s attention while Vanessa was raining little water blasts at the pyromorph and obviously hurting him. Tasha had already led the twins outside, so it looked like I could focus completely on Phantom now. She was toying with me though, constantly teleporting out of my reach and refusing to give me an opening.

That’s when it hit me, “I don’t need an opening, she does. She’s waiting for my powers to give out and, given our first fight, I have a pretty good idea of where she would attack once they do.” I smiled to myself and then forced myself to put a strained look on my face as I made the energy of my force field flicker and fade, instead redirecting my energy into a construct as Phantom vanished once again.

“Huuuuurk,” the teleporter’s voice croaked out from behind me.

I turned and gave her a cold smile as I saw her impaled through the chest by the sword I had formed in the air behind me. I placed my hand on the hilt of the weapon and twisted it. “I’ve had a bad couple o’ days. Ma team was killed, I was left fer dead or worse, ma whole body was changed, an’ now I’m in a right pissy mood an’ bleedin from a part o’ ma body I didnae e’en ‘ave two days ago, an’ it’s all yuir fault! I tell ya what though bitch, if ya manage tae survive we’ll play again sometime. Or maybe no’.” I could see the recognition in her eyes as I twisted the blade once more, then the light left her eyes and she collapsed to the floor in a dead heap.

The pyromorph was put out and Blair had given him a good solid punch to knock him unconscious for good measure. “Where’s the speedster?” I asked.

“Over there,” Blair replied, pointing toward the ruined doorway where the woman was twitching on the floor like a fish out of water. “I overloaded her nervous system, she won’t be goin’ anywhere fast fer a while. She managed to call fer reinforcements though so we need to figure out what to do about tha’. The HAA can follow my locator to this general location, but my GPS puts us somewhere in the Santa Monica Mountains an’ its gettin’ dark. They’ll probably be usin’ choppers with search light to find us, so it could take a while.”

We went outside to join the others and I quickly explained the plan I came up with. “Okay, Mei if’n anyone comes out those doors afore our reinforcements arrive I want ya tae use yuir powers tae create a distraction. I dinnae care what ya make appear so jus’ make it the biggest an’ scariest thing ya kin think of aye?”

Okay Merida, I’ll do my best,” she promised.

I turned to the others and laid out the rest of the plan. “Tasha, yuir gonna keep in contact wit’ me while I go an’ make sure the choppers can see where we are. Blair an’ ‘Nessa, yuir gonna ‘ave to be ready to fight in case Mei’s distraction doesn’t work an’ if tha’s the case Tasha will call me back.”

“I hope I have enough water left, I think I only have enough for a couple more blasts,” Vanessa told us with an uncertain sigh.

“I stored some away in case we needed it when we escaped, we should have close to five gallons,” Shu offered with a smile before a look of concentration settled over her face. “Just a sec… no that one has our nighties and stuff. Nope that’s the yucky drugged food, I should get rid of all that. Aha there it is!”

Water started pouring out from nowhere above Vanessa’s head and the mermaid quickly added it to her pool with a grin. “Thanks Shu, that was good thinking,” she said, still beaming at her.

“Okay good, we’re set then,” I said, smiling at Shu’s forethought. “I kin hear choppers in the distance, I’ll go get their attention.” Then I approached the cliff face that the steel doors had been camouflaged in by some brush before my sister blew the hell out of them both. It was nearly a ninety degree rock face, but it looked like it went pretty high and I wanted some altitude so the choppers could see me.

Climbing a cliff in the dark while in a dress is not something I recommend, it was dangerous and a little scary even with my force field. I nearly fell once before I thought to add claw-like constructs to the ends of my fingers to make it easier to get a solid grip. I managed to make good time though, getting to a fairly high rock ledge where I hoped the choppers could see the light from my force field, they were really close now and I could see their searchlights approaching. That was when Tasha’s voice said, *We have a large group coming at us from inside the mountain, Mei is about to do her thing.*

As soon as Mei did her thing I knew it, it was pretty hard to miss after all. I just stared for a second and then looked upward. “Oh ma God… zilla?” The creature vanished only a few minutes later, though I had heard more than a few frightened screams from below by that time.

As the king of kaiju vanished Tasha was in my head once again. *Mei couldn’t hold it, she just passed out. It was enough to scare most of them back into the base, but we’re still outnumbered, we might need you down here soon.*

I waved frantically for the choppers, torn between reinforcements and the girls. The girls were my mission, maybe even my friends, though so they had to take priority. I stepped off the cliff trusting in my force field to keep me safe, but instead of falling I just stood there in midair. “Wait the same thing happened when I kicked Phantom, I just floated until I cut out my powers. Maybe if I…” I concentrated on my force field like I would one of my constructs, willing it to move forward. Much to my surprise it did. “Holy shit I think I can fly.” I thought with a grin as I moved myself to the ground as quickly as I felt that I safely could.

I hovered above the battle, taking it in. Blair was shooting people with those blasters on her arms, and there were already four on the ground in twitching heaps. Tasha was carrying Mei in her arms and teleporting away anytime anyone even came close to connecting with an attack, while Vanessa was trying to keep herself and Shu safe by firing water blasts at anyone who got too close. She was barely holding off a large man with silvery skin so I flew at him as quickly as I could, unloading with an explosive punch and sending him flying. I had failed to notice the small red-skinned woman with the pair of submachine guns though and I was just in time to see her fire at Shu and Vanessa as I turned around.

“Look out!” I shouted.

Shu acted quickly and the spray of bullets vanished in mid-air, well most of them anyway. A few buried themselves in the darkened brush I think, but I was more concerned about the one that got past the water shield that Vanessa was trying to put up and hit her in the shoulder, causing her to scream in pain. In fury I grabbed the red-skinned woman and threw her into a tree before going to check on my friend. I hardly noticed as the choppers hovered overhead and began dropping our reinforcements as I looked for any sign of injury in the light provided by my force field. “Are ya okay ‘Nessa?” I could only see a nasty bruise and I was a bit confused since I was almost certain that she had taken a bullet.

“Yeah, that hurt like a bitch, I guess my shield slowed it down after all,” she said while rubbing at the bruise.

We were quickly joined by the others and Blair was looking her over as well, “Looks like it’s just a bruise, you should be fine,” she said with relief.

The cleanup went well, HAA agents and the military units backing them up managed to either neutralize or capture all of the Omega members in the base. Without Phantom to teleport them they couldn’t get away, and only a few of them were any real threat to the attack teams. The boys were freed and after some psych assessments they would likely be returned to the orphanages they were taken from. We were allowed to rest once they figured out that we were the group of girls and the HAA’s inside woman. Now we were on our way to Los Angeles Air Force Base, where Agent Smith and General Nelson would be debriefing us, as soon as the General’s plane landed.

“You kids did well,” one of the pilots, who had introduced himself as Captain Phillips, told us once we had landed at the base. “You have good heads on your shoulders and you were like regular superheroes when we got there. We would have taken a lot longer to find you if one of you hadn’t shot that bright red flare. We followed that and got there just in the nick of time.”

“Tha’ was no’ a flare, tha’ was me,” I corrected him.

“Well good job then Flare,” he said with a chuckle and a wink. “Now let’s get you all to the base housing so you can rest until you can be debriefed.”

“Flare… tha’s no’ a bad name,” I mumbled to myself as we were led to the car that was waiting for us.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 7 of MSPD since I'm still awake and it's after midnight. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 7: Family Matters

It was after midnight when the General’s plane arrived and Blair and I were the only ones still awake. Most of the girls were sleeping in cots and Vanessa was in the bathtub of one of the house’s two bathrooms. I was sitting on one of the other cots wrapped in Blair’s arms. She had removed her exoskeleton/power armor earlier and was now wearing some standard issue Air Force fatigues provided by the female Airman who had been assigned to see to our needs for the night as we stayed in one of the empty on-base houses. “Are ya feelin’ any better?” she asked after we had been sitting like that for a while.

The adrenaline rush during our escape and focusing on keeping the others safe had distracted me from the discomfort of my period, but once we had settled in to the small house that had been assigned for us to use for the night that discomfort had returned with a vengeance. Once Vanessa had informed Blair about my situation though, my sister had sent the airman for a bottle of Midol and the first dose was beginning to kick in. “Aye, a wee bit,” I admitted.

“You’ve had a rough couple o’ days,” she said with a sigh. “I’m sorry that I didn’t contact ya about tha’ mission for the HAA, and I’ll be here for ya through whatever happens next. I’ll miss the old you, but I always did want a sister.”

“Aye, I kinda figured tha’ from the nickname ya gave me an’ all the times ya used me as a dress-up doll when we were little. Now it’s real though,” I replied with a wry chuckle. “Well a’ least I dinnae feel like a guy trapped in a girl’s body, but the mental transition, an’ gettin’ used tae bein’ a kid is gonna be a right bitch.”

“You’ll have plenty of help with that, I’ll be with you every step o’ the way, and the girls will too,” Blair vowed, squeezing me tighter in her arms. “I meant it when I said I want ya all to come live wi’ me an’ Andy. I feel bad though, I had it so easy when I Activated; I was still me with no physical changes, school got easier, an’ no showy and destructive powers tae learn how tae control. Then I see you an’ Vanessa an’…”

“Nae Blair,” I told her firmly to end that train of thought. “This is no’ yuir fault, so dinnae e’en think it. None o’ us blame ya, especially me. Ya did yuir best to get those kids out o’ there afore somethin’ ‘appened, an’ ya did yuir best tae keep us ‘appy, safe, an’ prepared fer escape while we were in tha’ place. I dinnae blame ya fer any o’ this an’ neither dae the others.”

A knock at the door interrupted us and Blair got up to answer it to reveal General Nelson standing there. “Good evening, I’m General Aaron Nelson. You must be Miss Ainsley, with the HAA?”

“I am,” my sister admitted, “though technically I don’t work for them, I’m a free-lance contractor.”

The General nodded before speaking again. “And you’re Cpt. Ainsley’s sister as well, or so I’ve been told, your brother is a damn fine soldier and I’m glad he’s still alive. I wanted to let you know that we’ve decided to wait until oh-nine-hundred to debrief you. You could all probably use some rest and there are some complications that we’ll need to deal with before we’re ready for your reports. I was hoping to have a few words with Cpt. Ainsley though if he’s available.”

“Aye Sir!” I said stepping out from behind my sister and giving the General a crisp salute. “Ma apologies fer bein’ out o’ uniform Sir, but it was burnt tae ash an’ prob’ly would’nae fit well anyway.”

“At ease Captain,” he ordered while looking me over and then looking at my sister once again before turning his eyes back on me. Then he muttered something about “complications” that I couldn’t quite hear and sighed before giving me a sad look, “Follow me soldier, I have a promise to keep.” Blair looked uncertain, but he was quick to reassure her. “Don’t worry Miss Ainsley, I’ll have him… her back soon enough.”

He sat me in a jeep and drove me to the base’s office buildings where he had been set up with an office for while he was visiting. Once he had grabbed a brown paper bag from the glove compartment we headed inside and to the office that he was using. Despite the late hour there was someone sitting inside, a woman dressed in Army fatigues. I didn’t recognize her; she had a Mediterranean complexion, long dark green hair, and looked even shorter than I was. I briefly wondered about how she had made it through basic training, not to mention the green hair had me curious.

As the General and I stepped inside she quickly stood up, showing that she was indeed shorter than me, to snap a salute and call out, “Sir!”

“At ease,” he ordered. “Ainsley, Roper, neither of you are military any more, much less under my command, so I think we can drop the formality.”

“Reaper?!” I exclaimed in shock. The Tabitha that I knew had been a tall and somewhat curvy woman with short-cropped brown hair, nothing like the petite woman who stood before me now.

“Mac?!” she half screamed back staring at me wide-eyed.

“You both Activated as a result of the zeta bomb,” the General explained as he pulled a bottle of Scotch and three plastic cups from the paper bag. “It seems that neither of you was able to escape its range. I lost ten good men and two of the best units I have ever commanded in that Omega fiasco; all six from DeMarco’s team and four from yours. I lost the two of you as well, but I’m glad that you’re both still alive. I promised drinks if you came back in one piece and you both did.”

“Yeah, but it looks like those pieces are different now,” Tabitha muttered. “Seriously though general, she’s just a kid, you can’t seriously be thinking about giving her alcohol.”

“Speak fer yerself tiny! I bet ya cannae e’en manage one drink afore passin’ out,” I snapped back playfully.

“One drink isn’t going to kill her,” the General said with a shrug. “We both know she’s an adult on the inside and this will probably be the last chance she gets until she looks twenty-one again. Besides, the dead deserve a toast and so do the two of you.” He half-filled each of the cups and placed one in front of each of us.

“Tae good men who died too soon, an’ mutant women,” I offered in toast. We tapped our cups together and I took a slow sip of the Scotch in mine. It was good stuff and wanted to savor it since I probably wouldn’t be able to drink again for a very long time. “Sooo I see tha’ I’m no’ the only one wit’ a new look,” I finally said after a long silence for our fallen comrades.

“Yeah it’s a bit weird to get used to,” Tabitha agreed with a shrug. “I can change my appearance, but unfortunately it only lasts a few hours and then I’m back to this. Plus I can’t seem to control what my new appearance is going to be… or what powers come with it. The expert on Hypers that they got to look at me thinks that my only real power is to temporarily reset my Archetype.”

“I got a force field an’ I kin fly an’ make energy constructs. If I put too much energy intae them they tend tae explode if they ‘it somethin’ though,” I told her before gesturing at my whole body and adding, “I coulda dun wi’out this, but its no’ tha’ bad I s’pose.”

“Just wait until you get your first period, assuming you can. Are you… y’know complete?” she asked.

“Aye I go’ tha’ full package, an’ I’m already havin’ tha’ time o’ the month. Why dae ya think I need a drink so fookin’ bad,” I muttered as I took another long sip of the Scotch, letting it rest on my taste buds before allowing it to slowly make its way down my throat.

“Ouch, you never do things by half measures do you Maddock?” Tabitha said with a wry chuckle.

“Seems no’,” I agreed bitterly. “Call me Merida though Tabby, it’s wot e’eryone else is callin’ me.”

Tabitha giggled and snorted, nearly wasting a good pull of Scotch. “Let me guess, a kid decided on that name. I watched that movie with my niece. I have to admit the resemblance is striking, especially with that accent of yours.”

“Twins, an’ they would no’ take nae fer an answer,” I replied with a shrug as I took another sip of my drink. “Tis as good a name as any I s’pose, an’ I’m gettin’ used tae it.”

General Nelson took a long pull of his own Scotch before pouring himself another. “We have someone coming in from DC to help establish a new identities for both of you tomorrow, so you should both be thinking about a new full name. Cpt. Maddock Ainsley and Lt. Tabitha Roper both died in the attack on Omega.”

“What?!” Tabitha and I both blurted out in unison.

“We should have discharged you both or offered you early retirement after the Liberty Accords, but we didn’t and now we need to cover this up before the wrong people start to get the wrong ideas and it becomes an even bigger mess. These orders come from the top and you’ll both be well compensated for going along with it and keeping silent. We’ll sort out the details after you’ve both been debriefed,” the General stated mater-of-factly.

“Shit,” Tabitha muttered and I could only nod in agreement as we both downed the rest of our Scotch.

I woke up around oh-six-hundred hours feeling absolutely horrible. I had only had the one glass of Scotch the night before and I was a bit disgusted that I had become such a lightweight. As I rushed to the unoccupied bathroom to worship the porcelain goddess I silently promised myself that I would never drink again in this body, well at least not until I was twenty-one again. Once I had finished throwing up I flushed the toilet and sat down to take care of a few other pressing needs. First there was the pressing weight in my bladder, followed by changing my tampon and panty-liner, which set me off throwing up again. Once I had finished dry heaving I got to my feet again and cleaned up, suddenly very glad that my hair had been re-braided the night before.

I wanted to go for a run to try and shake off how lousy I was feeling, but sadly my lack of clothing options, not to mention running shoes, would have made that difficult. Instead I popped a couple Midol and ran through my old morning fitness routine, minus the run. I had just finished when the alarm that Blair had set off for seven thirty went off. I quickly helped her to wake the others and once we were all dressed and ready for the day, she had Shu put away our sleepwear and other supplies from wherever she was keeping them and retrieve the small purse that she had been using as Jade.

The new Airman posted outside the house drove us to one of the on-base fast food places so that Blair could buy us all breakfast. It was nothing fancy, just some McDonald’s hotcakes and such, but we all enjoyed it, especially the twins. They had been in an orphanage since they were three and never had many opportunities to eat fast food or junk food before, until the pizza that Blair had brought us during our first day of captivity together. We were all in a better mood as we headed to our debriefing, even me since I had managed to keep my breakfast in my stomach.

The debriefing with General Nelson and Agent Smith was long and arduous. First they wanted to get the complete story from Blair, Tabitha and me. At least we wouldn’t have to write any reports since Tabby and I were both officially dead and the HAA wasn’t going to admit to using a Hyper for the infiltration. Another agent would ghostwrite a report based on Blair’s interview and say that a freelance contractor had accomplished the mission without naming names and Blair would be paid the fee that she had originally been offered for the mission with a bonus.

That was when Blair had insisted on being able to formally adopt the girls. I had thought that Agent Smith would have objected, but he eagerly agreed to that concession. It seemed that the four mutant girls were a complication that nobody was sure how to deal with, since they couldn’t really be sent back to their orphanages. My sister was saving them the headaches, so after a brief phone call the HAA were willing to pay out her bonus as small trust funds for Tasha, Vanessa, and the twins, not huge, but enough for a good start on a college education. They were probably being so agreeable because they really wanted to buy the plans for the infiltration suit that Blair had worn for the mission. They couldn’t be allowed to buy the exoskeleton/power armor that she had worn beneath it, but the infiltration suit was not a weapon in any sense of the word, had been proven effective during her mission, and would be very useful to the HAA in similar missions.

It was after that when the more tricky matters came up, namely me and Tabitha. That’s when the person from DC joined us and Tasha and Vanessa took the twins to wait outside. The new woman was introduced as Tara Miller with the Hyper Protection Program and she immediately got to work. Tabitha would be issued a new identity and set loose with a generous hush-money payment, new identification, a high school diploma, and a well-documented history. She had decided on the name Tanika Jane Weston and planned on going back home to Chicago. She had a sister and niece there that she wanted to see, but she wasn’t sure how she could manage it yet, except maybe at her own funeral as one of Tabitha’s friends.

I was the real problem though, and everyone knew it. My being a minor with absolutely no history would make things easier, but more complicated as well. I would need a name, a guardian, a believable background, and a reason for suddenly being in that new guardian’s life. The name and guardian were easy enough, Blair would be my guardian and I would go by the name Merida Maidie Ainsley, but working out the details was proving frustrating. “You could be Maddock’s daughter, it would explain your military knowledge and lingo,” Agent Smith suggested at one point.

“Nae, she would ‘ave been conceived when I was fifteen or sixteen an’ it’d be easy tae poke holes in the story by speakin’ wit’ anyone I went tae school wit’,” I said shaking my head. “An’ I cannae be ma own younger sister, the age gap is too big ’tween Blair an’ the new me. I dinnae look like Blair’s sister, I look like ‘er bloody daughter.” I grumbled in frustration and looked up too see that everyone else’s faces had lit up like Christmas trees.

“That’s perfect, since she’s going to be your guardian anyway,” Tara said with a grin.

“Ya cannae be serious,” I sputtered, staring at them.

Blair was already doing the math though. “If we say that yuir twelve goin’ on thirteen in late august, it could work. That would put me at just under 20 when you were born. That would have ya born at the end of the year I took off to backpack through Europe after gettin’ my undergraduate degrees and before I started pushin’ for my doctorates. I did all o’ my schooling through the University of Washington so we could easily say that Mom and Da’ helped me care for ya while I was finishin’ school an’ doin’ my residency, since I was livin’ with them an’ commutin’ that whole time.”

“I kin get ‘ow yer gonna explain the adoptions, but ‘ow in hell are ya plannin’ on explainin’ havin’ a biological daughter suddenly showin’ up tae yuir neighbors?” I argued.

“Andy and I only moved to California a few months ago and I’ve been gone most of that time. We’re only renting the place we’re in now until we had time to actually look at houses, so we were planning on moving anyway at some point. We don’t even know any of the neighbors yet and I haven’t had time to set up a medical practice yet either with all o’ the government tech contracts I’ve had in the past year. I’ve practically been a recluse, so people could have easily overlooked the fact that I have a daughter. If anyone does ask, then we were just enjoying the first half of the summer together while the adoptions went through and I decided where I wanted to set up my practice.”

“We could arrange to have Maddock’s Will found, leaving everything to his niece Merida and give your ‘incentive’ to your sister to put into a trust fund for Merida as well,” the General put in.

“Okay, I have late August for her birthday, perhaps the 29th? She’ll be turning thirteen, but I’ll make sure that the school records and transcripts from Tacoma show her to be gifted enough to have skipped a grade so she can start fresh in high school instead of junior high. Things will probably be easier on her that way,” Tara said as she started speed typing on her laptop.

“Wot d’ya mean ‘igh school?” I asked looking around at everyone else in the room, all of them but Tabitha looking surprised at my question.

“Well obviously you’re going to have to go to school like your new sisters to blend in, it would look out of place otherwise,” Agent Smith said with a shrug.

“You’ll do fine, ya got good grades in school the first time, so ya could do even better now,” Blair added. “And we still have three weeks before it starts, so we can help ya adjust a bit.”

“I also despised it the first time, I dinnae think this time is gonna be any different, even if ma gender is,” I grumbled.

“Look at it as a second chance and maybe this time you can go to a good university afterwards, you’ll have the money for it,” Tabitha, or rather Tanika, suggested.

An hour later it was all set up and Blair was signing adoption papers and various documents from Merida’s past which would be backdated and filed in the appropriate schools and government archives. All of the new documents, birth certificates, medical cards, and other necessities were spat out from some special printer in Tara’s briefcase for both Merida and Tanika, and she even printed out official copies of Tasha’s Vanessa’s, and the twins’ birth certificates as well to make things easier for Blair. Arrangements had also been made for military funerals for both Tabitha and Maddock within the next few days and to have their things packed and sent to our new identities. With many thanks and one final salute to the General, we left the office and headed for our new lives. Tanika was getting a lift to Chicago from here on the base and me and my new sisters would be going for lunch and then to our new home.

“Dae I really have tae call ya ‘Mom’?” I grumbled in protest as we approached the girls.

“It’s goin’ to be weird for me too,” Blair complained with a sigh, “but we need to keep up appearances and make sure there are no slip ups, so that means that we both need to get used to doing it all the time. So from now on I’m ‘Mom’ and yuir ‘Merida’. I was planning on havin’ kids someday, but goin’ from none to five is going to take some gettin’ used to.”

“I ken, an’ I understand the reasonin’, but I’m still no’ sure I like it, or havin’ tae go tae ‘igh school ‘Mom’.”

By this time we had approached conversation distance with the girls and Vanessa grinned as she inquired, “Mom? And what’s this about high school?”

“Aye, I’m legally ‘er biological daughter now, ‘an I ‘ave tae start ‘igh school wit’ ya next month,” I replied with a groan. “Ya should all get used to callin ‘er ‘Mom’ too, ‘cause the adoptions are official an’ we’re all sisters now it seems.”

That news was met with excited squealing and group hugs and once everyone had settled down Blair said, “Okay girls let’s go get some lunch, an’ then we have a busy afternoon ahead o’ us.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 8 of MSPD in place of Twice Removed this week. I will post the next chapter on Saturday as well to keep on schedule. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 8: Shop 'til You Pop

There was a large black SUV waiting for us outside with Andy behind the driver’s seat. Blair hadn’t been able to tell him much of anything before we were debriefed, only that her mission was over and successful and that she would need him to come pick her up and where to do so. He had probably been waiting for a while by this point, but when he saw her approaching he practically jumped out of the car to wrap her up in a hug and a passionate kiss. He was tall and skinny with a pasty complexion, light brown hair and blue eyes, was dressed in a nerdy t-shirt and jeans, and looked more than a little confused by the company Blair was keeping.

Since I figured that she hadn’t been able to tell him anything important yet I decided to mess with him a bit. Once I was sure he was looking my way I put on my very best impatient teen girl expression, placed my hands on my hips, rolled my eyes extravagantly, and spoke as casually as possible. “Ach, get a room will ya? C’mon Da’, kin we get goin’? Mom said we ‘ave a busy day an’ the girls an’ I wan’ tae get tae the mall.”

He stared at me for a moment, completely uncomprehending then his gaze snapped back to Blair, then back to me, and then to the four other girls with us. “Wha?” he finally asked.

Blair was shaking her head and took a brief moment to glare at me before finally scuffing her feet awkwardly, hands clasped behind her back. “Andy… honey… you know how we talked about having kids someday? Well… surprise!”

After Blair had made all of the introductions, and Andy had finally managed to convince himself that it really wasn’t some very strange dream, we all climbed into the vehicle and drove off the base and into the city. As we drove Blair explained how the mission had gone, my role in it and who I was, my new fictional past, the girls’ situation, and her decision to adopt them. Andy was staring uncertainly at me through the rearview mirror as she finished. “I… can’t believe that’s Maddock.”

“Aye, bu’ It’s Merida now,” I stressed. “It seems tha’ the radiation from the bomb does’nae jus’ Activate Hypers, it also turns guys intae l’il girls. We dinnae think it’s contagious, bu’ we ‘ave no’ really tested it yet. Dinnae worry, I’m shoor ya will be fine,” I added as I leaned forward in my seat to pat him on the shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s Maddock all right… sorry I mean Merida,” he quickly corrected with a beleaguered sigh. “Welcome to the family girls. Merida, if you ever need to… you know… talk about things just let me know.”

I appreciated the sentiment, I really did. Much as I liked rattling his cage, Andy always took it in stride. He was a bit of a geek and we never had much in common besides my sister, but he had always been a standup guy and I’d have had to have been blind to not see how much that he and Blair cared for one another. He had probably been worried sick the whole time she was on that mission. “Thanks, I ‘preciate it. It’s you tha’ I feel sorry for though. Yuir the only male in a family o’ se’en now, the only one wi’out super powers, an’ yuir five kids are all teenage girls, or soon will be.”

“I’m doomed,” he agreed, but he managed to say it with a smile.

Our first stop was a drive-thru to get some hamburgers for lunch. It wasn’t the best food, but it was quick and filling, and at the moment that was what counted most. After that we stopped at the bank that Blair used for all of her financial matters. We all waited in the SUV and ate our lunches while ‘Mom’ was inside setting up our trust funds. It took her longer than we would have liked, but she was setting up five trust funds so we all tried to be as patient as possible until she returned and we headed off to our next stop, the mall.

The mall we ended up visiting seemed to be pretty average, there weren’t near as many yuppies or rich brats as I was expecting and our first stop was a beauty salon. It was all a bit girly, but I didn’t much care so long as I got rid of a bit of my heavy burden. The other girls weren’t so bad off, none of them really needed even a trim, and we managed to get me in to see a stylist without an appointment. She spent the whole time gushing about how beautiful and long my hair was. I had promised the others that I wouldn’t have it all hacked off, so I went along with the Vanessa’s recommendation of trimming it down to thigh length. It would still be annoyingly long, but the others wouldn’t complain about it as much, it would be a bit more manageable, and at least I wouldn’t be tripping over it.

I think that Blair was enjoying herself far too much at that point. When the beautician asked if I wanted my ears pierced as well I made sure to ask ‘Mom’ if it was okay, while making very sure that my eyes were saying hell no. Sure she could have just missed seeing that look in my eyes, but I doubted it from the way she was smiling as she said, “I think that’s a great idea, the other girls already have theirs pierced, you should too.” I tried to argue, but when we left the salon to move on to clothes shopping I was burdened with two more holes in my body that I didn’t really want and small silver studs adorning my ears. It might have gone differently if Andy had been there, but as soon as we entered the mall the traitor had wisely left us to look at computers and stuff, leaving me wishing that I could have gone with him to escape what was bound to be a tortuous afternoon and evening.

“C’mon Mer, at least try to look like you’re having fun,” Vanessa chided me as she pulled me along to the ladies room before our big shopping excursion was due to commence. She needed to take a short break from shifting and to wet her skin and tail a bit, since she was starting to get itchy again and I was tagging along since I needed to change my tampon and panty-liner anyway.

“I’ll try” I grumbled back as we entered the bathroom. I paused a moment, uncertain as I took my first step into no-man’s land, but Vanessa dragged me in along behind her without any hesitation. It wasn’t really all that different than the men’s room, a little cleaner and there were no urinals, but those seemed to be the only obvious differences at first glance. Once we were certain the coast was clear Vanessa made her way into a stall while I filled the small spray bottle we had bought at one of the dollar stores with water.

By the time I had entered the stall beside Vanessa’s and slipped the bottle to her underneath the partition she had already gotten her panties off and switched her legs back into a tail. “Ah, sweet relief,” she said with a sigh that was accompanied by the spritzing sound of spraying water. I said nothing as I set about my own, slightly more disgusting task. Once I had wrapped and disposed of the offending feminine hygiene products in the receptacle as Vanessa had instructed me, I replaced them with new ones and left the stall to wash my hands.

I had to wait a few minutes more for my new sister as she shifted her tail back into legs, and then took care of another pressing need before finishing up, getting her panties back on and emerging to wash her own hands. “You know, I never thought I’d say this, but being a mermaid can be a real pain in the ass… or tail,” she said with a sigh as she dried her hands.

“Aye, I cannae imagine ‘ow ‘ard tha’ is fer ya,” I agreed as we left the room and made our way back to where the others were waiting in the food court.

“Okay girls, here’s how we’re goin’ to do this,” Blair stated in a whisper, so that only we could hear, when we joined them at the table. She handed me and Vanessa each a small purse and I noticed that Tasha had one as well. “I’ll take the twins shoppin’ while Vanessa and Tasha will take Merida. There’s some cash in there an’ a prepaid debit card for each of ya with a three thousand dollar limit. It should be more than enough to get everythin’ ya need today if you shop smart. The pin number is the day and month of your birth, remember that Merida.” Seeing that she made a point of using my new name I had to assume that it was for Merida’s birth, not Maddock’s.

Once I had nodded to confirm that I understood she continued quietly speaking. “You’ll need both runnin’ shoes and a pair of nice heels, some makeup, somethin’ nice to wear for a funeral, a light jacket or windbreaker, a larger purse, some pajamas or nightgowns, or in Vanessa’s case some bikini tops, a bathin’ suit, an’ at least a week’s worth of everyday clothing an’ underwear, but more would be better.” She paused to give me a long considering look before adding, “An’ make sure Merida doesn’t get any military fatigues. She can have jeans, shorts, and capris, but I want to see at least three skirts and a nice dress for the funeral for her. Oh, and you’ll all need two sets of clothes that ya can run or exercise in.”

Before we split up to do our shopping we stopped at a cellular store, where Blair bought each of us a new cell phone and had them activated so that we could stay in contact in case any of us got separated. Once we had all programmed in each of our numbers, and Mom’s, into our new phones she left with the twins in hand and Tasha, Vanessa, and I were set loose. Okay, we weren’t so much set loose as the two of them half-dragged me to the nearest lingerie shop targeted toward teens.

“Dae we ‘ave tae start ‘ere?” I complained as they pulled me inside.

“Always start on the inside and work your way outward,” Tasha explained.

Tasha already knew her ‘sizes’ but Vanessa insisted that we both needed to get measured. Apparently I was 34-27-34 and the B cup bras they had me trying on were uncomfortably tight, while the C cups were a little loose. Vanessa suggested that I go for the latter since I would likely grow into them at some point. She had gone up a cup size since Activating and her hips were a bit wider too, something she seemed very pleased about for some reason that escaped me. “Oh nae, tha’ was no’ awkward a’ all,” I grumbled as we started looking through bra and panty sets for our sizes.

“Nuh-uh, oh no you don’t Mer. A girl needs some variety and plain white won’t work with some outfits, you also need at least one strapless bra,” the mermaid scolded me as I tried to get away with picking seven identical plain white sets in my sizes. She allowed me to keep only two of them before adding a nude strapless bra and five lacey sets in black, white, pink, crimson, and emerald.

I was still grumbling about the injustice of it when we made our way into one of those large chain department stores. The idea was that we would be able to find a lot of the stuff we needed there for decent prices, leaving us with more money for extra clothes and the harder to get stuff. First we looked at sleepwear, where I got a white bathrobe and a pair of somewhat plain sleepshirts, one in military camo and the other in black with a skull and crossbones on the chest. I would have preferred pajamas but I couldn’t find anything I liked that wasn’t pink or sickeningly cutesy.

For exercising I got a pair of comfortable black and pink running shoes with a pair of spandex running tops and shorts, one set in dark green and the other in black with pink trim. I wasn’t really too keen on the pink, but in both cases they were both comfortable and on sale. For underneath I got a pair of racerback sports bras, one in black and one in grey, and I also snatched up a three pack of plain white cotton panties in my size. I damn well needed something that didn’t either have cartoon characters on it, or belong in Victoria’s Secret. As for the swimsuit, I didn’t get a choice in the matter, since I was still trying to find something that didn’t expose an embarrassing amount of skin by the time Tasha had picked hers and Vanessa had chosen four bikini tops to double as both sleepwear and swimwear, They ended up choosing an aqua-colored two piece bikini for me that they claimed highlighted my eyes.

The hardest part was finding something for the funeral. I was having a hard time deciding on something, after all it was my funeral so I wanted to look my best. In the end I went with a very simple yet classy black knee-length dress that Tasha had recommended and she and Vanessa had decided on something similar. The shoes that we decided on were just as simple, a pair of black one inch heels, that I felt should be easy enough to walk in.

The rest of the stuff we bought as Tasha and Vanessa dragged me from one end of the mall to the other, though since I didn’t know a lot about girls clothes they pretty much decided on everything for me. First there was the black and pink Hello Kitty backpack purse that they insisted would look cute on me and be easy to carry around. Then there was the matching zip-up Hello Kitty hoodie in place of a jacket. They told me it was because it went so well with the purse, but I was beginning to sense a theme once the dozen pairs of cutesy ankle socks were added. I was just too tired and bored by then to do anything but play along. The rest of the clothes were fairly standard I guess.

For tops it was pretty much standard fare, a couple of ‘pretty’ tunic style blouses, a teal ruffled poets blouse, and a bunch of t-shirts of various colors, most of which I chose myself, though a pink crop top with “Princess” written in sparkly letters across the chest had somehow found its way in there as well. Sadly the girls had taken Blair seriously on the three skirts, which they chose in various lengths and styles: A dark green ankle length, one loose fitting tie-dyed with ruffles that went to about halfway down my shins, and a black mid-thigh-length miniskirt with pink lace trim. The last of the clothes they chose for me consisted of four pairs of capris in various colors and four pairs of jeans which I thought looked painted on, but I was told they were a perfect fit.

By this time I was tired and I wanted to have something that I picked out and actually wanted to wear, something that made me feel secure. We were passing a shoe store when I stopped abruptly and said, “I wan’ tae ‘ave somethin’ tha’ I kin feel comfortable in. Mom said nae tae fatigues, but no’ tae some bloody combat boots.”

The pair of them gave one another a long look and I was seriously wondering if they had been talking with one another this whole time, and possibly Blair as well, with Tasha’s mind speech. Some of the things they had been pushing me to buy, trying to see how far I’d go, how much they could push on me to adapt. I knew that they were trying to help me adjust, but all of this stuff we’d been buying was girl stuff, and it was too much too soon. They had both been taking turns watching me for the entire excursion as well, like they were taking constant measure of just how much I’d be able to handle before I fell apart. Right now they were looking at me like I was going to explode and, given that with me that might just be a very real possibility, they seemed unsure of what to do. Finally Tasha nodded, “Sure we’ll have a look and see what they have.”

They didn’t have any regular style combat boots in my size, so I had to settle for trying on a pair of girl’s knee high combat boots. The cut felt a little odd, but they were black leather combat boots with laces instead of ridiculous looking buckles. Once they were securely fastened they were like an island of normalcy out in this stormy sea of girlie-ness, and at that moment having them on made me feel like maybe my life wasn’t spiraling completely out of my control after all. I bought the damn boots, wore them out of the store, and neither Vanessa nor Tasha said a thing about it.

We had one last stop to make before we met Blair, Andy, and the twins at the food court. Makeup was another of those super-girly things, which explained why they had saved it for last. It also explained why they had let me buy the boots beforehand, they wanted me comfortable. They both found what they wanted or needed fairly quickly and then they descended upon me.

As we looked through the racks of various shades of various products they told me what colors would work best for me with my complexion, hair color, and eyes. Then we got some lip gloss, a fairly large starter makeup kit that would work for me, and a nail care kit with several different colors of polish. At my age I didn’t really need more than lip gloss, but there were times that I might need it or want to look my best. The plan was that I would be getting some so they could at the very least teach me how to use it all properly, even if I didn’t wear it often. I didn’t think that I would need, or want, to use the stuff anytime soon, but Vanessa was still sure to promise that she would teach me whenever I was ready.

When we finally left the store, with our new purchases added to the far too many bags we were already carrying, we were all starting to get tired and hungry. Still, we all piled into one of the mall’s special needs washrooms on the way to meet the rest of the family and locked the door behind us. Vanessa was getting itchy again and, while she could have just given her legs and arms a quick spritzing anywhere, she was self-conscious about doing it where just anyone could see. She and Tasha both also wanted to get out of the dresses and underclothes that we had been wearing for the past few days and into something new, clean, and not associated with our captivity.

I didn’t mind since I had to pee anyway, I figured that I should take care of my monthly visitor again before it became a code red, and I had to agree with them about the dresses. As I was wiping, following my first order of business in the stall, I heard Tahsa say “Catch!” and one of my new, plain white bra and panty sets sailed over the stall door. I fumbled, but somehow managed to catch them before they could hit the floor and without making a mess. By the time I had finished shedding my old clothes, changing into the new underthings, changing my tampon, and adding a panty-liner to the new set of panties I was more than ready to get dressed and be done with all of this, especially since I had to take off my boots to change panties, at least if I didn’t want my new pair stretched out of shape or damaged. The bra had been especially difficult, since it was my first time putting on anything but a sports bra without Vanessa helping me, and the task had been made even more awkward in the tight confines of the bathroom stall.

Vanessa and Tasha had some clothes already set out for me as I padded barefoot over to the sink to wash my hands, my arms filled with my boots and old clothes. They tossed the old clothes in one of the bags while I washed my hands and once I was finished and my hands were dried they started issuing my clothes one piece at a time. First there was the pair of black ankle socks, followed quickly by the black mid-thigh-length miniskirt with pink lace trim and the pink “Princess” crop top. While I put those on, followed by my boots for the sake of my own sanity, Vanessa put everything from my smaller purse and my new cell phone in the Hello Kitty backpack purse and that and the matching hoodie were added to complete my outfit.

I had been about to zip up the hoodie to cover my bare midriff when Vanessa shook her head. “No Mer, keep it open, it looks better that way.” Of course she would think that since she was wearing a similar short skirt and crop top combo, though in her case skirts were just more practical. She hadn’t bought any shorts, jeans or slacks at all and she had already complained more than once about how difficult panties would be while shifting. I sighed and left my midriff exposed, feeling damn near naked as Tasha finished teasing my hair back into its proper style. At least the boots made me feel more confident, and both of my new sisters agreed that they looked good with the outfit. We quickly gathered our bags, and after one last sidelong glance at the unfamiliar teenage girl in the mirror I followed them out to brave the hallways of the mall once again.

Our group had received far too many long appreciative looks from teenage boys, and even some grown men, for my liking as we made our way to the food court. Each time it made my skin crawl. I knew damn well what they were doing and thinking, I used to be one of them, and the mere thought of these people undressing me with their eyes made me feel more than a little nauseous. We were nearly to the safety of the food court when a group of three boys stopped in front of us. They were all about Tasha’s age, sixteen or maybe even seventeen, and the middle one was kind of cute. “Oh God, please tell me I didn’t just think that!”

“Hey, I uhh… haven’t seen you girls around here before.” The tall Latino to the right said awkwardly. “I’m Eddie and that’s Todd and Mike,” he quickly added, pointing to the buff blond surfer-type and then the “cute” dark haired one in turn.

“It’s a big city, but yeah we’re not really from around here,” Tasha said with a shrug.

“We could show you the sights if you want,” Todd offered. “Or we could all go to a movie or something.”

Vanessa shook her head. “Thanks for the offer, but our parents are waiting for us, we’re supposed to be meeting them.”

Mike was looking at me in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable as he smiled and asked, “Maybe we can do something some other time then, hit the beach or something? It could be fun.” I said nothing as Tasha and Vanessa excused us so we could go, with that creep being obvious about mentally undressing me the whole time. We had managed to extract ourselves and were back on our way to the food court when my not-so-secret admirer came up from behind and grabbed me by the wrist. “Hey, at least give me your number!”

It took all the self-control I had not to punch him, not that it would have done much good without my force field, since I only possessed average physical capabilities and he was a good foot taller than me and pretty muscular too. “Dude, I’m like thairteen an’ no’ interested!” I snapped as I turned around to level a cold glare at him. I was uncomfortable, he was hurting me, the looks he had been giving me made me feel dirty, I was scared of using my powers to get him to let go, and even more scared of what might happen if I didn’t. That combination made me feel helpless and the whirlwind in my chest warned of an impending anxiety attack.

“What do I do?!” I thought as the anxiety attack hit and I started having trouble breathing. Then my anger overwhelmed everything else as I fought to control my breathing and pull my hand from his grip. “How dare he look at me and treat me like that?! How dare he make me feel this way?! Is this what’s going to happen when I put on girl’s clothes, or will it even matter what I wear?! Let go dammit! I hate this!” My force field activated even as I fought to prevent it, little red bubbles of unstable energy were building up along the surface of my skin and over my clothing, and I was too freaked out, angry, and focused on the source of that anger to stifle them completely.

Mike practically threw my arm away from him, causing some of the rapidly growing unstable energy bubbles to fly off, where they peppered the storefront of a nearby bookstore and exploded. Glass and pieces of shattered and scorched stonework were sent flying all over the place, the front of the store was a smoking ruin, and there were craters a few feet in diameter in what little remained of the wall and floor tiles. I had been extremely fortunate that nobody had been standing near there and the store itself wasn’t busy. Tasha had instinctively teleported out of range of the blasts, near a pair of women who had stopped to watch the exchange, but all three of the boys, Vanessa, and I had been showered with shattered glass and fragments of stone tiles. Vanessa didn’t seem harmed and my force field had protected me, but the boys all had some cuts and bruises showing on their exposed skin. They were all backing away now, their faces twisted into expressions of fear and hatred as Mike spat out, “Mutie freaks!”

I fought to control the bubbles and bury my power back inside me, but they seemed to be reacting more to my turbulent emotions than my thoughts. It took every ounce of discipline I possessed just to make the bubbles vanish and turn off my force field. Then, tightly clutching the shopping bags in my hands I turned and ran as fast as I could past the crowd that had gathered and toward the food court, with hot tears running down my face and my sisters right on my heels.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 9 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 9: Brave

“Merida, please you need to eat something,” Blair’s voice came through the locked bedroom door yet again.

“Sweetheart, I know you’re worried, but maybe you should give her some space,” Andy’s voice spoke in a quieter tone, as his slightly muffled footsteps approached.

“She’s been locked in there for two days! She only comes out to use the bathroom and then she locks herself right back in again! It’s bad enough that those boys said she attacked them and your bosses want to lock her up, but she hasn’t said a word to anyone since it happened. I’ve tried getting her to talk! The twins have tried, Tasha has tried, and Vanessa tries constantly!”

“They’re not my bosses anymore,” Andy clarified. “I resigned from the HAA this afternoon and I told them that if they still want to buy your infiltration suit that the price was doubled. I joined the agency to see justice done and the innocent protected, not to try and railroad kids because they happen to have powers. They have no case against her anyway. Smith and General Nelson vouched for her and we have sworn witness statements from Tasha, Vanessa, and two other people who saw the whole thing. Not to mention the security camera footage that shows that that boy assaulted and restrained her when she made it clear she wasn’t interested. We have the pictures you took of the bruises he left on her wrist too.”

I could hear the sigh of relief at his words before Blair said, “Thank God for that, but what can we do about Merida? She won’t talk, or eat, or even leave that room unless she absolutely has to.”

“Smith made some recommendations to me before I left,” Andy said softy, but still loud enough to carry through the door. “With this added to the trauma she’s already been through, she needs to talk to someone who understands. She needs to learn to control her powers better too, they all do. Smith is a field agent, not a glorified computer hacker like me, so he knows some people who aren’t connected to the HAA, they’re going to come after the funeral tomorrow.”

I just buried myself further under the blankets. After the incident Tasha had teleported Andy off to the scene while Vanessa explained what happened to Blair, who drove the rest of us home and gave me a short medical exam. After that I had gone straight to the room Blair had pointed out to me, put the shopping bags out of sight in the closet, tossed the clothes I had been wearing in the furthest corner, put back on the clothes I had worn as a prisoner, and I had stayed there since, only leaving to go to the bathroom or change my tampons when required. I was a freak, I couldn’t control myself, and I needed to be locked up for everyone’s safety, or at least that was what I had kept telling myself.

“Will she even be going to the funeral at this point?” Blair asked in a somber tone. “I’m worried Andy, she’s completely closing herself off from all of us and I have no idea what’s going on in her head. I can’t do anything for her like that.”

“Let me try sweetheart,” I heard Andy say. This was quickly followed by light clicking and scraping noises as he picked the lock. I heard the door open and just hid deeper under the blankets as I heard it close again and footsteps approach the bed. Someone sat on the side of the bed and Andy said, “Don’t you think you’ve been through enough without punishing yourself too? I said that I’d be there if you needed to talk, and I think that time has come Merida.”

I didn’t answer so he apparently decided to change tactics. “You know, your uncle Maddock and I never really had much in common, but I never once pegged him for a selfish piece of shit. Blair, Tasha and Vanessa are all blaming themselves for what you’re going through, and it looks like you’re blaming them too from the way you’re ignoring them. The twins look up to you and now they’re terrified that there’s something wrong with you. They’re all worried sick while you’re in here hiding from the world. I never thought that you or Maddock were the kind to hide in fear from anything, I guess I was wrong.”

His words hurt, probably because there was so much truth in them, and he wasn’t done yet. “Big military type men like your uncle Maddock never like to show weakness, they don’t open themselves up or show their feelings and they often suffer as a result, especially after a major trauma. Thirteen year old girls though, they can do that and not be judged, hell it’s expected. They can blather on and on about their problems, let all those emotions out, cry on a parent’s or a friend’s shoulder and feel better for it when they’re done. It’s a good thing that you’re not a big military man like your uncle isn’t it?”

I began sobbing, my breath coming in gasping hiccoughs between all the crying, sniffling, and snuffling from the flowing tears and the pained tightness in my throat and chest. Between crying jags I railed on about how conflicted my mind was over my situation, how my body had betrayed me by becoming female, and worse yet, how my mind had as well by being comfortable with it. Then I moved on to all of the huge changes in my life, my attraction to that boy, how sick I had felt when he looked at me and then the huge mess of emotions when he had grabbed me, my destructive powers that seemed a danger to everyone around me, and how I didn’t have control over any of it. Andy didn’t say anything more, he just sat there beside me gently rubbing my back as I let it all out.

When I was finally done he stood up and said, “Let’s go get something to eat, I’ll bet you’re pretty hungry.”

I was about to object as I sat up, but my stomach chose that moment to speak up for me. I could feel my cheeks flush as I nodded and replied, “Aye, maybe a wee bit… bu’ first… ‘ow much trouble am I in?”

“You’re not,” he answered simply before deciding to elaborate. “This is Los Angeles, so the mall and the store were both insured against ‘Acts of Hyper’. It will cover their damages and nobody was seriously hurt, not even those boys. I talked to the store owner myself, and he’s pretty happy overall since nobody was hurt. He wasn’t getting much business before and you just gave him a bunch of free advertising and the chance to renovate into a more modern book store with a café.”

“Advertisin’?” I asked with a sudden sinking feeling in my stomach.

“It was a slow news day,” Andy muttered. “The incident made the eleven o’clock news and that Mike kid tried to milk every second that he could for his fifteen minutes of fame. He claimed that you attacked him and his friends unprovoked. Nobody knew who you were and the two women who witnessed the whole thing told them what really happened. A security video somehow managed to get leaked too; yours or the other girls’ faces were pretty blurry, but it was enough to show that you were walking away when he grabbed you and held you there. It caught the sound pretty well though.”

I didn’t have wonder very long about how such a convenient video could have been ‘leaked’. Andy’s job with the HAA had been cybersecurity and data retrieval “Thanks,” I quickly muttered.

He didn’t admit to being responsible for the blurriness and release of the video, but he didn’t deny it either. Instead he just shrugged. “Smith helped a bit too. He had a little talk with ‘Mike’ yesterday and convinced him that in court such evidence of assaulting a thirteen year old girl, in plain view of witnesses, could get someone who is due to turn eighteen in three months tried as an adult, should the case be pursued. He and his friends are under a gag order now. Now let’s go get something to eat.”

Once we had eaten supper, and I had apologized to everyone for shutting them out like I had, Blair took me to her lab to give me a full physical. The process wasn’t as invasive as I had been fearing and mostly consisted of having me stand or lay down in various scanners of Blair’s own design. Apparently I was a perfectly healthy thirteen year old girl, right down to my telomeres and double X chromosomes. Blair had been worried about possible physical issues from such an extreme and complete physical change, but we were both relieved that I had seemed to dodge that particular bullet. The others had gone through similar testing over the past two days, mostly so they had something to focus on besides trying to coax me out of my room, and all of them seemed to be healthy as well. Vanessa had a few quirks as a result of being a mermaid, but it was no worse than Blair had been expecting.

I was still feeling terrible for shutting everyone out and making them worry so much as we left Blair’s lab. “I’m sorry…” Blair said suddenly. “We shouldn’t have pushed you so hard. We were tryin’ to help ya adjust, but we may have gone too far.”

“Yuir right though, I dae need tae adjust,” I admitted with a sigh. “I wan’ the security o’ knowin’ who the ‘ell I am. Maddock’s gone bu’ I‘m holdin’ on ‘cause he’s what’s familiar. I dinnae ken who the fook Merida is, an’ I should be tryin’ tae find out, bu’ it’s all so overwhelmin’ an’ it all seems tae come a’ me sideways. I need tae ‘ave some sense o’ control o’er my life. It’s no’ jus’ bein’ a girl either. I could’nae control ma powers, an’ it’s no’ the first time. I let loose wi’ ma powers afore ‘cause it was life an’ death, we were tryin’ tae escape, an’ I ‘ad a mission tae complete. Those were bad guys an’ I was under orders tae dae whate’er it took tae get all o’ ya out alive. A’ the mall I could ‘ave killed innocent civilians though.”

“I’ll help ya learn to control yuir powers, I’ll figure something out,” Blair promised. “I think if ya really want to find out who Merida is though, yuir goin’ to need girl lessons. You need to explore your new gender so ya can find out what ya like and what ya don’t, an’ since ya have four new sisters an’ me as a mom, ya have plenty of teachers. Since we haven’t seen ya for two days and ya still seem depressed though, yuir first lesson is goin’ to be Girl’s Night.”

Girl’s night turned out to be me, Mom, and my new sisters curled up together watching movies and drowning our sorrows in ice cream, chocolate, and companionship. I let the twins pick the movies since they were being super clingy now that I was out of my room again and they decided on two of the movies that Mom had bought them during the shopping trip from hell. Then as we started the first movie I was sat down near one end of the couch with the twins to either side snuggling up against me, all of us wrapped in warm blankets. Mom was on the other side of the couch, and Tasha and Vanessa were reclining on pillows on the floor in front of us.

The first movie was called Brave and as we watched I could see the similarities between Merida and… me; the long bright red hair, the eyes, her tomboyish body language and mannerisms, and especially the accent. “Please tell me tha' I dinnae sound tha’ bad,” I groaned in complaint at one point.

“No, your accent is even worse,” Tasha teased helpfully.

“You should totally take up archery, then you’d have the total package,” Vanessa added.

“That’s actually no’ a bad idea,” Mom put in. It was hard, and really weird, thinking of Blair that way, but we both needed to get used to it and I figured that girl’s night would be as good a place to start as any. “It would give ya more range for projectiles in combat once ya can control yuir powers better, an’ ya could just whip up some arrow constructs as ya need them instead of carrying a quiver.”

She actually had me considering the idea as we watched the rest of the movie. I’d need to start figuring out some hobbies for Merida anyway, so why not archery? As the movie went on I found myself really enjoying it. Vanessa teased me quite a bit, but it was all in good fun. It was a good movie and I found myself both liking and connecting with the main character. She just wanted to be free to be herself and have some sort of control over her own life and, while she could be stubborn and a bit shortsighted she was willing to stand up for herself and fight for what she believed was right, or to protect her family when she needed to. The character resonated with me, and at times during the movie I found myself laughing or crying along with the others as I held the twins close.

“So wot’s the next movie?” I asked as Shu hopped off the couch to eject one disc and put in another.

Mei giggled as she pointed from me to Vanessa. “Well, we just watched your movie, so now we’re gonna watch hers.”

“Yup, we’ve been wanting to have a movie night like this since that day we were all put in that room together,” Shu added. She too was giggling as she started the movie and then pounced back onto the couch beside me and under her blanket to snuggle again.

Vanessa’s movie was of course The Little Mermaid. I thought that this might be my chance to get in a little friendly ribbing of my own after her own jokes during Brave, but she beat me to the punch. Once the movie had started, and she had gotten a good look at Ariel, Vanessa allowed herself to shift back into mermaid form and went about changing the color of her hair and the scales on her tail to match the mermaid on the screen. She spent the whole movie like that and even sang along with the songs, depriving me of any chance for a counter-teasing, she wasn’t a bad singer either.

The twins of course were both in heaven, having two Disney princesses, or convincing copies thereof, sitting with them, three if you counted the pixie that Mei had summoned who bore a striking resemblance to Tinkerbell. “Yuir pretty convincin’ an’ ya seem tae ken all the words tae the songs,” I managed to tease as the movie neared its conclusion. “Why one could almos’ think tha’ ya ‘ad it mem’rized or sumthin’.”

“Well… I… ummm…” the mermaid began awkwardly before letting out a long sigh. “Okay, you got me Merida. When I was growing up, before I lost my family, we spent a lot of time at the beach or sailing. I’ve always felt this connection with water and the ocean in particular, it’s why I love surfing so much, so that was my favorite movie.”

“I envy ya tha’,” I admitted with a sigh of my own. “Ya all ken who ya are an’ wot ya like. I need tae figure all o’ tha’ out. I think I still want tae keep in shape and keep up wit’ ma combat trainin’, bu’ I need other interests. I might jus’ take up archery like Mom was sayin’, bu’ dae ya think tha’ ya could maybe teach me tae surf?”

“I’d love to, it would be fun,” she replied, turning around to grin at me. “I could teach all of you if you’re interested.” The others were quick to agree, though the twins admitted that they’d need to learn to swim first. After that the conversation turned to what other things we could try out together to help me learn who exactly Merida was in the next few weeks before school started. Tasha offered to teach me about all the different types of clothes and colors that were available for girls so that next time we went shopping I could choose what appealed to me, Vanessa was going to start teaching me about makeup before the funeral tomorrow, and Mom and the twins had a lot of ideas for movies, books and other potential hobbies that I should have at least a general knowledge about as a girl. It was going to be a sort of girl boot camp, but Mom told me sternly to talk to them if I was starting to feel overwhelmed and that we would do it at my pace and try to keep it fun. I would be the one in control, and that was something that I really needed to hear after everything that had happened since I went on that doomed rescue mission.

“It’s time for bed girls, we have the funeral to go to in the morning,” Blair… err Mom said after a while. I was half asleep on the couch by then and the twins were curled up to either side of me snoozing with their heads on my lap. I felt a pang of guilt as I looked at them and thought about how absorbed I had been on how hard things were on me the past two days. The other girls had been through big changes and a lack of control over things too. Sure we were a family now, but things were still uncertain and probably a bit frightening for all of us, not just me. We had been one another’s constant while we were held captive and while on the Air Force base. We had counted on one another for support and the twins were looking to me be their big sister and help them through this, and I had been feeling so sorry for myself that I had abandoned them to the uncertainty of this new living situation and made them all worry about me too. I felt like a heel.

“Aye, maybe we should’nae wake the twins though,” I offered hesitantly as I reached down to brush a lock of hair away from Shu’s face and adjust the blanket that was slipping off of Mei. “I’ll be fine ‘ere wi’ them, I think I’ve spen’ enough time alone anyway.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's now Saturday, so here's chapter 10 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 10: Turning the Page

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night after a terrible dream where all my teammates had died at Phantom’s hands then she had killed Vanessa, Tasha, Blair and the twins as well, while I could only watch helplessly. My heart was racing, my breath was coming in great heaving gasps, I was shaking uncontrollably, and I could feel hot tears running down my face as I sniffled feebly and tried to calm myself down without waking the twins in my lap. It hadn’t been the first such dream since we had escaped and eventually I managed to slow my breathing and pulse as I focused on making sure that Shu and Mei were properly covered and sleeping soundly. Then, once I had finally managed to put the dream mostly out of my mind and put a firm stop to the shaking and crying, I drifted off into a deeper, sounder sleep as I held the twins close.

I woke again in the early morning, feeling a bit stiff from my odd sleeping position as the twins shifted in my lap. They were moving carefully, trying not to wake me, and I couldn’t help but smile at that as I said, “Good mornin’.”

“We were trying not to wake you,” Shu offered apologetically as they both leaned in to hug me.

“Yeah, it’s not even six yet,” Mei agreed as I hugged the pair back.

Dinnae worry aboot it,” I replied with a shrug as we all let one another go. “I’m used tae wakin’ up this early, an’ I should be exercisin’ anyway if I wan’ tae stay in shape. I think I’ll get dressed, dae ma usual mornin’ routine, an’ go fer a run.”

I went upstairs to go to the bathroom and discovered, much to my relief that my period seemed to be over. After quickly brushing my teeth, while trying to be as quiet as possible not to wake Vanessa who was asleep in the bathtub, I went back to change into a new pair of panties and one of the sports bras that I had bought. After a moment’s consideration I decided on the black and pink spandex sports top and shorts that would go better with the black and pink of my sneakers and got dressed. I knew that I needed to get used to the girly stuff, and to do that I would need to stop hiding from it like I had been.

When I returned downstairs to the living room to start in on my morning exercises, with my hair tied back in a long ponytail and out of my way, I was surprised to find the twins waiting for me dressed in exercise clothes as well. They didn’t let me say a word before Mei spoke up. “We want to learn to fight, so we decided that we want you to teach us.”

“Yeah,” Shu quickly agreed, “Neither of us was really very useful during our escape, but we have powers now and we need to learn to protect ourselves and each other. Vanessa and Tasha want in on it too, but we thought that we’d let them sleep in today since none of us planned on asking you until you were feeling better.”

“Wha’ dae ya mean ya wan’ me tae teach ya?” I asked a bit concerned. “If I learned anythin’ a’ the mall it was tha’ I cannae fight the way I used tae. I’m no’ near as strong as I was and cannae depend on ma strength anymore. I’ll need tae completely change ma trainin’ routine.”

“We’re all girls, none of us can really use strength to fight, ‘cept you when you’re powered up,” Mei pointed out. “So we’re going to exercise with you to get in shape. Besides you probably know all sorts of ways to fight without strength so you can teach us those.”

“Besides, it’s only fair that if we teach you about being a girl that you teach us stuff too,” Shu added.

I thought about it for a moment. I had been planning on changing my routine to favor stamina, speed and agility over strength anyway. My personal style may have used my strength to my advantage, but all of the combat training we had done for my unit involved a mix of skills for all situations: Martial arts, fighting multiple opponents solo or as a team, tactical thinking, lethal and non-lethal means of subduing or incapacitating opponents, in addition to various weapons training. I could always work our training program around that, while excluding the lethal techniques.

Girls needed to be able to defend themselves, especially these girls. Our powers may make us targets of other organizations like Omega, and if we had to fight as a unit again I’d feel a lot better if they had the proper training. Blair… err Mom even seemed to think we would need to think of that in the future too, since she had specifically mentioned the possibility of future combat when she had suggested that I take up archery the night before. Finally I nodded. “Aye, bu’ this is goin’ tae be the toughest trainin’ any o’ ya will e’er experience. I will no’ be goin’ easy on ya.

Since I didn’t really know their limitations, or those of my new body, very well yet I started us off with a twenty minute run, half of it heading westward through the neighborhood and then back to the house we were currently renting. Then I put us through my regular morning fitness routine, or at least the one I used when I didn’t have a gym available. I didn’t plan on teaching any actual combat techniques until Vanessa and Tasha could join us though. We were all exhausted and more than a bit sweaty when we were finished. By then Tasha and Vanessa were awake and helping Mom make breakfast so I took a shower in the bathroom that Vanessa had vacated while the twins took turns in the other. I had almost forgotten what a pain in the ass it was washing all of my hair, but things got even more annoyingly complicated when Mom had Vanessa come in to show me how to shave the fine hairs on my legs and under my arms. Breakfast had already gotten cold and the twins had both finished their own showers by the time I was finished and downstairs again.

After finishing my breakfast, still in my white bathrobe, Vanessa took me back to the bedroom I was using to help me get ready for the funeral. I got dressed in my black dress and heels and had a bit of practice walking around in them before Vanessa set me down to work on brushing my hair out properly and then working on putting some light makeup on my face. She was sure to explain every step and why she was doing it as she worked and I watched in the mirror. Then, once I was as ready as I was going to get, she started getting herself ready.

Attending one’s own funeral is a disturbing experience. It was made only more so by the fact that the only attendees were our family group, three or four friends I hadn’t seen much of since high school, General Nelson, and the honor guard. Most of my real friends had been in my unit and they had all died, save me and Reaper who were also legally dead, if not in body and spirit. It was actually a bit depressing how few people had shown up, and it made me wonder how I had not been lonely all those years with only the company of those I had served with and the occasional visit to my sister or now-dead parents.

They had gone for full honors on the funeral at least. There was the honor guard, the three-volley salute, the lone bugler playing Taps, and finally the folding of the flag before General Nelson himself presented it to Blair. We were both tearing up a bit by that point, and I gave a tearful farewell to my former life as the empty casket was lowered into the ground. The worst part though was standing there while the attendees came to give us their condolences and I was introduced to old friends as Maddock’s niece. I just kept wanting to yell out, “I’m not dead, I’m right here!” as I stood there crying and feeling the tightness in my chest become more and more unbearable, my hands tightly clenched at my sides as I fought to keep my powers from activating.

I was relieved when it was all finally over and we were able to head back to what was home for the moment. That relief lessened some as I noticed the black sedan with tinted windows parked outside the house. We had barely pulled into the driveway and stepped out of the SUV when two women stepped out of the sedan and approached us. The woman in the lead was a tall raven-haired beauty with silver eyes and was dressed in a very professional manner. The other though was a woman of average height, and somewhat slender build, who wore a black and dark purple bodysuit that covered her entire face and body, even her eyes and mouth. “You’re Smith’s friends?” Andy asked uncertainly as he stepped between the approaching women and the rest of us.

The woman in the lead nodded. “Yes, and you must be Mr. Tomkins. Agent Smith suggested that your daughters may need our help. Perhaps introductions should wait until we can have a little more privacy though, we have much to discuss.”

Andy seemed to relax somewhat at that, though the rest of us were still a bit on guard as he led the pair of women into the house. The silent woman in the bodysuit was casting long looks in my direction, and had me a little on edge, so I once again had to fight to keep my powers buried as Mom held us back for a moment. “It’s okay girls. A friend of ours sen’ these people and if he says we can trust them, then we can trust them. They’re here to help.”

The other girls relaxed a bit at that, and while I figured that Smith could be trusted since he had gone to bat for us before, I was still a little on edge from the long looks the one woman had sent my way. Then we all went inside to join Andy and the two women, where the black-haired woman immediately introduced herself and her companion. “I’m Dr. Alana Edwards, the founder and headmistress for Pacific Seaside Academy, though most people know me by the name Mystech. My companion is Kendra Wilson, or Toxin.”

“I’ve heard of ya, yuir a Tinker too right? Ya already know ma fiancé it seems,” Mom said with a shrug before introducing the rest of us in turn. “I’m Blair Ainsley an’ these are ma daughters: Merida, Tasha, Vanessa, Mei, and Shu.”

Dr. Edwards nodded. “Yes Dr. Ainsley, I’m a Category four Tinker and Mage. I mostly specialize in hybridizing magic and technology for security and other areas of interest. You’re an MD correct? With Doctorates in medicine, engineering, biotech, physics, comparative Hyper biology, medical science, and applied sciences.”

Mom narrowed her eyes. “You’ve done yuir research.”

“Your name came up a few times when I was looking for new staff for my school this summer,” the woman admitted. “I could use someone like you as chief of medicine for our medical clinic, not to mention on several of our current research projects. I had planned on approaching you, but you were unavailable until recently. Smith told me that may have changed when he informed me of the current situation with your ‘daughters’.”

“And how much did Smith tell ya exactly?” Mom asked. She had perked up briefly at the off-handed job offer, but she was still being cautious.

“He told me everything,” Mystech admitted with a shrug. “It’s best that I know exactly what I’m dealing with. This information will of course remain classified. Kendra only knows because she is one of our school trauma counsellors and I fear that these girls may need to speak with her openly about what they’ve been through. She usually works with students with particularly difficult or traumatizing power sets or physical changes, but given what your girls have been through I think it’s best that they have someone they can talk to if they feel the need. I would like to begin by testing them all individually and allowing Kendra and Merida to speak for a bit alone so that we can assess what exactly we’re dealing with.”

Once our parents had agreed to her request, Dr. Edwards created a magical doorway and we were all about to step through when Toxin placed a hand on my shoulder. “Wait Miss Ainsley, you’ll be tested last so that I can have that talk with you now, while your sisters get tested and your parents watch from the control room.” Mom looked at me uncertainly, but I sighed and gave her a nod. Then they all stepped through the shimmering silver door of light, leaving me alone with Toxin.

She started off by telling me about herself, probably in an attempt to make me comfortable with her and more willing to talk about myself. The reason for her bodysuit, and apparently her codename as well, was because her power seemed to be just being deadly. Her skin and hair excrete a powerful poison that kills on contact, and her blood is among the most toxic substances on Earth. Her mutation was especially hard on her when she Activated because she wanted to be a doctor and help people, now her mere touch kills them. It was sad really, and actually kind of helped put my own problems in perspective.

After that she had be take some tests that she had brought as we sat at the kitchen table. When I was finished, the conversation that followed as she looked over my answers was long and sometimes awkward. She asked me various questions about how I was feeling or adjusting, how I saw being female compared to being male, hypothetical situations, what I was thinking about when I Activated, what I dreamed about, and a lot of personal questions that I didn’t really want anyone asking me. At times I got angry, sad or defensive from some of the things she asked or implied and my force field activated three times when I was particularly upset. Each time it seemed harder to get control of it again, but at least I didn’t blow anything up since I was careful to sit perfectly still.

Finally, almost two hours after we began, Kendra apologized. “I’m sorry Merida, I know that some of those questions must have been difficult for you. I want to help you though and I hope that you can trust me enough to allow me to do that once you’re a student at the school. I won’t share anything we ever discuss with anyone without your permission, but I do feel that we should tell your family and Dr. Edwards about the issues we’ll be trying to work through so that they can be part of the process or at least be aware of them.”

“Issues?” I questioned her with a frown. “As far as I ken, the only issue I ‘ave is adjustin’ tae bein’ a girl an’ a kid.”

She sighed and placed her hands on both of my shoulders. It was hard to read any expressions from her with her face completely hidden like it was, but her tone was heavy with concern as she said, “Merida, the events leading to your Activation were extremely traumatic for you, even more so than the age regression and becoming female. Your Archetype is helping you to adjust to your new age and gender, but that first trauma has had a profound effect on you. The dreams you told me about lead me to believe that you may be suffering from PTSD. There is also ample evidence in your answers to the tests, as well as your reactions to some of the questions I asked, to point toward PCEDS as well.”

I knew what PTSD was and I could even grudgingly admit that it was a possibility, but I had no idea what the other thing she was talking about was. “PCEDS? Wot the ‘ell is tha’?”

“It stands for Pre-conceived Emotional Distress Syndrome,” she clarified. “I’ve only heard of three previous cases in North America over the past ten years, but it is part of a broader condition called Transformative Stereotype Disorder which happens sometimes with Hypers who go through major physiological changes when they Activate. You know how your Archetype can be affected based on powers, preconceived notions or beliefs or environmental conditions?”

When I nodded in response to her question she continued to speak. “Well sometimes when a Hyper held strong preconceived beliefs about the form they change to when Activating, that belief is embedded in their Archetype and can have an actual physical and/or psychological effect on them afterwards. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophesy. With PCEDS it’s when a male becomes a female during their Activation and they believed females to be very emotional and incapable of adequately controlling those emotions beforehand. These girls don’t have near as strong an emotional filter as other girls. Their emotional states can become very overwhelming, especially during their teens when their hormones are in full swing.”

I shook my head fast enough to make myself dizzy as I fought the surge of fear and panic that were tightening my chest, and to keep my force field from surfacing again. “Nae! There’s nothin’ wrong wi’ me! I was in full control the ‘ole time we were captives!” Except deep down I knew that I wasn’t. I could think of several times where I had lost it emotionally and hadn’t been able to control myself. “I was able tae pu’ maself in mission mode an’ compartment’lize ma emotions durin’ combat situations! I kin jus’ keep doin’ tha’!”

“You can’t bury your emotions every hour of every day and you know it Merida, it would only lead to a nervous breakdown, probably have severe long term repercussions, and with your powers the consequences could be disastrous. As your powers become more natural to you and easier to summon at will, they’re also going to become more instinctive, reacting whenever you feel strong emotions, but you’ve already been noticing that haven’t you?”

I looked at the floor, but nodded. “Aye, I ‘ave tae keep fightin’ tae keep ma force field from appearin’.”

“That’s a common issue for girls with PCEDS,” she explained. “You need to try to be aware of your emotional states and when you need to let off steam, find a way to do it in a safe way where nobody gets hurt. Perhaps since you’re already upset we should go do your testing now so you can let loose a bit and vent some of that frustration.”

Toxin led me through the shimmering silver portal and into a room where everyone but Vanessa was watching the mermaid on a large computer screen as Mystech stood before a large control panel, looking at readings and occasionally tapping at various buttons or touch screens. Vanessa had just used her hydrokinesis to put out a fire while ignoring several blows to her back from a robot which she quickly used a high pressure water blast to blow a hole through once she was finished putting out the flames.

“Wot is this place?” I wondered aloud as I took a look around the control room.

“This is one of the Pacific Seaside Academy’s PDE rooms,” Mystech explained as a shimmering door appeared and Vanessa emerged to join us. “It stands for Pocket Dimension Environment. I helped my mentor Deep Blue to design them for AMPS years ago. It’s a school like PSA in Canada. It’s where I learned to control my powers, I was one of their first graduates. Three years ago I decided to start PSA, and we’ll be starting our second year in September, I hope you’ll all decide to join us. How did your talk go?”

Kendra looked toward me and I gave her a reluctant nod and my unspoken consent. “It’s going to be a long road for Merida, but it’s about what I was expecting.” Mystech gave a knowing nod and everyone was looking at me with worried expressions. “Why don’t I explain things while Merida does her testing, I think she needs to let loose a bit.”

I happily changed into the offered bodysuit with all the various metal discs and wires and such attached and then dove through the portal that opened to emerge in some kind of city where Mystech’s voice began issuing instructions. I was really able to let loose as I fought against various robots and magical constructs, following specific instructions when asked, but generally just taking a beating, hitting things and blowing the shit out of whatever she threw against me. It was very therapeutic. Finally she had me just stand there and keep pumping as much energy into my force field as I could. At first it was pulsed and bubbled chaotically, feeling extremely unstable, and then it was like the day that I Activated as my field flared wildly like an inferno as my sweat evaporated the sensors and wires on the suit began to melt and then the suit itself burned to ash.

I was tired as I left through the portal that had appeared and gratefully accepted the robe that Toxin offered me. Then we returned through the portal and back to our living room, where Mystech began going over the results of our testing. “Tasha is definitely a Psychic, with her sixth sense being her most powerful ability and rated as a Category four. She also has a Category one telepathic ability and a Category two teleportation ability that seems to be tied in to her sixth sense and has a range of about fifty feet.”

