Hmfan 2.0: Hello again, this is the second chapter to "Switched for Life?" The story will now get to Jack arriving in Mineral Town with the transformation completed. Oops I just about told what is going on in this chapter. Oh well at least I didn't ruin the entire chapter.
Ch2: The Discovery
As the train rumbles down the track toward it's destination, Jack slowly wakes up from his nap with a big yawn. "Oh man what a great nap," Jack said then noticed something wrong. First the pain was gone, second his voice was higher pitched than normal. "I wonder what was with that pain I had earlier, and why is my voice different," he thought as a knock was heard at the door. "Um... who is it?" Jack answered still wondering about what is going on.
"Just an announcement due to the intercom system not working at this time, lunch is ready in the dinning car." The Usher said through the door.
"Okay, thank you." Jack said trying to keep calm. "I can't think on an empty stomach. So I guess I will go eat. But first, I better wash up." he thought.
Jack walks over to the sink and begins to wash his hands. After the Hand washing Jack washed his face. Then he looks in the mirror. "Since when is my hair that light and where is my facial hair?" Jack thought as he noticed his lighter hair color and lack of facial hair. He then looks down at the rest of his body and sees something that blows his mind. "Ack…what happened to my body," he said notices some small mounds on his chest. Then he covered his mouth with his hands and notices his hands are smaller than they were, "Okay…okay…stay calm this has to be a dream." he said as he pinches himself. "Ouch! I guess it's not a dream... it's a living nightmare! How did I end up like this?" he said quietly. Suddenly he realizes something "Uh oh… I better check something" he said as he pulled down his pants and noticed something... or the lack there of. "NNNOOOOOOOO! IT'S GONE!" he... or should I say... She screams out as she pulls 'her' pants back up. Jack then falls onto her knees and cries."This isn't fair." she said as another knock was heard at the door. She quickly composes herself as best as possible and answers the door.
A strange looking guy with brown hair and wearing a light brown outfit that looks like it is better suited for hiking, was standing there at the door "Is something wrong miss?" he asked with concern.
"What do you mean by oh… uh... it's just I uh…lost something that was very important." Jack said telling only half the truth and sweat dropping.
"Okay then, by the way my name is Cliff," The guy said. "Is there any way I can help you…uh…"
You can call me Jack…y uh…Jacky." 'Jacky' said "Don't worry about my missing thing. It's definitely not here with me." She said with a nervous laugh.
"Alrighty then." he said with some confusion. "Anyway were you going to go to the dining car to get something to eat? If so why don't you come with me?"
"Um…okay, let's go." Jacky said not really thinking about the change of form.
They both leave the room and head for the dinning car. They arrive and get their food and sit down.
"You know you are the first girl I've met who wears clothes like that." Cliff stated.
"And your point is?" Jacky said giving cliff an evil look.
"Uh…I mean that most of the girls that I meet have longer hair and do not wear baseball caps backwards." Cliff said trying to get out of it
"I'm still waiting for your point," Jacky said still giving Cliff the evil look.
"Oh... uh... nevermind. So where are you heading?" He said with a sweat drop and hoping to change the subject.
"Mineral Town." Jacky said between bites of her lunch.
"Oh crap, I'm going there too," Cliff thought to himself. "Uh…me too…So…why are you heading there?"
"An inheritance" Jacky once again said only enough to answer while she eats some more.
"Oh… I see," he said not sure what else to say. They sit silently for a while still eating their meals.
"Hey Cliff I have a question for you." Jacky said breaking the silence between them.
"Shoot." Cliff said not sure he wanted to know what Jacky was going to ask.
"Why are you dressed like that?" She asked.
"Well you see I am a wanderer, so I need clothes that can take a beating." he answered
"Oh I see…well I'm done eating, I'm going back to my room." Jacky said.
"I'll walk you there then." Cliff offered
"I can find my own way thank you very much," Jacky said defiantly
"Oh come on…" Cliff pushed the subject further.
