This is the seventh story in my Legacy Universe, with the previous
stories listed below for those who haven't read them. Like the others
this is a stand alone story, though it might be helpful to have at
least read the first, The Miracle Legacy.
The Miracle Legacy
Change of Heart
Hardshell
The Praxis Crossing
Mannequin
The Vengeance of Lady Hexx
Glamour Girl
By Morpheus
It was late at night, much less than a half hour short from the
stroke of midnight. Yet in spite of the lateness of the hour,
everything was not completely covered in a blanket of darkness as might
be expected, thanks to the light provided by the bright full moon.
Three figures garbed in black slowly made their way to the door
of an empty building; a large shed which would be perfect for their
current needs. The figures paused only momentarily before stepping
inside.
"God... I can't believe you made me wear all this black," a
blonde teenager complained as she gestured down at herself in disgust,
"I feel like such a Goth..."
"Yeah," a second girl agreed, "What's with all this tacky black?"
"Stop complaining you two," the third girl ordered, glaring at
her two companions before they all burst into a short fit of giggles.
With that, the 17 year old Melanie Chambers stood up straighter,
looking at her two friends and clutching the package that she was
holding just a little tighter. Melanie was a beautiful blonde, one of
the prettiest as well most popular girls in her school. She was even
captain of the cheerleading squad, a much desired position.
The two attractive girls standing beside Melanie were the blonde
Chelsea and the brunette Brenda, both members of the cheerleading squad
and Melanie's closest friends. Neither of them were particularly happy
to be there at the moment, though they followed Melanie's lead, as they
always did.
"We like... have to do this," Melanie firmly told the other
girls.
"But this place is like so..." Chelsea paused, "Ewwww. Like,
completely spooky..."
"It's just my dad's old shed," Melanie snapped.
"Brenda just shrugged, not looking very pleased. "Whatever. Let's
just do this so I can go home..."
Melanie nodded at that, then opened the package that she had been
carrying and started spreading the contents around. Then she held out a
thick leather-bound book, opening it to the page that was marked with
the pink bookmark. She stared at the page for a moment, nodding before
she began setting the candles up in front of her and drawing the chalk
pattern that was shown in the book.
"I don't think this is a good idea," Chelsea complained, earning
a glare from both Melanie and Brenda.
"I'm going to show that bitch Michelle," Melanie snapped, "I'll
teach her to steal MY boyfriend..."
"But isn't calling a demon kind of... going a little far,"
Chelsea asked.
"She does have a point," Brenda pointed out, "This is like... so
Goth. I'll just die if anyone finds out..."
"Revenge is worth any price," Melanie announced as she lit the
candles, "Even wearing these ugly clothes... At least as long as no one
sees us..."
"I wish I never found that weird spell book in my uncles book
store," Brenda muttered, then added, "Or at least never told you about
it..."
"Zip it," Melanie told her, glancing at her watch. "It's just
about midnight and it's a full moon... Now all we have to do is call up
that spirit then send it after Michelle..."
With that, Chelsea and Brenda took their positions, each sitting
beside a candle and facing towards the center of the triangle that they
were forming. Melanie took her position as well, holding the book on
her lap and carefully beginning to read the strange words that were
written inside.
Melanie read the spell for the next minute, and as she was doing
so, all three girls felt a cold chill along their skins. They squirmed,
then let out gasps as the candles suddenly began to flicker.
"This is really freaking me out," Chelsea whispered to Brenda,
who nodded but didn't say anything.
Suddenly, the flames from the candles shot up more than a foot
high, turning a strange green color at the same time. Chelsea and
Brenda each let out a loud squeal, while Melanie dropped the book with
a gasp of surprise, having only half expected anything to actually
happen.
Then without warning, there was the crash of thunder from
outside... from a sky that had been completely clear just half an hour
earlier. At the same time, the darkness seemed to increase around the
shed, with dark swirling cloud beginning to form directly above their
heads. A cloud that seemed to be composed of pure shadow.
"I really don't like this," Chelsea whimpered, while Brenda put a
hand on hers, equally terrified but not sure what to say.
And just as they didn't think anything could get more
frightening, there was sudden burst of red lighting bursting from the
cloud above their heads... striking Melanie who let out an ear
shattering scream. At that very instant, the candles suddenly dropped
back to their normal flicker, while Melanie collapsed forward.
For a long moment, everyone was silent as they looked around,
feeling the air charged with something strange. There was something
else... a new presence. They could feel it. A scary presence.
"M... Melanie?" Brenda finally brought check on her still slumped
forward friend.
With that, Melanie slowly sat back up, while Chelsea and Brenda
both let out sighs of relief. But then, she raised her face as she
stared at the other two... revealing her eyes. Eyes that glowed red and
were filled with a deep malevolence. And then, Melanie smiled at her
friends... a cold cruel smile.
Chelsea gulped with an increasing terror as she sat back,
"Melanie..."
Suddenly, the air was filled with the fluttering of wings and a
shadow flickered across the room before a dark shape landed on
Melanie's shoulder. And without even a moment of hesitation, the black
bird turned to them and cawed, "Nevermore..."
---
Sam leaned back from his computer and rubbed his eyes,
simultaneously smiling as he listened to the soothing sounds of Pink
Floyd playing in the background. He had been busy working for several
hours straight and was somewhat startled to look over at the clock and
see that it was already into the afternoon.
"Damn," Sam muttered, standing up to stretch, "Time flies when
you're having fun."
With that, Sam shook his head, took a look out the window and
glanced back at his computer. He had been working hard on his project
for most of the day and the work had paid off well so far. His latest
software project was coming close to completion. Just a few more days
and he'd be able to turn it in and get the rest of his payment.
"Maybe I'll take Anne out for dinner," he thought to himself.
For a moment, Sam just stood there, thinking about his wife Anne.
They had been married for 17 years, and unfortunately, haven't been
able to go out together as much as he would have liked. But with their
kids getting older and not needing a sitter, Sam thought that it was
high time that he and Anne took a little time for themselves.
Thinking about Anne quickly led Sam to thinking about their two
wonderful kids. There was 16 year old Todd, who was a pretty good kid
and not too rebellious, and 12 year old Emily who was her mother's
little angel. And that reminded Sam that it wouldn't be too much longer
before they both got out of school.
"I think I'll take a walk before they get home," Sam thought to
himself.
Being able to take walks in the middle of the day was only one of
the many benefits of working from home as a freelance software
designer. Of course, there were many others as well. Sam was his own
boss and could work at his own pace with no one staring over his
shoulder. He could take breaks as often and as long as he wanted. And
he could even take the whole day off if he really felt like it.