“Nothing too surprising there,” Tasha said with a shrug.

Mystech nodded as she looked over the next report. “Vanessa is a Category three Shifter and Category four hydrokinetic with Category three invulnerability, which I assume is to help her survive under the higher pressure in deep water. She can also breathe underwater with the help of gills that appear on her neck whenever she’s fully submerged.”

“Yeah that last one was a bit of a shocker,” the mermaid admitted. “I never let myself fully submerge before today, not that I really could in a bathtub. Gills feel really weird too.”

“Shu is classified as a Category four Wildcard, with an ability to not only create and access pocket dimensions, but also to pass through the barriers between dimensions, though she’ll need to work on training the latter.” Mystech frowned as she looked from Shu over to me and Mei and sighed as she added, “Mei and Merida are both Category fives, and will need training badly. Mei is a Wildcard, possibly magic based, and her ability is to warp reality to create life. This isn’t summoning creatures from other planes, or simulating living creatures from energy or matter, but actually creating new life within our reality. It’s genesis.”

“But her summons are only temporary, they aren’t really all that powerful, and they always vanish when she falls asleep,” Vanessa said with a frown. “They’re basically just imaginary friends that we can all see. She doesn’t really strike me as the ‘dangerous to everyone around her’ type.”

“She can create life, in any form she can imagine,” Mystech stressed. “I have never heard of a mutant with such a far reaching ability before. Think of it like a game. Let’s say that at full power she has ten points, but when she uses her power she has to spread them out over four categories: Mass, duration, number of summons, and how much control she can exert over them. She could summon one huge creature or multiple smaller creatures that she has no control over for a short time, which could be chaotic or dangerous. She could put all those points in control to give a creature a very specific short term task, or put all the points into duration for one small creature that could last a long time and she would have no direct control over. She could also mix and match combinations of these four categories, but if she chooses not to put anything into control, those creatures will act based on their instincts or individual personalities as she imagined them.”

“Okay, I can see where things could get a little crazy, but they still vanish after a time, or when she’s unconscious,” Vanessa insisted.

“That’s because they aren’t anchored to our reality, which is basically what the duration category is for,” she explained. “Now let’s say that the reason there is only ten points is for her own safety and she decides to push beyond that for some reason...”

“Godzilla,” Mom muttered. “She was unconscious for over twelve hours after tha’, she slept through the trip to the base and into the next morning. She must have put all the power she could muster into size. If she did tha’ with duration…”

Mei had already seemed to put all of that together and the golden glow of her power flared blindingly around her before she suddenly passed out, with a six inch tall, naked pixie who resembled Tinkerbell hovering over her looking very concerned. Mom was on her immediately checking her pulse, breathing, and raising her eyelids to check eye movement. Finally she breathed a sigh of relief. “She’s just unconscious, she pushed herself too far.”

The pixie breathed a sigh of relief right along with the rest of us as Mystech stared at it, muttering something as she glowed a pale silver color. Finally the raven-haired woman spoke. “It’s permanently anchored to our reality now. That girl needs to learn to control her power and impulses. If the wrong people found out about her…” She didn’t finish that sentence, nor did she have to since we could all imagine very well what people would give to control a power like that.

I was carefully laying Mei on the couch and covering her with the blanket she had used last night as the pixie and Shu looked on in concern. “She’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure them both.

That was when the Headmistress of PSA decided to address the other elephant in the room, namely me. “As concerning as that girl’s powers are, Merida’s are even more so. She’s a Cat five Energy Manipulator, and a versatile one at that. At basic output levels the energy seems solid allowing her to create constructs or her force field. Her flight and increased strength and speed are a result of her manipulating that field either consciously or subconsciously. When she puts too much energy into her field or constructs the energy becomes unstable and explosive to anything that they hit with enough force. If she were to continue putting energy into them, and they didn’t explode first, the energy becomes a form of superheated plasma.”

“Well, tha’ explains why ma clothes turned tae ash when I changed,” I muttered.

“Yes, your powers were going critical from the bomb’s radiation, but anything within your energy field seems to be protected from that energy or what’s happening outside it, no matter what the state of the energy itself, which is how you were able to survive. From what I can glean, you can summon and control it at will, but my main concern is that you are very powerful, and with your condition your powers are going to react instinctively whenever you feel vulnerable, angry, defensive, scared, hurt, or other any other powerful negative emotions.”

“So what do we do then?” Andy inquired.

“I am prepared to accept all five girls to PSA, and they wouldn’t have to pay tuition if one or both of their parents were to be employed there,” Mystech said with a smile. “Dr. Ainsley, I really could use you as my chief of medicine, and on a variety of research projects. I’m sure that your talents would prove very useful in our IT and cyber security departments as well Mr. Tomkins. Agent Smith spoke very highly of you.”

“I’ll do it,” Andy and Mom said simultaneously.

“Great! I’ll have Kendra bring the paperwork and some information packets on Monday, I’d like her to speak with Vanessa and have her take some tests as well anyway to ensure she has no major issues from her transformation,” The raven-haired mutant suggested. “We can discuss the details once you’ve had a chance to look everything over.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's now Saturday, so here's chapter 11 of MSPD. Just a note that there is a referenced 'suicide' at the end of this chapter for anyone that may be triggered by that. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 11: Who Am I?

As we ate dinner that night we were all worried about Mei’s excessive use of power to create a permanent pixie. Tink, as we had taken to calling her, seemed unwilling to leave Mei’s side, and even then it was only for short periods of time, to eat or to dress in one of the little outfits that Mom and Shu had made for her. With her hair up in a bun, she looked just like a living version of the Disney fairy in the outfit that had been made to match that of her animated inspiration. I had to wonder if Mei had imagined her as a loyal best friend or a family member of sorts when summoning her, given how she watched over her so faithfully.

It wasn’t that she ignored the rest of us other than Mei, just that she was concerned about the twin and wanted to watch over her. She was perfectly friendly with the rest of us, almost like she considered us all family, she was just a bit distracted by her concern for Mei. She had been just as concerned for Mom when she had accidentally cut herself making dinner though, so maybe it wasn’t just about Mei. She even spoke with us once in a while if it didn’t take her away from her vigil at Mei’s side, though if she didn’t speak up her voice was a bit hard to hear at her tiny size.

I didn’t remember her speaking at all when I watched Peter Pan as a kid, except the tinkling bell sound, but I was assured by the others that she sounded just like Tinker Bell in her own more recent movies. I was a bit surprised though at how interested she was in how things worked though during those brief periods we had managed to coax her away from Mei’s side. Blair had spent a while in her lab with the fairy after dinner, showing her various gadgets or designs.

I had been sitting watching over Mei as that happened so that Tink would know someone was with her and could relax a bit. “It is sooo weird seein’ someone as intae gadgets an’ such as Mom is. They’ve been in there o’er an hour.”

“Well she is a Tinker,” Shu said, as if that explained everything.

“I ken tha’ Mom is a Tinker, bu’ wot does tha’ ‘ave tae dae wi’ Tink?” I asked, a bit confused.

“Tinker Bell,” Shu said stressing the first word. “She’s a tinker fairy.”

“We really need to get the Disney Fairies movies and have Mer watch them,” Vanessa said with a giggle of her own. She has no idea what you’re talking about Shu, and I can’t think of a better girly night than that and a sleepover. I adore Silvermist.”

“You would,” Tasha said with a chuckle, “you have a lot in common.”

“Well yeah, we both have a connection to and can control water…” The mermaid paused a moment in her reply before narrowing her eyes at Tasha. “Wait a minute Dew Drop, are you calling me a ditz?”

“You said it, not me,” Tasha replied with a wink as Tink rejoined us in watching over Mei.

Another big surprise with Tink was the dust, she seemed to shed that glowing shit everywhere when she was agitated, and she was very agitated and worried while watching over Mei. It was as we were getting ready for bed and I summoned my force field to give me a strength boost, so I could carry Mei up to the room that she and Shu were sharing, that Shu sprinkled some of the sparkly golden dust on Vanessa, Tasha, and I and said, “Think of a wonderful thought.”

“Any happy little thought?” Vanessa supplied with a laugh and a decidedly fake British accent.

“I dinnae need ‘appy thoughts tae fly,” I pointed out, sticking my tongue out at my sisters as I hovered in the air. “Ya dinnae expect tha’ tae really work dae ya?”

“Well it depends how Mei thought about her when creating her I guess,” Tasha supplied. “I mean her powers are reality altering so I guess it could be possible, and she does resemble the character from the movies in more than just looks.”

Shu was not to be discouraged as I picked her sister up and we headed upstairs to our rooms with Tink hovering beside me. Her face scrunched up in deep thought as we entered the room and I placed Mei on the double bed. I was glad that I had already put her down or I probably would have dropped her as Shu floated into the air grinning.

“I… I cannae believe tha’ worked. Wot tha’ hell were ya thinkin’ aboot?” I sputtered.

“The first time we saw you,” Shu supplied, still grinning as she floated around the room experimentally.

I groaned audibly as I looked toward the doorway to see Tasha and Vanessa staring and then apparently trying to think of suitably happy thoughts as well. “An’ there’s another thing we cannae le’ the normal folk find out aboot.”

At the moment though, my three sisters seemed too engrossed in floating around the room to care about it as they excitedly chanted, “We can fly! We can fly! We can fly!”

Tink’s little voice made a shushing sound. “Jingles!” the fairy muttered, looking a bit perturbed before taking a deep breath and adding tiredly, “Please be quiet, Mei is sleeping and we should be doing that soon too.”

After another nightmare-laden sleep, and a close call with my powers when I awoke, Saturday began with me waking the other girls at o-five-thirty for an exhausting run and exercise session. Mei had woke up shortly before I had and seemed to have suffered no real negative effects from anchoring Tink to our reality. Said fairy was asked to keep a low profile in the house until we returned from our run, but even she participated in the modified training session that followed. Then we had quick showers and went to wake Mom and Andy before starting breakfast.

They were already awake, and in the middle of something it seemed, as the twins burst through the door ahead of us to be greeted by hurried shuffling under the blankets, which were quickly being adjusted, by a heavily breathing and brightly blushing Andy and Blair. “Good mornin’ girls. It’s good to see ya awake Mei, are ya feelin’ alright?” Mom hurriedly asked the twin who had Tink sitting on her shoulder.

“Oh aye,” I replied for Mei with a predatory grin toward my former sister and Andy. “We’ve all been up fer hours an’ gettin’ some exercise. Seems we’re all early risers ‘ere.” The twins and Tink didn’t seem to be sure what was going on, but Vanessa and Tasha had quickly backtracked away from the open door.

“Why don’t you girls all get dressed and ready to go out. We were thinking of going to Ihop for breakfast and then we have some plans for the day,” Andy quickly suggested, trying to control his still heavy breathing.

The twins ran past me with Tink in tow and I grinned at the pair still trying to awkwardly cover themselves in the bed. “Is’nae havin’ a big fam’ly jus’ wunnerful?” I asked them with a grin. Then I turned to leave the room and threw over my shoulder, “Nex’ time, ya may wan’ tae lock the door, or maybe pu’ a sock or a ‘dae no’ disturb’ sign on the knob or sumthin’.”

After we were all dressed casually we all piled in the SUV to go out for breakfast. I had dressed in a my white bra and panty set, jeans, a pastel blue top, sneakers, and my Hello Kitty hoodie and backpack purse. The latter still rankled me slightly, but I was getting used to the idea of wearing cutesy girl stuff sometimes, and I knew I needed to try to embrace, or at least accept it. In reality I also had bigger problems to consider without letting myself get pissed off over what clothes I was wearing. Still I vowed to go shopping to get some things more to my tastes whenever I could manage it. At least the purse was useful for keeping my money and a few odds and ends in.

Tink had decided to hide in my voluminous hair when we all climbed out of the SUV and filed into the Ihop for breakfast. Once we had been seated she flitted under the table to sit somewhat hidden between the twins as we ate, the twins occasionally slipping some tidbits to the Fairy. “So you mentioned plans for the day?” Tasha inquired as we ate.

“Well, I was planning this for the twins’ birthday in two weeks, but since we’ll likely be leaving LA before then we decided to do it today. We’ll plan somethin’ else fun and maybe celebrate the twin’s and Merida’s birthdays together this year. Mei and Shu turn twelve on the twenty-seventh and Merida is officially thirteen on the twenty-ninth,” Mom replied vaguely.

“Their birthdays are only two days apart? We need to have a massive party!” Vanessa half squealed in glee. “You didn’t really answer the question though, what’s the plan for today?”

“It’s a surprise,” Andy said with a grin. “But I’m pretty sure you’ll all enjoy it. You’ll have to make sure to keep Tink out of sight though, Merida would probably attract enough attention as it is.”

We had driven into Anaheim and pulled into Disneyland’s visitor parking when the excited squealing began. Mei and Shu had freaked out when they realized where we were, and now both of them were pulling on one of my arms enthusiastically trying to pull me toward the gates as we got out of the SUV. “C’mon Merida! If you can’t learn to enjoy being a kid here, you can’t learn it anywhere,” Mei said with a giggle.

“Actually, Merida and I won’t be going with you girls,” Andy admitted. “With her looks she’s going to attract a lot of attention, especially in Disneyland. That and thrill rides probably won’t be a good idea until she can start managing her emotions and powers better, so I have other plans in mind for us.”

“But we should be going as a family,” Shu stated with a definitive pout.

“We will again someday once Merida has better control,” Mom assured the other girls, “and we’ll be doin’ lots of other things as a family, but we really need to think of what’s best for Merida here. We don’t want to push her too far, and in Disneyland she’s likely to get mobbed by people wanting photos with her because of her resemblance to the character from Brave. I might get that too, but I’m sure that I can handle it. We all know wha’ could happen if Merida starts to panic though.”

The twins both sighed and none of the girls really looked happy with me being excluded, but they obviously got the point. Both of the twins hugged me tight and as they released me Mei sighed. “I guess it’s probably not a good idea to have Tink with us either, if someone saw her…” She trailed off uncertainly, which wasn’t really surprising since I doubt that any of us could really figure out what might happen if someone actually saw the pixie.

Mom nodded in agreement. “Yeah, maybe it would be best if she stayed with Andy and Merida today.”

“Do you mind hanging out with Merida today instead of us?” Mei asked the fairy.

“Don’t worry about us Mei, we’ll keep each other safe,” the fairy assured Mei and the other girls before turning to me. “It’ll be an adventure and maybe we’ll even find some lost things.”

“Right, we’ll stick t’gether an’ try tae ‘ave some fun. She’ll be safe wi’ me an’ I’ll feel better wit’ ‘er watchin’ ma back in case sumthin’ ‘appens,” I agreed as the fairy flitted onto my shoulder. “An’ if she needs tae, she kin always ‘ide in ma ‘air or ma purse.”

With that we left the other girls to go have fun at Disnelyand while Andy drove us to parts unknown. I had moved to the front seat and held Tink securely in my lap, while making sure not to hold her too tightly. As we drove, Andy, Tink, and I got to know one another a bit better. Tink liked finding lost things and making useful inventions or doodads from them so I thought that it was no wonder that she and Mom got along so well. Still, she was a bit of a tomboy type it seemed, and she had an almost infectious sense of adventure about everything that I found myself liking as we talked.

I meanwhile explained to her about the world we lived in, answering as many questions as I could. Sometimes I tried to explain how things worked and Andy gave us an impromptu lesson on computers and electronics, which she seemed fascinated about. I also gave her the rundown on how, except for Andy, all the members of our family were mutants and what made us different from normal people. I also warned her to be cautious about being seen for now since most humans tend to react unpredictably to things that they can’t understand.

It was nearly an hour later that we arrived at a shooting range. Tink stayed carefully hidden within my purse as we waited and Andy signed the waivers and permission forms, and then we were led to a private outdoor shooting bay built up with dirt and wood with a rental Colt M4 Carbine Rifle and Glock Pistol, several targets, and a hundred rounds of ammo for each gun. Andy and I spent the next two hours putting holes in targets and chatting about what other interests I might want to pursue as Tink watched curiously. The Fairy was very careful to stay behind us though once I had gone over gun safety with her and made sure that both guns were in good condition.

Both guns were a little hard to get used to at first, they were heavier and had more of a kick than I remembered, though that probably had a lot to do with my smaller size and weaker girl body. Once I had gotten used to it and started to compensate I was doing a lot better. Teaching Andy and explaining things to Tink actually helped with that as I remembered the early days of my training and put my own advice to work. Andy was a much better shot when we were finished and I was once again able to consistently hit the bullseye. My mood was much improved as well and I was feeling relaxed, and even almost normal again.

After the shooting range we went to a burger joint to pick up some lunch and ate in the vehicle while on our way to our next destination. I was sharing my lunch with Tink when I noticed that we were passing a small strip mall. I felt kind of bad that Tink had only been able to watch while we shot targets for two hours so I wanted to do something nice for her. “Umm dae ya think we could stop there fer a bit?” I asked, pointing out a dollar store.

Andy looked briefly at the clock on the dashboard, “Sure thing, we have some time before what I have planned.” He turned into the parking lot and after Tink and I had finished eating we all left the SUV and headed to the store with Tink hiding in my hair.

“Okay, I ken tha’ they’re no’ really lost things, bu’ there are loads o’ int’resting human-made things in ‘ere tha’ ya might be able tae use tae build things,” I explained to the fairy as we entered the store. Then for half an hour we wandered the aisles with a basket in my hand, adding anything that the Fairy seemed interesting in using. We got some packages of buttons, bobby pins, combs, hair elastics, tiny screws, beads, plastic eating utensils, a small sewing kit, colored paper, and even some kitchen odds and ends. When we had paid for the purchases and left Tink was happily hugging my neck while attempting to stay hidden within my hair and thanking me profusely in her small voice.

As much as I had enjoyed the shooting range, I enjoyed our next stop even more and I think Tink enjoyed it nearly as much as I did. So far the fairy had nearly left the cover of my copper tresses twice in wonder and curiosity as we looked over the various vehicles at the classic car show. “What dae ya think?” I asked her as we looked under the hood of a cherry red 1969 Mustang convertible and Andy stood over us grinning and keeping watch.

“Its flitterific!” she exclaimed eagerly. She had been peppering me with questions about how it all worked and what did what and I had been pointing out the various parts to her and answering her questions. As Maddock I had owned a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle that I used to get around, but I had also been close to finishing the process of restoring a 1967 Shelby G.T. 500 Fastback. I guessed that they both still belonged to me since I inherited them from Maddock, but I wouldn’t be able to use either for at least another three years when I could drive again.

I grinned at the fairy as I said, “Maybe ya kin ‘elp me finish fixin’ ma Mustang once the Army ships it tae our new home.” Then I suddenly remembered that I was a little girl now and I felt all the joy I had been feeling drain out of me. “Or no’, I guess girls dinnae really dae this sorta thing.”

“Why not?” Tink asked. “It looks like fun and you seem to enjoy it.”

Andy placed a hand on my shoulder, speaking quietly as he looked around to make sure nobody was taking too much of an interest in us. “Merida, that’s what this whole day has been about. Just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy shooting guns or fixing cars. You obviously still enjoy those things and you need to be the kind of girl that you want to be, with your interests, whether they’re feminine or masculine. Don’t be afraid to explore new things, but don’t give up on something just because it’s not stereotypically feminine either. Just look at Tink there, she’s a girl and a fairy and she seems to enjoy it as much as you do. Your biology doesn’t dictate who you are, you do.”

“Thanks, yuir both right,” I hugged them both and then we went on looking at the various classic cars, chatting happily about the various makes, models, and what was left to be done to restore my Mustang. I was feeling a whole lot better about myself as we made our way back to Disneyland to meet the rest of the family.

Cyrus Pinchley, or Prisoner 271-694 as he was known in the Pit, sat alone in his cell considering his options. The inhibitor collar that he now wore was chaffing, both physically and mentally, and mostly those options that he was considering would be about what he would do if he could even manage to get the damn thing off. Without the collar he might be able to escape his cell and kill a few guards, but the Pit didn’t rely on just the inhibitor collars to keep inmates in line. It was a deep underground facility equipped with high tech anti-mutant measures, an EM field to prevent most forms of teleportation, and guards in power armor with weapons designed to incapacitate all but the most powerful of mutants. Even if he did somehow manage to get through all of that and to the surface, he’d be stuck in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

He was so immersed in his escape fantasies that he didn’t notice that he was no longer alone until one of his visitors spoke in a barely audible voice. “I am disappointed in you Quill.”

“Shade,” Quill said swallowing the sudden lump of fear in his throat. The large man was covered in a pulsating inky blackness that revealed none of his features. Beside him stood a young blonde woman in a dark blue bodysuit and mask who wore a sword at her hip and looked as terrified of the man she was with as Quill himself was. How had they gotten inside? “I can still create those mutants you wanted, we had some success…”

“Which success would that be Quill?” Shade asked as he stepped closer to Quill, who backed into the door of his cell. “The one where you lost the new base I had constructed for you and all of your test subjects to the HAA? Or the one where your foolishness cost Phantom’s life? She was one of my most promising young assassins and I loaned her services to you and your cause when you assured me that you could create mutants who would be useful to me. All that I have given you, you have lost, and with no results to show for it.”

“We had results! Five girls developed powers. I am not certain about what powers most of them got, but one was a mermaid. There was also a girl with long curly red hair, a black girl, and a pair of Chinese twins. Phantom said that the redhead with the thick accent was powerful, she has some sort of bright red force field. One of my men said that it was she who killed Phantom, and the five of them and a spy managed to kill or disable several of my best people. I can find them! Please give me a second chance!” Quill blubbered as the shadowy man moved closer.

Shade turned to the woman with him. “Saber, search for signs of these girls appearing in public and send in Code Pink to draw them out, they’ve been wanting to prove themselves. Tell them that they are to recruit if possible. If these girls decide to refuse our generous invitation they are to be eliminated.” Then he turned his attention back to Quill, placing a hand on the prisoner’s forehead, causing a black glyph to appear there. “As for you, the Shadow Syndicate does not give second chances. You have outlived your usefulness, your cause bores me, and I have no further need of you. The work that Dr. Hayes has planned at the Red River Research Institute should suit my purposes nicely when it comes to fruition.”

Then Shade took hold of the woman’s hand and they both vanished, leaving the prisoner alone once again. Quill’s body was moving of its own accord, stepping toward the bed where it began tearing the sheets into strips to form a noose. He mentally screamed as he fought for control, to stop himself from making the noose and climbing on the bed to secure it and give himself the added height before slipping his head through. It was only once his body had stopped twitching and he had stopped breathing that the mark on his forehead vanished.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's now Saturday, so here's chapter 12 of MSPD. I wasn't expecting to have anything to post until next weekend when I planned on getting back on schedule, but since this chapter and the next came so quickly I decided to post this today since Saturday is MSPD day. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 12: Neogenesis

It was nearly dinner time when we returned to Anaheim and met the rest of the family at the entrance to Disneyland. They all seemed to have really enjoyed themselves, but they were trying not to gush about it too much as we ate dinner at a nearby pizza place. Finally, once we had climbed back into the SUV for the trip home, I couldn’t take them dancing around it anymore. “Ya dinnae ‘ave tae feel bad aboot enjoyin’ yuirselves. Tink an’ I ‘ad plenty o’ fun wit’ Andy, right Tink?”

The fairy nodded her head vigorously from where she was seated in Mei’s lap. “I watched them shoot at some targets, we ate lunch, then Merida got me some lost things that weren’t lost, and then we went to something called a ‘classic car show’. There were the most amazing and beautiful carriages there. Oh! And Merida said I can help her tinker with her mustang carriage when she gets it back.”

“Mustang? Ya don’t mean Dad’s old Shelby do you?” Mom asked, turning around in the front passenger seat. “I don’t know why ya didn’t sell that after we got our inheritance, it hasn’t run in over a decade. Ya could have gotten good money for it since the body is in good shape, and findin’ the parts to restore it is probably going to cost a good portion of your inheritance. You’re not touchin’ yuir new college fund for that young lady.”

“Yuir jus’ still pissed ‘cause Da’ would’nae let ya turn it intae a hover car,” I taunted her.

“Hey! That would have been cool and you know it. I still could if ya want me to,” she offered hopefully. “I could put a fusion engine in there, add all sorts o’ gadgets an’ weapons. James Bond would wish for a car like it.”

“The ‘ole point o’ restorin’ a car like tha’ is tae make it jus’ like when it left the fact’ry,” I argued. Then I placed a predatory grin on my face and made a counter offer. “I tell ya wot though, if’n we kin find another car o’ the same make an’ year wit’ a good frame, then we kin scavenge parts from tha’ one fer me an’ Tink tae restore the Brittany Blue one, an’ then we kin all work t’gether tae soup up the other an’ paint it Candyapple Red. I get tae keep both o’ them though.”

Mom leaned back in her seat and seemed to think deeply about it for a moment, “I’ll start lookin’, an’ ya can keep them both if ya pay for the other frame out of yuir inheritance, but I get to drive both o’ them whenever I want until ya turn sixteen.”

“Ya got yuirself a deal,” I agreed, grinning broadly as my heart pitter-pattered in excitement.

“Awesome! We’re gonna have a flying super car!” Shu squeed excitedly. “We’re gonna have the bestest super hero team ever!”

“Super-what-now?” Tasha asked in confusion.

“Super. Hero. Team,” Mei replied casually, enunciating each word as if it should be obvious to all of us. “We all have powers, a tragic origin story, and we’re going to a school to learn to use our powers, so of course we’re going to use them to help people.”

“No offense,” Tasha began uncertainly, “but none of us, except Merida and maybe Vanessa, really have the abilities suited for becoming a super hero. Merida is going to have trouble with control though, and that could be dangerous if she’s put in an emotional situation, which is likely to happen when you run around looking for danger, and Vanessa is going to have to have water nearby to be really effective.”

“That’s what training is for, Merida can teach us all how to fight, we’ll learn other things in school too,” Shu countered with a pouty frown. “We may not have what it takes to be heroes on our own, but when we work together we can do anything. Merida is our powerhouse, but you have a sixth sense and you can teleport Tasha. With the right training and gear you could be awesome in a fight and help keep us all safe, and you can help us all stay in contact without radios too.”

“And I can too be effective without water, Cat three shapeshifting and invulnerability here,” Vanessa pointed out acidly. “I can take damage and I keep my legs for almost six hours now, not to mention all the other things I can do with my shifting. Besides, Shu can always store a bunch of water, weapons, and other gear for emergencies too, so she’s not useless either. Mei’s got her summons to help too. With the right training and gear we could be a force to be reckoned with if we decide to go that route.”

“It’s not like we dinnae ‘ave a Tinker ‘andy tae help wi’ gear, weapons an’ such either,” I added, looking pointedly at Mom. I wasn’t really one hundred percent on board with the idea, but I wasn’t going to dismiss it either since the twins seemed so eager. They’d probably try to do it without us if we weren’t on board, and I’d rather us do it with them so we could help them do it somewhat safely. There was also that nagging feeling that it would be good to be in action again, using my powers and training to help people.

Tasha raised her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay I get it, but it’s going to mean a lot of work for all of us if we’re going to do it right and keep ourselves as safe as possible. That means training, secret identities, codenames, and costumes. If I can get some art supplies I can help design costumes, I kinda want to go to art school when I graduate.”

“Look girls, I know that you’re probably going to do this no matter what I say, and as the token human in the family I can’t really do much to stop you, but please if you do this keep each other safe,” Andy pleaded with a worried expression reflecting back at me in the rear-view mirror. “Try to wait until you have some training and control over your powers before going public, and if you get in over your heads don’t be afraid to call for help or run away.”

Mom reached out and put a hand on Andy’s shoulder, trying to look reassuring. “Honey don’t worry, once Tasha has some costumes designed I’ll make sure they’re made from the most protective materials I can come up with to keep them safe. I have some ideas for non-lethal weapons too. Ya know, I toyed around with the idea of becomin’ a hero too when I first got my powers, but I didn’t ‘ave friends with powers or the resources back then. I never got to the point o’ makin’ a costume back then, but now I guess I ‘ave my power armor for that. I did ‘ave a codename though, I called myself Gadget-Girl.”

“I already decided tae call maself Flare,” I said with a grin.

“Psyche,” Tasha quickly supplied, which made me suspect that she had just been playing devil’s advocate before and had already been giving the hero thing serious thought herself.

“Of course I’d be Aquarius,” Vanessa offered through a face-splitting grin.

Shu was giggling and bouncing excitedly in her seat as she contributed her own name. “Ooooh! Call me Packrat!”

“I can’t think of a good name,” Mei said with a pout after some thought as we were stopped at a red light. “Maybe you can all come up with one for me while I’m asleep.” Then golden light filled the vehicle as her powers flared and she passed out with a second pixie in her lap looking around in confusion and concern.

“Dammit!” Mom cursed. “I think we have to make a rule about no genesis in the car. She really needs to stop doin’ that until we know whether it’s goin’ to do her lasting harm.”

“Genesis… that would be a good name for Mei,” Tasha said thoughtfully as Andy put the SUV in drive once again and the rest of us stared at the new pixie in Mei’s lap.

The object of our scrutiny was a slender girl pixie, with slightly pale skin, blue eyes, snow white hair, and blushing cheeks. She looked around in what seemed like wonder and a little trepidation before giving Mei a look of concern and turning to the other pixie. “Is she going to be okay Tink?”

“She’ll be fine Peri, she’s just sleeping,” Tink assured her. “I guess that happens when she tries to bring one of us here from Pixie Hollow, she did the same when she brought me here, but everyone told me she would be okay and she was.”

“Periwinkle this time?” Vanessa asked staring at the new arrival.

“Of course,” Shu countered as if it were all perfectly normal and understandable. “Peri is Tink’s twin sister so Mei wouldn’t want her to be without her. That would be like her and I being forced to be apart, and neither of us would like that at all.”

“Wot’s Tink mean by bringin’ ‘em o’er though?” I wondered aloud as I watched the events in the rear seat from over my shoulder and tried to get a better look at the new arrival.

Tasha’s voice slipped into my mind in response to my query. *If Mei is imagining them as the fairies from the movies then they probably have some very basic memories based on what she knows of them, memories of certain events in the movies and general life in Pixie Hollow based on Mei’s own assumptions. Things Tink has said since being here, and the fact that she’s so close in appearance and personality to the Tink from the movies, seem to lend themselves to that theory, so it’s probably easier for them to think they were brought here to a new home rather than having been created from nothing. Maybe it’s some sort of coping mechanism and we should just let it be for now.*

I turned to see Mom and Andy nodding in front of me, as if in agreement, so I let the subject drop. Once Vanessa had managed to make a rough robe to cover the new naked fairy from a piece of Kleenex, things were quiet except for the two chattering pixies for the rest of the home. They seemed to be very happy being together and it sounded like Periwinkle shared Tink’s sense of adventure about their new situation, though I did catch her casting the occasional worried glance at her creator.

Once we were home and I had placed Mei in bed to be watched over by her twin and the fairies, the rest of us gathered downstairs to discuss the pixies and Mei. “I’m not sure what to do about this,” Andy said slumping into the couch with a sigh. “The fairies seem harmless enough, and maybe with two of them she’ll have it out of her system now, but the way she passes out each time can’t be good for her.”

“I’ll have to run some tests and scans to be sure of it myself,” Mom agreed with a shake of her head. “Her powers aren’t like anything I’ve seen before; pushing them to the extreme like this repeatedly could cause long term issues, or it could be like working a muscle, making her abilities stronger and less strenuous as she does so. I’m going to do every scan and test I can think of, and I’m going to ask Mystech for copies of all the biometric readings and other data from Mei’s testing, to look at things from a physician’s standpoint and to see if I can figure out how her powers work.”

“Wot aboot Tink’s health? An’ the new one…Percy?” I asked uncertainly. “They’re actual livin' people now, e'en if’n they’re only six inches tall, so should’nae we treat ‘em like it? Mei’s no' the only one who could ‘ave issues.”

“It’s Periwinkle, or Peri, Mer,” Vanessa corrected before turning to Mom and Andy. “She does have a point though, they’re living sentient beings and they’ll have the same needs as we do. You should have seen poor Tink trying to use the toilet this morning, they need things that are fairy sized. They also have some weird quirks that the fairies from the books and movies don’t have, like how they seem to actually make pixie dust instead of having to get it from the dust fairies, and the thing with Peri’s wings.”

“Peri’s wings? They look fine tae me ‘Nessa, they’re jus' like Tink’s,” I countered in confusion, wondering if maybe I was going to need a primer on pixies.

“But they shouldn’t be fine, even just going by the Secret of the Wings. Winter fairies would get weakened and their wings could get injured or break by spending too much time out of the cold and we’re in LA and its summer. It’s freaking hot, even the AC only manages to keep it moderately warm, and she hasn’t complained or seemed put out once, in fact I saw her looking at her wings a few times in confusion, like she’s waiting for something to happen,” the mermaid pointed out.

“I have a theory about tha’,” Mom offered. “Mei can’t possibly be thinkin’ about every single detail about something as complex as the fairies when creatin’ them. She probably has a pretty good idea in mind, but I think tha’ her memory an’ subconscious fills in the blanks. I think it’s why they have general memories, an' if she subconsciously doesn’t want them to suffer, as they would if they couldn’t fly or in Peri’s case stayin’ too long out of the cold, then she tweaks them so that they won’t. Fairies are inherently magical creatures in any mythos ya look at, an’ their abilities an' mere existence indicates tha’ they are magical so havin’ them generate their own pixie dust isn’t really much of a stretch.”

Tasha nodded in agreement before adding her own two cents. “It’s heartbreaking that Tink and Peri can’t live in the same place after they found one another in that movie, I don’t think that Mei would want that, I mean the whole reason she summoned Peri was so that she and Tink could be together. Why would she do that with them both having a weakness that would keep them apart? On some level, conscious or otherwise, she had to want to get rid of that weakness.”

“As for their needs as livin’ sentient beings, I’ll do some tinkerin’ tomorrow an’ we’ll give them both a physical an’ set up Peri wi’ some real clothes tonight,” Mom said thoughtfully before turning to me. “Merida I want ya to bring Mei and the fairies to my lab, I’d like to run some scans on Mei while she’s still unconscious from her efforts, it might give me some clues to why it’s takin’ such a toll on her.”

I powered up and went to fetch the twins and the fairies, carrying Mei to the lab where Mom was waiting and putting on a pair of latex gloves. She had me put Mei in one of her scanning beds and turned it on. Then she put Tink through all the various scanners and machines that she had used in my physical a few days earlier. While she was doing that Shu and I talked to Periwinkle who looked decidedly confused and worried. “Dinnae worry Peri, Mom’s a doctor, she’s jus’ goin’ tae make shoor tha’ yuir all healthy, same as she does wit’ us. An’ dinnae worry aboot yuir wings either, we think tha’ the magic Mei used tae bring ya ‘ere made it so ya dinnae ‘ave tae stay in the cold.”

The white-haired pixie sitting in Shu’s lap breathed a sigh of relief before looking back at her wings again, “Are you sure?”

“Mom kin prob’ly dae some tests tae find out for shoor,” I replied, trying to reassure her and keep her distracted while Mom ran her tests on Mei and Tink. “So Tink is a Tinker fairy, wot kinda fairy are you?”

“I’m a Frost talent fairy,” she said after a moments hesitation and glancing toward Shu for reassurance. She and Shu seemed to be hitting it off fairly well and I had to wonder if part of that was because Mei wanted her twin to have a pixie pal too, as much as she wanted Tink to have her twin. The fairy flitted out of Shu’s lap and touched the paper sheet on the classic doctor’s examining table where a thin coat of frost slowly spread out to cover the entire sheet of paper.

“Tha’s impressive,” I said with a smile. I wasn’t just reassuring her either, and the thought crossed my mind that an ability like that could give Mei and Shu a few extra options in combat, even just used as a distraction.

Mom finished running Tink through the scanners and then it was Peri’s turn. Their internal biology was actually pretty similar to a human’s except for the extra muscles in their back that allowed them to control their wings and their small size, and they both seemed to be in good health. After telling us that she was going to keep Mei in the scanner overnight for long-term observation, Mom put Peri in another type of scanner, apparently the same one she had used to make Tink’s clothes. “This device will take yuir measurements to the micron an’ import it to the costume maker so we can produce some clothes fer ya,” she explained. “Ya fairies are pretty tiny so it doesn’t take long to make several outfits fer ya, as long as they’re all of the same design. I’m settin’ it fer the same lightweight, flexible material I came up with fer Tink’s clothes.”

She had Shu find the design for the clothes that Peri wore in the movie, designed one to match it in the costume maker, and it soon started popping out a dozen copies of the same outfit; an aqua strapless dress, dark icy blue pants, and aqua colored shoes with white pompoms on her toes. After Peri was properly attired, Mom asked Tink and Peri for their permission to run some tests on them in a transparent, temperature controlled box. Peri seemed to have no trouble in either the heat or the cold, though she needed to put a protective coat of frost on Tink’s wings when the temperature got below zero.

Once we were done the tests and Peri was assured that her wings should be safe it was starting to get late so Mom sent us all to bed for the night. As I climbed under my blankets I thought over the day I had had. As days went it had been a good one, one of the best since I had Activated, and I thought that maybe, just maybe I could get used to my weird new life if I could be the kind of girl I wanted to be. I tried to fall asleep with that happy thought in mind. It even worked to some degree. It wasn’t until nearly o-five-hundred that I woke up in a cold sweat, screaming and shaking from another nightmare of my Activation, and my bedroom exploded.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's now officially Saturday, so here's chapter 13 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 13: Shocked at First Sight

The world around my force field erupted in a blast of explosive force that very near blinded me. My vision was spotty, my heart was still racing, I was shaking in fear, and my breath was coming in great panicked gasps, my lungs burning as I tried to get myself and my powers under control. I needed to know how bad it was. “Did I just destroy my room or did more of the house get damaged? Is everyone okay?! Oh God, what if I killed them all?! Oh please, they have to be alright!” I couldn’t breathe, the whirlwind in my chest signalling an anxiety attack as I rubbed at my eyes trying to clear my vision.

“Stop it!” I mentally scolded myself, “panicking won’t help. Prioritize dammit. Close your eyes and get yourself under control and then worry about everything else once you’ve determined that there’s a need. Don’t let your emotions overwhelm you.” I closed my eyes, forcing myself to take slow measured breaths, clear my mind, and calm myself. Once I had collected myself and shut down my force field, I fell a short distance to the floor and felt myself being wrapped up in someone’s arms, from the feel of the large breasts being squished into me it was probably Mom. I opened my eyes to see that it was indeed Mom holding me and that Andy, Shu, Vanessa, Tasha, and the fairies were all looking on in concern.

We just knelt in the ruins of my bed, with her holding me tight and telling me that everything was okay, that she was there for me. Most of my bed was now in splinters on the floor and everything that had been on it with me was scorched and mostly destroyed. The rest of the room was untouched though and I was a little uncertain as to why. I felt how much energy went into that explosion, it had been far more than that day at the mall, and I was relatively sure that it should have at least taken out my bedroom, possibly the entire house.

“Wha? How?” I inquired uncertainly, awash with confusion, even as my heart soared with relief at seeing the damage contained and everyone safe and unharmed.

“Well ya woke up the whole house with tha’ blast,” she spoke softly into my ear before breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness I put those safety measures in place after Mystech and Toxin visited.”

“Wot safety measures?” I wondered aloud, my brain still a little fuzzy on details. It didn’t really help that I was half-sobbing in relief and trying to keep my powers from activating again as she softly stroked my hair and cooed reassurances in my ear.

“What Toxin told us about yuir condition had me worried, so I created an energy shield to contain yuir power if ya ever completely lost control while asleep. That’s what I was working on when Tink and I were in the lab on Friday and you were watchin’ over Mei. That night while ya were sleepin’ I placed emitters on the floor at each corner of yuir bed and one on the ceiling,” she pointed up to a small white device the size of a golf ball stuck on, and almost completely blending in with, the ceiling above where my bed had been. “Tha’ one also has a sensor in it that constantly scans for the energy signature of yuir powers when they’re active and if it senses it, the five emitters activate and form a fully enclosed pyramid of energy similar to yuir force field tha’ contains the explosive force.”

“I… I could ‘ave killed all o’ ya,” I blubbered into her shoulder, soaking the fabric of her nightshirt with tears and snot as I sobbed and sniffled, and the enormity of what could have happened clutched my heart in an icy grip and squeezed tight.

She cupped my chin in her hands, raising and turning my face so that I had nowhere to look but at the stern expression on her face. “No Merida. You are no’ goin’ to blame yuirself for somethin’ tha’ didn’t happen. Do no’ go there. You have PTSD and a medical condition, and neither is yuir fault. With the nightmares you’ve been havin’ it was damn-near certain that this was goin’ to happen sooner or later. What kind o’ big sister, or mom, would I be if I didn’t take precautions to try to protect you from it causing somethin’ you’d regret? I won’t let you go through this alone, we’re yuir family and we’re goin’ to help ya through this.”

I was about to argue that I was dangerous, that they’d be better off without me around, but that was when the other girls, including the two fairies, near-tackled me in a group hug. I was torn then, half of me wanting to just bask in that unconditional love and acceptance from the people I cared about, and half wanting to go as far away as possible to keep them all safe. “Ya should all be terrified o’ me… I am,” I half-whispered.

“You will never hurt any of us Mer, or let anyone else, I know it.” Tasha whispered back.

“Is tha’ you, or yuir powers talkin’?”

“Both,” she replied without a trace of doubt in her tone.

Once I was deemed sufficiently calmed down we all set about starting our day, since it was almost o-six-hundred and we were all awake anyway. Andy generously went back into my room to clean up and dispose of the remnants of my bed, Tasha and Vanessa went to the kitchen to start making us all a big breakfast, and the rest of us went into Mom’s lab to check on Mei. She was still sleeping in the scanner bed, so while Shu and the fairies watched over her Mom dragged me over to her computer to look over some of the data from the scanner/emitter from my room. From how she had explained it; when I awoke freaking out from my nightmare my shield had already been on and wildly unstable and I had instinctively pushed the excess energy outward, from the force field just along the surface of my skin, in an omnidirectional wave that had detonated as soon as it impacted the energy shield.

Now that we knew that the energy shield was effective, Mom was planning on building a more efficient and permanent one for my room when we bought a place in the town we’d be moving to for school. Creation of a portable setup that I could take on camping trips, and other times I wouldn’t be sleeping at home, was on the agenda as well. She also wanted to figure out something for a bed for me that wouldn’t need to be completely replaced every time I had an ‘incident’. I felt a lot better about things knowing that we would have proper precautions in place.

She then went on to look over Mei’s scans, but she couldn’t find anything wrong other than slightly low electrolyte levels. Finally she muttered, “There’s nothin’ physically wrong with her, at least no’ that I can detect. If I’m goin’ to find out what’s causin’ this an’ what exactly is happenin’, I may just have to have her in the scanner when she’s usin’ her powers.”

As if responding to that line of thought Mei started to stir in the bed. Mom looked at her watch and noted, “Eleven hours an’ forty-seven minutes. The last time she was out for just over twelve hours, so maybe it’s gettin’ easier for her body to handle. Or it could just be tha’ she was less tired than last time when she created Peri. There’s no real way to tell yet.” Then she was at the bedside, gently pushing aside Shu and the hovering pixies, and smiling down at the overly-impulsive Chinese girl. “Ya need to stop scarin’ us like tha’ Mei, do ya feel okay?”

“I’m a little hungry and thirsty Mom,” she ventured.

“Tasha an’ ‘Nessa should ‘ave brekkie ready soon,” I offered as Mom let Mei out of the scanner and Peri Tink, and Shu all glomped her.

Mei hugged her twin and the two fairies tightly. “It’s good to have with us Periwinkle,” she said with a huge grin.

“Okay girls, now tha’ Mei’s awake, let’s all head out to the kitchen an’ see if they need any help.” Mom started shooing us out of the lab and in the direction of the smell of frying bacon.

“Soooo,” Mei asked as we were herded along, “What happened while I was asleep? Did anyone come up with a cool super hero name for me?”

After a filling breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast we all tried to get into a somewhat normal and quiet Sunday after our rude awakening. Andy started packing things for our eventual move, since they wanted us moved to the new town and somewhat settled in before classes started in a few weeks. As for Mom, she planned to spend most of the day in her lab working on some things for the fairies as well as the new shields she had in mind to contain my powers while I sleep, both the portable design and the long-term one for my bedroom. That left us kids to our own devices for the day, and Mom said we could go out and spend day however we liked, so long as we stuck together and followed certain conditions.

The first condition was that we tried to avoid using our powers if possible, and if we did have to use them Mei wasn’t to create anything that would cause her to pass out until Mom could get her in the scanner that evening. Secondly, Tasha would be in charge unless we had to use our powers to defend ourselves, in which case I would be in charge. Lastly we weren’t to do anything that would push me too far, and I would be the judge of what that was. If I started to feel overwhelmed, we were to come home immediately.

Since none of us could drive yet, and the only funds we had were what we had on the prepaid debit cards Mom had gotten us before that first shopping trip, our options seemed somewhat limited. We decided to go to a nearby mall to check out a surfing store that Vanessa had heard about, and Tasha, Vanessa, and I had quietly planned to try to buy gifts for the twins’ upcoming birthday as well if we could.

As soon as we had all showered and dressed, we were on our way to the mall, with me wearing a simple pair of far-too-tight jeans, a t-shirt, my sneakers, and the Hello Kitty backpack purse that I vowed to replace that very day. I would have worn my combat boots, but I wanted to get some better socks to wear under them first, ankle socks and combat boots do not work well together. The others were all dressed similarly casually, and Shu and Mei both had backpack purses similar to mine, each with a fairy hidden inside. Tink was sticking with Mei and Peri with Shu since the pair seemed to enjoy one another’s company.

The bus trip was mercifully short and soon we were strolling the mall with the others sticking close to me. Our first stop was the board shop of course where Vanessa almost immediately started drooling over a blue ocean patterned board with a mermaid on it. The shop also had a variety of swimwear and wetsuits available, though we decided to hold off on buying anything there for the moment. Vanessa figured that even if she could afford the board, she didn’t want to be carrying it around the mall for hours.

For the next two hours we just drifted from one shop to another where I bought a pack of ladies sports socks and a new backpack purse that I felt suited me a little better. The purse was mostly plaid in a pattern somewhat similar to the Ainsley family tartan, with silver skull shaped decals and studded black leather trim. When Vanessa saw me buy it she giggled and said I was going to need a few more piercings if I was going to try out the Goth look. She had me almost considering it, since I wouldn’t mind wearing all black and it just might keep people away from me.

Vanessa and Tasha had already snuck off briefly to get birthday presents for the twins, so while the others went into a store that sold movies, videogames, and some electronics to look for copies of the Disney Fairies movies, I excused myself to ‘go use the loo’ and slipped off to the jewelry store we had passed a little while ago. I wanted to get the twins a pair of matching lockets that they could put a family photo in, and I was hoping that it wouldn’t take too long to find something like that.

The store wasn’t very busy, there was just one man, who looked to be in his forties, working the counter and one other customer, a boy who was maybe fourteen or fifteen. The boy was tall for his age, though not lanky, I could see by his frame and the way that he carried himself that he was in pretty good shape. He was good looking too; sandy blond hair, a handsome face, and muscles slightly stretching the fabric of his t-shirt and jeans… “Dammit! Why do I keep looking at him like that?” I thought as I tore my eyes away for the eighth time to focus on my search for lockets, my heart fluttering wildly in my chest. Then it hit me. “Oh my God, I’m attracted to him!”

I’d checked almost every glass case in the damned store except one by this point. Swallowing the lump in my very dry throat I made my way over to the glass case he was currently browsing, and of course there were the lockets along with a selection of charm bracelets that blondie was looking at. I tried not to stand too close to him, but I just wanted to buy the damn gifts and get out of there so I needed to choose something fast. I had just decided on a pair of small silver lockets which were very similar, but with some slight differences, just like the twins. They were only thirty-seven dollars each and I was about to call the salesman over when the boy beside me stopped frowning at the charm bracelets and seemed to notice me. “Hey! You’re a girl!”

I nearly jumped out of my sneakers, the furious thrumming of my heart now seeming to be tightly lodged in my throat as I looked into his deep blue eyes. “Dammit Merida, stop acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. This is the last thing you need right now. Just play it cool so you can get the damn lockets and get the hell out of here,” I mentally scolded myself before opening my mouth to reply, “Oh! I’m…. uhhh…. yeah…” I inwardly cringed and somehow resisted the urge to facepalm. “Just perfect, do-over time, and let’s make it something intelligible this time before he thinks you’re a blathering idiot.”

“Aye, way tae point out the obvious Sherlock,” I managed to get out, regaining control over my errant tongue. I could feel my whole face flushing as I considered my stupidity. “And now you’ve insulted him, way to go Merida. This mission is a bust, just forget the gifts and find one later… somewhere far from here.”

Unfortunately, while I was berating myself and trying to keep my powers from activating from my nervousness, he managed to get over his own embarrassment enough to speak again. It came as some small consolation that I wasn’t the only one blushing as he said, “Sorry, yeah that probably sounded a lot worse than I meant it to. It’s just I’m looking for a birthday gift for my kid sister, she’s turning twelve and my mom suggested something that will make her feel like an adult instead of toys or something and I’m not really sure what girls like so I was hoping I could get your help.” The last part was all blurted out without coming up for air and suddenly I didn’t feel half as stupid as I did a moment ago.

“Don’t do it! You’ve been a girl for like a week? If you try to give advice on girly stuff you’re just going to end up looking like an idiot,” I cautioned myself. Apparently though, I need to stop giving myself advice I’m not going to take, because my finger was already pointing to a silver charm bracelet with five charms on it; a four leaf clover, a fairy, a heart, a star, and a pink gemstone in a silver cage. “Tha’ one,” I suggested.

“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver, are you looking for something for yourself or…?”

“Ma sisters, they’re turnin’ twelve too, I think I’m goin’ tae ge’ them those lockets,” I replied, trying to be casual as I pointed at the lockets in question.

He had paid for his purchase and I was about to do the same when the sound of pounding footsteps entered the store and I felt myself snatched off my feet as Blondie picked me up like I was nothing and dove behind one of the larger display cases. At the same instant we hit the floor I could hear the gunfire. “Nobody move or try anything funny! You know the drill boys, gold and diamonds, leave everything else! If that guy behind the counter makes a move shoot him.” It was a woman’s voice and I looked up over the display case to see four men with guns, three of them smashing cases and snatching up jewelry as the other kept his gun trained on the man behind the sales counter. Meanwhile, a very attractive woman in her twenties, with bright blue hair and dressed in a skin-tight black cat suit with blue lightning patterns down the sides, was looking directly at the case that we were currently stationed behind. She wasn’t even wearing a mask. “I saw you kids dive behind that case so come on out!”

I was battling between wanting to do something about the robbers and my promise to keep a low profile when Blondie pulled me back down, holding me tight against his chest. I couldn’t breathe, and it felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest when he whispered, “Don’t worry, I won’t let them hurt you, just stay here.”

“What the actual fuck? I don’t need him to protect me! I have super powers, I should be protecting him!” I seethed. I wasn’t sure what pissed me off more, the fact that he thought I was some damsel in distress who needed his protection, or the fact that his concern for me actually felt… nice. Regardless, my force field came on and I was already calming myself to put myself in mission mode, but Blondie was already in motion. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and jammed one into the electrical outlet by the display case. “Is he insane?!”

Instead of twitching and convulsing like I’d been expecting, Blondie smiled as he began to glow with a pale golden light. He removed his now-scorched key from the outlet and stood up, leveling a glare at the robbers. “I’m going to make this easy, if you drop the bags and guns and surrender, I won’t have to hurt you.”

I stood up beside him and glared as well. “Aye, wot he said, ‘cept I dinnae mind hurtin’ ya one bit.”

The woman actually laughed and produced a pair of 8 x10 glossy photos from what I had first thought was a loot bag, tossing them toward us. “Awww isn’t that cute, the kiddies want to play super-hero. Why don’t you both just sit there real quiet and keep those autographed photos. Maybe one day I’ll even let you work for me. I remember when I was your age, having powers is a real rush isn’t it kiddies, but I’ve been doing this for years. I’m not just some everyday thief, I’m Electro-Cute!” The air around her was suddenly crackling with energy as blue streaks of electricity arced along her body as she struck what she probably thought was a sexy pose.

Much to my embarrassment I giggle-snorted. “Tha’s yuir name? Fer real? Ya actually call yuirself tha’? In public? An’ ya think tha’ it’s cool? Honestly, I’m a wee bit shocked.”

“You little bitch! Nobody talks to me like that! I’ll show you shocked!” She screamed in fury, hurling a blue blast of electricity at me. I was perfectly happy to just let it hit my force field, but Blondie just stepped in front of me, absorbing the blast, the glow around him brightening.

“Mmmm spicy,” he said with a grin, before turning to me and asking, “are you okay Miss?”

“I ‘ave a bloody force field, I didnae need ya tae protec’ me,” I grumbled before reluctantly adding, “bu’ thanks fer tryin’. Ya go’ a name?”

“Conduit, and you?” he responded as he launched forward to punch ‘Electro-Cute’ in the face, knocking her to the floor in a dazed heap. By this point the goons with the guns realized that their boss might just be outclassed and had decided to use their guns for something other than smashing display cases. Three started firing at us, the bullets falling to the floor harmlessly on contact, though I noticed Conduit’s glow fading with each bullet that hit him. The other henchman seemed to have a few more brain cells though, and hadn’t taken his gun off the man behind the sales counter.

“On the floor you two, slowly, or I’ll blow his fucking brains out!”

I raised my hands, trying to look harmless and moving slowly, even as I concentrated on the jeweler behind the counter. “Let’s all jus’ calm down ‘ere aye? I’m Flare, an’ tha’s Conduit, an’ all o’ you are really screwed. Ya really dinnae wan’ tae shoot tha’ man. Right now, he’s yuir only bargainin’ chip. If’n ya shoot ‘im all bets are off an’ yuir goin’ tae get ‘urt bad. Ya see, I ‘ave a wee problem wi’ control, so when I get mad things tend tae blow up. Right now I’m keepin’ maself calm, bu’ the minute I ain’t got reason tae stay tha’ way I cannae guarantee ya leavin’ this place alive, or ‘ow many pieces ya will be in when ya dae. ‘ow aboot all o’ you? Dae ya all wan’ tae be leavin’ ‘ere in one piece? Or are the coroners goin’ tae need tae bring a mop?” I asked, turning to the other gunmen and Electro-Cute, who was slowly getting to her feet.

The blue-haired villainess shook her head, glowering at me and Conduit as she got to her feet. “If you had that kind of power you would have already used it.”

“Ummm, ‘ello. Superhero ‘ere. I’m tryin’ no’ tae cause too much property damage or kill anyone.” I rolled my eyes at her stupidity and muttered, “Tae ‘ell wit’ it. Time tae kick yuir fookin’ asses.” I flew at the goon with the gun trained on the man behind the counter, making a grab for him. He fired the gun before I reached him, but the bullet fell harmlessly to the floor after hitting the field I that I had generated around the jeweler. I breathed a silent sigh of relief as I grabbed the shooter by the wrist, wrenched the gun out of his hand, and threw him into two of the other goons, sending all three into a sprawling heap on the floor. I was so glad that the field had worked. I had never tried to put one on somebody else before, I hadn’t even been sure that I could, and it hadn’t been easy concentrating on it while keeping the crooks’ attention on me.

Conduit had taken that as his cue to tackle the remaining gunman, batting his gun aside before delivering a right cross to his chin that put him out for the count. That was when EC apparently decided that it might be in her best interests to make a run for it. She made a break for the doors, but I cut her off. “Yuir no’ gettin’ away.”

The air between us hummed and crackled as blue bolts of electricity arced along her skin and she surprisingly smiled at me. “You kids are tough, I’ll give you that, I even respect you for it. Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again someday. I am getting away though. You see, I don’t just generate electricity, I am electricity.” Her clothes and bag all fell to the floor as her body turned to energy, crackled with electricity, and then she disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

“Dammit!” I cursed. The damn supervillain got away and now I’d have to look for the twins’ gifts somewhere else since I wasn’t stupid enough to pay for them with a debit card with my name on it after this. I was still mentally grumbling about it as we bound the goons with their own shirts, collected all the guns, and left them with the extremely grateful jeweler. “The cops should be arrivin’ soon if’n ya pressed tha’ silent alarm when I think ya did. We should prob’ly be leavin’ afore they arrive. Sorry aboot the damages an’ the shootin’.”

I was heading for the door with Conduit close behind when the jeweler called out, “Miss, you forgot something,” and offered me a shopping bag with a pair of small jewelry boxes inside.

I shook my head, “I didnae get tae pay fer ‘em.”

“Consider it payment for services rendered, you helped stop the robbery, and if that red light that stopped that bullet was from you, then you saved my life too. This is the least I can do,” he said seriously, shoving the bag into my hands. “Get going. From what I’ve heard, the police around here aren’t always the most understanding of your kind in these situations.”

“Thanks,” I replied, giving him a genuine smile in return before dropping my force field, dashing out the door and speed-walking back toward the store where I had left my sisters.

When I got there and was about to head inside I jumped, nearly losing my shopping bags, as Conduit said, “Nice work back there, maybe we’ll get to work together again sometime.” I hadn’t even realized that he had been keeping up with me.

“I dinnae think so, I’m no’ really from aroun’ ‘ere an’ I won’ be stayin’ long,” I tried to reply casually, adding a shrug. “I should ge’ goin’ though, ma sisters are prob’ly gettin’ worried.”

“Well good luck then, I just wanted to say thanks for the help. It was nice meeting you Flare.” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek and then he was gone, leaving me standing there stunned. My heart raced and my brain was in a fog as I wondered why the hell I let him do that, why I wasn’t having to fight to keep my powers from igniting, and most importantly, why I wasn’t ready to hunt him down and tear him a new one?

I was still standing there minutes later, my hand pressed to my cheek, when my sisters emerged from the store. I didn’t even realize they were there until I heard Vanessa say, “Geeeeze Mer, how long does it take you to use the bathroom? We were starting to get worried.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's now officially Saturday, so here's chapter 14 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 14: The Aftermall

*Earth to Merida, come in Merida,* Tasha’s voice slipped into my confused mind.

I shook my head to clear it and removed my hand from my cheek as if it had been burned. “Stupid! Why the hell did you let him kiss you like that?! And why didn’t you break his fucking arm when he did?!” I thought to myself bitterly, going over the events in my mind once again. “It didn’t even set my powers off… probably because it wasn’t an overwhelming negative emotion I guess, I’m more confused by it than anything. Conduit was actually a nice guy, and he didn’t totally creep me out like that guy on our previous shopping trip. I think I might have even… liked it.”

By this point the girls had half-dragged me to the food court where we all chose what we wanted for lunch before finding a free table. I had decided on a Big Mac, fries and a Coke from the McDonalds, but both the order and the walk to the table were made in a somewhat distracted state. It was one thing to mentally appreciate a person’s looks, I mean people do that all the time right? I had done it more than once before today, but actually being attracted to Conduit and acting like an idiot pretty much since we met? I had never had any gay leanings before this. “And you still don’t,” I told myself bitterly. “You’re a girl now and your bloody Archetype probably changed your orientation when it changed your body. You haven’t been attracted to a single one of the hot girls you’ve seen since you changed.”

“What’s wrong Merida? You’re all distracted and you haven’t even touched your food yet.” Mei suddenly asked in concern.

“Nothin’ I’m fine,” I tried to assure my sisters, taking as big a bite of my burger as I could with my tiny mouth, followed with a few fries and some Coke to wash it all down. From the looks they were giving me not one of them believed me so, with a weary sigh I decided to get it over with. “Ummm, sorry girls, I ahhh… sumthin’ ‘appened while I was out usin’ the loo,” I stammered uncertainly as I tried to explain without letting on to the twins that I had been searching for gifts for them. “I stopped a’ the jewelry store… ‘cause I was thinkin’ o’ maybe getting’ a few new piercin’s in ma ears an’ was lookin’ tae see if they ‘ad anythin’ cool fer earrings. I kinda thought… I could rock the punk look ya ken? Anyway a supervillain an’ some guys wi’ guns tried tae rob the store while I was there.”

“You foiled a jewelry heist?!” Vanessa hissed excitedly, barely able to keep her voice at a level where passersby or people at nearby tables wouldn’t overhear.

A few more bites of my burger and a sip of Coke later I gave an uncertain nod. “Well, ya see… there was this guy an’ he asked ma advice on’ somethin’ so I ‘elped ‘im out an’ then I was aboot tae leave when he grabbed me an’ hid me behind a display case as the thieves came in. He ‘ad powers too an’ we stopped the gunmen bu’ Electro-Cute go’ away. Anyway, we cleared out afore the cops showed up, an’ then he thanked me fer the ‘elp an’… kissed me.”

“Whoa! He kissed you and there’s not a smoldering crater where he once stood?” Tasha asked wide-eyed. I glared at her and she looked down at the floor. “Sorry Mer, but we all know what happened last time and… there’s your condition. So unless you were totally crushing on him there’s no way… OMG You were crushing on him?! That’s why you were standing there looking dazed and touching your face!”

My face burned in embarrassment as I looked at the floor and scuffed my foot nervously. “I dinnae ken… ummm maybe?”

“Oh damn, she’s got it baaaad,” Vanessa teased. “So are you going to see him again?”

“I doubt it, some stoopid crush is the las’ thing tha’ I need right now, ‘sides he lives ‘ere in LA and we’re goin’ tae be movin’ soon. Wit’ any luck I will ne’er ‘ave tae see Conduit again,” I grumbled. Then I filled my face with more of my burger, grumbling around it, “Stoopid jerk anyway, tryin’ tae protect me when I didnae need it, like I’m some ‘elpless wee lass.”

“I dunno about the helpless part, but…” Vanessa started to say, apparently having understood.

“Dae no’ say it ‘Nessa, I really dinnae need tae be reminded o’ how weak an’ small I look now.”

Shu and Mei both stood up and grabbed my arms possessively as Shu nodded and said, “Yeah, Merida doesn’t want to think about some stupid boy, especially when there’s other important stuff to do and talk about.”

“Uh-huh,” Mei quickly agreed. “Now that Merida decided on a look for herself we have to see what we can buy her today, and try to get her those extra piercings she wanted.”

“I am such an idiot, can I say anything today that isn’t mind-blowingly stupid? Now I’m going to have to go along with this. Way to set yourself up Merida, why couldn’t you have just said something else, or better yet nothing at all,” I mentally berated myself. “Now it’s either make the twins think I’m all eager to be a punk rocker or let Tasha and Vanessa grill me endlessly about Conduit and talking about my feelings. Fuck it, let’s rock and roll.”

I hadn’t been completely lying when I said I was considering adopting a punk look. The style is actually kind of cool and looks pretty badass, even on girls. I even liked the music too, so maybe I could find some t-shirts from some of my favorite bands like The Beastie Boys, The Ramones, Green Day, Bikini Kill, The Offspring, and Dropkick Murphys. Besides, combat boots don’t really go with a lot of styles but I could manage it with a punk look. I could even live with short skirts as long as I could wear something underneath them and get some made with the Ainsley clan tartan.

“Well, wot are we waitin’ for then? Shouldnae we be shoppin’?” I think we’d need Mom ‘ere fer the piercin’s though, since I’m obviously no’ eighteen yet.”

“Wait, what? You want to go shopping for girls’ clothes?” Tasha asked, her jaw hanging and her eyes bugging out slightly in shock.

“Ummm yeah Mer, I kinda thought we’d have to twist your arm a little more for that, or give you some more time,” Vanessa agreed.

“Wot, a girl cannae wan’ tae look ‘er best?” I countered, enjoying teasing them for once. “I think I kin live with bein’ a girl as long as I kin dae it on ma own terms. If’n we dinnae ge’ anythin’ too girly, childish, or o’er the top I’ll be okay. I may even be open tae some o’ those things later once I’m more used tae bein’ who I am now. Let’s stick tae Punk fer now though, an’ maybe a few Goth things if they kin work wi’ the look I’m goin’ fer.”

We all quickly finished our meals and then set out on the quest to find me clothes to wear that I didn’t feel too ridiculous in. We didn’t have the money to buy all that much, but we planned to make it go as far as we could. First we stopped at the dollar store for some cheap packs of black nylon stockings that I wouldn’t feel bad about ripping. Then we made our way to one of those large second hand clothing chain stores where I was lucky enough to score some old tour shirts from Green Day and The Offspring, and a black and white Bikini Kill crop top that were all in good condition. We also managed two zip-up hoodies in black and dark green, two plaid skirts (a little shorter than I preferred with a mid thigh hem and a tartan pattern that was close to the purse I had bought earlier), a black denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off to form a vest, a pair of classic black and red high top sneakers that looked brand new, two pairs of light blue cut-off denim shorts and three pairs of distressed jeans; one pair of black low-rise and two pairs of skinny jeans in light blue.

We tried to actively avoid the section of the mall that the jewelry store was in, just in case the police had been a description of me. Vanessa checked it out on her way to the bathroom, where she took far too long, even if she was wetting her tail and skin too. Apparently the store had been cordoned off and the police were inside. Not long after Vanessa got back Tasha took the twins to do the same, and I had to wonder if they were pulling the ‘sneak away and buy Merida a birthday present’ this time. Soon though, we had stretched the money we had to the limit and took the bus home. Vanessa looked longingly at the board shop before we left, but decided to hold off for now since we didn’t know anything about the town we were going to be moving to yet, for all we knew it could be in the middle of the desert.

The rest of the day was fairly sedate. We had an early dinner and then Mom had Mei lay down in the scanner bed in her lab so that she could have scans running when our sister inevitably tried to anchor something to our reality once again. We didn’t have to wait long, since as soon as she was comfortable she gave me a long intense look before saying, “I think I’m gonna summon Fawn this time. An Animal Fairy could help me control some of my animal summons better, and Merida might need her later.” With that cryptic remark her power flared and she passed out, leaving a naked Fairy fluttering in front of my face.

The fairy that had appeared practically right in front of my nose was slender with tanned skin, bright amber eyes, freckles, and long light brown hair. She was also very naked at the moment. Suddenly she just grinned at me and exclaimed, “Hey! I think that you’re the one I came to the mainland looking for! I’m Fawn and we are going to have so much fun together!”

“Ummm… o…kay?” I verbally stumbled in sudden confusion as the pixie grinned, flitted onto my shoulder and then took a curious look around.

As I stared at the fairy on my shoulder Fawn’s attention seemed to fall on Mei in the bed, her expression changing to one of concern as she turned to look back at me. “Is she going to be okay?”

“She’ll be fine.” Tink reassured her. “Bringing one of us to the mainland just makes her really tired.”

Fawn seemed to finally notice the other fairies and let out a squeal of excitement. “Tink! Peri! You’re here too?!” She zipped over to the other fairies and gave them an exuberant hug as the three began chattering like old friends.

“Hey Mom, ya think we kin make Fawn some clothes?” I asked as she was looking over the readings from the scanner bed mumbling something about quantum entanglement.

“Sure Merida, I’m going to send these results over to my tablet anyway.” She entered something in the control panel really quick and then took me and Shu over to the computer attached to the costume maker. With Shu’s help, and reference images of Fawn from the different Fairy movies, she was able to come up with a few different outfit options for the fairy, once her dimensions had been scanned. The first was a simple amber colored sleeveless tunic, ruddy brown three quarter length pants and an elfin shoes, and a green belt. There was also a long sleeved shirt that matched the pants that she sometimes wore beneath the tunic. The other outfit was an orange-and-amber dress that she didn’t even wear shoes with. Fawn seemed even happier than before once six of each of the outfits had been produced and the other fairies had finished helping her braid her long hair. And when I say long I mean long, going by scale it was at least as long as mine had been when I activated and even in a tight braid it nearly reached her ankles.

During the day Mom had come up with tiny little houses for the fairies and had made three of them anticipating the arrival of a third. It was only a bedroom with a small closet and a bathroom, but they had comfy little beds and the bathrooms had a sink, bathtub, and toilet. The latter had been designed to disintegrate their wastes and such and had a small basket of tiny tissues beside, while the sink and bathtub both had running water that was purified and recycled from a small reservoir. It even had tiny fairy sized towels. The houses weren’t much, but they would give the fairies a bit of privacy when they wanted it and bathroom facilities more suited to their small stature.

Once Mom had introduced the fairies to their new digs I offered to help take the little houses up to the twins’ room. Mom quickly pulled me aside though and said, “Ya might wan’ to think about puttin’ Fawn’s house in yuir room fer now, jus’ keep it outside the energy shield over yuir bed.”

“Why would I be doin’ tha’ Mom? She’s Mei’s fairy.”

“Is she? Yes, she is one o’ Mei’s creatures an’ there is definitely a strong connection between the two, but look how she reacted to ya and think about how Peri has been with Shu. Those two have hardly left one another’s sides even after Mei awoke this mornin’. Mei created Tink’s twin no’ just fer Tink, but also fer her own twin to have a pixie pal. Now she’s done the same fer you. She even said that you might need her. She’s somehow linked these last two fairies not only with herself, but individually to you and Shu at some level as well. So take her house into yuir room and get to know yuir new friend better.” The last was said in a tone that would allow no arguments and with a slight smile.

So I ended up spending most of the evening in my room on the temporary fold out cot that had been set up in place of my bed, getting to know Fawn. She seemed to be a bit of a tomboy, was very fond of animals, and seemed to be the good-hearted and happy-go-lucky sort. She was also funny, with a mischievous streak a mile wide. We talked, played a few games and I told her a bit about myself too, and she seemed to think that my constructs might lend themselves well to playing pranks once I had better fine control over them.

I found myself genuinely liking Fawn, and with her being a wild child type tomboy we had quite a few things in common. I think the best thing was that she wasn’t after me to be a girly girl, she just took me for who I was and seemed to like me. She wasn’t exactly a girly girl either so it worked well and we complained to each other about why other girls felt the need to get all dolled up just to do everyday things. She preferred being comfortable to being fashionable and didn’t fault me for being the same. She even had me loosening up a bit and trying to relax, letting go of a small measure of the military discipline that had been instilled in me for so long.

I didn’t recall falling asleep, but I did remember vividly another set of terrifying dreams, including flashbacks of my Activation and scenarios where I lost control of my powers and killed everyone around me. I woke up panting, crying, and screaming as once again the world around me exploded and the anxiety attack seemed to take away my ability to breathe. I was still sitting there in the air sobbing and gasping for air when a tiny, calm, and caring voice reached through the terror that had gripped my heart and mind. “Calm down Merida, breathe slow and deep and open your eyes. I’m here for you.”

I managed to get myself breathing again. I was still crying and sniffling, but the voice helped me to calm down considerably from where I had been at before and even through my force field I could sense someone holding my hand, or at least two of my fingers. Then when I opened my eyes I saw not only the ruined remains of the cot scattered around us, but also Fawn; still trying to speak soothingly to me, hugging my fingers for dear life, and surrounded by a familiar red glow. Confusion seemed to relieve me of the last vestiges of my emotional outburst as I stared at the glowing fairy, since I was fairly sure that I hadn’t put that force field on her. I wasn’t the only one staring either. My explosive awakening had once again woken everyone but Mei and they were all staring at Fawn, especially Tink and Peri.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's now officially Saturday, so here's chapter 15 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 15: Transition

“Wot? Tha’s jus’ like ma force field, but ‘ow are ya doin tha’?” I asked the tiny brunette fairy. I was absolutely sure that it wasn’t me putting the force field on her, I can sort of sense the fields I’ve created once they’re made, it’s like a presence in my mind that allows me to control and move them, and I wasn’t sensing it at all. Nor had I extended mine beyond the surface of my skin to cover her as well, I would have sensed that too. It was like she had her own force field, just like mine, and had merged them where they met so she could physically touch me.

“How am I doing what?” Fawn asked tilting her head slightly as she gave me a confused look.

“Ya ’ave a force field like mine Fawn, ‘ow did ya dae it?””

The fairy laughed. “Pssssh, don’t be silly Merida I’m an Animal Fairy, not a Force Field Fairy. I thought that you were doing this.” She seemed relieved, and not overly concerned about the red glow surrounding her as she smiled at me and hugged me one last time before taking a seat on my shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better Merida, I was really worried about you when you woke me up with that scream and I saw you crying and panicking. Did you have a nightmare?”