"I said no and if you keep bugging me Ill use my…" she said as she reached into her pocket expecting a pocket knife but finds a rather large hammer. "Hammer on you?" she finished with a hint of confusion.
"Ok I'll see you later then," he said, "Sheesh I don't need to be whacked by one of those crazy hammers." he thought as he beat a hasty retreat.
"Where did this huge hammer come from, and how can it fit in my pocket?"she asked herself until it dawned on her. "Hey wait a minute; I must have one of those sub-space pockets, awesome. I guess it won't be so bad being a girl after all. I wonder what else is in this pocket..." Jacky said to herself as she headed back to her room to see what other perks there are to being a girl. After getting in the room, shutting the door and locking it, Jacky starts looking… "Ok, now let's see here," she said as she reaches into her pocket. "Okay, the Baka hammer from before, no surprise there... a rubber chicken, a hair dryer, a bra, make-up, I won't be needing that," she said then promptly tossed the make-up in the trash can. "Let's see, what else," she said as she started pulling more out. "A dairy, well that could be useful, a lacy black thong! Hmmmm scandalous." she said with a smirk. "Dang how many things are in this pocket anyway?" She questioned nobody in particular before reaching in again. "A blue two piece swimsuit, not my color but I will have to live with it for now, ah-ha there's my pocket knife," she said as she pulled out the missing cutting tool. Once again she dives in with interest. "A hair brush? I won't need that right now… I'm not sure I want to know what else is in this pocket right now. I'll check it later on." She stated as she packed everything back in.
Suddenly the Intercom hissed to life. "Attention passengers, we have repaired the intercom and we are approaching Slateport, the last stop on this line. So please prepare to exit the train, thank you for riding and have a nice day."
"Well I better get my rucksack of stuff I might not need anymore. If nothing else I can at least use the rucksack for something else." Jacky thought as she grabs her only item that she brought on the train.
When the train arrives at the station of Slateport, Jacky was waiting by the exit for the train to stop. As soon as the train stops she gets off and runs to the docks hoping to catch a ride to Mineral Town before three o-clock. She finds a ferry that is about to leave. So she gets a ticket and gets on the ferry. Right before the boat leaves Cliff climbs aboard. As soon as he sees Jacky though he panics. He isn't sure he wants to ride this ferry but is calmed down by the fact that Jacky was ignoring him. He sits on the opposite sides of the boat as Jacky does and pulls out a book and begins to write. But enough about Cliff, we are going to skip the boat ride because nothing really happens except for they are on the water heading to Mineral Town on a sunny day with no chance for rain and... some guy falls overboard for one reason or another. So I will skip this boring part.
After arriving in Mineral Town Jacky and Cliff are greeted by the mayor.
"Hello and welcome to Mineral Town." the rather short Mayor said before looking at Cliff. "I hope that isn't the Jack we have been waiting for," he thought as he looked Cliff over. "You wouldn't happen to be Jack Summers, would you?"
"Nope the names Cliff, just Cliff." Cliff replied shrugging off the Mayor's question.
The Mayor sighs in relief. "Okay then, I wonder, what happened to Jack Summers? He was supposed to come today."
"Uh... Mayor, I'm right here." Jacky said waving.
"No no, Jack Summers is a guy not a girl." the Mayor said pretty sure of what he was saying.
Jacky gives the Mayor an evil look. "I'm telling you I am Jack Summers," She says as she thinks up a quick lie. "It's just that grandpa hasn't seen me since I uh…developed." This however wasn't exactly a lie since Jacky's grandpa hadn't seen that side of her.
"Hmmm well I still don't believe you however if what you say is true then you should be able to answer a few questions." The Mayor challenged.
"Okay bring them on." Jacky said quite confidently.
"Okay then if you are the real Jack Summers then you would be able o answer this. What is your grandfather's full name?" The Mayor questioned.
"Thats easy, his name was Pete Sean Summers" Jacky answered confidently.
The Mayor was quite shocked. Nobody but him and family knew that little bit of information. "Ok then next question, what was his favorite food?"
"Trick question, he didn't have a favorite, he would eat anything that was safely edible."
