Hey, sorry this chapter was a day late, it just took a long time to edit and I decided to continue editing it until the morning.
So, from now on I will be responding to reviews that I get at the beginning of each chapter. Please don't give me a review because you want to be mentioned.(Even though I'm not nearly popular enough that it would even matter) I want you to review because you think I deserve one, not because you don't think you aren't getting enough attention.
Rant aside, here is my first response.
Wish Counselor: It makes me so ecstatic that my words can accurately portray what I am trying to say. I'm happy that what I write can actually make others feel emotion. And who knows how James and Adelaine will adapt? Maybe the change isn't permanent. Maybe the change will be controllable. Maybe I'm giving to much away. Maybe I'm not giving enough away. Maybe I'm leading you down a false path. Maybe I'm leading you down the only path that's right.
Anyway, I won't be responding to reviews prior to the rewrite because it just doesn't seem right. That story was almost entirely different, and I just can't acknowledge them with a clear conscience. If it bothers you a lot, I'm sorry.
James gazed in wonder at his principal that had previously been just a bit taller than he, but was now at least twenty times his size. His cheeks flared with embarrassment from his lack of clothing. It was bad enough to be in front of his family in such a state, but when in front of an authority figure such as a principal, he was almost afraid of getting a detention or some other form of academic punishment.
"So you believe that the creatures have not only replaced the missing humans, but actually are the missing people. Intriguing." Mr. Bugis' gaze seemed to penetrate James' very soul, making him wish he could be anywhere but there.
"I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true." Adelaine's voice sounded overly urgent to convince the man that she was telling the truth, but the principal almost seemed eager about discovering this theory.
"Ma'am, you have no need to worry, I honestly don't find this theory all that ridiculous. Well, at least considering the circumstances. Now had you come to me a week ago and tried to explain that your son was a fictional mouse, well, let's just say you would have taken a few tests," he chuckled. "Now if you don't mind, could I please ask James a few questions?"
"Why?" Adelaine inquired.
"Well if what you claim is true, I am curious as of how much of his humanity he has retained." James almost wished his principal would leave right at that moment. Despite the fact that he himself was rather curious as of how much of his mind he had retained, he was too terrified of what the result could be. What if he didn't even remember how to add any more, or if he couldn't even understand numbers?
James looked up at his brother, who had been silent since he had heard the news of his transformation. James had never expected his family to be this distraught whenever they found out about his new form. It was ridiculous to think that they would have been happy, but for some reason, to him, it had made complete sense that they would be. While he may not have been human, at least he wasn't dead.
Mr. Bugis pulled up a chair and sat in front of James, placing a briefcase beside him with a huge smile adorning his face. He was extremely excited to be this close to a creature that no one would ever expect to have seen in the real world. He saw how distressed James seemed to be, so he tried to lighten the mood by saying, "Aren't you a bit underdressed, James?"
James' cheeks shot out electricity in embarrassment. At that moment, he wished he could have buried himself into the soft cushions that lie beneath his paws.
"He already knows he's naked, you don't need to tell him," Peter ragged. His voice was almost a whisper, yet it still seemed to carry the same importance as if it had been a yell.
Mr. Bugis looked at the angry and confused youth with a warm expression and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend, I just wanted to calm him down a little." He reached his hand forward and placed it on the grieving youth's knee. "I know it must be hard for you to accept this, but just imagine what he's going through. He actually has to get used to being in a body that's not his, he can't speak his normal language, everything is most likely very frightening at his size, and who knows how much his mind has regressed from its usual state? I'm sure it would be very helpful if he had the support of his brother."
There was silence for a moment as Peter tried to think through the mess of his mind, but even when he found the words he needed, they were very quiet and feeble. "I just don't know what to think."
"You don't need to figure that out right now, just try and help your brother as much as you can. Adjusting will be hard for all of you, but you just need to work together." Mr. Bugis' words seemed to calm the worried youth, so he turned back to James and examined his stance. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and held it out to the abashed mouse.
