Taylor & Lisa

Lisa and I were walking to the room assigned where the Undersiders would get their powers. My gaze kept going to her, an artist admiring her work. Slightly taller and slimmer than before with violet hair and eyes and, I blushed, a shapely behind. I was quite proud of what I had achieved.

She turned catching me looking and grinned "You know, if you keep looking at me like that you'll give a girl ideas." She said as she moved closer, putting an arm around me and, dropping her voice a couple of octaves, "Not that I'd say no."

I felt myself blushing as I looked down "R…Really?"

I felt saddened as her arm dropped from my waist as she said "Yes, really." She tapped her chin "Which is surprising, I was never interested in girls before. It's not something that you've done?"

"No, your hormones should be acting as normal. Giving you a desire for sex but not pushing you one way or the other. If you want I could try decreasing them."

"Well, if I end up wanting sex with everything that moves then… maybe but I'm kinda enjoying the feeling of being able to look and imagine and not getting turned off."

"Turned off?"

She huffed "Normal teenage hormones with normal teenage sex drive and so I looked at the guys, ya know." I nodded in understanding "And then my power told me everything that the guy wanted to do. Bigger turn off than a pail of ice water. You?"

"I… looked at the guys but it never went further than that. Conditions at the time led me to believe nothing would ever come of it." I felt myself blushing to the tips of my long ears "Can't say that I've ever looked at girls before either."

At some point we'd come to a stop and were standing facing each other peering into each other's eyes. "Perhaps something to do with…"

I stopped her by giving her in for a quick kiss. "I… I'm so…" I was stopped as she pulled me close and her lips made contact with mine for a deeper kiss.

"You know." She said into my ear "The others are waiting for us."

"Yeah."

"We should do this later."

"Yeah." I stepped back from her. The way I was feeling later was far too far away. "Lets go."

Powers

We walked into the room and a hush descended upon it. Both of the boys looked between the two of us before Brian asked "Lisa?"

She let go of my hand, grinned widely and spun around "You like it?"

"Yeah." Said Alec "But when you said that I wasn't your type I didn't realise that you meant that I really wasn't your type."

"Before you weren't my type because you're you… Which, now that I think about it, hasn't changed."

Brian blinked "How far did that change go?"

"All the way. She is, like this" I swept a hand down my own elfin body "not human. A completely new race based upon the myths of elves on Earth."

"Why did you do it?" Brian demanded of me

"Because I asked her to." Said Lisa said cutting off any answer I could give "It represents a full break from my previous life. I've thought about it a bit since I got here and I realised that I had never really wanted to be Tattletale. She just… kinda happened."

Brian nodded then turned to me "Is this… change… a requirement?"

"No." I said "Oh, it certainly made it easier for me as the Elfin race has a much higher brain function than humans which means that Lisa has the Thinker capability that I want you all to have without me having to do anything else."

"I see." He said "So, how are you planning to give us the powers that you've promised?"

"Similar to the way that the Capes presently get them which comes from the Passenger that either resides in or is connected to the corona pollentia. I've got a couple of ideas but the one I'm most drawn to at this time is the use nanites that would interface with your brain. This would give you the Thinker capabilities and access to my power to use as you wish."

"I thought you said that you didn't like fucking with the psyche?"

"I don't which is why I'm really not wanting to recreate the corona pollentia as an interface but I don't really have any choice unless you go through a race change as Lisa has." I looked across all of them "How else do you think you could use your powers without knowing what you were doing? Everything indicates that the Passenger is the one using the power and causing things to happen through reading your mind and thus finding out what you want to happen."

"I see. So…?"

"The nanites would reside throughout your body and interface with your brain but you'd have to learn how to use them and how to do what you want to achieve. It would be like learning to ride a bicycle or using a new Tinker Tech limb. Initially you'd have to think about using them but over time it would become second nature."

"Making the change to being an elf would help?" asked Alec

"Sure would." Said Lisa as she caused a fire to form in her open palm. Then she yelped "Ow, hot, hot, hot."

"As I said, and Lisa just proved, it was the Passenger that used the powers you evinced and part of that use was protecting you from them. Now that it will be you using the power you will have to think about what you need to do to protect yourself and others from them."

"Could you make similar changes to me without changing me into an elf?" asked Alec "I really don't see myself as an elf."

"You could show him Healer." Said Lisa "That demonic look would probably suit him."

"Demonic look, what's that?"

"Ah, right, you guys haven't seen Healer have you." I nodded to myself then looked at Alec as I morphed into a male version of Healer "It's like this."