“Aye,” I agreed absently as I still wondered about the force field. “I ‘ave ‘em a lot since the… since I go’ ma powers.” I didn’t really want to talk about it, and Fawn didn’t seem the type to push it, which I was grateful for. Since there didn’t seem to be anything I could do to figure out the predicament with Fawn so I took a deep breath and powered down my force field. As the red energy dissipated from around me it did so on Fawn as well, leaving me with more questions than answers as I looked at the alarm clock.

It wasn’t even o-four-thirty yet and I groaned as I quickly mumbled an apology to everyone gathered in my doorway. “Sorry e’eryone, maybe we should be thinkin’ aboot soundproofin’ ma room in the new place so ya kin all ge’ a decent night’s sleep wi’out me scarin’ ya awake.”

“We can probably manage tha’,” Mom agreed. “Don’t beat yuirself up about this though Merida, it’s no’ yuir fault. Now why don’t we let everyone else get a few hours more sleep while I take you an’ Fawn down to the lab?”

Once the rest of the family had shuffled sleepily back to their beds, Mom took Fawn and I down to the lab to run a battery of tests to see if we could figure out Fawn’s ability to mimic my force field. Despite having the exact same energy signature as my force field, the energy didn’t seem to be coming from me. It was definitely coming from the fairy herself, but she had no conscious control over it, nor could she create constructs or feed more energy into the field to make it unstable or superheated. It only seemed to activate when my own did, mimicking the nature of the energy that I was projecting at the time. Mom called it a symbiotic reactive defense and thought that it might be somehow related to a “quantum connection” that she had detected between me and Fawn.

Apparently Mei shared a connection to all of the fairies she had summoned, as well as any other summons she created, at the quantum level that was very similar to quantum entanglement. Fawn seemed to share that connection with me as well, which seemed just as strong, if not stronger, than the one between Fawn and Mei. She figured that Peri and Shu would have that connection too, and planned to test it later. She also said that if the quantum connection was responsible for Fawn’s force field, then Fawn could be on the other side of the planet and her field would still activate whenever mine did.

We had been going over it and testing the field on Fawn for nearly two hours when Mei awoke. As she sat up and yawned Mom quickly jotted down the elapsed time while Fawn kamikaze hugged my younger sister, her force field still in place. It was a good thing that I was keeping the energy of my field in its stable solid form at the moment or she could have blown Mei up. She hugged the fairy and as soon as Fawn had released her she looked over the fairy and grinned, “It worked!”

“Ya intended fer Fawn to mimic Merida’s force field?” Mom asked. “I thought that might be the case, it was one of the few possibilities that made sense.”

“Yeah, when I… uh brought Fawn here I was thinking that she and Merida would be spending a lot of time together. So I thought it would be nice if whenever Merida uses her force field that Fawn could have one just like it. That way if they were both in danger or Merida has a… ummm…. accident at night, then Fawn would be safe too.” Mei flushed a bit as she said the last. She had been afraid I would blow up my new fairy friend? And she would have been right. Did she really have to put it that way though? She made me sound like I had a problem wetting the bed. No, I had perfect bladder control thank you, I just blew my bed to smithereens.

“Um thanks Mei,” I said looking down at the floor ashamed, my face beet red. “Ya ken, fer thinkin’ o’ tha’. An’ fer… bringin’ Fawn ‘ere fer me. Tha’ was sweet o’ ya. I’m no’ shoor why ya think I needed an Animal Fairy though.”

Mei looked away awkwardly. “You know, in case you want a pet someday? Like a umm… dog or something?” She was hiding something from me and I knew it. From the glance Mom gave her she knew it too. Maybe she just thought I needed someone to be there for me and help soothe me after the nightmares or if I had an anxiety attack, like some the companion animals for the blind, deaf, or people with medical conditions. I thought there might even be some of those for people suffering from PTSD. Did she really see me as that broken?

My field bubbled and flared slightly from the hurt and disappointment at that thought, as did Fawn’s. I needed to get control over myself so I did it the only way I knew how, good old military discipline. “Well, since yuir up now, I’m goin’ tae go wake the others so we kin start our mornin’ trainin’ session.” I fled the room, fawn fluttering behind me as I focussed my mind on the new task and buried my emotions.

Not long later the others were awake, and we were all dressed in our exercise clothes. I increased the length of our morning run to a full half hour followed by an equally long exercise session consisting of exercises meant to tone our bodies, keep us limber, and build stamina. I planned to have us run every morning, but the exercises I would vary to avoid overworking muscle groups. To start off with I planned to alternate between exercises like this morning, hand to hand combat training and drills, resistance training, and swimming when we could. Once I was sure they all had a handle on the more basic combat training I would start adding in kickboxing and maybe some weapons combat training.

We were all exhausted by the time we had finished, even the fairies. Even though they had been excluded from the run, to avoid people seeing them, they had not been exempted from the training session afterwards since I figured that they should stay in shape too. I was thinking that Tasha or maybe the twins would complain with as hard as I had worked us, hell my own body was screaming at me to stop, but they just doggedly kept at it with determined expressions on their faces.

I didn’t want to drive them into the ground like a group of fresh-faced recruits, but they had asked for the training and I had told them how hard it was going to be. Now we all had to deal with it if I was going to help them when they eventually decided to go prancing around in costumes fighting crime. They would likely do it without me if I refused, so I would do it with them and train them properly, if only to keep them alive and as safe as possible while doing it. As nice as it would be to help people with my powers, I held no illusions about what could happen to any of us in a combat situation, or the fact that we were just kids. That last part made itself far too apparent every time I looked in a mirror.

When we had finished our workout session, we each took a turn in the shower and got dressed for the day. I was the first to shower, but the last to be finished since my long hair took so much work to clean, dry and brush, though Fawn seemed to have the same problem. Once we had finished we joined the others for a bowl of cereal with milk and a glass of juice for breakfast. The fairies each had a couple of Cheerios dipped in our milk and some careful tiny sips of our juice. “That’s another thing we’ll need for you girls,” Shu said as we finished our meal. “You need dishes and cups and stuff in your size, maybe some furniture for your houses too.”

“Maybe we could find some Barbie stuff, or stuff made for dollhouses that would work,” Tasha suggested.

“Those should be pretty close to the right size,” Vanessa agreed.

“I guess we’ll have to go look at the mall and see what we can find, we really should have thought of that yesterday,” Mei put in with a slight frown. “Sorry girls, I should have been better prepared for you before bringing you here.”

Tink reached out to hug Mei around the wrist. “Don’t worry about it Mei, we’re having so much fun here that we don’t mind waiting a bit, do we girls?”

“Those things are just extras anyway, and you made it so I can stay with my sister!” Peri put in excitedly. “The most important thing is that we all have one another.”

“Yup!” Fawn agreed as she proceeded to start braiding her hair in my lap. “I’m just happy to be here with Tink, Peri, and all of you Mei. And you helped me find my new best friend Merida.”

It was then that the doorbell rang and we heard Andy call out that he’d get it. “Dae ya think tha’s Kendra?” I asked.

“Kendra?” Nobody seemed to know who I was talking about.

“Kendra,” I repeated before clarifying, “Toxin? Tha’ counselor from our new school?”

“Oh right Toxin,” Vanessa finally said as she remembered who I was talking about. “Sorry, but we barely met her, we didn’t really get to know her as well as you did Mer.”

“Well there’s no time like the present is there?” Came a familiar voice from the doorway to the living room. “I’m Kendra Wilson girls and, once you’ve moved to Costa Verde, I’ll be the one you can come to talk to about any problems you’re having adjusting, any issues stemming from your Activation or the events surrounding it, or if you just need someone to talk to or get advice from. Merida will be coming to see me fairly often, and I hope you get to know you all in time, but right now I’d like to talk with you for a while Vanessa.”

“Uh why me? I’m fine,” Vanessa said with a shrug.

Kendra pointed to the mermaid’s tail, partially visible beneath the kitchen table. “Well that for one. Like Merida, you had a fairly extreme change under traumatic circumstances so I would like to ensure that you aren’t suffering from any long-term physical or psychological issues as a result. And while we’re doing that we can get to know one another better.”

“You’re going to make me take the same tests Mer did?” the mermaid asked with a sigh as she shifted her tail back into legs

Kendra shook her head, but as always it was tough to tell what she was thinking with that black and purple full-bodysuit covering her entire face. “Similar tests, but not exactly the same, your circumstances are a bit different than Merida’s. It might be best if we have this talk privately though, so your mother has graciously allowed us to use her lab for this.”

The pair left the kitchen and Mom and Andy entered with the information packets about the city of Costa Verde and Pacific Seaside Academy. Costa Verde was apparently a coastal city of over two hundred thousand people in northern California, north of Santa Rosa and west of Redding. In recent years, due to the beaches and a long history of strange occurrences in the area dating back to even before white people had settled in the area, it has become a bit of a tourist destination, coming close to doubling its population in the peak seasons. It has also recently become host to Pacific Seaside Academy and there was a new Disney theme park being built there as well, set to open its doors early next year.

The pamphlets for Pacific Seaside Academy were fairly tame, since they didn’t want to advertise being a school for mutants any more than they had to. There were basically just a few pictures of normal looking kids and a lot of talk about the seaside campus and the wide variety of non-standard academic and physical classes. Most prospective students and staff were given personal tours to see if it was the right fit for them, once they had been confirmed as mutants, though there was a personal note from the headmistress letting us know a few details about the school that weren’t in the pamphlet.

For one thing, PSA was a bit of an open secret as far as Costa Verde was concerned. Most of the locals knew that it was a school for Hypers, but that information wasn’t shared with the tourists and to most people PSA was simply a super-elite private school on the waterfront catering to the obscenely wealthy. Since the school was only entering its second official school year, there had only been limited word of mouth about it through the Hyper community, but the headmistress Dr. Edwards (or Mystech if she’s in costume) seemed to have contacts everywhere from the sounds of it. As a result there was a wide variety of students consisting of those from wealthy Hyper families that made sizable donations, family members of employees, local mutant kids from Costa Verde, and those referred by government agencies such as the HAA, the HPP, or homeless shelters for Hypers. Most of the latter ones were runaways and Dr. Edwards would do her best to get them enrolled, offering scholarships if they couldn’t afford the school fees.

It was just after Mom and Andy started filling in the paperwork for both their employment and our schooling that the doorbell rang once again. By that time Fawn had finished braiding her hair so I stood up and offered, “I’ll ge’ the door.” Fawn hid herself in my hair and I made my way toward front door, opening it to see a pair of large men dressed in military fatigues. Quelling the brief surge of grief and jealousy to keep my powers under control, I looked way up at them, feeling far too tiny as I asked, “Kin I ‘elp ya?”

“We’re looking for a Miss Merida Ainsley,” said the slightly smaller of the two with a smile. He was probably trying not to scare me.

“Tha’s me,” I said with a shrug. “I s’pose yuir ‘ere wi’ ma… Uncle Maddock’s stuff?”

“Yes Miss Ainsley, Captain Ainsley’s will named you as his sole beneficiary. We will need your parent or guardian to sign for your uncles possessions, but General Nelson asked that we give this to you directly,” he said offering me a large manila envelope. “It contains a copy of the will and some personal items I believe.”

“Thanks,” I managed as I took the envelope. Then I called out “Mom!”

While Mom signed for the stuff, and had the men unload it in the unused half of the two-door garage, I opened the envelope and looked at the contents. There was indeed a copy of the will, with a very convincing forgery of my old signature, plus a note from the General and a set of newly minted dog tags identical to my old ones. I was a bit teary-eyed as I plopped down on the couch and looked at the note.

Merida,

Your uncle’s tags were destroyed in his last mission, but he was a fine solider and I felt that you should have some reminder of the service he did for his country that you can keep with you. I had this new set made before officially retiring his service number. Be proud of who he was, honor it, but don’t be afraid to find out who you are and embrace it. I wish you the very best in your life.

General Nelson

I bit back the tears that were forming and clutched the tags, and the chain they were on, so tightly that they were digging painfully into the flesh of my palm. The General had obviously worded his note that way in case someone without proper clearance managed to read it before me, but I was pretty sure that I got the message loud and clear. I may have been crying a bit, and trying to keep my powers under wraps, when Fawn asked, “Are you okay Merida?”

“Nae, no’ really,” I admitted, “bu’ I think tha’ I will be… someday.”

Fawn and I spent a few minutes just sitting there in silent companionship until Vanessa plopped down beside us with a sigh. “Well it’s official Mer, you’re not the only one in the house with issues. Kendra says that I have Transformative Stereotype Disorder.”

“Aye, tha’s kinda wot I ‘ave, bu’ I guess PCEDS is a common enough variant o’ TSD tae ‘ave its own name,” I told her with a shrug. “I guess I feel things more intensely, I cannae control ma emotions very well either, an’ it’s makin’ me ‘ave trouble controllin’ ma powers.”

“It’s not as bad as what you have, mostly physical stuff for me. I get uncomfortable when spending too much time away from the water and it seems to be why I need to get my skin and tail damp so often. I guess I should have expected it, what with my other mermaid issues.” She sighed deeply before adding, “Kendra wants me to see her regularly once we’re settled in to see how I’m adjusting to… stuff. She’s talking to Tasha now and then she’s going to get to know the twins a bit too. She seems nice enough I guess, and she seems to care.”

“Aye, she’s a nice woman, an’ if anyone can understand’ us, I think it’d be ‘er,” I agreed.

The mermaid shook her head morosely. “Yeah, I can’t imagine what that would be like for her, not only having her dream of becoming a doctor taken away, but having to wear that suit all the time and not being able to touch other people… or be touched without killing them. It makes my issues seem kinda pale in comparison.”

“What issues?” Fawn asked, her caring nature shining through as she looked at my sister in concern.

Vanessa looked away for a moment before reaching out to hug me. “Mer, I know I’ve never really thanked you properly for that first day we met. I’d… be a lot worse off if it wasn’t for you talking me down, acting like a friend, and making me feel like I wasn’t alone in what I was going through. I had lost my whole family less than a month before, I hadn’t even been at the orphanage two weeks before being kidnapped, and then the whole being held captive and drugged thing, followed by waking up in a bathtub with a tail instead of legs… you made it all seem bearable and now I have a family again. I guess what I’m saying is that, with all of that and my weird mermaid biology throwing me curveballs, I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed by things. You’re my sister now and probably my best friend so, if you ever need me, I’m here for you.”

“Me too! That’s what best friends do for one another!” Fawn quickly agreed.

I reached out to hug both the mermaid and the fairy as Mom came back inside and motioned toward the garage. “Thanks, both o’ ya. Now maybe ma two bes’ friends kin ‘elp me star’ sortin’ through all tha’ stuff in the garage?”

We spent until lunch going through the boxes of my old stuff, most of it would be going to Goodwill since the only personal things I would be keeping were a pair of nice combat knives and some practice swords, Maddock’s dress uniform, the dog tags, my motorbike, and the mostly restored Mustang. I had never really added any personal touches to my place on the base and all the clothes were way too big, though I did keep three camo t-shirts and another three gray “ARMY” t-shirts that were in good condition. They would probably be like a dress on me, but I figured that I could use them for sleepwear and at least be comfortable in bed. Everything else I needed to get rid of. Stuff from Maddock’s childhood seemed out of place to me now, kitchen wares could be replaced when I eventually was old enough to be on my own again, and the only thing that my stack of porn mags had made me feel was discomfort and embarrassment. Luckily it was me who found that box instead of one of the others.

My other sisters had joined us, along with Tink and Periwinkle, once they were finished their introductory talk with Kendra, and soon we had all that I wanted to keep set aside. Tink was of course interested in my bike and the Mustang and Fawn seemed interested as well, or at the very least was being supportive of our interest in it. As we headed inside to put away the small things that I was keeping, and to see about lunch, I promised that anyone who wanted to could have a better look at the ‘stang later and maybe help me tinker a bit.

When we got to the kitchen Kendra was helping Mom and Andy with the last of the forms and the trio smiled up at us. “All done in the garage?” Andy asked.

“Aye, we took e’erythin’ I’m keepin’ up tae ma room, all the other boxes kin be taken tae Goodwill,” I said with a shrug, trying to not be bothered by how little there had been and how pathetic that made my former life seem.

“Good Merida, we can do tha’ after lunch,” Mom said with a curt nod. “We’ll need to take the will to the bank to arrange fer Maddock’s bank accounts to be transferred to one for you as well. We’ll want all o’ tha’ done before we leave for Costa Verde tomorrow.”

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's Saturday, so here's chapter 16 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 16: Moving Forward

It was a busy afternoon. After a quick and light lunch, Andy and my sisters started packing all of our stuff, with Kendra volunteering to help them as Mom and I left. We didn’t really have a place to move into yet and that concerned me a bit, but with Shu’s improving abilities we wouldn’t have to put our stuff in public storage. All of our stuff, including my motorcycle and car, would be temporarily stored in one of her pocket dimensions until we had a new place to live, meaning that we could travel light. It would also mean no moving trucks and the like, since Shu could just open up her dimensional portals and our things could be easily stored and removed without having to even go outside.

Meanwhile, Mom and I loaded up the SUV with all of the boxes of Maddock’s old stuff while Fawn stayed hidden in my new purse. It was more than a little depressing that we managed to fit all of it in one load, but if I wanted to move on with my life it had to be done. Holding onto stuff from my old life that I wouldn’t need or couldn’t use, just because it was Maddock’s, would only hold me back in my new life and give me reasons not to adjust. I needed to get rid of as much of Maddock as I could. Out with the old and in with the new and all that. Those things that I had decided to keep, I was doing it because they were either useful or were important to me to keep as tributes to my old life without having the potential to hold me back in my new one.

After we had dropped off the boxes at the nearest Goodwill, we made our way to the closest branch of the bank that held Maddock’s accounts. Fortunately it was the same bank that Mom usually did business with, so I figured that we wouldn’t have to do too much running around. It was on our way there that I voiced my concerns about our sudden departure for Costa Verde. “I was wonderin’, when we ge’ tae Costa Verde, where are we goin’ tae be stayin’? We dinnae e’en ‘ave a ‘ouse there yet an’ I cannae exactly stay in a hotel wi’ ma… issues.”

“Andy an’ I will be stayin’ at Alana’s house in one of her guest rooms, an’ you girls will all be stayin’ in yuir dorm rooms until we find a new house,” she replied without much concern in her voice. “Hopefully we can find one before school starts in a few weeks. Until then yuir rooms at the school will be safe fer ya. I was talkin’ with Alana about what you all would all be needin’ while ya were out sortin’ through yuir stuff in the garage.”

I wondered briefly who Alana was, but then I remembered that that was the first name of Dr. Edwards, the school’s headmistress. It wasn’t as relevant as what she had just revealed though, so my mind quickly flew past it and onto the more important matter at hand. “Wot the ‘ell dae ya mean dorm rooms?! I thought we’d be livin’ a’ ‘ome wi’ you an’ Andy. Is this some sort o’ boardin’ school?!”

Mom sighed expansively. “It’s supposed to be a private school Merida, so to non-mutants that’s what it has to look like from the outside. You’ll be livin’ at home durin’ weekends, holidays, an’ when school isn’t in session. That’s what the local kids do, most live there the whole school year though, an’ some year-round. Ya can sleep at home Friday an’ Saturday night’s but ya need to be in the dormitory by the ten o’clock curfew from Sunday to Thursdays, unless there’s holidays. You’ll have to wear school uniforms during school hours or while on field trips as well.”

“Bu’ tha’s no’ faaaair! Tha’s no’ wot I signed up fer!” I was whining, I knew I was whining, and it made me feel as childish as I probably looked.

“Don’t ya be givin’ me tha’ tone young lady,” Mom told me in a tone that would tolerate no backtalk. It seemed that my once-sister was adapting to her new role every bit as much as I seems to be falling into mine, however unwilling it might be on my part. “Ya need trainin’ Merida, an’ that is where yuir goin’ to get it. From what Alana and Kendra said at least you an’ Vanessa will have yuir own rooms in Starfish Dorm. The twins will be sharin’ a room together in Salmon Dorm an’ Tasha will be sharin’ a room wi’ someone in Dolphin Dorm.”

There were probably good things about me not having to share a room and I knew it, still I didn’t like being singled out. I was also worried about not being there if the twins needed me. “Why kin we no’ all be in the same Dorm? ‘Nessa an’ I would be willin’ tae share a room. An’ why the ‘ell are we bein’ singled out? Wot if the twins’ need me? An’ I dinnae like the idea o’ Tasha ‘avin tae share a room wi’ some stranger while ‘Nessa an’ I are bein’ kept alone, it seems…personal.”

“You won’t be alone Merida, I’ll be with you. I’m not going to let anyone keep me away from my best friend. I can keep hidden if I need to, we Fairies know how to hide from humans when we have to,” Fawn assured me in her small voice from her place in my lap.

Another sigh from Mom in response to my comment. “Fawn can stay with ya since she’s safe from yuir powers an’ doesn’t take up much space. It’s no’ personal though Merida. You’ll all have the run o’ the school or be able to leave the grounds when yuir not in classes or until curfew, so yuir no’ prisoners an’ you’ll be able to spend time together when you want to. Salmon Dorm is specifically for the junior high girls, so the twins will be able to make some new friends there, an’ Tasha will be in one of the two dorms for the high school girls. Starfish Dorm isn’t like the other dorms though, it’s special.”

“I kin unnerstan’ no’ wantin’ me roomin’ wi’ someone else, bu’ ‘Nessa? Why kin she no’ room wi’ Tasha?” I asked, crossing my arms stubbornly in front of my chest.

Mom groaned as we entered the parking lot for the bank and she looked for a spot. “Like I said, Starfish Dorm is special. It’s the only coed dorm an’ all of its rooms are single occupant. The students from the other dorms are led to believe tha’ it’s because those who live there have powers tha’ are too dangerous or unpredictable to be aroun’ while sleeping, so their rooms need special modifications. Let’s face it you would be roomed there on tha’ alone, an’ both you an’ Vanessa will be needin’ special beds an’ such. Mostly though, Starfish Dorm is fer students who are different or potential targets for bullying: LGBTQ students, kids who have gone through a gender change, or those with not only dangerous powers, but strange appearances and other issues as well.”

“So, stick all the freaks t’gether huh? Tha’s no’ a dorm it’s a bloody menagerie!” I snapped. It was bad enough that they thought, correctly, that I wasn’t safe to be around, but to keep us away from the general student body like some sort of lepers? The idea pissed me off.

Mom tried to remain calm as she parked the car and turned off the engine, then she turned and faced me, giving me a concerned look. “Merida… yuir force field… calm down please and let me explain.”

In my anger I hadn’t even noticed that both Fawn and I were now bathed in the ruddy light of our force fields and that they were beginning to bubble dangerously. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I tried to calm myself, and counted backwards from ten. Once I had managed to disperse the energy I opened my eyes once again. “Sorry,” I muttered sheepishly as I looked down at Fawn in my lap.

Once she felt that I was sufficiently calmed down Mom began to explain the thinking behind Starfish Dorm. “It’s no’ some sort of zoo Merida, it’s a support system. It’s a chance to be around other students who can accept ya for who ya are. All of the students there are different, even among other Hypers. Yuir still no’ used to being a girl yet, and Vanessa is a mermaid and can’t spend a lot of time with legs, even though her shifting abilities are improving every day. So, even if yuir rooms didn’t need special modifications an’ ya weren’t a Category five with control issues, ya would both have problems rooming with other girls. Don’t see this as a banishment, see it as a chance to make friends who jus’ might be able to understan’ what you’ve gone through, an’ what yuir still goin’ through.”

She’s right Merida,” Fawn said, fluttering up to my shoulder to hug my cheek. “You need to make other friends besides your sisters and us Fairies.”

I gave in with a sigh. “I guess yuir right, bu’ why is Mei no’ bein’ sent tae tha’ dorm too? She’s a Cat five too.”

“Mei is powerful, probably one o’ the mos’ powerful mutants I’ve ever heard of,” Mom pointed out carefully, “and while she may be impulsive, she does seem to have a very good instinctual control over her abilities. She’s no’ the type to summon anythin’ dangerous either unless it’s warranted. She and Shu should be fine, an’ a lot more comfortable mentally, rooming together.”

“I guess yuir right,” I admitted. “She only summoned Godzilla tha’ one time when we were in danger an’ ‘cause I tol’ her tae summon the biggest an’ scariest thing tha’ she could think o’ creatin’. Most o’ her summons seem tae be more cute an’ cuddly than dangerous. I’m still no’ shoor aboot this school, bu’ I guess I’ll manage.”

Mom added her hug to Fawn’s as she tried to reassure me. “It’ll be fine Merida, you’ll all be going there together and Andy and I will be workin’ there so we’ll be aroun’ if ya need us. Now let’s get in there an’ see about getting’ yuir money into a new account.”

It took nearly half an hour before we got in to see an account manager. Evelyn Chandler was a stiff looking woman in her mid-twenties with glasses, an expensive-looking skirt-suit and her hair held back in a severe bun. Mom and I were dressed somewhat less... expensively. Mom was dressed for comfort in a casual green silk blouse, a pair of jeans, a pair of flats and her hair tied back in a ponytail, since it was going to be a fairly busy day for us preparing for the move and all. I on the other hand was attempting to get used to dressing like a girl and had begun sporting my punk look. I wore my Green Day tour shirt knotted in front to display my midriff, one of my short plaid skirts with artistically ripped black nylon stockings underneath, my combat boots, dog tags, and a black hoodie tied about my hips with the sleeves. I was showing off a bit more skin than I was really comfortable with, but I needed to start getting comfortable dressing like a girl before school started, and I knew that if I didn’t push myself that I’d just keep trying to hide from it. I was very careful to keep my legs together as Tasha and Vanessa had warned me to when wearing a skirt though.

How can I help you ladies today?” the woman asked with a smile that looked somewhat forced to my eyes.

“My brother recently died an’ he left all of his worldly possessions to my daughter,” Mom began, trying to keep tight control over her accent. She reached into her purse and began pulling out the will, identification for both of us, and Maddock’s bank account information. “As executor of his will, I will need to have the contents of his account transferred to an account for her.”

The woman looked over the documents, typed the account information into her computer, and gave another of those hollow smiles as she moved to get up. “Sure, I’ll just get the forms so I can set up a trust fund for her.”

Mom shook her head. “Merida already has a sizable trust fund, I would like this placed in a checking and savings account for her.”

The woman’s jaw dropped and she stared at us for a moment before responding. “You want to put over five hundred thousand dollars in the hands of a child?” I had almost forgotten how much was in that account since my parents’ estate had been settled and divided between Blair and me after their deaths. Since I had lived on base I had never really used the account for much besides basic expenses and the occasional part for restoring Dad’s old Shelby Mustang.

“Merida is very mature an’ responsible for her age, I assure you,” Mom retorted, her eyes narrowing at the woman.

“I’m sure she is,” the woman said, looking down her nose and taking in my clothes, “but this is a sizable account.”

“I realize tha’, but my brother’s will clearly states tha’ all o’ his worldly possessions, including tha’ money, were to be given to my daughter to do with as she wishes, no’ tha’ it be held in trust fer her. As the executor o’ his will an’ his sister I am goin’ to see tha’ it is done as he wished,” Mom said with an edge to her voice as she started to lose the control over her accent.

“Mrs. Ainsley, I would really advise against this. Mature and responsible or not she is a child,” she said giving Mom an intense look. “Anyone could manipulate her into using that money for things that may not be in her best interests, or just to transfer it to another account.” The accusation riled me and I would have said something, but right then it was taking all of the self control that I had to keep my powers from activating.

“Doctor Ainsley,” Mom stated, very clearly. “I’m no’ married an’ I didn’t spend all those years in University earnin’ seven doctorate degrees to be called Mrs. or Miss thank ya very much. I want to see yuir branch manager, right now.”

Several minutes later we were joined by a short paunchy man in a nice suit with a slightly receding hairline who introduced himself as Karl. Mom explained the situation in no uncertain terms and followed up by saying, “Now before you lose several ‘sizable accounts’ from Miss Chandler’s attitude I would like you to have a look at my account. I am expecting a payment from the Hyper Affairs Agency and I would like to make sure that it arrived in my account before I close it, my brother’s account, and the trust funds for all five of my daughters.”

Karl looked over the account number that Mom provided and had the irritating accounts manager type the relevant information into the computer. Her eyes went wide and her face paled as she looked at the screen. “Y… you received a payment from the Hyper Affairs Agency last night for two point five billion dollars.”

“An’ wha’ does tha’ bring my current balance to?” Mom asked as calmly as if she was asking about the weather. “Feel free to round it down if tha’ makes it easier.

“Three point seven billion dollars,” even I was staring a bit at that point. Blair had said she was only renting our current place until she had found something nice to buy and was ready to open her practice. Government tech contracts had kept her too busy to go house shopping though and apparently those contracts had been very lucrative, especially the adaptive infiltration suit she had just contracted to produce fifty for of for the HAA and had given them exclusive use rights to. Even when Andy had doubled the price the HAA had still jumped at the chance to buy them.

From that point Karl took us to his own office, bent over backwards to ensure that my new account was properly set up, and promised us that Miss Chandler would be properly dealt with for her rudeness. I was given a temporary check book and bank card and was promised that my permanent card and personalized checks would be delivered by courier to Pacific Seaside Academy once they were ready to be issued. As we finally pulled out of the parking lot I looked at Mom with a raised eyebrow. “I didnae ken tha’ ya were doin’ so well fer yuirself.”

She gave a non-committal shrug. “Tech contracts are lucrative. Quite a bit o' the money that I just received is goin' to be goin' into producin' the finished units fer the HAA though, the materials weren't cheap. Still, by doublin' the askin' price I'll make a hefty profit. There would ‘ave been more in my account, but I wanted to make sure that all of my girls get the best education ya can once yuir ready for college or university. So I may have padded all yuir trust funds a wee bit in addition to what ya got from the HAA. Just’ a few hundred thousand each, but with the interest ya should all be set fer a good education.”

“Yuir takin’ this whole ‘Mom’ thing pretty seriously,” I finally said after some thought. We didn’t seem to be heading in the direction of our house so I wondered aloud, “Where are we goin’ now?”

“I need to take care o’ ya Merida, it’s what Mom and Da’ would have wanted, an’ I love ya, whether yuir my brother, sister, or daughter. The girls are good kids an’ I’m startin’ to love them too. They all deserve a family and I promised I’d give ‘em tha’. Besides, I was stuck wi’ a kid brother who’d never let me put him in dresses when we were growin’ up. I always wanted a sister an’ I was hopin’ to have daughters o’ my own one day. I’m no’ goin’ to complain if I get five wonderful girls to fill that role, jus’ because it was a bit sooner than expected.” She turned off toward the very mall that I had visited with my new sisters the day before and shrugged once again. “I need to get you and Vanessa beds fer both yuir dorm rooms an’ fer our new house when we find one. I can find something close to what we’re needin’ fer yuirs in the furniture store at the mall, but fer Vanessa’s I‘ll need to make a few stops for the things I’ll need.”

“This all seems a wee bi’ rushed,” I pressed in concern.

She nodded and sighed, a look of uncertainty on her face. “I know this move is a bit sudden, but you were in the news yesterday fer the second time in the past week, an’ Costa Verde is a lot friendlier to mutants than LA. We need to get out of LA before somethin’ else happens or the HAA decides tha’ yuir more trouble than yuir worth. Agent Smith an’ Andy managed to keep them from deliberately screwin’ ya over last time, but they’ve proven tha’ they’d only be too happy to throw ya under the bus when it suits them. We’re havin’ to rush things, but hopefully we’ll get a new home there soon, we contacted a real estate agency already and they’re looking at places that will suit our needs.”

We stopped at the mall where Mom ordered two queen sized metal framed four poster canopy beds in white. I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea, but she assured me that the frames were important and that at least they looked like beds a normal girl could have. They were bloody princess beds though, with a canopy and sheer white curtains and everything. I only gave in because she insisted that the frames were important and because Fawn, who had been peeking out from my purse, had fallen in love with them. She arranged to have the frames sent without mattresses to our current home later that afternoon and then we were ready to leave when I asked, “Could we… make a few stops first?”

Mom nodded her head and smiled. “I don’t mind, so long as we get to Home Depot an’ a good swimming pool supply shop before they close for the day. I have been kind of wantin’ us to have some one-on-one time anyway, did ya need somethin’?”

“Aye, well there’s this surf board at a shop tha’ ‘Nessa really wanted tae ge’. I want tae buy it fer her, now tha’ I ‘ave my money again. An’ I was hopin’ tae mebbe ge’ a few… piercin’s,” I reluctantly admitted.

“You want piercings? Ya were seethin’ the whole time we go’ yer studs done las’ week.”

“I was kinda reactin’ bad tae the whole ‘girl thing’ then,” I answered with a sigh. “I’ve been thinkin’ though tha’ I need tae ge’ o’er tha’ an’ try tae push myself tae adjust if I wan’ people to believe I’ve been a girl all my life when we ge’ tae the new school. I’ve been figurin’ tha’ I like the punk look an’ could be comfortable wit’ it. I should look the part though, like it’s a look I’ve been cultivatin’ fer a while. Piercin’s are no’ really too diff’ren’ from tattoos, an’ I ‘ad a lot o’ them afore ma change. They kin always heal o’er if’n I end up no’ likin’ them too, so I figure I should really do this now… afore I lose ma courage an’ start second guessin’.”

“You’ve been thinkin’ a lot about this it seems,” she said while looking me over carefully. Finally she nodded and gave me a relieved smile. “I’m glad yuir startin’ to adjust, let’s find a place to get it done then.”

We found a body piercing shop where I got a second pair of studs in my earlobes, a pair of rings in the upper ears on each side, a ring in my left eyebrow and a short dangly chain in my navel with a little dragon on the end. All of them were in silver in color, though the metal was titanium and thus a bit pricier, but it was also lighter, more durable, and less likely to cause an allergic reaction than actual silver. I made sure to listen carefully as the young woman who did the piercings told me how to care for them until they were properly healed. I was kind of surprised that Mom had allowed the navel and eyebrow piercings, but when I asked about it on the way to the surf shop she just smiled at me and said that despite how old I looked I was old enough to make my own decisions.

I was going to be sore for a while, but it would be worth if it helped me convince people that I had been a girl all my life. Besides, I thought that I might just be a little bit closer to leaving Maddock behind and figuring out exactly who Merida was. I was actually smiling at that thought as we made our way to the surf shop.

Once we got to the surf shop I got the mermaid board that Vanessa had been drooling over, a pair of maintenance and repair kits, a pair of board bags and a second board for myself. I chose a board with an aquamarine dragon spitting flames on it that had captured my attention when I had been browsing with Vanessa. She had offered to teach us to surf and I thought that it would be a nice hobby to pick up once we were in Costa Verde. I would have gotten boards for my other sisters too, but I wanted them to be able to pick out their own once they were ready.

When we were done at the surf shop we left the mall and put the boards and everything else in the back of the SUV and headed to Home Depot where Mom bought some thick sheets of Plexiglas and all the other supplies she would need to build two aquariums; eight feet long by five feet wide and four feet deep. She also bought some various electronics and paid a huge delivery fee as well to make sure that the stuff would all be delivered to our current home before the end of the day. The last stop before we made our way home was a specialty shop for swimming pools where she bought a pair of sea salt pool filtration systems and everything needed to go with them. I helped her to load it all in the SUV and then we were on our way home.

It had been the first time since my change… no, the first time since our parents died that the two of us had been able to spend that much time together, just me and her. Well, Fawn had been there, but she had stayed hidden and quiet for most of that time out of necessity. It had been different than when I had spent time with her alone as Maddock and, even though we really hadn’t been doing anything all that special, I felt closer to her than I had since we were both small children, when we would sit and listen to Mom’s stories and watch her constructs in rapt fascination. She had said it earlier today. She loved me whether I was her brother, sister, or daughter and I knew that she would be there for me, and all of my new sisters, come Hell or high water. As we finally stopped in our driveway I reached out to hug her as tightly as I could. “Thanks Blai… Mom, fer bein’ you.” Fawn seemed to realize that this was just between us though, since she just continued to sit quietly in my lap and let us have our moment.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Well it's officially Saturday, so here's chapter 17 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 17: Moving Day

I was about to get out of the SUV when Mom held me back. “Merida… Fawn, I would appreciate it if ya didn’t tell the other girls about how well off we really are.”

Fawn quickly nodded, but I couldn’t really be sure that she really understood how money worked anyway, much less just how much Mom had. She seemed content to just forget about the whole bank incident that she had witnessed from the confines of my purse though. “Okay Merida’s Mom.”

“Aye, no’ one word,” I quickly promised before adding, “ya wan’ tae raise us like Mom an’ Da’ right?”

Blair and I had grown up well off with our father being a successful surgeon, but our parents had wanted us to grow up knowing the value of money, and that family was worth far more than it. We had of course had a nice house, all of our basic needs had been met, we had taken yearly vacations, and we had had a somewhat generous allowance compared to other kids, but other than that our parents had been careful not to spoil us. If we really wanted something outside of those basics then we had to work to earn it, usually through some sort of extra chores that our parents had thought up. We never had a maid or anything and Blair and I had been assigned chores to earn our allowances as well. Sure Dad had paid for Blair’s education, and would have paid for mine as well had I wanted to go the university route, but that was only because we would be earning it by studying so hard.

I had already sensed Blair’s desire to do the same with me and my new sisters. For our first clothes shopping trip she had taken us to a regular mall rather than Rodeo Drive, the trust funds would be enough to pay for a good education rather than being too obscenely large, and when she had decided to have us attend Pacific Seaside Academy it was because she wanted us to have a good education and to learn to control our powers in a safe environment. I was pretty sure that the only reason she and Andy had taken the jobs at the school was because they would each be able to do what they loved. Andy would be working with cyber-security and network administration and Blair would be able to work on some amazing and innovative technology in her spare time, while being a doctor devoted to the medical needs of an entire school filled with mutants.

For Blair, it was basically her dream job. Firstly, she loved working with and developing tech, she was a Tinker after all and it was why she had gotten her doctorates in engineering, physics, and applied sciences. More than that though, as a child she had always wanted to be a doctor like our dad, helping people and saving lives. When she had Activated, that dream had evolved right along with her. As the child of a mutant, and a mutant herself, she wanted to understand what made us the way we were and to be able to help other mutants with more than just an “It gets better” speech. So she had decided to become a medical doctor specializing in mutation by getting doctorates in medicine, biotech, comparative Hyper biology, and medical science.

“So if’n yuir wantin’ tae raise us like tha’ why didnae ya jus’ let tha’ nasty woman create the trus’ fund?” I asked, though I figured I knew the answer already.

“Several reasons, and you’ve probably guessed most o’ them,” she replied with a shrug. “First, Mom an' Da’ wanted ya to have tha’ money an’ it was yuirs, tha’ doesn’t change because you’re Merida now instead o’ Maddock. Secondly, the will that the Army doctored up specified tha’ Maddock’s possessions an’ money were yuirs, to do with as ya wished. As executor it was ma legal responsibility to see tha’ done. More importantly though, she was lookin’ down on us from the moment we entered her office because o’ how we were dressed, an’ she outright insulted us. I couldn’t let tha’ go, an’ this should teach her no’ to judge a book by its cover.”

“I thought I’ was somethin’ like tha’,” I admitted. “The look on ‘er face when she saw yuir accoun’ information was fookin’ ‘ilarious though. I’m ‘alf surprised ya didnae offer tae work fer the school fer free though, tha’s like yuir dream job an’ ya seem set fer life e’en after ya take out the money tae produce those suits fer the HAA.”

“Yeah, the look on her face was worth far more than my account balance fer sure,” Mom agreed with a laugh before turning serious. “A person should be paid what they’re worth Merida, I would have been insultin’ both Alana an’ myself if I’d done tha’. To tell the truth though I’m planning on making a large donation to the school since we’re not payin’ fer yuir schoolin’. It’s no’ cheap to run a school like tha’ an’ I figure tha’ maybe a donation or two would be a good investment; maybe two million to help with costs an’ another of a million fer some o’ those ‘scholarships’ tha’ Alana is probably payin’ out o’ her own pocket.”

I nodded in agreement as she spoke about the donations. “Aye, no’ all mutants ‘ave rich parents, an’ a lot prob’ly run away or ‘ave tae live on the streets ‘cause people will no’ accept ‘em, ‘elpin ‘em tae ge’ their lives back an’ learn tae control their powers would be a good thing. I… I’m still a wee bit uncertain aboot goin’ there maself though.”

“You’ll do fine Merida, all o’ ya will, an’ it’ll be a good place fer ya. Now let’s head inside and help the others finish packin’.” With that we exited the vehicle and I helped Mom to carry the sea salt filtration systems and associated materials for Vanessa’s ‘bed’ inside. She wouldn’t be able to start making our beds until the other materials and my bedframes were delivered, but she was hoping to have something ready for us before we left for Costa Verde the next day.

We took the materials into Mom’s lab and then Fawn and I went upstairs to find my sisters and the other Fairies while Mom helped Andy and Kendra finish packing the kitchen. The girls were all up in their rooms packing away all their clothes and what few small personal items they had bought since the day we had been set loose from the base. Except for a change of clothes for the next day and something to wear to bed, we would pack everything else in one of Shu’s portals. Vanessa had been sharing dresser and closet space with Tasha though since she was sleeping in the bathtub for now, so I found her in Tasha’s room gathering the last of their things on the bed to be ready to place in one of Shu’s pocket dimensions. The plan was to get as much as possible packed tonight using my strength and then the next morning we would pack anything that was left.

“Tasha, ‘Nessa, ‘ow’s it comin’ along?” I asked as casually as I could, leaning on the doorframe as Fawn sat upon my shoulder giggling.

“I think we’re about done here,” Vanessa said with a shrug as she gestured to the large pile of clothes on the bed. “It’s not like we had anything when we came here and we haven’t really been here long enough to get much more in the way of clothes and personal items.”

“I dinnae think ya quite go’ e’erythin’ there,” I argued, trying to put a frown on my face. Fawn’s giggling wasn’t helping me look all serious, I could barely keep a straight face as it was. “Anyway, Mom go’ some o’ the stuff fer our beds while we were out so soon ya willnae ‘ave tae sleep in the loo, you’ll ‘ave yer very own fish tank. There’s still some stuff we need tae bring in though, could ya give me a ‘and?”

The mermaid looked confused for a moment, but shrugged and got up to join me as Tasha’s voice slipped into my mind. *What are you up to Merida?*

*Who says I’m up to something?* I inquired innocently. Most people would probably get weirded out speaking mind to mind with someone else, but I kind of liked talking that way with Tasha. She couldn’t really pick up on any thoughts other than what were deliberately sent along the link so it was like a phone call, one where I didn’t have to worry about my accent. Her skill was improving too, and now she could do a sort of mental conference call by creating links to specific people that she was familiar with and then connecting all of us, with herself as a sort of relay point. That would be nice to have in combat situations, though I figured that we might want to have radios or Bluetooth devices as backup.

*You’re not? I don’t need clairvoyance to know that you’re hiding something. You’re not that good of an actress Merida, and what about the giggling Fairy on your shoulder? She’s kind of giving it away. Oh well, if it’s not anything important maybe I should just bring Vanessa in on this conversation…*

*Okay, I got Vanessa the surfboard she was drooling over yesterday,* I replied as I led Vanessa downstairs and toward the front door. *I would have gotten one for you and the twins too, but I figured I’d let you pick your own when and if you’re ready to start learning.*

*Cool. That should cheer her up a bit. She’s a bit down about the whole TSD thing and I guess talking with Kendra this morning brought up a lot of stuff she was keeping buried. She’s also a bit freaked out about living in the dorms until we find a place. You… did know about that right?* The last was sent uncertainly.

*Aye, Mom told me on the way to the bank. We get our own rooms… in the ‘special’ dorm. I’m not looking forward to that much either.* I replied to Tasha, frowning slightly as I opened up the rear door to the SUV. I tried to shake off my glum mood as I turned to Vanessa and grinned as I pointed to one of the two bagged surfboards and maintenance kits. “I think ya should be takin’ tha’ upstairs tae pu’ away wi’ yuir other stuff, aye ‘Nessa?”

“Y… you didn’t?!” Vanessa sputtered looking from the boards in the back of the SUV and then to me with a stunned look on her face.

“She did,” Fawn confirmed giggling like a tiny little maniac on my shoulder.

“Aye,” I agreed with the Fairy. “One o’ them is mine o’ course since yuir goin’ tae be teachin’ me an’ all, bu’ I think tha’ was the one ya were droolin’ o’er yesterday. I figured tha’ if Costa Verde an’ our new school are on the ocean we’d best be prepared.” I had also figured that she could have never afforded it with what little money we had left from that first shopping trip, especially after buying birthday gifts for me and the twins and helping with my new punk clothes.

Vanessa almost squeezed the life out of me with the hug she wrapped me in. “Thankyouthankyou thankyou Mer!” Then she unzipped both bags and looked over the boards. “Yes! That’s the one I wanted to buy and you picked out a nice one for yourself too.”

“I’m glad ya like it,” I told her. “They didnae ‘ave any Fairy sized boards though so I guess Fawn is goin’ tae ‘ave tae ride on ma shoulder or sumthin’.”

“We would have to be careful,” Fawn advised. “I’m not a water-talent Fairy and I won’t be able to fly if my wings get too wet.

“Well if’n tha’ ‘appens I’ll jus’ turn ma force field on Fawn. Ya may no’ be able tae control when it turns off an’ on bu’ a’ leas’ ya kin manipulate it when it is on, or ya prob’ly wouldnae be able tae move a’ all. So Mom thinks ya should be able tae fly, wi’out havin’ tae use yuir wings tae stabilize ya, an’ ge’ the same strength an’ speed boosts I do while it’s on. We’ll ‘ave tae practice tha’ together.”

“I never thought of flying without using pixie dust and my wings before, but things have been different since I came to the mainland.” the Fairy said thoughtfully as Vanessa and I zipped up the board bags again. “I have you now, and your force field, and I don’t even need to go to the great tree for pixie dust anymore.”

Vanessa and I took the boards and related gear from the SUV and I closed the back door as I answered my Fairy friend. “Aye, Mei seems tae wan’ tae make things easier fer you an’ the other Fairies when she brings ya ‘ere. Seems tha’ ya make yuir own pixie dust now, an’ ya got the copy o’ ma force field tae keep ya safe, an’ the heat doesnae bother Peri.”

“Mei is such a nice girl, always thinking of others. She would make a great animal Fairy,” Fawn agreed as we headed back for the front door to the house and she landed on my shoulder again.

“Merida’s like that too,” Vanessa said giving me a friendly elbow as we reached the door and I opened it.

“I know!” Fawn replied enthusiastically. “I couldn’t ask for a better best friend. I’ve already decided to make her an honorary Animal Fairy. I’ll need to start teaching her all the animal languages and everything else we do.” This pronouncement was met with a burst of giggling from Vanessa, but thankfully she didn’t say whatever it was that had crossed her mind as we headed upstairs.

It didn’t take long for me to gather up all my belongings and bedroom furniture together and put them in the small pocket dimension that Shu had created for my personal use. She figured that it would make moving easier by having us each have one assigned for our bedrooms and then creating separate ones for each room of the house. She had been improving with her abilities and had figured out how to make the portals to those pocket dimensions visible and traversable by people other than just herself, she just needed to be focusing on the person or people in question at the time.

With direct access to that dimension I just kept the clothes that I hadn’t set aside in my dresser, laid out any that were hanging in the closet on top and then powered up my force field to lift it and put it inside. Footwear was all placed in a large shopping bag except for the combat boots I was currently wearing and then that and the rest of my bedroom furniture joined the dresser so that Shu could close the portal until I needed to put my new beds inside later. Once I had cleaned up the shrapnel that was all that remained of the cot I had been sleeping on the night before and disposed of it I went to lend my strength to the others so that their rooms could be completely packed away as well.

By the time dinnertime rolled around over half of the house was packed away and I was starving and feeling really weak. I had noticed that the more I used my powers the more that I needed to eat, but I guess that all that energy my powers were producing had to come from somewhere, probably my own metabolism. Fawn looked as hungry and tired as I was, since we had been going non-stop with the force fields since we had started with my bedroom nearly three hours earlier. I had also been training her how to fly, using the field rather than her wings, and to use the increased speed and strength that the field could provide that whole time.

Dinner turned out to be pizza and I was glad that Andy had listened when I asked him to order a lot. Fawn had easily eaten three times as much as the other Fairies and I polished of two extra-large meat lovers by myself, plus a good half of a deluxe as well. “Hungry much Mer? Vanessa teased as I reached for a slice of Hawaiian as well

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. “I’ve been usin ma powers a lo’ today.”

Kendra laughed and reached over to pat me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry Merida, that’s a common issue for Energy Manipulators and Generators. A lot of you use insane amounts of physical energy to fuel your powers and once you start using those powers regularly your metabolisms become hyper accelerated to generate all of that energy and add to your powers’ energy reserves, in addition to what it’s already producing to fuel your body’s regular functions. You’re likely going to be eating a lot more now that that’s kicked in, but on the upside it’s going to be impossible for you to gain weight, other than perhaps muscle. If you add in that you’re still a growing girl as well, you’re going to need a lot of calories to keep up that metabolism.”

“Aye, ye’ another reason tae be ‘appy aboot havin’ super powers,” I grumbled while rolling my eyes. I made a mental note to start eating more and that Fawn probably should as well. I thought that it may be a good idea to start carrying around energy bars or other snacks, and maybe some drinks as well, just to be safe.

“Don’t worry too much,” our new counsellor tried to reassure me, “the people of Costa Verde have gotten used to it so you won’t stand out too much there. A lot of the restaurants, particularly the fast food places have meals in regular size, super-size and Hyper-size and the Conservatory serves its meals buffet style with large portion sizes in mind.”

“What’s the Conservatory?” Mei and Shu asked simultaneously.

“That’s what we call the cafeteria at PSA, you’ll understand when you get there,” she explained without really explaining.

Once we had finished dinner we got back to work while Kendra had to leave to return to the school to prepare for our arrival and Mom and Andy went to her lab to try and finish at least one bed each for both me and Vanessa. The supplies had arrived almost back to back, less than an hour before dinner, and Mom had a lot of work ahead of her, even with Andy there to assist. All that really needed packing was the garage, Mom and Andy’s room, the living room and Mom’s lab, every other room was already empty. Shu, Peri, Fawn, and I decided to finish the packing while the other girls went on to giving all of the now-empty rooms a good cleaning. Shu would be needed for storage, and she and the two Fairies could also help with small things, while I acted as the muscle.

It was nearly midnight by the time that everything was packed, stored, and put away, including Mom’s lab and the prototypes for the new bed frames for Vanessa and me. We planned to leave first thing in the morning, so except for Vanessa, who would be in the bathtub again, we would all be camping out on the floor tonight on the four “mattresses” that Mom had produced for the new “beds” for me and Vanessa. The mattresses were made of some sort of foam gel that Mom had developed that was resistant to water, extreme heat, and concussive force and felt like resting on a cloud. Each mattress also had two pillows made of the same substance that would be going with our beds.

The mattress that Fawn I were using had been set up with the temporary energy shield emitters from my room on the floor around it and the last emitter/energy scanner on the ceiling above us. The mattress itself had also been covered in sheets and pillowcases of a sturdy and stretchy material that Mom called Mithrilex. It was something that she had been working on with my powers in mind, since I would eventually need a costume that wouldn’t turn to ash or be shredded in an explosion if I had to go all out with my powers. It was basically designed to withstand the full heat and concussive force of a nuclear bomb, while being bullet resistant, comfortable, and insulating.

As it turned out, both the material and mattress worked as advertised and damn was that mattress comfortable, Mom really needed to patent that shit. They didn’t stop me from waking up screaming from the nightmares, but when I had lashed out with my powers while doing so the only damage seemed to be to the frayed nerves of my family members. That’s to be expected though when you wake up to explosions, and once Fawn had managed to calm me down I apologized profusely to everyone, both ashamed and embarrassed. Then I busied myself with getting dressed, packing the mattresses, and putting them away.

When I was finished we made one last sweep of our temporary home to make sure we hadn’t missed anything and then piled into the SUV to do a few things before we left Los Angeles. First, a not-so-quick breakfast at Ihop, where I managed to put away four breakfast samplers before feeling full. Fawn did have a little of mine while sitting somewhat hidden in the booth beside me (she loved the pancakes), but it was not much more than a bite or two for us humans. The waitress was staring at me by the time I had finished off the last and she had come to collect the plates and deliver the bill. Andy merely said, “Growth spurt,” to explain it. Then Mom and Andy had to drop the keys to the house off with the owner, after which we made our way to the freeway and were off to our new home.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's Saturday, so here's chapter 18 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 18: Road Trip

Andy drove us north up I-5 and it was almost a whole hour before we all got tired of playing travel games like “I Spy” or “On my Road Trip”. That was about when we found out that Shu gets motion sickness during long car trips. The poor girl really looked terrible as Mom stood with her, patted her back, and tried to comfort her, after Andy had just managed to pull over in time for her to empty the contents of her stomach on the side of the road. Mei was looking a bit green too, but at least she hadn’t thrown up. They were both still looking a bit green when we were able to stop at a pharmacy in Santa Clarita to get them some Dramamine.

As excited as we all were to be taking a road trip to get to our new home, there really wasn’t all that much to do while sitting in the vehicle except talk and practice with our powers, which would prove awkward in a moving car, especially since one wrong move with my powers tended to make things explode and Mom had already instituted the “no superpowers in the car” rule for everyone’s safety. It wasn’t like the twins could read or play videogames or anything either since the former only made them feel sick and we didn’t have any of the latter, even if they wouldn’t have had the same result. We drove for a little longer after leaving Santa Clarita before stopping briefly at a rest stop in Los Padres National Forest to use the facilities and to stretch our legs for a bit, since sitting in the SUV was starting to get uncomfortable and we all needed some air.

Fortunately we were the only ones at the rest stop at that time of the day so even the Fairies were able to get out for a stretch and a bit of fresh air. Fawn seemed more in her element her as we walked a bit through the trees and she occasionally paused to speak to one animal or another. We were careful to stay close to the parking area, but being outside the car in somewhat fresh air was nice. Fawn was having a particularly engaging conversation with a cute squirrel that she had dubbed ‘Dottie’ when I decided to see how the others were doing.

Vanessa was sitting on a stump, misting her tail while Tasha had produced a pencil and sketchpad and was sketching Fawn and the squirrel while they conversed. The drawing looked pretty good and I was hoping that she might be able to draw another copy for my Fairy, since I figured that Fawn would like that. I may not know art, but I know what I like. The twins were sitting and talking with their Fairy friends and looking very happy to be out of the vehicle for a bit. At least the Dramamine had been helping a little. Still I felt bad that they were suffering like that on their first road trip, and our first trip as a family.

“Are ya feelin’ any better girls?” I asked in concern.

Both of the twins nodded slowly. “I feel a bit better now Merida,” Shu said, trying to give a smile as Peri watched over her looking worried. I felt bad for the Frost Fairy too, but at least with nobody else here she could show her concern and keep Shu company, she hadn’t been able to do so on the side of the interstate because of all the passing traffic.

“Is this place we’re travelling to much farther?” Peri asked. “Couldn’t we just use pixie dust to fly there?”

“Yes, nobody gets motion sickness with pixie dust,” Tink agreed.

I wished that I could answer their question, but I didn’t know for sure how far up north Costa Verde actually was. I had a general idea, but I was pretty sure it was still a good nine or maybe ten hours of driving under good conditions.

Luckily Mom was approaching and had heard the Fairy’s question. “I’m afraid tha’ we still have a good long way to go. We’ll be takin’ rest stops often though an’ instead o’ drivin’ the whole trip today and arriving in the middle o’ the night I booked us a decent place to stay at in San Jose tonight. Maybe we can get there by dinner and play tourist for a bit after. I wan’ to make this trip fun for all o’ ya, not torture. Ya shouldn’t have too much trouble with the motion sickness from here on out so long as we keep up with the Dramamine. I’m afraid tha’ flyin’ would just get too much attention though, it’s best to stay under the radar until we arrive at Costa Verde.”

Peri and Tink looked disappointed, as did Shu and Mei, but all four nodded. They did perk up a bit at the mention of playing tourist. Mom announced that it was time to get back on the road then and as she went to go inform Vanessa and Tasha and the twins and their Fairies returned to the vehicle I went to where I last saw Fawn. She seemed so happy and comfortable out here in the forest, she was a real outdoors kind of Fairy and loved her animals so I was beginning to consider getting some potted plants and such for my room, or taking up camping and hiking. I could probably find some way for her to be around animals more too, even at home and school, maybe a pet? I didn’t want her to feel out of place or uncomfortable if we were going to spend a lot of time together since her needs and interests were just as important as mine. “Where’s Dottie?” I asked the Fairy as I found her and she settled down on my shoulder.

“Oh, she saw something shiny and went off to go find out what it was, squirrels can be like that,” Fawn replied with a knowing smile and an easy shrug. “I should start teaching you animal languages soon, you could have talked with us as well if you spoke and understood squirrel.”

I held back on a dismissive snort. “I jus’ didnae ken wot tae say, she was mostly talkin’ aboot nuts an’ tha’ hawk tha’ chased ‘er yesterday. All tha’ talk aboot nuts was jus’ makin’ me even more ‘ungry than I already was an’ I dinnae ‘ave much experience bein’ chased by birds so it was a wee bit awkward.” The being hungry was really bothering me. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet and I was starving again despite my huge breakfast. It was getting a little hard to think with that distraction. I had had a small bag of peanuts on the road and given a few to Fawn, but where she had been satisfied by them it had only seemed to make me hungrier.

Fawn’s eyes widened and a smile lit up her little face. “You understood all of that?”

I nodded and shrugged as my stomach growled audibly. “Aye, weren’t ya usin’ some Animal Fairy magic tae ‘elp me?”

She shook her head and asked, "Are you still hungry? You should tell your mother." There was something different about her voice as she spoke, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was.

I nodded my head, but I felt a bit guilty for eating so much at breakfast. Not only was I going to eat Mom out of house and home, and with her bank account balance that’s saying something, but it was probably embarrassing for anyone around me as well. “Aye, bu’ I dinnae wan’ tae bother ‘er wit’ it. We’ll be stoppin’ fer lunch in an hour or so anyway, once we’re on the road agin.”

“Merida!” Fawn’s eyes lit up as she grinned at me. “You just understood me! And you spoke back! In squirrel! Your accent is horrible though.”

That was when Fawn’s little friend Dottie returned. The squirrel seemed to have heard me and gave me a curious look, then ran over to some scattered acorns fallen from the nearby oak tree where her home was located before looking back to me once again. “Nuts?” it asked.

“Mooooooom!” I called out, confused as all hell, but thankfully nowhere near a panic attack or losing control of my powers.

Mom, Tasha, and Vanessa all ran toward me from where they had been talking. Mom was the first to reach me and asked, “What’s wrong Merida?”

“I was understandin’ Fawn an’ tha’ squirrel an’ Fawn says tha' I was speakin’ squirrel. An’ the squirrel jus’ asked me if'n I was noots. I dinnae really ken ‘ow tae answer tha’. Kin ‘unger cause ‘allucinations like tha’?”

“Don’t be silly Merida,” Fawn said hugging my face for a quick moment. “Dottie wasn’t asking if you were nuts, she was asking if you wanted some.”

“Oh well tha’s okay then,” I replied before realizing what I just said and face palming. Was my life really that crazy now that I could take this so casually? That kind of said a lot about my life recently.

“I was wonderin’ if something like this might happen,” Mom said with a shrug, “Yuir quantum connection with Fawn is two-way an’ always there. She gets yuir passive ability when ya turn it on, so it makes sense tha’ there would be some crossover and you’d be able to use her passive ability. Only her ability is with languages an’ it’s always on, so it’s probably always on fer you too.”

“Wow, and we thought you were a Disney princess before, now you can speak to animals too?” Vanessa jibed, obviously trying to cheer me up.

“Stick it up yuir tail Ariel,” I shot back.

“She’s right Merida,” Tasha poked, “Just let us know if you feel the sudden urge to break into song.”

“Alright girls, let’s get back to the others, ya can fight while we drive,” Mom said with a laugh. “Merida needs to eat again soon if all that noise that her stomach is makin’ is any indication.”

They all headed back to the SUV but I held back for a moment to pick up a few handfuls of acorns and fly them up to Dottie’s drey, high up in the oak tree, where I left them for her. Then Fawn and I said our goodbyes and I added, “Be careful o’ the ‘awks Dottie, an’ enjoy the nuts.”

We were headed back to the SUV when I heard Dottie chitter, “That strange human girl seems very nice, but her accent is horrible.”

We stopped for lunch at a roadside diner that claimed its Goldrush burger was the biggest burger in California. It boasted three quarter pound patties, cheddar and mozza cheese, bacon, mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, yellow peppers, and their ‘famous’ goldrush special sauce. They also had a Goldrush platter that came with the burger, and a heaping plate of fries and coleslaw. If someone could eat the whole thing they got their meal for free and their picture up on the wall with the three other people who had managed it in the diner’s long history. I ate two, and I still needed to load up on snacks for the road at the gas station next door.

We made three more short rest stops during that afternoon and arrived in San Jose just after four o’clock. We played tourists until dinner and then we made our way toward the place we would be staying at that night to order some pizzas for dinner. When Mom said she had booked us a place I don’t think any of us expected it to be a secluded luxury villa. It was the type of place that celebrities stay at while travelling; private, huge, and with all the amenities anyone could ever ask for. She had been given a special security code to enter and the place boasted five bedrooms, was fully furnished, and even had a pool with a sea salt filtration system.

We spent that evening playing in the pool and Vanessa gave the twins a swimming lesson before we all turned in early. Vanessa was going to sleep in the pool, happy to not be sleeping in a bathtub that didn’t really work well with her large tail for once. I had set up my new mattress, pillows, and portable energy shield system nearby. The nightmares and flashbacks had come again as they seemed to every night now, but Fawn was there to talk me down after I had lost control of my powers in the midst of another anxiety attack.

We left the villa as soon as we were all up and about, which was pretty much after I was calmed down from my anxiety attack and had put my bedding back in the pocket dimension that Shu had set aside for me. After I consumed yet another massive breakfast at The Waffle Hut we were on the road once again. We took the 880 and just over an hour later, just after eight o’clock in the morning, we were driving across the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and heading into San Francisco much to the delight of all of my sisters, none of whom had ever been there before.

We spent the next four hours playing tourist, Mom taking out her digital camera as we visited the sites and bought souvenirs. I was careful the whole time to stick with Mom and the others since I didn’t want to risk getting put in a position where I could become overly emotional and lose control of my powers. We went to Golden Gate Park, Aquarium of the Bay, and Fisherman’s Wharf, and even took a cable car. Even though they had to remain hidden in our purses, the fairies loved the botanical gardens at Golden Gate Park, Vanessa’s favorite stop of the day was of course Aquarium of the Bay, and we all had a lot of fun exploring all around Fisherman’s Wharf; learning the history, watching and listening to the street performers, and finishing up with a hearty meal gathered from the historic sourbread bakery and an outdoor stand selling Dungeness crab.

After lunch we were back on the road again, crossing the famed Golden Gate Bridge. The twins and the Fairies were in absolute awe, and even I found myself enjoying myself as we chatted and took in the sights as we drove. Mom and Andy wanted to get to Costa Verde by dinner time so we only took one short rest break on our last leg of the trip. Driving more than an hour without something to break the tedium was boring though and we were all starting to get a little tired of being in the car once five thirty rolled around. I was also starving again which wasn’t exactly helping my disposition.

“Are we thaaaaaiiiiir ye’?” I whined, staring blankly out the window at the scenery going by, not too different from the scenery that had gone by an hour earlier. “I kin fly faster than this, a’ leas’ then I’d be movin’ under ma own power.”

“Soon Merida,” Andy assured me from the driver’s seat.

“Complaining isn’t going to get us there any faster Mer,” Tasha pointed out.

I turned to look at the others, who were looking as bored and tired as I was. This was why I could only handle travelling by car or passenger plane in short doses. I was okay as long as I was the one driving, because at least then I was doing something, but I had always been a physical person, I needed to be moving and active or I felt like I was spinning my wheels. Sitting still or staying in one place for long periods of time always made me antsy, that’s why Reaper had always made a better sniper than me, and why I preferred to be in the thick of the action. I let out a sigh and looked down at Fawn who was currently napping in my lap. The Fairies had been just as bored as we were and had all decided to sleep for a bit. I would have tried to get a nap in myself if I thought that I could be trusted to do so without blowing up the vehicle, and everyone in it, when I woke up. “I’m starvin’ though, an’ bored an’ we dinnae ‘ave anything tae dae tha’ we ‘aven’t done fifty times already.”

“I’m bored too,” Shu agreed, “and I’m starting to feel sick again. I hope we get there soon.”

“I’d make a new friend for you to talk to, but Mom said no powers while we’re driving,” Mei pointed out with a bored sigh.

Vanessa sighed in the seat beside me where she was trying to keep comfortable in full mermaid form, she had given up on keeping her legs for the moment to give herself a break from shifting while we made the last leg of our trip. It wasn’t as if anyone could see inside our vehicle with its tinted windows, and even if they could her tail would have been well below the level of the window. “I feel you girls, I’m getting bored and fidgety too, but we should be there soon. I can’t wait to get to where I can get wet. I’m getting itchy again, I need some real water. Still, Tasha is right, complaining won’t help.”

“I ken, bu’ I’m getting’ tired o’ lookin’ out a’ the side o’ the road. I swear the damn scenery is playin’ on an infinite loop or sumthin’.”

“Well look up ahead then,” Mom suggested.

“Fine,” I muttered, rolling my eyes and turning my head toward the windshield. We had just crested the top of a hill and there, ahead of us and nestled against the sparking Pacific Ocean, there was a decent sized city. A sign by the roadside read, “Welcome to Costa Verde, Population 208,347.” We had arrived at last.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Sorry it's a little late this week, but here's chapter 19 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 19: Arrival

The first thing we did upon arriving in the city proper was to find a place to eat. The place specialized mostly in fried chicken and it had good food and prompt service. The Fairies didn’t even have to hide since the people of Costa Verde were used to some pretty weird shit it would seem. The waitress gave them an odd look at first, but quickly shrugged it off and took our orders. While Fawn and I were devouring my first Hyper-sized meal and the others ate at a more sedate pace Mom called Dr. Edwards to let her and Kendra know that we had arrived in town.

As soon as we had finished dinner we were off to the school for a tour while there was still some daylight left. Kendra and Dr. Edwards were waiting for us outside the gates with our new school ID bracelets that would allow us to get past the security system, even the Fairies had to have one. The school was protected by a large stone fence and a system of buoys that generate an electromagnetic field that won’t allow anyone inside that doesn’t have a school ID bracelet. The EM field was augmented by various high tech and magical security precautions and defenses that Mystech herself had designed and put in place. The bracelets would also act as our individual dorm/room keys and as our school ID by generating a holographic ID card with all personal details, codenames, team affiliation, what dorm we were assigned to, and a holographic photo with the touch of a button.

Things weren’t really anything like I had expected once we got inside the large stone fence and cast-iron gates and onto the school grounds. The grounds were huge and almost all of the buildings looked to be made of mortar bricks and wood that had been whitewashed, with cobblestone streets and paths between buildings with gas streetlamps. “Ummm… I thought this school was supposed to be super high-tech, so why do I feel like I just walked into the 19th century?” Vanessa asked, voicing what had been on my mind as well.

“This town and a lot of the other buildings were built as a set for a movie, but the set was never used. I bought the property for the school at a steal and converted the interiors of the courthouse and town hall buildings into the main Jr. High and high school buildings, but as part of the sale contract the above ground appearance of the grounds must keep to the look of the town, at least on the outside, and a few on the inside too, and Disney retains rights to occasionally shoot scenes in various locations on campus. There was actually a top billing movie shot in part here last year, and more may be filmed in the future, so students must keep up appearances and stay in uniforms for the most part while on ground level, thus the uniforms during school hours. Many students tend to use the underground passages to get around the campus if they want to avoid being seen, as sometimes students can be asked to be used as extras and such,” Dr. Edwards explained carefully.

The courthouse and town hall were very different on the inside, boasting four and three floors respectively, including the basement levels, for classrooms and teachers offices. Some of the other town buildings were completely period both inside and out and a lot of the important stuff was all on the three underground levels: an Olympic sized pool, indoor ice rink, fully equipped gymnasium, two dojos, the emergency medical center, library with computer labs, 3 weapons ranges, a PDE arena, fifty PDE training rooms, several research labs, and a pair of fusion reactors that keep everything running, all connected by the underground passages, transit system, and the maintenance tunnels.

Salmon and Yellowtail Dorm, the two dorms for Jr. High students were both completely underground as well, their entrances hidden in two of the outbuildings near the town hall. Yellowtail, which was the jr. boys’ dorm had a secret elevator going down from the coach house, and salmon, where the twins would be staying, had one hidden in one of the stalls in the stables. Both elevators could only be accessed by someone from that dorm wearing their student ID bracelet.

The five other dorms were located at the eastern end of the property atop a small ridge, behind the school buildings and the clock tower, and all were connected by a cobblestone road. The five manor houses were newly built last year, completely modern inside, but were meant to look as period on the outside as everything else. Four of them all had two floors above ground and another two below ground with each floor housing 30 students per floor, plus a common room for group activities or studying. Two students were housed per room and each floor housed a different grade. The exception to this of course was Starfish dorm, which had five floors, including three underground. It was the coed dorm for us special cases and housed up to 150 students, with each room being single occupant. There is also a common room for group activities or studying on each floor.

Starfish also had steam heating built into the floors, because of dangerous powers and all, while the other dorms all had steam pipes and radiators. In fact, we were told that the whole campus used steam heating. The clock tower building had a classic steam plant inside, or at least it looked classic. It was actually using heat given off from the school’s fusion reactors to generate that steam. The clock tower also housed the mechanical and machine workshop for those students interested in mechanics or engineering.

There were workshops in a lot of odd places though: Electronics in the gaol, chemistry in the Apothecary, magic in the church, biology and genetics on the farm. Yes there as an actual small farm on the northern edge of the property with a large garden, a small orchard, some cows, chickens, pigs and even a pair of horses. After being shown the dormitories and the farm we continued on to the northwest corner of the property where there had been a fake cove constructed for the movie. The cove was a popular place to relax for the students and some spent time surfing there, swimming, or having beach parties.

To the south on the southwest corner of the property was an aged-looking dock with a ratty old fishing shack at the end and a pirate ship docked. “That’s my baby,” Dr. Edwards said, gesturing grandly to the ship.

“Some people build ships in bottles for a hobby, she builds actual ships,” Kendra put in with a laugh.

“I didn’t build it, I restored it from a wreck sunk near Bermuda,” the headmistress clarified. “Now let’s take you all to the Conservatory, or the Grotto as the kids call it, to finish the above-ground portion of the tour.”

The grotto, I liked that name much better than the conservatory, was an actual conservatory, an old fashioned greenhouse made of wood and reinforced glass and partially built into the ridge behind the school buildings. It was a massive building with flowering plants and some vegetables growing along the outer walls, climbing vines were everywhere along the surfaces of the inner walls and ceiling, and cleverly hidden lights kept the place bright. To one side of the back wall that was built into the ridge wall was an artificially constructed waterfall, splashing into a large pool where waterlilies floated lazily.

The floors were wooden, where they weren’t covered in plants, and were kept spotlessly clean with over three dozen large old fashioned wooden tables with padded benches taking up nearly all of the available floor space, with buffet tables taking up the rest. Near the waterfall at the back wall there was a doorway cut into the rock of the ridge, leading back into the hidden kitchens where all the food came from. The acoustics in the place were terrible, but the sights and smells would likely make it an interesting place to eat our meals.

After seeing the Grotto we were all shown to our dorm rooms. The twins were of course sharing a room in Salmon Dorm and would have to take the elevator in the stables, or the underground entrance to get there. Tasha was in Dolphin Dorm and would be rooming with a girl named Daniella Reyes, who went by the codename Loco. Vanessa and I would both have our own rooms in Starfish Dorm, we were neighbors actually on the top floor. After Shu and Mei had unpacked their stuff in their room and Shu had helped Tasha to do the same we all went to Starfish dorm where Vanessa and I unpacked our things for our rooms and Mom and Dr. Edwards got down to work putting our beds together.