James eyed the cloth that was held before him, not sure what he was supposed to do. "I thought you might want to use it to cover yourself. Don't worry, it's clean," the principal clarified. James yanked the cloth out of his principal's hand, threw it around his waist and attempted to tie knot it. This quickly proved impossible for him to do.
"Would you like some help?" Peter asked. Normally, James would have refused. But since this was the first thing his brother had said to him since he found out about the transformation, James nodded his head, a few stray sparks of embarrassment popping off his rosy cheeks. His electricity didn't stop hopping off his cheeks as his brother tied the cloth around his waist.
When his brother was done, James looked towards him and said, "Thank you," with even more sparks hopping off his cheeks. Despite the fact his words weren't English, his brother could easily guess what James meant.
"You're welcome." Peter's words seemed to be a little clumsy, but they held the meaning that they needed to. James gave his brother a quick smile and then turned towards his principal, nerves eating away at all of his thoughts.
His principal easily picked up on the fact that the youth was nervous, so he tried to comfort him by saying, "Even though it might be embarrassing, the fact that you are uncomfortable when nude is a good sign of your intelligence." James simply stretched his lips in a pseudo-smile, just wanting to get the torture over with. Mr. Bugis seemed to accept this and began by saying, "Alright, now, I would like you to fall into a four-legged stance." James looked at his principal with wonder and confusion blatant on his face. "I want to check your coordination, to see how well your mind is adapting to its new body." James gazed at his principal for a few more moments, but eventually followed the ridiculous order and fell into a quadruped stance.
Mr. Bugis pulled a notebook out of his briefcase and wrote a few things down. When he had finished writing whatever he needed, he looked back at James and said, "Now, go back to a bipedal posture." James obeyed the order once again, glad the interrogation hadn't started with him being forced to know his IQ had decreased to that of a mouse. He waited for his principal to finish thinking and writing down his notes, hoping he wasn't writing down negative notes.
This time, it was only a few moments before Mr. Bugis was finished and ready to ask his question. "James, previously you were expelling electricity from your cheeks, correct." James nodded his head. "Were you in control of that?" James shook his head. "Can you control it?" James wasn't sure how to answer this question. He could store it in his cheeks, he knew that much for sure, but he had never tried to release this energy on purpose. He decided to put out his paw and shake it to say "kind of."
"A little?" Mr. Bugis confirmed. James nodded his head, deciding that answer was probably as close as he could get to what he meant. "Would you mind demonstrating what you can do for me?"
James weighed the risks and rewards in his mind before deciding that it would probably be in his best interest to show his principal everything he could. He closed his eyes and began to concentrate on filling his cheeks with energy like he had that morning (though to him it felt like a few days ago). Once he was satisfied with how much energy he had stored-well more like couldn't hold anymore in his tiny cheeks-he began to search for ways to discharge the electrical current filling his cheeks.
It quickly became apparent that if he couldn't release the electricity, it would release itself. Since imagining had worked in the past, he decided to try imagining the electricity flowing out of his cheeks into any target that wasn't himself, which happened to be the couch cushion that he was standing on. Just as the electricity made contact with the cushion, fire erupted from the patch of cloth.
James was instantly swamped by fear and memories of a day that he wished forgotten. Vivid memories of his father's last moments filled him with fear and sorrow, so he did what his instincts were yelling at him to do: he ran.
Fear was his constant and growing companion with each step he took. Just as he had earlier that day, he ran without any thought to where he was headed, only that he wanted to get away from the flames that held his fear and sorrow. Not even as he fell down to the floor and released tears from his soaked eyes was he aware of his surroundings. He was only aware of the visions that had plagued his nightmares since the death of his father.
Images of the hood of a car igniting into flames and rushing towards him forced themselves into the poor child's mind. He was forced to remember being thrown out the window by his father, away from the death that ran towards them just as the flames engulfed and destroyed the man James would forever love and admire. Previously destroyed wishes that he had been the one to die instead of his father erupted into his fragile mind. He couldn't escape the feeling that his life was a waste as it overtook his very being and pulled him into an even deeper depression.