After relieving himself in the bathroom, Sam looked at himself in
the mirror. Not too bad, he thought, for being 38. He still had a full
head of dark brown hair, with no sign of it thinning or receding. Sam
hadn't even developed the beer belly that so many men tended to grow
when they reached his age.
"Not bad," Sam mused, "Even if I do say so myself."
Of course, with Anne still having a good shape, Sam wasn't about
to let himself go too much and risk losing her to some other lucky
schmuck. It was much better to do a few sit-ups and walk a few miles
than go through that.
It was only a minute later that Sam was out the door and walking
down the quiet streets of his neighborhood. He wasn't completely sure
where exactly he was going, not since he tended to just let his feet
move and see where they took him. However, as usually happened, Sam
found himself walking to the park.
The park was a patch of extra space in the middle of suburbia,
little more than a large grassy field with a few picnic tables and
trees scattered around to provide some variety. This was Bison Park,
named not after the animal, but after a man who had one time had been a
local civic leader.
"Not a bad day," Sam mused, as he slowed his pace in the park,
"Not a bad day at all..."
Of course, he reminded himself with a chuckle, any day that he
wasn't trapped in an office was a good day. And since he worked at home
where he could spend more time with his family, that made every day a
good day.
Suddenly, Sam froze as he saw the light appear ahead of him. All
that he could do was stand still and stare at it in surprise... It was
a swirling mass of light... almost as though a rainbow had been balled
up and left to float in the air in front of him.
"What the hell is that?" Sam gasped out, quickly glancing up but
the sky was completely clear. And it hadn't rained in days; so there
was no way that it could be a rainbow... even some sort of deformed
one.
After a moment, Sam cautiously stepped closer, thinking that it
didn't look dangerous. It just looked like a swirling mass of colored
light. And a rather pretty mass of light as well. Sam even smiled
faintly as he suddenly thought that Emily would absolutely love that
display.
Then without warning, the swirling light seemed to jump straight
at Sam. Before he had even realized it, the light was all around him...
Or more accurately, he seemed to be inside of it. He gasped, staring at
the swirls of color moving all around him... surrounding him on all
sides.
And then... Sam felt it. There was a warmth from the colors... a
pleasant warmth that seemed to be soaking into him. He felt sort of...
tingly. It would have scared him if it had hurt in even the least, but
this only tickled at the very worst.
Sam just stared around him in awe and confusion, trying to make
sense of it when he heard the voice. But it wasn't his ears that heard
it. The strange voice seemed to be in his head.
"SAM JOHNSON," the voice filled Sam's head, "YOU HAVE BEEN
CHOSEN."
"What..." Sam started.
However, the voice interrupted him, continuing as though it
hadn't heard him at all. Perhaps, he suddenly thought, it hadn't.
"A DARKNESS HAS COME TO YOUR WORLD," the voice stated.
Suddenly, the light around Sam began to flash, showing images...
images that he somehow associated with the voice. There were images of
forests... of strange looking trees and birds. And then there was an
image of a city... some sort of marble and golden city in the distance.
It was filled with light; similar to the rainbow swirl that Sam was
currently within. And though Sam couldn't make out any real details
about the city or the people within it before the image vanished, he
knew that it was glorious.
"A DARKNESS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO FIGHT," the voice
continued.
The images returned, but this time they were harsh images...
images of creatures straight out of nightmare rushing through holes of
blackness into the streets of what could have been New York or any
other big city. And then there was a silhouette... an image of shadow
with glowing red eyes, which was quickly replaced by the image of a big
black bird. But like the previous images, these ones flashed across too
fast for Sam to get anything but the quickest impressions from before
vanishing.
"THE POWER TO FIGHT THIS DARKNESS SHALL BE PROVIDED YOU."
"What are you talking about?" Sam demanded, trying to shake the
images from his mind and focus on the voice. "I have been chosen for
what? How?" Sam was getting even more shocked and confused by the
moment.
However, the voice didn't respond. Instead, the swirling lights
grew brighter... then imploded. Sam started to scream as the light all
flowed inside of him, but them gasped at the sudden surge of raw
energy. It didn't hurt... but instead was more of an intensification of
the tickling sensation that he felt before. But this time, it was a
thousand times stronger.
"Oh God," Sam gasped out, feeling it inside of him... an energy
that was rushing through every fiber of his body.
After just several seconds, it seemed to stop and Sam collapsed
to the ground, breathing hard but feeling all right. However, he knew
that the energy wasn't gone. He could still vaguely feel it there
inside of him. It wasn't burning around inside of him anymore though.
Instead, it felt more... dormant.
Suddenly though, Sam somehow knew that he could make the energy
active again. That scared him because he didn't know how he knew. He
just did. Just like he knew that if he activated it, the energy would
transform him somehow and give him the power to fight the darkness...
whatever that was.
"What the hell is going on here?" Sam stood up and demanded of
the voice, though he could see no sign of whomever it had come from or
the mass of colored light. Not surprising since the light now seemed to
be inside of him. Sam grimaced, looking around him and demanding to
know, "Why me?" But again, there was no answer.
For a minute, Sam just stood there, looking around him and
thinking that it was a good thing that Bison Park was empty. If there
had been anyone around, he didn't know how he would have explained
about that light and what had happened, especially since he wasn't too
sure himself.
"What is this darkness," Sam asked again, this time to himself as
he tried thinking it through, "And why was I the one they chose to
fight it?"
The whole thing made little sense to Sam, and the more he thought
about it, the more questions he had. In fact, almost all that he had
was questions. He didn't know who that voice had been... Where was that
strange place... that rainbow city that he had glimpsed in the vision?
Of course, there were a thousand other questions too.
"Damn I'm getting confused," he rubbed at his temples. Then he
gulped, "How am I going to explain this to Anne? She'll think I've lost
my mind..." Yet at the same time, Sam wasn't completely sure that he
hadn't. After all, seeing strange balls of light appearing in the air
and hearing voices in your head weren't exactly signs of good mental
health.
Of course, Sam reminded himself after he'd thought about it for a
minute, there was one way to prove to himself that he hadn't lost his
mind. That what he'd thought just happened actually had. And perhaps it
might even help answer a few questions.
Sam closed his eyes, feeling the energy... the light inside of
him. He could sort of picture it as a tight ball of swirling colored
light deep inside, and all that he had to do was throw a mental switch
to wake it up. And since that seemed to be the logical place to start
looking for answers, Sam did just that.
Almost the instant that Sam did so, he could feel the light
awakening, could picture the ball of light unraveling inside of him.
The warm tingling sensation rushed through him again, and a second
later, the light burst through his skin like a rainbow leaking out...
and then began to swirl around him.