While they were working on the beds Kendra gave us all a quick tour of the underground passages. Our student ID bracelets could be used to show our precise locations on a holomap and give directions from that location to any other underground location or surface access elevator. There was also an underground transit system of sorts, though when Kendra had mentioned it I had been thinking trains, not teleportation. She had us all step into a blue sphere and she called out, “Conservatory.” There was a sudden lurching feeling and when she led us out of the sphere again we were beside one of the surface elevators that led to the grounds outside the Grotto. There were a dozen different surface elevators on the school grounds, other than those in the dormitories. On the surface they were hidden in very life-like fake massive redwood trees, just off the cobblestone paths.

By the time we had finished a snack at the Grotto, which had been serving dessert, Mom and Dr. Edwards had my bed ready to go and were nearly finished filling Vanessa’s with water. Vanessa’s bed was basically a huge aquarium and Mom took me to my dorm room to explain how my bed worked. I sighed as we looked over the bed, “It’s a fookin’ princess bed Mom, it ‘as a canopy an’ curtains an’ e’rythin’.”

She sat me on the bed and she pointed to the bed frame, and the four posts that connected it to the frame of the canopy. “I know tha’ ya don’t care fer the bed, but it looks like a girl’s bed an’ I’ve fitted the metal frame with multiple energy detectors an’ shield emitters to contain the energy shield inside the frame. Between tha’, the special mattress an’ pillows, an’ the blankets an’ sheets made from Mithrilex, ya shouldn’t have to worry about destroyin’ anythin’. The room has been completely soundproofed an’ equipped with more energy detectors and shield emitters too, jus’ in case.”

I nodded as I looked at the bed and tried to spot the emitters and detectors on the walls of the room. “I guess I kin see yuir reasons fer it, an’ it’ll be nice tae no’ ‘have tae worry aboot blowin’ anythin’ up, or wakin’ people whenever I ‘ave a nightmare.”

“Once we buy a house we’ll make the same modifications to yuir room there, an’ set up the extra bed. The realtors already ‘ave a few houses fer us to look at, an’ Andy an’ I are goin’ to go tomorrow,” Mom explained.

“An’ jus’ wot dae we dae while you an’ Andy are off house shoppin’?” I asked with a frown.

“Try an’ get used to the school an’ maybe explore the town a bit?” Mom suggested uncertainly. “Kendra offered to introduce ya to some of the students who live here year long. Jus’ try to make the most of it, we’ll have a home soon an’ then you’ll only have to stay in the dorms on school nights.”

It was five days before Mom and Andy got a deal finalized on a house and we were able to move in. During that time we tried to get used to life at the school. Showering and shaving my legs and such every morning in the girls’ shower room for our floor was awkward. Vanessa had seen me naked of course, hell I’d been naked when I’d first met all of my sisters, but being that way in front of strangers was weird now that I was starting to feel like it was my body and not someone else’s. On the good side, being able to swim and having a full gym and the PDE rooms available was really helping me to elevate the morning training sessions for me and my sisters. I had met some of the other people from my dorm, but I didn’t really think of any of them as friends yet. I much preferred to spend my free time with my sisters, Fawn, and the other Fairies.

Speaking of other Fairies, Mei had managed to slip two more over the border. The first was an Asian-looking water Fairy named Silvermist. She was fairly slender with pale skin, long loose dark blue hair, and brown eyes, and Mei had apparently linked her to Vanessa, much to the mermaid’s delight. Iridessa was the second new Fairy, a light-talent fairy who she linked to Tasha. She was smallish with cocoa colored skin, black hair, and brown eyes.

I was still having trouble controlling my emotions and when I was upset that was leading to trouble controlling my powers as well. I had already had one embarrassing incident at the school, though luckily nobody was injured and the damage was easily repaired. That wasn’t my only issue though, as I had been feeling aches and pains and my breasts had been sore, even though my period was almost two weeks away still. Mom of course was worried the moment she found out and brought me in for an immediate medical exam in her new domain the morning of the move.

Our new home was a six bedroom three bath waterfront villa that was within walking distance to the school. That afternoon Vanessa asked me, “So how’d the medical tests go?” We were waiting for a bunch of new furniture to be delivered later that afternoon and were currently unpacking all of the living room furniture from the old place from the pocket dimension that Shu had created to store it. While we were doing that all the pixies were helping the twins to unpack the kitchen stuff and Tasha was helping Mom and Andy with Mom’s lab.

“Mom says tha’ I’m jus’ goin’ through a growth spurt,” I grumbled as I moved the couch out of the pocket dimension and into place. “I’ve gained almos' two inches in height since I Activated an’ I’m almos’ fillin’ those bras tha’ were a bit loose on me afore. Stoopid girl body.”

“I’m glad it’s nothing serious,” the mermaid offered with a sigh.

“An’ ‘ow did yuir exam go this mornin’ ‘Nessa?” I asked, knowing quite well that Mom had wanted to run some tests on her that morning as well.

“Well, Mom was able to figure out what’s causing my constantly elevated hormone levels since I Activated,” she replied with a sad shrug. “It’s my weird mermaid biology. Apparently I have a really odd reproductive system. I don’t get a period like normal girls do. Blood in the water is a bad thing, it can attract sharks and other predators so I don’t shed the lining of my uterus every month, it constantly regenerates itself instead. I’m kind of always primed for getting pregnant, so my hormone levels are higher than normal and instead of once a month my ovaries spit out a new egg every day.”

“Tha’ sounds… messy,” I said with a frown.

“Not really, it’s the shedding of the uterine lining that causes all the mess during a normal period, I don’t even notice the eggs passing through, but it means that only a few birth control methods are going to work for me, so Mom ended up giving me the sex talk today.” My sister did not sound at all happy to have gone through that and she proved it by quickly changing the topic. “I’m glad that we managed to find a place before the twin’s birthday on Tuesday.”

“Aye, an’ now we ‘ave two day’s tae plan the party,” I agreed, letting her get away with the topic change as I hefted a coffee table.

“Nope, three days,” Vanessa corrected. “Remember the twins’ birthday is on the twenty-seventh, but yours is on the twenty-ninth so we’re doing the party on Wednesday so we can celebrate for all three of you at the same time. Silvermist can’t wait for the party.”

“Aye, Fawn cannae wait either, an’ I think tha’ Tink an’ the others prob’ly feel the same way. Fawn’s been tryin’ tae convince me tae invite some o’ our new friends from the campus grounds.”

“D’you mean all the squirrels, birds, and other animals you’ve both been talking to? And the animals on the farm? Oh, and the bunnies in the science lab?” the mermaid asked with a laugh.

“It’s no’ like we’ve ‘ad much tae do lately while stayin’ a’ the school an’ waitin’ on the house,” I snapped, she and Tasha had both been teasing me relentlessly about it every time they caught me doing it. “I ‘ave a new ability, an’ I’m tryin’ tae learn tae control it. It could be useful!” Not that I had to do much for that. “I tol’ ‘er tha’ mebbe we kin invite some o’ the birds or sumthin’ but no’ any o’ the other animals, especially no’ the bunnies, tha’ one ‘as murder in ‘er eyes.”

It took most of the afternoon and evening to get everything unpacked and put in its place, but soon all of the pocket dimensions had been unloaded and by twenty hundred hours all of the rooms, including our new bedrooms and the garage had been set up. I felt much better about things that night as we slept in our new home for the first time. As Fawn and I fell asleep cuddled together I felt like I just might be able to get a good night’s sleep for once. Fate had other plans though as around o’ three thirty Tasha’s mind voice shook me out of my sleep. *Merida! Wake up!*

*What’s wrong Tasha?! Do you know what time it is?!* I sent quickly back once I had looked bleary-eyed at the alarm clock.

*They really did a good job soundproofing your room, how in the hell can’t you hear that?! We need you outside on the beach fast!*

I shook Fawn to wake her, “C’mon Fawn, sumthin’s goin’ on outside.” Then we were both out the bedroom door and the sound hit me like a hammer. There was this loud inhuman shrieking and I put my force field, and my hands, up instinctively to protect my ears. I dashed for the back patio door and onto the beach where my whole family was staring at a pair of lights high up in the sky. The lights were moving in sync, but that was when I noticed that something was horribly wrong. Those weren’t lights, they were eyes, massive glowing yellow eyes attached to a shadowy monstrous-looking behemoth that was emerging from the water, already at least forty feet tall, and it was heading straight for Costa Verde. My jaw dropped and I just stared for a moment before wondering aloud, "Wot the bloody 'ell is tha'?"

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's Saturday, so here's chapter 20 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 20: GODZILLA!!!

The creature seemed to get bigger and bigger as it approached the shore, its form not a shadow like I first thought but rather black-skinned and blending into the darkness of the ocean at night. “Everyone inside, now!” Mom called out.

“Bu’ we cannae le’ tha’ thing attack the city,” I argued, “people could ge’ hurt or killed.”

“We’re goin’ to stop it, but I’m no’ goin’ to let you girls fight in yuir nightclothes in front o’ the whole city,” Mom pointed out. “Andy, phone Mystech, let her know what’s happening. Girls, let’s go get dressed fer the occasion.”

Okay, so she might have had a point. I blushed slightly as I realized that I was just wearing a pair of panties and one of my old camouflage military t-shirts as a nightshirt. Mom had promised to make me and Fawn both some nightclothes from Mithrilex, since our force fields ran along the surface of our bodies and didn’t protect our clothes from explosive damage, or whenever we went too hot. She hadn’t had time to make them yet though so we could both be in danger of flashing the whole city if I had to use too much power.

The other girls were no better off really. Vanessa was only in half a bikini with a towel wrapped around her currently human hips for modesty, the twins were in frilly nightgowns, and Tasha wasn’t dressed too differently from me. Even the Fairies were only in tiny little nightgowns. We were all considering our current state of dress when Mom snapped, “Move it girls! To the lab!”

We followed Mom into her lab while Andy ran to get his cellphone. As soon as we were inside Mom directed us toward some storage containers and started fishing out various colorful outfits. “These are all made from Mithrilex to keep ya as safe as possible an’ to keep Merida covered. I based them on designs tha’ Tasha came up with. Put ‘em on an’ hurry about it. Fairies too! There’s Mithrilex versions of your usual outfits there.” While we were trying to get into our costumes Mom got into her dark green Gadget-Girl power armor, which I noticed now had a gold oval on the chest with a pair of dark green letter Gs in it, with the second one reversed so that it mirrored the first.

My costume was a skintight black bodysuit with red and gold flame patterns up the legs and arms. It also included ankle-length combat boots, gloves, a domino mask, and a black, knee-length hooded cloak with the same flame patterns along the hem. The hooded cloak was apparently to hide my hair whenever I use my force field and it starts to float all around me. This way, my long hair would kind of lift the cloak, making it float, and I thought that that might look pretty badass.

Vanessa’s was a simple dark blue bikini top with gold trim and the Aquarius symbol over her heart. She also had a matching skirt-like wrap about her waist that would preserve her modesty should she need to change her tail to legs for any reason, and a blue mask that looked like it was covered in drops of water. Mom was talking to Mystech about getting some spells put on some panties for her though, to place them in a pocket dimension whenever she shifted back to her natural mermaid form and to have them reappear when she switched back to human, but she wouldn’t have those for a while. Still, they would make preserving the mermaid’s modesty a lot easier, even if it might be a bit expensive to get done.

Tasha’s costume was all in white and silver. She wore a white sleeveless dress with a hem that fell to her calves, ankle boots and opera gloves, all with silver accents. She too had a hooded cloak, but instead of a mask she had an opaque white veil covering her entire face with her personal emblem on it. The emblem was a lavender eye with wavy lines surrounding it. I was a bit worried about her being able to see through that veil, but I was assured that it was only opaque from the outside and that she should see through it perfectly fine. Even if she couldn’t though, she had her sixth sense.

Shu’s ‘Packrat’ costume was reminiscent of Amelia Earhart. Although it was made of Mithrilex like the rest of our costumes, most of it had a definite dark brown leather look to it. The only color other than brown she wore was a white t-shirt. Over that she wore an aviator’s jacket with sheepskin trim and a plethora of pockets available, tight dark brown pants with pockets all down the sides, combat boots similar to my own, gloves that matched the jacket, an aviator hat, and large aviator goggles covering the upper portion of her face. She also had a pair of energy pistols holstered on her belt.

Mei wore a black mithrilex bodysuit beneath the majority of her costume. The costume itself consisted of the upper portion of the black bodysuit beneath a blue denim-look vest, tight jeans, a pair of high-top sneakers and pale blue fingerless gloves. She also wore a red bandana covering the lower half of her face and a black ball-cap with red front that had a stylized black letter G on it. From the belt on her jeans hung six red, white, and black spheres. “Eeeeee!” Mei squealed in delight. “I look like a Pokémon trainer!”

“Yeah, I thought that we should try to make people think you’re summoning those creatures instead of actually creating living things, and the theme works for that,” Tasha admitted. I thought that she might have been grinning, but it was hard to tell under that veil.

“Careful of those pokéballs though,” Mom cautioned as she finished getting into her armor’s new weapons pack. “The ones on yuir right side are flashbangs and the ones on the left are smoke bombs, just push the button and toss them. I’ll be workin’ on more gadgets for all of ya, but I haven’t had much time with findin’ a house and the move.”

“I guess we’ll jus’ ‘ave tae rely on our powers then,” I replied with a shrug, “An’ teamwork o’ course.” The others nodded in agreement and we all left the lab to see about fighting a monster.

The massive creature had reached land, and the edge of the city by the time we got there. It was close to seventy feet tall, covered in pitch-black scales and while it had a long tail and powerful-looking hind legs it seemed to have trouble supporting its weight and it was hunched over a bit. It had a wedge-shaped reptilian head with five large horns atop it and a mouth filled with rows of razor sharp teeth that showed when it emitted that other-worldly shriek again. Massive spikes jutted from its back and tail and its forelegs (or maybe arms?) were shorter than its hind legs and bore four digits tipped with claws bigger than I was.

We hadn’t been the only ones to show up. Four other costumed kids around mine and Vanessa’s age-range had showed up as well. A black-furred wolf-man in torn jeans and a t-shirt and a guy with short-cropped black hair in a dark blue and silver costume with a mask, cape, and a giant letter M on his chest were both pounding on the creature to no avail. Nearby, a blonde girl in a black and pink witch outfit complete with a mask and witch hat seemed to be watching the creature intently. A girl with long raven black hair and scaly brown skin in a purple and black costume took a hit from one of the creature’s massive forepaws and was knocked into a nearby storefront, but emerged only a moment later with sparkling diamond-like skin and hair and looking very pissed off. There was also a crowd of people who had been woken by the noise and were gathering to watch the fight.

The one in the witch outfit called out to the others, “It’s a summoned creature! I don’t think we have the combined strength to take it down that way.”

“Then we take down the mage that summoned it Jinx!” the guy in blue and silver snapped back.

“It would take a category five mystic to summon something like that and they could be anywhere right now. We can’t be running off to do that, even if we were a match for someone that powerful, it could destroy half the city before we find the person. We need to take this thing down ourselves Megaman. Maybe Shell has the strength to take it on in her new form, you and Lupin try to keep it distracted. Let’s do it 4-Ward!”

We had been watching from the air so we could assess the situation. Gadget-Girl was in her armor’s flight mode, while I was using my force field and the others had been dusted by their respective Fairies. “Let’s give ‘em some ‘elp. Gadget-Girl, get in it’s face an’ try tae draw it back tae the water tae limit the damage. Genesis an’ Psyche, I wan’ ya tae evacuate civilians an’ keep us covered as best ya kin. Aquarius, ya go’ a whole ocean o’ water out there, use it. Packrat, duck and weave an’ keep blastin’ it from a distance. Fairies, keep with yer partners an’ try tae ‘elp out as best ya kin.”

“Packrat, the pistols are on their lowest settin’ right now, just meant to stun people. For this thing ya might need to turn the dials on the sides to the maximum level though, just please be careful no’ to hit people with them, or anything too important,” Gadget-Girl instructed before flying off toward the creature and unloading a payload of mini-missiles in its face. She definitely had its attention now as it shrieked in rage and swatted at her. She only narrowly avoided the hit and started leading it back to the water where Aquarius was now waiting to pepper it with high pressure water blasts and Packrat started blasting it with both of her pistols.

Psyche was quick to start teleporting bystanders to a safer location and Genesis grinned as she called out. “Guardian Angels, I choose you!” After the blinding golden flash of her power a pair of life sized naked women with wings appeared and began picking up people and flying them to a safe distance.

“She’s really go’ tae learn tae summon people wi’ some bloody clothes on,” I muttered before I turned to my Fairy companion. “Let’s ge’ him Fawn,” I said as I started pumping more and more energy into my force field.

“You got it!” The Fairy agreed as both of our fields were flaring wildly and bubbling with explosive energy. Then we flew as fast as we could for creature’s chest, where the energy exploded on contact. It howled and shrieked and swatted us away, and it was a good thing we had our force fields on because if we hadn’t we probably wouldn’t have gotten up from that. There was a fair sized scorch mark on its chest, but whatever that thing’s scales were made from, we weren’t able to do much damage.

We had it heading back to the shore now and the bystanders had been evacuated, but everything was chaos for a while. Gadget-Girl and Packrat were hitting it with everything they had, and even the Fairies were getting involved. Silvermist was helping Aquarius to pound it with as much water as they could, Iridessa redirected the light from one of Genesis’ flashbangs right into the creature’s eyes, succeeding in blinding it for the moment and Periwinkle was doing her best to freeze it while Tink was pixie dusting Jinx, Shell, and Lupin and getting them flight ready to help with hit and run tactics. Meanwhile Pysche was keeping our team connected by mindspeech and Megaman, Fawn and I were trying to deal out what damage we could close range since Megaman seemed to have some level of invulnerability, flight, and strength and speed equal to mine while I had my force field engaged.

“Wot the ‘ell it this guy made o’?” I grumbled as I delivered another explosive punch to its scaly hide and barely singed it.

“The scales are nearly a foot thick and seem to be made o’ some form o’ organic steel,” Gadget-Girl opined, “I don’t think we’re goin’ to be able to take it down this way. This is not a normal magic summon. Not even a cat five Mystic could keep a summoned creature that large here for this long.”

“But I can still feel the magic of a spell on it. It feels like a summoning spell,” Jinx countered.

“It’s probably its passage through the dimensional gate that you’re sensing child,” a new voice contributed. It was Mystech, our school headmistress and she was in costume. “This is a class seven extra-dimensional entity, I’m surprised that you were able to damage it at all. It was summoned, but not by normal means. It was brought through a dimensional gate. It was also a distraction.”

"Wot dae ya mean?” I asked as Megaman, Shell, and I kept pounding on the creature. Shell was getting some solid hits in with her diamond-like form and I figured that she was probably close to cat five strength right now, but neither of us could do much damage, even with me adding explosive energy to my hits.

“Whoever opened the dimensional gate and drew this thing out also summoned a magic tracker by the usual means,” Mystech quickly explained. “This creature was meant to keep any mages in the area occupied, and their attention away from the tracker summon while it searched for the Chaos Gate. I destroyed that summon before it could complete its task, but now we will need to get this back to the dimension it came from. I don’t think that we have the combined power to defeat an entity this powerful.”

“How are we going to manage that?” Megaman asked uncertainly. “We’re barely scratching this thing’s scales.”

“I don’t feel any gate out here,” Jinx added with a frown.

Mystech nodded, a frown on the unmasked portion of her face. “The gate is gone. I don’t know if I have the power to cast a new one big enough to lead that thing through, and I’m pretty sure that Packrat can’t either. Whoever opened that first one was powerful.”

Lupin and Shell were both pounding on the creature’s toes, causing it to shriek in pain. It raised its foot to stomp on them, but Psych managed to teleport Lupin away and Shell actually managed to hold its foot up for a moment before rolling aside. Megaman flew down as fast as he could landing hard on the tip of its tail eliciting another otherworldly shriek. All the while Jinx wasn’t taking her eyes off of our gigantic opponent and Mystech cast some sort of massive golden chains made out of light. The spell seemed to successfully bind one of its arm-like forelegs to the ground, but I could already see cracks forming on the chains.

Fawn was trying to talk to the massive behemoth, wanting to resolve this without a living creature getting hurt, but either it couldn’t hear her, couldn’t understand her, or just didn’t care. The rest of us just tried to keep it distracted and keep drawing it away from the town and toward the water. “Screw this, its scales are too bloody thick,” I muttered in anger as the beast swatted with its free arm at Gadget-girl and Packrat, who had just reloaded and were pouring on the heat. The blow had narrowly missed me and sent Fawn flying, but I figured that she was okay since I could still see the red glow of her force field. Periwinkle was able to dodge but its massive hand was right on target, flying at Gadget-Girl and Packrat.

Psyche appeared to teleport Gadget-Girl away, but the creature’s massive paw flew straight at, and then through, Packrat. “Wot the bloody ‘ell?!” I gasped half in wonder and half relief.

“Don’t worry,” Packrat said with a grin, “I think I just figured out how to control my dimension shifting.”

“That must be why my sixth sense had me save Mo… err Gadget-Girl,” Pysche said, sounding extremely relieved.

That had been a close call and as relieved as I was, I was also starting to get pissed so I gave up on hitting it’s scales and put as much energy and force as I could into an explosive punch to the juggernaut’s eye. “Dinnae ‘urt ma fookin’ family!” I screamed. The creature howled in pain and rage as my punch landed, triggering a huge explosion which staggered it and left the right side of its face an eyeless ruin. There was also dark blood all over my costume, so I really hoped that these costumes were machine washable.

“Way to go Flare!” Aquarius shouted as she and Silvermist teamed up to fire a powerful blast of saltwater at its injured face causing the behemoth to scream anew.

“Black dragon, I choose you!” Genesis shouted, creating a twenty foot black dragon in a flash of golden light. “Flamethrower attack!” The dragon flew for the giant’s face and let loose torrent of fire at its good eye, causing it to shriek in pain again. Meanwhile Gadget Girl and Packrat had regrouped and were firing inside the creature’s open mouth. While the others kept hitting it with everything they could I formed a spear construct in my hand and charged it almost to the point where the explosive energy would super heat to plasma. Then I threw it at the behemoth’s ruined eye as hard as I could.

As the explosion subsided the extra-dimensional creature screamed one last time twitched and then started to teeter toward a nearby building. Megaman, Shell, and I all seemed to notice at the same time and flew into position to prevent its fall and redirect it toward the vacant shoreline. “Ugh, this thing is heavy,” Megaman groaned with a strained look on his face as he pushed against it. I wasn’t really feeling much better that he looked. I was already exhausted and now starving as well from using my powers so much and he was right, it was heavy.

“C’mon, one good push!” Shell encouraged.

Gadget-Girl joined us, pushing her armor’s thrusters and the strength enhancing hydraulics to the limit. I don’t know if it was that extra bit of help, or if it was the big push we all gave as one, but we managed to tip it back toward the beach where it landed with a thunderous crash. With the danger apparently over I started to nervously count heads. Mystech was there, as were all four members of 4-Ward. Aquarius and Silvermist were approaching now, having had the forethought to clear the beach as fast as they could as soon as they saw the giant monster wobbling. Gadget-Girl was of course right with me, and the twins, Tinker Bell, and Periwinkle were all resting on the ground with Psyche and Iridessa, so they were all accounted for as well.

I was a bit worried about Fawn, but if my force field was still up shouldn’t hers be as well? To my great relief she flew back toward me, still glowing a bright red. “That giant thing knocked me out into the ocean,” she said as she looked at the creature and sighed at the loss of life. “It wouldn’t listen to me,” she said sadly after staring at it for a moment.

I wrapped the Fairy up in my arms and held her tight. “Sometimes things jus’ cannae be solved through talkin’ Fawn. I really wish they could, then there wouldnae be a need fer people like me. We’ll dae our best no’ tae ‘ave tae take a life agin, bu’ there will be times when we’ll need tae fight. We’ll try tae make up fer those times by helpin’ people an’ animals whene’er we kin.”

“I know Merida,” the Fairy replied softly, snuggling against my chest. “The mainland is so much different than Neverland, but I think I’ll be okay here as long as I have you.”

“I feel the same Fawn,” I told her, just holding her in my arms for a moment before letting her go.

It was about then that Mystech gathered us all together. “I’ll handle the media,” she told us with a slight groan that bespoke volumes about how much she was looking forward to that task. “Go home and get some sleep, or food if you need it. Come to the school and be at the Conservatory by noon, all of you, without the costumes, we have much to discuss. Do you have any specific team names I should know about?”

“We’re 4-Ward,” Jinx provided, gesturing at herself and her teammates.

“We need a name!” Genesis suddenly spurted out anxiously, “Why didn’t we think of that before?! Ummm maybe Girl-Force? Because we’re all girls?”

I snorted at that, I may have been adjusting to my new gender, but that was still a little too girly for me. Still I didn’t want it to sound like I was dismissing Mei’s idea out of hand. “Mebbe G-Force fer short,” I suggested, “Aye, I think ya kin call us G-Force.”

“That sounds good,” our headmistress agreed. “Now go home, eat, and sleep a bit if you can… oh and try to avoid the police seeing you for now, at least until we can get you licenses for hero work.”

“We need licenses?” Aquarius asked, her eyes wide beneath her mask.

“You do in Costa Verde,” she replied, “but the police aren’t stupid enough to get too close to a fight like this one until it’s over though, so you should have some time to disappear.” We could hear the distant sound of sirens approaching though and she quickly shooed us away before flashing lights could join them.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's Saturday, so here's chapter 21 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 21: Going 4-Ward

By the time we had gotten home there had been no point in going back to bed. It was nearly o’ six hundred and we were all hungry and still a bit excited from our battle. With that in mind, and the fact that we were all too tired to cook, or eat whatever Andy called cooking, Mom decided that we should all go out for breakfast. First we got out of our costumes and Mom put them in something she called a sonic cleanser that would clean them using powerful sonic blasts to remove dirt, grime, blood or anything else that had gotten on them. With our costumes taken care of, we all went for a shower and to get dressed before going out to eat.

While I knew that my force field had kept any of the creature’s blood and gore from getting on me, it had been on my costume and that was enough for me to really want to get clean. It felt good to take a shower and I luxuriated in the hot spray as it helped to get the kinks from the fight out of my muscles. Still, I tried to make it as quick as possible since my hair always took forever to deal with. Once I was properly cleaned and my hair had been washed, rinsed, conditioned, and rinsed again, I wrapped a towel around my chest and allowed Tasha to take her turn for a shower while I returned to my bedroom.

Sitting on my bed I found that Fawn had just finished her shower in her little house as well as she came to join me, so I started using my hairdryer to dry her hair and then mine. I had to use the lowest setting on hers so it wasn’t blowing too hot or powerful but it seemed to work okay and while she set about braiding her hair I started drying mine. It took almost twenty minutes to get it passably dry and brushed out and by the time I was finished I figured that I would have to hurry to not keep everyone else waiting. I was also starving by this point, but I made sure to do a proper job in applying the sweet smelling skin lotion that Mom had bought and insisted I use every day to keep my skin soft. This wasn’t because I particularly cared, but because Fawn was applying some to her skin too and it would take her just as long as it did me. Okay so maybe Fawn and I had become close enough friends and roommates that we liked to do our morning routine together, so sue me.

With our routine complete we both got into comfortable clothes for the day, Fawn in one of her orange and amber dresses and me adopting the punk look once again. I wore my tour shirt from the Offspring knotted in front to show off my navel and the dangly dragon that hung from it, one of my two plaid skirts that were a near match for my backpack purse over some artistically torn black nylons, my knee-high combat boots, my dog-tags and a pair of fingerless black gloves. I didn’t really have a lot of clothes and right now they were split between my dorm room and my room at our new house, and since I knew that my sisters were all in the same situation I figured that we were all going to have to do some clothes shopping soon.

We had had the time while waiting for Mom and Andy to find us a house, but my sisters and I had mostly stayed at the school because we had all been a little uncertain about exploring Costa Verde on our own. Most of that time had been spent just getting familiar with the school together, hanging out together, or doing physical training. I was even starting to get used to the idea of living in the dorm since the few people I had met who were living in Starfish while school wasn’t in session had seemed somewhat nice, even if I hadn’t really tried to get to know any of them yet.

Once Fawn and I were both ready to go out I tossed my backpack purse over my shoulders and we headed downstairs to join the others. We weren’t quite the last ones ready, Tasha had received that dubious honor, probably because she was waiting for me so long before taking her shower. As soon as she had joined us though we all headed out the door to pile into the SUV and head off in search of breakfast, my stomach making a loud protest as Andy started the vehicle.

“Hungry much Mer?” Vanessa teased.

“Wot could ‘ave possibly made ya think tha’?” I grumbled as we pulled out of the driveway.

“Just a feeling I got,” the mermaid poked back.

“Hey, that’s my thing,” Tasha said with a laugh.

Traffic was being diverted around the area of our earlier battle and the beach where the extradimensional creature had fallen, and there were people in orange vests redirecting traffic. This slowed us down, but thankfully not too much, as we stopped and waited for what little traffic was heading into the city from our stretch of beach. One of the orange-vested workers approached the vehicle and Andy rolled down his window in case he had any instructions. “Sorry about this,” the man said with an apologetic smile, “There was a big Hyper battle early this morning and Beachfront Drive will be closed for a while until the mess is cleaned up. You’ll have to go around the long way instead.”

“Did it have anything to do with that loud shrieking this morning?” Andy asked, as if he didn’t already know.

“Yeah some huge monster came out from the ocean and started causing damage but a bunch of Hypers took it down,” the man in the vest replied with a casual shrug. “I don’t even want to think about how long it’s going to take to clean up the mess. I heard most of them were kids, probably students from the Academy, but hey there’s so many costumed Hypers here it’s getting hard to keep track, you know what I mean?”

“Well we’re kind o' new here, we jus' moved to Costa Verde. Does this kind o' thing happen often aroun' here? Mom asked as she leaned toward the window.

The man laughed. “There’s always some sort of super-battle or something weird going on here. Not usually as big as this morning, but it seems like there’s always something. At least it’s never boring. You’ll get used to it once you’ve been here a while Ma’am. Are you heading into the city proper or down the coastline?”

“The city,” Andy informed him. “We thought we’d take the kids out for a nice breakfast since none of us got much sleep with all that noise.”

“I hear ya,” the other man agreed with a grin. “Since you’re new around here I’d suggest Paul Bunyan’s Pancake House on third. They have good prices, great food, and some of the biggest portion sizes in town if you’re hungry. When you turn onto Redwood Drive ahead just keep going until you reach Third Avenue then turn right and about four blocks down you’ll find Paul’s, you can’t miss it.”

Andy nodded and grinned at the man. “Great, thanks for the help.”

“My pleasure, welcome to Costa Verde,” he replied as he waved us onward and Andy put the vehicle in gear once again.

The man had been right, you couldn’t miss Paul Bunyan’s Pancake House if you tried. It was a two and a half story building that from the outside looked like a massive log cabin, and there in the parking lot stood a twenty foot tall statue of a lumberjack holding up a gigantic plate of pancakes. The parking lot was mostly empty, which would have been surprising for a pancake house at eight in the morning, if not for the fact that it was right on the edge of the cordoned off area from last night’s battle. The creature hadn’t quite made it his far on its trek into town, but the building that Shell had been thrown through was on the next street over so it had been close. Since just looking at the statue was making me drool and my stomach had once again let me know that it was not happy with me I was eager to get inside and eat.

On the inside the place had a rustic feel, an almost homey atmosphere that I liked right away. High ceilings, large plank tables with checkered tablecloths and padded chairs, some cozy booths along one wall, and smells that had me in heaven. There was a podium just inside the door with a sign that said, “Please wait to be seated,” so we waited, but not for long. A huge dark-haired man, a shade over eight feet tall and dressed in Jeans, a plaid shirt, a toque, and hiking boots approached us with a big grin on his face. “Welcome! I’m Paul, the owner. Party of seven?”

“Twelve actually, bu’ don’ worry about the Fairies. They’ don’ really eat enough to bother with a full order,” Mom said with a smile as all five fairies made their presence known, fluttering around the large man and staring at him in awe.

“Merida on the other hand…” Vanessa started to say before I gave her a light elbow to the ribs and stuck out my tongue at her.

“That is the biggest person I’ve ever seen,” Iridessa said in awe.

“Are you a giant?” Silvermist asked.

The large man laughed. “Fairies huh? And I thought I’d seen everything in this city. I suppose you could call me a giant, but no I’m a mutant.”

“Well that makes sense,” Andy said with a laugh. “For a minute there I was looking for a big blue ox.”

“When you’re as big and strong as I am and your name is Paul, you have two choices become a hermit or embrace it. I decided that if I can’t laugh at myself who can I laugh at?” He promptly demonstrated this with another big belly laugh. “Now let’s get you all to a table and get you fed.”

Looking at the menus the prices were good and I was pleased to see that they even had Hyper-sized meals. I ordered the Hyper-sized Blue Ox Special and I was not disappointed. There was a stack of pancakes a foot high with real maple syrup on the side, a chilled pitcher of orange juice, and a large platter overloaded with scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausages, bacon, and thick slices of ham. I almost couldn’t eat it all and I probably wouldn’t have if I had only been hungry instead of starving. It wasn’t just filling though, it was delicious and Fawn seemed to enjoy it as much as I was. While it may have cost as much as three of my sisters’ meals put together, for the amount of food and the taste it was well worth it. I vowed that I would definitely be having breakfast at Paul’s again sometime.

Paul himself had served us, since the place was fairly quiet, and he had even sat and chatted with us for a bit while we ate, getting to know us all by name as he did. As I finished the last of my meal he looked at me with a grin. “It’s nice to see a girl with a healthy appetite Merida. Are you girls going to the Academy? My son Hiro goes there, he’s a freshman this year.”

I looked at Mom and she smiled and nodded so I repeated her action before saying. “Yeah, we jus’ moved ‘ere so we could all go there. Mom and Andy will be workin’ there and I’ll be startin’ as a freshman too.”

“Good, I think you’ll like it, he offered with another grin. “Hiro loves it since he started going to junior high there when they opened last year. You’ll probably have him in some of your classes, he goes by the codename Megaman.” Then he turned to Mom and Andy, “You’re going to be teaching there?”

“I think we may ‘ave me’ ‘im already,” I said, trying to hold back a laugh as I thought about the battle earlier that morning.

Mom did laugh, but for a different reason as she replied, “I don’t think I have the patience to teach. I’ve taken a job as chief of medicine fer the school’s clinic so I’ll be seein’ to the kids’ medical needs. Andy will be workin’ in IT and cyber security.”

“That’s good to hear, my wife Kasumi teaches archery and martial arts there, she mentioned that they were having trouble finding a good doctor to fill that spot last year. She said they really wanted someone who specialized in mutants, but it wasn’t looking hopeful for this upcoming year either,” the large man said.

“The headmistress said tha’ my name had come up a few times in her search, bu’ I wasn’t available until recently,” Mom replied. “This is exactly what I wanted to be focusin’ on, so when my girls needed to come here anyway I was more than happy to take the job.”

“Kasumi was the same way when Alana approached her while she was trying to get the school off the ground, not long after Hiro Activated. We moved here so he could go to school and she could teach, and I decided that I would open up the restaurant. We actually have a 10% discount for anyone attending or working at the school, you just need to show your student or staff IDs when you come in,” he offered with a smile. Then he seemed to come to a decision and spoke again. “Since you probably don’t know much of anyone here yet, why don’t you all come over for Labor Day? We live upstairs and were planning on having a barbeque, and I’m sure that Kasumi would love to meet you all before school starts. Some of Hiro’s freshman friends from here in town will be coming, so it’ll give the girls a chance to meet some other kids too, if they haven’t met them already.”

“That sounds great, you’re sure we wouldn’t be imposing?” Andy replied.

“Not at all,” Paul said with a grin and a laugh. “Kasumi and I haven’t really made a lot of close friends since moving here last year, we’ve been too busy with work, and you all seem like good people. And if you having met Hiro has anything to do with him mentioning pixies and rookie girls when he came home a few hours ago, well that’s just more reason to get to know you all. He said that the girls handled themselves well out there and that we would have probably had to rebuild this place if they hadn’t gotten involved.”

All of us except Andy looked at one another uncertainly, causing Paul to laugh again. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us. I may have never done the hero thing myself, but Kasumi, Hiro, and I all know the value of keeping secret identities secret. Most of the kids at the academy will probably get to know you by your codenames, but outside those walls your identities are fairly safe.”

After paying for our meal, and Paul scribbling down his cellphone number for Andy, we said our goodbyes and promised to see him on Labor Day, if not before. Since we still didn’t have much for clothes or personal items Mom decided that we would need to do a major shopping spree, but since we had to meet Dr. Edwards at lunch that was tabled for the next day which was Sunday. So instead we just drove around the city for a while, getting a feel for where things were and seeing the sights until it was time to go to the school for lunch.

Once we arrived at the school Andy headed for the server room in the underground to get to know some of the people that he would be working with while the rest of us headed for the Grotto and our appointment with Dr. Edwards. We were a bit early, and she wasn’t there yet, but we did spot a familiar looking black-furred werewolf and girl with long raven black hair and scaly brown skin, sitting with a somewhat muscular half Japanese guy who looked a little older than me and a pretty blonde girl. It didn’t take much deduction to figure out that they were the heroes we had worked with early that morning so we all grabbed trays from the buffet table and selected what we wanted for lunch before going to join them at their table.

Introductions were a bit awkward since we all had already met in costume and every one of us knew it. They had been fairly easy to recognize with Shell’s and Lupin’s distinctive appearances and we had the fairies and probably my accent giving us away. Mom quickly introduced us and then they followed suit. As we ate they all took my massive tray full of food in stride and hardly said anything about it, even when I went for seconds. There was just a brief knowing look between them as they all shrugged and said, “Energy Manipulators.” As we ate we got to know one another better and I discovered that not only were they all going to be freshmen with me, but they were all in Starfish Dorm with me and Vanessa as well.

Lupin’s real name turned out to be Garret Jackson. He was a Category three Shifter with cat 2 strength and speed. It seemed that he was Activated while watching a horror movie, when his little brother snuck up behind him and scared him. Like Vanessa, his werewolf form had become his default and while he could change back to human or even to a full wolf for short periods, it was hard to maintain. He and Vanessa seemed to hit it off right away talking about the annoyances that came with their forms, her about having to constantly concentrate just to have legs instead of a tail and him about wearing a thick black fur coat almost all the time in California.

Jinx, or Lindsey Masterson, had Activated late in the school year last year so she only had a month at PSA under her belt, making her almost as new as we were. She had been a local and as soon as she had met the others in Starfish they had clicked and decided to form a team. Lindsey was a Category three mystic. She could sense magic and was looking forward to learning to use it as well this year since up until now her only real offensive ability was to focus on a person and cause seemingly random mishaps to happen to them at the worst possible time. It wasn’t something she had much control over, but that explained why she hadn’t taken her eyes off the monster last night, she was trying to increase our chances of getting a lucky shot in.

Shell, whose real name was Michelle Weekes, couldn’t really keep a secret identity well with her scaly skin and that explained why she was in Starfish. Her powers were almost as random as Lindsey’s though and she had no conscious control over them at all. Dr. Edwards had classified her as a Category four reactive biomorph, though she could be loosely categorized as a Shifter. When an attack is directed at her, or she feels that she is in danger, her body shifts its physical composition to whatever benefits her most at the time. She doesn’t get any new powers, it’s just a form shift, although her physical abilities can increase depending on what form she’s taken. After a few hours she sort of sheds her skin to revert to her true form, sometimes that process was messier than others, but she showed us a shard of diamond from her last shedding.

The half Japanese boy who had introduced himself as Hiro Forrester was Megaman of course. He was classified as a Category three Enhanced with cat three flight and invulnerability and mid-superhuman ranged physical abilities, which meant that he was a cat three in strength, speed, agility and all of his other physical attributes. He looked normal enough and seemed to have pretty good control over his abilities though so, after a quick look around to make sure that nobody was paying too much attention to us, I asked, “Why are ya in Starfish? Ya seem tae ‘ave a good handle on yiur powers an’ ya look normal enough.”

“My name used to be Hana,” he said with a resigned look.

“Same with me, I used to be Lincoln before I Activated,” Lindsey pointed out a bit self-consciously. “I’m still getting used to this whole girl thing, but Hiro and Michelle have been a huge help.”

Suddenly I didn’t feel so alone, or such a freak even among other mutants. “I was… uhh… a guy too until we all Activated a few weeks ago. I’m still tryin’ tae adjus’ tae all o’ this.”

“You’ll get through it Merida, you look like you’re doing pretty well so far,” Lindsey said with an encouraging smile. “That’s kind of the good thing about being in Starfish, we all know that there are others who can understand what we’re going through. Plus, maybe we’ll have some classes together, you look a bit young to be a freshman though.”

“I… uhh… skipped a grade,” I told her, sticking to the cover story. I didn’t like hiding the truth from them, but my real past was classified and needed to stay that way.

That was when Dr. Edwards showed up. “Sorry I’m late everyone, but I was arranging for some of our Tinkers to build something to dispose of our large friend from this morning. Blair, I’d like you to work with us on that as well if you can manage the time today. The city has cordoned off the area as I requested, but we’d like to return the body to the dimension it came from as soon as possible for safety’s sake.”

“Build a giant dimensional gate?” Mom said with a grin as her face lit up. “I’ll be there, bu’ I ‘ave plans with the girls tomorrow.”

After that was decided Dr. Edwards told us why she had gathered us. The monster had been a distraction to keep mages and any well-meaning superheroes busy while a tracker summon was sent to search for the location of the Chaos Gate, buried far beneath the city in a secret chamber. The Chaos Gate is dimensional tear where our dimension touches another, one so filled with magic energy that it was spilling out into ours, despite the fact that it had been sealed centuries ago. The seal had slowed the magic energy spilling into our world down to a trickle, but that energy was wildly chaotic and impossible to fully control, which was why it had been sealed in the first place, and why the area of Costa Verde had a long history of strange and tragic occurrences.

“The presence of the Chaos Gate is not common knowledge, nor should it ever be,” Dr. Edwards told us all with a serious expression. “I am only telling you because you needed to know why that creature was sent and how important it is that nobody ever be allowed to find it. Most mages use ley lines or forces of nature to use magic. These things can be powerful, but they also have a natural flow and order to them. The magic energy from the Chaos Gate is wildly chaotic and dark, almost evil in itself. I don’t want to even think about what would happen if someone should try to harness it, or worse break the seal. Whoever did this, it’s just their first attempt, and I expect they’ll make others. I want you all to keep your eyes open for trouble. If any of you feel or sense anything out of place in Costa Verde at any time I want to know about it immediately.”

“I’ll keep my senses peeled, all of them,” Tasha promised. The rest of us quickly nodded in agreement.

“Good, now before Blair and I go to help the team working on the dimensional gate, there is the small matter of those of you working last night without a license.” Dr. Edwards looked pointedly at Mom and the rest of our family, including the Fairies. “If you take a look at your ID bracelets you will find that they have all been updated with your team affiliation. I told the police last night that I had deputized you for temporary work so don’t worry about any legal repercussions, but you will all need to go to City Hall by closing on Monday evening to fill out the proper forms and pay license fees.”

“Why the ‘ell dae we e’en need licenses tae ‘elp people?” I grumbled.

“Licensing superheroes makes sense in Costa Verde,” Dr. Edwards said with a shrug. “There are a lot of Hypers here. The license fees, and fines for non-licensed Hypers, help the city to pay for damages. They also ensure that only those who are serious about hero work start taking it up, and generally that helps prevent serious damage or civilian casualties. Also, when licensed heroes assist local law enforcement in situations that the regular police can’t handle they can be paid for their efforts from funds that the city has set aside for that purpose. The amount depends on the situation of course and it’s generally not a lot, but it shows that they do appreciate those who choose to get a license and use their powers to help others.”

I could grudgingly see the sense in that so I let the matter drop. “So what are we gonna do while Mom’s having fun?” Mei asked pointedly.

“You should all go to the tailor’s to get your school uniforms, and you’ll need to register for your classes soon as well. You can do that through Kendra since I’ve set her up as your guidance counsellor,” Dr. Edwards advised before turning to the members of 4-Ward sitting with us at the end of the table. “Perhaps the four of you can show them the way and then show them the sights from a local’s perspective?” And with that she and Mom left the Grotto, leaving us with our new schoolmates.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's now officially Saturday, so here's chapter 22 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 22: Clothes Call

We were told that the tailors worked out of one of the small shops in the town square of the faux colonial village that was Pacific Seaside Academy. It was still a little strange to get used to even though we’d been there almost a week and spending most of that time on campus. Strange to be surrounded by a village that could have existed two hundred years ago, when just outside the gates and the fence that surrounded the school grounds was a thriving and bustling modern city.

We had of course seen the shops in the square during our tour, as well as our own explorations, but we hadn’t thought that they were being used for anything. So when Lindsey, Michelle, Garret, and Hiro led us to a shop on the square with a wooden sign out front displaying an image of a needle and thread, we thought that they might be pulling our legs a little bit. It turned out though that not only were they not pulling our legs but that quite a few shops were in use to cater to students and staff alike. Aside from the tailor’s there was a sweets shop, a convenience store housed inside a grocer’s shop, a bookstore selling books for both school and recreation, a draper that sold cloth and other necessities for costume making, and a bakery that housed not only an actual bakery, but a small coffee shop as well. Not far from the square there was also the period doctor’s office with a hidden elevator to the medical clinic below ground where Mom would be working.

There was even a gunsmith shop run by a Tinker that sold actual weapons, although we were told that students would have to take and clear a firearms and weapons safety course and get a permit from Costa Verde’s Hyper Relations Office before they would be allowed to buy or carry them. The very same office at City Hall where we would have to go to get our licenses on Monday. So if Shu and Mei, or any of us, wanted to be able to carry weapons in our costumed guises we would have to pay for all of that too.

“Why let students carry weapons at all though?” Tasha asked in concern.

“This is a school for Hypers, but it’s still a school and we have our share of jerks and bullies. Not everyone has force fields or flashy offensive powers,” Michelle said looking pointedly at me. Then she pointed her finger toward Tink who was sitting atop Mei’s shoulder. “So tell me, how someone like Tink would even stand a chance if she were being bullied by a Category four enhanced or Energy Manipulator or something if she couldn’t just fly away. It evens the odd and sadly fights between students, or teams of students, do happen on campus sometimes.”

“Besides,” Hiro added, “none of the weapons that shop sells are lethal, they are all used to stun, contain, disable, or to distract. Some may have more powerful or lethal ammunition loads or add-ons available, but those aren’t kept on campus and are never sold to students.” With that explained, and our tutorial of the various campus shops given, the four guided us to door of the tailor’s shop to get our school uniforms ordered while my four new classmates promised to meet with us at the Grotto for dinner once we were done with our errands.

When we stepped inside the tailor’s shop the first thing I noticed was that there were no sewing machines, needles, thread, bolts of cloth, or partially completed uniforms or other outfits to indicate that anyone in the shop made clothes at all. Well there was some stuff, but it all looked like stuff from a few hundred years ago so the shop was probably kept looking period on the inside too. There was a curtained-off area to the back though, and two women who could probably be sisters drinking coffee at a large wooden work table.

Both women were slender and a bit lanky with bright blue eyes, but they had their differences too. The oldest of the pair seemed to be in her mid-twenties, was dressed casually in jeans and a simple rose-hued blouse, and had long wavy black hair. The other’s hair was plum-colored and cut shoulder length into a spiky punk style that I liked and she looked to be maybe nineteen or in her early twenties. She was also dressed in a style similar to my own, but with a few more piercings. The pair looked up as the small bell on the door announced our arrival. “Oh! New students! And ten of you too, that should at least keep us busy for an hour or two. Alana sent us your files and told us to expect you today, this should be fun. Welcome kids, we’re the Taylors, and we’ll be getting you all set up with your school uniforms,” the older of the pair said with a grin.

“No’ tae ge’ all technical, bu’ yuir both women, wouldnae tha’ make ya seamstresses?” I pointed out.

The eldest laughed as she smiled at us. “You’re not the first to say that, and likely won’t be the last. It’s a bit of a joke around here actually. We’re not tailors, we’re the Taylors… T A Y L O R,” she explained, spelling the name. “I’m Melanie Taylor and this is my younger sister Meghan.”

Once each of us, including the Fairies, had introduced ourselves the pair looked us over and Melanie asked, “So, which of you is going to be first?”

Meghan grabbed me by the arm, grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s start with you Merida. I like your sense of style. If you ever need new clothes just come see me, I can make you rock that look and our prices for regular clothes are very reasonable. We were told that you and the Fairies come as sets, so your Fairy can come along too.”

Fawn and I were ushered behind the curtain at the back of the shop into a comfortable little room with period furniture, a small table with a tea set on it, tailoring supplies, an old-timey mannequin, a pair of clothing racks filled with empty hangers, and a stool in the center of an open space. “I hope that neither of you are shy,” Melanie commented as Fawn and I were herded toward the stool at the center of the room. “This process will require you both taking off your clothes several times, but only down to your underwear.”

I flushed slightly at the thought, but I then I told myself sternly that it wouldn’t be the first time that I had been without clothes in front of others since getting this body. I looked at the pair hesitantly and tried to shrug it off. They were professionals after all and they probably saw both girls and boys in their underwear every day. “I think I kin manage, bu’ why does Fawn need tae undress? This is jus’ fer school uniforms.”

“Alana specifically told us five uniforms for each of you girls and the Fairies as well, plus whatever enchantments you’ll need on them. The Fairies are students too, just because they’re tiny it doesn’t make them immune to the rules or the dress code,” Meghan pointed out. “Now off with those clothes, both of you.”

Sighing, and wondering what Dr. Edwards had told them to make them believe that Fawn and the other Fairies were students as well, I began to take off my clothes as Fawn touched down on the stool and began shimmying out of her dress. As we were doing that we listened as Meghan explained how their little shop worked. “Now here’s the thing girls. I’m a Category three Generator, I tap into magical energy via ley lines and I can use that energy to create any clothes that I have seen or that I can imagine, in any material that I have physically touched, but to make sure they fit right I need to create them on you, so that’s why you need to be in your underwear. If I were creating underwear you’d have to be naked.”

I was really glad that Fawn and I both had proper underwear. Mom had insisted on making all of the Fairies several sets of undergarments, using the same machine she had to make our costumes and their everyday clothes. Fawn was out of her dress and I was half finished disrobing as Melanie continued where her younger sister had left off. “Meghan will create the uniforms on your bodies and then you’ll have to remove them and hang them up before she can start on the next one. She can’t really do adjustments once the clothes are set, so if you need the uniforms taken in or let out anywhere at some point you’ll come see me so I can magically alter them. I’m a Category three Mystic, but I don’t really enjoy using combat magic. My real strength is enchantments so once the clothes are made and hanging up I’ll enchant them with whatever I feel will work best to keep them from being damaged should you need to use your powers.”

The Pacific Seaside Academy uniform for girls turned out to be a white blouse, a navy blue blazer with the school crest over the heart, white knee socks, a pair of shoes that were called Mary Janes, and a plaid skirt in navy, light sea green, teal, and silver. The final touch was a ribbon tie matching the tartan on the skirt worn with the blouse and tied in a ‘proper’ bow. I had to get Meghan to show me and Fawn how to properly tie the damn thing a few times before we actually got it. Apparently the boys wear navy slacks and a blazer, dress shoes, and a button up shirt with a tie in the same tartan pattern as the girls' skirts and ribbon ties. Fawn was having to be very careful removing the blazer and blouse, carefully slipping her wings through the slits in the back, and I was sure that she’d have to be just as careful while putting them on.

Inwardly I was seething about the skirt and ribbon tie as Fawn and I removed the first uniforms that Meghan had finished. The tartan wasn’t even a proper Scottish one, I was pretty sure it was Irish. How could they expect me to wear that? My force field snapped into place as Fawn finished removing her uniform and we were both surrounded by that familiar red glow that was beginning to bubble with instability.

“Oh! That’s perfect! Just let me do a quick magical scan Merida and I’ll be able to come up with what enchantments I want to use. Force field right? Do I need to worry about your uniforms getting damaged at all?” Melanie fired off as she watched me and Fawn in sudden interest.

I took deep slow breaths to try and calm myself and the bubbling slowed. It wasn’t their fault that the school had a stupid uniform and as much as it might gall me to wear an Irish tartan it wasn’t going to kill me and it wasn’t worth blowing up half the campus over. Once I had managed to calm myself down I replied to the elder Taylor sister. “It only seems tae co’er the surface o‘ our skin. It doesnae protect our clothes an’ when it gets unstable things aroun’ me tend tae explode, or burn tae ash when it gets hot enough.”

Melanie nodded as she continued to watch us, her hands moving as she chanted under her breath for several minutes. Finally she spoke again. “I see, I’ll enchant both of your clothes to phase slightly out of our dimension whenever you use your powers then. They’ll still be visible and preserve your modesty, but they won’t be vulnerable to any type of damage from your powers or anything else that could physically damage them in our dimension. I’ll put that in your file for future uniforms and any regular clothes you might come to us for.”

Once I had managed to turn my force field off again we got back to hanging up the uniforms that we had taken off before Meghan got to work on the next set. Melanie had even managed to conjure up a tiny clothes rack and some hangers for Fawn to use. It was almost half an hour before we were finished and Fawn and I walked out of the back room with our arms filled with five new uniforms and our new shoes, all freshly enchanted. Meghan poked her head out of the curtains behind us and said, “Okay, let’s do the mermaid next. I really hope that you’re not shy.”

It was nearly o’ sixteen hundred by the time that we were all finished and loaded up with uniforms. Tasha, the twins and their fairies didn’t need any enchantments on theirs other than a fairly simple one that Melanie usually used to make students uniforms more sturdy and damage resistant. Vanessa’s and Silvermist’s were enchanted to make them water resistant as well, and the only reason that Vanessa had taken longer than the rest of us was because she had not only hers and Silvermist’s uniforms made, but two dozen pairs of panties in various styles and colors as well. They had all been enchanted to be sent to a pocket dimension whenever her legs shifted to a tail, and to return to their place when she shifted back to legs.

With that done we dropped our uniforms off at our respective dorm rooms and met up at Toxin’s office in the courthouse building that served as the high school where Tasha, Vanessa, and I would be taking classes. I knocked carefully and Kendra’s voice called from inside, “Come on in.” Then once I had opened the door she looked up at us from behind her desk in the small cozy-looking office. “Hello girls! I take it you’re here to choose your classes for the first semester? One at a time please, my office isn’t that big. Though I can probably manage the twins and their little Fairy friends together.”

Since I was closest to the door the others sort of volunteered me to go first with a solid shove. Sighing, I entered the office with Fawn riding my shoulder, closed the door behind me and settled into the comfortable armchair she had in front of her desk, feeling just a little bit uncertain. “It’s good to see you both again. I hope that you’re all adjusting well to the Campus and life in Costa Verde,” Kendra said.

“Aye, we’re doin’ fine Kendra,” I tried to assure her as I squirmed in the seat.

“A little nervous to be starting high school again are you?” Kendra said after a moment of watching me, her tone sympathetic. “I would be too in your place, but this will help you to make friends, adjust to your new age and gender, and learn to control your powers in a relatively safe environment. Try to see the positives in this Merida. And what do you think Fawn?” Her gaze turned toward the Fairy on my shoulder as she said the last.

“It’s all so strange and exciting. It’s nothing like Neverland or Pixie Hollow here and I’m getting to experience all of these things with my best friend. We got something called ‘school uniforms’ earlier. They are a bit strange to wear, but we match in them.” Fawn seemed to have no issues talking about her feelings, but she was generally very open and spoke easily with others. I guess that came with being an Animal Fairy.

“That’s good to hear Fawn, I’m glad to hear that you’re adjusting so well and enjoying your time here,” Kendra said with a nod before getting down to business. “You will each have nine classes per semester and they rotate on a daily basis with six classes per day. Classes are in session from eight thirty in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon with an hour in the middle for lunch. Now I have some classes in mind for both of you, but I would also like your input on this since your classes may well effect your futures. Are there any specific interests you have? Would you prefer to take classes together rather than each having your own separate schedules?”

I stared at her for a moment. “Fawn ‘as tae take classes too?”

Toxin nodded slowly and sighed as she took a small folder out of her desk drawer and pushed it toward me. “Dr. Edwards has decided to make your Fairies official students at the Academy. They are living sentient beings with powers of their own that should be nurtured and developed. It will also explain their presence here. We’ve had to come up with a cover story for all of you since you can’t tell people about how you truly Activated with it being classified, and we don’t want the truth about Mei’s powers to be commonly known since it could put her and the rest of you in danger.”

I opened the folder and Fawn and I carefully read the contents. I was glad that Mei had seemed to instill basic literacy and her own education in the Fairies since, if they were going to be taking classes, they would have trouble otherwise. The file contained a cover story with just enough truth in it to be believable. Me and my new sisters had all been discovered to be non-Activated Hypers and were kidnapped, them from orphanages and me on my way home from a friend’s house, by a Supervillain Mystic calling herself “The Matriarch” who was more than a little insane and apparently wanted superhuman children as minions. She performed experiments on us to try to get us to Activate, including attempts at brainwashing, and severely traumatized most of us in the process. Mom was able to follow her trail though and, with her help and our new powers, we were able to defeat her and escape, after which Mom adopted my sisters to keep them safe.

The Fairies were explained too. They were other captives, college students who had been magically transformed into Fairies based on some of those in the Disney movies. They hadn’t turned out well though, because they lost all of their memories from before their transformation and now believed themselves to be those Fairies, taking on their abilities and personalities. They had been meant to be companions for us, gifts from the insane woman trying to be a mother figure to us. They had bonded with us and we became friends and when we had Activated, one of the Matriarch’s experiments had resulted in Fawn and I becoming quantum entangled and each gaining a portion of the other’s powers.

It seemed that the Matriarch was actually a real villain who had escaped a high security asylum for Hypers around the time that the girls really were kidnapped. She had been captured again not long after our escape, and while it had made the news the details had been sketchy so it loaned itself well to our cover story. There were even photos of her in the file and with the kidnapping and trauma and such there was enough truth in the fictional story to be believable. The Fairies even had identities created for them from before their ‘transformations’ including birth certificates and other documentation that Dr. Edwards had got Tara Miller at the Hyper Protection Program to cook up and that would be used in their school records and student ID bracelet.

Kendra handed me the packet for Fawn, or Lisa Anne Conrad as her documentation indicated. The Fairies wouldn’t have to play the part much since the story had been concocted to allow them to be themselves and answer to their own names for the most part. They would have to remember some details about their fictional identities, but they seemed to have the easy part in this fiction.

With that explained Kendra started to discuss classes with Fawn and me. We had decided to take the same academic classes this semester, Math, English, History, Introduction to Zoology, and ‘Beginner Martial Arts’ with Kasumi Forrester, Megaman’s mother, for our P.E class. For our other classes we shared Energy Manipulation and Aerial Combat and I took Archery, again with Kasumi Forrester, and Art to help with my constructs. For her other two classes Fawn took Spanish and Home Ec. Once our classes were chosen we left with our class schedules, and Fawn’s new documentation, in hand to let the others have their turn at their debriefing/class selection with Kendra.

 

 
Why dae I ‘ave tae dae this anyway? Wouldnae Blair be better fer talkin’ aboot all this sciencey stuff? Wot dae ya mean it’s in ma bloody contract?! I’m goin’ tae need tae read the fine print on tha’, an’ then we’re goin’ tae damn well renegotiate.

*sigh* Good mornin’, afternoon, or evenin’ tae all o’ Amethyst’s readers, whate’er it is where ya are. I’ve jus’ been informed by Amethyst tha’ I’m supposed tae be hostin’ this new segmen’ tae teach ya all aboot Hypers, the world we live in, an’ so forth. So since I dinnae ‘ave a choice in the matter, welcome tae the first episode o’ “Merida’s Corner”. Today I’m goin tae start by talkin’ aboot power levels an’ introducin’ the twelve diff’ren’ classifications o’ Hypers.

Powers are rated like hurricanes, rangin’ from Category one tae Category five. Category one powers gen’rally make the person who ‘as them a wee bit more than human, bu’ no’ quite considered superhuman either. In the case o’ Enhanced mutants, where physical abilities are increased, those physical abilities would be on the level o’ peak human or an Olympic athlete. In other power types Category ones gen’rally ‘ave wha’ are commonly termed as nuisance level powers, fer example a Teleporter who kin only ‘port somethin’ small, like a marble, tae within a foot or two o’ its original location. No’ really tha’ terrifyin’, aye? Though I could think o’ uses fer somethin’ e’en tha’ small.

Category two is where things star’ gettin’ interestin’, an’ Hyper’s are really considered superhuman. Enhanced gain physical abilities tha’ go beyond tha’ o’ even the best human athletes, such as bein’ able tae lift an’ toss aroun’ large vehicles an’ other classes ge’ powers tha’ may actually be o’ some use in a fight. Power levels an’ range continue tae increase exponentially all the way up tae Category five, which are the rarest an’ usually the mos’ dangerous. Mos’ Hypers are somewhere in the Category one tae four range an’ when a five appears it’s a pretty big deal an’ their power levels kin be compared tae a Category five hurricane, a major earthquake, or other nat’ral disaster when unleashed a’ full power. Tha’s when ya ge’ intae people like Paragon or me. Tha’ level o’ power is hard tae learn tae control a’ full power an’ kin be dangerous tae anyone aroun’.

There are twelve loose classifications o’ mutant power types. Some mutants fit intae one o’ these, while some fit intae more than one. These classifications are: Energy Manipulators (EMs), Generators, Shifters, Psychics, Regens, Teleporters, Tinkers, Mystics, Mediums, Elementals, Enhanced, an’ Wildcards. There is a lo’ tae learn aboot all these diff’ren’ classes, so nex’ week I’ll begin talkin’ aboot the various types wi’ the best one, Energy Manipulators. Until then, this is Merida signin’ off, see ya nex’ time on Merida’s Corner… unless I kin manage tae renegotiate ma contract.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's Saturday, so here's chapter 23 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 23: Need to Know

Once my sisters, and their respective Fairy companions, had finished their turns with Kendra choosing classes and being updated on our new ‘origin story’ we headed to the Grotto to meet the members of 4-Ward. With just over a week until school was in session there weren’t many people there so as we all ate dinner together we got to know one another a bit better. We started out talking about our interests and it turned out that the four of them loved surfing as much as Vanessa did. “We’ve been surfing together all summer, and being out in that heat all the time seems to be helping Garret with staying in his human form longer. There’s some great beaches around here, but they’re part of the whole tourist scene that Costa Verde is getting popular for so they’re kinda crowded during the summer,” Michelle pointed out.

Garret gave a shrug and laughed. “Yeah you do not want to know what it’s like surfing in a fur coat, and wet fur really sucks, its good incentive to work on my shifting.”

“Cool, I was going to teach my sisters how to surf, maybe you can all help with that?” Vanessa asked the grinning foursome. “Merida and I have boards and such, but we’ll need to find some for Tasha and the twins.”

“Sure! It’ll go faster and you’ll all be out enjoying the waves sooner if we all kick in to teach them, and we can compare notes too,” Hiro replied with a grin. “Most of the beaches around here have decent rental shops, but if you’re looking to buy, the best place would be Surf n’ Turf at Greenhill Mall, That place is huge and they sell a variety of outdoor sports gear: Surfing, hiking, camping, running, and pretty much any other form of exercise or fun that can be had outside.”

Lindsey added her conspiratorial grin to those that the others from her team were wearing. “Once you all have boards, we can start the fun. Now as Michelle said, the beaches here can get pretty crowded with all the tourists, but we gotcha covered. The cove here on campus isn’t a bad place to chill out and catch some killer waves, and students can get access to the school facilities year round. Some of the best surf conditions around, and more private than anywhere else, unless you can somehow afford to live at one of the private beach villas with your own stretch of beach.”

“Actually…” I began a little self-consciously between taking huge chunks out of the mountain of food on my tray. “We jus’ moved intae one o’ those.”

All four of our new friends stared at us wide-eyed, but it was Hiro who finally spoke with a slightly confused expression. “Umm… forgive me if I sound rude, but you don’t seem the rich-kid types, though it may explain how girls with such varied ethnic backgrounds can be sisters. Usually the rich kids we get here at the academy are huge snobs, we have one in Starfish and even she was really standoffish, rude, and acting all superior to the rest of us for most of last year. Those in the other dorms are some of the worst bullies in the school. The five of you seem really down to earth though.”

“Mom does alright, she’s a doctor an’ a Tinker, an’ she was doin’ a lot o’ government tech contracts ‘til recently. We only moved intae one o’ those places ‘cause we needed the space wi so many o’ us. She doesnae like to show off ‘ow well off we are, an’ she’s tryin’ tae raise us tae be responsible an’ appreciate the value o’ money. I’m ‘er only biological kid though, she adopted the others after we all... Activated a few weeks ago, they were all orphans ‘til then,” I explained.

“I smell an origin story!” Lindsey said leaning forward eagerly.

That’s when we gave them our newly edited origin story. My sisters started with how they had all been kidnapped from their respective orphanages and then I contributed my fictional kidnapping before laying out the entire cover story about the Matriarch, the Fairies’ fictional origin, us getting Activated and Fawn and I getting quantum entangled through magical experimentation, and Mom coming to rescue me. We told them about our daring escape, though we were vague on the details of that, and then we finished up with the Matriarch’s capture and how Mom had adopted my new sisters to keep them safe.

They were all looking at us sympathetically. I hated to lie to them, but there was a lot of truth in it even if some of the players had changed and our real origin needed to remain classified. “Wow, you’ve all been through the wringer, but it’s nice that you all found a home and can stay together,” Michelle said after a moment, looking a bit misty-eyed.

“It’s been hardest on Merida, she has nightmares every night from what happened and Toxin says she’s got a condition that makes it hard to control her powers, so we’ve all been waking up to the sound of explosions lately,” Tasha pointed out with a sympathetic look.

“Some form of Transformative Stereotype Disorder?” Garret asked. “I have TSD, it affects me mostly during full moons. I can’t change back into my human form at all then, and have a hard time controlling my baser instincts.”

“Speaking of TSD, I really need to get wet again. It’s apparently a mermaid thing,” Vanessa interjected as she took her spray bottle out of her purse and began spritzing herself, though her eyes were on me. She was offering me an out if I wanted it, a distraction if I didn’t feel comfortable enough yet to reveal the nature of my condition.

“Aye, I ‘ave a type o’ TSD Garret,” I responded to the werewolf after a long moment. “Toxin called it PCEDS an’ said tha’ I dinnae ‘ave near as strong an emotional filter as other girls. I ge’ emotional very easily an’ they kin be really overwhelmin’, ‘specially negative emotions. An’ whene’er I ge’ emotional ma powers kick in an’ I ‘ave trouble controllin’ ‘em. An’ when ya combine tha’ wi’ PTSD, nightmares, an’ ma powers, it’s no wonder tha’ Dr. Edwards wanted me in Starfish. We’re all jus’ lucky tha’ Mom found a way tae contain ma explosions a’ night an’ tha’ Fawn shares ma powers.”

To my surprise Lindsey, Michelle, and Hiro all reached across the table to cover my right hand reassuringly with their own, though Hiro’s was the first to make contact. He was the first to speak as well. “If you need any of us, we’re there for you Merida. For any of you really, that’s what friends do and friends are important to have here. Now what are your powers? None of you ever really got to tell us earlier. I could guess, but we are trying to get to know each other better and we told you ours.” He was smiling at me and squeezed my hand in his own.

I was pretty sure that Hiro was trying to change the topic to make me feel less uncomfortable, something that I deeply appreciated, but at the same time my heart seemed to skip a beat and then it was racing as he squeezed my hand in his own. I looked up at him and smiled back uncertainly, suddenly very aware of just how attractive he was. He had such smooth and chiseled features, and I had seen him in spandex so I knew that that extended to the rest of his body as well, toned without being overly muscled. He had such nice deep brown eyes as well and that reassuring smile just made him even cuter.

I quickly tore my eyes away. “No Merida, you are not interested in Hiro. Besides, he and Lindsey seem really close, so they probably have a thing going and even if you were interested in him it would be wrong to try to get between him and Lindsey like that,” I mentally scolded myself. Instead of letting myself get all flustered I decided to answer his question. “I’m a Category five EM, I kin create constructs an’ I ‘ave a force field tha’ lets me fly an’ increases ma strength an’ speed. Ma constructs an’ force field are solid tae the touch, bu’ if’n I feed more energy intae them they kin become unstable an’ explode if they hit anythin’. If they dinnae explode afore tha’, an’ I keep puttin’ energy intae ma constructs or force field, they become a kind o’ superheated plasma. Oh, an’ I share Fawn’s powers like she shares ma force field.”

“Holy shit! You’re a Cat five?!” Garret barely managed not to scream it loud enough for the few others in the Grotto to hear.

Mei grinned as she said, “So am I. I guess I’m a Category five Wildcard. My power are kind of hard to explain though so Kendra said I should just tell people that I’m a cross between a Mystic and a Generator and that I’m really good at using magic energy to summon creatures.”

“You were drawing on a lot of magic energy last night whenever you summoned something,” Lindsey said with a nod. “Two Cat fives though? I think we had maybe three total at the school last year when I started attending, and one of those graduated. Try not to flaunt your power levels and, keep quiet on the money thing too, just keep being yourselves. If people find out about the two of you it’s going to be crazy.”

Michelle agreed with a disgusted look,” Yeah, you’ll suddenly have a lot of people wanting to be your friends or asking you to join their teams. Some may be genuine, but a lot will probably be trying to use you, and some may try to get some kind of leverage on you. I went through that last year. Power wise I’m ranked as high as a Cat four can be without being a Cat five, so when I was able to fight one of the lower ranked Cat fives, and win, people started suspecting I was lying about my power level and rumors started going around. Everyone suddenly wanted to be my friend and I got offers to join teams, but I quickly discovered that they were trying to use me. They would be all buddy-buddy while around me, but then when I wasn’t around they’d brag about how they were friends with the powerful ‘lizard-girl’. Lupin and Hiro helped me to figure out who my real friends were.”

“Merida wouldn’t let that happen, she’s not that type of person and we’re already making all kinds of animal friends here,” Fawn said confidently.

“Aye, we are Fawn,” I agreed as I finally set my plate aside. “An’ I ‘ave Fawn ‘ere fer a bes’ friend an’ ma sisters an’ the other fairies an’ now the four o’ you as well. I’m sure I’ll make other friends, bu’ I think tha’ I prefer quality o’er quantity, aye Mei?”

Mei frowned and crossed her arms as she nodded in agreement. “Well we have an awesome team already and I won’t leave my sisters for anyone. And I’ll have Shu, Tink, and Peri with me a lot of the time since we have most of the same classes. I’m not in a rush to make a bunch of friends, well not anymore anyway.”

Shu laughed at her twin’s joke, but then nodded grimly. “Anyone who wants to get to Mei, or Merida is going to have us watching them, right girls? If they want to be friends for reals that’s great, but if they try to pull anything I’ll send them to another dimension if I have to.” Tink and Peri both nodded eagerly from atop the twins’ shoulders.

“Mer and Mei both have good heads on their shoulders, even if Mer is emotional and Mei is a bit impulsive, so I don’t think they’ll have problems sorting out their real friends from the fake ones. We all should be careful about that though, I don’t want anyone using me to try to get at my sisters,” Tasha contributed.

With that concern discussed, and a decision made to be careful about who we let get close to us, my other sisters and the Fairies started telling our new friends about their powers. Afterwards Vanessa added, “So Mer and I are the only two on our team with any real offensive powers, except for Mom’s power armor. It’s why Mom said she’s making non-lethal weapons and other gear for some of us, like the blasters that Shu was using last night.”

“I know what it’s like not having reliable offensive powers,” Lindsey agreed. “Luckily I’m getting to learn magic this year.”

Michelle nodded at that. “I’m okay defensively, but my physical abilities usually depend on the form I take, and since I have no control over that, it’s not really consistent. We all took the weapons safety courses ad got our permits earlier this summer to have something as a backup, but none of us has bought any weapons yet. You should all take the course too, do you think your dad is available Garret? I know we were thinking of showing the girls around town, but that should wait until we have a whole day, and it’s already after dinner.”