He was painfully unaware of the careful steps into the room that he occupied, even as they crept closer and closer until they were directly next to him. He only partially noticed a presence other than his own as it reached down and began to pet and scratch him behind the ears. Previously this action had been enough to pull him away from tears, but at the moment, there was more emotional turmoil than a simple scratch behind the ears could fix.
James dimly heard the voice of his brother speak the words, "It's okay, James, the fire's gone. There's nothing to be afraid of." How could his brother be so wrong? There was everything to be afraid of! The sadness that perverted all of his thoughts, the fear that ate away at his mind, the memories that threatened to eat him alive. And these were just the beginning, the surface of all of his problems.
"It's okay, mom's not mad at you, she understands you didn't mean to light the couch on fire. You can hardly control your abilities, it's not your fault." Now James was certain his brother was just looking in the dark for the reason that he was crying.
It was then that James faintly heard his mother calling out to him. "James, James?" Judging by the volume of his mother's voice, he could tell that she was sitting next to Peter. "Peter, could you please leave the room for a second." The youth in question gave a quizzical look, but when he saw the worry in the eyes of his mother, he left without question. When she was sure the youth had left, Adelaine bent down near the large ears of her son and whispered, "Did…did the fire…remind you of…it."
James nodded his head between sobs, fully aware of what "it" was. He continued to sob as his mother picked him up and pulled him into a hug. "It's all right, it wasn't your fault." He returned the hug as best he could with his puny size, but still continued to sob into the fabric that made up his mother's shirt. "It's okay."
"No it's not! I should have been the one to die!" Though his cries were muffled by his mother's clothing, his mother still heard them and, perhaps it was a mother's intuition, but she was somehow able to decipher his words.
"Your father would never have forgiven himself if you had died that day. He loved you more than life itself, he was happy to give his life for you." His mother's words only marginally helped. He had heard these words many times in the past and they had begun to lose their meaning. No matter what his mother said, the only thing that ended his tears was the inability to produce any more.
He looked up to his mother, leftover tears staining his eyes, and pushed himself out of her hug. "Are you all right?" she asked, her own tears held behind her eyelids. James nodded his head. Even though it was a complete lie, he just thought it would be better to ignore the emotions attacking his inner being. He was done being a baby, it was time he started acting like a man.
James stood in his usual bipedal stance to survey his surroundings. Apparently his subconscious was fond of his mother's room. He attempted to take a step forward, but just fell forward into the much more natural feeling four legged stance. He pushed up into a bipedal stance and tried to take another step forward, receiving a similar result in return. He tried this many times before eventually giving up and walking on four legs like his body was screaming at him to do. Apparently his body could only be bipedal for a little while before it would need to revert to its much preferred quadruped posture.
James almost began to regret his bipedal posture when he started to walk like his body had been telling him to all day. He immediately denied these thoughts, telling himself that he was just walking like this because there was no other option. He walked out into the living room where he saw his brother and principal waiting. His cheeks sparked at his posture, even though he tried his best to conceal his emotions.
"Don't you think you've used enough electricity?" his brother bantered. James didn't bother with reacting. It was just a stupid remark that didn't hold any meaning. He briefly glanced at the spot on the couch that had started the horrible chain of events. It was now white with the leftover spray of a fire extinguisher. His mother kept in step close behind him, so close he probably would have normally been slightly unnerved, but emotions seemed to escape him at the moment.
When he reached his principal, who had already knelt down to meet the troubled youth, he looked up with expectant eyes, ready to continue the interrogation. Despite what he wanted, his principal looked over to his mother and said, "I'm sorry for making your son use his abilities and causing that to happen."
"It's fine. You would have had no way of knowing that would happen," Adelaine explained.