For a brief moment, Sam could only stand there stunned from the
overwhelming sensations, staring at the swirling rainbow around him. It
was similar, but not quite like when the light that had surrounded him
just a short while earlier.
But then, Sam suddenly realized that the strange things he was
feeling weren't just the same tingling as before. There was something
else as well, though he couldn't really make it out. Sam felt his
body... shifting. That was the only thing he could think of. It was
like his entire body was changing.
This all happened extremely quickly, and before Sam could make
out anything more than that he was changing... it stopped... The
swirling lights vanished from around him, though he could still see
faint traces. And at the same time, he was immediately aware that his
body felt... different.
Sam stood there for a long moment, closing his eyes and taking
deep breaths as he tried to stay calm and brace himself for whatever he
was going to face. And with that, he slowly opened his eyes and looked
down at himself, still not ready for the shocking sight.
Somehow, Sam bit down the shocking gasps of exclamation that
threatened to burst from his lips, and even the quiet mutterings of
disbelief. Instead, he took another slow breath to steady himself and
silently surveyed the drastic changes to his body.
There were more than a dozen things that Sam immediately noticed,
though the most obvious were the nice round female breasts pushing out
from his chest. He estimated them to probably be about C cups... and
very shapely ones at that. And from a single glance that swept down
over the rest of his body, Sam could see that the rest of it looked
just as female. And just as shapely.
"Um... I'm imagining things," Sam whispered, then announced
louder, "I have to be." Yet at the same time, he realized that it was a
girl's voice that he was hearing come from his mouth.
Trying to regain his composure and focus, Sam took another look
at himself, trying to remain as objective as possible, which as the
moment was not much. He definitely seemed to have a female body, and a
very nice one from what he could see... which was actually quite a bit.
Even his clothes had been changed by the light.
At the moment, Sam discovered that he was now wearing what seemed
to be a green and yellow spandex costume that, from a glance, looked
like it could have been worn by Brittany Spears in one of her videos.
It consisted of only a single piece that covered him from the waist
down, and a halter-top which covered his breasts and upper torso,
leaving his midriff completely bare. Other than that, the only thing
else that his costume consisted of was a pair of short fingerless green
gloves on each hand.
"I'm practically naked," Sam muttered, though it wasn't quite
true. Still, the costume was fairly skimpy and being spandex... or
something of the like, didn't really conceal a whole lot.
Then Sam's eyes were drawn to his exposed skin, realizing that it
was glowing. It was as though there was a faint light coming from just
under his skin, giving it somewhat strange, thought not an unpleasant
appearance. For a moment, all that Sam could do was stare at it.
Frowning, Sam looked up again, repeating his earlier demands of
the voice, "Why me? Why did you choose me?" Then he couldn't help
adding, "And why the hell turn me into a girl?" But of course, there
were no answers, nor had he really expected any.
Letting out a sigh, Sam slowly reached up and felt his face. It
felt soft and smooth under his fingers, and it was obviously not his
face. At least not his normal face, though he certainly couldn't make
out much detail from just touch.
Next, Sam slowly reached for his hair, discovering that it now
reached down to the middle of his back, and when he pulled a handful in
front of his face for a good look, he saw that it had turned blonde.
Not just blonde... but a golden blonde that seemed to glow faintly from
the same inner light that came from his skin.
Sam paused, knowing that he should be completely freaked out at
having turned into a girl, but somehow he wasn't. It was as though
there was some sort of inner assurance... and somehow, knowledge knew
that it wasn't permanent. Sam couldn't explain it, even to himself, but
he sensed that he could turn the light off... could flip that mental
switch and change back to normal, just as easily as he had changed in
the first place. If it hadn't been for that strange certainty that he
could change back, Sam suspected that he would already be panicking.
"Still," Sam mused, just a little nervously, "It wouldn't hurt to
prove it."
However, just as Sam was about to flip that mental switch again,
two things suddenly occurred to him. He glanced around the park, still
not seeing anyone but realizing that someone could come along at any
moment. And two... that voice had said something about him having the
power to fight the darkness... whatever that was.
"What kind of power did it mean," Sam muttered to himself. Then
with a wry grin, he added, "Somehow I don't think that being able to
change sex or glow in the dark is going to do much..." Then again, Sam
silently reminded himself, since the powers were supposed to fight some
sort of darkness, maybe being a living nightlight was the idea.
But as Sam stood there, he suddenly realized that he did know
what kind of powers that the voice meant. He knew it the same way that
he knew that he could change back to normal. The fact that he knew it
was somewhat disturbing to him, though he tried to remain focused.
Sam grimaced, knowing that he just couldn't turn off that light
and change back to normal until he'd at least tried out those supposed
powers. There was absolutely no way that his curiosity would let him.
With that, Sam took a deep breath, and tensed himself. A faint
ribbon of rainbow light swirled around him as if in anticipation. And
giving a silent prayer, Sam suddenly shot straight up into the air,
glowing a little brighter than before with a trail of rainbow tinged
light trailing behind.
"I did it," Sam blurted out as he stared down at the ground, now
more than fifty feet below him, "I'm flying..."
Then Sam was suddenly struck by the realization that he was more
than a couple stories above the ground with absolutely nothing holding
him up but a rainbow. He was struck by a surge of fear and immediately
fell back under the influence of gravity, falling straight towards the
ground. Sam let out a howl of terror but somehow reclaimed his control
of the light and paused, hovering merely ten feet away from what would
have been a VERY messy landing.
For a moment, Sam just remained where he was, breathing deeply
and fearing that he had just filled his pants. Then he looked down
again, gulped nervously and muttered, "Air brakes," suddenly thinking
about a Bugs Bunny cartoon he used to watch as a kid, where the famous
rabbit had pulled the air brakes on a crashing plane and kept it from
hitting the ground at the last minute.
Once Sam had gotten over his initial shock and given a silent
thanks for his safe recovery, he decided to land the rest of the way,
thinking that flying might be just a little too dangerous. However,
just as he stared to slowly descend, he noticed an old man standing out
on the edge of the park by the street, staring at him.
"Shit," Sam muttered, guessing that the old man had seen the
glowing light up in the sky and started moving in for a closer look. He
certainly hadn't been there when Sam looked around a couple minutes
earlier. "Just what I need... an audience."
Sam scowled, deciding that at the moment, an audience was the
absolute last thing that he wanted to deal with. The whole situation
was strange and embarrassing enough as it was and he didn't want a
witness to it. After what had just happened, Sam didn't really like the
idea of flying away, but it would be the quickest way to get out of
there and get some privacy. So with a muttered curse, he once again
rose into the air.