“That’s not a bad idea, it’s a three hour course and I think Dad might be able to spare the time with it being summer and fairly quiet, or find one of the other members of the security team who can spare the time.” At our confused looks the werewolf quickly elaborated. “My Dad is the head of security here at PSA. They’re the ones who teach the course on weapons safety to interested students. Let me give him a call.”

While Garret was on the phone waiting for and then speaking to his father, the rest of us talked about the upcoming birthday party for me and the twins and asked if they all wanted to come to our place for a day of fun in the sun, cake, a barbeque, and whatever else Mom and Andy may have thought up. They all agreed eagerly, even Garret nodded as he was put on hold by the security office. Then Hiro asked if we might want to come to their family barbeque on Labor Day. This was met with laughter and I had to explain that we had met his father at the restaurant earlier, talked with him over breakfast, and then he had invited out family to attend. Hiro and the others seemed pretty pleased that we would all be joining them.

Garret and the others led us to the underground levels and then guided us through the tunnels to one of the three weapons ranges where a tall and somewhat imposing and serious-looking African-American man dressed in a black and gold security uniform awaited us. With him was a slightly short and skinny Caucasian woman with blonde hair and brown eyes who was wearing the same uniform. “Everyone, this is my Dad,” Garret began.

“Sam Jackson,” the man finished with a nod, “head of security for PSA. You must be out new Chief of Medicine’s kids. Alana warned me I might be seeing you soon. Keep your noses clean here and we won’t have any problems, but Garret and his friends seem to like you so you’re probably good eggs. They’re good kids and good judges of character. This is Tanya Keyes, though a lot of us call her Tiny.”

We made our introductions and I felt compelled to ask, “So, if’n ya dinnae mind me askin’, wot are yuir powers?” He looked tough enough and confident so I was pretty sure he could handle himself, and Tiny seemed to have a similar confidence about her. In a school filled with powerful mutants that was saying something, especially as small as Tiny was.

“My power?” he asked with a serious look. “My power is being a motherfuckin’ badass.” Then they both broke out in a fit of laughter and Garret’s dad had to calm down before speaking again. “Sorry kids, I can never stay serious for long when I do that. I get jokes about my name and appearance often enough that even I have to get some mileage out of it sometimes. To answer your question though, my power is to cancel out all mutant powers within a fifteen foot radius around me and when I use it my strength increases based on the number of mutants affected.”

My eyebrows rose at that, no wonder he was head of security. “Aye, so I guess yuir power really is bein’ a motherfuckin’ badass then,” I said with a grin.

To my surprise he laughed again. “I like this one Garret, she’s as spunky as Hiro.”

At that point ‘Tiny’ had finally stopped laughing and grinned at us. “Sam asked me to come help him with this because he thought my power might come in handy for your Fairy friends. You see, I can temporarily shrink things, even myself and other people if I’m so inclined.”

With that they gathered us around a table that had various weapons laid out on it. Some were Tinker built weapons and some, like the Glock, were familiar to me as regular firearms. He began by showing us all proper gun safety and maintenance with an hour long lecture on the finer points and how even non-lethal weapons could be dangerous and needed to be respected. After that he had us all, even the Fairies, take a test. Though Tiny shrank herself and the test papers and pencils to make it easier for the Fairies. Most of it was stuff from the lecture, or common sense when using a weapon, but a lot of it seemed to be about moral situations and such meant to test our personalities, values, and morals too.

Finally, after they finished looking over our tests, he had us choose weapons and Tiny shrank the weapons that the Fairies had chosen, so she could take the Fairies in hand. Then they had us show what we had learned so far as gun safety, and when they thought that we were ready they let us shoot at targets for the remainder of the course while they watched us, corrected us if we were doing anything wrong, and gave advice on how to improve.

I was the only one to take a non-tinker weapon, choosing the familiar Glock and Garret’s father watched me in interest. He was even more interested once I started consistently hitting the bullseye. “You obviously don’t need this course Merida. Your test score was perfect, you seem to handle your weapon safely without even thinking about it as if you’ve been doing it for years, and with the way you’re shooting that bullseye, I’m going to assume that you’ve taken a similar course before.”

“Nae, ma uncle Maddock was in the military, Spec Ops, an’ he taught me e’erythin’. I’m teachin’ ma sisters’ tae fight, bu’ I wanted tae wait on firearms trainin’ ‘til they go’ the basics o’ ‘and tae ‘and comba’ down,” I told him with a shrug.

“Well you’ve all done well enough, so I’ll issue your course certificates, but if you or your sisters plan on using weapons I’d like you to keep training them until weapons safety is as ingrained in them as it is in you. You can book time in one of the firing ranges through the security office whenever you feel the need,” he told me.

With our certificates issued we thanked Garret’s father and Tiny for taking the time out to give us the course. Then we exchanged cell numbers with our new friends, said our goodnights to one another and then headed home to our villa on the beach. Andy was home, but he told us that Mom might be out late while they finished working on the dimensional gate generators to send the monster’s corpse back to its own dimension. Since we had a busy day ahead the next day and we had had a busy day today as well, on next to no sleep, my sisters and I all headed to bed. It wasn’t long after Fawn and I had laid in my cozy new bed, and she had snuggled beside me on my pillow, that we both drifted into a deep sleep.

 

 

‘ello e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot the bes’ classification o’ Hyper, Energy Manipulators or EMs as people sometimes call us. There are three categories o’ Energy Manipulators: Passive Energizers, Direct Energizers, and Gate Energizers. Each o’ those ‘as two sub-types.

Passive Energizers come in Triggered or True Passive an’ both ‘ave bodies tha’ are hyper-optimized tae produce the amount o’ energy they need tae fuel their powers. Their digestive systems are almos’ too efficient, breakin’ down food intae energy almos’ as fas’ as they kin eat it, producin’ much less waste, and storin’ tha’ energy fer later use. As a result they ne’er really feel full fer long, an’ relyin’ solely on energy produced by their own bodies, they are seldom more powerful than Category two. Triggered Passive Energizers need a catalyst tae gen’rate energy, like adrenaline or a physical attack on them, while True Passive Energizers kin summon their energies a’ will.

Direct Energizers come in Sympathetic or Multi-source an’ both gen’rate energy tae fuel their powers by absorbin’ it from outside sources, an’ as a result they dinnae ‘ave the hyper metabolism or the appetite issues of Passive or Gate Energizers. Sympathetic Direct Energizers ge’ tha’ energy from sources sim’lar tae the energy tha’ they produce, fer example someone wi’ electric-based powers gatherin’ it by absorbin’ electricity. Multi-source Direct Energizers kin absorb various forms o’ energy tae fuel their powers, jus’ as the name implies.

Gate Energizers come in either Burst or Sustained an’ usually use energy types tha’ are no’ naturally found on Earth, instead gatherin’ it from an extradimensional source, an’ ‘ave similarly hyper-accelerated metabolisms an’ appetite issues as Passive Energizers because accessin’ the energy from another dimension takes physical energy. Burst Gate Energizers dae this in bursts, only accessin’ those energies when needed so actively usin’ their powers makes ‘em burn energy faster. Sustained Gate Energizers form a permanent link tae the dimension they access once their bodies ‘ave become used tae channelin’ tha’ power. They dinnae use as much energy keepin’ their gate open, bu’ they need tae eat constantly tae keep up wi’ the constant drain o’ their body’s energy reserves.

I’m a Sustained Gate Energizer, which is why I ge’ so ‘ungry all o’ the time. Ma body is always needin’ tae create energy tae channel ma energy source ‘an still give me the energy fer stayin’ active. Tha’s all fer today an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Generators. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 24 of MSPD. I'm sorry that it's a bit late this week but I had a crappy couple of days. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 24: The Look

I was laying naked on a cold stone floor, the chill seeming to seep into my very bones. I looked around in confusion for a moment, trying to place where I was. It was familiar and somewhat scary, and even in the darkness I felt claustrophobic, like the room or maybe the darkness itself was closing in on me. “Fawn? ‘Nessa? Mom? Is anyone there?”

“I’m here,” a familiar voice answered. Try as I might I couldn’t place it though. It was so familiar, but a face and name just wouldn’t seem to emerge from my memory to match the voice.

“Who is it? I dinnae see ya, where are ya?” I asked, turning to scan the darkness of the room.

“Have you forgotten me already?” the voice inquired from behind me, whispering in my ear. “No, I don’t think you have, you probably never will.”

I swung around, feeling for the warmth of the energy inside me and drawing it out to the surface of my skin, activating my force field and bathing my surroundings in ruddy light. There was nobody there and I was in a small concrete room with a bucket in one corner and a thick steel door. I knew this place, it was the cell that I had Activated in. My pulse quickened as my eyes darted around and I gasped for air, the smell of blood and corpses filling my nostrils. There were bodies, or rather parts of bodies, everywhere. An arm here, a foot there, all brutally hewn to pieces.

My chest tightened, I couldn’t breathe, except in short ragged gasps. The panic attack and the sobbing hit me at once, hot tears streaming down my face as I took in the faces amongst the carnage. Vanessa, the twins, Tasha, Mom and Andy, the Fairies, and all of my new friends at school. At the sound of laughter I swung around again to see Phantom and then it clicked that she was the voice I had been hearing. “Phantom… wot ‘ave ya done?” I managed to get out between gasps for air.

“Me? Oh, this wasn’t me, I’m dead remember. No Merida, this was all you.” She laughed hysterically as I noticed for the first time the scorch marks around me, the blackened stone and the sight and smell of burnt flesh.

I awoke screaming and shaking, my heart racing and tears running down my face as the world exploded around me. The anxiety attack and the heaving sobbing as I struggled to breathe eclipsed the world around me, leaving me assaulted by the thoughts that had latched onto my mind like a rabid dog that refused to let go. “How can I keep doing this? I am a danger to everyone around me. Everyone would have been better off if the Zeta bomb had killed me. Why did I live when almost my whole team and all those girls had been killed by that bomb? Why did some genetic fluke have to protect me? Those girls all had lives ahead of them, how is it fair that they died while I still lived?”

“It was just a nightmare. I’m here Merida, I’ve got you.” Fawn’s voice barely registered through the miasma of dark thoughts, pain, guilt, and fear that threatened to consume me. The sound, and the light touch of her holding me as tight as a Fairy can, distant and yet reassuring.

“Fawn? A nightmare?” A small light of hope pierced the darkness and I tried to shake off the dark thoughts that bound me. “Yes, I am a danger to people around me, but that’s why I’m trying to learn control, so I don’t have to be. If I had died what would have happened to my sisters and Blair/Mom? It was because I had been there that we were able to escape and that the girls found a family with us. They’re happy now, and I helped them with that. No, it wasn’t fair that others died while I lived, but I know better than anyone that life is seldom fair. I can’t give those girls their lives back, but I can try to make the world that they would have grown up in a better place.”

With each argument the darkness lessened and soon I had shaken off the chains of my fear and doubts, for the moment anyway. I concentrated on controlling my breathing, slow deep breaths that would calm me and slow my heart rate. By the time I had myself under control again the tears had mostly stopped and I looked at Fawn through bleary and tear-filled eyes. “Thanks Fawn, I dinnae ken where I’d be wi’out ya.”

“You’d do the same for me Merida, I know you would,” the Fairy said without a hint of doubt as she hugged the side of my face. “That’s what best friends do, we help each other through the hard times.”

“Aye, I would,” I agreed as I nuzzled her with my cheek. Then I took a quick looked around me. As usual the energy shield on my princess bed had contained the explosion to within the frame without even a scorch mark on the frame itself or the curtains. Sadly my nightshirt and panties were shredded and scorched, but my mattress, pillows, and sheets were still fine. I had to hand it to Mom for coming up with ways to not only protect everyone around me from my nightmare fueled powers, but also making me feel like I could almost live a somewhat normal life. Well, relatively anyway, I was well aware that with Fairies and superpowers my life would never be truly normal.

That Sunday was fairly busy for us. After I had woken the others for our morning training session and put us through our paces we all had a nice breakfast that Mom had prepared, though I had to eat several heaping bowls of oatmeal as well to feel full. After that the day was mostly shopping, so I’ll try not to bore you too much with the details. My sisters got a lot of clothes and a few personal items to help them feel more at home including surfboards and the necessary accessories from Surf n’ Turf. I didn’t get much other than a new memory card for my phone, a pair of headphones, three hundred dollars in iTunes cards, and a practice bow and arrows for when I started archery. Mom and I had decided that it would be better to get all my clothes made by the Taylors so I wouldn’t have to worry about half destroying them if I suddenly had to use my powers or had an ‘accident’.

Once we had dropped off the clothes at home there was even more shopping as Mom and Andy wanted to do some major grocery shopping at one of the local wholesale stores. It made sense for a family of seven, especially with my appetite, and they not only wanted groceries to last a while, but also stuff for our birthday party on Wednesday. We bought enough food and household goods that we didn’t even try to fit it all in the SUV, but had Shu open a pocket dimension to store it all in until we got home. She opened it inside the back of the SUV so to those looking on it would look like we were just loading it there and it seemed to work well enough and not gather too much attention.

We spent that evening together at home as a family; watching movies, playing board games, and talking about things like work, school, and preparations for the party on Wednesday. We called it a night fairly early though since we had another busy day coming up and Mom hadn’t gotten much sleep after getting home from finishing the dimensional gate generators that sent the corpse of the massive monster that we had defeated back to its own dimension. Still Fawn and I spent a bit of time before sleeping just snuggled in bed together and talking about what school would be like, since the Fairy had never been to school and it had been over a decade for me.

Monday morning was basically a repeat of the day before. I woke up screaming and shaking in damaged nightclothes from another nightmare until Fawn had managed to calm me down and pull me out of the dark thoughts I was having. Once I was recovered from that I woke up the others for our morning workout and training session before showering, going through the rest of my morning routine with Fawn, and eating a big breakfast.

Mom and Andy were going to be busy at the school for most of the day, Andy working on implementing new cyber security measures and working with Garret’s dad Sam on making sure that the various forms of electronic security and surveillance were completely up to date. Mom would be spending her day at the medical clinic getting to know her team, finding out where everything was, going over procedures, and making sure that everything would be running to her satisfaction once school started. She also wanted to meet some of the other Tinkers that she might be working with at the research labs that she hadn’t met already.

Before all of that though, we needed to go to Costa Verde’s City Hall to get our licenses for hero work and our permits to carry weapons. I didn’t think that I would need the latter much, but I did like to be prepared for anything and I did have the certificate saying that I had passed the course. We showed up in costume of course since they would only register us by our hero and team names. This was to protect us so that only the school would know our real identities, so long as we stayed on the right side of the law.

The process of registering was a tedious overuse of red tape, but after filling out the paperwork and paying nearly two hundred dollars each in registration and license fees we were all given two copies of our licenses and carry permits. The first were regular paper versions for our personal records and the other was a digital version that we could take to the school headmistress to upload to our school ID bracelets, allowing them to project holographic versions of the documents if we were asked for them. Mom had gotten hers too, registering Gadget-Girl as an reserve member of G-Force since she wasn’t sure that she would have the time to be with us all whenever we had to put our costumes on, especially with her new job and still having a tech contract to complete and deliver on for the HAA.

With that finished we went to the school and changed out of our costumes before reporting to Dr. Edwards to let her know that we had gotten it done as requested and so she could add the new documents to our ID bracelets. Then I, my sisters, and our Fairy friends had the day to ourselves. For the morning the others went off to entertain themselves since I had plans already. Fawn and I left them to their own devices and promised to meet them in the Grotto for lunch before heading to visit the Taylors.

The bell over the door rang as we entered and the pair looked up from the fashion magazines they were reading to smile at us. Melanie was dressed somewhat casually in jeans and a cream colored blouse while Meghan was dressed not too differently from me, though she wore sneakers where I had my combat boots on. Melanie was the first to speak. “Merida! Fawn! It’s nice to see you both again, we weren’t expecting to see you again for a while. What brings you here today?”

“Well,” I began uncertainly. “Ya see, I dinnae really ‘ave much fer clothes a’ the moment. We bought a bunch fer ma sisters yesterday, bu’ Mom an’ I both thought tha’ it would be better if’n I came tae you instead. I’ll go through a lot o’ clothes if ma powers slip an’ since Meghan ‘as such great fashion sense an’ I’ll prob’ly wan’ all ma clothes protected agains’ damage, it’s better tae dae it this way. An’ Fawn could use some extra clothes fer the same reason. Mom said tha’ this should be enough tae ge’ started, an’ I thought tha’ it’d be better tae dae this afore school starts an’ ya ge’ busy with uniforms an’ stuff.” I reached into my purse to extract the envelope that Mom had given me. She had told me that there was a cashier’s check inside, but she never told me how much.

Melanie took the envelope and let out a small whistle. “Merida, this is enough for a whole wardrobe for both you and Fawn, including enchantments. What are you looking for exactly? This could take a while, so let’s come up with a list of what you’ll need and what you’d like.”

We decided that most of my casual clothes would be in a punk style, or at the very least clothes that could lend themselves to that style. So there was a lot of distressed jeans of various styles, skirts, t-shirts, crop tops, and a few hoodies, vests, and accessories that would work well with my chosen style. We also decided that I would need several sets of exercise clothes, a few things for special occasions, a swim suit or two, a pair of sunglasses, some sneakers, and shoes. Waking up in half destroyed clothes every time I had a nightmare lately had also demonstrated the need for more of the basics as well, such as socks, a few nightshirts, and underwear for both exercising and everyday use.

As Meghan got to work I had to get completely undressed this time, since this time I needed underwear too. Fawn was getting the same treatment since she would likely need clothes with the protective enchantments as well. While we started on the underwear, Melanie enchanted the clothes that I had come in with, including my combat boots. I wasn’t sure that fawn and I needed over two dozen underwear sets each, but the Taylors knew girl clothes and I had place myself and my Fairy friend in their capable hands.

As morning went on we got the basics and some of the stuff for special occasions, swimsuits, exercise clothes, and accessories out of the way as Meghan generated complete outfit after complete outfit on both me and Fawn, and we disrobed again after each one. Meghan had great fashion sense and everything looked good, fit comfortably, flattered our figures, and came in shades meant to go well with our individual coloring. It seemed like a lot of clothes, but we were going to be splitting some of it between home and our dorm room.

By lunchtime we were all feeling a bit worn, so the Taylors joined me, my sisters, and our Fairies at the Grotto for lunch where Meghan seemed to eat almost as much as I did, okay maybe not quite that much, but easily double what everyone else at the table was packing away. “Using my powers a lot makes me hungry,” she said with a grin as my sisters and I saw how much she had on her plate. “Since we’re probably going to be all afternoon finishing your wardrobe Merida, I might as well refuel now.” I just nodded silently as I ate. I had heard that Generators were similar to EMs like myself in a lot of ways, so her appetite didn’t really surprise me all that much.

After lunch we headed back to the Taylors shop and got back to work, this time on more casual clothes. Most of these clothes were in the punk style I had adopted and I quickly discovered that Meghan hadn’t been exaggerating when she said that she could help me rock the look. She had good taste in music too and was able to make me several tour shirts from good punk and hard rock bands. She was even able to make me a pair of tight pants and several skirts bearing the Ainsley clan tartan once I had showed her a picture of what it looked like. All said I was very happy with her suggestions and the final products.

A good half of Fawn’s casual clothes were versions of her usual outfits, although the other half were miniature versions of some of my own casual clothes. Fawn wasn’t sure about it at first since she preferred being comfortable over dressing up, but she warmed up to the idea once she discovered that the clothes were fairly comfortable and Meghan had planted the idea in her head that we could match sometimes. She looked adorable rocking the badass punk Fairy look.

There were way too many clothes to carry so I called my sisters and had them meet us so Shu could place them in a pocket dimension before we all headed home for dinner. When they arrived I was wearing my new tartan pants with a black leather belt, my combat boots, dog tags, black fingerless gloves, and a black leather vest over a dark blue crop top that said, “Too busy being Awesome.” We had decided to dress Fawn in a matching outfit, because she liked the idea of matching and for the shock value.

“About time you finished Mer,” Vanessa said as they entered the shop. “That took forever, but I guess that’s to be expected when you need to have a whole wardrobe specially made. Nice outfit though, it suits you.” Then she noticed Fawn on my shoulder and let out a squeee. “OmiGod! You match! That is sooo adorable on you Fawn!”

“Thank you,” Fawn said, blushing a little. “I don’t know if I’ll wear clothes like these often, but it does help me feel closer to my best friend.” That of course brought up the subject of the other Fairies getting clothes similar to their ‘besties’ and the topic was eagerly discussed as we walked home together. We spent the majority of the evening after dinner in Mom’s lab with her using the costume designer to produce some casual outfits for the other Fairies to increase their wardrobes as well, based on the both their own tastes and those of their companions. It was actually kind of fun and all of the Fairies gave a bit of a fashion show afterward that was really cute. We all went to bed that evening in good spirits and feeling closer than we ever had before, which was good because the next day we would all face the Reaper.

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Generators. Generators are very sim’lar tae Energy Manipulators in a lo’ o’ ways. They kin generate matter an’/or manipulate it like EMs dae wit’ energy, bu’ like EMs they need energy tae dae it. There are four categories o’ Generators: Passive Generators, Direct Generators, Fixed Generators, an’ Growth Generators.

Passive Generators are much like their EM counterparts e’en though there are no sub-categories. They ‘ave digestive systems tha’ are hyper-optimized tae produce the amount o’ energy they need tae fuel their powers. They rely solely on energy produced by their own bodies, so they are seldom more powerful than Category two. Like True Passive Energizers, Passive Generators kin create matter a’ will, bu’ are limited by their own energy.

Direct Generators absorb energy from outside sources tae fuel their powers, like Mei or Meghan Taylor draw on magic energy. Some jus’ draw nat’rally on their energy source like Mei, while others like Meghan Taylor use up physical energy tae draw on their energy source. That is why Meghan gets ‘ungry when usin’ her powers too much, she’s usin’ a lo’ o’ physical energy an’ it needs tae be replaced. Tha’ means takin’ in some major calories.

Fixed Generators cannae create various types o’ matter like other Generators. They draw a set type o’ matter intae our dimension from another, like their EM counterparts dae wit’ energy. They cannae really control it’s shape or form, they jus’ materialize it in it’s nat’ral form like water. It’s almos’ more like matter-specific teleportation than matter gen’ration. They ‘ave similarly hyper-accelerated metabolisms an’ appetite issues as Burst Gate Energizers because movin’ the matter from another dimension takes physical energy an’ they only access their gates when they need tae.

Growth Generators are able tae gen’rate one specific type o’ matter intae various shapes an’ such as a biological function o’ their bodies. A good example o’ this is a young woman I ‘eard aboot in Toronto callin’ ‘erself Crystal. She kin grow crystals from ‘er body tae form weapons, armor an’ all sorts o’ other things an’ reabsorb them intae ‘er body when she doesnae need ‘em anymore. Usin’ these abilities seem to make Growth Generators ‘ungry, bu’ like a good workout since they dinnae seem tae show any signs o’ a hyper-metabolism.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Generators, so tha’s all fer today an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Shifters. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's Saturday, so here's chapter 25 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 25: Bright Spot

The day had started out so well. My nightmares had been relatively tame, or at least not bad enough to leave me in a shaking quivering mess when I awoke. Fawn had managed to calm me down fairly easily and even though I had exploded nothing was damaged thanks to my new magically protected underwear and nightshirt. We even had a really good morning workout and training session after wishing the twins a happy birthday, though their presents would wait until the next day at the party. Following that morning training session, and a nice relaxing shower to prepare for the day, Mom and Andy took us out for a hearty breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s Pancake House. So overall it was looking like the start to a great day, I should have known it couldn’t last.

It all began innocently enough as we were eating breakfast. Paul was taking a break and letting one of the other servers take over hosting duties for the moment while he and Andy talked about going to look for a new grill together that evening for the next day’s birthday party and maybe grabbing a few beers together. I thought that it was nice to see Andy making a good guy friend, what with him being so outnumbered by girls at home. He had introduced us all to his wife Kasumi as well. She seemed very nice and from the graceful and confident way she moved I would have had to have been blind to not see that she was an experienced fighter. She had also joined us for breakfast and was packing away as much food as I was.

I knew from when we had chosen our classes a few days ago that she would be teaching seven classes this semester. First she would be teaching Beginner Martial Arts classes for grades seven to eight, nine to ten, and also eleven to twelve. She would also be teaching Advanced Martial Arts for the same age groups and Archery. “It’s very nice to meet you all,” she offered conversationally as we ate with her seated beside me. “So you’re the Ainsley girls and their Fairy friends, Alana mentioned you all to me. I’ll have all but one of you in my beginner martial arts classes and I believe I heard that Merida was interested in Archery as well.”

“Aye,” I replied with a nod as I tapped my school ID bracelet to have a look at my class schedule. “I ‘ave ya fer Archery eighth period an’ it looks like… tha’s weird, I cannae find Beginner Martial Arts ‘ere. The closes’ thing I kin find is Advanced Combat durin’ third period, bu’ I dinnae remember choosin’ tha’ or even seein’ it afore now.”

Kasumi smiled and shrugged as she leaned toward me to say quietly, “That’s because it didn’t exist before you registered. Alana briefed me on your situation, asked me to take you under my wing, and put me in charge of your training. Since you have long term real life combat experience, we didn’t want you drawing too much attention to yourself in the beginner classes, but we also wanted you to get the training you need to adjust to fighting in your new form, help you learn what you need to, and to provide a challenge for you. With that in mind, that class will just be you and me, one on one. We’ll have one class like that every semester until you graduate. You’ll get credited for Beginner Martial Arts this semester, and we’ll credit you for other courses as we progress. I will be teaching you a mix of Kendo, Kung Fu, Akido, Judo and Karate to compliment the skills you already possess. I will also teach you how to use those constructs of yours in close combat and perhaps help you to gain better control over that dangerous energy of yours.”

“Good luck wi’ that’,” I grumbled once she had said the last part. “I thought tha’ was why I was takin’ Energy Manipulation as a class though.” Then I busied myself trying to finish the food on my platter.

“You’ll learn to control it Merida, I just know you will,” Fawn said encouragingly.

“That class will help,” Kasumi agreed, “but as I understand it your strong emotions are the problem. We can work on that through meditation. I do know a thing or two about controlling energy myself though.” A smile crept across her face as a near-blinding sparkling golden light appeared in her hand, fashioning itself into the shape of an intricate looking sword.

Iridessa let out an awed gasp from atop Tasha’s shoulder and said in almost a whisper, “That might be the sparkliest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of sparkly things!”

Everyone else at the table was staring quietly though, except for Paul who was grinning. Mom squinted at her for a moment before her eyes went wide. “Holy shit, yer Bright!” Even I knew who Bright was, I had watched her exploits eagerly as a teenager hoping to Activate. Before Liberty or Paragon ever showed up Bright was the biggest superhero name in the world. At her home in Japan they had called her Amaterasu, but she worked all over the world and once the tabloids had come up with that name for her it had stuck. She was supposed to be a brilliant martial artist, Category three Enhanced, and Category five Energy Manipulator, one of the first Cat fives ever officially recorded. She dropped out of sight over fifteen years ago though.

“I haven’t used that name since I retired to have Hana… err Hiro,” she said with a distant expression. “Mind you it was better than Amaterasu, It always felt so pretentious when people called me that. So Merida, do you think I can manage to teach you a thing or two?”

I couldn’t speak for a long moment. My childhood hero was going to be teaching me to fight and control my powers. Luckily I was saved as Hiro emerged from the over-sized door at the side of the restaurant near our table that was marked, Employees Only. As soon as he saw us the half Japanese Hyper grinned and approached our table. “Hey, if it isn’t the Ainsley girls. I was going to call you to see if you felt like a tour of the town today. Michelle and Garret are busy, but Lindsey said that she should be able to join us.” Then he seemed to realize that we were all gaping at his mother and saw the sword in her hand. “Oh, I see you told them about the Bright thing. Did you tell Merida that she’s going to be your padawan yet?”

We had all gotten over the shock as Hiro’s Mom and I finished our breakfasts and Hiro started on his own and we had actually managed a somewhat normal conversation as our families got to know one another a bit better. Then Mom and Andy needed to leave for the school so Kasumi took a ride with them and we had headed with Hiro to meet with Lindsey at Forsythe Park a few blocks away from the restaurant. She was dressed for the warm weather in denim cutoffs, sandals, a bikini top, and a pair of sunglasses.

She waved and stood up from the swing she was sitting in as we approached. “Hey girls! Hey, Hiro, are you all ready to see the sights?” Then she caught sight of the Fairies and gasped out, “OMG you all match! that is so cute!”

The Fairies were all currently dressed in outfits that perfectly matched those of their human companions. Silvermist and Vanessa both wore an outfit similar to Lindsey’s; dark blue bikinis and sandals with a shimmering blue wrap around their waists. Iridessa and Tasha both wore yellow sundresses with floral prints and sandals on their feet. The twins both wore tan capris, t-shirts, and sneakers, though Mei’s shirt was green and Shu’s was blue and Tink matched Mei while Shu was matched by Periwinkle. Fawn wore the same black Paramore t-shirt tied in front to expose the midriff, Ainsley tartan skirt, ripped nylons, high top sneakers, and sunglasses that I was. The only difference between our outfits was that I was wearing my dog tags.

We all felt a little awkward about the matching thing in public, well except for the twins who loved the idea. When we had gotten dressed we were just expecting to hang around the house all day while Mom and Andy were at the school so we had thought that it might be a fun time for us all to try the matching looks with our Fairy friends. We hadn’t been expecting to go out for breakfast, meet Hiro’s mother the super-famous retired hero, or go out to tour the town. “Uh yeah, we thought we’d try it out and give the Fairies a taste of human clothes,” Tasha said awkwardly.

“That’s awesome,” Lindsey replied with a grin. “You should totally do a day where all of you wear copies of your Fairies’ usual outfits.”

Fawn jumped all over that, exclaiming, “I like that idea!”

“That would be flitteriffic,” Tink quickly agreed.

Periwinkle quickly chipped in, “We should do that tomorrow!”

“Yeah,” Silvermist agreed, “It will be fun and I bet you’d all look beautiful.”

“This isn’t too much different than my usual dress, “Iridessa put in. “You would look great in it Tasha.”

“Thanks Dessa, maybe we’ll give it a try tomorrow then, if everyone is okay with it,” Tasha said with a smile to her Fairy before casting a cautious glance in my direction.

“I’m kinda having trouble picturing Mer in Fawn’s dress, though maybe the other outfit with the tunic would be okay for her, though to be honest she kinda surprised me when she started wearing those short skirts like the one she has on now,” Vanessa said with a thoughtful expression on her face.

“I’m developin’ a style ‘ere. Sacrifices ‘ad tae be made,” I replied with a shrug. “Though I s’pose spendin’ part o’ the day in a dress would be okay if it makes Fawn ‘appy. She did dae it fer me after all.” It probably wouldn’t be so bad and I knew that Fawn really wanted it, besides the skirts were helping me to adjust to the idea of wearing girls’ clothes so it wasn’t quite as intimidating as it would have been in the first week or so after we had escaped Omega’s base.

“Is this the part where as the token guy I’m supposed to complain about the girliness and clothes talk?” Hiro asked with a chuckle. “I don’t think I’ve been a guy quite long enough yet, because I don’t see anything wrong with this conversation. We probably should get going though, so we can do everything I have planned.”

“Do you mind if we swing by the train station first?” Lindsey asked, wringing her hands a bit nervously. “It’s not far from here and my cousin’s train should be coming in soon. He’s supposed to be visiting us until school starts and I thought that we could meet him there and maybe give him the tour as well. Don’t worry, he’s our age and he’s pretty cool with weird stuff since his mom is a Hyper. He knows about my… umm change, but he hasn’t seen it firsthand yet so some moral support might be nice, y’know in case…”

“We’ve gotcha covered!” Mei and Shu exclaimed simultaneously with determined looks on their faces.

“You only needed to ask,” Hiro agreed. “I know how intimidating it is seeing family for the first time after a gender swap. We’re there for you and it doesn’t make much difference whether we’re giving the tour to ten or eleven people. Now let’s go so we don’t keep your cousin waiting.”

As Lindsey led the way Fawn and I held back and I placed a hand uncertainly on Hiro’s shoulder. Since breakfast I had been wanting to talk with him alone for a minute, but since it looked like that wasn’t going to happen naturally with another person being added to the group I decided to get it over with now. “Hiro, I jus’ wanted ya tae ken tha’ it was no’ my idea, this whole thing aboot yuir Mom trainin’ me privately. I didnae e’en hear aboot it ‘til breakfast.” I was kind of worried that he might take the whole thing the wrong way or be jealous that I was getting special treatment from his mom.

Hiro actually laughed as he looked me over with an amused look on his face. “I’m not jealous or anything Merida. Mom has been training me privately in martial arts since before I Activated and since then she’s been training me to control my Enhanced abilities. I don’t have your issues or EM powers though and I was happy to hear that she’s training you, if anyone can help you it’s her. She’s been looking forward to this since she told me last night. She said that since she’s not in the hero biz anymore that she wants you and me to be her legacy.”

“Why on Earth would she say somethin’ silly like tha’ she didnae e’en meet me ‘til this mornin’?”

“Well, both Dr. Edwards and I told her about you and she watched the video of your testing in the PDE room yesterday when Dr. Edwards asked her about it. You’re actually really well matched and have a lot in common, which is why she’s willing to teach you one on one. She said that you had prior combat training, and since you’re both Cat five EMs and your force field allows you to increase your speed and strength to roughly Cat three, she can go full out during training without worrying about hurting you. I think you remind her a lot of herself at our age with the power issues too. You’ll be the only one besides me she’s ever trained in their powers, she prefers one on one teaching to classrooms except with mundane things like archery or martial arts,” Hiro explained patiently.

“I used tae ‘ave posters o’ her in ma room,” I admitted a bit self-consciously.

“Yeah when she told me who she was after I Activated I couldn’t believe it at first. As superheroes go she was the real goods, and she’s my mom. Just think Merida, we’re her legacy. We’re going to be the only two Hypers ever trained by Bright, one of the biggest superheroes ever. Now tell me, isn’t that the most awesome thing ever? Now let’s catch up with the others,” he was grinning like a maniac as he took me by the hand and half dragged me to where the others were walking a good distance ahead of us.

I flushed slightly and I could feel my pulse quicken as he took me by the hand. His hand was so warm and he was gripping mine firmly, but carefully so that he wouldn’t hurt me with his enhanced strength. He was being cautious with his speed too so I could keep up. I tried to look away as I sorted out those sensations, but I only saw Fawn flitting along beside me giggling just loud enough for me to hear. That only made my blush even worse.

We were about to enter the train station when I nearly walked right into Tasha, who had stopped short and was looking around nervously. “Wait, something feels off. I have a very bad feeling about this place, there’s something here, something… evil.”

That was when the stampede of screaming people rushing out the front doors nearly trampled us. Tasha teleported and the rest of us scattered, and as soon as the torrent of people had flowed past we ran through the doors and into the train station to see what was going on. Inside there were close to a dozen people on the floor in pools of blood and a large man in a black hoodie, a skull mask, and jeans carrying a large scythe. He was holding a mutant girl by the throat with his free hand. She looked to be around our age with pale skin, bright pink hair, and she had four arms.

“I’m not going back,” the girl choked out as we rushed toward them.

“You act as if you have a choice Gordon Masterson,” the large man said in a deep voice. “The Hive wants you and they have contracted me to bring you to them, dead or alive.”

“Gordon?!” Lindsey sputtered behind me.

“Lincoln?!” the girl choked out.

I had more important matters on my mind though as Tasha’s voice slipped into my thoughts.*Those people are still alive Mer, but they really need medical attention. Whoever this guy is he’s powerful and he enjoys hurting people.*

*Get the girl away from him and then teleport those people out of here. Shu, open the portal you store water in so Vanessa has something to work with. Everyone be ready to hit him hard and fast, but be careful, we don’t know what his powers are yet.* I sent back over the link. Then I raised my force field and, as Tasha teleported the girl out of his grip and beside Lindsey I flew at him and wound up to hit him as hard as I could, but he was gone.

I heard a scream behind me and turned to see him standing behind Lindsey who was staring in shock as she fell to the floor, blood pooling around her. The man in black smiled at me and licked his lips as he said, “This is going to be fun.”

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Shifters. Shifters are mutants who are able tae shift their own form or alter the molecular structure o’ other things tae varyin’ degrees. There are five categories o’ Shifters: True Metamorphs, Adaptive Shifters, Focused Shifters, Projective Shifters, an’ Alchemists.

True Metamorphs are extremely versatile shape shifters, able tae change the shape an’ appearance o’ their bodies intae tha’ o’ any livin’ creature they kin think o’, an’ change their human form tae any gender, size, mass or appearance. They kin be anyone’ or any livin’ thing an’ their form is only limited by their imagination.

Adaptive Shifters are shifters who ‘ave two or more specific base forms tha’ they kin shift intae, bu’ who are able tae create variants o’ those forms. ‘Nessa is an adaptive Shifter since she ‘as ‘er two specific forms (Mermaid an’ Human), bu’ she kin alter her features, colorin’, body shape, an’ such in both o’ those forms tae give ‘erself a wide variety o’ looks created from those base forms.

Focused Shifters are sorta one trick ponies, if’n ya catch ma meanin’. They are able tae change one or two specific things aboot themselves, such as size, mass, coloring, gender, or growin’ spikes or claws or stuff like tha’. Take Shell fer instance, when she gets attacked ‘er molecular composition changes tae suit ‘er needs, an’ her physical capabilities kin change base on the new form, bu’ tha’s ‘er only ability.

Projective Shifters are fairly rare. They ‘ave the ability tae change the appearances o’ people other than themselves the same way tha’ True Metamorphs kin change themselves. A person like tha’ would be right ‘elpful if’n someone needed tae send a team undercover an’ make sure they wouldnae be recoginized, bu’ it could be scary as well if’n they were tae misuse tha’ power. Take it from me, bein’ changed intae someone tha’ ya cannae recognize in the mirror agains’ yer will kin be ‘ard on a person.

The final class o’ Shifters are Alchemists. They are jus’ as rare as Projective Shifters an’ ‘ave the potential tae be jus’ as dangerous. They usually cannae change themselves or other people, bu’ they kin change the appearance or molecular composition o’ inanimate objects. They could potentially create convincin’ forgeries, or turn lead intae gold. I ken tha’ sounds cool an’ all bu’ someone like tha’ could seriously destabilize an economy without e’en tryin’.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Shifters today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Psychics. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's a few minutes late, but here's chapter 26 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 26: Facing the Reaper

I was watching the man in black carefully now, he was too close to my sisters for my liking and he had already injured Lindsey. Hiro looked like he was having the same problem too, he was furious and he kept looking from our opponent to Lindsey with a worried look on his face. There was too much blood there and it worried me too. Also I didn’t like us being this exposed, we had put on the emergency masks that Mom had given us to put in our purses as soon as we entered the train station, but they wouldn’t do very much to protect our identities, though Mom claimed they would blur our features on any video surveillance. He was still smiling at me and we watched each other for several long seconds, each waiting for the other to make the first move. “Is he a teleporter? Or does he have some high level form of super speed?”

I was so caught up in watching him and my concern for Lindsey and what he might do next that I didn’t notice what Mei was doing until a blinding golden flash of light erupted around her as she screamed, “You hurt Lindsey!!!” Two dozen stone-skinned gargoyles appeared, one directly behind our adversary. It grabbed him and tossed him like a softball to its compatriots and then they were all on him. Mei wasn’t done yet though, that blinding glow remained as she knelt by Lindsey. “I… I think I can help her.”

Hiro didn’t hesitate. As soon as he was out of range to harm my sisters he was all over the man in black. Despite the beating that he and the Gargoyles were laying down on him the man was holding his own, his cuts on the gargoyles were shallow, but they and Hiro weren’t able to hurt him at all. “What is with this guy?” Hiro said in a frustrated tone. “It doesn’t even feel like I’m hitting a person!”

“Is he invulnerable too?” I wasted no time, charging my fist with as much energy as I could I flew at the pitched battle and hit him with everything I had. The explosion sent the gargoyles flying and when the smoke cleared he was gone and Hiro and I were both looking around cautiously. Something didn’t feel right about this whole encounter and I swung around to see him appearing behind Lindsey’s cousin, making a grab for the four armed girl again.

There was definitely something weird about this guy. I knew that my punch hit that time, I could feel the energy hit him and explode, but his clothes weren’t even damaged. I couldn’t sense any form of air displacement either. So it wasn’t teleportation or super speed, or at least I didn’t think so. “Why can’t I hurt him? How does he keep vanishing and reappearing like that?” I started forming a dagger construct in my hand and then it hit me. I threw my construct at it as hard as I could, and as it flew toward him I tried to push my energy into him instead of the dagger.

As I suspected, he promptly vanished before the dagger even made contact. He appeared again near the four armed girl and tried to grab her, but Hiro and the gargoyles were quickly on him again. I reached out across the mind-link that Tasha had established between us, my other sisters, and the Fairies. *Tasha, move the girl! That’s a bloody construct. Someone needs to be controlling it, and they probably need to have a good view of the area to be doing that. Is there anyone left in the station besides us? Mei did you manage to stop Lindsey from bleeding? Keep those gargoyles on it for now if you can. Everyone else scatter for now.*

Tasha’s response was to teleport in and grab the four-armed girl, quickly teleporting her out of the construct’s reach, everyone else scattered except for Mei who was still glowing and kneeling beside Lindsey.*I don’t detect anyone else, if it’s a construct it might be some sort of telekinetic one, which would explain why it’s solid and can physically hurt people. I’m picking up some kind of psychic static, but my sixth sense tells me that if there is someone watching us, they’re north of us on one of the second floor balconies,* Tasha sent as she teleported over and over in a game of keep-away as the construct had apparently decided to just grab the girl and get out of here while the getting was good. The game of keep away was made even worse for the construct with the battalion of gargoyles dogging it.

*That jerk cut Lindsey pretty deep, there’s a lot of damage, I can feel it Merida,* Mei sent. *She’s lost a lot of blood too, I get the feeling that if we try to move her that she’s going to die. I’m healing her, but it’s going to take a while. It’s a lot trickier repairing living matter than creating it from nothing, and I didn’t even know for sure that I could do this until now. I’m working mostly on instinct right now, and I need to do it slow to make sure I don’t make any mistakes. I kinda have a sense of her body and how it should work, but after this I’m going to get Mom to start teaching me about biology, anatomy, and stuff. The gargoyles should stick on him, but I created a lot of them and their time is going to run out soon.*

*Are you sure that you can heal her sis?* Shu asked uncertainly. *I know that you’re really smart and powerful, but that looked pretty bad.*

*If I can create living things from nothing, then I can do this. It’s the same thing just on a smaller scale and using her own body as a blueprint to fill in gaps and connect it all. I’ve already stopped the bleeding, I just need to follow my instincts and focus. I’ve got this, you guys kick his ass.* Mei snapped, as she apparently focused her attention on her work. As luck would have it that was when the gargoyles vanished.

*Be careful Mei,* I called out before deciding on a plan. *Okay Fairies, let’s take a look at those balconies. Tasha, you keep playing keep away. Vanessa you and Hiro should be safe with your invulnerability, so keep that construct occupied and make sure it doesn’t decide to go after Mei. Peri, dust Shu before you search, she’ll be with me and you fairies. Shu, get your guns out, we may need the extra firepower, and I want you to be ready to do your dimension shifting thing if whoever’s in control of that construct attacks you.* Then I turned to Hiro and spoke just loud enough for him to hear me, “It’s a construct, I need you an’ ‘Nessa tae keep it occupied an’ make it think we’re still fooled while I find the asshole controllin’ it an’ make ‘em pay.”

Hiro nodded as he leapt toward the construct, more than happy to let a little aggression out on the man in black. “I’m gonna kick your ass so hard, you’ll be tasting shit for the next year!”

Shu ran toward me and opened a portal, quickly removing first her gun belt to put on and then her aviator hat and goggles, handing me my hooded cloak as well. “It that’s a construct it means that he’s only gotten a look at us from a distance,” she explained. “If we’re going up close and personal, we should hide our features more Flare.”

“Good thinkin’ Packrat.” I smiled at her as I nodded and put on my cloak as the Fairies made their way to the northern second floor balconies to begin scouting. Vanessa was in mermaid form and blasted the construct with a high pressure water blast from her pool while the handsome half-Japanese Hyper was hitting it hard and fast. Tasha kept teleporting out of its reach, and Mei was completely focused on healing Lindsey.

*Any sign yet?* I asked as Shu and I both took to the air and got some altitude, nearly reaching the ceiling, to look over the balconies.

*I found him! He’s watching the fight from one of the balconies, he doesn’t even notice me,* Iridessa’s voice called out over the link. *Follow the rainbow.*

I looked around and suddenly a bright rainbow appeared over one of the balconies. *Great work ‘Dessa we’re on our way.* Whoever this person was they could only create one construct at a time and it could take physical damage, but my energy had dissipated them somehow. It wasn’t vanishing and reappearing, he had had to create a new construct each time I made them vanish. As Shu and I flew toward the rainbow I planned out an attack. *Peri freeze the ground around him so he can’t get away easily, Tink and Silvermist try to get his attention on you, and ‘Dessa we’ll need a flashbang. I don’t want to risk hurting him until we know he’s the one, he could just be a gawker. Once we do know I want you to hit him hard Fawn. I’ll be ready with a force field if he tries to escape and Shu will stun him when she has a clear shot.*

Tink and Silvermist swooped in and began pulling the hair of the person in question. He was a pale and skinny man in his mid-twenties with shoulder length black hair, and as they started yanking he yelped, got to his feet, started to swat at the Fairies, and turned his head right into Iridessa’s flashbang. The moment that he got up and took his eyes off the scene below Vanessa’s voice came across the mind-link. *The construct just vanished.* That was all we needed to know. As he stumbled back blinded he stepped right onto Periwinkle’s ice slick and had to fight to keep his balance. That was when Fawn flew in and socked him in the jaw, knocking him back several feet and right into the wall construct I had made to prevent him from getting away. As he scrambled on the ice-slick floor to try to get to his feet Shu blasted him and he fell back to the ground in a heap.

We had gotten our captive tied up, blindfolded, and gagged with strips of cloth from his own clothes, to ensure he wouldn’t be able to see to use his powers again. By the time we had finished that and joined the others, Mei had managed to heal Lindsey’s injuries, though Mei looked exhausted from the effort and wanted to take her to the school’s clinic to have Mom take a look at her to be sure everything was really okay. Lindsey was unconscious and had lost a lot of blood, but she was alive and seemingly out of danger. Hiro was worried, and insisted on carrying her to the school himself. The two of them seemed so close, so I tried not to get in the way and let him take charge of her while I delivered our captive to the police waiting outside.

While I prepared to drop off the trash and warn the police about his abilities so they could put an inhibitor collar on him, Shu had an idea for getting herself and the other’s to the school quickly. She created a pocket dimension large enough to fit everyone and once they were inside she closed the portal and opened a new one, concentrating on opening it outside the school gates so that they could leave the pocket dimension there. Once I got the confirmation from Tasha via the mind-link that it had worked, I dropped the prisoner outside with the cops, showed them my license and made a full report of what had happened. I also asked on the status of the injured people that Tasha had taken outside to safety. They were being taken to the hospital, some of them in serious condition, but it looked like they would all live, which was a huge relief to all of us.

With that done I flew off to join the others at the school and more specifically the medical center, where Mom was looking over Lindsey and running every medical scan on her that she could think of to make sure that she was alright. By the time I had gotten there she had already prepped a blood transfusion and Lindsey’s cousin Gordon, or Jordyn as it said on her new documentation, was in the bed beside hers providing that blood, since they had the same blood type. We were all worried, especially Hiro, but as much as Mom knew that, and that she was our friend, she asked us to wait in the waiting room until she called for us.

Soon Mom came out and gave us all a relieved smile. “She’s goin’ to be fine, she’ll need to rest today, but she should be fine by tomorrow. She lost a lot o’ blood, but whatever ya did Mei, ya did a good job o’ it. I couldn’t even find a sign that she had been injured, except for a very faint line of skin slightly lighter than the rest where ya said the wound was. She doesn’t even have a scar. We’ll need to talk about this aspect of yuir abilities an’ how ya can further develop it later, but ya can all go in and visit them for a few minutes.”

Lindsey was still sleeping, but Jordyn thanked us for the help and introduced herself. She asked us to call her Trance until she could figure out if a secret identity would even be possible for someone with bright pink hair, milky white eyes, and four arms. From what she was able to tell us the man we had fought was an assassin and bounty hunter for hire who called himself the Reaper. He had a reputation for getting the job done, causing chaos while doing it, and then just disappearing into thin air. He had been hired by a group calling themselves ‘The Hive’. Apparently they had been responsible for her Activation, against her will, and considered her their property now. Her mother had rescued her and when she found her Activated and looking like she was, she decided that Pacific Seaside Academy would be the best place for her once school started up.

Jordyn had been getting off the train when the Reaper started attacking people and went after her. The Hive had sent him it seemed, so we would have to let Dr. Edwards know that she was still potentially in danger. She didn’t have much for powers to protect herself yet either, as she was a Medium, but she had yet to make any spirit contracts, so all she could really do was sense spirit energy and talk to ghosts. Dr. Edwards would be waiting for the report, since she knew that Trance had arrived and had had to meet them at the gates with a temporary school ID bracelet for her so that she could get on the grounds when Trance had arrived with the others to take Lindsey to the clinic.

The pair would be staying in the clinic for the rest of the day, and possibly overnight, but Mom said that they should both be cleared to join us for our birthday celebration the next day. We stayed there for a while and then eventually made our way to the Grotto to have some lunch. None of us really felt like leaving the school and going on that tour of the city though, so we just killed time until we could visit Lindsey later in the afternoon.

In order to not overwhelm Lindsey, Mom thought it best if we just visited one at a time or maybe one of us with our Fairy once she woke up. We let Hiro be the first of course, since they were so close and he was obviously worried sick about her. Then I let my sisters and their Fairies go before me and Fawn. Once Mei and Tink emerged from the room it was my turn, Mei was a bit teary eyed as she came out, but beaming proudly. I wrapped her up in my arms and held her close for a moment. “Ya did a fine job there today Mei. Our friend is alive ‘cause o’ yuir efforts.”

She hugged me back tightly, near whispering into my shoulder, “I was afraid that we would lose her for a bit.”

“Aye, we all were Mei, bu’ ya didnae le’ tha’ ‘appen. Ya didnae give up on ‘er, an’ ya pushed yuirself tae the limit tae save ‘er. I couldnae be prouder tae be yuir sister right now.”

“Thanks Merida,” she replied, sniffling a bit.

“Nae Mei, thank you.” I let her go and kissed her softly on the forehead and then Fawn and I entered the room to see Lindsey.

It seemed that Jorydn was tired from all the excitement and the blood transfusion and was taking a nap, but Lindsey was indeed awake and smiled up at me when I entered. “I guess I have you to thank for saving my cousin Mer?”

I shook my head sadly. If I had been more on the ball she probably wouldn’t have gotten nearly killed in the first place. Not that I could have done much differently without proper Intel. “Nae Lindsey, ya dinnae ‘ave tae thank me fer anythin’. It was a group effort, an’ I feel bad tha’ ya go’ hurt. If it was no’ fer Mei…” I trailed off with a sigh.

“You did everything you could Merida, but we didn’t really know what we were facing,” Fawn said as she flitted back onto my shoulder to hug me by the neck.

Lindsey put her hands on her hips and glared at me. “She’s right, don’t beat yourself up Mer, we all know the risks when we fight people like that. Even if we were all in costume I would have gotten hurt bad from that. Besides, I’m glad it was me instead of one of you, the whole reason we were there was because I asked you to come with me to pick up my cousin. Your Mom said she’s going to make a new version of my costume from that material yours is made from, it should keep me safer until I can start learning magic. I am not going to let something like this stop me from helping people. I’m really glad that we met you and your sisters, you’re all good people and me, Michelle, Garret, and Hiro like you all a lot.”

“We like you too, it’s nice tae ‘ave friends we kin count on. Ya ken, poor ‘iro was really worried aboot ya, we all were.” I sat down on the edge of her bed and squeezed her hand. “I’m so glad tha’ yuir okay.”

“I owe Mei, and probably all of you, my life,” she said as she reached over to hug me. “Hiro worries about all of us like that, 4-Ward is a pretty tight-knit group and he’s the only invulnerable one, most of the time. We don’t really have a lot of close friends besides one another, well until you and your sisters and the Fairies came along.”

“Aye, we’re kinda the same way, cept’ wi’ sisters romance is kind out o’ the question,” I replied with a weak laugh. “I think tha’ you an’ ‘iro make a cute couple though.”

She stared at me for a moment before breaking down into a laughing fit. “Wait… you think that me and Hiro are…? That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard! We’re best buds, and we’ve been helping one another adjust to our new genders, but that’s all that there is. Hiro wouldn’t even try that with me, he knows that I’m still into girls, and I’m in a relationship with Michelle.”

“Bu’ the way the two o’ ya hang out t’gether all o’ the time, I thought tha’ ya…”

“Best buds,” she clarified cutting me off. “He’s a guy and I may be a girl, but I’m not that girly and I’m not into guys. Michelle’s the girly-girl in our group, not to mention she’s my girlfriend. I’m a tomboy at best so we all hang out a lot together except when Michelle and I are on dates. I hang out alone with Garret sometimes too to play videogames, but Hiro is just my best bud, we’ve formed a really tight friendship helping each other adjust to our new genders. Besides, there’s this new girl that he never shuts up about while we’ve been hanging out the last few days, so I think he’s interested in her. Maybe you know her; she has long red hair, a thick Scottish accent, and apparently she reminds him a lot of his mom.”

I could feel my jaw dropping as I stared at her. “I… wot… ‘ow…” I couldn’t seem to speak as I tried to wrap my head around what I thought that she was saying.

Lindsey just gave me a shark-like grin and winked. “Yup, he’s all yours it you want him.” My heart was pounding a mile a minute in my suddenly dry throat and I couldn’t seem to breathe. Then I felt her arms wrap around me again as Fawn hugged me around the neck. “Geeze sorry, I’ve seen the way you look at him so I thought that you were interested. I keep forgetting that you’re even newer to this girl thing than I am. Have you figured out the whole attraction thing yet?”

“Aye,” I said with a nod, glad that she was hugging me so she couldn’t see my bright red cheeks. “I ‘aven’t found girls attractive a’ all since ma change. I’ve seen some cute guys though, there was this one guy in L.A. who called ‘imself Conduit. I was kind o’ attracted tae ‘im bu’ he frustrated me more’n anythin’. He kissed me, an’ tha’s when I realized tha’ I like guys now.”

“Conduit?!” she sputtered, pulling away wide-eyed. “He’s a student here, small world huh? I guess he’s a nice enough guy, but he’s a bit of a Romeo with a white knight complex. I kinda figured you liked guys though from the looks you’ve been giving Hiro.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed as I thought of him attending the same school. “Aye, tha’s ‘im alright.” Then I frowned as I muttered, “Wot looks?”

Lindsey rolled her eyes and sighed. “You’ve been giving him the look like he’s dinner and you’re a hungry Energy Manipulator, don’t try to deny it Merida, it’s obvious to everyone whenever you’re in the same room together and he’s been giving you the same look. I think you’d make a cute couple, and it’s not like we’re really old enough to think about physical relationships yet, so you should just go on a few dates and get to know one another a bit to see if you really like each other as more than friends. Look, if it makes it easier, maybe we can start with a double date, you and Hiro with me and Michelle. We could talk about it with them tomorrow.”

“Aye, I’ll… ummm… think aboot it.” I looked away so she couldn’t see my blush and took deep breaths to try and slow my racing heart. “I should… ah let ya res’ a bi’ now. I’ll see ya tomorrow aye? Ya kin bring Jordyn along if’n ya like too.”

“We’ll be there with bells on,” she said with a grin, “And don’t forget, you promised to dress like your Fairies tomorrow, at least for part of the day.”

“We’ll need to get your dresses made tonight,” Fawn said, jumping eagerly on that topic as we waved goodbye and left the room. “We’ll do that as soon as we get home.”

I was quiet during the rest of the afternoon, something that didn’t go unnoticed by my sisters. They tried to get me to open up about it, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about the possibility of a date with Hiro and I wasn’t really the type to discuss my feelings. On one hand the prospect excited me, because I really did like Hiro and found him attractive, but as long as I thought that he was with Lindsey I hadn’t had to make myself think too deeply about it. The prospect made me nervous and a bit terrified too, to the point where I was having trouble keeping my force field from appearing if I thought too hard on the subject. I was confused, and not sure what to do.

After we made our copies of the Fairies’ dresses for the next day we started preparing dinner for ourselves. Mom would be at the school most of the night keeping an eye on Lindsey and Jordyn and Andy had plans with Hiro’s dad Paul, so we were on our own for the night. I ate quietly and was well aware of my sisters watching me in concern, but I really didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t even sure I could talk to Fawn about my interest in Hiro, and she had been there for the whole conversation with Lindsey.

Thankfully my Fairy friend knew me well enough to realize that I needed time to think about all of this and she let me do that. After we finished eating dinner we headed up to our room and I flopped down on my princess bed to stare at the canopy, lost in my thoughts. It was the knocking that brought me out of it. Mei’s voice came through the partially opened door. “Merida, can I come in for a minute?”

I sighed, but she was my little sister and I wanted her to know that no matter how I was feeling, that I would always have time for her. “Aye, come on in Mei.” Mei entered, but I noticed that she didn’t have Tink with her for once. “Is Tink workin’ on a new doodad?”

“Yeah she is, Tinkers, what can you do?” She shrugged and came to sit on the bed. “You’ve been quiet, are you alright?”

“Aye, I’m fine, I jus’ ‘ave sumthin’ on ma mind,” I said, trying a smile for her. “Wot kin I dae fer ya Mei?

“Well it’s about tomorrow, we’re exchanging gifts then right?” At my nod she quickly continued as she took my hand nervously in hers. “Well, Mom helped Shu and I get something nice for each other, but we wanted to do something special for you, because you’re the best big sister ever and it’s because of you that we’re free and have a family now. So Shu is working on her idea now and I’ve had an idea for you for a while now…” I didn’t hear the rest of what she said though as everything went black.

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Psychics. Psychic are one o’ the mos’ diverse categories o’ Hypers. It’s really far too broad a range o’ power sets tae really dae it all justice, bu’ I’ll try tae break it down intae three categories; Sensitives, Manipulators, an’ Communicators.

Sensitives are psychics who kin sense things tha’ other people kin no’. Tasha’s sixth sense is a fine example o’ this, an’ often mutant’s have l’il or no control o’er these abilities, relying instead on instinct an’ sharpened intuition. Types o’ powers from Sensitives kin include, precognition, sixth sense, danger sense, knowin’ aboot the history o’ objects, second sight, psychic tracking, an’ spacial awareness.

Manipulators are those who kin manipulate the world aroun’ them wi’ their powers. Telekinetics, pyrokinetics, hydrokinetics, psychokinetics, an’ anythin’ else tha’ kin effect the material world or anythin’ in it, through the use of only the mind, fall intae this category.

Communicators are those who kin use their mental abilities tae communicate wit’, learn aboot, or affect the minds o’ others through their powers. This kin include various types o’ telepathy, empathy, farseein’ an’ things like Tasha’s ability tae link minds wi people tha’ she’s familiar wit’.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Psychics today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Regens. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: It's a good hour late due to various issues, but here's chapter 27 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 27: Sleeping Beauty

I awoke in my bed with no screaming, nightmares fresh in my mind, or the explosion of my powers going off. I couldn’t recall having any nightmares at all since that wave of exhaustion had hit me and I passed out mid-conversation with Mei. A look at my alarm clock showed the time to be ten minutes after o-six-hundred and I realized that I had been asleep for close to twelve hours. Twelve hours with nary a nightmare or flashback.

I was too tired to move much yet, so I just continued to lay there for a time. I wasn’t sleepy tired, as after all that sleep I felt awake and fully rested, but more of a deep down in my bones, post marathon run exhaustion. I couldn’t really describe it any better than that since it wasn’t a physical exhaustion, or even an emotional one, but almost like I was exhausted down to my very soul. I was also starving, and I figured that, even if I didn’t feel up to our usual morning workout and training session, I should try to get up to get something to eat.

I tried to maneuver myself into a sitting position and noticed two things. The first was that somebody had undressed me, put one of my nightshirts on, and placed me under my blankets, so at least I woke up comfortably. The second thing I noticed was that there was something under the blankets with me, and it wasn’t Fawn, something that was beginning to move. I squealed in surprise and scooched away, the sound and my movement waking Fawn from her slumber on one of my pillows.

“Thank goodness you’re okay Merida!!” the Fairy called out as she kamikaze-hugged me. “Everyone was so worried and Mei feels terrible, she didn’t think that would happen.”

“Whoa Fawn, slow down a wee bit aye? Wot ‘appened tae me, an’ why did it make Mei feel so terrible? An’ more importan’ly wot’s movin, in ma bloody bed?!” I asked uncertainly, looking from the Fairy, to the movement, and then back to my Fairy friend.

“Oh, that’s the egg, Mei said we should try to keep it warm and near you until morning,” Fawn replied, answering my last question first. “I think that Mei brought it from Neverland for you, like she did with us Fairies, but I’ve never seen an egg like that before. Mei said that it was your birthday gift, and something about trying to link it to just you, rather than you and her, but she didn’t expect you to fall asleep instead of her. She was really worried when that happened, but your Mom said that you were just in a very deep sleep when she checked on you.”

So Mei had tried something different with her powers and I ended up passing out instead of her, I guess that explained it. If Mei felt like this every time she summoned something permanently though, I had to wonder why she had kept doing it at all. I already knew that though, Mei had wanted her sisters to share the joys of having Fairy friends as well. She was just that kind of person, she wanted to share her joys with those closest to her, or those who had none for themselves.

Still, Fawn’s mention of an egg had me curious and I gingerly reached out to lift the blanket and take a look. As I moved the blanket aside I discovered a purple egg with pink spots and I needed to use both hands to pull it into my lap. It was almost too big for me to hold in both hands and, though I had never seen its kind before, there was something achingly familiar about it that I couldn’t quite place at the moment. It wobbled and shook in my lap and I was glad that I had it securely in my lap rather than holding it, as when the first cracks began to appear on the surface I may have jumped a bit in surprise.

Suddenly the egg burst apart leaving a tiny pink dragon laying in my lap. It was tiny of course, no more than a foot long from its head to the tip of its tail, with four legs, a serpentine tail and neck, and large wings with a wingspan of maybe a foot and a half. It was also adorable, like a little chibi anime dragon brought to life. It blinked its large and bright golden reptilian eyes open and then stared up at me for a moment before making an excited sound and nuzzling me. “Peaches?!”I sputtered as I looked at the tiny little dragon in my lap. “Fawn, this is… this is…”

“A very small dragon?” my Fairy friend supplied helpfully.

“Oh aye,” I replied after taking a very deep breath. “Tha’ egg, an’ the way she looks, she’s jus’ like the baby dragon in ma fav’rite story, Princess Peony an’ the Amazin’ Egg.” I had never even told Blair this, but I had always wanted to find an egg just like that and have it hatch when I was a kid, and now Mei had made that happen for real. I was still staring at the baby dragon, curled up in my lap and nuzzling against me, when I heard a knock at my door.

I carefully placed the dragon on one of my pillows near Fawn, who was very curious about the newly hatched creature, and got through the curtains and out of bed to shuffle toward the door. I would have just called out for whoever it was to come in, but with my room being soundproofed they wouldn’t have been able to hear me without the door being slightly ajar. Whoever put me to bed the night before must have closed it when they left so that the expected explosion when I awoke wouldn’t bother anyone.

Almost as soon as I opened the door I found myself being glomped by the twins, with all the Fairies close behind, as Tasha and Vanessa stood in the doorway. “I’m so sorry Merida! I thought that it would be me who passed out, I never expected it to happen to you!” Mei half screamed and half blubbered as they nearly knocked me to the floor.

I hugged the pair as the Fairies all swooped in to give me tiny hugs. “Oi, dinnae go beatin’ yuirself up aboot tha’. Ya were tryin’ tae dae sumthin’ nice fer me, aye?”

“Yeah,” she replied as she sniffled against my shoulder.

“Well ya did tha’ Mei. Peaches is the best birthday gift e’er, an’ I go’ a full night’s sleep wi’ no nightmares, e’en if’n I dae feel like I’ve been through the spin cycle on the washin’ machine,” I replied as I held the twins tight.

“Yeah, even when I wake up I’m usually a bit drained for a few hours, and really hungry,” Mei admitted. I had to wonder though, if this was a bit drained for her, what was exhausted? Well, her body was probably build for whatever it is that she does.

“Aye, I’m starvin’, bu’ ‘tween this an’ the healin’ thing wi’ Lindsey, we’re really goin’ tae need tae try an’ fin’ out ‘ow exactly yuir powers work. There’s go’ tae be more tae it than jus’ creatin’ livin’ matter,” I told her seriously.

“I know,” she admitted with a sigh before changing the topic back to Peaches. “So did she hatch yet? I tried to time it so she’d hatch around when we thought you’d wake up.”

“Aye, she did Mei, I decided tae name ‘er Peaches, jus’ like in the story.” I gave the twins one last squeeze before ending the group hug. “An’ I’m fine, jus’ hungry an’ a wee bit tired, so all o’ ya kin stop hoverin’. I dinnae think we’ll ‘ave our trainin’ session today though, jus’ tae be on the safe side. We are celebratin’ birthdays after all,” I added for the Fairies and my other sisters, who were still standing in the doorway.

“Well, since we don’t have training, you might want to get ready to go out then Mer,” Tasha pointed out. “You said that you’re hungry, and last night Paul told Andy to bring us all over to the restaurant for yours and the twins’ birthday breakfast. He said that it’ll be free of charge for the birthday girls.”

“I’ll help dry your hair when you’re done your shower Mer, so we can get breakfast sometime today,” Vanessa added.

“We’ll take turns watching Peaches for you while we get dressed,” Shu quickly offered as she and Mei went to part the curtains and sit on my bed.

“Tae the showers Fawn!” I said as I ran to snatch up my bathrobe and made a run for nearest of the three bathrooms.

“Aye aye Merida!” Fawn answered, snapping a salute as she flitted past the twins and through the curtains toward her little house on top of my dresser and her own shower therein. As I left the room I could hear my sisters and the Fairies squealing in delight at how cute my new pet was.

I felt slightly better after my shower, though my hunger was becoming almost painful. The others, and their Fairies, were all dressed already, the Fairies in their usual clothes, while my sisters matched them. Tink and Mei were in Tinker Bell’s signature green strapless dress, and slippers with pompoms on the toes. Shu and Periwinkle were both clad in an aqua strapless dress, dark icy blue pants, and aqua colored shoes with white pompoms on their toes as well. Vanessa and Silvermist both wore a dark turquoise lily-patterned single-strapped dress with blue shoes, while Iridessa and Tasha sported dresses that looked like they were made of sunflower petals, decorated with a large sunflower seed on the front, and yellow shoes.

Once we had joined the others, Tasha brought me a large peeled orange and some leftover ham to tide me over until breakfast, and I shared the latter with Peaches, making sure to break it up into small pieces so the tiny dragon wouldn’t choke. While I enjoyed my light snack and fed Peaches, the Fairies helped Fawn get ready while my sisters helped me. Vanessa and Silvermist pulled the water from our hair, helping to dry it faster and then the twins set about braiding my hair, while her fellow Fairies did the same for Fawn. I had gotten used to wearing my hair loosely styled, but we all figured that if we were going to dress like our Fairy friends then we should try to replicate the hairstyles too, as best we could. Vanessa had even used her shifting ability to lengthen her hair and change the color to a dark blue so she could imitate Silvermist’s long tresses.

Finally, the others left so we could get dressed, once we had our hair braided. Fawn and I quickly shed our bathrobes and got into proper undergarments, then we both got dressed in the variation of one of her normal outfits that Fawn had chosen for today, an orange-and-amber dress with orange-yellow boots. I felt like a neon sign, but I forced myself to admit that it was fairly comfortable. Once I had slung my purse over my shoulders we headed downstairs, with Fawn riding my shoulder and Peaches cradled in my arms, to where Mom and Andy were waiting with the others.

“It’s good to see you awake at last Merida, Blair was worried about you,” Andy said with a smile and a nod, winking at me before he headed out the door to get the SUV started.

“I was no’,” Mom objected to his retreating back, an objection which countered the relieved look on her face. “Ya were just sleepin’, there wasn’t anythin’ physically wrong with ya, so I figured tha’ ya would just wake after a good long rest.” Then she promptly changed the topic to the little pink dragon in my arms. “So, tha’s what was in the egg, Mei wasn’t tellin’ anyone, bu’ I suspected tha’ it would be Peaches. No’ quite like I pictured ‘er, bu’ she’s adorable, an’ the color is right. Now let’s get goin’ girls, Merida’s probably starvin’.”

On the way to the restaurant, Mei explained why Peaches looked a little different than in the stories. Apparently she had been planning this gift since she heard about us celebrating our birthdays together, and while we had been staying in our dorm rooms, while waiting for us to have a new home to live in, she had done her research. She had gone to the school library and did a bunch of research in the section on magic and magical creatures on the various types of dragons. She had looked at pictures of all the various types and read details on their biology, abilities, and how they reacted to other creatures.

When it was all said and done, she decided on a cross between a salamander for their inherent abilities and the equally small feydragon, for their intelligence and for the fact that they are omnivores rather than carnivores. Besides their size, the most important feature of salamanders is that they are technically fire elementals; unaffected by fire, heat, and explosions. Mei had thought that would be a good match for me since Peaches wouldn’t be bothered even if my force field went to white-hot plasma while holding her. Peaches’ own flames could probably get that hot as well if she tried.

Feydragons on the other hand aren’t quite sentient, but they are a lot smarter than most other dragons, smart enough that some mages have been known to buy eggs, to raise them and train them to do a wide variety of tasks. There was also the fact that they imprint on the first creature they see as their mother. Both types of dragon were about the right size and the feydragon looked a lot like Peaches from the story and could come in various colors, including pink. With the cross of breeds Mei thought that I could expect Peaches to get to about three feet long with a wingspan of just over four feet when she reached her full size.

Peaches wasn’t an ordinary salamander/feydragon crossbreed though, even if such a thing did already exist in nature, as Mei had taken the best traits of various types of dragons and stuffed them all into that cute little package. She had the magic resistance of the great dragons, the hardened scales and sharp claws of the drakes, the powerful wing muscles of the wyverns, and the short range teleportation ability of the coatyl. She would probably be a very useful pet, but it also explained why Mei had thought I would need an Animal Fairy. Training and caring for a baby dragon wasn’t going to be easy.

We had a nice breakfast with Hiro and his parents, though Paul was kept busy at times acting as host to the customers. We were all able to eat our fill and Peaches seemed to enjoy the kids’ platter I got for her. Being omnivorous and born with a mouthful of teeth Mei figured that she could eat whatever we could, since her studies showed that all dragons ate solids as soon as they were born. We did have to be careful feeding her though, as some of her teeth were very sharp and she tended to snap food up quickly and not chew as much as she should, which could be dangerous for me, and deadly for Fawn, if we weren’t careful. So Fawn and I decided that cutting it into bite sizes and then just letting her go at the plate would be best for her for now.

“Where in the hell did you get a dragon anyway Merida?” Hiro asked with a grin as he watched the little pink beastie eat. “Just wait until Lindsey and Michelle see her, they’re gonna flip.”

Hiro’s talk of Lindsey and Michelle only served to bring to mind the very awkward offer that Lindsey had made in her room in the clinic the day before and I blushed, quickly returning my attention between eating my own breakfast and making sure that Peaches didn’t choke on hers. “I… uhhh… dinnae ken, Mei gave me the egg as a birthday present an’ it hatched this mornin’.” We really needed to think of a way to excuse this without making Mei’s powers public knowledge, especially in a public place like this, but I wasn’t really thinking very clearly.

“I summoned some feydragons a while back and one left an egg behind when they were de-summoned,” Mei explained with a smile. “I’ve been keeping it warm for her since, and since it was so close to hatching I had to give it to her today. I heard that they’re really smart, and Merida loves dragons.” She lowered her voice and leaned in to say in a quieter tone, so that even I barely heard her, “We’ll tell you the truth about that, and everything else later at the party. There are too many people here right now.”