"Do you mind if I ask your son some more questions? This time I will try not to start a fire," the principal chuckled.
Adelaine gave a weak smile in return and said, "Yeah, that's all right. I need to see how…how… he is." She averted her gaze from her son as she said these words, as if she didn't want to look at the disgrace her son was. Well, that's what James got from it anyway.
James looked up to his principal as he thanked Adelaine and looked down to him. "Ready?" James brought his head up and back down. The nerves that were attacking him earlier seemed to have decided to leave him alone. His principal smiled at him and pulled a laminated sheet of paper from his briefcase and placed it on the floor. "Okay, there are three blocks of colour on this paper. I will point to one, and you point to one of the colours listed below, alright?"
James nodded, the fact that he couldn't see colours slipping from his mind. That would not last long however, as he realized the three coloured rectangles that were supposed to be on the paper were replaced by three equally grey blocks. He shot his eyes across the page for an answer to his problem, reading every colour listed on the page. Had he not been in such a panic, he might have been ecstatic that he could still read, but at the moment he was too busy hunting for something that he could use to explain his predicament.
Suddenly, his eyes came across the colour he needed, the only colour he could see, grey. He pressed his paw against the word and looked up to his principal with hope in his eyes. That hope was soon crushed by his principal's look of disappointment. "I'm sorry, that's not the correct answer. This block is blue."
James looked up to his principal with panic once again his expression. He couldn't let them think he couldn't even understand colours! He just couldn't see them, that was the problem. He shook his head and once again pressed his paw against the only answer he could see. His principal sighed and said, "No, I'm sorry. It's not grey."
James cried out in frustration. He pointed his paw to himself and back to the word. His principal gave a quizzical expression, but then realization came across his face. "It's not that you can't read, it's that you can't see colours." James let out a sigh of relief, nodding his head. "So you can read. Well that's a good sign."
Mr. Bugis brought out another sheet of paper, this time with simple math equations, but before he could give the instructions, James was already pointing to the correct answer. Both James and the principal were surprised at the ease in which James could determine the answers. This process continued until Mr. Bugis was giving James multi-step equations and receiving the correct answer in return.
Everyone in the room was astonished, but none more than James. Ever since he had been able to think about his transformation, he had been destroying himself with thoughts of how he probably couldn't even properly read, and now he was solving equations no lower than his grade in school.
"Well, this is certainly…new. I'm not sure what to say. It seems like your intelligence was utterly unchanged by your transformation. This is certainly not what I expected," the baffled principal explained.
"So unchanged that he might return to school," Peter said, his voice laden with sarcasm. Mr. Bugis smiled at the suggestion.
"Well, he certainly is smart enough to do so. As far as I know, there aren't any rules against such a thing. And, since it is a private school, we don't need to consult the state about such a thing."
"Wait, you aren't actually suggesting…" Adelaine asked.
"I certainly don't have any qualms against such a thing. Of course, it's up to you, but it would be very interesting experiment." James was completely and utterly confused by what his principal was suggesting. Not only was it utterly ridiculous, but it was just impossible! There was no way he could walk to each class without getting trampled. "Of course, we could go with the much more probable option of home-schooling, which I would be happy to provide the supplies for."
James released the excess air in his lungs that he had unknowingly held. After a moment of silence, Adelaine said, "I thought you were insane for a second there. I'm not sure how I'll manage to teach him, but I'm sure I'll find a way."
James looked around the room at the people who, even though his situation made absolutely no sense, seemed to be trying to understand and help him. And if that day had been any indication of how strange things were to be, they were going to have to work hard to find any sense of normalcy.
Well that's that. So, next week I will be posting a side story that still pertains to this story, but it will be posted in a separate story. You don't have to read this to know what is happening, but it would help you to understand the character.
By the way, I have started a pokémon TF role-playing forum, and if you want to check it out, here's the link.
forum/Pok%C3%A9mon-Transformation-forum/144005/
Please read the rules before posting, it will make everything easier.
Cheers.