"JESUS!" He yelped as he jumped over a table to the amused chuckles of the rest of us "That is not funny."

"Oh, I dunno." Chuckled Brian "I thought it was." He turned to me "Still, would it be possible to get the biological changes without such a radical change to our bodies?"

I morphed back into Elfin Shadow as the way Lisa was looking at me was causing some… interesting reactions and said "It would still be a radical change as you wouldn't be human afterwards even if you looked like it and it would also take longer."

"Why would that be?"

"Because I've already created the Elfin and Vukaahla race DNA sequencing but I haven't done so for a human look alike. After all, there's no point in having my own universe if I just make exactly the same as the one we come from. Creating new life, which is what you're asking me to do, isn't simple and would take years of work."

"Vukaahla race?"

"Calling them demons is, somewhat, contra-indicated." I said as I waved my hand in Alec's direction "So I made up a new name. Vukaahla. I quite like it."

Alec came out from behind the chair "So, any other benefits to taking one of your new races besides the horns and tail?"

I shrugged "Stronger, faster and more resilient to environmental factors, and completely immune to mind control."

"I didn't ask before but do they live longer." Said Lisa

"That they do. In ideal conditions they'll live about a thousand years. They age at about the same rate as humans up to their early twenties and then their ageing pretty much stops for about three hundred years. After that they'll begin ageing again until death." I grinned knowing exactly what was on her mind "Don't expect to see wrinkles until about six fifty, seven hundred."

"Oh, I suppose I can live with that."

"Ladies." Interjected Alec "We are not here to talk about skin care."

"Are you sure?" teased Lisa "Pretty sure I've seen you using moisturiser."

"Can we take the nanites now and maybe change to a new race later?" Brian asked loudly bringing the conversation back on course.

"Sure." I said "Rachel, how do you feel about it?"

"Nanites."

"Alec?"

"Vukaahla. That model you showed was pretty good and, as Lisa says, is a full break from my past and I definitely like the idea of being completely immune to mind powers."

"Done." I concentrated and a pill formed on each of my hands "Rachel, this one is for you. Take and swallow." I waited until she swallowed and then turned to Brian "Same." And then waited again "Right, they'll take a few minutes to start having an effect." I turned to Lisa "I need you to keep an eye on them until I get back." She nodded and I turned to Alec "Come with me."

Vicky

It was quiet in the clinic as we waited for the to girls to wake up. We'd pretty much said everything that needed to be said over the preceding week and now he sat on a chair between his two daughters waiting for them to wake up. I sat at the desk, close enough to address any issues while being far enough away to give them the appearance of privacy.

The first to wake, as planned, was Vicky. She surprised me by then trying to pretend to still be asleep. I really hadn't expected such subtlety from the rather blunt young woman. Mark turned to me and I nodded back to him confirming his suspicion that his daughter was now faking it.

"Vicky." He said "We know that you're awake. You really should know better than to try and fool Tinker gear."

Her eyes flew open "Dad?"

"I'm here, sweetling."

"How many time have I told you not to call me that?"

"I'm sure that I'll remember not to after the next time."

"Pretty sure you've told me that one before as well." She sat up and looked around "Ok, now that we've proved that we are who we say we are, where are we?"

"In a clinic."

"That much I can see but it's not our normal clinic."

"Right." He said "So, what do you remember?"

She glared at him but allowed the deflection "The bank robbery. Gallant had asked me along and then Amy text me saying that she was in there being held hostage. At which point I rushed to her side."

"Through several floors of bank, injuring two people and causing enough structural damage that the owners were considering condemning it." He glared at her but I think it was undermined by the huge grin on his face "The repair bills will be coming out of your allowance young lady."

"You don't give me an allowance and I'm sure that there's an insurance policy somewhere."

He grinned "Well, probably." His face sobered "What else do you remember?"

"Somehow, Amy was with Tattletale in the managers office. When I arrived Tattletale grabbed Amy and put a knife to her neck." She looked over to her sleeping sister "How is she?"

"She's fine, just sleeping." She glared at him "Ok, fine, medically induced coma. We're keeping her under a little while longer while we talk to you. Now, go on."

She maintained her glare a bit before going on "The bitch and us were having a… discussion… when Elfin Shadow, that bitch, popped in and interrupted us. That bitch was helping the Undersiders."

"What was the discussion between you and Tattletale about?"

"I… actually, I don't know." Her brow furrowed "She was threatening to release some sort of information about Amy. I countered that all our information was in the open, that we had no secrets…"

The silence was broken by Mark "And?"

"Well, whatever it was seemed to have terrified Amy." She looked back up at him "You know all this." She accused

"We have the video from the bank, Elfin Shadow's and Tattletale's testimony."