I glanced over at Mei and smiled, she really seemed to have had this whole thing planned out. We had talked about what to do after what Mei had done yesterday by healing Lindsey. Healing didn’t really work all that well with our cover story of Mei being a summoner type mystic. We would have to edit future versions of that story, but after discussing it with Mom, we had decided that it was probably best to bring the members of 4-Ward, Hiro’s mother, and Lindsey’s cousin Jordyn into our confidence at the party later that afternoon and hope for the best. We would allow Hiro and his mother to tell his dad Paul as well.

Hiro’s brows rose in interest as did his mother’s, but they both nodded as Hiro kept the conversation going. “Lindsey is going to be so jealous, how is she doing by the way?” There was concern in his tone, but now that Lindsey had explained their relationship I could see that it was just concern for a very close friend. Still that meant that Lindsey was probably serious about the whole double date thing as well, and that made me nervous. He looked over at me and I blushed and quickly finished my meal.

“She was much improved las’ night when I left the clinic,” Mom supplied. “I’ll be goin’ to check on her after we’re done ‘ere, bu’ she an’ her cousin should both be free to go after tha’. So ya can all come and collect them if ya like. The party will start after lunch, so ya should all ‘ave time to hang out ‘til then. Just make sure tha’ yuir all at the house by two o’clock."

We finished our breakfast after that and then while Andy, Mom, and Kasumi all drove together to the school to get a bit of work done before the party, we decided to walk there with Hiro. He was going to call Michelle and Garret so they could meet us there and we could all be there together when Lindsey and Jordyn were released. We all chatted cheerfully as we made our way to Pacific Seaside Academy, though my sisters and I got more than a few strange looks for the way we were dressed, though those could have been for the Fairies that we currently matched riding on our shoulders, or the tiny dragon cradled in one of my arms. Hiro seemed to notice my discomfort and said, “Don’t worry Merida, you look great,” as he smiled at me and took my free hand in his own. I found myself only able to blush and look away as my heart thrummed violently in my chest and my breath caught. I silently held his hand for the rest of the walk to campus.

Saber sifted through news reports and security footage of superhuman incidents just as she had been for almost the past two weeks. If it had been the subject of her own interest, she would have long ago given up. This was a task set to her by Shade though, and one did not quit or fail a task that he appointed, not if that person wished to live. So she continued searching, until she saw the security camera footage from the day before at the train station in Costa Verde, California. There was the redhead with the bright red force field, the mermaid, the young black woman and the Chinese twins. Their faces were somehow blurred to the cameras, but she was certain that these were the girls that she had been set to find.

The footage was poor, and only barely showed the girls at all, but her job was completed, or rather it would be once she called in Code Pink and handed this task over to them. She sent the data packet via email and then picked up her phone with a tired sigh as she tapped the number for her contact with Code Pink. A moment later a far too cheerful voice answered, “Moshi moshi.”

“It’s Saber, Shade has an assignment for your team,” she replied, getting straight to the point. “I’ve sent you the details on the recruits by email.”

“Hai,” the voice on the other side replied, “So it’s a recruitment drive then?”

“Yes, recruit them if you can, if they won’t come willingly then you’re free to have some fun with them, just be sure to kill them when you’re done if they turn you down.”

A very girlish giggle erupted from the voice on the other end. “I’ve got the data now, so you’ve found us some other girls to play with huh Saber-sensei? This is going to be so much fun.”

“Yes, just try not to bring too much attention to yourselves, and remember that recruitment is preferable. You don’t want to disappoint Shade,” she replied with a sigh.

“Don’t worry Saber-sensei, we’ll handle this just like any other mission,” the girlish voice replied.

Saber sighed as she disconnected the call and muttered, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Regens. Regens are one o’ the simplest categories o’ Hypers. There’s no’ really any various categories, an’ the type o‘ power itself is fairly self-explanatory. Regens ‘ave the ability tae heal rapidly an’ regen’rate from injuries. The range an’ effectiveness depen’ on ‘ow powerful they are though.

Mos’ly Regens ‘ave the power tae recover quickly from damage, ‘cause their bodies use their Archetypes as a template fer their healin’ powers an’ try tae restore them tae tha’ template as quickly as possible wi’ their power level. A Cat’gory one or two Regen may ‘eal quickly from bruises an’ scrapes an’ the like, an’ mebbe ‘eal broken bones faster, while a Cat’gory three or above may be able tae regen’rate lost limbs. Some may ‘ave jus’ regen’ration based on physical injuries, while others may have accel’rated immune systems, resistance tae poisons, or all o’ the above, dependin’ on ‘ow aggressive their healin’ factor is.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Regens today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Teleporters. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Saturday everyone, here's chapter 29 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 28: The Party

By the time that we had met up with Garret and Michelle and arrived at the campus medical center Lindsey and Jordyn were both ready to go. Lindsey’s Mom had come by to visit earlier and had brought her a change of clothes, since those she had arrived in had been soaked with blood, so she was now wearing a light pink t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. Jordyn didn’t have many clothes at all yet, only what she had in her duffel bag, since having four arms was a bit of an issue. She was wearing a somewhat frilly white and lavender sleeveless sundress that she looked more than a little uncomfortable in.

As soon as she saw Lindsey, Michelle ran to her, lifting her up in her arms to kiss her passionately. “I’m so glad that you’re okay Linds. Don’t you ever scare me like that again, I was worried sick when Hiro told me what happened.” Once she had finally let Lindsey out of her arms she turned to the rest of us. It was hard to tell with her scaly skin, but I thought that she might have been blushing. “Umm thanks, Hiro said that you all protected her and that Mei healed her somehow… I can’t… I… If you ever need anything, you just let me know.” It looked like Lindsey hadn’t been kidding about their relationship, which meant that she hadn’t been kidding about anything else in that conversation as well. I could feel my cheeks flushing as my eyes darted toward Hiro standing beside me.

I nearly jumped out of my dress as Linsdey shrieked, “You all dressed like your Fairies!!! Oh Em Gee!! Is that a feydragon?!”

“Aye, this is Peaches, she’s kind o’ ma birthday presen’ from Mei, she jus’ ‘atched this mornin’,” I managed to say once my heart was out of my throat and beating in my chest once again. Fawn settled back onto my shoulder as the sleeping dragon in my arms stirred some, both of them having been disrupted by my sudden motion. Michelle had asked about Peaches on our way to the clinic and just like Hiro she had warned me that Lindsey was going to freak out when she saw her. “Would ya like tae ‘old ‘er fer a wee bi’? M’ arms are getting’ a l’il tired,” I admitted.

“Can I?! I’ve been wanting one of those ever since I found out that I was going to be learning magic!” The grin on the poor girl’s face made me think that her head might explode.

“Aye, I dinnae think it’ll dae any ‘arm. She’s jus’ settlin’ in fer a wee nap anyway I think. Mebbe we kin fin’ ya one o’ yuir own some day. Mei kin tell ya more aboot ‘er later. We ‘ave a few things we wan’ tae talk tae ya aboot durin’ the party.” I gingerly handed over Peaches while telling the small pink dragon, “Lindsey ‘ere is jus’ goin’ tae ‘old ya fer a wee bi’.”

The half-sleeping infant dragon didn’t seem to mind changing hands for a while and Lindsey was beaming as she held Peaches in her arms. “Do you really think that we can find me one too? I guess it wouldn’t be too much trouble if Shu can open dimensional portals like you said, we’d just need to know which dimension the feydragons live in.”

“Mebbe we kin manage sumthin’,” I said with a shrug as I looked toward Mei who was grinning. “Oi Trance,” I said, turning my attention to Lindsey’s cousin Jordyn and the duffel bag she was holding, Is tha’ all ya ‘ave fer clothes?”

Jordyn blushed a bit and nodded. I could see that she felt a little out of place being surrounded by Lindsey’s friends. “Yeah, we didn’t really have much time to get me much before my mom put me on the train and it’s a bit hard finding tops for four arms. I don’t really have much money for shopping though. With the tuition, I’ll barely have enough for the school uniform. I… uhh… wasn’t always a girl either.”

“Welcome to the club cuz,” Linsey said with a nervous laugh as she cooed over the pink dragon in her arms.

“Aye, welcome tae the pink side,” I agreed. “I was a guy ‘til a few week ago tae, an’ Hiro wen’ the other way I guess.”

Hiro nodded and offered, “I know it sounds a bit hard to believe, but you’ll get used to things in time. Soon it’ll all start to feel normal, and having powers doesn’t make it too bad.”

Jordyn was staring at Hiro and me. “You… both? Really? You don’t seem like…”

“Oh trus’ me, I ken wot yuir goin’ through, it’s no’ easy an’ I ‘ave other issues as well, bu’ let’s try tae pu’ all o tha’ out o’ our minds an’ take ya tae see the Taylors. We ‘ave time fer tha’ an’ a bite tae eat afore the party. We’ll find out wot they think yuir goin’ tae need fer clothes, at the minimum, an’ I’ll co’er the cost,” I told her as I checked my purse to make sure that my new check book was in there.

“What?! No I couldn’t possibly…” Jordyn began to sputter as her cheeks turned a bright red.

“Think o’ it as a birthday present fer yuir new self. Yuir Lindsey’s cousin, an’ ya seem tae be a good egg,” I told her seriously. “Wot’s the use o’ havin’ money if’n I cannae ‘elp out a friend in need, aye? Jus’ please dinnae le’ it ge’ aroun’ tha’ I did this. I’d rather no’ ge’ any more attention ‘round here than necessary once school starts.”

Lindsey reached out and placed a gentle hand on her cousin’s shoulder as she cradled Peaches in her other arm. “It’s okay Gor… Jordyn. Merida and her sisters are good people and if she wants to help, then I say let her. You’ll need to make friends here anyway, so why not start with the people in this room? Trust me, you’ll need friends and most of us are in Starfish Dorm like you so we know what you’ll be going through, or will once school starts since the only ones not new here are the members of my team.”

We managed to convince Jordyn and took her to the Taylors. She was a bit self-conscious about taking the money for the clothes, but nobody but us needed to know how she had gotten it. The Taylors made it clear that nobody would find out from them, and that Jordyn should just relax about it and appreciate that she had a friend willing to do something like that for her. It took over two hours, but they were able to get her outfitted with enough clothes to last a while with standard durability enchantments, trying to make it look like a normal girl’s wardrobe so she wouldn’t stand out any more than she already did. The clothes consisted of jeans and various tops, shorts, some skirts, a few dresses like the one she had been wearing earlier, leggings, socks, shoes, undergarments, a one piece bathing suit, a school uniform, and a few sets of exercise clothes. Then once the Taylors had worked their magic we all helped Jordyn to get it all to her dorm room.

After that we all ate lunch at the Grotto and tried to help Jordyn get used to the idea of how things worked at the school. That was when Lindsey blindsided me. I had just finished cutting up Peaches’ lunch for her and we had started eating while Fawn and I discussed toilet training the small dragon at some point once she was able to fly on her own. We had her in a special diaper at the moment, something that Meghan Taylor had whipped up for me and that her older sister had enchanted to be self-cleaning. She had made them in various sizes too, so I’d have properly fitting ones as Peaches grew.

So my attention wasn’t really all there when Lindsey smiled up at Michelle and kissed her with a thoughtful expression. “You know babe,” she said conversationally as their lips parted, “almost dying really makes you appreciate what, and who, you have in your life. What did we have planned for Friday again?”

“You should know, you’ve been planning it for weeks,” Michelle replied in a confused tone before seeming to catch something in her girlfriend’s expression. “We were going to borrow my Dad’s ATVs and make a day of it. Make a nice picnic lunch and go to that private little cove we found up past Coral Bay, maybe do some surfing, explore the cave there a bit, snuggle on the beach together with some nice music and warm blankets, and maybe take some camping gear to spend the night there under the stars. Did your parents give you permission for that yet? Mine kind of want us to have a chaperone there since we’re only fourteen. They’re not worried about our safety so much as…”

“Well maybe we should bring Hiro along, they know that nothing will happen with him there, he’s uber responsible,” she suggested, but then pursed her lips as if thinking of something else. “It wouldn’t really feel much like a date though with three of us… maybe if Hiro had a date too. I got it!” Her enthusiasm may not have been as fake as her ‘sudden realization’, but it didn’t matter much as she turned a predatory smile to me and Hiro. “You should bring Merida as a date, you two would make such a cute couple! And she even has a chaperone, Fawn was a college student before becoming a fairy right? So she could come along to make sure nothing too serious happens, what do you think babe?”

“My parents would go for that, as long as we had a responsible college student with us, and Fawn seems pretty responsible. It could be really fun with Hiro and Merida along too, since she’s going to be in the same grade as us it’d be nice to get to know her better,” Then Michelle seemed to have a real realization and her face fell. “She’s only turning thirteen tomorrow though so she won’t be able to legally operate an ATV on her own for at least a year.”

“Why do you need these ATV things?” Fawn suddenly asked. “If Merida and I are going then we could all just fly, she and Hiro can fly on their own and I have plenty of pixie dust for the two of you.” Et tu Fawn?

“I dinnae ken,” I began to say a bit awkwardly, “ Let’s no’ ge’ ahead o’ ourselves ‘ere Fawn. ‘iro prob’ly doesnae wan’ tae be pushed intae goin’ on some sort o double date wi’ me. ‘Sides, If we flew we’d ‘ave tae carry the surfboards an’ any other gear.”

Mei and Shu were grinning at me in stereo as the latter of the twins said, “I don’t think carrying stuff is going to be a problem once I give you your birthday present.” Really? Does everyone want to try to push Hiro and me together?

Hiro was smiling at me, and my heart suddenly felt like it was about to jump out of my chest and run as far away as possible. “I think it could be fun Merida, Linds and ‘Michelle are two of my best friends, and I like you and I’d really like to get to know you better. This could be a nice way to do that. It could be cool, so long as our parents both think its okay. So what do you say, is it a date?”

Get to know me better? Well, they’d learn a whole lot more about me once we revealed our true past to them during the party. Would they still be so eager to have this double date happen after that? I was about to offer a conditional and very uncertain response when Vanessa suddenly jumped in. “It’s a date, she’d love to!”

“Yep, I just know that you’re all going to have a great time,” Tasha put in.

I sighed and somehow managed to keep my facepalm internal. Why the hell was everyone trying to get the two of us together? Still, I sighed and added, “I… ummm... guess tha’ it’s a… uhhh… date then. So long as Mom is… ahh… okay wit’ it an’ all.” Then I thought to myself. “I should be okay, Blair would never go for something like that, would she? Wait, she’s as much as told me before that I’m an adult and can make my own decisions, and as Moms go she’s pretty cool about things in general. She also knows that Fawn may be a bit mischievous, but she’s also super responsible and won’t let things go too far. In fact she’ll probably be telling her exactly how far is too far. Knowing Blair, that’s likely somewhere around second base, or the second that I look like I’m uncomfortable. Oh my God I am so screwed!”

I was quiet and more than a little awkward as we ate the rest of our lunches. Once we were finished we all split up. My sisters, the Fairies and I all headed home while Jordyn went with Lindsey and the other members of 4-Ward to get a few things from their houses. Since it was a gorgeous day we planned to relax on the beach and maybe have the others give me, the twins, and Tasha our first surfing lesson if we had the time. Lindsey was hoping to find her old board and give Jordyn lessons as well.

By one thirty we were all ready to party. My sisters and I had all set up some umbrellas, beach chairs and a fold up table outside on our stretch of beach with our surfboards near at hand. I’d managed to find a nice wicker basket in the garage and had placed a pillow inside so that Peaches could nap and still be in my sight while we worked. While we were still wearing our Fairy clothes, we were wearing our swimsuits on underneath, as were the Fairies themselves, in case we did decide to swim or learn to surf. While we were doing that Andy was setting up the new grill that he and Paul had picked out and Mom was setting up some birthday decorations, pink and red balloons and streamers placed wherever she could get them to stay. She also already had her camera hanging around her neck, ready to begin documenting this family occasion.

Our guests started showing up a little before two o’clock. The first guest to arrive was a bit of a surprise, Agent Smith from the HAA, apparently Mom and Andy had told him about the party and about the possible need to bring others in on our secret after Mei’s Healing of Lindsey. Hiro and his mom Kasumi arrived shortly after, and to my surprise Hiro’s dad Paul was with them as well. Apparently he had decided to leave the restaurant in the hands of his assistant manager for the afternoon. They were followed quickly by Garret, and then Michelle, Lindsey, and Jordyn all arrived together. Once everyone had arrived we led them out the backdoor to the beach where Vanessa could relax in the water and give her shifting abilities a break for most of the party. We all gathered by the water most of us sitting in beach chairs or sharing blankets and then, after he had done some quick checking to make sure there were no listening devices or people other than those who had been invited, Smith introduced himself.

“I’m Agent Smith with the HAA, I’ve been involved with the Ainsley family for a while now, and they’re good people. The story that you’ve all been given about how these girls all got their powers is a cover story, one that must be maintained for the safety of everyone involved. We are prepared to tell you all the real story, but before we do you’ll need to sign these non-disclosure agreements. Nobody but those present can know about this, it is top-secret and I had to get approval from the Pentagon and a rush on a background check for each of you,” he said with a serious expression.

“Whoa! Top secret? Background checks?” Garret sputtered as he looked around nervously.

“Don’t worry Mr. Jackson, you all passed those checks, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation here with all of you present. Luckily for all of us my friend Andy, and the Ainsley girls, are good judges of character, but I must impress upon all of you the need to keep this secret. Lives could be in danger if the wrong people discover the truth and these girls, especially Mei could become targets.”

Once they had all agreed and the NDAs had all been signed Mom and I laid out the whole story for them, from when we had gotten involved until the group escape and the creation of my new identity and our cover story. We had even told them the truth about Mei’s powers, though for that part we had sent the Fairies off to check on Peaches who was still snoozing under an umbrella nearby. It was better for them to keep their belief that they had been brought here from Neverland. I suspected that they all knew the truth already, but having that little lie seemed to comfort them.

“Geeze Mei, I’ve never heard of anyone with power like that. I could have sworn you were a mage the way you draw on magic energy,” Lindsey said after a short silence. “That story about having a summon leave behind an egg with Merida’s dragon was pretty good though, I’m a magic user and I believed it easy enough. The healing thing is going to be hard to explain if you do that again in public though.”

“It’s been taken care of,” Agent Smith said with a shrug. “Mystech has changed her school file and classified her as a Mystic with primarily summoning magic and a knack for healing magic as well. Since she actually draws on magic energy she may have enough of a gift with magic to learn a few healing spells to augment her abilities and convince people that she’s just a mage with very focused talents, it does happen sometimes. Mei, you should find that your Summoning Magic class has been changed on your schedule. When I spoke with her earlier she told me that you don’t need that class, and that she would be giving you private lessons on healing magic herself during that time in her office.”

“I’m gonna learn real magic?! Cool!” Mei was beaming at that.

“This coming from the girl who can create life with a thought,” Michelle said with a laugh.

I was mostly quiet during this exchange as I watched our new friends and wondered what they thought of me now that they knew the truth. I was pretending to be a thirteen year girl when neither was really the truth. How could any of them want anything to do with me now? With a sigh I went to sit with Peaches and Fawn and started to gently pet my new dragon as I stared off into space.

“…you okay?” Hiro’s voice broke me out of my daze.

“Huh?” I oh-so-cleverly responded as I blinked up at him standing over me.

He was looking down at me in concern. “I was asking if you’re okay Merida, this is your birthday party, you should be having fun. Before that I asked if you had asked your Mom about the double date thing on Friday. My parents said they’re okay with it, since we’re all pretty responsible and Fawn would be there to keep an eye on us. Linds and Michelle got permission too, we’re all looking forward to it.”

“Ya dinnae feel diff’renly now tha’ ya ken the truth aboot me?”

Hiro blinked at me in confusion for a moment before sitting across from me and taking my hand in his own. “Why would we? It wasn’t your cover story that we liked, it was you and your sisters, and that hasn’t changed. You’re still the same girl, trying to get used to a new life after being born a guy, we knew that much already. A few years in age doesn’t make much difference, but you stopped being Maddock when you started living as Merida. So you’re still the same girl that we’ve been getting to know. You’re kind, caring, funny, vulnerable, powerful, and honestly its kinda badass that you used to be Special Forces.”

With that he stood up and pulled me to my feet as my heart beat wildly in my chest. “Now let’s go ask your mom about that date and have a little fun.” He half-dragged me along to where Blair was talking with his own mother and before I could say anything he asked, “Dr. Ainsley would it be okay if Merida came with me, Michelle, and Lindsey for a camping trip on Friday? They were kinda planning for it to be a double date thing, but we figured that we’d bring Fawn along too as a sort of chaperone.”

Mom seemed to think about it for a moment. “She would need ta bring the portable shield setup fer while she’s asleep, but Merida is old enough ta make her own decisions. I don’t min' her going, if all o' yuir parents are okay with it,” she paused to look a Kasumi who nodded and then added, “but Fawn will be keeping a very close eye on all of you.”

“Aye… umm… thanks Mom,” I barely managed to get out, my face nearly as red as my hair.

After that we spent until dinner with Vanessa and the members of 4-Ward teaching the rest of us how to surf and enjoying the sun, surf, and sand. I was a little awkward at first wearing my tiny aquamarine bikini, and surfing was a bit more challenging than I thought it was going to be, though by the time we quit for dinner my balance was getting better. I could have cheated by using my force field to maintain my balance, but I wanted to learn how to do it properly and I was really enjoying myself, even when I wiped out.

Andy and Paul had cooked up a bunch of chicken and burgers on the grill and we had a ton of snack foods and birthday cake, so I was able to eat my fill before Mom announced that it was time to open the gifts. Since they were the younger of us I insisted that the twins got to open theirs first. They really liked the lockets that I had gotten them, while Tasha, Vanessa, and Andy had gone all Disney on them by getting them movies that they didn’t have, stuffed animals, and Disney Fairies books. They were really happy with those gifts too and were especially thrilled when Mom had gotten them both a cellphone. They hadn’t gotten one when Mom had bought Tasha, Vanessa, and I one on or first shopping trip, because they were still a bit young, but apparently Mom thought that twelve was a good age for them to have one.

Mom had gotten me a stuffed pink dragon before Mei had revealed her gift, since I was a girl now and she knew that Princess Peony and the Amazing Egg was my favorite story. Andy had gotten me a laptop for school, but he assured me that it could handle gaming as well if I ever wanted to. I got a really nice black leather choker with a silver dragon hanging from it from Vanessa, and Tasha had gotten me stainless steel bracelet with her name, and those of my other sisters, engraved on the inside.

I was a bit choked up after the other gifts from my family and while Mei had given me Peaches already, hers and Shu’s gifts seemed the most personal. All the gifts were well thought out of course, and I loved them all, but with the twins it was like they wanted to give me a little bit of themselves. Mei had created me my own dragon based on my favorite story and Shu had taken one of the spare king-sized Mithrilex blankets that Mom had made for me and somehow imbued one of her dimensional portals permanently into the fabric, giving me access to my own pocket dimension. It had been so tiny when I had first seen it, just a two inch wide bit of cloth that could easily go in my purse or pocket, but she had merely pinched the back and folded the ends inside the portal. When she demonstrated pulling out the ends, and then shook it out to its full size, I think she broke more than a few brains

Inside the pocket dimension was a large bunker-type room made from concrete and steel that was half the size of our entire house. There were also doorways that led off to a smaller bathroom-sized room and a larger room that wasn’t near as big as the main room but sort of made me think of a military barracks from its size. The rooms were all dark and empty though and I had to use the flashlight function on my phone to see much. “Tha’s amazin’ Shu,” I said after taking a look inside, “bu’ ‘ow did ya ge’ it tae look like tha’? Usually it’s all jus’ empty space.”

Shu shrugged, though she was grinning like a cat who ate a canary as she replied, “I found out that while I’m creating a new pocket dimension I can control what it looks like a little. I couldn’t create anything like lights and furniture, but walls and floors and simple stuff are easy enough if I’ve seen the materials before. I thought that you might want a private bunker in case of emergencies, or a place where you can store your car and supplies and stuff. We may need to do some work to make it more comfortable but I think it’s a good start.”

“It’s an awesome start Shu, I ‘ave the bes’ sisters tha’ anyone could ask fer,” I said, pulling both twins into a hug.

We were interrupted by Lindsey calling out, “Okay you three, time for your present from us.”

“Wot? Ya didnae ‘ave tae ge’ us anythin’,” I argued as I let go of the twins.

“Well it’s sort of a gift for all the members of G-Force,” Garret explained, “but we all chipped in to get MetalMax to make them and then Lindsey put in some work once they were made. Michelle chipped in the diamonds from when she shed her diamond form after we fought that huge monster.”

The twins and I unwrapped the box and then opened it to reveal six simple size-adjustable silver rings with diamonds set in them that resembled those that all four members of 4-ward were currently wearing. “I kinda figured that we could be sister teams,” Lindsey said after a moment, “y’know help each other out when we need it. I learned a spell from one of my classmates to link all of our rings and allow us to find one another if we need to. It’s like the only spell I actually know so far, but I thought it would be nice in case any of us ever get into deep trouble on our own. If you ever need help just touch the ring and say ‘9-1-1’ and any of us who are wearing our rings will be able to find you.”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say at first, but I smiled and made sure that Mom and each of my sisters had gotten a ring before putting the last on myself. “Thanks, all o’ ya, we appreciate it. An’ if’n ya e’er need ‘elp, we’ll come runnin’.”

To my surprise the gifts didn’t end there either. Smith had apparently been worried about our safety and had heard that we had gotten our carry licences for Costa Verde so he had gotten each of the twins a small Taser that they could carry in their purses in case they got attacked while out of costume. For me he had a dvd-rom. He didn’t tell me what was on it, but said that it was insurance in case the HAA tried to throw me under the bus again. He also made me promise not to view the contents, or let anyone else, until I really needed a get out of jail free card.

I was still reeling from that when Hiro and his parents approached us and handed both of the twins and me wrapped boxes. “Umm… thanks, ya didnae ‘ave tae ge’ us anythin’,” I said again, feeling a bit awkweird about people who really hadn’t known us all that long giving us gifts. For each of the twins they had gotten a pair of matching pink Disney schoolbags with the character Merida on them. They might seem a bit juvenile for twelve year olds, but the twins loved them.

I, on the other hand, found myself staring at a black and gold metallic tube of some sort that seemed to hum in my hand, and I was wondering just what it was. It was very lightweight and roughly a foot long with a golden sun on it that almost seemed to glow. Curious, I ran my finger over the sun shape and with a soft hissing sound it suddenly telescoped into what looked like a bow, nearly three feet long, with glowing gold lines running along its surface and a glowing golden string running from one end to the other. Now I recognized it. “This is…” I began to sputter as I looked from Hiro’s parents, to the object in my hands, and back again.

“The Bow of Amaterasu,” Hiro’s mother finished for me, “Or as many came to call, it Bright’s Bow. When my government first recruited me to become a hero they wanted me to use traditional weapons, should I use any at all. I could make constructs of swords, other melee weapons, and various throwing weapons just fine, but could never seem to make a bow construct work like a real bow. So they had a Tinker make this for me, it’s practically indestructible, portable, and the draw weight will respond to however much strength you’re using at the time. It was also designed with energy constructs in mind. I had planned on giving it to Hiro one day, but he thought that you could make better use of it. She’s yours now Merida, use her well, and be sure to bring her with you to our classes.”

Hiro was blushing and looking at the floor as he mumbled, “Well, I can’t make constructs and you’re going to be teaching her archery so it made sense.”

“I… ummm… thanks…” I could only stare as I managed to get those words out, my lips dry and my heart fluttering. He had had his mother, one of the most famous superheroes ever, give me something extremely valuable, something that by all rights should have been his. A simple thank you could never be enough for this. Blushing brightly I leaned forward to kiss him. I had fully intended just to give him an innocent peck on the cheek, but I found my lips meeting his own instead, seemingly of their own volition. The thrill that went through me was electric, a heat flowing through me like my blood was on fire. My heart was beating rapidly in my ears and everything and everyone else seemed to fade away as he kissed me back. For a second, and an eternity, it was just the two of us there, each of us fueling that kiss as we reciprocated what we received from the other. Finally though we had to come up for air and broke apart, and I stood there a hurricane of emotions surging through me as I tried to catch my breath. Finally, my cheeks burning as I realized what had just happened, I turned and ran for the house as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face.

 

 

'ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Teleporters. Teleporters are those who possess the ability tae move from one place tae another instantaneously. This kin be done in various ways; passin’ through other dimensions, matter displacement, or e’en by destroyin’ matter in one place tae reconstitute it somewhere else. While Teleporters are gen’rally considered their own class, usually their powers are tied tae another broader classification, like Generators, Pyschics, Mystics, or Energy Manipulators. Teleporters come in four diff’ren’ categories: Self Teleporters, Touch Teleporters, Portal Teleporters an’ Dimension Teleporters.

Self Teleporters kin only teleport their own bodies, some e’en ‘ave trouble keepin’ their clothes wi’ them. They kin teleport long or short range, bu’ gen’rally tha’ depends on their power levels. Cat Ones cannae really ‘port very far, while Cat Fives kin ‘port ‘cross the planet if’n tha’s wot they’re wantin’.

Touch Teleporters, like Tasha, kin ‘port themselves or anythin’ or anyone tha’ they ‘appen tae be touchin’ a’ the time. Like wi’ Self Teleporters, ‘ow far they kin ‘port depends on ‘ow powerful they are.

Portal Teleporters, like Rave from RevolveR, teleport by connectin’ two differen’ locations via a portal sort o’ like foldin’ space. Generally they’re only limited to places they’ve been, seen, or to people they’re familiar wit’. Portal Teleporters are gen’rally Cat Three or above as it takes a lot o’ power tae connect two places an’ hold open a portal for any given amount o’ time.

Dimension Teleporters like Shu share a lot o’ sim’larities wi’ Portal Teleporters. They move ‘tween places by passin’ through another dimension either consciously like Shu does, or subconsciously and wit’out e’en realizin’ tha’ they’re doin’ it. Agin, this takes a lot o’ power, e’en more than most Portal Teleporters, since they’re no’ bridgin’ two spots in the same world, bu’ completely differen’ dimensions. Ya will no’ often see a Dimension Teleporter below a Category Four. Mages gen’rally learn tae teleport by this method as well so ya dinnae often see low-level mages who kin manage it.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Teleporters today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Tinkers. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Saturday everyone, here's chapter 29 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 29: Pink Alert

I wasn’t really thinking when I ran into the house, I just needed to get some space while I tried to sort through the crushing torrent of emotions that threatened to overwhelm me. What had I done? Confusion, desire, joy, fear, and anxiety had all seemed to hit me at once the moment our lips had parted and I had come to my senses. Without consciously making my way there I ended up in my bedroom and onto the bed, and that was probably a good thing, because now that I had some space and time between me and what happened joy and desire had left the building, leaving me to the mercy of anxiety, fear, and confusion.

That being the case, my powers had kicked in and I was having a hard time controlling them. I was safe within the energy shield around my bed though, as I tried to calm both myself and my powers and figure out just what I was feeling and why. I was still attempting to do that, and wipe the tears from my eyes, when Tasha’s voice slipped into my quavering mind. *Merida, we’re coming in.*

I didn’t even have time to ask who ‘we’ consisted of before the door to my room opened and Tasha stepped inside with Vanessa at her side. “Hey Mer,” Vanessa said, forcing a smile, but looking very concerned. “Everyone out there is pretty worried about you y’know. Tasha managed to convince them all to not come rushing in here and just let us handle it though. Fawn and the twins really wanted to come too, but this talk is more of a big sisters thing, and without you out there Fawn will need to keep an eye on Peaches.”

Both of them came toward the bed and sat down on the floor, just outside the currently active energy shield. Tasha didn’t take her eyes off me, giving me a steady penetrating look as she got comfortable. Then she gave me a sisterly smile and said, “Okay Merida, I know that you’re starting to get the big sister role down with the twins, but you’re so damn self-reliant and unwilling to ask others for help outside of combat conditions that you probably don’t really have the kid sister perspective down yet. So here’s how this is going to work. I’m psychic so I already have a pretty good idea what set you off, but you are going to tell me and Vanessa what it is and we’re going to listen, be there for you, and help you to either deal with it or put it in perspective until you feel better, because that’s what big sisters do.”

“There may or may not also be ice cream and/or chocolate involved at some point, depending on how well things go,” Vanessa added with a nod before crossing her arms in front of her chest expectantly. “Now get talking missy, because we’re not going anywhere until you do.”

I looked from one to the other, wiping tears from my eyes as I struggled to get my powers back under control. They were serious. The thing was that I wanted, no needed, to talk to them about this because I was so uncertain what I should be doing, or feeling. I sniffled a bit and let out a long sigh, uncertain of what to say since I was uncertain of what my real problem was with all the conflicting emotions. That was part of the problem though, I felt like a victim to my emotions. When I had kissed Hiro, and then when I had run off I hadn’t been thinking, I had been letting my emotions, and possibly biology, control my reactions and it had been far from the first time.

Finally, seeing that they weren’t going anywhere until I talked to them, I took a deep breath as I tried to sort out what was going on in my head and heart. The problem was that my emotions and thoughts were both all over the place. Quietly and tentatively I said, “I’m no’ shoor tha’ I really ken wot the problem is. I felt like I was finally adjustin’ tae ma new life, an’ I was gettin’ on barry. Now though, ma heart an’ mind are switherin’ and I dinnae ken wot tae fookin’ dae.”

“Wow, my Scottish must be improving, because I actually understood about half of that,” Tasha teased before turning serious. “You’re doing fine Mer, you’ve been adjusting well, despite everything that’s been thrown our way lately, but what is it specifically that set you off and has you so confused?”

I looked down at the Bow of Amaterasu, still clenched tightly in my hand and tried again to steady my breathing and calm myself. I held it out for them to get a good look and asked, “Dae ya ken wot this is?”

“Holy crap! Is that Bright’s Bow?” Vanessa asked leaning closer to the energy shield surrounding my bed for a better look.

“Aye ‘Nessa. The Forrester’s gave it tae me as a gift. It was Hiro’s idea. It should ‘ave been passed down tae ‘im, bu’ he ‘ad ‘is Mom give it tae me. I go’ all caught up in the moment an’ wasnae thinkin’, an’ I jus’ kissed ‘im,” I admitted feeling my face flush. “I… think tha’ I really liked it… bu’ I freaked out a wee bi’. Ma emotions are all o’er the place, an’ kind o’ overwhelmin’. Its mos’ly confusion, bu’ I think tha’ I was ‘appy, an’ wanted more, ‘bu a’ the same time I was scared an’ anxious. It wasnae like tha’ when Conduit kissed me, sure he was cute an’ it was nice, bu’ I was really annoyed wit’ him too. I didnae freak out near this bad then so shouldn’t it ‘ave been easier?”

“Your confusion is understandable, given your situation,” Tasha told me with a sympathetic look. “Not just because of the gender, age, and sexuality switcharoo, though that probably plays a large part. You didn’t really know Conduit, and you said he annoyed you with the whole damsel in distress shtick. You’re attracted to Hiro though, you like him, this time you did the kissing, and it was a real kiss, not just receiving a peck on the cheek. That is a huge difference and you’re not used to giving in to your emotions that way.”

“But I’m no’…” I began to argue.

Tasha just sighed and rolled her eyes. “Don’t even think about denying it Merida, anyone who’s in the same time zone as you two can see how into each other you are. Anyway, getting back to my point; you have to remember that, with your PCEDS, emotions hit you harder than most girls, and girls are generally more likely to give in to emotional impulses. We aren’t as closed off as guys are that way, and biology plays a part in that. You like him, you’re attracted to him, and he did something that was incredibly sweet, so of course you kissed him. I would have kissed him too.”

“I would have too,” Vanessa agreed. “Mer, you are a girl who just had your first real kiss with a boy who you really like, and from what I was able to see neither of you was holding back. All of those emotions, even a bit of confusion, are completely understandable and nobody is going to judge you for feeling them, especially Hiro. He probably has a good idea what you’re going through, having been a girl himself before Activating. Any girl would feel that way. When I had my first kiss I was giddy and wanted to do it again, but at the same time that he might not have liked it, that maybe it was too soon. I was anxious too, all like; ‘Does he want to do it again? Should I let him if he does? And OMG this changes everything between us! What do I do?!’ The first kiss is a big thing for any girl.”

Having them break it all down for me like that, and even better, knowing that I wasn’t really feeling anything too unusual came as a great relief to me. We talked about things for a little while longer and I began to relax and feel not quite so terrified. I was able to get my powers back under control and, though I was blushing as red as my hair at the thought of facing Hiro and his parents again, I figured that I could manage being around people again. I took a deep breath, placed the Bow of Amaterasu carefully on top of my dresser for the moment and then gave Vanessa and Tasha both a big hug. “Thanks… fer bein’ great big sisters.”

Tasha grinned at me as she let me go. “What are big sisters for? We’re still kind of new at this, but we’re doing our best. I think there are rules though, like we have to tease you mercilessly about the boy you like.”

“Yup, I totally remember seeing that in the manual, I think it was on page thirty two,” Vanessa agreed. “So, are you looking forward to the big date on Friday?”

“I didnae agree tae tha’, you did,” I pointed out. I was looking forward to it though. I was insanely nervous, but still looking forward to it. Still I was a little unsure of why everyone was trying to push us into some sort of relationship. “All o’ ya really go’ tae stop tryin’ tae push us t’gether.”

“I think she doth protest too much,” Vanessa teased before hugging me again. “Really Mer, we might all tease you a bit, but nobody is going to force you and Hiro together. Like Tasha said though, anyone who knows one or both of you can see how into one another you are and we all just want you to be happy. What’s the harm in getting to know one another to see if you can be happy together? If anyone deserves a bit of happiness it’s you.”

I was still blushing as Vanessa let me go. “Okay, I… guess tha’ yuir right aboot tha. An’ I dae kind o’ like ‘im. He’s cute, sweet, funny, an’ he’s… umm… a right fair kisser. Mebbe I should give this a chance a’ least.”

“Good, now let’s get back to the party so you can give him an apology kiss,” Tasha jibed, pulling me toward the door.

When we got back outside and to the party it was near twilight and Andy was starting a fire in the fire pit. I was nearly knocked off my feet as Mom, the twins and all of the Fairies pounced on me to give me hugs, but once I had managed to convince them all that I was feeling better, and gave a somewhat awkward apology to Hiro’s parents, Lindsey’s cousin Jordyn, and the members of 4-ward for running off like I did, the party was back in full swing. I managed to get comfortable near the fire pit with Peaches and Fawn both snuggled up in my lap and Mom brought out all the makings for s’mores.

While we were cooking them she took Lindsey, Jordyn, Michelle, Garret, and Hiro all inside briefly to get their measurements in the costume maker and start making them new costumes from Mithrilex so they would be as safe as possible when doing hero work. It took a bit longer with Jordyn, since she didn’t have a signature costume and they had to design one for her, but soon they were all back outside and we were all chatting over the warm fire and s’mores while the machine worked on assembling their new costumes. With the exception of my brief freak-out it had been a really nice night, but it had to end sooner or later.

Once we had all said our good nights including a somewhat awkward and pulse pounding goodnight kiss between Hiro and I, our guests were headed home for the night. We all went back outside to clean up, but Mom and Andy only let Tasha and Vanessa help with that. Mei, Shu, and I were excused because we were the birthday girls, and we just had to take our gifts back to our rooms. Once I had brought everything else to my room, and placed Peaches’ temporary basket by my bed for the moment, I got ready for bed and climbed in with Fawn laying on the pillow beside me. I could have brought Peaches with me to cuddle too, but I didn’t want to risk it yet until I knew that she really was as able to take the heat as Mei thought she was. She had seemed fine when Fawn was with her earlier and her own force field had mimicked my loss of control, but I still wanted to try to safely test it.

It was as we lay there, almost ready to sleep, that Fawn ventured, “I’m glad that you’re feeling better Merida I was worried. I’m glad that you decided to go out with Hiro too, I like him, and the other Fairies feel the same way. I have a question though.”

“Thanks Fawn, yuir a good friend an’ I value yuir opinion. Wot dae ya wan’ tae ask”?

“Well,” the Fairy began uncertainly. “Fairies aren’t really born like humans are, we’re born from a baby’s first laugh. We don’t really measure time in the same way you do in Pixie Hollow either. I mean, we know what a day is, but we don’t really keep track of them the way humans here do, though we will kind of need to now for school and stuff. So I was wondering, do you think that I have a birthday?”

I turned my head to smile at her. “O’ course ya dae silly Fairy. I dinnae ken the day tha’ ya were born, but’ tha’s no’ really as importan’ as celebratin’ the fact tha’ yuir alive an’ ‘ave family an’ friends tha’ love an’ care fer ya. Ya have an identity now though, an’ the documents tae prove it, fer Lisa Anne Conrad. All o’ those documents tha’ I’m keepin’ fer ya in ma purse say tha’ yuir birthday is September fifteenth. I dinnae care if it’s jus’ you, me an’ some o’ the local animals, we’re goin’ tae celebrate ma bes’ friend’s birthday this year, an’ every year after. Sumthin’ tells me though, tha’ it’s goin’ tae be one ‘ell o’ a party.”

Fawn snuggled closer to the side of my face. “Thanks Merida, I’m so happy to have a best friend like you, and now we have Peaches too.”

“Aye, yuir welcome Fawn. I dinnae ken wot I did tae deserve a friend like you, but I’m glad tae ‘ave you an’ Peaches both. Sleep well ma friend.”

The morning of my ‘birthday’ was like any other day, except for everyone telling me happy birthday. I couldn’t really see it as mine though since it had just been an arbitrary date we had picked out for my cover story and since I had celebrated the day before with my sisters. Still the sentiment was nice at least. Once Fawn had managed to calm me from the nightmares we got dressed for our morning training session and I put myself, my sisters and our Fairy friends through a vigorous workout and an intense hand to hand combat training session. The Fairies may not use it much, but it was good discipline for them and I was also teaching them every dirty trick I could think of for when they had to fight human sized opponents.

After showering, cooking, eating breakfast, and feeding Peaches we discussed what we wanted to do for the day, since Mom and Andy were busy at the school. I wanted to go to a pet store and see about getting some things for Peaches, and Fawn and I would need some camping gear and supplies for our overnight trip the next day too so I had planned to meet Hiro at Surf n’ Turf for that. Fawn and the other Fairies volunteered to stay home and dragon-sit while I did that though. It worked out since Fawn wanted to start training Peaches ASAP, Iridessa and Silvermist wanted to sunbathe on the beach for a bit, and Tink and Periwinkle wanted to spend some sister time together and maybe work on one of Tink’s doodads.

My sisters all decided that we should make a trip of it to the mall together since the Fairies were going to be busy, though they promised to find something else to do if it looked like Hiro and I needed some alone time. Their offer only made me blush and insist that sister time was fine with me. Since it was so bloody hot we decided to dress light; The twins wore shorts, light blouses, and sneakers, Tasha wore cut-off shorts, a halter top, and heeled sandals, while Vanessa and I both donned sundresses and sandals over our bikinis, hers a dark blue and white while mine was a forest green with a floral print. We headed to the mall together planning to meet up with Hiro at Surf n’ Turf.

Hiro didn’t think that Fawn and I would need much except for food when we discussed it at the store. Mom had already prepared in case we wanted to go camping, and both Fawn and I had Mithrilex sleeping bags already waiting for us. Michelle was borrowing a large cooler for food and drinks and had a lot of the gear we would need as a group already. Since I wouldn’t need a flashlight or lighter or anything with my powers, all I would really need, besides chipping in for food, would be some comfortable clothes for the trip, a bikini, my surfboard, and maybe some spelunking gear.

We were looking at the latter when the entire mall seemed to shake with the distant sound of an explosion. Dropping what we were looking at, the six of us made a run for the source of the sound. There was a massive hole in the ceiling of the mall and five girls were hovering over the fleeing crowds wearing what looked like pink and white Japanese school uniforms and tiny little pink domino masks that did nothing to hide their appearances. Despite their dress, not a single one of them were Japanese, or even Asian, they were all white and looked to be in their late teens; one blonde, two brunettes, a redhead and the last had hair as pink as her uniform.

The pink haired one shouted out in a sing-song manner over the screams of the fleeing crowd, “Ohayou everyone! We’re looking for five teenage girls who were last seen in this city! Whoever helps us find them gets to not die!”

Hiro was looking pissed off and muttering about cultural appropriation and I was about ready to go in swinging when Tasha stopped me, pointing to the blonde and the pink haired girl. “We need our costumes first, and not just for the whole secret identity thing. I’m absolutely sure of two things right now; they’re looking for us for some reason and those two are Cat Fives.”

Shu was already at work opening the pocket dimension containing our costumes. “Okay everyone, the changing room is open. Let’s make it quick.”

I handed Hiro the spare mask from my purse before he could run off to face them alone. “Try no’ tae fight unless ya ‘ave tae, keep ‘em talkin’, bu’ focused on you until we kin join ya an’ so the innocent bystanders ‘ave time tae get out o’ here.”

“I’ll do what I can,” he said as he grimly donned the mask and headed toward them. As I stepped into the pocket dimension I heard him call out, “Hey! Nobody has to get hurt here, just tell me who you’re looking for and maybe we can discuss this like civilized people.”

What followed was the quickest costume change in history, well our history anyway since none of us has super speed. I guess I do, but only with my force field on… anyway I digress. Once we were all dressed more appropriately and Shu and Mei had their gear belts on we ran onto the scene where one of the brunettes was gripping Hiro by the throat and trying, not too successfully to choke the life out of him. *Bystanders are all out of the combat zone Merida, it’s only us, Hiro and these Sailor Scout wannabe’s.*

*Good, let’s see what they want, but everyone be careful. We don’t have the Fairies here so flying is out for most of you,* I cautioned. Then I stepped out into the open. “Oi there! Lookin’ fer us? Put ‘im down an’ tell us wot yuir wantin’.”

The pink-haired one, who seemed to be the leader, turned to the brunette holding Hiro. She tossed him aside and her eyes widened when instead of crashing into the wall he just hovered there, ten feet away from her and said, “Thanks for coming G-Force. Talking wasn’t really working out so well, but at least I gave those other people time to escape.”

Pink didn’t look too happy about the fact that they’d apparently been suckered out of causing an even bigger scene, but her frown quickly turned into a smile, the kind of smile where you can tell that not everything is working right upstairs. “Ohayou! We’re Code Pink, and we’re here to invite you to join the Shadow Syndicate. It’s a wonderful organization devoted to world conquest and there’s plenty of room for advancement. We’d be so happy to have you as playmates.”

“Tha’s a temptin’ offer an’ all, bu’ wot ‘appens if we decide tha’ we dinnae wan’ tae take ya up on it?” I asked pointedly. A recruitment attempt for an evil organization by a team of pink clad psychopaths really wasn’t how I was expecting to spend my day today. And there were two Cat Fives among them, but I had no idea what their powers were. That’s when I figured that I was in for a very long day.

“This happens.” Pinky was as fast as I was with my force field up and before any of us could react some sort of purple and pink flames shot from her opened hand to wash over Hiro.

“Hiro!” I half gasped and half screamed. I could feel the heat from where I was standing, those flames were hot, nearly as hot when I go plasma. Her physical attributes didn’t seem to be higher than Cat three from the way she moved and the way she was flying when we first saw them. So I was willing to bet that if she had a Cat Five ability that was it. I could see it in the smile on her face as she showed it off. Hiro was only a Cat three, even his invulnerability wasn’t going to save him. He’d have to be a Cat Five himself to survive an attack like that.

I fell to my knees in shock, and I could feel the tears starting to fall as she let the flames fade. I’m not really sure who was more stunned by what happened next, my team or hers. Hiro was gone, but where he had previously hovered in the air there was now a petite, pretty, and very naked Japanese girl with glowing golden hair and eyes wearing the mask I had loaned Hiro. The girl frantically tried to cover herself with her hands as she cursed. “Aww dammit, this is sooo embarrassing!” Then she looked at me and gave a nervous smile before tentatively finger waving. “Well, this is awkward. Soooo… uhh… Flare, do you think I could borrow something to wear before we kick the crap out of these nut-cases. The other members of 4-ward should be on their way.”

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Tinkers. Tinkers are mutants who ‘ave ‘ah their intelligence dramatically increased when they Activated intae the genius range an’ sometimes e’en more than tha’. Hypers who become geniuses are no’ necessarily Tinker’s though, since tae be classified a Tinker tha intelligence ‘as tae go ‘and in ‘and wit’ a talent an’ almos’ overwhelmin’ desire fer creation or invention in their area or areas of int’rest. They use tha’ intellect an’ their inherent creative talents tae create incredibly complex an’ advanced devices, gadgets, weapons, or fer other endeavors wi’ the power o’ SCIENCE! There are two categories o’ Tinkers: Focused Tinkers an’ Spectrum Tinkers.

Focused Tinkers are those whose intellect an’ creative talents are focused solely in one area. This area could be technology, weapons or defense systems, medical tech, engineerin’, genetics, or various other technical fields. They usually find themselves drawn tae this type o’ creation, needin’ tae build things, often wit’out e’en consciously tryin’ or thinkin’ aboot it. its no’ so much a focus as a compulsion tha’ they kin no’ easily resist.

Spectrum Tinkers, like ma sister/mom Blair, are much more versatile than their Focused counterparts. Their interests an’ talents kin encompass two, or a wide variety o’ diff’ren scientific fields. They also dinnae feel as strongly compelled to focus on a single field o’ study or research. They kin easily switch from one tae another an’ often ‘ave an improved mem’ry an’ learnin’ capability in addition tae their other mental gifts. Tha’s why Blair ‘as so many bloody doctorates an’ kin use ‘er talents in so many diff’ren fields. While Focused Tinkers kin be anywhere from a Cat’gory One tae a Cat Five, Spectrum Tinkers are always Cat’gory Four or ‘igher.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Tinkers today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Mystics. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Saturday everyone, here's chapter 30 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 30: G-Force vs. Code Pink

We were all staring at the girl with the glowing golden hair and eyes; me, my sisters, and the members of Code Pink. She was naked, but there was ash on the ground beneath where she hovered, probably what remained of her clothes. The only thing left was the mask, the one that I had loaned Hiro, which was made of Mithrilex and meant to take the kind of punishment that those near-plasma hot pink and purple flames could dish out “H… Hiro?” I managed after a moment before turning to Shu, “Ummm… Packrat, dae ya think ya kin grab ma dress?” Yes it was definitely Hiro, I was sure of it, but it was a little hard to deal with right now because, well I had thought that he was going to die and now she was a very naked and very attractive girl.

“You got it Flare,” Packrat said reaching into one of her portals and producing the forest green floral print sundress that I had been wearing. I wasn’t too worried about it being damaged since it had been made and enchanted by the Taylors. She handed it to me and I tossed it toward the now female Hiro, who wasted no time pulling it over her head and adjusting it.

Genesis looked from the re-girled Hiro over to the pink-clad posers and giggled. “So you said you’d do the same to us if we didn’t join you right? I hate to break it to you, but we’re all already girls.”

“I didn’t… he shouldn’t!” Pinky sputtered, still trying to make sense of the situation. “How did you survive that?! I’m a Cat five! Nobody survives my flames!”

“I’m not nobody,” girl-Hiro said with a tired and slightly pained grin on her face as she looked at the pink-haired girl. “Y’know, Category five is pretty broad, unlike the other classifications there’s no real upper limit to the power levels in that class. All are pretty damn powerful. Some are just a little too powerful to be considered Category fours, some are definitely in the Cat five range, but some people get grouped in that class only because there’s no higher class to put them in. I can sense power levels in this form and two of you are definitely Cat fives. There are three people here right now that are so powerful that we really should come up with a new classification though, can you guess who? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not any of you.”

Golden light erupted from Hiro’s eyes in a blast that sent Pinky flying into the nearest wall causing one of the brunettes, the one with the long hair, to call out “Quartz! Are you okay?!”

Quartz’s answer was to stand and shake herself off, pink and purple flames igniting in her hands. “I’m okay Emerald, but that bitch is going to pay! These bitches had their chance, kill them all!”

Hiro gave me an apologetic look. “I really didn’t want you to find out this way, I was hoping to explain once we knew each other better. I’ll explain later, I promise. I’ll take the pink one and you take the blonde.” With that she flew straight at Quartz, unloading on her with another blast from her eyes.

I really wanted to know what the hell was going on, but we had more important things to worry about at the moment. I charged up my force field and flew at the blonde, who was going after Psyche, only to have her disappear as soon as she got in range to hit her. “Try hittin’ me instead, aye? Or would ya rather tha’ I star’ things off?” I hit her with my field only slightly enhancing my strength, since I didn’t want to kill her and I wasn’t exactly sure what her powers were. All of them seemed to have some degree of flight, but beyond that I had no idea.

She turned her head to look at me and laugh, though it didn’t seem to reach her eyes. “I have Cat five invulnerability. They call me Diamond for a reason, I haven’t felt so much as a tickle in three years. You haven’t got a chance, you really should have surrendered and taken the offer when we gave you the choice.”

“Oh really?” I replied, my face lighting up in a grin. “Ya ken, I’ve been ‘avin a real bad month. I jus’ wan’ tae explode sometimes, bu’ I’ve been carefully controllin’ maself, no’ wantin’ tae ‘urt anyone if’n I ‘appen tae go nuclear. Ya ‘ave no idea ‘ow much I’ve been wantin’ tae le’ loose.” I formed sparring glove constructs over my fists and filled them with enough explosive energy that they were nearly white-hot, then I hit her as hard as I could, a right jab to the solar plexus followed by a left uppercut to the jaw. This first folded her over with a grunt of pain while the follow-up had her staggering backwards.

I risked a quick glance to see how the others were faring. Hiro seemed to be absorbing all the fire that Quartz could throw at her and countering with eye-blasts while Emerald was going after Genesis, her hands glowing with a sickly green energy that I didn’t like the looks of at all. Genesis had summoned a pair of large wolf-like creatures to attack her, but they shrieked in pain when that energy touched them and Genesis quickly dismissed them in favour of a rock golem, though even that seemed to have trouble against whatever Emerald was using. The redhead had turned to the short-haired brunette and said, “You get the teleporter Sapphire, I’ll take care of the fish.”

“You got it Ruby,” Sapphire replied, drawing a pair of knives and vanishing in a puff of blue smoke to try to attack Psyche, who elbowed her in the gut and teleported away before she could strike. Ruby shifted into a human-tigress hybrid with nasty looking claws and went straight for Aquarius, who sent her flying with a blast of water she had gathered from the nearby fountain.

“Bad kitty!” Aquarius said with a glare as she floated toward her opponent on a bubble of water.

The sound of crazed laughing brought my attention back to my opponent. She was grinning like a maniac, a look of need in her tear-filled eyes. “I felt that, you actually hurt me! Again! Give me more!”

I backed away a step, uncertain of just what she was on about. “Look, I dinnae ken wot yuir on aboot, bu’ gen’rally people aren’t tha’ thrilled when I kick their asses. Are ya some sort ‘o masochist?”

“Let loose! Please! Hit me with everything you got! Give us both what we need!” Diamond insisted with that manic grin, taking another step toward me for each that I took back. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything! I need this, even if it’s pain! Fight me! Make me hurt! I’ll make you if I have to!” She directed a flurry of punches my way. She wasn’t as fast or strong as me with my shield up, maybe a Category two with her strength and speed, but she wasn’t backing off, even though my force field was easily absorbing her attacks.

Diamond didn’t seem to have any real fighting experience, she probably was just used to wearing her opponents down since she couldn’t be damaged herself. She didn’t have that killer instinct either, when she’d gone after Psyche, she had dialed down both her strength and speed from what she was using with me. Looking at the others on her team, who seemed to enjoy trying to hurt or kill others, she didn’t really fit in. I had to wonder how long she had been with them and why she had joined in the first place. Still, she wasn’t going to stop, and I couldn’t make her without giving her exactly what she seemed to want. She was right though, as much as she seemed to need to be hurt, I needed to be able to let loose and channel all the raw emotion that had been overwhelming me since my change. Regardless, I was hesitant to do so against someone who didn’t really seem that bad while the others may be fighting for their lives.

“Look! I admit t’would be good tae be able tae fight someone wit’out holdin’ back, bu’ yuir teammates seem pretty eager tae kill ma sisters an’ me, an’ I cannae le’ tha’ happen. If’n ya stand down fer now, you an’ I kin go a’ it later, no holds barred.”

There was uncertainty in her eyes as she looked from me back to the rest of the battle. “You’re right… I’m sorry, I just… I got caught up in the moment… it was nice to feel something, even pain. They’re… not really my team. This was supposed to be my first assignment with them. I wouldn’t have even joined them, but I had nowhere else to go… and they promised to help me. I don’t want to hurt anyone, and I don’t think I could hurt you in any case… do you promise we can fight later, no holding back unless I ask you to?”

“Aye, ya ‘ave ma promise on tha’, bu’ we dae it where nobody else kin ge’ hurt,” I replied.

Diamond nodded in response. “That’s good, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, let’s see if your sisters need any help.”

We turned our attention back to the others. Ruby was insanely agile and was dodging all the water blasts that Aquarius could throw her way. She managed to get in close enough to rake the mermaid with her claws. To the tigress’ surprise though Aquarius only laughed. “I’m built to withstand the pressure of the deep ocean. Did you really think I can’t handle a few scratches Kitty? Thanks for coming in real close though, you were a pain in the tail to hit.” She encased Ruby in a sheath of water and hurled her at the nearest wall, where she fell to the floor unconscious.

Psyche was teleporting away every time that Sapphire teleported in close, but not before getting in a good hit each time. She was making good use of the hand to hand techniques and dirty tricks that I had been teaching everyone, making me grin proudly when she deftly avoided another attack only to appear behind the other teleporter. Once there, she delivered a solid strike to the nerve bundle at the back of the neck, causing Sapphire to fall down in a heap.

Packrat had been using her blasters on Emerald but she apparently had some level of invulnerability since the stun setting wasn’t doing anything to the pink and white clad brunette. She was adjusting the dials to a higher setting, but Emerald had managed to do enough damage to Genesis’ golem and the flock of imps that she had summoned that she had to dismiss them, and Emerald was now lunging for Genesis with a crazed look on her face. I’d seen that look before, on Phantom, it was the look of someone who really loved dishing out pain and death and was about get her fix. Diamond and I were both moving to intercept, while Genesis backed off and reached for a flashbang to try and buy herself some time, but Emerald was quick and I wasn’t sure if we could make it in time as Diamond called out, “Watch out! That green energy is like acid!”

Packrat reacted before any of us, not with her blasters, but opening up a dimensional portal in front of Emerald’s reaching hand, a portal that closed with her green glowing hand still inside. “Hands off! I won’t let you hurt my sister!”

Emerald screamed in agony, clutching the bleeding stump at the end of her right arm, where her hand and wrist had been a moment before. She was still screaming when I punched her hard enough to knock her out. Packrat stared for a moment, a horrified expression on what showed of her face. “I can heal her enough to stop the bleeding I think,” Genesis said. “Thanks sis, I owe you one.”

I was about to console Packrat, tell her that it was Emerald or Genesis, but to my surprise Diamond placed a hand on Packrat’s shoulder before I could. “Look kid, Emerald is crazy, and from what I’ve seen of her these past few weeks I’m pretty sure she gets off on hurting or killing people. She was going to kill your sister, I don’t doubt that for a second, but you stopped her and you didn’t go too far. You probably could have cost her a lot more than her hand, probably killed her if you wanted to, but she’s going to live and maybe learn her lesson. Sometimes you need to do the hard things for the right reasons, don’t feel bad about doing what you had to.”

I turned my attention to Hiro, who was still taking all the flames that Quartz could dish out and hitting her back with golden eye-blasts, though that seemed all that Hiro could do at the moment as she was trying to dodge any physical attacks, and barely managing that. It also looked like she was holding back on the power of her blasts, gradually increasing them to where she could hurt Quartz without killing her. Quartz turned her attention toward us and Diamond though. “What are you doing you stupid bitch?! You’re supposed to be killing them, not chatting!”

“Screw you Quartz! I told you I didn’t want anyone hurt and you promised me we were just here to try to recruit them. I should have left as soon as I discovered how bat-shit crazy you all were!” Diamond shouted back as she took her hand from Packrat’s shoulder and stomped over to where Hiro had Quartz pinned down with her eye beams and was starting to pour on the power. “Do you need help?”

“Yes! Take this he-bitch down so we can finish with our targets!” Quartz snapped.

“I wasn’t asking you Quartz, I’m way past done with you. If anyone is being taken down here it’s you,” Diamond said. “You’ve been lucky so far and you know it. Your flames aren’t doing anything and this guy… girl could probably have killed or seriously hurt you by now if she wasn’t holding back. So, since these people seem to be the good guys, I’m going to help them contain you.”

“You traitorous bitch! I’ll incinerate you!” Quartz screamed, lashing out at Diamond with her pink and purple flames. All she managed to do though was incinerate Diamond’s clothes.

“You know that your flames can’t hurt me, it’s why you asked me to join you in the first place, nothing hurts me. Well, not quite nothing I guess,” Diamond laughed as she shrugged the flames off and glanced in my direction. Then she turned to Hiro. “She’s not invulnerable, she’s got a Cat two transparent energy shield, anything around Cat three should be enough to overload it and knock her out.”

I had just enough time to notice Sapphire shifting on the ground before she, Quartz, Ruby, and Emerald all disappeared in puffs of blue smoke. “Bloody ‘ell! They go’ away!”

Diamond sighed. “They’ll be back, after all of us now probably. I should probably be pretty easy to find in jail, but they know they can’t hurt me so they’ll probably be after the lot of you.”

“Wot dae ya mean jail? I’m fair certain tha’ I promised ya a fight, an I dinnae see one o’ their uniforms on ya.” That just brought my attention to the fact that she was really naked now and despite the fact that she was attractive I wasn’t attracted, not like I was with Hiro right then. She had tried to do the right thing and help us, she didn’t strike me as the type of person that the other members of Code Pink were, and she wasn’t all that much older than us, probably sixteen or so like Tasha. I removed my cloak and handed it over to her. “Ya should pu’ this on I think, it’ll co’er ya ‘til we kin ge’ ya some clothes.”

Hiro glanced at me, nodding and smiling and I noticed my sisters doing the same as the boy-turned-girl said. “Lot’s of Hypers come here to Costa Verde, its not too surprising that another one showed up to help us out. I’m pretty sure I heard you deputize her too Flare, didn’t she say her codename is Safeguard?”

*Good idea Merida, my sixth sense tells me that she’s a good person. She’s not a criminal and she’s been through a lot, she’s a lot like us actually. She didn’t even try to hurt me when she came after me, I’m pretty sure she was just buying time while trying to figure out what to do,* Tasha sent us all over the mental link.

“Aye, an’ we kin always use another reserve member fer G-Force, maybe e’en a full member if’n she kin make the cut,” I responded to Hiro with a nod.

“You don’t have to protect me, I’m willing to take my punishment like a big girl,” the somewhat stunned former member of Code Pink said as she wrapped my cloak around herself awkwardly.

“Punishment fer wot? You an’ me, we were jus’ havin’ a friendly conversation, an’ ya didnae lay a finger on anyone else. Ya realized tha’ ya were on the wrong side an’ ya had the guts tae own up fer it an’ dae the right thing,” I told her carefully. “In fact, ya ‘elped us tae stop ‘em. Were you the one tae pu’ tha’ big ‘ole in the ceilin’? ‘Ave ya attacked anyone else? ‘Ave ya committed any crimes since Activatin’?”

She shook her head as she considered my questions. “No, that was Quartz. I don’t like hurting people unless its self defense, this was supposed to be my first mission and I only came along because Quartz promised me nobody would get hurt. Crimes? Does panhandling count?”

“There ya go then, there’s nothin’ tae charge ya wi’. We kin discuss it more after we all ge’ intae normal clothes an’ ya both explain yuirselves, right ‘iro,” I said looking pointedly at the girl with the glowing golden hair and eyes.

“Uhh yeah… that. You should call me Hana when I’m like this, or Firefly if I’m in costume.” A look of concentration passed over her features and the glow faded from her hair and eyes, leaving her looking like a regular Japanese girl. “This.., uhh… isn’t the first time I’ve changed forms like this. You’ll have to explain the incident to the cops, I can’t show my hero license since my ID bracelet was destroyed, but I have this form registered as well, as a reserve member of 4-Ward. I’m glad that we had a bunch of spare rings made though, damn that fire was hot.”

“Okay Packrat, kin ya ge’ e’eryone tae our place? Psyche, Safeguard looks aboot yuir size, mebbe ya kin loan ‘er somethin’ tae wear? Try tae call the other members o’ 4-Ward an’ le’ them know the fight is o’er an’ we’re meetin’ a’ our place. I’ll meet all o’ ya there when I finish reportin’ tae the cops.

After a long conversation with the cops and media about the mutant supervillains trying to recruit local Hypers, and us stopping them with the help of ‘Firefly’ and ‘Safeguard’, I made my way home. The other members of 4-Ward were already there and all of the Fairies seemed very interested in our new blonde friend. I quickly changed into something more comfortable and Shu placed my costume with hers and the others’.

Once we were all settled Brooke, Diamond’s real name, began to tell us her story. Three years ago, when she was thirteen, she had been living in a small commune of Hypers in the New Mexico desert. She had lost her whole family and her H Chromosomes Activated in a bomb attack that a group of anti-mutant extremists called the Right Hand later took credit for. She gained Category five invulnerability and Cat two speed and strength, but there was a side effect to her invulnerability. She completely lost her sense of touch. Her new skin couldn’t sense anything; touching, being touched, pressure, heat, cold, pain, pleasure, none of it. To be honest I wasn’t quite sure how she hadn’t gone insane after three years of that.

Since then she had been living on the streets, not really sure who to trust. Then, three weeks ago Quartz had noticed her when she had been hit by a truck and walked away, after pulling the driver from the wreckage. She had offered her a place to stay and promised to try to help her regain her sense of feel in exchange for joining her team. It seemed that her new teammates had taken far too much pleasure in trying to get her to feel pain, but nothing they could do hurt her. She had been considering going back to the streets when the mission to recruit us had come up. She had been half in shock when Quartz had tried to incinerate Hiro and that, her short conversation with me, and not wanting to see anyone hurt or killed had decided her.

“You can’t feel anything? Michelle asked, her face a mask of sympathy.

Brooke shook her head with a longing look in her eyes. “I still feel emotions, but nothing external, not since I Activated. Merida’s explosive punches were the first thing I’ve felt in three years. I know I probably sound like some kind of sicko wanting to feel pain, but it’s something.” She looked down at her hands folded in her lap for a moment looking ashamed. “I… about a year ago I lost hope, I tried to… end my suffering. I was hoping poisons might work, I tried everything I could think of, but… I guess I’m as resistant to them as I am to physical damage.”

“I kin unnerstan’ Brooke, I cannae imagine wot tha’s been like fer ya. I’ll keep my promise, an’ Mom is an expert on mutation an’ mutant physiology, so mebbe she kin fin’ a way tae ‘elp ya. We’ll dae e’erythin’ tha’ we kin,” I vowed as I absently petted Peaches in my lap.

There was a chorus of agreement to that from everyone in the room, Fairy and Hyper alike. Brooke started to cry a bit at that and we all pulled her into a group hug. She might not have been able to feel it, but we made damn sure she knew that we were there. Hopefully Mom could help her, and I felt that it might be a good idea for her to talk to Toxin as well. If anyone could understand what she was going through and help her, it was Kendra.

Once we had all let go of Brooke and were comfortable again Hana sighed and gave me an uncertain look. “I guess it’s my turn now. My parents and I are kinda hoping that your mom can help me too. It’s why we were so happy to have an expert on Hypers hired as the Chief of Medicine. We think that there’s a problem with my archetype. When I first Activated I was like this, I had absorbed a bunch of energy, but then I changed into a boy a few days later with mostly different powers. As Hiro I have the Cat three physical abilities, invulnerability, and flight like I told you, but I have this Cat five ability to absorb energy as well. It only seems to kick in though when the energy is too much for my invulnerability to handle.”

“So not wanting to be thought a Cat five, when it’s not a reliable ability, you keep that one quiet,” Tasha concluded.

Hana nodded. “The thing is I don’t have the ability to do anything with that energy as Hiro, or at least I don’t think so, because it changes me back to this form. I can still fly, but the only other powers I have are detecting power levels and the eye-blasts, using the energy that I’ve stored up, but I can’t seem to absorb any more. It’s a pain in the ass and I have to keep concentrating on lowering my power output if I want to look normal. As soon as the energy I’ve stored has all left my system I’ll be back in boy mode again. I’m guessing that will be about two days if I don’t get in any other pitched battles.”

“Could you be some kind of Shifter?” Vanessa queried.

“No, with Shifters transformations are natural and fluid. Every time I change I’m in agony, it’s like I’m being torn apart,” Hana replied with a shake of her head. Then she turned to me and sighed, looking down at her feet. “Sorry Merida, I wanted to let you get to know me more before telling you. I guess the date is off tomorrow. You couldn’t possibly be interested in me like this.”

The thing was that I was still interested. Very interested. It was confusing me, because I had seen a lot of hot girls since becoming one myself and not one of them seemed to make me feel any attraction. While I had been attracted to boys, there hadn’t been many of those either and it quickly went up in flames if they proved themselves to be jerks. That type of physical attraction seemed almost hollow to me until I met Hiro and got to know him better, like it was there, but just not important other than to catch my interest. I just seemed to click with Hiro, more and more as we spent time together and got to know one another. It didn’t really matter to me that she was Hana right now, I was just as attracted, maybe even more so, because she was still the same person inside.

I placed Peaches gently on the couch beside me and cupped Hana’s face in my hand. “I think I’ll be the judge o’ tha’ Hana,” I told her, and then I kissed her with every bit of interest I had.

“Ummm… wow I… uhh… you’re sure?” she fumbled to ask with a stunned smile on her pretty face.

“You’re no’ goin’ tae suddenly star’ likin’ boys on me, are ya?” I asked, giving her a mock-stern look.

“No! Ick! Even before I was a boy, I was attracted to girls. Boys don’t interest me at all, and there’s only one girl that does at the moment,” she insisted.

“Then the date is still on Hana,’” I told her, brushing a strand of hair from her face. A blush painted my face as the chorus of “Awwwwwww” reminded me that we weren’t alone.

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Mystics. Mystics are mutants who tap intae magic energy, one o’ the primal forces o’ nature, an’ use tha’ energy tae affect the world aroun’ them. Magical energy kin only be gathered from ley lines or from forces o’ nature, such as the sun, moon, the ocean, volcanoes an’ such. Mystics are a wee bi’ hard tae classify intae smaller groups since many use the energy they draw on fer a wide variety o’ diff’ren’ things, bu’ there are basically three types, Mages, Focused Talents, an’ Gifted.

Mages are those who able tae use the energy tha’ they gather tae learn an’ cast spells like Sorcerers an’ Sorceresses. Sorcerers an’ sorceresses are no’ really Hypers, they jus’ reg’lar humans who come from family lines wi’ a talent fer usin’ magic. Mages on the other ‘and come intae their magical talents when they Activate. Tha’s really the only diff’rence b’tween the two though as both kin learn a wide variety o’ magic types an’ are only limited by their power le’els, dedication to study, an’ areas o’ interest.

Focused Talents are Mages who only seem tae ‘ave the ability tae learn one or two specific types o’ magic. This could be anythin’, like healin’, transformations, summonin’, attack magic, defensive magic, or any number o’ other diff’ren’ types. They may only be able tae learn one or two tyes o’ magic, bu’ tha’ doesnae make ‘em pusho’ers. Their tight focus on those specific magic types usually make ‘em very powerful, though a lo’ does depen’ on their power le’els as well.

The las’ cat’gory o’ Mystics are Gifted, like Mei. They use the magic energy tha’ they draw on tae power a unique gift, often a mutant power from another class altogether. Because they draw on magic energy though, they usually ‘ave some le’el o’ magical talent as well, an’ kin usually learn magic tae some degree. This is no’ their specialization though, an’ many dinnae ‘ave time tae learn tae use magic on top o’ controllin’ their other powers. Many dinnae e’en ken tha’ they’re drawin’ on magic or ‘ave the potential tae use it a’ all. It takes a lo’ o’ dedication tae become a competent magic user an’ a develop one’s mutant powers as well.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Mystics today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Mediums. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Saturday everyone, here's chapter 31 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 31: Brooke

We used the costume maker in Mom’s lab to get measurements for both Hana and Brooke and to produce a set of underclothes and a fairly basic sundress and sandals for each of them from basic materials. Since all the members of 4-Ward were there and the machine had finished the new costumes for them we were able to give them those. We would need to make another one for Hiro/Hana’s Firefly Identity though since she couldn’t really go around calling herself Megaman looking like that.