At first, Sam was quite afraid to be so far above the ground,
realizing now just how dangerous it could be. If he fell again... But
after several minutes, it grew a little easier and he became a little
less afraid of losing his control and falling again. However, he
remained a bit wary of it, especially when he looked at the ground or
the tops of houses.
"If man were meant to fly," Sam muttered to himself, "he would
have had feathers. Not rainbows..."
Somehow, Sam found himself taking the long way home. The very
long way. He had meant to fly straight there, yet he couldn't resist
trying out his new ability to fly, even if it did make him a bit
nervous. He flew higher and faster than he had intended, and amazed
himself at the same time with the fact that he had even dared.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Sam... a realization. Sam stopped
flying and just hovered in the air, staring down at himself and
gulping. He was flying... he was flying by himself. Did that mean...
"I've... I've developed powers," Sam whispered, shaking as he
thought about it. "Does that mean I'm a developed..." God, he silently
hoped not. However, as he looked down at the ground, and at the skimpy
spandex clothing that he was wearing, he groaned. "I am..."
"Damn... damn... damn," Sam spat out, running his hand along the
'costume' he was wearing. "I can't be a damn developed. I've got a wife
and kids..."
And he absolutely knew that things like becoming a developed only
happened to people far away. People that you only saw on TV. Those kind
of things never happened to people that you actually knew, much less to
yourself. Unfortunately, there was little doubt that the strange voice
had actually done it to him.
After a moment, Sam grimaced, "Once I get back home, I'm going to
change back to normal and never use these weird powers again. I'm going
to forget they even exist..." That would teach that damn voice to mess
with his life like that.
***
Sam hovered high in the air, surrounded by a faint golden glow as
well as a rainbowlike swirl of light. He grimaced as he looked at his
newly female body and the spandex 'costume' that adorned it. The sight
just reinforced his decision to go home and change back to normal, then
forget that the whole thing had ever happened.
"These weird powers already nearly got me killed once," Sam
muttered, thinking about how he'd nearly fallen to his death a short
while earlier.
Then, just as Sam started to fly back home, he noticed the mall
in the distance and decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a slight
detour. After all, he'd already taken a long detour on the way home and
he thought that a quick fly by of the mall, and maybe giving the people
in the parking lot a glimpse of a 'real live developed', might make for
a good final use of his new powers.
Less than a minute later, Sam was in the air above the mall,
watching curiously when he noticed a TV news crew out in the parking
lot, along with a small crowd of people. Sam wasn't quite sure what was
going on, though from the big banners around the parking lot, he
suspected that it had something to do with some made up celebration to
attract more business to the mall.
Sam briefly thought about buzzing them, guessing that it would
give the crowd a real thrill. However, that was a bit more exposure
than he wanted to deal with. So instead, Sam started moving away,
hoping that they didn't look up and see him. Suddenly, the idea of
giving people a bit of a show was no longer quite so appealing.
"Besides," Sam thought aloud, "Todd should be home soon..." If
not already, he added silently.
But just as Sam started to slowly move away from the mall, he
caught sight of something down below... something that made him freeze
for another look. Sam's eyes went wide as he saw what he could only
describe as a... a creature.
"What the hell?" Sam gasped.
The creature was human sized, but only vaguely human in shape. In
fact, it looked to be part human, part cat and part bat. It was covered
with black fur and had a very feline looking head, with glowing red
eyes. A pair of large bat wings spread out from it's back, though it
wasn't using them at the moment as it crouched on the roof of the mall.
Suddenly, Sam felt something strange... a coldness coming from
the creature. He let out a gasp, suddenly wondering if this creature
was the darkness that the voice had warned him about. For some reason,
he suspected that it was... or was at least tied to this darkness
somehow.
"Too convenient to not be," Sam mused, knowing that developed and
strange creatures weren't exactly normal in that area. So for him to be
given those powers and a warning about a darkness, then see that
creature so soon afterwards... Sam didn't think that it was
coincidence.
Just then, the creature abruptly leapt from the mall roof... and
dove straight down at the crowd, letting out some sort of roar as it
did so. The air was filled with screams as the crowd scattered, which
seemed to excite the creature, which then pounced at one of the people
running away.
For a moment, Sam remained frozen where he was, staring at the
creature and the scattering people in horror. What was that creature?
Why was it attacking them? Sam didn't know, but at the moment, he was
suddenly VERY thankful that he was up in the air and out of range. At
least, he reminded himself, until it used its wings to fly up after
him. Every instinct in Sam's body screamed to get out of there as fast
as he could, and before he'd even given it any conscious thought... he
slowly started moving further away from the scene.
However, a woman screamed and Sam winced, cringing at the sound
just as much as at the sight. He grimaced, "I can't do anything," he
protested against his conscience, "I'm not a superhero..."
Sam clenched his fists so tightly that his now longer nails dug
painfully into his palms, threatening to draw blood. Though he knew
that the smart thing to do was run, and his instincts screamed out at
him to get himself to safety, he couldn't help worrying about those
people. And more, there was a voice screaming at him from the back of
his head, reminding him that this was what that strange voice and the
light had given him those powers for. Too fight that darkness...
"I didn't ask for this!" Sam yelled to no one in particular.
Whether it the voice that had given him those powers... or himself, he
didn't even know.
Then in spite of everything that Sam's common sense told him, he
dove down at that creature, knowing that he had the power to do
something and he'd never forgive himself if he didn't and people died
because of it. And a moment later, Sam hit the creature, punching it
and sending it flying into a car more than a dozen yards away.
Sam stood up on the ground, clenching his fists and getting ready
fight that thing if it stood back up. And stand back up it did, letting
out a roar that revealed lots of sharp teeth, then tearing deep gouges
in the side of the car with long sharp claws. It glared at Sam, it's
glowing red eyes looking quite evil before it launched itself at him.
Somehow, though he didn't know how, Sam stood his ground, waited
for the creature to get close, then punched it again, sending it flying
once more. He gulped, amazed at just how hard he'd send that thing.
"How strong am I?" Sam gasped.
Though Sam knew that he was a lot stronger than normal, the same
way that he knew he could fly, he sure didn't feel any stronger... nor
obviously look it. He flexed his arm, which certainly didn't look like
it could have knocked that creature all that way away, but it obviously
had. Unfortunately, Sam didn't think that he was any tougher than
normal. There wasn't any instinctive knowledge that he was suddenly
invulnerable... which he was sure meant that he wasn't.
But before Sam could think about that any more, the creature was
charging him again. This time, Sam flew up above it, earning a yell
from the creature before it spread its wings and came up after him. Sam
cursed as he went higher, then turned and punched the creature again,
sending it back to the ground.