"You caught them, good."

"Not exactly…" He paused before going on "Do you recall what Elfin Shadow said to you?"

"Something about my aura hurting Amy. And what do you mean, not exactly?"

"Do you recall anything after that?"

"The next thing I knew I was waking up here. Now, what do you mean?"

"Well, this is Elfin Shadow's clinic in her secret base."

"WHAT!" she yelled as she leapt from the bed only to stumble and crash back toward the floor before being caught by Mark "What the hell?"

"Vicky, calm down."

"CALM DOWN? I CAN'T FLY. WHAT THE HELL?" she tried to push him off of her but failed

"Vicky, calm down."

"I can't fly, I don't have my strength…" she looked at him, fear in her eyes "I don't have my powers."

He sighed "You don't. Neither do I, Amy nor the Undersiders. In fact, the Undersiders are no more." She just continued to look at him "Something about needing an invitation to come here and none of our Passengers being invited."

"You but… wouldn't we get them back when we leave here?"

"We tried that by me going back home for a day but it didn't happen. Scans show that the corona pollentia itself is gone. It's why your mother isn't here. It was decided that losing too many of our powers would be, well, it wouldn't be good for Brockton Bay. And it's part of the reason why you and Amy are still here. Without your powers you'd be too vulnerable to those wanting payback."

"I… see." Her face turned down "Was she correct, was I hurting Amy?"

"…Yes." Her face shattered and he pulled her into an embrace "It's okay, you didn't know and neither did anyone else and you're not responsible."

"Og course, I'm responsiblt, I…"

"No, you're not. Your Passenger is."

She leaned back slightly "But my Passenger is me!"

"No, it's not and it never was. It did things for its own reasons and that included harming Amy." She stared at him "It's not a question that we asked before, perhaps we didn't want to know as having Powers is just so…" He shrugged "…but Elfin Shadow has pointed out that the advent of Powers into our world is destroying it and that that seems to be the actual reason for the introduction of those powers. Even having super-heroes and super-villains to create conflict seems to be part of the plan."

"You can't trust her, she's with the Undersiders and…"

"She's presented evidence, publicly available evidence, for her case. Evidence that we've checked and her conclusions are valid. We suspect that the PRT knows but haven't gone public with it."

Her eyes wide "But, why not, then people would…"

"They wouldn't want to cause a panic that would cause more harm than good which means that you will be keeping it secret."

She sat back, tears still in her eyes, and tried to change the subject "So, what is the super-secret that had Amy so terrified?"

"That is… personal and I will have to talk it over with Amy first." He looked over at his still sleeping daughter then back to Vicky "Come on, lets grab a bite and head out to the veranda while we wait."

Amy

Mark, Amy and I as Healer sat in a small, private, room in the clinic. Three comfortable chairs, round table and a quiet coffee machine (Got access to the best Tinker tech available might as well have a coffee machine that makes good coffee without waking the neighbours or annoying the cat - note to self: make a cat). We were here to discuss both the damage that Vicky's aura had caused to her and to address anypersonal feelings that she had. I hoped that her own training and interest in healing was going to be enough to help her understand and to keep her dispassionate but wasn't counting on it.

"Ok, so, we're stuck in a super-villain's secret base after she kidnapped me and Vicky and now we're here with her pet demon because…?"

"Because we need to discuss how Vicky's aura had been affecting you." Said Mark

"It didn't affect me." She stated but it had the ring of an automatic response and her shifting eyes told a different story "I've been telling you and everybody else that for years."

"And you were lying about it then and are continuing to lie about it now." Mark's countenance softened as he went on "We know, Amy, and Healer's scans show it."

"Scans don't show anything."

"That's not what our doctors are saying after looking at the scans and getting access to Healer's machines." Mark paused "I may not be a doctor but those scans tell me that there was an effect upon you. Now you need to…"

"I DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING." She screamed as she stood up

"Amy, sit down." I said. Maybe it was my demonic countenance or, although spoken softly, the fact that my voice rattled the cups but she quietened and sat "My race is called Vukaahla and we're not demons."

She glared at me "Why is that demon here anyway?" she demanded

"I'm here to go over the scan results and what we think they mean." I said "As a healer yourself I'd think you'd be interested."

"I'm not a healer any more, now, am I?"

"Your powers weren't what made you a healer. What made you a healer is you and the way you think. You're powers then did the healing for you but the loss of those powers doesn't make you any less of a healer." I slipped a pad across to her with her scans showing and the summaries of me and the doctors that New Wave had contacted.