It took some convincing, but we got them both to agree to let Tasha design costumes for them as well. Brooke had never really considered doing the costumed crime fighting thing while living on the streets, since survival was more important to her, and she hated the costume that she had been forced to wear as a member of Code Pink. Hana, on the other hand, had never really thought to have an official costume for Firefly since she didn’t get to spend much time in that form, but Tasha had some good ideas. Both of their costumes would take several hours to produce, since they would be made from Mithrilex and not basic materials, once they had chosen one they liked.

Hana ended up choosing a basic black bodysuit, gloves, boots, and mask with single thin gold lines circling her arms and legs at an outward angle just below her knees and elbows and a gold firefly symbol on the chest. Tasha was hoping that Mom had a way to make the gold parts glow like Hana’s hair and eyes so she was going to hold off on producing it for now. As for Brooke, her Safeguard costume would be a silver colored bodysuit, gloves, and boots with a hunter green mask and mid thigh length sleeveless tunic worn overtop the bodysuit. The tunic also had silver embroidery along the neckline and hem and a silver knight’s helm displayed on the chest.

While they were going over making clothes and designing costumes I grabbed my cellphone and made a phone call to Dr. Edwards, in her capacity as the school headmistress. Once her secretary had put me through I could hear a slight groan as Dr. Edwards said, “I saw the news. Tell me exactly what happened at Greenhill Mall, was it your doing Merida?”

I gave a nervous laugh as I tried to decide whether we were really at fault or not. “We… ahh… shouldnae really lay blame, bu’ some crazy girls callin’ themselves Code Pink, came tae town lookin’ fer me an’ ma sisters. They were tryin’ tae recruit us fer some organization called the Shadow Syndicate. The leader blew part o’ the roof off o’ the mall an’ Hiro helped tae distract ‘em so people could escape an’ we could ge’ in costume. I wanted tae jus’ hit ‘em ‘ard an’ fast, bu’ Tasha figured out tha’ two o’ them were Cat fives.”

Dr. Edwards let out a long sigh. “Okay, I can see why you decided that you needed the extra protection of the costumes. I assume that you’re not calling me to tell me they got away, I got that from your interview on the news. Since you mentioned Firefly, I assume that one was a high level EM and Hiro took an attack. Who is this Safeguard you mentioned though, I don’t see any record of that codename among the students.”

“Aye, the leader was a Cat five EM, she was generatin’ these pink an’ purple flames tha’ were nearly as ‘ot as when I go plasma. She tried tae kill Hiro bu’ he absorbed the energy an’ changed, though his ID bracelet was destroyed. Safeguard is… well… she was one o’ them, no’ really one o’ them, bu’ she was ‘omeless an’ ‘ad nowhere else tae go. It was ‘er first mission wi’ them ‘an she didnae wan’ anyone ‘urt. She ‘elped us tae stop ‘em, bu’ one o’ them was a teleporter an’ they go’ away leavin’ her ‘ere wi’ us. She’s no’ a bad person, I couldnae le’ the police take ‘er in when she did the right thing, no’ tha’ she didnae try tae convince me. Brooke needs ‘elp no’ tae be thrown in some mutant prison.” I blurted it all out, uncertain of how she was going to react.

“Relax Merida, I probably would have done the same in your place,” the headmistress reassured me. “I’ll want a telepath to check her story and to get as much information as she has on this Shadow Syndicate. I’ll also want powers testing done for her. Bring her to the school and I’ll have someone waiting with a new ID bracelet for Hana and a visitor’s bracelet for this Brooke.”

“Aye Dr. Edwards, we’ll be there soon. I wan’ tae be in on ‘er power testin’ though. I promised ‘er a fight, no holdin’ back, unless she asks me tae,” I insisted.

“Merida, you’re one of the most powerful energy manipulators I’ve ever heard of, you could end up killing her, to survive a full-out fight with you she’d have to have at least…”

“Cat five invulnerability,” I said finishing her sentence for her. “I gave ‘er a full explosive power punch… twice, an’ she doesnae e’en ‘ave a bruise. It’s causin’ her a lot o’ problems actually, she cannae feel anythin’. I think Mom needs tae take a look a’ her.”

I heard a sharp intake of breath from the other end before Dr. Edwards’ response. “Once you get here take her to the medical center first. Hana will probably want to see your mother too, so you might as well bring her too. We’ll worry about the interview and powers testing once Blair has looked her over.”

“Aye, we’ll be there as quick as we kin,” I replied. Then I disconnected the call, put my phone back in my purse, and turned to the others. “Okay e’eryone, I’m s’posed tae take Brooke an’ Hana tae the school fer medical tests, an’ then Brooke will prob’ly ’ave powers testin’ an’ an interview too. Ya dinnae all ‘ave tae come if’n ya dinnae wan’ tae.”

“Nope we’re coming Mer,” Vanessa said as Tasha and the twins nodded their agreement. “We’ll be there to support Brooke and Hana.”

“You better believe we will,” Garret agreed for the members of 4-Ward.

“We’re coming too!” Tink put in. “Hana is a good friend and I think Brooke is going to be one too. We fairies stick by our friends, right girls?”

Fawn nodded her agreement, holding out her hand. “Faith…”

“Trust,” Silvermist added as she placed a hand atop Fawn’s.

Then all five Fairies had their hands joined together as they called out, “And pixie dust!”

Lindsey squeed in excitement. “They did the thing!”

Mei seemed to be sizing up Brooke and was whispering to Shu, just barely loud enough for me to hear. “I’m thinking Vidia for her. Do you think we can get Mom to take in Brooke too? I mean there’s already five of us.”

“I dunno,” Shu whispered back with a bit of a pout. “We might have to use the cute factor, but she needs us. She doesn’t have anybody, just like it used to be for all of us. She warned us about Emerald’s acid touch, if she didn’t…”

“Enough girls,” I told them. “We’ll ask Mom aboot it, an’ ‘opefully she’ll agree. Shu, dae ya think tha’ ya kin get us all tae the school entrance?”

“You got it Merida!” Shu replied as the air in the doorway out of the lab began to shimmer. “Okay everyone, the portal is open, just step on through the doorframe and into my dimension.” Soon we had all stepped inside into a vast empty space, where Shu then closed the portal and opened a new one, through which we could see the gates of Pacific Seaside Academy.

I was glad that I had decided to get Shu to create a shortcut for us, despite the fact that we had to wait for almost ten minutes for Garret’s dad to bring the ID bracelets for Hana and Brooke. We probably would have made an odd sight even in Costa Verde with one teenage male werewolf walking down the street with nine girls ranging from twelve to sixteen, five Fairies, and me carrying a tiny pink dragon in my arms. Hana seemed to feel better traveling that way too since it meant that she didn’t have to keep concentrating on lowering her energy output enough that her hair and eyes weren’t glowing.

Once Hana was wearing her new school ID bracelet and Brooke had her guest ID bracelet on, we all headed inside and toward the medical center. I walked straight up to the receptionist’s desk to talk to Cathy, who I had met when Mom had brought me and Vanessa in for examinations the morning that we moved into our new house. “Cathy, is ma Mom busy? I ‘ave a couple o’ possible patients ‘ere fer her a’ Dr. Edwards’ request.”

Cathy looked up from some paperwork to smile at me, her eyebrows rising a bit at the size of our group. “She’s just finishing with a patient Merida, you can take the patients into the med lab to wait for her. I presume that Miss Forrester is one of those patients? You and Fawn may join them for now if they’re okay with that, but I’ll have to ask the others to wait outside for now so it doesn’t get too crowded in there.”

“Aye, thanks Cathy,” I replied with a smile before turning to Brooke and Hana.

Brooke nodded, seemingly a bit uncertain. “I know that you said she’s your Mom, but I’ve never liked seeing doctors, I’d feel better having someone with me.”

“I don’t mind you being there with me Merida, I mean I should have told you about all this sooner, and you are sort of my potential girlfriend. It’ll probably just be blood tests and stuff for me anyway if she needs to do genetic tests. And I might need you to… umm… explain things,” Hana said, looking a bit nervous and awkward.

I led them both into the med lab with Peaches still held in my arms and Fawn riding atop my shoulder. A few minutes later Mom walked in and let out a relieved sigh. “When Cathy tol’ me ya were here, an’ that ya had patients fer me, I was expectin’ someone to be seriously hurt. Nobody looks injured though, so why don’t ya introduce me to yuir friends an’ explain what this is all about?”

I took a deep breath and looked from Mom to my companions before letting out a slight sigh. This could be an awkward explanation. “Mom this ‘ere is Brooke, an’ she was wit’ a group o’ supervillains wot came after me an’ the others. She’s no’ a bad guy though, an’ she ‘as some invulnerability related issues tha’ I’m hopin’ ya kin ‘elp her wit’. An’ this is Hana, though ya ‘ave kinda already met ‘er… as Hiro.”

Mom looked all three of us over for a moment before sighing and rubbing her temples. “This is goin’ tae be a long explanation isn’t it?”

One long explanation later Mom was up to date on not only what had happened at the mall, but also Brooke’s history, her current situation, the unwelcome side effect to the invulnerability, and Hiro/Hana’s issues and fears that there was something wrong with his/her archetype. First Mom took some blood and various other genetic samples from Hana, to be compared with samples from her time as Hiro, and run through various test and a specialized genetic scanner. She also had Brooke pluck one of her hairs for similar scanning since the blonde had yet to find anything strong enough to cut her hair yet. That certainly explained why her hair was tied back in a ponytail and as long as mine at thigh length. Her nails were fairly long too, and ragged looking since she had to chew them to trim them.

“The genetic scans won’t be done ‘til tomorrow or the next day,” Mom advised. “There’s no’ much I can really do ‘til then, so you girls can head off an’ grab some lunch before going to see Alana about powers testin’ for Brooke. I’ll try to figure out if I can find some way to help Brooke’s problem, maybe somethin’ on the tech side o’ things.”

“Aye Mom, thanks fer the ‘elp,” I said as I directed Hana and Brooke toward the door.

I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. “Brooke needs a place to stay?” At my nod she looked thoughtful for a moment. “What do yuir instincts say Merida?”

“I think she needs us, an’ I think she’s a good girl. I’m fair certain tha’ the telepath’s will prove tha’ she’s no’ lyin’. Despite all tha’ she’s been through she wants tae dae the right thing, she was willin’ tae let me take ‘er out tae the cops e’en though she didnae dae anythin’ criminal, because she realized tha’ she was on the wrong side a’ first. It takes a stand-up girl tae dae tha’,” I told her evenly.

“An’ what do the other’s think o’ her? Does Tasha ‘ave any feelin’s about her?” she pressed. She was thinking about helping her, I could tell, she had been since she found out that she was orphaned and had been living on the streets. She wouldn’t have been Blair if she hadn’t been. She just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a bad idea that might bite us in the ass later, and she wanted to make sure that we would all be okay with it if she did choose to take her in.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I honestly told her, “Tasha’s senses tol’ her the same, she didnae wan’ anyone hurt an’ she was lookin’ fer a way out, fer all o’ us. She tried tae protec’ the twins Mom, an’ she tol’ Shu jus’ wot she needed tae hear. She e’en tol’ Hana how tae stop Quartz afore they all escaped. ‘Nessa likes ‘er, the Fairies liked ‘er as soon as they met ‘er, an’ the twins are hopin’ tha’ yuir goin’ tae bring ‘er intae the family. We dae ‘ave tha’ extra bedroom, wot wi’ the twins sharin’ one.”

She let out a sigh, but she was smiling. “I’ll go take Andy out fer lunch and we’ll talk about it, what’s one more mouth to feed after yuirs? I think he’ll be fine wit’ it, an’ if he is I’ll call Tara at the HPP an’ see if we can get her put into ma custody an’ push the adoption papers through like we did with the others. No more strays after this though.”

“Aye Mom, I’ll keep it quiet until ya tell me fer shoor whether it’s a go,” I promised.

“Okay, come by an’ see me after yuir done wi’ Brooke’s testin’ an’ her interview. If it’s a go I’ll ‘ave some errands fer ya to run this afternoon.” She told me before grabbing her purse and leading me out to where the others were waiting to tell Cathy that she was going for lunch.

I suggested to those waiting for me that we do the same before Brooke’s testing and we all made our way together to the Grotto for a bite to eat. Brooke seemed uncertain about loading up her tray, and I thought that she was probably used to just eating what she could scavenge and the buffet at the Grotto could be pretty imposing at first. Vanessa put a hand on Brooke’s shoulder and told her encouragingly, “Go on take as much as you want, there’s plenty to choose from and you’re a student here too, or soon will be. They’re used to hungry students here, just look at Merida’s tray, and she’ll probably still go back for seconds.”

Brooke was looking at my tray, or rather she was staring at the heaping mountain of food atop it. She looked from it, to me and then back to the tray, her jaw looking about ready to hit the floor. “What? How?”

“You broke her Merida, now we have to keep her.” Tasha teased as she patted Brooke on the other shoulder. “She’s an Energy Manipulator Brooke, she has a crazy metabolism. Didn’t Quartz have that problem? It’s pretty common among powerful EMs, or so we’ve been told.”

“I… I never really hung out with any of them,” The tall blonde admitted uncertainly as we all took our loaded trays to the table where Jordyn was sitting and waving at us. “I stayed in the room they put me up in and they had food brought to me. The only times any of them came to visit me themselves were when they tried using their powers on me to see if they could hurt me and when we got the assignment to recruit you.”

“Sounds more like you were their prisoner than their teammate," Garret said with a low growl.

“Don’t worry Brooke, you have real friends now and they won’t treat you that way,” Periwinkle said from atop Shu’s shoulder.

“That’s right Peri, she’s got Fairy friends now, and Fairies are friends for life,” Tink agreed with her sister.

We all placed our trays on the table and were all sitting down as Brooke started to cry. “I… I…don’t…” she blubbered a bit.

The twins glomped her and hugged her tight, not caring whether she could feel it or not, she needed a hug. “We’re here for you Brooke. Don’t think of those pink losers again. You’re part of G-Force now and we’ve got your back!” I wasn’t sure which twin said it, but I was proud of them both.

I placed Peaches beside the plate of food that Fawn put on the table for the small pink dragon. As I did my best to cut it all up into bite sized portions for her I gave Brooke a stern look. “Aye, we go’ yuir back, an’ so does 4-Ward. Right now though, ya need tae eat up, yuir goin’ tae need yuir energy if’n yuir goin’ toe tae toe wi’ me after we eat.”

“Yeah, Merida’s gonna kick your butt,” Fawn added gleefully as we started to eat our meal together. Then she carefully added, “But only until you ask her to stop. She’s not mean and doesn’t want to hurt you too badly.”

Jordyn seemed to take that as the right moment to get a word in. “Hey everyone, so where’s Hiro and who are the two new girls?”

This time Lindsey did the explaining as the rest of us ate. Once she was finished she asked, “Did you bring the box from home like I asked?”

“Wow, and I thought my life was weird when I turned into a four-armed girl, it’s gotten like four times as weird since meeting all of you,” Lindsey’s cousin muttered before nodding in response to the question. “Yup, I brought it, it was the red jewelry box right?” She bent over to start looking in her backpack before producing a small red jewelry box with a lock on it in her lower right hand.

“Yeah that’s the one,” Linsey agreed, taking the box and unlocking it with a key on her keychain. Inside were several rings, identical to the ones that they had given us at the birthday party yesterday. “I’m glad that we got MetalMax to make these in bulk. Here you go Hana, your replacement.” She handed it over to her teammate before pulling two more out and handing one to both Jordyn and Brooke.

Both girls looked at her questioningly and Michelle decided to answer since her girlfriend was just sitting there with a teasing smile. “Well Brooke, you’re with G-Force now and they all got their rings last night at the party, so you should have one too. And as for you Jordyn; Hiro, Garret, Linds, and I were talking about it and we want you to think about being a reserve member for 4-Ward. Your powers may not be much physically until you can form a spirit contract, but we’re all pretty new to this, you’ve got a costume now, and having a Medium could be really useful if we ever run into anything supernatural. Believe you me, that happens more often here than you might think.”

Both girls had grudgingly accepted the rings, and the new positions that came with them, by the time we were all done eating. Then we had to part ways though as the members of 4-Ward all had busy afternoons ahead. Garret had to get home to finish some errands he had been doing for his Mom when his ring activated. Jordyn was helping to set up the spare bedroom at Lindsey’s house, where she would be staying when not in her dorm room. Lindsey and Michelle wanted to make sure that they had all the gear and supplies ready for when we left for our double date the next morning. As for Hana, she needed to go let her Mom know that she was a girl again, before she went home to make sure that she was prepared for the date too. She had gear and supplies to get ready too, and she needed to add girl clothes to the boy clothes she had already packed.

We said our goodbyes and Hana and I shared a quick kiss before we parted company and my sisters and I led Brooke to the Headmistress’ office. Once we were inside the secretary called Dr. Edwards and, instead of asking for us to come in, she came out with a tall bald man with chalk white skin and piercing violet eyes. She approached us with a smile, despite the serious look in her eyes as she looked Brooke over. “Hello girls, I take it that this is Brooke. Welcome to Pacific Seaside Academy Brooke, I’m the headmistress Dr. Edwards and this is Neuron. Before we take you to test your powers I’d like to ask you a few questions. Neuron is just here to make sure that you’re answering honestly and that nobody has done anything to mentally coerce you or manipulate your mind.”

The twins started to object, but Brooke placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “Don’t worry, it’s okay, she’s just protecting her students. I was with what I’m pretty sure was an evil organization, and now I’m suddenly on your side. I can get it, I’d probably do the same in her place. I’ll answer as honestly as I can, but they don’t know me well enough to trust me completely, none of you do.” Then she turned to Dr. Edwards and Neuron and looked them both dead in the eyes. “Ask me your questions Headmistress, I am not afraid.”

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Mediums. Mediums are mutants who kin communicate with ghosts or nature spirits an’/or sense an’ manipulate spirit energy, the energy tha’ souls are made from. There are three gen’ral types o’ Mediums: Channelers, Contractors, an’ Souldancers.

Channelers are the mos’ common type o’ Mediums an’ gen’rally are anywhere from a Cat’gory one tae a Cat three. They cannae sense the spirit energy o’ the livin’, bu’ they kin sense ghosts an’ nature spirit’s an’ kin allow them tae take o’er their bodies fer short periods o‘ time.

Contractors kin sense the spirit energy o’ ghosts an’ nature spirits, but also tha’ o’ the livin’ as well, an’ sometimes manipulate it tae some degree. They are also much more suited tae hostin’ spirts in their bodies an’ kin make contracts with powerful spirits to use their powers, while the spirit’s live in their bodies. These contracts kin be short term or permanent, bu’ the costs fer either kin be high, an’ largely depen’ on the spirit an’ ‘ow well the contract is negotiated. Once made these contracts are bindin’ tae both the Contractor an’ the spirit an’ as proof a mark will appear somewhere on the Contractor’s body ‘til the contract is up.

Souldancers cannae host spirits in their bodies, bu’ they kin sense an’ manipulate spirit energy better an’ more naturally than any other Mediums, sometimes wi’out realizin’ tha’ they’re doin’ it. They kin move souls from one body tae another, absorb spirit energy, an’ some kin e’en send it intae non-livin’ objects tae bring them tae life.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Mediums today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Elementals. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Happy Saturday everyone, here's chapter 32 of MSPD. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 32: Tests

Brooke’s interview with Dr. Edwards and Neuron was a huge relief for everyone involved. Not only did she not harbor any deep hidden desires to kill us all in our sleep or something like that, but Neuron had cleared her of any mental tampering, hypnotic suggestions, serious mental issues, or any evidence at all that anyone had played around in her head. She was exactly the person she seemed to be, which seemed to come as a big a relief to her as it did to the Headmistress. She had been relatively lucky that Code Pink hadn’t had a psychic, since we now knew that even though Brooke was invulnerable on the outside, she was vulnerable to, and probably could be harmed by, psychic attacks.

Brooke hadn’t been able to give them any real information on the Shadow Syndicate itself, but she had been able to give some good details about her former ‘teammates’. She had a general knowledge of all their powers, weaknesses, physical descriptions, as well as their given names and the location of the apartment in Albuquerque, New Mexico that they worked out of. As soon as they had gotten that dose of information, Neuron left us to get in contact with the HAA office and a super hero team based there to see if they could be apprehended, or at the very least get more information from that apartment.

With her fears about a risk to her students allayed, Dr. Edwards officially welcomed Brooke to the school and guided us all down to the school’s sublevels to do Brooke’s testing in one of the PDE rooms. The Headmistress began setting up a simulation while Shu opened up the dimension she called the changing room, which held our costumes and some rough benches to sit on, so Brooke and I could change clothes. As I changed into my costume and Brooke changed into the bodysuit with all the sensors built in for powers testing, she seemed eager, but nervous. “Wot’s the matter Brooke? Ya dinnae ‘ave tae worry aboot passin’ this tes’, they jus’ wan’ tae ge’ an idea o’ how powerful ya are an’ wot other powers ya may ‘ave.”

“I guess I’m just not used to all of this attention,” she admitted as she finished getting out of her clothes. “And now I’m kind of worried about the possibility of a telepath doing something to me to make me hurt people I care about, or do other things I wouldn’t normally do.”

“Dinnae worry aboot it, most o’ us face the same risks,” I attempted to reassure her as I finished shedding my own clothes and reached for the bodysuit of my costume. “Once ya ge’ issued a proper school ID bracelet ya should be safe from anythin’ like tha’. These things ‘ave a ton o’ useful features, an’ one is tha’ they’re magicked wit’ a spell tae preven’ mind readin’ on the wearer. I’ve been tol’ tha’ it should work fer up tae a Cat three telepath. There’s a lo’ o’ people wi’ secrets ‘ere who dinnae wan’ other students pokin’ aroun’ in their ‘eads, accidental or otherwise. E’en a Cat four or five would ‘ave tae intentionally probe tae get’ pas’ the mental barrier this provides. If someone tried tha’ wi’ any o’ us Tasha would catch on an’ the rest o’ us would be there tae ‘elp as soon as possible.”

“I guess that makes me feel a little better, why would Tasha know though?” she asked. She gave the bodysuit with its attached sensors a long look and then began shimmying into it.

I thought about my answer for a moment before speaking, finishing with the bodysuit and reaching for my boots to tug them on. “Tasha is no’ jus’ a teleporter. She’s a Cat four clairvoyant an’ she kin’ mentally speak wit’ anyone she’s familiar wi’ by formin’ a link wi’ them. It’s a sort o’ open line ‘tween her an’ anyone she’s linked with tha’ kin be used by either party whenever they wan’. She’s been developin’ it wi’ me, ma sisters, the Fairies, an’ Mom intae a sorto’ psychic conference call. Normally it’s on call waitin’, bu’ any o’ us kin speak through it when we need tae, an’ she kin still sense things through it, like if one o’ us is in trouble. She ‘as this theory tha’ wit’ all our minds connected a’ the time, e’en if it’s passive tha’ it’ll make it harder fer telepaths tae force their way intae one o’ our minds. Sort o’ a psychic interference through crowd noise.”

Brooke looked confused and paused in her dressing. “Wouldn’t the bracelets stop something like that if they’ve got a spell on them to prevent reading the wearer’s thoughts?”

“Aye, one would think, bu’ we’ve ‘ad no problems so far,” I replied with a shrug before tugging on my gloves. “Tasha thinks it could be ‘cause ‘er powers dinnae actually let her read minds an’ look intae mem’ries, jus’ communicate. It could also be tha’ the links were formed afore we started wearin’ the bracelets, so the connection was already active an’ consensual. She’ll wan’ tae form a link wi’ ya afore ya ge’ yuir official bracelet tae bring ya intae the loop I think, yuir one o’ us now an’ it ‘elps a lo’ durin’ fights. Dinnae worry, it doesnae hurt or anythin’. None o’ us e’en knew she could dae tha’, or tha’ the links were there, ‘til the first time she shouted in ma brain. Now she’s gotten better a’ formin’ the link consciously. Is there anythin’ else worryin’ ya?”

I could see her face flush in the ruddy light of the construct I had created so we could see what we were doing in the darkness of this dimension. “I… I’m a bit nervous about going back to school. It’s been like three years and the school in the commune was really small. This place is huge, and I’m going to be so far behind. I’m probably going to have to start as a freshman. And where am I going to live?”

“Aye,” I agreed sadly as I secured my cloak around my shoulders. “I’m a wee bi’ nervous aboot startin’ school maself. Trus’ me three years is no’ so long. ‘Sides that’d pu’ ya in the same grade as me an’ the members o’ 4-Ward, an’ tha’ wouldnae be so bad. Ya prob’ly dinnae have tae worry aboot bullies a’ leas’. Jus’ try an’ keep a low profile though, Mei, Hana, an’ I will be doin’ the same. Cat fives are rare an’ people may wan’ tae be yuir friends fer the wrong reasons. We’ll fin’ ya a place, tae live an’ no matter wot ya will still ‘ave yer dorm room. Some students live in the dorms year-round.”

The blonde girl seemed to consider what I was saying for a moment before nodding and breathing a sigh of relief. “Yeah, I don’t even want to think about what being bullied by kids with super powers is like. As for friends, I’ll be choosing mine more carefully now, I don’t want a repeat of Code Pink.” There was a grim look on her face as she said the last and zipped up the bodysuit.

“Aye, well let’s no’ stay ‘ere all day chattin’ when I promised ya a good fight,” I said with a grin as I led her back out of the dimension and into the control room for the PDE room.

We were In the middle of a large city and had been given roles for this test. I would be playing a crazed villain willing to destroy the city if necessary to draw out my nemesis and defeat her. Brooke would be playing as Safeguard, a hero whose job would be to protect innocents, played by holograms and magical constructs, and stop me if possible once we started fighting. The idea was for her to get a feel for keeping an eye out for civilians and preventing collateral damage if possible and for me to see how much her invulnerability could really take.

We had stepped through separate portals to appear in different parts of the city and I hadn’t found her yet, but I wasn’t about to go searching for her. I was the villain in this scenario so I just needed to bring her to me. I powered up my force field and flew toward the tallest building that I could find, creating a sphere construct around me and filled it with near white hot explosiveness as I expanded it. Then, reminding myself that this was a simulation so I wouldn’t feel too guilty I plummeted down to the base of the building, continuing to feed it power and increase it’s size. By the time I hit the side of the building at ground level the field around me was a seething sphere of pure explosive, near plasma hot energy a good thirty feet in diameter. I knew that I wasn’t anywhere near my limit and that I could have made a field a lot bigger, but I wasn’t sure how much damage this would do and I just wanted to bring the building down and I really wasn’t used to letting loose.

The resulting explosion did indeed bring the building down, and took almost half of the rest of the city with it. It was like a damn nuke going off and, once the smoke had cleared, I stared around in horror in the aftermath as I heard several voices gasp over my earpiece in a mix of awe and horror as Vanessa muttered, “Holy shit.” That was a lot powerful than I thought it was going to be, and only reinforced the thought that I really needed to get a handle on controlling my powers. Thank goodness this was a simulation.

I was a bit worried that I might have seriously hurt Brooke though, so I quickly got some altitude to take a good look around. Movement caught my eye and there, about two blocks away from ground zero, I saw something moving and I rushed toward it. A large piece of rubble shifted as Brooke strained to lift it over her head and toss it aside. “Ouch, okay that hurt a bit. Holy crap Merida, did you really have to drop a city on me?” she muttered as dusted herself off, looking more annoyed than injured. She was a little shaky as she got to her feet and I thought she had some abrasions or burns at first, though they seemed to quickly vanish so I thought that I may have imagined them.

“I was… umm tryin’ tae ge’ yuir attention,” I muttered self consciously. “I still dinnae really ken ma own limits. Thank goodness I didnae try tae use ma full power, aye?”

I could hear Dr. Edwards groaning over my earpiece. “You did all that and you were still holding back? I knew I should have tested more than just your fine control with those constructs. I’m going to have to have Kasumi work with you on figuring out just what your limits are. With your condition you could be a danger to everyone in the city if you can’t get proper control.”

I winced at that, far too aware of how dangerous I was as I looked down at my glowing red hands. This was why I was holding back though, I couldn’t risk going all out. Too many people could get hurt. “Aye,” I said with a guilty sigh.

“Well there goes protecting the innocents,” Brooke grumbled as she flew toward me. She wasn’t a very fast flyer, I could have easily dodged or outrun her but she had wanted a fight so she was going to get one. As soon as she was in range I delivered a full-strength punch to her jaw, my fist covered in a sphere of explosive energy just a little bigger than I had used when last we had fought. I was going to try and gradually increase the explosive output through bigger constructs and use my full field-enhanced strength until we could figure out her limits for taking damage.

Her reaction time and strength weren’t quite as fast as mine while I was wearing my force field, but she was close, maybe a high Cat two or a low Cat three for her strength and speed. My punch hit and she winced against the pain, rubbing her jaw and grinning at me. We traded punches for a while, but she didn’t have much fighting experience so I made a mental note to have her join our morning training sessions and teach her some strategy as well. I had managed to start hitting her hard enough to start leaving bruises, but not quite break bones or cause serious damage when I noticed that the bruise I had left on her right cheek was quickly fading. This time I knew that I wasn’t imagining it. “Yer a regen tae?”

“How am I supposed to know?” she asked as she launched a kick at my side. “Nobody has ever hurt me this much before. This is great! I can feel all of it!”

I flew off, keeping slow enough so she could keep me in sight, until I found what I was looking for. A school bus had been sent flying by the first explosion and had rolled into a mangled mess that only somewhat retained its original form. I grabbed it by the front end, knowing that it was really going to push the limits of my field-enhanced strength, and then I hefted it, groaning with the effort as I swung it at my oncoming opponent like a giant baseball bat.

I just managed to see Brooke’s eyes widen in surprise as she muttered, “Oh crap.” Then I connected with the bus, but rather than hurting her, just connecting caused the bus to rip in half from the blow. Brooke was still floating there without a mark on her and grinning at me. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

I did do better, I went straight back to hand to hand, using full strength and slowly increasing the size of explosive constructs and the explosive energy that they contained to get a better idea for what both her invulnerability and seeming regenerative abilities could handle. All too soon Dr. Edwards called a halt to the session when I managed to cause a painful sounding crack to Brooke’s ribs. A portal opened near us and the Headmistress’ voice came over our earpieces. “Okay girls, that’s enough for today. “I’ve gotten a good idea of what Brooke is capable of, so you can both get changed and then take Brooke for a checkup with Dr. Ainsley, the sensors said you broke two of her ribs. Her regeneration should take care of it, but better safe than sorry.”

We had changed back into regular clothes and Dr. Edwards warned us not to talk about what happened in the testing session with anyone. Then she shared her findings with us before sending Brooke back to the medical center with me, my sisters, and the Fairies. Brooke definitely had mid range Category Five invulnerability, which was pretty impressive on its own, but she also seemed to be on the borderline between Cat two and three in regeneration, speed, and strength. Her flight capabilities weren’t really all that impressive at Category one, but she was going to be able to take a lot of punishment and even give some back when in a fight.

Brooke’s ribs were mostly healed by the time we got there and there didn’t seem to be anything else wrong with her, but Mom wanted to run her through some of her various scanners as well. She had come up with a theory about what may be causing Brooke’s lack of feeling during lunch and she was hoping to confirm it. Once she had finished the scans she brought Brooke back into the waiting area so that we could all hear the results. “Okay girls, so I think tha’ I’ve figured out why Brooke can’t feel anythin’. She doesn’t jus’ have invulnerable skin, her whole body is invulnerable, inside an’ out, an’ she seems ta have a redundant regeneration factor too. The problem is tha’ wi’ her hole body bein’ invulnerable, tha’ includes her various mechanoreceptors. They can’t sense pressure, heat, cold or pain, because she’s effectively immune ta those sensations at a cellular level. Therefore they aren’t sendin’ the correspondin’ signals ta the postcentral gyrus o’ her brain.”

“Is there anything you can do for her Mom?” Tasha asked, her voice mirroring the concern that all of us were feeling.

“I have some ideas, an’ I’ll star’ workin’ on ‘em as soon as I get home tonight. I may be able to use an idea I had to help Toxin, since it won’t work for her. You know I’ll do everythin’ I can girls,” she told us all seriously. “For now though, Brooke will need help settlin’ in. I talked ta Andy and we’ve agreed tha’ she can stay wit’ us fer as long as she likes. Tara has sent me all the appropriate forms to ‘ave Brooke put in my custody an’ ta fast-track an adoption if tha’s what Brooke wants. I’ll need some information from ya ta fill them out Brooke, but it’s all ready ta go if ya decide you want to stay with us an’ be part o’ our crazy family. So what do ya say?”

We were all hoping that she’d say yes, I could see it on my sisters’ and the Fairies faces. Brooke looked at us all uncertainly before giving Mom a confused look. “I… ummm… why? You barely even know me.”

“Because you need us,” Shu said solemnly, “and you proved yourself by trying to protect us and do the right thing.”

“Yeah, we kinda owe you and I think you’d make a great big sister,” Mei quickly agreed.

“You know, we were all orphans before we met and Mom offered to take us in. We’ve been through hell together and you may be coming late to the party, but I think you deserve a loving family as much as any of us,” Vanessa put in.

“I could sense that you were a good person and that you belonged with us since you first gave that pathetic attempt at looking like you were attacking me,” Tasha added with a smirk. “You’ll accept, I know it. You can’t fool a clairvoyant.”

“Yuir a member o’ G-Force now, yuir wearin’ the ring an’ e’erythin’,” I told her with a grin once the others had said their piece. “G-Force is no’ jus’ a team, we’re a bloody fam’ly an’ ya bes’ be getting’ use tae tha’.”

Mom laughed. “See Brooke, my daughters are all good judges o’ character, and goin’ by wot they tol’ me I’m guessin’ tha’ yuir no’ so bad in tha’ department yuirself. I’m no’ gonna force ya, but ya have a family here if ya want it.”

Five Fairies rushed Brooke then latching onto her with hugs. She might not have been able to feel them, but she’d have to have been blind not to see the affection as their tiny voices all drilled her. “So... Whaddaya say... Are you in… We’ll have so much fun together… Please…”

Her mouth tipped upward in a smile. “Okay, I’m in. It’ll be nice to have a family again.”

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Elementals. Elementals are mutants who ‘ave abilities related tae one o’ the elements. There are the four basic elements o’ Earth, Air, Water, or Fire, but there are also related elements such as Metal, Electricity, Wood, Ice, an’ prob’ly others tha I dinnae e’en ken aboot. Puttin’ aside the elements themselves though, there are four types o’ Elementals; Kinetics, Morphs, Full Elementals, an’ Symbolic Elementals.

Kinetics are Elementals who kin control the element tha’ they’re aligned tae. They’re able tae form it intae shapes or move it aroun’ usin’ only the power o’ their minds, much like telekinetics kin manipulate objects, though they are limited only tae the element tha’ they control.

Morphs are sort o’ like limited Shifters. They are able tae change their human bodies intae the element tha’ they’re aligned tae. Some those are stuck in elemental forms permanen’ly or kin only change tae human few short periods o’ time.

Full Elementals are those who possess the abilities o’ both Kinetics an’ Morphs. They kin’ control their element an’ change intae a form comprised o’ tha’ element. Usually their control an’ power is increased when in their elemental form. Electro-Cute would be classified as a Full Elemental.

Finally we ‘ave Symbolic Elementals like ma sister ‘Nessa. Symbolic Elementals are a recently discovered an’ rare classification an’ are a lo’ like Full Elementals, ‘cept tha’ they dinnae change form intae their element itself. Upon Activatin’ they change intae a form tha’ they mentally associate wi’ their element, which is why Nessa is a Mermaid. Often, in addition tae their kinetic abilities, these elementals often ‘ave some limited Shifter abilities an’ body adaptations or powers specific tae their new forms an’ element.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Elementals today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Enhanced. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 33 of MSPD, I'm sorry that it's a day late, but I ran into some technical issues. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 33: Preparations

With it having been decided that Brooke would be joining the family, and G-Force, Mom planned on taking the next day off from the clinic and just being on call. She wanted time to be able to get everything Brooke would need for when school started next week, and she wanted to try to get it all done before the long weekend. Brooke would need clothes and other necessities, school uniforms, some personal touches for her bedroom and dorm room, a phone, and Mom also wanted to go to the bank and get a trust fund set up for her like she had for the rest of us.

Mom mentioned that the shopping probably wouldn’t take that long, in fact some of it we could probably manage that afternoon. She actually planned on getting Brooke’s clothes through the Taylors, since she wanted durability for Brooke’s clothes, and it would save time. That would take some time though, as would getting Brooke her weapons certification from Sam Jackson and her license for hero work at City Hall. Except for those things, the phone, and the trip to the bank we could probably buy everything else with one of Mom’s credit cards that day. I still needed to get some food and supplies anyway, for the double date/camping trip, since Lindsey, Michelle, Hana, and I had planned on an early start the next morning.

I was as the same time both disappointed and happy about the prospect of a late afternoon shopping spree. One on hand, I wanted to be there for Brooke to give her my support and spend time with all of my sisters. On the other hand though, all of that time would be spent shopping. I may have found my own personal style, and I enjoyed spending time with my sisters, but I could still only take shopping in doses, though at least there would be a purpose to the trip. I still didn’t really get just aimlessly wandering around the mall, just for the sake of doing so.

Mom would have just taken the rest of the afternoon off to come with us, but she needed to be at the school, since she was expecting a large delivery of materials to the Tinker lab that Dr. Edwards had assigned for her personal use. The materials were worth a lot and included everything that she would need to finish the infiltration suits that she had been contracted to make for the HAA. She still had months before the contracted delivery date for the fifty suits, but she wanted to get the automated production process started as soon as possible. She was all too eager to be finished with the project, and to be able to cut ties with the agency that had been ready to throw me under the bus at the first opportunity.

So, armed with one of Mom’s credit cards that had an ungodly high spending limit, we all left the school grounds and Brooke turned in her visitor ID bracelet to the security guard at the front gate, as she had been instructed. Then I quickly called Hana to ask her advice on where to shop while Greenhill Mall would be closed for repair. With that done we headed to Shoreside Mall to do our shopping. It didn’t have Surf n’ Turf so I could get spelunking gear, but Hana had assured me over the phone that Shoreside Mall was much bigger than Greenhill, and would be fairly easy to get to.

With the directions that Hana had given me, the mall proved easy to find once everyone, except me and Brooke, was pixie dusted and we all took to the air. We headed southwest as she had instructed heading toward the shore until we saw the massive glass dome that shone tin the bright sunlight. The mall was apparently over three million square feet with the giant dome at the center and had three floors with about four hundred different stores. It looked massive as we approached and I could see why it was considered one of the big attractions of Costa Verde.

Peaches had snoozed contentedly, dreaming happy dreams in my arms the entire way, nuzzled against my chest and held securely in my arms. It was a little weird at first, but I was starting to get used to sensing the tiny dragon’s emotions, and how she seemed to react to some of mine, even when we weren’t together. When we had been at home earlier, discussing the attack by Code Pink and what would become of Brooke, Fawn had mentioned that Peaches had become really agitated right around the time we had been fighting Code Pink. Mei and Lindsey had explained that this empathic bond was due to the feydragon imprinting process between the hatchling and their ‘mother’, or me in this case.

Peaches was starting to stir now as we all just hovered above the mall and took it all in. “Would ya look a’ tha’...” I trailed off as I sensed my dragon waking and cooed softly at her, gently caressing her with one of my hands while still holding her carefully.

“Wow, that place is huge!” Vanessa said in awe. “With this place here, why the hell did Code Pink attack Greenhill Mall?”

“Sapphire,” Brooke quickly explained. “Somehow Quartz’s contact with the Shadow Syndicate had some surveillance photos of some of you and Sapphire is able to teleport to within a mile of a target who’s face she’s seen. Once we looked around from the air, and saw the mall, Quartz figured that that’s where we’d be most likely to find five teenage girls.”

We didn’t have the time to check out the whole mall of course, that would have taken an entire day, or maybe even longer. With that in mind we tried to keep to one section of the mall and get everything we needed there. Tasha’s sixth sense came in useful there as she led us unerringly from one store to the next. By dinner time we had managed to get Brooke’s school supplies, some decorations and personal effects for her rooms, personal hygiene stuff, and some other necessities. All that remained to get for our new sister was a nightgown for that night and a change of clothes for the next day.

For me, we found an outdoors gear store where I got two massive coolers to put food and drinks in and some good hiking boots. Once we were out of that store, and I was safe from onlookers in a special needs washroom, I placed my purchases in the portable pocket dimension that Shu had made me as a birthday gift. Then Tasha insistently dragged me toward a store called Magick Time. It turned out that it was a store where local magic users could buy hard to get supplies, spell components, and even tools to help train them train familiars.

My sisters and their Fairy companions then left me and Fawn standing outside the door, promising to meet me in the food court once they had gotten our new sister her change of clothes and sleepwear. They would have come in with me, but Tasha felt that all of us going into that crowded little store at once might be a problem. I stared at the store window a moment before shrugging and heading toward the door, “C’mon Fawn let’s see wot they ‘ave tha’ might be useful.”

The lady who ran the place was upon us almost as soon as we entered the door. “Well good evening, and welcome to Magic Time, I’m Penny, the owner. How can I help a pretty young witch like yourself?”

I shook my head and tried to explain. “I’m Merida, bu’ I’m no’ a witch. I’m no’ any kind o’ magic user. I recen’ly go’ ma new l’il friend ‘ere though, an’ I’m tol’ that’ they’re pretty smart, so I wan’ tae start trainin’ her while she’s still young.”

She looked down at Peaches in my arm and started gushing almost immediately. “Oh! A feydragon, and such a lovely one too! How did you ever get one of those if you’re not a magic user? They’re not easy to come by, but they make wonderful familiars and loyal and clever pets for those fortunate enough to hatch one. How old is it?”

“One o’ ma sisters is a magic user,” I told her carefully. “She kens ‘ow much I love dragons ‘an she managed tae ge’ me an egg fer ma birthday. She jus’ hatched yesterday actually.”

Penny smiled at me. “That was a fine thing for her to do, rather than keeping it for herself or selling it. Feydragon eggs are worth a lot in the magic-user community. You said it’s a female? If you ever want to breed her and sell her eggs when she’s mature I could find you plenty of buyers. You’re right to want to start training her early, and I have a few things that you’ll probably find useful.”

“Do you have any books on caring for dragons?” Fawn asked, emerging from where she had been hiding in my hair until we knew what to expect. “I know how to care for and train all sorts of animals, but I’ve never even seen a live dragon before Peaches hatched.”

Penny’s eyes just about bugged out of her head. “A Fairy? How did you…?” she started to ask.

“She’s no’ a real Fairy, this is ma bes’ friend. She’s a Hyper, jus’ like me,” I told the shocked shopkeeper, trying to keep to our cover story as much as possible as I gave a shrug. “Archetypes, wot kin ya dae, aye?”

“Yep, I’m Lisa. Most people call me Fawn though, since I look like that Fairy from the Disney movies,” my pixie pal put in. I was really glad that we had been working with her and the other Fairies on memorizing and sticking to their cover stories.

“I’m a minor sorceress myself, not a mutant like the two of you, but I live in Costa Verde so I’ve seen all kinds, or at least I thought I had until now.” The last was said with a laugh as the store owner seemed to recover from her shock. “We do have a few books on the smaller dragon types and training them as familiars, those should tell you most of what you need to know. Follow me girls and let’s see what I have that will be useful for you.”

We left the store with a book on dragons, another on training small dragons and other magical creatures as familiars, a few pet toys for Peaches, some training snacks, a thick glove and shoulder pad similar to those used for training falcons, and a tiny silver bell that Penny had enchanted and linked to Peaches so she would hear it from anywhere. Penny felt that we should be okay with just that, but she told us that if we needed any help or advice we could stop by and visit any time.

With that task done and the bag of purchases in hand we went to go meet the others for dinner in the food court. It was tourist season still and the mall was fairly busy, but it was pretty easy to tell the tourists from the Costa Verde natives. The natives might raise an eyebrow at a girl walking the mall with a Fairy riding on her shoulder and a feydragon in her arms, but it was really nothing to them. Half of the employees I’d seen today, and no few of the shoppers themselves were obvious mutants and the locals were used to that and pretty accepting of us. The tourists though, stopped and stared in shock or wonder, and some of them with thinly veiled looks of hate.

I did see a familiar face with bright pink hair and four arms who was getting even more looks than we were though. Jordyn was with a blonde woman who I though might be Lindsey’s mother with her age and the family resemblance. “Oi Jordyn!” I called out.

She smiled as she noticed us and approached. “Hey Merida, Fawn! Where’s the rest of your crew?”

“They’re s’posed tae be meetin’ us a’ the food court o’er there,” I replied as we closed the distance. “They were getting’ a change o’ clothes fer Brooke fer tonight an’ t’morrow. I was gettin’ some things fer trainin’ Peaches.”

“Cool. My mom sent a little money so I could get some things for my room and some girl stuff. We just finished actually. Oh, this is my aunt Rachel, Lindsey’s Mom,” Jordyn said by way of introduction. “Aunt Rachel, this is Merida and her Fairy friend Fawn. They’re two of the girls that Lindsey and I have been talking about. Merida is the one who helped me out with my uniforms and new clothes.”

“Nice tae meet ya Ma’am, Lindsey an’ Jordyn are good people,” I said with a smile. “I’d offer tae shake yuir ‘and, bu’ ma hands are a wee bi’ full.”

“Oh! So you’re the Merida I’ve been hearing so much about,” Lindsey’s mother said, her eyebrows rising in sudden interest. “Thank you for what you did for my niece, and for what you and your sisters did for my daughter. I owe you more than I could possibly repay.”

“Ya dinnae owe us anythin’ Ma’am,” I told her with a smile and a shake of my head. “Like I said, Linds an’ Jordyn are good people an’ I’m glad tae call ‘em ma friends.” I turned my attention back to Jordyn and asked, “If’n yuir done yuir shoppin’, dae ya wan’ tae come an’ eat wit’ us? Maybe come an’ hang out fer a bi’? Ya didnae really ge’ tae talk tae Brooke much, an’ yuir the two newest ‘ere.”

The four armed girl looked to her aunt, who nodded and smiled. “Go ahead Jordyn, I’ll take this stuff home. I think it’s great that you’re making friends who will accept you as you are, just try to be home by eleven and be careful. Even here in Costa Verde it’s not a safe place for a girl, especially an obvious mutant, to be out late at night.”

Jordyn wrapped all four arms around her in a hug. “Thanks Aunt Rachel, I’ll be home by then.”

“Dinnae worry aboot it Ma’am, we’ll make shoor tha’ she gets home safe,” I promised, “E’en if’n I ‘ave tae fly her there maself.”

Rachel shook her head, giving me a stern look. “Please don’t put yourself in any danger Merida, you’re younger and smaller than she and Lindsey are, and I wouldn’t want anything happening to you either. If plans change and she’s going to be later, or stay the night, have her call me to let me know.”

I wondered if she would feel the same if she knew that I probably had the power to wipe out the whole city if I tried, and a force field that made me pretty much indestructible. Still, she was probably right, just because I hadn’t run across any major weaknesses yet, didn’t mean that I didn’t have any. It was better to be safe than sorry. Besides, she looked worried. So as we left I promised, “Aye Ma’am we’ll dae our bes’ tae stay out o’ trouble, an’ we’ll call if’n anythin’ changes.”

I sent to the others along Tasha’s mind link. *Fawn and I are all done with getting things for Peaches and we’re heading to the food court. We ran into Jordyn so she’s going to tag along and hang out for a bit.*

*Cool! We’re already at the food court waiting for you,* Shu put in enthusiastically.

Brooke’s voice came along the link. *It is so weird having all of you able to talk in my head, and not hearing Merida’s accent.*

*You’ll get used to it. There is so much weird going on with this family that you’ll get used to this in no time,* Vanessa’s mental voice countered with a giggle. *Besides, this saves so much on our phone bills.*

After a nice dinner at the food court we made one last stop at a nearby grocery store so I could stock up on food and drinks that would be either easy to prepare while camping or ready to eat. I wanted to make sure I had plenty to eat for my hyper-metabolism while on my trip with Hana and the others. There were a lot of energy bars, fruit and melons, prepared meats, cheese, juices, bottled water, and anything that I thought might keep my energy level up and be filling enough to satisfy me if we were going to be doing a lot of activities.

When we got home we let Brooke in on the family secret and she swore herself to secrecy about our real origins and Mei’s powers. Mei of course wanted to show off, and had already planned on creating a Fairy friend for her newest sister, so it wasn’t long before Mei was passed out on the couch and a new naked Fairy had appeared in front of us all. Vidia was a fast-flying-talent fairy with long violet hair and grey eyes. She was very proud and seemed a bit terse, but she definitely had a soft spot for her new best friend Brooke and all of the Fairies seemed really happy to have her with us.

Mom and Andy had returned home by that time and both of them were trying to get to know Brooke better when Mei had done her thing. Andy just shook his head and sighed. “The twins can be a handful Brooke, especially Mei with her impulsiveness, but you’ll get used to it. We’re lucky that they have you older girls to look out for them.”

“Shu, why don’t you an’ the Fairies take Brooke an’ Vidia into my lab an’ get some clothes set up fer Vidia with the costume maker,” Mom encouraged. “I guess I’ll need t’ make her a fairy house for Brooke’s bedroom and dorm room at some point tonight too.”

I wasn’t really paying too much attention though, as I was looking at Jordyn, who had been staring silently at Mei with her mouth hanging open since she had summoned the new Fairy. “It’s a bi’ o’ a shocker seein’ her dae tha’ fer the first time.”

“We’re still tryin’ to figure out how Mei’s power works,” Mom added with a shrug. “Wildcards can be hard to figure out ‘cause they are often multiple classifications all workin’ together to make the mutant ability work like it does. Lindsey said tha’ she’s drawin’ on magic energy when she uses it, so I’m pretty sure tha’ she’s a Gifted Mystic, an’ probably a Direct Generator since she’s usin’ magic energy to generate livin’ matter rather than a normal magic summon. I have some theories, but I can’t say as I’m sure how she’s bringin’ ‘em to life though.”

“I know how,” Jordyn half mumbled, still wide-eyed. “She’s a Souldancer.”

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Enhanced. Enhanced are mutants who ‘ave one or more o’ their base physical attributes increased tae wot is considered above peak human when they Activate. These attributes include strength, speed, agility, reflexes, dexterity, stamina an’ the five senses. Some say tha’ durability is one o’ those too, especially since so many Enhanced seem tae ‘ave invulnerability a’ some level. This is under debate though, since invulnerability could ‘ave multiple causes, jus’ like flight. Mom says it could jus’ be due tae physical adaptations tae ‘elp them survive usin’ their other enhanced traits. There are two types o’ Enhanced; Packaged an’ Dedicated.

Packaged Enhanced are those who ‘ave multiple enhanced attributes like Hiro does wi’ his strength speed an’ reflexes. They could ‘ave jus’ two attributes enhanced or all o’ them ‘cross the board.

Dedicated Enhanced ‘ave a single enhanced trait. This is where ya ge’ yuir speedsters, strongmen, trackers, acrobatics an’ the like. They’re usually very good fer anythin’ involving’ tha’ one trait, bu’ if’n ya pu’ them in situations where tha’ trait isnae useful, then they’re basically screwed unless they ‘ave other powers as well.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Enhanced today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week tae talk aboot Wildcards. ‘til then, this is Merida signin’ off.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 34 of MSPD, I'm sorry that it's a few minutes late, but I've been a little under the weather. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 34: Soul Train

Mom’s eyes widened at Jordyn’s hushed comment? “Yuir certain Jordyn?”

The four-armed girl nodded very slowly. “My Mom is a Contractor Medium too, so she and Woodwynd, the nature spirit that she’s contracted to, were able to give me a good handle on my Medium abilities before I came here. We may not be Souldancers, but we can sense and manipulate spirit energy to a small degree, and see when someone else is doing the same. It actually makes sense and explains a few things about both Mei and the Fairies.” She looked at me and Peaches for a moment. “I’m guessing that when she created Peaches that she wasn’t the one who passed out, but Merida?” It was a question, but she seemed pretty sure of the answer.

“Aye, bu’ how dae ya ken tha’?” I replied, not quite sure what all of this talk about Souldancers was about.

“Every soul I’ve seen since I Activated has had a unique feel to it, a different flavor I guess. I was wondering why all of the Fairies seem to have the same flavor, I mean there are slight differences between them all, but mostly their souls feel a lot like Mei’s,” she explained. “Fawn feels like hers too, but there’s this really strong connection to Merida that I can’t really explain that makes her feel like a blending of the two. Peaches feels more like Merida, with slight differences, but I don’t sense any of Mei’s flavor.”

“Well Fawn an’ Merida are quantum entangled, so that might explain that,” Mom offered with a thoughtful expression. “I was actually hopin’ to get a sensitive Medium to watch Mei usin’ her powers, since we ‘ave yet to discover a way of accurately sensing spirit energy manipulation, an’ I didn’t want to rule tha’ out. So what else does tha’ explain about Mei? Ya said there were a few things.”

“Yeah, the other thing was when she healed Lindsey. I could sense that Lindsey’s soul was weakening and ready to leave her body while Mei was trying to heal the damage, we almost lost her twice. It was like Mei forced her soul to stay in place and infused it with ambient spirit energy to strengthen it. I thought it was some sort of magic based healing ability or spell.”

“So what do you think is making Mei pass out when she’s creating permanent creatures anchored to our reality? And why did Merida pass out instead when she created Peaches?” Vanessa asked in concern.

The young Medium looked thoughtful for a long moment. “I think that when she’s temporarily summoning creatures that she’s using ambient spirit energy to create temporary artificial souls for the bodies she creates. It’s really not much different than a Souldancer placing ambient spirit energy in an inanimate object and controlling it, except she’s giving them a degree of free-will. Ambient spirit energy is easy to change since its very nature is change, but it wouldn’t stay in that form long for that same reason, unless she’s focussing on keeping it that way. It wouldn’t work for permanent living creatures, so I think that she’s using fragments of her own soul to create them and that would be really taxing on both body and soul, since they’re intertwined. Her soul needs time to heal after that. Merida, was she touching you when she created the egg that Peaches was in?”

I thought back, trying to remember and then quickly nodded. “Aye she was. Fawn tol’ me when I woke tha’ Mei didnae mean fer me tae pass out, bu’ she was tryin’ tae link Peaches tae jus’ me instead o’ her.”

“Then she must have used a shard of your soul to create Peaches,” Jordyn said with a nod. “I don’t even think she’s conscious of how she’s doing what she’s doing.”

“She’s giving out pieces of her soul, and Merida’s? Won’t that be a problem for them?” Andy asked with a look of concern on his face.

“Not really, at least I don’t think so,” the Medium replied after a moment’s thought. “Souls grow stronger as the person lives, they start off small, like the piece she just gave to create Vidia. It may be a shock to the system, but souls are kind of like a spiritual muscle, sure there’s short term discomfort when you strain them, but they can heal and grow stronger after being strained, though not many people get a chance to exercise their soul. I’d guess that Mei is going to feel less strained each time she does this.”

“The data does seem t indicate tha’ so far, she’s been unconscious less an’ less time wit’ each occurrence,” Mom agreed. “Yuir probably right about her no’ realizin’ what she’s doin’ either. Wi’ wildcards it’s often several different abilities workin’ together to make one new ability, bu’ they often can’t use those abilities separately. Or need to be trained to. Mei is usin’ her abilities instinctively, bu’ maybe you can help her learn to sense the spirit energy an’ souls like you do. If she really is a Souldancer then she should be able to sense as well as manipulate.”

“I can try Dr. Ainsley maybe I can work with her a bit over the long weekend before school starts,” Jordyn offered with a smile. “I need to practice anyway, but I am still a beginner myself.”

At least it didn’t sound like there were any serious long term effects from our soul transfusions, and we knew a little more about how Mei was doing what she was. Still, I wanted to be as informed as possible and asked, “Wot exactly kin ya tell us aboot Souldancers Jordyn? I think tha’ I go’ the gen’ral idea, bu’ I dinnae really ken much aboot Mediums, an’ tha’ could be bad if’n we e’er need to fight one or sumthin’ supernatural.”

Jordyn gave us a quick guide on Mediums. Whereas most people aren’t very sensitive to spirit energy or souls, Mediums can sense them and choose to host spirits in their bodies. Channelers can only do this for a short time and it isn’t much more than communication and giving the spirit a short-term place to stay in the world of the living. They’re sort of like a hotel for ghosts. Contractors like Jordyn are a little bit more sensitive and can host spirits permanently by making a contract with them and gaining some of that spirit’s powers, though they have to be careful when making the contract.

Souldancers like Mei though are even more resistant to possession than normal humans, who can only be possessed if their souls are weakened for some reason. They can also sense and easily manipulate souls and spirit energy more naturally than other Mediums. It’s a pretty scary power actually. They can move souls from one body to another, absorb spirit energy, and some can even send it into non-living objects to bring them to life. This was sort of what Mei was doing, although she was also creating living bodies for them with the Generator aspects of her power.

She had just finished her lesson when Brooke, Shu, and the Fairies came out of the lab, with Vidia now dressed and sitting upon Brooke’s shoulder. The newest Fairy had her dark violet hair in a ponytail and was wearing a purple vest with pink feathers, purple pants, and black ballet flats. Mom quickly reminded Brooke of their busy schedule tomorrow and that now they’d not only send the adoption papers to Tara, but now also ask Tara about an identity for Vidia while they were doing that. The idea was that Vidia could have been another college student-turned-fairy created by the Matriarch for another girl who didn’t Activate or survive the experiments. There was enough truth in that, since there were a lot of girls who hadn’t survived the Zeta Bomb.

Mom called Dr. Edwards to make sure that she would have school ID bracelets for both Brooke and Vidia in the morning. They would start their day the next morning with picking those up and then go see Sam Jackson and Tiny about the weapons safety and certification class for the pair. That would be followed by a visit to Toxin for some tests and to work out their class schedules and dorm assignment and a visit to the Taylors for a new wardrobe. When all that was finally done they would head downtown to go to the bank, get Brooke a phone, and to go get the pair their licenses for hero work and carry permits from City Hall, the last of which they would need to do in costume.

Mom would be getting up extra early though, both to see me off before I went to meet with Hana and the others, and to call Tara on the east coast to get the adoption papers for Brooke fast-tracked and an identity for Vidia. Mom had already filled out, signed, and faxed the adoption papers to her not long after getting home and getting the details about Brooke’s parents, birthdate, and place of birth. She had also warned Tara of the possibility of a new Fairy when she had talked to her earlier in the day and apparently the HPP official had mentioned preparing an identity for one, in case Brooke should accept the adoption and a new Fairy should appear. As soon as the details were worked out in the morning, Tara would have the document packages couriered to our home.

Since we had such busy days planned tomorrow we didn’t stay up too late. Jordyn hung out for a while and she seemed to hit it off with Brooke and Vidia as well as she had with the rest of us, though with Vidia it was a bit hard to tell. We talked about the upcoming long weekend, the barbeque at Hana’s place, and the upcoming school year as we played a game of Monopoly. Since Mei was out cold, Tink offered to team up with Jordyn and the Fairies moved the pieces along the board while we humans rolled the dice. Around ten o’clock Andy gave Jordyn a ride home while the rest of us prepared for bed.

I was Maddock again, in my stone cell and trying to open the thick steel door, but try as I might the door wouldn’t budge. I called out over my radio, “Can anyone read me? Grizzly? Hammer? Tank? Spitfire? Reaper?”

“They won’t answer,” Reaper’s voice replied. “They’re dead, we failed them. You need to get out of there before the bomb goes off. Come on Mac, you’re a big strong guy, so get that door open and get to safety. I’ll wait for you, maybe afterwards we can get together like we did after that mission in Orlando. Just you, me, a good bottle of Scotch, and a hotel room.”

I yanked at the door as hard as I could, but it still wouldn’t budge. “Tha’ was a mistake Tabby, we both know tha’. It shouldn’t ‘ave happened.”

“Yeah, it shouldn’t have happened those other times either Maddock, but you and me, we always were like gasoline and a match. A quick hot and uncontrolled blaze, leaving only ashes and regrets behind. A little like that room if you’re still in there when that bomb goes off. We always had the passion, but we never could have made it work long term, we both knew that. It’s why we called it quits before things got serious and concentrated on our careers and keeping the team safe.”

I struggled against the door, kicking it in frustration. “Why are ya bringin’ this up now o’ all times!”

“Well I figured I’d give you some advice since you seem to have gotten over me and are going for the newer model. A bit young for you isn’t she? Or is she?” The bomb went off and once again my body was on fire, changing, becoming younger with the agonizing pulling of flesh and cracking of bones. I knelt there, breathing heavily, and tears falling to the stone floor beneath me, a thirteen year old girl once again. “You’re not exactly an old man any more Maddock, don’t worry what people will think so much. The two of you seem to get along well enough, and it’s more than just attraction and pent up lust and sexual frustration like it was with us. Maybe you could be happy, if you live long enough.”

That was when I heard the foot steps coming ever closer to my cell. A voice called out, echoing off the walls. “Hey big boy, did you survive? I’m interested to see how you turned out. Come out and play!” It was Phantom. My heart raced and I was shaking in fear. I kept trying to pull the door open, but it wouldn’t budge and the walls were closing in around me, leaving nowhere to run or hide. Her face suddenly appeared in the tiny window of the steel door grinning and licking her lips as she looked me over. “Come make yourself useful brat, you’re one of us now!”

I stumbled back from the door, but there was nowhere to go, the walls had closed in around me so tight that I felt like I was in a stone coffin. I couldn’t breathe. I was taking great gasps of air, but none of it seemed to help. She opened the door, reaching for me and I fell to the floor to roll up in a ball and wait for the inevitable while pleading, “Please, nae, ya dinnae wan’ tae dae this…”

“Someone’s going to control you brat, it could be me…”

“Or it could be the Shadow Syndicate,” a new voice said. I looked between my fingers to see Quartz giving me that crazed smile of hers. “I’m here to tell you all about our wonderful organization. We have this great health plan. If you join us then you, and maybe even the rest of your family, get to live. Your powers are too tempting, people are going to keep coming after you, and you can’t stop us all. You can’t protect your sisters all the time either.”

I could feel the power rushing through me. “Nae! I’ll protec’ them! I’ll ne’er help ya or le’ ya ‘ave them!” More and more energy seemed to rush through me, my force field expanding around me and getting ever hotter and brighter, bubbling with unstable energy until the cramped room, Phantom, and Quartz all disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

I opened my eyes to see that I was in the center of a massive crater that I could barely see the rim of. All around me there was the rubble of buildings and the remains of vehicles, people, and a once proud city now reduced to nothing but a painful looking memory. In front of me I saw a mangled mess of wrought iron that had once been a gate set in a brick wall and I shuffled toward it unthinkingly, stubbing my bare toe against something as I went. I looked down to see a blackened bronze plaque, the letters stating clearly for all to see; Pacific Seaside Academy. I was in Costa Verde, or what was left of it.

“Nae! This is a dream, another nightmare! I need tae wake up!” I collapsed to the floor, hands clenched so tightly that my nails drew blood and my chest tightening as the tears flowed and I began sobbing. I couldn’t breathe and I clenched my eyes shut, trying to keep out the scene around me, but then there were the voices. They called me a freak, accused me of killing them all, and some asked why. I think those were the worst, because those were the voices I recognized. Mom, Andy, my sisters, Hana and her family, the other members of 4-Ward, and other people I knew from the school.

I opened my eyes to see them all, a whole city of dead people surrounding me and shuffling closer. They were all there; strangers, family, and friends. The accusation in their eyes, the anger and fear as they came for me. I could feel their hands on me and I screamed.

I awoke screaming as once again my power lashed out, only being contained by the energy shield that Mom had built into the frame of my bed. I’m not quite sure how long I laid there, curled up in a ball, shaking, and sobbing as Fawn tried to comfort me, but when she had finally managed to calm me down I saw that the alarm clock’s display said 4:11 am. I wiped away the tears and took a deep breath to calm myself and took Peaches from her basket, holding both her and Fawn close like a pair of stuffed animals. I didn’t plan on going back to sleep, since I had planned on being up soon anyway, but I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t have been able to sleep again anytime soon, even if I had been willing to try.

As we laid there, all huddled together under my blanket, Fawn asked, “Another bad one huh Merida?”

“Aye,” I replied, not wanting to go into anymore detail than that. My two companions didn’t need to know the content of those dreams to comfort me, and Fawn knew that recalling them sometimes only made it harder for me to shake them off. It was bad enough having to recall them well enough to write them all down in the dream journal that Toxin was making me keep for our counselling sessions. I had seen her twice already since moving to Costa Verde, but I was due to see her again on the first day of classes as well. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to show her that journal, since the dreams seemed to be getting worse rather than better. It was like my trauma and all my worst fears were conspiring against me.

When the alarm went off at four thirty I reluctantly climbed out of bed, wrote down the dream in my journal, and then Fawn and I started to get ready for our day. There wasn’t really much to do once we were showered, had our hair done, and had gotten dressed. I had already packed bags and they and all of our gear for the trip were packed in my portable pocket dimension. I was bringing all the training stuff for Peaches, extra clothes, the camping gear that I had bought, my surfboard, hiking gear, my bikini, the Mythrilex sleeping bags, and the tent with the built in energy shield that Mom had made for the occasion. All I really needed to do was put all the food and drinks that I had bought, with some ice, into the coolers inside the portable portal.

Mom was up to see us off, reminding us to be careful and not get into any trouble, as she helped me load the coolers. Once that was all done and Fawn, and I double checked that we had all of our supplies and gear, I picked up Peaches and we flew over to Paul Bunyan’s Pancake House to meet the others for a quick breakfast. Well, since I was eating, it wasn’t as quick as we may have liked, but once we had all finished Hana’s parents wished us all a good trip, hugged us all, and sent us on our way. Then, once we had stuffed all their gear in my portable pocket dimension and Fawn had dusted Michelle and Lindsey, we all took to the skies and followed Michelle as she led us to the private little cove up past Coral Bay and far away from the city. It was going to be a trip that none of us would ever forget.

 

 

‘ello agin e’eryone an’ welcome agin tae Merida’s Corner. Today I will be teachin’ all o’ ya aboot Wildcards. There’s no’ really much tha’ I kin say aboot Wildcards, ‘cept tha’ they’re basically anyone whose powers dinnae fit intae the other types or whose powers work in ways tha’ cannae be easily deciphered.

Wildcards are usually mutants who ‘ave a power that’ cannae be easily categorized. Usually this is ‘cause they ‘ave one or more diff’ren’ abilities from separate classes tha’ are workin’ in conjunction tae create a power tha’ is diff’ren from anythin’ seen afore. Mei is a good example o’ this. Mei kin gather magic energy like a Mystic, she’s a versatile Generator able tae create livin’ matter, and she’s a Souldancer Medium, able tae control an’ manipulate spirit energy an’ souls. She doesnae really ken ‘ow tae dae any o’ those individually though, instead instinctively usin’ them t’gther tae heal or create livin’ creatures. She kin probably learn tae use the abilities separately, bu’ it will take trainin’ an’ time. Fer now, her powers combined are versatile enough tha’ she could be a force tae be reckoned wit’ if she really tried.

Well, tha’s all tha’ I ‘ave tae say aboot Wildcards today, so tha’s all fer now an’ I’ll see all o’ ya nex’ week when I’ll start answerin’ questions from the readers.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 35 of MSPD, I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 35: Call of Nature

Even by air, it took over an hour of flying northward to reach the private little cove that Michelle had discovered, but the view was well worth it when she had stopped us in a hover and pointed downward. “There it is,” she said with a huge grin on her scaly face, “it looks like a pretty good spot for some privacy and relaxation, huh?”

The small stretch of white sandy beach nestled between the Pacific Ocean and rainforest thick with old-growth redwood trees was picturesque, and it looked like we would be able to set up camp near the treeline and remain nice and dry once the tide came in. To the northern edge of the beach, there was a rocky outcropping with a small cave and some rocks jutting from the water, causing me to make a mental note to be careful about not surfing the north side of the cove. It might make for some interesting exploration though, and I was looking forward to exploring the forest a bit too. “Aye, it looks great Michelle, I cannae wait tae dae some explorin’,” I agreed with a grin.

We quickly landed and as the rest of us began to set up camp, Fawn watched over Peaches and gave us some space, though I was pretty sure she was watching us too. She took being our chaperone very seriously, as much as she wanted us to enjoy ourselves. I had finished setting up the dome-shaped tent that would contain my energy if I lost control, and placed the pillows and sleeping bags for Fawn and me inside, and when I emerged the others had already finished removing all of our gear from my portable pocket dimension and had their sleeping bags laid out. It kind of sucked that Fawn and I were going to have to be in a tent while the rest of them slept out under the stars, but I didn’t want to risk hurting any of them either.

Hana caught my sigh as I left the tent and quickly took my hand in her own as she asked with a concerned look on her face, “What’s wrong Merida?”

I tried smiling at her. “It’s nothin’, e’erythin’ is jus’ barry. I jus’ dinnae like me an’ Fawn havin’ tae sleep in a tent all alone when we’re all s’posed tae be spendin’ time t’gether. I ken tha’ it’s needed, if I ‘ave a nightmare an’ lash out in ma sleep it could be disastrous, bu’ it kinda feels like I shouldnae really be ‘ere.”

“Of course you should,” she objected, squeezing my hand tightly in her own. “I… we all want you here with us. You’re still new to all this, you’ve been through some major trauma, and you have a condition that makes it hard to control your powers, but you’ll get a handle on all of that someday, I just know it. Until then you’re doing what’s needed to keep everyone around you safe, and we realize and appreciate that. It’s possible that Michelle’s powers would react to yours to keep her safe if you had a meltdown, but Lindsey would be screwed and so would I while still in girl mode since I have no invulnerability and I can’t absorb energy.”

“I was… umm… curious aboot tha’,” I admitted as she said that last part. “If’n ya cannae absorb energy while in tha’ form, why weren’t Quartz’s flames hurtin’ ya?”

The Japanese girl shrugged as she replied, “When I absorb energy I seem to become immune to that type of energy until it’s completely left my system and I change back into a guy. Quartz had to rely on her flames because I wasn’t letting her get close enough for anything else, but I could just shrug those off and keep her at a distance with my eye blasts. If I absorbed your energy I’d likely be immune to that until I changed back too, we may have to try that someday if your mom can’t fix me.”

“I’m shoor she’ll figure out wot is wrong an’ think o’ somethin’ tae ‘elp ya Hana, helpin’ Hypers wit’ issues like yuirs, it’s her passion. She will no’ stop ‘til she finds a way tae ‘elp ya,” I insisted without a single doubt in my mind.

“Thanks, Merida,” she responded before pausing uncertainly. “I… I was wondering though, why are you still going through with this trip? I mean, I’d understand if you didn’t want to. You seemed attracted to me as Hiro, so I kind of assumed that you were into guys since your change. It didn’t happen with me or Lindsey, but I’ve heard that Archetypes can alter things like gender identity and sexual preference too.”

I shook my head as I tried to put my scattered thoughts on that topic into words. “I’m still tryin’ tae figure tha’ out. I ken fer shoor tha’ ma gender identity is female now, ma body feels right tae me, no matter ‘ow much ma brain wanted tae argue the fact a’ first. When I was Maddock, I was straight as a bloody arrow an’ I was attracted tae any pretty girls. I ‘ad a relationship wi’ someone I shouldnae ‘ave, bu’ it was all passion, lust, an’ raw physical attraction, nothin’ really tae base a good relationship on. I think tha’ ma priorities may ‘ave changed wi’ ma body though. I’ve only been attracted tae a few people since ma change, no’ near as many as I figure I should ‘ave been, bu’ if’n they’re jerks all that attraction goes poof.”

“That must suck… I mean… it’s hard enough just having your gender and appearance change, but your brain too? That can’t be easy to adjust to. It hasn’t been all that long for you either. Y’know… if you… still need time to adjust I don’t mind just being friends until you figure it all out, it wouldn’t be fair for me to push for any more.” She was biting her lower lip uncertainly, something that I found really cute on her, and it made my heart flutter.

