I woke early the next morning. Suprisingly early, considering what had happened last night. As a matter of fact, I probably would have slept in until way late, except my cat, Kumquat, decided that my face made a nice seat. I growled groggily, which was probably less than impressive, and pushed her away. She meowed indignantly in protest, then leapt off my bed and strutted to my room's window.

I sighed and curled deeper into my covers, but couldn't go back to sleep. More than a little irritated, I peeled back the covers and stood up. I shivered in the cold air as I stretched, then shuffled over to my closet. I squinted as I dug through the clothes, finally picking out my favorite outfit: a short black vest with a white turtleneck and some boot cut blue jeans. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was comfy and good enough to leave the house in.I threw it on, and headed to the door of my room. My hand rested on the door knob, and I hesitated.

Breakfast would be hellish; I knew that Mom and Dad accepted me for being...for being whatever I was, but I still wasn't ready to see them. I spun on my heel, and strode to my window. I pushed it open, and smiled as Kumquat leapt onto the branch of the tree right outside. She had the right idea. I crawled out onto the branch with her, then carefully dropped down. I yelped in pain as my feet connected solidly with the ground, and quickly clapped a hand over my mouth. Kumquat dropped down beside me gracefully, and I scowled at the smug glint in her eyes as she sauntered off to go do whatever cats did in the day. Stupid cats and their stupid agility.

As I headed to leave, I caught sight of Mom and Dad in the kitchen. From the looks of it, they were having a serious talk. I knew that Dad had completely accepted Mom and I for being mutants or whatever, but I realized that they would still have to sort things out. Dad was probably even more confused than I was about the whole thing. I had no clue how they were going to explain it to Wyatt, either. I sighed quietly, and gazed up at his room. He was still asleep, the little lazabout. How I envied him.

Deciding that I should take advantage of my parents' distraction, I walked away. Even though I didn't mean to, my feet still took me to Tammy's house, which was only about a block away. I needed to anyway, so it was all good. She was undoubtedly wondering what in the world had happened to me. In my understanding, I had simply dropped off the map for a few hours without telling anyone. Somehow, I didn't think anyone had bothered to call her and tell her that I had shown back up safe and sound. I hovered on the sidewalk outside Tammy's house, struck by a thought. What did I plan to tell her? I couldn't really say that I was a mutant...somehow, I didn't see that scenario playing out well. Even if she did believe me, she would probably be terrified.

I drew my hand away from the gate, and spun around. I walked away a few feet, then broke into a sprint, hot tears cutting a path down my face. My tears blinding me, I ran for a long while. As I finally slowed down and got my bearings, I saw something terrible. In my mad dash, I'd ended up heading to the bad side of town. By that I mean, the side of town where you're bound to get shanked or raped if you don't know your way around. I really didn't know my way around. Thankfully, or possibly not so thankfully, no one seemed to be around. At least, I didn't think so. Hobos can blend in really well when they're in places like this. To be sure, I took a second scan, but all I could see were several broken windows, filth coated benches, and walls painted with graffiti. I still couldn't see anyone, so I took a step back. Two rock-hard arms wrapped around me, yanking me back into a dark alley, and I wondered silently how I didn't see that coming.

"Hello, little lady."

Ignoring his greeting, I attempted to stomp his toes. He tightened his arms around me, and I hissed in pains as I felt my ribs creak. Normally I would have been panicking, but the last time I'd gotten scared, I'd changed into a dumpster. That hadn't exactly helped me, so I figured my only choice was to wriggle away and escape the guy. As he practically had my whole body constrained, I did the only thing I could. I leaned over, and sank my teeth into his arm. He howled and let me go by way of throwing me into a brick wall.

As he clutched his forearm and I slumped dazedly against the wall, I got a good look at him. It was then that I felt my spine morph into jelly. The man was beyond huge. His hands alone were as big as hams, and his legs could've masqueraded as tree trunks. Even his hair was scary, with its ratty locks and filthy sheen. Still, it wasn't the hair or his size that gave me chills. It was his face. A scar ran from his left ear to his lips, the skin surrounding it a nasty red that made the blackness of his eyes stand out. He shook himself, then ed to me, a malicious smile stretching across his mouth as he saw the panic in my eyes.

"You should've played nice, pretty girl. Now you've gone and made me mad."

He took a step toward me, and I tried to stand, my shaky legs protesting. I touched the back of my skull, wincing as I felt a large bump and my fingers came away bloodied.

I held my hands up to the man placatingly and said, "Listen, just leave me alone, alright? If you just walk away right now, I won't tell anyone that you hurt me."

Threatening him was obviously the wrong thing to do. Instead of making his run away, it just got him pissed off. Curling his knuckles into a fist, he charged at me. At the last possible moment, I ducked, and his fist slammed into the wall. I lunged away between his legs, landing on my stomach a few feet away. He ed to me with a snarl, his hand dripping blood. I tried to scramble away, but he caught my foot. I screamed as I was dragged back, until his fingers encircled my throat. He lifted me unceremoniously into the air, my feet kicking uselessly against his meaty slab of a chest as I clawed at his hands.

As I struggled to breathe, I felt a familiar burning sensation. I gasped as I felt my skin unravel, and my body suddenly shot upward. The man yelled and dropped me to the ground, where I coughed helplessly. I slowly pulled myself up, realizing that I was the same size as the man. I blinked slowly, catching sight of my reflection in a piece of broken glass lying by the brick wall. I wasn't a short teenage girl anymore; I'd ed into an exact copy of the man I had been attacked by. Except I was wearing now ripped clothing and had a very tight ring digging into my skin. Ignoring those minor inconveniences, I slammed my fist into the man's head. Whether from the horror of seeing a person change into him or because I had just hit him extraordinarily hard in the skull I don't know, but he passed out. Seizing the opportunity, I kicked him in the ribs. Maybe it wasn't the most honorable thing to do, but it sure felt good. As I stared down at him with a mixture of triumph, fear, and shock, I changed back to my usual self.

As the events of the last few minutes began to sink in, I turned and ran away.

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I might have another update tomorrow sometime. Not sure though.

Remember: The more reviews I get, the faster the chapters are uploaded.

Also, I'll stop killing kittens.

PuzzledPrincess and 12kirby12, you two are my favorite people everz!