She glanced at the pad then "This shows Vicky's scans as well which is completely unethical."

"We got her permission to show them to you as it's necessary to address what was happening between you two." Said Mark

"There was nothing happening between us." Again, the shifty eyes told otherwise

"Yes, there was. That's what the scans show."

She looked at the scans then back to Mark and, with a tremor in her voice "Why would you believe her over me."

"I'm not believing her over you. I'm believing the scans which show that Vicky's aura was affecting you and causing you harm. Look at the scans, Amy, look at how they align."

She looked the scans over "These only go back a week. There's no way that you can say that they were like this before we got here."

"We can project them back." I said "Take into account the parts of your scans that are in sync with Vicky's, how the spikes have decreased over such a short a time and what we see is a long term problem that was getting worse."

"If it was happening between us then why isn't she here as well?"

"Because, before we talk to both of you, we need to address your feelings for your sister." I said

"Of course I have feelings for my sister. She's my sister."

"But yours run a little deeper, don't they?"

"I…" She paused "Somebody's been feeding you wrong information."

"Amy." Asked Mark "What was the secret that Tattletale was threatening to reveal about you?"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do." He considered what to say "Tattletale's power allowed her to gather data and make correct projections from that data. She didn't get that data from the web or books but from reading a person's body language and that allowed her to, effectively, gather information about a person such as their motives, their probable actions and their feelings. Information that couldn't be hidden because it was part of the person. Tattletale has told us what she did and we've watched the video."

"Why are you taking the word of a super-villain?"

"The fact that she was a villain is immaterial." I said "What does count is that she was using the information that she had gleaned to successfully hold off both of you which indicates that she was correct. That information is the depth of your feelings for Vicky."

"I… I've done nothing wrong."

"No, you haven't." I paused "But, tell me, how do you feel now?"

"Scared, frightened, upset…" she paused and her eyes narrowed "Are you using your power on me?"

"No, I'm not. Like you, I refrain from messing with people's psyche."

"You're safe here." Said Mark "They truly do wish to help us, to help you, get better."

Her defences immediately went back up "There's nothing wrong with me."

"No, there isn't." I said "But how do you feel about Vicky now?"

"How can I get better if there's nothing wrong with me?" she demanded

"Your passenger has been removed and I suspect that its going to take some getting used to." I explained "How do you feel about Vicky now?"

"I LOVE HER. ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW? I LOVE HER." Amy collapsed back into her seat "Not as a sister."

Mark moved in and gently took her in his arms "I think that's enough for today."

I nodded but said "One last question." He scowled "It is necessary."

"It's okay dad, I'll answer one."

"How intense is your love today compared with how intense it was at the bank?"

"I… don't…" her brow furrowed "It's not as intense. It's…" She looked at me "What's happened?"

"I believe that your Passenger was influencing you to fall in love with your sister. I can't say why although it may have been part of their general escalation of conflict or it may be something else." I paused to let that sink in "What should be understood is that it's not normal for siblings to be sexually attracted to each other." I held up my hand to stop any protests "I know that she's not your blood sister but its not blood that counts, it's the growing up together that puts dampeners on such relationships."

"And now that my Passenger is gone so have the intense feelings… What would have happened if the Passenger had stayed?"

"We believe that it would have broken you. A person with powers such as yours and Mad as a Hatter."

Her face paled "I would have made her love me and worse…" She looked down and then back up "I would have made her my toy…"

I nodded "And that is why Elfin Shadow brought you here, to stop that from happening if we could."

In the end, the healer had come through.

Star Gazing

Lisa and I lay on a mat on the roof still slightly sweaty after our breathless actions. I smiled as Lisa snuggled closer to me, her head coming to rest on my shoulder "You know" she said "Its a pleasant evening out here and this is quite romantic…"

I caressed her bare breast, letting mmy hand fall to her side… and then tickled her and, as she burst out in giggles, growled "Quite romantic?"

"Okay, okay." She laughed "Very romantic."

I stopped tickling her, leaned down and kissed her again "mmm, better." Then lay back and pulling her back to my side

"But, really, why are we out here?"

"Because its very romantic?" I teased. Then I turned to the night sky and pointed "Look."

She looked where I pointed and gasped as a star appeared in the night sky "A star?"

"Yes. It's close enough that it will be visible during the day but…" I pulled her to me and kissed her "…I thought it would be nice…" kissed her "…to be up here…" rolled her onto her back and kissed her "…with my first lover…" I grinned as I morphed into my male Vukaahla form "…when the star Aesara appeared in the night sky." I kissed her again.

"Oh, Taylor…"