“Nae, dinnae worry aboot tha’,” I told her with a shake of my head. “I may no’ be shoor wot I’m attracted tae physically these days, bu’ I dae ken this, I really like ya, an’ it’s more than jus’ physical attraction. If’n Mom kin ‘elp ya an’ ya had yuir choice, would ya rather be Hiro or Hana?”

“I think I’d rather be Hana… Hiro has some awesome powers, but as much as I may try to adjust, being a guy just doesn’t feel right to me. I feel wrong as Hiro, it’s just not me. I don’t even try to act like a guy anymore because that’s what it is, an act. I’ve just been trying to be myself and I’m glad that my parents and friends accept that, even if I get razzed for being girly by other students. That’s what I like about you and your sisters, you’re sweet and caring and you accept us for who we are. Umm… why do you ask though? You… didn’t really answer whether you’re attracted to girls or guys either.” There was an uncertainty in her voice and her eyes as she looked at me.

I wrapped her up in a hug and kissed her tenderly, trying to reassure her, before holding her close and speaking again. “I dinnae ken if it makes any sense or no’, bu’ I was attracted tae ya as Hiro, and I’m still attracted tae ya, bu’ it ‘as nothin’ tae dae wi’ yuir body. I mean… in ma head, I realize tha’ yuir pretty damn sexy in either form, but yuir body, or e’en yuir gender, is no’ important tae me. I’ve liked ya from the moment we met an’ I jus’ keep gettin’ more attracted as I ge’ tae ken ya better. Tae me it doesnae matter if’n yuir Hiro, Hana, or somethin’ else entirely. I’m attracted tae who ya are inside, an’ I wan’ ya tae be ‘appy.”

“That’s possibly the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard,” she responded, her voice barely a whisper. She kissed me this time and I eagerly reciprocated. For several minutes we just held and kissed one another, there was no tongue and no groping or anything like that, it was just innocent kissing, holding and caressing. Innocent and tender as it might have been though, I could feel myself getting turned on, or at least I thought that I was getting turned on. It was different than when I was a guy; there was this warmth running through my whole body. It was a little more prominent between my legs though, where I was feeling a bit damp as well, and my nipples were aching a bit so I was pretty sure that they were getting hard.

We reluctantly broke the kiss but kept holding one another. Neither of us was ready for anything more than that, and likely wouldn’t be for years to come. We were both too young and there was too much emotional and mental baggage. Still, it was nice to feel attraction and affection for someone and to feel like she felt the same way for me. I guess you could say that it felt validating, and even though I hadn’t realized it before that moment, that was something that I had been needing to feel comfortable in my new gender.

I could feel my cheeks burning a bit at the sound of applause. Michelle and Lindsey were standing there grinning at us as they clapped their hands. “About time you two came up for air,” Lindsey teased.

“And here I thought that we were going to be the first pair caught making out, we should really get to work on that Linds,” Michelle added with a giggle and a wink to her girlfriend.

My cheeks were still burning as I attempted to change the topic. “Soooo, wot’s the plan fer today?”

Neither Lindsey nor Michelle was fooled by my obvious tactic and they just kept grinning at Hana and me as Michelle answered my query. “Well I thought we might start with some hiking before the day gets too hot and then come back to camp for lunch. After that we can do some surfing and swimming to cool off and maybe explore the cave a bit. I only had a small flashlight when I found this place so I didn’t go too far in, but it looks like it goes pretty deep.”

“Then we can make some dinner and just spend the evening snuggling and getting to know one another better,” Lindsey added.

Since we were all already wearing our hiking boots and fairly comfortable clothes I only needed to grab the backpack that I had bought for school and brought along to stuff with snacks and drinks for the hike to keep my energy up and stay properly hydrated. I had also put a small basic survival kit, first-aid kit, and a hunting knife in there in case of an emergency. Once I had that in place over my shoulders I put on the baby sling that I planned to carry Peaches in. Carrying her all the time could get a bit tiring, but with her snuggled against my chest in the sling I could keep her with me, and relatively safe, while still having my hands free.

Once the infant Feydragon was snuggled in her new spot and snoozing Fawn fluttered up to sit on my shoulder and we joined the others who had light backpacks filled with supplies as well. Peaches sleep wasn’t very sound though as she seemed anxious about something, I could feel it in my mind as we started our hike. We were going to be following a game trail up from the beach with a steady incline heading north up to the top of the ridge that the cave was in. Fawn was really eager to get going and was hoping to talk with some of the local animals during our trek through the forest, but she was destined to be disappointed it would seem. We didn’t encounter a single animal during our hike by the time we had stopped at the top of the ridge over-looking the ocean, where we all sat down for a break.

We had already been hiking for over an hour and it was about time to turn around and head back to camp to start making lunch and while we took a few minutes to rest I was sharing some of my water and the granola bars I had stuffed in the backpack with my Fairy friend, who seemed very distracted. I tried feeding some to Peaches too, but she was still anxious and now very much awake, looking around us warily. “Wot’s wrong Fawn?” I finally asked in concern.

“I’m not sure,” the Fairy admitted with a tiny sigh. “It could be nothing, but this just seems a little strange to me,”

“What’s strange? I thought you would love being in the forest. Is it really that different from Neverland?” Lindsey asked, looking a bit confused.

“It’s not that it’s different, well it is, but I can’t really figure out why. It’s too quiet. We haven’t seen a single animal or bird yet, I haven’t even seen many insects, but there are nuts and ripe berries all over the place. It doesn’t make any sense. Even if there were bears or other large predators around, there would still be animals, especially with all the food here, but I haven’t seen anything. Even the trail we’ve been following is strange, it’s game trail so I think a lot of animals have been this way before to wear it down this much, but it’s starting to get grown over. It’s like no animals have come this way in weeks, maybe even months.” The Fairy frowned and took another look around, her tiny eyes darting about the trees around us.

“That is weird,” Hana agreed. “Maybe we should head back to camp and stick to the beach while we’re here, the silence in this forest is kinda creeping me out.”

“Aye, tha’s prob’ly a good idea. Peaches seems tae sense sumthin’ tae, it’s makin’ her anxious, an’ tha’ bothers me. Let’s ge’ back tae the beach, a’ least there we kin see anythin’ comin’ afore it gets too close,” I pointed out.

“Was it like this when you first found this place Michelle?” Fawn asked from atop my shoulder.

“I’m not really sure,” the scaly-skinned Hyper replied, looking pensive. “I was on an ATV when I found this spot, just after summer vacation started, and I wasn’t really actively looking around to see if there were animals around, I was just following the game trails. I don’t remember seeing any, but it could have been that I just wasn’t paying much attention at the time.”

“Maybe we should just pack up when we get back and head back to the city?” Lindsey suggested as we all got to our feet and started to make our way back toward the campsite on the beach. “If we get in trouble then we’ll be on our own, I don’t think that the rings are going to be able to work at this range. The spell meant to tell other ring-wearers that we’re in danger and draw them toward us isn’t meant for such long distances. Across the city was the best we could hope for, especially for a newbie spell like the one I used.”

We all considered that suggestion as we made our way along the game trail and through the too-silent forest on our way back to the beach. I wasn’t really worried about anything attacking us, we would have heard anything coming long before it reached us within that eerie silence, but it was the silence itself that bothered me. There had to be a reason that there were no animals in the area. Fawn had spotted a few burrows and dreys along the trail on our way back, but they were as empty as the forest itself, so the animals weren’t just hiding they were completely gone.

It didn’t make any sense. There were no recent tracks, no corpses, absolutely nothing showing recent habitation or that anything had happened there. It was like every living thing had just left the area, but what could cause something like that? It was when we were halfway down the trail that a cool wind whipped at us, hard enough that Fawn was having issues flying. There was a sound, like whispering that I couldn’t quite make out and I whipped my head around, searching for the source. “Did any o’ ya ‘appen tae ‘ear somethin’?”

“Do you mean something like whispering Mer? I thought that it was the wind at first, but it almost sounded like a woman’s voice. Did any of you make out what it was saying?” Lindsey asked, as she and the others were looking around as well.

Fawn was shivering as she alighted on my shoulder. “I heard her. She said that we’re in danger, and we need to leave. Maybe that’s why there are no animals around here, they have good instincts, and they can sense danger.”

“O… kay, ma nex’ question is who in ‘ell was tha’?” I muttered, looking around anxiously for the source of the whisper.

“Doesn’t matter,” Hana replied, taking my hand and half pulling me along down the trail. “I think we should listen to their advice. Let’s get back to camp and pack everything up.”

I was forced to agree with her, I knew how to take a hint and I didn’t like where this was going. “Aye, bu’ let’s no’ dae it the slow way. Fawn, could ya make wi’ the dust?”

“You got it Merida!” Fawn was quick to comply, dusting both Lindsey and Michelle so we could all take to the air and fly back to the camp to pack our things. We flew as swiftly as possible back toward the beach and were about ready to land on the beach below when a furious wind whipped up the sand beneath us and once it had stilled and the dust had cleared there was an arrow in the sand pointing right at the cave and below the arrow, written clear as day were the words ‘BEWARE THE TAINTED’.

I set my gaze in the direction that the arrow was pointing to see people, or at least I thought they might be people from that distance, emerging from the cave. They didn’t have any clothes on and, whoever they were, they were gesturing right at us and shouting. I was considering just leaving our stuff and going back to the city for help when something I didn’t even see knocked Lindsey out of the sky and she started plummeting to the ground, unconscious.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 36 of MSPD, sorry it's a bit late. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 36: The Tainted

My first instinct as Hana, Michelle and I all dove to try to catch Lindsey before she could hit the ground was to cover both of them with large energy bubbles and to create a giant catcher’s mitt to snatch my falling friend in mid-air. Before she could land in my construct though, Lindsey managed to right herself into a hover and I dismissed my construct to surround her in a bubble as well. I felt something hit my force field, and the bubbles that I had placed around my friends, several times. I wasn’t quite sure what it was since I hadn’t seen anything, but I could feel the impacts with that same sense that I use to control my constructs and the force field itself.

It didn’t matter if I could see the attacks or not though, since I was pretty sure that I knew where they were coming from. Keeping my friends and Peaches covered, I created a dozen small missile-like constructs and sent them flying toward those people emerging from the cave, pumped full of energy and bubbling unstably. They hit the ground and detonated in front of the leading edge of our attackers, as at the same time a bolt of lighting flew from Lindsey’s hands, striking one of the naked people that had been shouting and pointing. The combined attacks caused them to shriek in fear and confusion as they fled back into the cave.

I quickly lowered us to the ground and gratefully dissipated the constructs. I wasn’t used to creating and using so many constructs at once, let alone maintaining so many large scale constructs, and doing so, keeping my focus on each of them, and keeping them from becoming unstable had made me a bit dizzy and tired. I was a little shaky on my feet and Fawn was looking me over in concern, “Are you okay Merida?”

“Aye, I’ll be jus’ barry. I jus’ need tae res’ fer a minute,” I tried to assure the Fairy.

“How about you Linds? You took a hit there and that was some spell that you just used, I didn’t know that you could do that. Are you okay?!” Michelle asked in concern, rushing toward her girlfriend.

“Your companion is unconscious, but not seriously harmed,” Lindsey replied, only it wasn’t Lindsey. There was something different about the way she held herself and the way that she replied that made that fact obvious to all of us as Michelle stopped in her tracks.

“You’re not Lindsey, who the hell are you?” Michelle asked, regarding her girlfriend’s form suspiciously.

“Aye, an’ wot the bloody ‘ell is goin’ on ‘ere?” I added.

“Yeah, that has got me pretty worried,” Hana said, pointing up toward the sky above us, which had taken on a greenish hue.

“I am a type of nature spirit. A spirit of storm and battle to be precise, what your kind would call a Valkyrie, you may call me Khestrid,” Lindsey’s body explained before turning toward me with an apologetic look. “I apologize, but I felt that your friend was in danger and I needed to act quickly, I did not realize that you could have saved her yourself at the time, so I took control of her body. I can only maintain control while she is unconscious, once she awakens I will be expelled from her body. I attempted to warn you and had hoped that you would be able flee before the Tainted sensed your presence, but it would seem that that is no longer an option. Now you cannot leave this place. I can feel Minira’s magicks already at work, she has placed a magical barrier, trapping you here in this cove and cutting you off from the outside world.”

“I’m sure that we can find a way to break through that barrier,” Hana said after a brief silence as we tried to process what the spirit was telling us. “And you and Merida seemed to scare those people, or whatever they are, off.”

“Only for the moment,” Khestrid said with a shake of Lindsey’s head. “They are weakened by the light. They will attempt to kill or capture you again when it is dark and they have the advantage. You must not let yourselves be captured. The Tainted are creatures of darkness, they delight in the pain and suffering of others.” Then her gaze turned upon Fawn, “You bear the greatest risk young Fae, they will attempt to darken your heart and turn you into one of them.”

“Fae?” Fawn asked in confusion.

“Do you not even know what you are child?” the spirit inquired.

“Of course I do,” my best friend replied. “I’m a Fairy, from Neverland.”

The spirit in habiting Lindsey’s body narrowed her eyes as she stared at Fawn. You bear no clan mark. You are a creature of magic, but it is different than that of the Fae. Still, you bear the most risk. They will try to corrupt you and Minira’s clan mark allows her to control magical creatures. You will have to have a strong will to resist her.”

I tried not to groan out loud. I had no idea what Khestrid was talking about and I didn’t like not knowing exactly what kind of danger that we were in. “Dae ya mind explainin’ jus’ wot exactly is goin’ on ‘ere? Preferably afore Lindsey wakes up an’ ya cannae dae anythin’ o’ the sort?”

The Valkyrie then explained things as best she could. All of those stories about elves, pixies, fairies, changelings and the like were based on an ancient race called the Fae, consisting of different clans with different abilities and features. It seemed that she had mistaken Fawn for a pixie, a clan who looked like elves, but had the ability to change into a smaller winged form at will. Many of these Fae were powerful magic users because they themselves were creatures whose very natures were tied to magic. Most Fae were peaceful, nature-loving, and had no desire to hurt anyone, or even see anyone hurt.

Then there were what Khestrid called the Tainted, Fae who had given in to dark desires; lying, deception, stealing, and harming or killing others. They found that they enjoyed giving into those dark impulses and since their forms were so tied into their natures they became creatures of darkness and evil magic like those who had attacked us. Minira, who Khestrid called the Dark Queen, was the leader of this group of Tainted. From what the storm spirit had heard while observing them, Minira lusted for power, wished to rule over all that she surveyed, and particularly loved to slowly torture her victims. She had heard from other spirits that the Dark Queen had started on her path to the dark side by turning her own sister to stone to steal the throne meant for her.

Until recently, Khestrid had been one of many nature spirits held captive by Minira. She had been tortured and bound by dark magic as Minira drained and fed on her strength over and over again for over seven centuries, then letting her regain almost full strength only to do so again. When a major magical working had weakened the Dark Queen, she had summoned enough strength to escape her bonds. Since then, she had been watching them, waiting for a chance to extract her vengeance and free her fellow captive nature spirits who had not been powerful enough to escape.

While Khestrid educated us we started to prepare our lunch. I needed to eat something and, since we seemed to be in no immediate danger, I figured that we should take the opportunity to do so while we had the chance. We were starting to eat after Khestrid had given us the background information when Michelle inquired, “Have they been around here for long? I came here a few months ago, and even explored the cave a bit, but nothing bothered me then. We haven’t seen any traces of living things since arriving here though.”

“Minira only transported herself and her followers here a moon cycle ago,” the spirit inhabiting Lindsey replied. “This place was secluded, had the cave so that they could hide during daylight, and is near a power that she greatly desires. It was her attempt to locate that power that allowed me to escape. Animals are sensitive to the Fae and the evil of the Tainted would have driven any that were in the area away.”

Hana quickly asked, “This Minira is a magic user right? Could you tell us what kind of magic and how powerful she is so we know what we’re dealing with? You know, in case we can’t get out of this barrier she set up?”

Khestrid was frowning as she informed us, “Those spells that the other Tainted were throwing at you were nothing compared to Minira’s power. She has been growing in power for centuries and has mastered several disciplines of magick. She and her people have a weakness to cold iron, but I have not been able to locate any that you could use nearby. As for how powerful she is, when I escaped it was because she had pushed all of her considerable power to summon a great behemoth from another plane of existence and set it upon the city to the south of us.”

The lightbulb seemed to appear for all of us at the same time. “Tha’ thing was a bloody bitch tae take down,” I complained. “I guess tha’ means tha’ she’s the one lookin’ fer the Chaos Gate. Which means tha’ she’s a fookin’ powerful magic user. I dinnae ken if’n we kin take ‘er down on our own.”

“You defeated that creature? How? What is this Chaos Gate that you speak of?” the Valkyrie pressed.

“We had a lot of help to defeat that thing and we only managed to do it once Merida injured it. We were told that the Chaos Gate is a sealed dimensional tear to a place filled to overflowing with evil magic energy and that it could be disastrous if anyone managed to find and unseal it,” Michelle explained.

LIndsey’s jaw dropped in shock and a frown covered her face as the spirit slowly nodded her head. “If Minira were to find such a source of power, the devastation would be beyond what any of us can imagine. If she believes that this exists she will never give up on taking it for herself.”

“We need to at least try to get back to the school to tell Dr. Edwards about this and get some backup,” Hana put in with a frown.

“The barrier spell that Minira has used is powerful, she would not risk allowing this hiding place to be discovered. I do not think that you will be able to escape easily and getting inside will prove just as difficult for others, should they even realize that you are in danger.” Khestrid advised.

“Ya said tha’ these Tainted are dangerous aye?” As Lindsey’s head nodded I let out a sigh. “Well if’n they’re tha’ dangerous, an’ they’re after the Chaos Gate, then mebbe it would be better fer e’eryone’s sake if’n I jus’ buried them there. It may bring down this magic barrier tae. I could collapse the entrance an’ we’d be done wit’ ‘em.”

“I dunno Merida, I think that cave goes pretty deep and we don’t know how far back inside they are,” Michelle pointed out with a frown. You could just bring down the entrance and they’d be perfectly safe from the cave-in if they’re deep enough. Then they’d just need to use magic to blow open the entrance again. If this Minira is as strong as Khestrid is saying.”

“I fear that Michelle is correct,” the Valkyrie inhabiting Lindsey agreed. “I have been inside and the caves do indeed go very deep and the Tainted and Minira are hiding deep inside, far from the light. Even if you brought down the entrance I do not think that they would be harmed, and you would have to seriously injure or kill Minira to bring down her barrier spell. When darkness falls and they return to the entrance to deal with you the Dark Queen could easily use her magic to reopen the mouth of the cave. You would also be telling them exactly what kind of power that they are dealing with.”

“Bloody ‘ell, we’ll need tae come up wit’ another plan then. I ken tha’ none o’ ya ‘ave prob’ly e’er killed someone afore, bu’ if’n these Tainted are as evil an’ dangerous as she’s sayin’ we cannae afford tae ‘old back. We may jus’ need tae take ‘em down fer good. Fer e’eryone’s sake.”

Neither Hana nor Michelle looked too pleased with that idea, but both nodded grimly as Hana replied. “It sounds like they’re probably going to torture and kill us if they get the chance and we can’t afford to lose and let them keep trying for the Chaos Gate. If it’s a choice of us or dying or them, then I’m damn well going to make sure it’s not us.”

“I agree,” Michelle said with a nod, “it’s going to be them.”

I knew that Fawn wouldn’t be thrilled with the idea either, but her small voice said, “I understand. I don’t like it, but I know that you don’t either Merida, and you wouldn’t suggest it if there was any other way.”

Khestrid sighed. “I am sorry that my inability to get your attention sooner has put you in this situation. We should come up with a battle stra…” she trailed off, shaking Lindsey’s head as if to clear it and then let out another sigh. “Your friend is beginning to stir. I will attempt to assist you however I can. Should you wish to rest just call my name and I can keep watch for you in one of your bodies while you sleep. I will be able to hear you even if…” Lindsey’s eyes fluttered and she gave us a confused look. “Umm… what happened? I remember that we were flying back to camp, but I think that I passed out or something.”

We encouraged Lindsey to eat as we updated her on her recent possession and what she had missed while unconscious. Once we had all finished eating we flew southward as far as we could, but the magic barrier prevented us from getting any further than the southern edge of the cove. Fawn and I threw everything that I could think of at that barrier, short of anything that would have been enough to injure our friends, but we couldn’t seem to get past it or break through.

There wasn’t a lot that Lindsey or Michelle could do to try to get past the barrier, although they did try too. The only one of us who hadn’t tried more than once was Hana, but that was at my request. Her eye beams seemed to be light based and if these Tainted were weak to light then I wanted to keep that advantage rather than have her use up all of her energy and revert to Hiro. I had considered trying to see if Khestrid could manage to slip past the barrier, being a spirit and all, but even if we sent her to Costa Verde to try to find Jordyn or Mei, who might be able to communicate with her, the search would likely be like looking for a needle in a haystack for her. She knew nothing of modern human cities, or this one in particular, and for the moment I thought that we could probably use what help she could give us against the Tainted.

“Maybe we should just take the fight to them, and have this go down on our terms,” Michelle suggested as we all returned to the camp feeling somewhat dejected after our unsuccessful attempts to penetrate the magic barrier.

I shook my head. While under normal circumstances I would love nothing more that going on the offensive, we were going to be sorely outnumbered and from what our new spirit ally had told us about the Fae they were generally gifted magic users and/or fighters and the Tainted in particular were going to be ruthless adversaries. We couldn’t afford to hold back with them and full-out combat inside a cave with my power set could put us all in danger.

“Nae,” I said after considering it. “They could be expectin’ tha’ after we drove ‘em back intae the cave, an’ I’m worried wot could ‘appen while fightin’ in there, where they ‘ave the advantage. We le’ them hit us instead. Le’ them think tha’ they ‘ave the advantage an’ set up some booby traps an’ le’ them ge’ o’erconfident. We wait ‘til dark an’ then preten’ tae be asleep. Make it look like one o’ us was s’posed tae be keepin’ watch bu’ fell asleep tae. Then when they come tae hit us, hopefully the traps will ge’ a few o’ them an’ e’en if they dinnae we hit ‘em ‘ard an’ fast when they’re s’posed tae be attackin’ us.”

“That’s a good idea and all,” Lindsey put in, “but if we’re all pretending to be asleep, how are we going to know they’re coming. It’s not like any of us have enhanced senses and all of my magic studies have led me to believe that the Fae can be pretty damn stealthy when they want to be.”

“We use this,” I replied, taking the small silver bell for training Peaches out of my pocket. “Khestrid ‘as proven tha’ she kin whip up a fair wind, so we ge’ her tae keep watch an’ ring this when we she sees ‘em comin’.”

We spent the next few hours setting up tripwire traps surrounding our camp using fishing line and sharpened sticks and then covering them with leaves and sand to keep them hidden. Once that was done we killed time until dinner. None of us really felt like surfing or swimming under the current circumstances so we just snuggled together and talked, Michelle with Lindsey and me with Hana while Fawn and Peaches took a nap in my lap. We also got into our costumes in preparation for the night ahead, glad that we had brought them along in case of an emergency. Personally, I thought that Hana looked good in her new pitch black Firefly costume with its glowing golden accents and firefly symbol on her chest.

Far too soon it was time for us to all get up and start making dinner since we figured that we were going to need all the energy that we could get once the sun set. We tried to keep the conversation going as we cooked and then ate, but there was just too much nervous energy as we all considered the possible life or death battle to come. Once we had finished dinner we built a campfire and all laid down on our sleeping bags and Hana wrapped her arms around me tight as Lindsey did the same with Michelle, and I held Peaches and Fawn protectively in my arms. We laid there like that and pretended to sleep as the sun set and then darkness fell, finding comfort in one another’s closeness until the bell rang.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 37 of MSPD.. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 37: Nightfall

I became instantly alert when the bell rang announcing that Khestrid had spotted the Tainted emerging from the cave. Powerful winds whipped up and bolts of lightning assaulted the Tainted emerging from the cave as Khestrid tried to make them believe that she was trying to protect us, though soon both died down since the nature spirit was still trying to get her strength back after her long imprisonment. The first of the traps went off soon after, earning a quickly muffled shout of pain so I decided that they were close enough to put phase two of my plan into action. I concentrated on forming a protective dome around our camp and smiled as the area was bathed in the ruddy light of the large construct. “A’right e’eryone time tae ge’ down tae business, aye?” I said as I got to my feet, adjusted Peaches into the baby sling, and activated my force field. “E’eryone ken wot yuir jobs are s’posed tae be?”

The others quickly nodded as they all stood up and we got in position so that none of our backs were uncovered in case they decided to launch a physical offensive once my dome was down. After a quick look around, I discovered that there were less than twenty of the human-like creatures approaching us, plus another two smaller pixie-ish creatures that I could see. They hadn’t sent out their full strength. Khestrid had indicated earlier that the Tainted we faced numbered somewhere between sixty and eighty in total, so this was probably only roughly a third of their full strength? Ground troops maybe? Was she holding her mages back for now or was it a mix of the two?

I could only think of two reasons for the Dark Queen to hold back like this. Either she thought us easy prey or she was probing our defenses, and possibly trying to wear us down, while she figured out if we were dangerous or not. Either way, we needed to hit them hard and let them know that not only were we dangerous, but that we had no issues at all with taking them down. A second Tainted fell to the traps as they approached. Lindsey had been focusing her gaze on him and now that he was down she quickly focussed on another.

The Tainted approached my dome uncertainly, not sure what to make of it at first. They were all buck naked and looked vaguely like humans, but with pointed ears, an unhealthy-looking paleness to their skin, black hair, and eyes that seemed to be all pupil, with no sign of iris or white. One of them reached up to scratch his chin with a black clawed finger and then smiled at us, displaying a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. “If the Pixie dropsss her shielding ssspell and comesss with usss we will let you children go. Wouldn’t you like to go home to your parentsss and just forget about all of thisss? Her magick has trapped you here and brought you to usss. It’sss her fault, ssso why don’t you just leave her here with usss and go home to enjoy whatever sssmall ssspeck of life remainsss in you?”

“My name is Fawn, and I don’t want anything to do with you. I’m not going anywhere with you and I’m not going to let you hurt my friends,” the Fairy said from where she fluttered above my right shoulder with her arms crossed, glaring at the Tainted outside the dome.

It was an obvious lie anyway. They had no intention of letting us go, no matter what happened here. They thought that we were little more than children and that Fawn was a mage of some sort. “Yeah right, like we’re going to trust you,” Michelle spat.

He looked us all over intently, but then ignored Michelle and focussed his attention on me and Lindsey as he smiled once again. “I sssense the ssspark of magick in the two of you. And you, you have a familiar, I can sssense itsss bond with you. Are you this Pixie’sss apprenticesss? Queen Minira is a very powerful sssorceresss, she could teach you magicksss that you could only dream of. Think of it, all your wishesss fulfilled. Lady Fawn, you could learn ssso much from Her Majesssty.”

“The only thing that you’re interested in me learning is how to become like one of you and I’m not going to do that. Besides I’m already going to school,” Fawn retorted.

Lindsey let out a very unladylike snort of disgust. “Yeah, puh-leeze. Even if you did keep us and Fawn alive for our magic, you’d just kill our girlfriends. Not gonna happen, asshole.”

I nodded in agreement and quickly added, “I think tha’ I’m goin’ tae ‘ave tae agree wi’ ma friends. Ya dinnae seem the trus’worthy type, ‘sides it’s no’ Fawn tha’s makin’ the shield, it’s me.”

The eyes of the Tainted widened and he just stared at me for a moment before sputtering, “But you’re jussst a child, how…”

“Fook you, tha’s ‘ow,” I snapped back, sticking out my tongue and giving him a raspberry and the one finger salute for good measure. “Yuir more’n welcome tae try an’ break it down though, if’n ya think tha’ ya kin.” After the way their attack spells had bounced of my force field and the bubbles that I had placed on the others, Lindsey had surmised that my energy could block or absorb direct magical attacks, but we would be in trouble if anyone thought to use magic to attack indirectly and contain or trap me or my constructs. I needed to get them mad enough to attack the dome directly. If I kept it stable then it would just absorb or deflect the attacks, and if I didn’t then everyone inside would be safe when it went boom.

I put a strained expression on my face as he and a few others began attacking the dome. It was a large construct, but it wasn’t moving and was a fairly easy shape to maintain so, since it was the only construct I was handling at the moment, it wasn’t near as hard to maintain as I was making it appear. More of them closed in and began attacking in earnest, close to a dozen of them within twenty feet of the dome and pounding on it with magic or their bare hands. I placed a second dome over the first trapping them between the two, concentrating now on keeping the outer one stable as I fed more energy into the one surrounding me and my friends.

I didn’t have time to feed enough into the dome to make it too wildly unstable before their attacks made it blow, but it was enough to do the job. The explosive energy rushed outward tearing into the Tainted and hurling their scorched and bloodied remains back toward the outer dome that I had erected to contain the blast and prevent too much destruction to the local landscape. Okay, I’ll admit it. That took a little bit out of me, but I shook it off as I let the second dome dissipate and muttered, “A’right Hana, its yuir turn.”

“You got it Merida,” she replied with a grim nod before letting loose. Twin blasts of bright golden light erupted from her eyes, firing rapidly and hitting any Tainted between her and the cave with enough force to send them flying, screaming in pain until they hit the ground or the side of the rocky outcropping that the cave was in. They weren’t the only ones screaming in pain though. Hana had used all of the energy she had left for that attack and she was changing back into Hiro. Having been through that kind of painful transformation myself before I winced in sympathy, but we still had problems to deal with.

Three small pixie creatures had managed to stay outside my dome and avoid Hana’s attack and they were flying above us and casting spells, sickly green bolts of energy that I didn’t like the look of at all. I managed to cover Hana/Hiro with a bubble, but before I could cover the others Michelle threw herself in front of Lindsey, taking a hit meant for her. Michelle’s scaly skin seemed to darken before the spell even hit her, turning black with a slightly metallic sheen to it. Fawn though, flew straight at the three enemy combatants. “I’ve got this Merida, try to cover Lindsey and Michelle too,” the Fairy shouted back at me.

“Don’t worry about me Merida. Whatever that was, it didn’t hurt me at all,” Michelle countered. “Keep Lindsey and Hana covered and maybe we should make sure that those guys Hana hit stay down.”

“I… I’m okay,” Hana, or rather Hiro said with a groan. “It hurts like a bitch, but at least it doesn’t take long. Let’s go take care of those guys Merida.”

Fawn had already flown straight at the three dark pixies, but with their small size and being fairly high it was hard to really see any of them other than the red glow of Dawn’s force field covered form zipping all over the place. From the look of it, she was leading them on a good chase for now to keep them off the rest of us. We didn’t bother looking at the Tainted that I had taken down between my two domes, there wasn’t enough left of them to be a problem and it was pretty stomach-turning to look at, even in the dark. Instead, we took the opportunity to make our way over to check on the Tainted that Hana had blasted. They were down for the count, battered, broken, and badly burned from the blast, and though it looked like they were alive they were unconscious and likely wouldn’t be moving again under their own power again anytime soon.

“Damn, my eye beams usually hit like a truck, but they’ve never burned anybody like that before,” Hiro muttered.

“Well Khestrid did say that they were weak to light, and something called cold iron” Michelle pointed out.

Fawn streaked back toward us still fighting the three dark pixies. With her strength and speed enhanced by her force field she was easily outclassing them physically, while their spells and other attacks couldn’t seem to touch her. Two of the nasty little things were grabbing at her from behind, trying to strangle her and disable her wings, but with the force field active they couldn’t do either and she didn’t need her wings to fly. The third, the only male of the group had stopped and was beginning to chant as it cast another spell at her, but fawn never let him finish the spell, rushing toward where he was fluttering above us to deck him in the face and then throw him down toward us.

Michelle snatched the tiny little monstrosity up in her hand, in an attempt to keep it away from Fawn so she could handle the other two, and the second that she grabbed him he started screaming, “Aaiiieee it burnsss!! They have cold iron!”

“Whoa, so that’s what I turned into,” Michelle said in surprise as she tossed him to the ground. His black moth wings were half burned away and he had burns all over his body. All that from less than a minute of contact. “We’ll have to save as much of this as we can when I shed it, it could be useful if need to fight these guys again.”

“Aye, an’ hopefully ya dinnae shed it afore we finish dealin’ wi’ the ones ‘ere,” I agreed as I watched Fawn elbow one to the dark pixies on her back in the gut, dislodging her. Then my Fairy friend quickly turned around to grab her opponent by the arms and start spinning like a top as fast as she could. Soon the one on her back couldn’t hold on any longer and was sent flying while she let go of the other one, sending her flying as well before slowing her spin to come to a stop. Michelle jumped up to grab one of them in her hand before tossing the screaming and burned creature to the ground while I formed a really large fly swatter construct and delivered a solid smack to the other. “Take tha’ ya wee menace,” I muttered as I embedded it into the sand.

Fawn fluttered down giggling slightly, probably from the head rush and dizziness, though she did manage to land safely on my shoulder. “What do we do now Merida?” she asked in concern after looking around us at all the figures lying still in the sand.

“We go an’ take down tha’ bloody Queen Minira an’ the res’ o’ them. I’m no’ goin’ tae let ‘er ge’ away wit’ ruinin’ our first date. An’ we cannae le’ her try tae find the Chaos Gate,” I told her and the others with determination.

We made our way over to the cave, watching carefully for more Tainted in hiding in the shadows as I kept a bubble over Lindsey and we were nearly there when the dark pixie that I had swatted into the sand suddenly zipped after us and called out, “Merida! It’s me, Khestrid! You need to place one of your shields over all of us right now!”

I didn’t argue, I just dropped the bubble around Lindsey and quickly erected another dome, just big enough to fit me and me and the others. The spirit had taken over Lindsey when she was unconscious so it didn’t surprise me that she could do it with the pixie as well and her tone had been urgent. “Would ya care tae explain jus’ wot I’m protectin’ us from.”

“Minira is casting a number of large spells, she has already removed her barrier from this place and she means to cleanse this beach of all living things, both you and those who have failed her,” the Valkyrie spirit explained. I had barely gotten the dome in place when a firestorm washed over the beach, turning everything not protected to ash and causing the Tainted who had regained consciousness to scream.

We sat there trying to drown out the screams by talking. I wanted to go kick Minira’s ass but I couldn’t risk dropping that dome for a single second. So I sat there snuggling Hiro and Peaches while Lindsey and Miichelle held hands and we talked to the possessed Tainted pixie. Since the pixie was both injured and unconscious it was fairly easy for Khestrid to keep her hold on it and she could access the creature’s memories and magic. The former didn’t tell the spirit much that she didn’t know already though and nothing about what Minira had planned to do if this location was compromised beyond killing the people who had done the compromising.

“I do think I can do something for you though Fawn,” Khestrid offered my Fairy friend after sharing what little information she had gleaned. “While I still have control of this Tainted I could give you its clan mark. Fae can share their clan mark once every fifty years with someone not born Fae and becoming Tainted doesn’t change that. It would allow you to take on a human form and since you’re already a creature of magic, I think that it would greatly increase the potency of your inherent abilities while in your natural form.”

“But I like being a Fairy, I’m not sure I’d like being human,” Fawn replied with a concerned look on her face.

“You would not be human, you would still be a Fairy, only able to become human when the need arises and change back just as easily. I think that this would be useful for you living in the human world. If you wish to do this, we must do so while I am still in control of this body with access to the proper memories. Please, think of it as payment for the favor that I wish to ask of you and your friends.” The dark pixie’s eyes implored us.

“It could be useful fer school,” I thought aloud, “I’ve been wonderin’ ‘ow yuir goin’ tae carry yuir books an’ other things aroun’. Ya ne’er ken when havin’ an extra ability might come in handy tae. Wot’s this favor though?”

“My time as Minira’s captive has greatly weakened me. I saw in Lindsey’s memories that you are all close to a young Contractor Medium named Jorydn. I need a long term host while I regain my strength and I would like to meet her and see if she is agreeable to forming a contract.”

“You don’t need to offer us payment for us to introduce you, and Jordyn has been wanting to find a spirit to from a contract with since she found out that she’s a Contractor like her mom. With her looks and no real powers to back her up she has all the drawbacks of being a mutant but none of the benefits,” Lindsey pointed out.

“Thank you,” she said, giving a smile that looked a little terrifying on the Tainted’s tiny face. “Still, I would like to do this for Fawn if she would like, while I still have the ability to do so.

Fawn looked at me uncertainly and then I realized why she was hesitating. It wasn’t that she didn’t want it, she was afraid of how it might effect our friendship. So I gave her an encouraging smile and said, “Dinnae worry aboot a thing Fawn, this changes nothin’. Yuir still goin’ tae be ma bes’ friend no matter wot, an’ maybe we kin do e’en more t’gether this way. ‘Sides, yuir goin’ tae probably be spendin’ mos’ o’ yuir time as a Fairy in our dorm room and a’ home anyway.”

The Fairy returned my smile and breathed a sigh of relief, “Okay, let’s do it.”

Khestrid had Fawn choose where she wanted the clan mark to go and then using one of the claws of the pixie she was possessing to draw blood from both her hand and from just above Fawn’s right ankle where she would be placing the mark. Then she chanted something while her holding the bleeding hand to Fawn’s bleeding ankle and when she pulled her hand away and wiped off the blood there was now a tiny brown tattoo there. At Fawn’s size it was a bit hard to make out with the ruddy light of my dome construct, but she said it looked like a Fairy.

“I would advise not trying it while wearing clothes, but when you wish to change form, you need only focus your thoughts on the mark and its magic,” Khestrid told her now that the deed was done.

It was still another hour before the flames died down completely and Khestrid spent the remainder of that time teaching Lindsey a fairly basic spell that she could use to restrain the Tainted pixie before she could wake up and shake Khestrid’s control. Soon our captive was bound in stone so that she wouldn’t be able to move a muscle, with only an opening big enough for her to breathe, and possibly scream at us when she awoke. Khestrid told us that she believed that it would prevent her from casting spells before relinquishing her hold on the unconscious body.

When the flames finally dissipated Fawn dusted Michelle and Lindsey and we flew over the now hot sand to the cave entrance, but when we arrived there was some sort of opaque green barrier in place over the cave mouth and a Tainted woman in a black gown behind it glaring at us balefully. “Ssso, you are ssstill alive. You children have ruined everything,” she spat at us.

“Aye aye, we ge’ it already, ya would ‘ave gotten away wit’ it if’n it ‘ad no’ ‘ave been fer us meddlin’ kids an’ our Fairy. Now ya go’ two choices ‘ere lady. First, ya kin drop tha’ field an’ surrender. Or number two I bring tha’ cave down aroun’ ya an’ any o’ yuir people still in there wit’ ya.”

The dark queen snorted dismissively. “Do you really think that you have me beaten child? Sssuch arrogance. There is no point in my ssstaying here any longer. Our magicksss can not penetrate your barriers or effect the shapeshifter while she isss in that form and you are powerful, for children. I will find a new place to…”

“I guess that this barrier shouldn’t be a problem for me then,” Michelle interrupted her as she threw herself through the barrier and attempted to tackle the fallen Fae, only to pass right through her as well.

The image of the Tainted woman flickered back to life after vanishing and gave Michelle a dismissive look. “Foolish child, did you really think that I have lived thisss long by ssstaying where I might be in danger. Thisss is merely a magical projection. I have already transssported myssself and my remaining people to another location, where I can continue my sssearch without your interference. I will remember you well children and once that power is mine, you will either bow before me or sssuffer at my handsss. Enjoy your freedom while it lassstsss, children.”

The image vanished and I cursed, “Bloody ‘ell!”

“Don’t worry Merida, we’ll get her,” Hiro said, wrapping his arms around me. “We know what she’s after and maybe Dr. Edwards will be able to get something useful from our captive. We’re not leaving here empty handed.”

Luckily Minira had kept her conflagration contained to the beach itself and none of the surrounding forest had caught fire, because I was too damned tired to fight a fire on top of everything else, my constant constructs use had really drained me. “We should be leavin’ though,” I said with a sigh. “Any satellites o’erhead probably picked up on the heat from tha’ fire an’ I dinnae wan’ tae be ‘ere when people come investigatin’. Let’s see wot survived the fire an’ pack up. We’ll need tae call Dr. Edwards an’ our parents tae.”

My tent and the sleeping bags for Fawn and I survived, they were after all made from Mithrilex, but the others’ sleeping gear was burnt to ashes. Luckily we had placed most of our gear inside my portable portal so it was all safely stowed away and the portal was all stuffed inside itself and as small as possible, safely tucked inside one of the pockets of my costume. Once I had extracted it we all had a quick meal of things that we could eat cold and then took apart my tent, and placed it and the sleeping bags inside the portal before folding it up again for the trip home.

It was nearly midnight when I pulled out my phone and called Dr. Edwards. She did not sound happy to answer the phone at that hour, but she was glad that we were safe and that we now had some information on who was after the Chaos Gate. She was even happier that we had managed to capture one of the Tainted alive. She wanted us to come straight to the school to report to her in person and we could sleep in our dorm rooms that night. She would phone our parents and let them know what was going on. So, once Fawn had Michelle and Lindsey dusted again, we all rose into the night sky with our captive in hand and Khestrid an unseen presence at our side as we headed back to Costa Verde.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 38 of MSPD. I was a bit busy today trying to finish it, and doing the editing, but it's only a few minutes late. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 38: Home Again

We were all pretty tired by the time that we arrived at the Headmistress’ Office and gave our report to Dr. Edwards. That report included everything that we had seen while there, Khestrid’s presence and her observations, and our thoughts on the Tainted, in particular Minira the Dark Queen. For the latter of these, we had been able to discern from our limited interaction with her projection and from what Khestrid had told us that she was a powerful magic user, crazy, power-hungry, determined to get her hands on the Chaos Gate, and had a willful disregard for life, even the lives of her followers.

Dr. Edwards was frowning as we finished our report and let out a long sigh before saying, “This Minira could be an extremely dangerous opponent. I want both of your teams to be very careful dealing with anything that you even think may be magic related from now on. That should be easier for you with both Mei and Lindsey learning the basics of magic his year. The nature spirit you mentioned seems to know quite a bit about her so have Jordyn report to me immediately if they do form a contract. I’ll want their thoughts on this and I’ll need to update her file.”

“Okay Dr. Edwards, “Lindsey agreed, “I’ll talk with her about it at home tomorrow and Khestrid said that she would shadow me until I could introduce them.”

“I’ll need to update Fawn’s file with her new ability as well, once we’re certain that it works. Michelle, I want you to keep every piece of cold iron from your shedding just in case. It’s not easy to come by in our modern world and it can’t just be reproduced. If we’re to be dealing with dark Fae then it’s a potential weapon and protective measure that we can’t afford to ignore. I’ll have Neuron come in to interview our captive once I’ve taken measures to ensure that she can’t use magic or her physical abilities while in a human sized form to hurt anyone.” The Headmistress sighed again and I heard her mutter, “This is going to be a long long-weekend.”

“Sorry for all the trouble Dr. Edwards, we should have read the signs that something wasn’t right earlier and just left, but we had other things on our minds,” Hiro said with a faint blush.

“I’m sure that you did,” the Headmistress replied with a weak smile. “Nobody could expect you kids to think there was that sort of danger out in the middle of nowhere and I’m beginning to think that you kids are just magnets for trouble. If you had left earlier though, then we wouldn’t have gotten what Intel that we did and you did a great job, under the circumstances. You can all go to your dorm rooms and get some sleep now.” We were all leaving the room when she quickly remembered to add, “Oh and Hiro, your mother wanted me to let you know that you should head to the medical center in the morning to see Dr. Ainsley. Your parents will be meeting you there at ten thirty to go over the results of your tests.”

Hiro looked nervous as we headed off toward Starfish Dorm, so I gently took his hand in mine. “If’n ya wan’ me tae, I kin come wit ya in the mornin’, fer support.”

“That’d be great Merida, thanks. I’m a little worried about this, what if it’s bad news?” he said softly, so I squeezed his hand reassuringly in mine.

“Well then you have a lot of friends to help you through it,” Lindsey offered.

“That’s right! And Fairies are friends for life,” Fawn said as she fluttered from my shoulder to land on Hiro’s and give him a tiny Fairy hug.

“We’ll all be there for you if you need us,” Michelle agreed solemnly.

We reached Hiro’s room first and after saying our goodnights continued on toward Michelle’s which was just down the Hall. Lindsey’s room and the one that Fawn and I shared were on higher floors. Before opening her door Michelle looked back in the direction we had come from before suggesting, “We should all meet for breakfast in the morning, our entire teams. I’ll text Garret before I go to sleep. Merida, do you think your sisters could be here too? So Hiro knows that all his friends are here for him before he goes into that appointment? We might not all be able to go in there with him and his parents, but we can definitely let him know that his friends have his back no matter what happens.”

“Aye, tha’s a good idea,” I quickly agreed. “I’ll see if any o’ them are still awake. If no’ I kin text ‘Nessa an’ le’ her in on the plan. Jus’ give me a second.” I had been able to feel the presence of the mental link that my sisters, our Fairies, and Mom all shared through Tasha as we had approached the city, a reassuring presence in my mind. Now I reached through it with my thoughts and asked, *Is anyone still awake?* It was far easier to ask in general than to direct my thoughts to everyone individually one at a time.

*I am Merida,* Mom’s voice replied. *The girls are all asleep already. I was just getting to know Rosetta better while hoping that you would call. Dr. Edwards said that you had a bit of an exciting day.*

*Who’s Rosetta?* I asked in confusion.

*Mei struck again,* Mom explained and I could almost sense her sighing. *She wanted each member of our team to have a Fairy companion and she thought that the Pixie Hollow gang just wouldn’t be whole without Rosetta. She’s still sleeping it off, but she promised no more Fairies or anything else that would cause Tara to have to create another identity. She does want to create a familiar for Lindsey though, with her permission of course.*

*Did we get another sister that I don’t know about? I thought you said no more strays.* I sent back in a bit of confusion.

*Rosetta is technically my Fairy companion and I like her, we’re planning on starting a garden together, but she will be going to school with you, your sisters, and the other Fairies. She’s going to stay in Brooke’s dorm room along with her and Vidia. Brooke will be just down the hall from you in Starfish by the way, and her testing revealed that her education is somewhat lacking for her age so she’ll have to start as a Freshman with you. So why did you want to talk to someone this late, I’d have thought you’d be going straight to bed after all the excitement.* It was hard to tell emotions in the mind-link sometimes, but it sounded like she was concerned.

*Hiro is worried about his appointment with you tomorrow,* I told her. *We thought that he could use some support, so Michelle suggested we all get together for breakfast in the morning to show our support. Could you tell the others and ask them to meet us in the Grotto at nine?*

*Brooke’s appointment is right after Hiro’s and she’s a bit worried too. She probably would have had trouble sleeping if she hadn’t been so busy all day. I have some possible treatment options that I would like to discuss with both of them, and Hiro’s parents afterwards. I could discuss this with them outside the clinic, but I want this all done by the book since they got the initial tests done at the clinic. I’ll let the girls know to meet you there, Brooke could use the support as well. You should get some sleep though, it sounds like you had a long day.*

*Aye, we have, but there’s something I want to ask you. One of the Tainted said that he sensed magic in me. I’m a bit worried about that, I’m having enough trouble controlling the powers I already have. Do you think he may have been right?* I asked, feeling a bit worried about that.

*I’m pretty sure that he was telling you the truth,* she replied, *but not because you’re a mage or anything Merida. You're quantum entangled with Fawn and have access to her passive abilities. Her abilities with animals and languages are magical in nature, so of course you have magic, but its focus is very limited, related to animals and languages. So, stop worrying about accidentally casting spells or something and try and get a good night’s sleep.*

*Aye, I’ll let the other’s know what’s going on and then Fawn and I are going straight to bed. Goodnight Mom,* I sent back before turning toward Michelle and Lindsey. “I talked wi’ Mom. I guess tha’ Brooke is worried tae, ‘er appointment is right after Hiro’s. She’s goin’ tae tell the girls wot’s up an’ tell them tae meet us a’ the Grotto at nine.”

“I hope that your mom can do something for both of them, the gender confusion is really taking a toll on Hiro I think, and I can’t imagine what it must be like for Brooke not to be able to feel anything,” Michelle said with a sad shake of her head. “Anyway, I’ll see you girls in the morning.”

“Do you think she can help them?” Lindsey asked hopefully as we walked toward the elevator.

“I dinnae ken, bu’ Mom did mention sumthin’ aboot treatment options, so I hope so,” I replied uncertainly. Then as we got in the elevator I turned to her and gave a weak smile as I added, “Oh an’ Linds, Mei wants yuir permission tae make ya a familiar, so I imagine she’ll be askin’ ya aboot tha’ in the mornin’.”

“Really?!” Her mood seemed to perk right up at that and she gestured to Peaches snoozing in her sling across my chest. “Do you think that she can make me a Feydragon like Peaches?!”

“Well she did make Peaches,” I responded, nearly giggling at her excitement. “No’ tha’ Peaches is a regular Feydragon, she’s go’ the best features o’ all the dragons tha’ Mei researched. So technically I guess she’s a new breed entirely. She could prob’ly make ya one sim’lar. An’ if ya were tae ge’ a male we could breed them when they’re older.”

“Oooh, we could make a killing selling them in the magical community,” she replied thoughtfully as we took the elevator upward. “Or we could give some to low-income magic students that are here on scholarships and can’t afford a magical creature for a familiar. That’s why I don’t have one yet, but I had my heart set on a Feydragon and you need to have some major cash to get one of those, if you’re fortunate enough to hear of someone selling an egg.”

“Well, ya may no’ ge’ a Feydragon, but ya jus’ may ge’ a Meidragon,” I said with a chuckle as we reached her floor. “G’night Linds.”

“Good night Mer,” she replied as she exited the elevator and left Fawn, Peaches, and I alone to continue up to the top floor and our own dorm room.

Thankfully, I had no nightmares that night as I slept in my dorm room, but then I was probably too tired from the excessive use of my powers and the long day to dream. I was awoken by the alarm clock at quarter to seven and sleepily sat up and parted the curtains of my bed to get up and go turn off the offensive device. I had had far too little sleep for my liking, but I wanted to have time to shower and make myself presentable before we met the others at breakfast at nine. “C’mon Fawn, it’s time tae ge’ ready fer the day.” I told my Fairy friend as I gathered some towels and my toiletries.

“Yeah Merida, before we do that though, should I try using the mark that Khestrid gave me?” she asked uncertainly.

I could tell that she was still a bit leery about it using her new ability so I tried to sound supportive as I replied. “Aye, then ya kin come take a shower wi’ me an’ we kin ‘elp each other wit’ our hair after. This could make our mornin’ routine easier ‘ere in the dorms, but ya may still wan’ tae use the shower in yuir little fairy house a’ home, since we have so many other girls in the house and no’ enough bathrooms fer us all.”

She took off her tiny night shirt and a look of concentration passed over the Fairy’s features before, in the span of only a few seconds, her wings vanished and she grew to human proportions. She looked basically the same, was maybe an inch taller than me in that form and still had her pointed ears, making her look like an elf. It was easier to tell her age too, she looked around fourteen or fifteen. “This is sooo strange,” she said in a near whisper as I passed her a couple of towels so she could wrap one around herself. “Everything seems so small and it’s weird not having my wings.”

“I’m curious, I wonder if…” I started to say as I powered up my force field. The same reddish glow covered Fawn so now at least I knew that it still worked when she was in this form. “Well, a’ leas’ yuir still goin’ tae be able tae fly a’ this size if’n we need tae. We should ge’ goin’ an’ shower though afore Peaches wakes up. I’m worried aboot her leavin’ her basket an’ getting’ intae mischief.”

“Okay Merida, let’s go then. I’m not sure what I’m going to do for clothes when I’m this size though,” she admitted as we took the towels and my self care products and headed to the door and then onward to the shower room for our floor.

“We’ll talk tae the Taylor’s, maybe Melanie ‘as a spell wot kin make yuir clothes change size when you dae. If no’ then they kin a’ leas’ make some new clothes fer ya when yuir this size.”

Fawn did have an easier time showering in her human-sized form, for one thing she didn’t have to worry about her wings getting wet in the process. Fairies didn’t have body hair so she at least didn’t have to worry about shaving like I did, I can’t imagine how awkward that would be at Fairy size. She did appreciate being able to braid one another’s hair after she showed me how. Even though I was a bit awkward and clumsy at first, it still saved time. It was weird for me, but I found it almost relaxing once I got into the rhythm of it, and Fawn seemed to like that we could do things like this for each other now.

Surprisingly, we were finished and dressed by eight o’clock. I was in my regular punk motif, and Fawn was dressed in one of the sundresses and a pair of sandals that Meghan had made me. The good things about the sundress were that Fawn was comfortable in it and it had built in support so Fawn didn’t have to borrow one of my bras, which would have been too big for her slighter frame. Since we still had an hour before meeting the others I put Peaches in her sling and we made our way out to the Taylors’ shop to drop in and see if they were open for business yet.

The Taylors weren’t officially opening until eight thirty, but since we got there while they were letting themselves inside and it was eight fifteen when we arrived, they let us in as well. Well, after they stopped gushing about Peaches and Melanie had inquired about where I had gotten the Feydragon. “So Merida, what’s my favorite punk girl doing here this early in the morning?” Meghan asked with a grin as she ushered us inside.

“I imagine it would have something to do with Fawn being human sized and not having wings at the moment,” Melanie teased with a chuckle as she passed her sister a coffee from the bakery. “You apparently need this more than I do this morning.”

Meghan stuck out her tongue at her older sibling at that. “Well I figured that Sis, but I was hoping that they might explain.”

“Well,” Fawn began after I gave her a brief nod and an encouraging smile. “I got a new ability yesterday that lets me change to this form from my usual one, but if I’m going to use it I’ll need clothes that can change size when I do.”

“It’s sorta like a magical tattoo,” I added.

“Hmmm, I could maybe try that… hopefully the two magics won’t interfere with one another,” Melanie mumbled with a pensive expression on her face. Then she nodded and her eyes focused on us once again. “If I can have a look at the tattoo I may be able to imbue an item she’s wearing with a spell that will work in conjunction with it to perform the size change on anything in contact with her when she uses the ability, it could probably even work for a purse or backpack, and its contents, as well. Maybe I could even create a second mark on her skin near the first one to do that.”

“It would probably be easier if you just made a second mark, then she wouldn’t have to worry about losing the item, or not having it with her when she really needs it,” Meghan suggested.

“Yeah, we should try that first,” the elder Taylor sister agreed. “Could I have a look at this tattoo of yours Fawn? Where is it?”

“I don’t mind you looking if you think you can help,” Fawn said with a relieved smile. “It’s on my ankle.”

“Okay Fawn why don’t you hop up on the sewing table, have a seat and let me have a look then?” Melanie said, gesturing to the large table in the room.

Fawn hopped up on the table and extended her right leg so that the magic user could look at the tattoo on her ankle. Now that she was human-sized I could tell that it did indeed resemble a fairy. Melanie looked at the mark in interest, her eyes going wide as she cast a small spell. “This is an old and powerful magic, I’ve never seen anything like it before. I don’t think that I could reproduce it if I spent my whole life trying. Luckily, I don’t need to reproduce it to help you. I’m going to add another mark that I will connect to this one to try and make it trigger whenever the Fairy one does do add the size change portion of the spell to anything you’re in contact with at the time. Would a flower be okay with you Fawn? I could make it look like the fairy is landing on it.”

“That could be pretty,” Fawn agreed with a smile.

With a nod Melanie began casting the spell and soon the fairy on Fawn’s ankle appeared to be alighting upon a daisy. It seemed to take a bit out of the magic user though, as she settled carefully into a chair after casting it. “That should work Fawn, it was a little hard to synch the spell with the other one, but I think I got it to work. Why don’t you go in the back, and get out of Merida’s clothes? We wouldn’t want to damage the dress when your wings emerge. Meghan, can you provide her with a new outfit to test with?”

“Sure thing Sis,” the younger Taylor sister replied with a grin. “C’mon Fawn, let’s go see if this works.”

While Fawn and Meghan were in the back I gave Melanie a carefully edited version of how I got my Feydragon, while she listened and fawned over Peaches. “I would love to get my hands on a Feydragon egg, they make the best familiars. If you ever decide to breed her I’d love to buy an egg from you.”

“Aye, bu’ you an’ yuir sister ’ave done so much fer me an’ my friends. So, ‘ow aboot I give ya one from her first clutch as a gift?” I suggested.

She smiled but shook her head, “I couldn’t, Feydragon eggs are worth a small fortune and that was all business, and you paid us well for that help. You Ainsley girls are good for business. How about a compromise? That spell was a doozy and it was custom made, which in magic circles can be expensive, so how about you give me the egg when you have it and we’ll say that the payment was the spell I just cast and the clothes that Megan is making Fawn with the standard enchantment I’ve been putting on all of yours and Fawn’s clothes? What do you think?”

“I think tha’ ya go’ yuirself a deal,” I agreed with a grin.

That was when Fawn and Meghan emerged from the back. Meghan was carrying my clothes and Fawn fluttered toward us in Fairy form before suddenly beginning to grow again. Then she was standing there in a ginger-hued hoodie with a gold crop top t-shirt underneath, tan colored low-rise jeans and a pair of white and orange sneakers. She looked down at herself and then squealed in excitement, “It worked!”

“Yup and you’re lookin’ good,” Meghan said, giving the Fairy a thumbs-up.

“Great, now since payment has already been settled, let me place the enchantments on those clothes for you and then you girls can head off for breakfast,” Melanie offered with a grin.

 

---

 
Author's Note: Here's chapter 39 of MSPD. I was a bit busy this weekend to finish it on time trying to finish, but at least it's still the weekend. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you for supporting my stories. ~Amethyst.
 

---

 
Chapter 39: Breakfast

Fawn and I were a few minutes late meeting the others for breakfast. We had stopped off back at our dorm room first to put away the clothes that she had borrowed from me and then my Fairy friend got a little case of the nerves. “I… I don’t know if I can do it Merida… let everyone see me like this,” she said uncertainly as she tightly gripped my hand in hers.

“Ya dinnae ‘ave tae if ya dinnae wan’ tae, Fawn.” I told her, squeezing her hand reassuringly, “bu’ these are our friends, an’ ya keep sayin’ tha’ Fairies are friends fer life. Nobody is goin’ tae hate ya jus’ ‘cause ya ‘ave a new ability. I think tha’ they’ll be ‘appy fer ya.”

“But… I haven’t even seen Rosetta since she arrived and she probably doesn’t know about the force field stuff or anything like that,” my Fairy friend said with another look toward the doors of the Grotto.

It was the first time that I had ever seen Fawn uncertain about anything. Usually she was so eager and impulsive and just flew into situations with the self-assurance that everything would turn out okay. She normally didn’t care about what others thought of her, as wildly free as the animals she cared for. “Oi, c’mon now, where’s the Fawn who decided tha’ she wanted tae fight three Tainted all by ‘erself? Ya kin dae this, an’ I’ll be right there by yuir side.”

Finally, I managed to convince her and we stepped inside, taking a quick look around for our family and friends. It didn’t take long to spot them. With it being a long-weekend, and school not starting until Tuesday, there weren’t many students at the school and they were almost the only students eating in the Grotto this early. The fact that our group took up two whole tables helped a lot too. It seemed that Fawn and I weren’t the only ones running late either, since Jordyn was nowhere to be seen.

We went to get our breakfasts and then approached the tables where the others waited and talked amongst themselves. Lindsey and Mei had apparently been talking about creating Lindsey’s familiar while everyone else watched the conversation intently as Lindsey said, “Yeah with a male Meidragon we could breed them later, Mer seemed pretty keen on the idea too, and maybe in a darker shade of pink… oooh magenta! Yeah magenta would be an awesome color for it. So what are you doing for your familiar Mei? I mean you’re going to be learning magic too right?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to be learning some healing magic and stuff, and Jordyn has been showing me Medium stuff too, but it may be a while before I can really sense or talk to spirits like she can. Dr. Edwards would have liked if I could take the Medium classes, but I’ll have my hands full studying magic and stuff with her and she’s not too keen on people finding out I’m a Soul Dancer. Honestly, I’m pretty happy with having the Fairies around and that Merida got the dragon she always wanted. I don’t really need a permanent familiar either with my powers.”

Mornin’ e’eryone, sorry we’re a wee bi’ late bu’ we needed tae sort out some clothes an’ things wi’ the Taylors fer Fawn. It seems tha’ she outgrew hers,” I told everyone with a grin to get their attention.

Fawn took an involuntary step backward beside me as everyone turned and stared at her, even Hiro, Lindsey, and Michelle, who had known about her new ability. “Hi everyone,” she said a little self-consciously.

“Whoa, so I guess that your new ability really does work then,” Michelle said. “It’s kind of weird seeing you that big and without wings.”

“It’s just as weird for me,” Fawn admitted as we both sat down, me to Brooke’s right and Fawn on my other side. “Everything seems so small and I’m afraid that I’m going to break things. Merida thinks that it will make school easier for me though.”

Six fairies practically swarmed Fawn and my sisters were all still gaping. “How did…” Tink began to ask, but she couldn’t seem to finish the question. “You look like a human, Fawn.”

“Magic,” Hiro explained from the next table. “The spirit who helped us fight the Tainted used the magic of one of the nasty little things she was possessing to give Fawn a magic mark that lets her become human.”

“I wouldn’t say that she looks completely human, more like a LOTR elf with those ears, but yeah with the size and no wings I can see why she needed clothes for that form, shapeshifting can be a bitch sometimes,” Vanessa put in while looking at Fawn across the table.

“Aye, which was why we ‘ad tae see the Taylors, Melanie was able tae add sumthin’ tae the mark tae le’ her change her clothes tae, now the mark should le’ her change the size o’ anythin’ in physical contact wit’ her, or tha’s wot Melanie said anyway,” I provided. “We’ll need tae ge’ Fawn a few things afore classes start though, like a purse an’ a backpack an’ stuff.”

“Do you think Melanie could put a mark like that on the other Fairies? I mean if she was able to alter it, maybe she can reproduce it,” Tasha suggested as I placed Peaches on the table with a bowl of food in front of her, giving her an affectionate stroking.

“I dinnae think so,” I replied with a sad shake of my head, my fork halfway to my mouth so that I could start on my own meal. “She said it was an old an’ powerful magic an’ tha’ she prob’ly couldnae copy it if’n she spent her whole life tryin’. The best she could dae was tae add sumthin’ tae the mark so tha’ the enchantment works on anythin’ touchin’ her, like her clothes.”

“I wonder what it’s like being so big, it’s too bad that we aren’t clothes or we could see what it’s like too,” Silvermist said conversationally in a slightly dreamy tone.

Everyone at both tables stopped eating to stare at the water talent Fairy, but it was Vanessa who exclaimed, “Sil, you’re a genius!”

“I am?” she asked in wonder as she looked up at her best friend.

“Yup, you are Sil, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Brooke said with a grin. “Mer said that the spell would extend to anything touching her, not just to clothes, so maybe that could include other Fairies.”

“We could give it a try after breakfast,” Fawn offered. “It feels so strange seeing all of you so small, I feel so big and awkward.”

“Don’ you worry none, buttercup. You may look like a big ole human, but you’re still one of us, and our friend, no matter how you look. A flower doesn’t stop bein’ a flower just ‘cause it went from a bud to bloomin’ after all, it just becomes bigger an’ prettier,” Rosetta said with a smile on her tiny face. At least I figured that she had to be Rosetta since I had never seen her before. She was a bit on the small side, even for a Fairy, with shoulder-length red hair curled at the ends, peach-hued skin, and green eyes. She wore a dress that looked to be made of rose petals in three shades of pink, and red shoes and she spoke with a southern accent.

With that said, all of the Fairies swarm-hugged Fawn and we all got back to eating and trying to keep Brooke and Hiro from worrying about their upcoming appointments at the clinic. I was half finished my meal when Jordyn joined us. Her hair was gathered up in a hasty ponytail and she had bright pink paint stains on all four of her bare arms. “Sorry guys,” she said apologetically, “I was helping Aunt Rachel move the stuff back into my room at the house.”

“Well you did spend half the day painting before coming over to teach me the basics of Medium stuff yesterday,” Mei replied. “So is your room all finished now?”

“Uh yeah, it no longer looks like a storage room, now it looks like a teenage girl lives there, it’s kind of weird. I wanted to go with more gender neutral colors, but Aunt Rachel insisted that I needed to get used to being a girl and making others believe that I always have been,” she responded with a shrug.

“Yeah, she pulled the same thing with me when I jumped the gender fence,” Lindsey replied with a smirk. “At least I managed to convince her to go with Lilac for my room instead of Barbie pink.”

“It’s not Barbie pink it’s bubble gum,” the four armed girl protested. “Seriously though Linds, Aunt Rachel is even more eager to make me into a girly-girl than my mom was.”

“Well it didn’t exactly take with me, so maybe she’s hoping it will with you, better you than me cuz,” Lindsey said with a grin. “Mom loves the whole mother-daughter time, at least you being here and all newly female gives me a break from it sometimes.”

“Thanks cuz, you’re all heart. I’ll remember this when…” Whatever Jordyn had been about to say it wasn’t uttered as she stared at a spot just behind her cousin. “There’s… a nature spirit here, a damn powerful one.”

“Linds, meet Khestrid. She ‘elped us out a lo’ on our wee adventure in the woods an’ prob’ly saved Lindsey’s life. She said tha’ she’s a Valkyrie and she’s interested aboot formin’ a contract wit ya,” I said as casually as I could.

What followed was, for everyone but Jordyn, a rather one-sided conversation as she and Khestrid got to know one another and discussed the details of the contract. Apparently the contract would come with some physical changes in addition to Lindsey gaining Khestrid’s powers so that they were more alike physically. Jordyn was arguing against wings and wanted to see if she could go back to just having two arms, but Khestrid wasn’t willing to let her give up what would clearly be an advantage in combat. Finally, the two of them came to terms and Jordyn’s body tensed up as she began to change.

Her face and coloring didn’t change much, as she remained pale with bright pink hair, the only real difference there was that her milky white eyes became a bright gold color, a color that matched the large feathered wings that sprouted from her back. She grew about four inches in height too, just shy of six feet tall, and her whole body including all four of her arms, became more toned with tight muscles visible under her skin and a set of abs that I was a wee bit jealous of. It was hard not to see those abs, or the rest of her body, as the remains of her torn top and skirt hung precariously off of her, barely preserving her modesty. “Aww damn, now I’m gonna need new clothes again! Geeze Khestrid, did you really have to do this right in the middle of the grotto? You couldn’t have waited until I got to my dorm room?”

We had all finished breakfast by this time, Fawn eating nearly as much as I did, and we still had a half hour before Hiro’s appointment. “Okay, here’s wot we’re goin’ tae dae. Someone grab Jordyn some food she kin eat on the go, she’s prob’ly goin’ tae be ‘ungry after all o’ tha’ growin’. Me an’ Linds will take her tae the Taylors an’ ge’ them started on makin’ her some new clothes, or mebbe they kin alter the old ones.”

Brooke was staring at Jordyn in awe, and possibly something else, but she managed to shake it off and offered, “I’ll grab her some food and meet the rest of you there.”

“Merida, I can’t have you paying for my clothes again, I already owe you too much for the first time,” Jordyn complained.

“I dinnae recall sayin’ tha’ ya owed me anythin’ Jordyn, I did it ‘cause I’m yuir friend. ‘Sides, I think tha’ mebbe me an’ Linds can make an arrangement with them tae ge’ yuir clothes replaced wi’ no money changin’ hands,” I told her with a grin. Meghan had been a little jealous of her sister getting one of the promised eggs from Peaches’ future clutch, so now she could get one of her own. I was pretty sure that both Taylors would agree. I whispered to Lindsey, quickly explaining things.

“Oh!” Lindsey exclaimed, a grin nearly splitting her face in two. “That’s a good idea, and I don’t mind us parting with two eggs from the first clutch. The Taylors are awesome, and they deserve to have them regardless.”

What followed was another visit to the Taylors, where Jordyn quickly ate the food that Brooke had brought her, now safely away from any prying eyes. The few people besides us who had been in the grotto had been staring rather unabashedly at Jordyn following her change. The Taylors, especially Meghan, were only too happy to create a new wardrobe for Jordyn when Lindsey and I offered an egg for the younger of the siblings.

“Yeesh, and I thought that bras were tricky for you before, when you just had four arms,” Meghan said with a shake of her head as she took in Jordyn’s new wings. “Those are going to complicate things. I can probably come up with some specialized halter bras that should work for you though.” With that she got to the long process of creating a new wardrobe for Jordyn, including all of the necessities, such as school uniforms. Once they were started, Brook, Lindsey, and I all took our leave and joined the rest of our crew outside to head toward the medical center for Hiro’s and Brooke’s appointments.

While we were inside with the Taylors Fawn had done some experimenting to see if her mark could affect the other Fairies as well, if they were touching her, but they all ended up a bit disappointed since it only seemed to work on inanimate matter and not living organisms. It had worked just fine when she had borrowed Vanessa’s purse to test it, but it just wouldn’t work on anything that was alive it seemed. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn’t share this with her Fairy friends, but they were happy that at least she could experience it. We would have to talk to Mom about other ways of helping to make school easier for the other Fairies.

Fawn did change herself back to her normal size and form before we entered the clinic though. Our group was already big enough to take up significant space in the waiting room, so she didn’t want to push it. It was nearly time for Hiro’s appointment and his parents were already in the waiting room when we arrived. Kasumi quickly hugged Hiro and then surprised me by hugging me and then Lindsey and Michelle as well. “Alana old me what happened, I’m so glad that all of you made it out that situation safely.”

I was about to respond when Mom walked out of her examination room with someone that I didn’t recognize, a pale Caucasian woman in her mid-twenties with raven black hair and blood red eyes who was wearing a black and plum colored bodysuit and a huge smile. “Thank you so much Blair, I can’t thank you enough for giving me this freedom. I guess that I should go get some normal clothes now that I won’t have to wear this anymore.”

“Wait a minute, I did recognize her, or at least her voice and the bodysuit, I just wasn’t used to seeing her without the mask covering her entire head as well. It was Toxin. “Kendra?! I sputtered I surprise.

“Yup, it’s me Merida. Your mom able to fix it so I don’t need to wear this anymore. I can touch people again and live a normal life.” There were tears in her eyes as she hugged Mom and then me.

I was surprised at the hug and even more surprised not to be dead, since a mere touch from Toxin was usually instantly fatal. “Wot? How?”

“Nanites,” Mom quickly explained. “I’ve been experimentin’ with them and I was able to create some tha’ will eat up the toxins tha’ her body produces before they can be exuded by her skin an’ hair. They can be controlled through an implant in her brain tha’ will allow her to turn them off and on if she needs access to her toxins for some reason. Her blood is still one o’ the deadliest substances on Earth, but she can a’ least interact with people more normally now.”

“Speaking of interacting, I think I’m going to go see the Taylors and get some proper clothes made. Thanks again Blair, I owe you so much,” Kendra said before hugging Mom one last time. “I’ll see you on Tuesday after classes for your next appointment Merida.”

“Aye, I’ll see ya on Tuesday Kendra. Ya may ‘ave tae wait a wee bi’ fer the Taylors though,” I told her with a grin. “They’re busy makin’ some new clothes fer Jordyn right now. She made a spirit contract an’ wen’ through a few changes. Those Taylors are right though, we Ainsleys are good fer their business.”

We said our goodbyes to Kendra and then Mom said, “Well Hiro, it’s yuir turn now. If you an’ yuir parents could come join me in my office I can tell ya what I found on yuir tests and how I would like to proceed with your treatment.”

“Ummm… okay Dr. Ainsley,” Hiro replied, visibly swallowing and then looking toward his parents who were joining him and then to me, reaching out with his hand to take mine. I quickly took it and squeezed it reassuringly with my own as he asked, “Would it be okay if Merida came in as well?”

“As long as yuir parents and Merida are both okay with tha’, I don’t see why not,” Mom replied.

Kasumi looked toward her husband Paul and then they both nodded. “We don’t mind, if it makes Hiro feel better, they’re practically connected at the hip anyway it would seem.” She smiled as she looked toward our tightly clasped hands.

“It’s fine then, now let’s all head into m’ office,” Mom said, turning and motioning for us to follow her inside.