"Okay next question," The Mayor was visibly sweating trying to stump Jacky. "What was Pete's Dog's name?"
"That would be Ol' Brownie" Jacky said looking back to one of her younger days as a boy playing with that dog.
"Okay, I give up you must be the real Jack Summers or should I call you Jacky?"
"I don't care either way," Jacky replied.
"Okay I suppose you want me to show you to your farm now," the Mayor said still rather surprised that this girl was the Jack Summers that the entire town was waiting for.
"Isn't there some papers I have to sign," Jacky asked
"That will come tomorrow its late, and I need to get to the bar so I can get a drink."
"Oh this place has a bar?" She asked excited, "That's awesome, show me the way."
The Mayor was visibly shocked "Oh no, another Karen," he thought. "Uh…sure, right this way." He says as he leads her in the direction of the place.
"I only want to meet some of the locals, not get drunk." she said as if reading his mind.
"Oh I see Oh and Cliff you might want to come with us, you could get a room to stay in during your visit." he said as he lead Jacky toward the Bar.
"Oh, Thank you, mayor." he said. He wasn't really paying attention to anything that just happened but he follows.
As they arrive at the inn They find the entire town there just staring at them as they enter.
"Everyone I have an announcement, Jack Summers has arrived...and here she is." he said as he points to Jacky.
"Um hello everyone." Jacky greeted a bit nervous hoping nobody here remembered her from when she was younger... and male...
All the guys and some of the women look at Jacky. "Hello..." they said as they turned back to what they were doing before at their tables
"Don't mind them Jack," said two girls that were chatting over at the bar.
"Ah don't worry about it, I've had colder welcomes back on the mainland in the middle of winter."
"Come on over here and have a seat." Karen said patting a bar stool.
"Okay," Jacky said as she walks over and sits down.
"Well at least she's getting along with some people," The mayor thought as he went up to Doug and ordered a good stiff drink.
"So you are Jack Summers," Karen said somewhat disappointed. "Strange…I was expecting a guy from what the Mayor told us."
"You have no idea..." Jacky thought with a sweat drop. "Please call me Jacky, and well... life is just full of surprises." Jacky said with a nervous laugh.
Karen was a tad suspicious by reading this new girl's body language but, she just shrugs it off for now. "I'm Karen, and this is Ann. She is the daughter of Doug, the Inn keeper," She said introducing both herself and Ann.
"It's nice to meet you both." Jacky said holding out a hand for a handshake.
"Nice to meet you too Jacky," Ann said shaking Jacky's hand without even thinking about how boyish Jacky was seeming to be. Ann then lets go of Jacky's hand. "So Jacky, why do you keep your hair so short?"
"Uh…I never really thought about it but I guess it's because I really prefer to wake up and not fuss with my hair in the morning," Jacky said basically telling the truth.
"Oh well that makes sense," Ann said thinking about what Jacky said.
"Well I'm getting tired and I have a busy day tomorrow so I will see you two later." Jacky said standing back up.
"Okay, later Jacky." Ann and Karen said together.
As Jacky leaves, Karen watches the way that Jacky walks. "Something just doesn't seem right about her..." Karen thought. "I'd almost swear just by the way she walks, talks, dresses and acts that she was a guy..." she thought as she looked at Ann. "I guess I'm just looking to far into this... Ann is pretty much the same way..."
"I hope I can still find the farm," she mumbled to herself. Oh yea, go back to the square and hang a right then follow the path all the way passed the chicken farm, then turn left and I'm there." She said to herself seeing as how nobody else was around So Jacky follows her own directions and finds the farm (even if it is dark) and goes into the shack and hits the sack.
Hmfan 2.0: And so ends the second chapter. Is it possible that Karen may figure out the mystery behind Jacky? Or will she write it off as another case of Tomboy? Well you have to wait till the next chapter to find out. It will be out when I come up with some ideas... taking a break from writing for three years tends to cause an idea backup... Please, if you find any spelling or Grammar errors let me know, I try really hard but sometimes it happens and I miss it on my many checks.