Sam hesitated a moment, feeling pretty nervous at the thought of
those sharp claws. However, he knew that if he didn't do something
about that creature now, it would come after him again... and probably
all those people who were running away in fear, who didn't have ANY
powers to protect them.
Deciding not to wait for the creature to come after him again,
though it had been working so far, Sam decided to go on the offensive.
Sam landed, tearing the door off a car with an ease that surprised him,
noticing as he did so that the rainbow effect seemed to increase for a
moment while he was doing that. However, he didn't waste time thinking
about that before charging at the creature and smacking it with the car
door.
The creature let out a roar, tearing the door right out of Sam's
hands, then lashing out at Sam with its claws. Sam jumped back, but as
the creature charged at him again, claws extended. Somehow he managed
to avoid them, though it wasn't easy. That thing was fast.
Sam jumped up on top of a car to avoid the creature's next
attack, and when it lunged up at him again... he was ready. With a
growl of his own, Sam hit the creature with both hands, slamming it
into the ground as hard as he could. And as a follow up, he hopped off
of the car, then picked up the side and lifted. Two of the wheels came
up off the ground with a surprising ease, though not effortlessly. A
rainbow swirl of light surrounded him as he lifted.
"Take this," Sam growled, lifting higher and rolling the car
over... right on top of the creature.
Though the creature's lower body was trapped under the car, it
continued slashing out with its claws, tearing deep gouges in the
metal. It growled and hissed, and as Sam watched, slowly pulled itself
out.
"Not this time," Sam growled.
Deciding not to give the creature another chance to attack him,
Sam didn't even wait for it to get all the way to its feet. Sam charged
the creature, putting every once of energy he had into his punch. His
fist glowed brightly, surrounded by a swirl of brilliant colors, which
seemed to explode at the moment of impact, sending the creature flying
into the side of a car.
Sam grinned in satisfaction, "Gotcha..."
The creature pulled itself away from the car, but it wobbled
badly as it took its first step towards Sam. Then it paused... shaking
badly before finally collapsing to the ground. This was a sight, which
brought a smile of relief to Sam's face. It looked like it was over.
Still, Sam was extremely cautious as he crept closer to the
creature and stood next to it, waiting for the expected horror movie
'surprise' where it would suddenly leap up at him again. However, the
surprise wasn't at all what Sam had expected. The creature's features
started to... change. As Sam watched, it seemed to shrink... to slowly
become more and more human. Until finally, where the creature had been
was now a naked man. A man who seemed vaguely familiar to Sam.
After staring at the man and trying to place where he might have
seen him before, Sam suddenly realized that the crowd was starting to
return and gathering around him. It appeared that their curiosity
overrode their good sense once the obvious danger seemed to disappear.
"You kicked his ass," one man yelled out to Sam.
A moment later, a woman called out, "Who are you?"
Sam frowned, feeling rather nervous as he looked around. He
wasn't at all comfortable with the fact that so many people where
staring at him. Especially not with the looks that the men were giving
him. And quickly remembering that he didn't have to stay and deal with
it, Sam gave a rather nervous wave... then flew up into the air where
they couldn't follow him.
"Home," Sam gulped out, already flying there as fast as he could,
"And no more detours..."
As Sam flew, thoughts about what had just happened ran through
his mind. The whole situation was so... strange. Never in a million
years would Sam have thought that he'd be turned into a woman, be given
super powers and fight a strange monster as well. And all within an
hour. If someone had told him that just several hours earlier, he would
have laughed his head off at the pure absurdity. But now...
"Just great," Sam grimaced in realization as he thought about
that monster, "Now I'm not only a developed... but a superhero too..."
It had definitely been a weird day. "Anne's never going to believe
this..." And what the hell was he going to tell her?
When Sam landed in his back yard a minute later, he let out a
sigh of relief and rushed into the house before anyone could see him.
And once he was safe inside, he let out another sigh of relief. He was
home, safe and sound. And from the look of it, he was there alone.
"Imagine that," Sam shook his head, "Me... a superhero."
That very thought still seemed preposterous, like some sort of
adolescent fantasy. But at the same time, Sam had to admit that it was
sort of exciting. Hell, he'd never been as excited as when he'd beaten
that monster and saved those lives. In spite of his earlier
determination to never change or use those powers again, Sam wasn't
sure that he wanted to give it all up just yet.
Then Sam paused, hesitating a moment before looking down at
himself again and gulping. With that, he rushed to the large front room
mirror for a better look at himself and froze with his mouth open at
what he saw.
"Oh..." was all that Sam could think to say.
Staring back at Sam from the mirror was the face of a girl... a
teenage girl. She looked to be about 15 or 16, about the same age as
his son Todd.
"I'm a kid," Sam blurted out, his hands reaching up to touch his
smooth face. He couldn't believe it.
The girl... Sam looked young and pretty. Very pretty, with a very
nice body and beautiful blue eyes that almost seemed to shine. His face
was framed with the same golden hair that he'd noticed before, though
now he got a much better look at it. There was little doubt that he
would have been all over this girl if he'd run into her back when he
was that age.
With his young female body and the costume he was wearing, Sam
suddenly realized that he looked a bit like one of those teenage pop
singers. He'd already thought that of the costume when he'd seen it,
but the body went right along with that image.
And then, Sam noticed his ears. They were... pointed. His ears
came to points at the tops, which gave him something of an Elven
appearance, enhanced greatly by his glowing skin and hair.
"Weird," Sam whispered, hesitantly touching his ears and then
shaking his head. "That damn voice turned me into some kind of elf
girl..."
Sam just stared at his reflection, trying to make any kind of
sense WHY. He couldn't understand why he'd been turned into a girl...
or at least why he turned into a girl when he used his powers. Of
course, he still didn't understand why he was given those powers in the
first place either, but at least he had been told that it was to fight
some sort of darkness. However, what did turning into a teenage girl
have to do with using super powers or fighting darkness?
"None of this makes any sense," Sam shook his head, grabbing and
his breasts and then gulping. They felt so... strange.
After a moment more, Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes,
deciding that he'd had enough of that for the time. He felt for that
mental switch and flipped it, feeling the rainbow lights swirling
around him again before he opened his eyes and actually saw them.
Once again the rainbow swirls surrounded Sam, enveloping him and
filling him. He could feel his body tingling yet again, the same
sensation that he'd felt when it had transformed him into a girl. It
only took the space of time that Sam needed to take several deep
breaths, then the light all pulled back inside of him and went back
into that dormant seed, while he had been returned to his normal male
body. Even his own clothes had miraculously reappeared as well.
"Well," Sam took a deep breath as he checked himself over to
verify that he was indeed fully back to normal, "That was weird."
Sam was relieved that his intuition... or whatever it was had
proven correct and that he could easily change back to normal. Though
he hadn't thought about it, there had been a small part of him that had
been worried.
However, Sam realized that now there was something else to worry
about. Like what in the world he was going to tell Anne about that...
It was pretty embarrassing, yet the whole thing was far too big to keep
from his family. And of course, Sam smiled faintly at the idea, knowing
that it might also give him a chance to impress them with what he had
done at the mall. Even if Anne would probably yell at him for risking
himself afterwards.
It wasn't much longer before Sam's son Todd came home from
school. He rushed into the house, looking excited, then hurried towards
his room, barely sparing a nod for Sam. Sam was a little disappointed
at the brief glimpse he'd caught of his son, but not surprised. Such
behavior wasn't at all unusual for a 16 year old boy.
Less than five minutes after Todd had returned home, Emily came
bursting through the door too. She was the spitting image of her
mother, or at least looked like a 12 year old version of Anne. Emily
was going to be a bit of a looker once she grew up a little, though the
thought filled Sam with pride and worry at the same time. Emily grinned
at Sam, calling out, "Hi daddy," before she rushed off to her own room
as well.
"At least she could spare a hello," Sam chuckled to himself,
knowing that it shouldn't be much longer before Anne was home from work
as well. "Maybe I'll start dinner," Sam thought to himself as he
started for the kitchen, deciding that he would 'spill the beans' about
his day over the dinner table.
When Anne finally came home, Sam was determined not to let her
slip past him like the kids had, so he met her at the door and
surprised her with a kiss. "Welcome home," Sam told her with a grin.
"What was that for?" Anne asked, grinning back.
"Maybe because you deserve it for spending all day in that stuffy
office," Sam responded, "Maybe because you're the best accountant in
the state..."
"The state?" Anne asked with a mock warning tone.
"The world," Sam corrected, "And maybe because I just wanted to."
Anne laughed, giving Sam another quick kiss on the cheek before
she went into the living room and turned the TV onto the news as she
did every day. It was her custom to help relax after a long day. Sam
didn't envy her commute or office existence, thankful yet again for his
decision to go freelance and work from home.
After a minute, Anne looked at the dinner table and sniffed the
scent of food in the air. "You made dinner," she noticed.
Sam just shrugged at that, "What else is a house husband going to
do?"
With a grin, Sam turned away from Anne and took several steps
towards the kid's bedrooms and calling out, "DINNER." He knew from
experience that they might both have their radios or TV's on... but
would still hear that magic word and be out in a minute.
Then Sam looked over at the TV, gulping when a moment later the
news started showing scenes from the mall. His eyes widened when it
actually showed HIM on the TV... or at least the girl him that he had
been earlier. They had the whole damn fight with that creature on
tape... It was all that he could do not to curse.
"Oh my," Anne gasped as she watched it, "That's our mall... There
was a real superhero around here?"
Sam nearly choked, his mind racing as he tried to think of how he
could explain this to Anne. This wasn't exactly the way that he'd
intended to tell her.
"Anne..." Sam started.
But then Emily gasped, "Oh wow," from beside Sam. He hadn't even
noticed his daughter coming up. Her eyes were glued to the TV and she
moved closer, gasping, "Look at her... She's so pretty..."
"Hell yeah," Todd agreed as he came up too.
After watching Sam beat the creature on TV, Emily grinned
excitedly, "I want to be just like her..."
Sam quickly turned to stare at his daughter, but at the same
time, Todd announced, "I stopped at the mall on the way home from
school and I actually saw her fly away."
"What?" Sam gasped, looking at Todd in disbelief. His own son had
been there at the mall? He gulped, suddenly realized that the creature
could have gotten Todd... If he hadn't stepped in to stop it when he
did... "Oh God..."
"She was so hot," Todd exclaimed with a dreamy look on his face.
A look that sent chills down Sam's spine as he immediately recognized
it. It was the same look that Sam had when he'd fallen for that one
girl a few months earlier and moped about her for weeks. Sam groaned at
the realization that his own son had a crush on him... or at least his
female alter ego.
"Oh shit," Sam groaned again, beginning to feel a bit sick.
Anne just snorted in disdain, "Well she looks like a little tramp
to me."
For a moment, Sam just stood there, frozen in shock. He stared at
his wife, then his kids. With each moment he felt the lead ball in his
stomach becoming heavier.
Sam knew that what had happened to him that day was probably the
biggest thing that had happened to him in his entire life, and there
was no way that he would have kept that from his family... no matter
how embarrassing it was. At least that was what he'd thought until just
that moment.
However, after the conversation that they'd just had, there was
no way that he could tell them now. It would be hard enough now that
Anne had decided that his alter ego was a tramp, but with Todd having
developed a crush on her... There was absolutely no way that he could
tell them.
"Damn," Sam muttered under his breath, feeling a bit disappointed
that he couldn't share his secret with his family. Then deciding that
it might be a good time to change the subject, Sam announced, "Well
guys... dinner's ready."
Dinner was strange, and very uncomfortable for Sam. He tried not
to flinch as Emily went on about how great she thought that
superheroine was... while Todd went on about how great he thought she
was too... but for an entirely different reason.
After we had all finished eating, Emily cleaned up in the kitchen
since it was her night, and Anne went in to help since I had been the
one to make dinner. So while the girls were busy taking care of that,
Todd and I went back to watching the news, seeing that they were
showing more about my little fight at the mall.
"I guess a developed showing up around here is big news," Todd
commented, "Especially one that cute..."
Sam just nodded at that, his eyes glued to the screen. They were
starting to show some interviews with the people who had been around
there watching.
One man who they interviewed was excitedly exclaiming, "I don't
know who the hell she was," he told the camera, "but the way she was
glowing and all... Damn that girl was glamorous."
"Well," the news anchor said when it shifted back to him a moment
later, "it appears that even though her identity is still unknown... a
lot of people owe their thanks to this mysterious glamour girl..."
"Glamour Girl..." Todd mused aloud, then announced, "That could
be a cool name..."
Sam just grunted, not trusting himself to say anything more about
the situation. He didn't know how to respond to anything about his
alter ego. It was just too... uncomfortable.
But then, the news anchor disappeared while they showed a close
up picture of the man that the creature had turned into, or at least a
close up of his face. "The identity of the man left at the scene has
just been identified," the anchor announced from off screen.
"Oh shit," Todd suddenly blurted out, "That's coach Higgens..."
"What?" Sam asked, staring at Todd in surprise.
"That's coach Higgens," Todd gasped, staring at the picture on
TV. "He's our gym PE teacher... and coaches the football team..."
Sam just stared at Todd for a moment, feeling stunned at that.
Then he quickly turned his attention back to the TV, seeing that they
verified what Todd had just said. The monster that Sam had fought had
indeed been Roland Higgens, a local high school gym teacher and
football coach. But from his actions, Sam doubted that he had been in
his right mind during that fight.
"This is too much," Sam sighed as he rubbed at his eyes,
wondering yet again why in the world he had been chosen... and for what
exactly. None of that weirdness fit into his nice normal suburban
family life. Not in the least.
"What's too much?" Todd asked from beside him.
"Hmmm... this news," Sam said, changing the channel and the
topic. "They're going to run this story into the ground..."
Then as Sam leaned back with a sigh, glancing at Todd who was
already getting up to go hide in his room, he thought to himself that
it had definitely been a strange day. It had not only been the
strangest day in his entire life, stranger than anything he had even
imagined could ever happen to him, yet at the same time he couldn't
even say a single word to those closest to him.
That irony was not lost on Sam, who leaned further back in his
recliner and muttered, "Glamour Girl my ass..."
---
Sam scowled, glaring at the computer monitor in front of him. He
just couldn't seem to focus on his work or finishing up his project.
All that he could think about where the events of the day before, and
how he had chickened out on telling his family, even after having
decided that he would.
"It's not like I had any choice," Sam muttered to himself.
He could just imagine how humiliated Todd would have felt after
going on about how much of a crush he had on Sam's alter ego. There was
no way that he could have done that to the boy... or himself for that
matter.
Then Sam stood up from the computer to take a break, pausing for
a moment to listen to the absolute quiet of the house. It was all his
at the moment, with everyone else out on their normal daily business,
whether that be school or work. Sam wasn't quite sure whether to be
relieved at the quiet or annoyed by it. As he did ever day, Sam decided
to be grateful for the temporary calm.
However, as soon as Sam caught sight of the local newspaper, his
thoughts immediately went back to the day before. It was right there on
the front page... a picture of his alter ego. And it appeared that they
had taken a clue from one of the news anchor's comments the night
before, because they clearly called Sam's alter ego by the name of
Glamour Girl.
"Glamour Girl," Sam groaned, hating the fact that the news people
had gone and made that name official. It somewhat annoyed him that when
they didn't know someone's name, they actually had the audacity to
create one and pass it off as fact. "And they call that news," he
grumbled.
As Sam stared at the picture in the paper, he thought about what
it had been like the day before. If it hadn't been for all the news
about 'Glamour Girl', he might have thought that it had all been some
sort of weird dream. But there was the evidence, right in front of him.
After a minute, Sam smiled hesitantly, even nervously. Once he'd
gotten over his fear of falling, which had only been overcome by the
greater fear of being torn to pieces by that monster, the flying part
had been rather enjoyable. And as he thought about it, being able to
toss a car around like that had been kind of interesting as well.
"I'm just lucky I didn't get killed," Sam told himself
responsibly. "Running around like some damn superhero could have gotten
me killed. Then where would Anne be?"
The knowledge that he could have gotten hurt was quite sobering,
and had not been far from his thoughts since it had happened. In spite
of all the stories about those developed who ran around and played
superheroes, Sam knew that it wasn't a game. Running around in spandex
could get you hurt... or worse.
"Still," Sam thought to himself, "It wouldn't hurt just to it out
again..." After all, it wouldn't be like he would actually be doing
anything dangerous.
With that, Sam closed his eyes and felt for the ball of dormant
light within him. It was right there, just below the surface. It was so
easy to feel that Sam was surprised that he hadn't really noticed it
much. And just a moment later, it began to unravel... to fill him and
then burst out of his skin in a swirl of rainbow colors. The ribbons of
light danced simultaneously in and around Sam, leaving him unable to
truly tell where he ended and they began.
Once the light withdrew, Sam just stood there motionless as he
absorbed the changes. It was immediately obvious that he had once again
become 'Glamour Girl' and was even wearing the same clothing. He slowly
raised his hands to stare at the feminine fingers, then down at his
returning breasts.
"I just hope Anne doesn't come home early and find me like this,"
Sam muttered, knowing that this was extremely unlikely as it wasn't
even lunch yet.
Taking a deep breath, Sam looked into the living room mirror
again, still stunned by the sight that met him. Of course it was
identical to the day before, but that didn't make it any less
impressive. Taking a man in his late thirties and transforming him into
a teenage girl was somewhat... impressive.
Since Sam had the house to himself for some time to come yet, he
saw no reason to be shy and stripped off his shirt, dropping it
absently to the floor and staring down at his naked breasts. He smiled
faintly, a bit embarrassed, though that didn't stop him from pulling
off his pants. They seemed to cling to his very skin one moment, and
the next they slid off with ease. It was almost as though they could
sense that he wanted to take them off... so made it easy for him to do
so.
"Yet one more mystery," Sam mused as he stared down at his pants
on the floor.
Now completely naked, Sam stared at himself in the mirror once
again, feeling extremely strange and somewhat uncomfortable as he did
so. He looked like a teenage girl, so he wondered if that made this
some sort of twisted pedophilia or something. At the moment, he
certainly felt a little bit like a pervert.
Sam looked over his naked body, amazed at what he saw... at what
he felt. Every single inch of him appeared to be one hundred percent
female, which he still found hard to believe. However, as fascinating
as it was to check his new body out, it was just too strange and he
finally decided that he'd had enough.
"Time to go back to normal," Sam told the cute girl in the mirror
as he willed the light to go dormant again.
The light quickly swirled around Sam yet again, returning him
back to his normal self. At the same time, he suddenly remembered the
clothes that he'd taken off and left on the floor, yet when he looked
at them, he was startled to seem them vanish in a bunch of sparkles,
leaving no trace that 'Glamour Girl' had been there at all.
"Convenient, I guess," Sam thought as he rubbed his chin. At
least there would be no chance of Anne or the kids stumbling across any
clothes left behind and putting two and two together.
Then on an impulse, Sam closed his eyes and willed the
transformation back into Glamour Girl again. As soon as the
transformation was completed, he looked down at himself, seeing that he
was once again fully dressed in the clothes that he had taken off. He
had suspected something of the sort might happen.
"I guess that would save money on buying extra spandex," Sam
mused with a slight smirk. But it apparently also meant that he
couldn't exactly change costumes either. What he wore when he
transformed into Glamour Girl seemed to be the standard uniform.
Since Sam had discovered what he wanted to know, he thought about
changing back to normal again but decided against it at the moment.
Instead, he smirked, thinking that it wouldn't hurt to stay that way
for a little longer, not as long as he didn't get carried away. And he
had no intention of going down that uncomfortable alley again.
After that, Sam sat down in his new body to watch TV for several
hours, occasionally pausing to poke at his new breasts and convince
himself that they were indeed real. Eventually though, he decided that
he'd had enough and changed back to normal so that he could get back to
finishing up his software project.
"Weird voices and super powers don't pay the bills," Sam sighed
as he went back to work.
***
Endless forests rolled past Sam as he flew over them, his eyes
catching sight of the occasional brightly colored bird darting from the
sanctuary of the trees. Soon the trees came to a break, revealing a
great lake with perfectly still waters. The very surface looked as
silvery as a well-polished mirror.
Then everything shifted and Sam found himself in the middle of a
city, though unlike any city that he had ever seen before in his life.
All of the buildings seemed to be made of marble and towered into the
sky, along with spiraling towers and bridges nearly a dozen stories
above.
A moment later, a dark shadow spread over the city, causing
everything to darken into a grim twisted version of what it had been.
And in an instant, the whole of the city around Sam had transformed
into what could have been any major city that Sam had seen... except
for what it might look like after a major disaster. Buildings were
shattered, the roads and cars were all torn apart. And in dark sky
above, Sam could see the flickering movement of bats... and creatures
that he could not even imagine.
Suddenly Sam bolted upright in his bed, gasping from just how
powerful and clear that dream had been. It was the same dream that he'd
been having for the least several nights. And there was no doubt in
Sam's mind that it had come from the voice that had given him his
power, that it was some sort of warning. Or perhaps, he reconsidered;
it might be his unconscious mind trying to make sense of all those
images that the voice had shown him within that sphere of light.
"Stupid dream," Sam muttered, though it had been beautiful. At
least the first part where he was flying and just going into that
strange city. However, that second part with the shadows and all... He
strongly suspecting that it might be some sort of reminder that the
darkness was coming. "Whatever that is." He still didn't have any real
idea what that voice meant.
Sam shook his head, then went to the bathroom to relieve himself.
And as he was washing his hands afterwards, he looked up into the
mirror above the sink and let out a gasp. It was Glamour Girl's face
staring back at him.
"What the..." Sam gasped, quickly looking down at himself and
seeing that he was indeed his normal male self. And when he looked back
into the mirror, it was his own face that stared back at him, not that
of the teenage girl he turned into. "Must be my imagination," he told
himself, not quite certain of that.
Though Sam tried to shake it off, the brief image in the mirror
had shaken him. He wondered if perhaps he had been spending too much
time as Glamour Girl in the four days since he had first gained the
ability to transform into her. Not likely, he decided after a moment.
Sam had only changed about once a day, doing so when his family
was gone and he had enough time alone. He had transformed because of
the excitement that his new form offered him, and the dangerous thrill
that he got from flying. It was like a roller coaster... one that he
controlled. He had flown up into the sky above, feeling almost like a
real superhero, protecting the weak and helpless. However, Sam had to
smirk slightly at that as the most heroic thing that he had done was to
rescue an old lady's cat off of her roof.
"It's not like this is a crime infested slum," Sam chuckled,
knowing that there hadn't been any real crime around for him to stop
even if he had been a real hero. The closest that he'd come was that
creature at the mall...
With that, Sam shook his head and tried putting thoughts about
Glamour Girl and his powers out of his mind while he went about his
morning routine and prepared to go to work. He had been working on a
custom database for a local company that wasn't thrilled with the
normal stuff on the market, and he'd promised to have it finished for
them before the next week.
It was several hours later when Sam leaned back from his computer
and glanced at his watch, seeing that it was coming up on lunchtime. He
smiled faintly, deciding that it might be time to go for a quick flight
and stretch his Glamour Girl muscles.
"Time to do that superhero on patrol thing," Sam told himself
with a chuckle, "You never know when that darkness will show up..."
Of course he knew that he had no intention of actually doing any
real superheroing or anything of the like. Nor did he expect there was
much likelihood of running into that mysterious darkness. For all he
knew, the creature had been it and he was now a free agent.
"Not like I ever agreed to the job or signed any contracts
anyway," Sam sighed, getting up and stepping back from the computer so
that he could will the change.
A minute later, Sam was once again Glamour Girl and standing in
the middle of the living room. He checked his appearance in the mirror,
still amazed though it was hardly the first time that he'd seen that
reflection. Then he went out the back door and flew up into the air.
It was only once Sam was far above his house and looking down
that a thought suddenly struck him. He had been flying right out of his
own yard, with several other houses nearby. People could see him, and
though he doubted that they'd ever think that HE was Glamour Girl, they
were sure as hell likely to get suspicious if they saw her coming from
his house. Fortunately, he was fairly confident that no one had seen
him as of yet. Most of the people nearby were all at work around the
time he'd used his powers so hadn't been around. However, Sam realized
that the key word was YET. Sooner or later someone would see him... and
then there would be a lot of questions. Questions that he didn't want
to have to answer.
"I guess I'll have to be more careful from now on," Sam sighed,
realizing that this would make things more difficult. But it would be
safer that way.
Then while Sam looked down on his quiet suburban neighborhood, he
smiled, suddenly having a great idea. He would drop in on Anne and
surprise her for lunch. With his ability to fly, he should be able to
get there a lot faster than he would be able to in his car, and without
the hassle of traffic either. And once he got there, with a nice quiet
spot and a snap of his fingers, he would be back to normal and ready to
go.
Sam smiled as he quickly flew towards the city. It was a bit of a
commute for Anne to drive there and back every day, but she thought
that it was well worth it to their home in such a nice, family friendly
area. Sam had to agree, but then again, he wasn't the one who had to
spend that much time driving. And at the moment, he smirked slightly,
not having to spend any time at all behind the wheel... and still
arriving in the city much more quickly than Anne could ever hope to,
even if the roads were perfectly clear.
Once Sam arrived in the city, he looked down upon all of the huge
buildings, feeling somewhat nervous. It was one thing to fly about a
quiet suburban area with few people watching him, but to do it in such
a crowded place, with people who could be watching every move he made
at any moment was just a little different. He silently reminded himself
to be extremely careful about where and when he changed back to normal.
"This certainly beats looking for a parking spot," Sam mused as
he looked down on the streets below. No stop lights. No idiots cutting
him off. No driving around in circles and no having to pay a meter or
parking attendant just to leave his car there. "Flying definitely has
its advantages..."
But as Sam took his time heading towards the building where Anne
worked, he caught sight of something in the distance. There was a flash
of light from the top of a building, followed by second and a burst of
smoke. Sam stared for a moment, then started flying towards it for a
better l