CYOA: Yeah, this was a smart idea

wnelson001

Summary:

I should of learned my lesson about writing a CYOA after reading all the stories about them. Then I showed my friend Kelsey the Worm universe and about the concept of CYOA and she was all in to writing a Worm CYOA story featuring the both of us. Now here we are stuck in the Worm-verse suffering all the negative choices we made in making up our characters. Now we just have to hope we can survive it.

Notes:

Story written in conjunction with Renallie from HF

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

I glanced at the clock. Nearly midnight... nearly midnight, and I hadn't gotten nearly what I needed to done yet. It was an involved process, one that I probably made harder on myself with strict rules regarding organization, alignment, and what exactly went where. Leaning back in my chair, I allowed myself to stretch for a moment, relax, and stare at the ceiling. Blank, boring plaster. But at least it wasn't my glowing monitor or the dull hum of the TV behind me. Neither were what I wanted to look at right now, but... work was work. And, I did enjoy it, for the most part.

I sighed as I straightened in my chair, pulling my feet up and tucking them under me, sliding my chair closer to my desk and grabbing my mouse. One click, and it brought up the list of about seven windows I had open in my word editor. I glanced down through the list, picking the document title I wanted, and it came to life before me. I glanced through it, making sure, once again, that I hadn't accidentally editted something without remembering it, and typed quickly, entering in the last few details I had picked out for my character sheet. Then, minimizing that window, I brought up a second document, copying the details from the prior into this, which had a cumulative list of the different characters I was bringing together for the story arc, and began to lay out the first rough elements of a rough outline.

Topic. Header. Brief description of the timeline. What was happening? Where? Which characters were involved, and which were aware of the happenings, but weren't present? Who was ignorant? A few minutes later, and I had a passable draft. A couple clicks later, and I was back into the main body, but there I paused, then put down a few short sentences:

The sky was grey when I opened my eyes. Overcast, heavy, hinting at rain and wind. I groaned, and pushed myself to my feet. I hated days like today. All I wanted in life currently was to roll over, and go back to sleep. That was it. Nothing extravagant, right? Wrong. The watch on my wrist began to beep, and annoyed, I slapped it off, sat up, and scrubbed my eyes with the backs of my hands, yawning as I prepared for the day. It was going to be a long day...

Not bad, I commended myself, saved the document, saved the others I had added information to, and climbed out of my chair, twisting around, my back popping as I stretched, my shorts sticking to my legs. It was hot, and my air conditioner wasn't working right—again. Damned piece of machinery. It almost made me envious of the character I had just written up. She could have fixed it, in a flash. Oh well. What makes life interesting if not challenges?

I staggered through my apartment, clicking the TV off and flicking the lights off, and collapsed face-first onto my bed. The last thought that drifted through my mind before I was asleep was Ah, fuck. Dance lesson in the morning. I'm gonna be so sore...

My very first thought as I awoke the next morning was not what one would expect. Rather, it was something unexpected entirely.

Who am I? Where am I? What is that smell?

I blinked, raising my head, and sniffed, eyes still closed. My pillow fell off my head, flopping to the floor, and as I stretched my hand out to find my glasses, I realized with a small bit of panic that my nightstand... nightstand? What nightstand? I rolled onto my back, confusion clouding my thoughts. I didn't have a nightstand. What on earth was wrong with my head? Even thinking about things too hard was giving me headache, making things swim in and out of focus. I groaned, and opened my eyes. Things were blurry, of course. They always were, without my glasses or contacts in. But I could immediately tell that things were off. They were not what they were supposed to be, and it was both disorienting, confusing, and severely jolting. Trying to remember why they were off was like driving a rail-road spike directly into my forehead, piercing my brain and shattering my will to even attempt to do such a thing. I fumbled about until I finally found my glasses on my headboard, and slipped them on, glancing around my room.

Everything was normal. Fine. This was my room. So why did it feel so alien, so strange? Like I was out of place, unsure of everything? I stood up, and looked around. My curtains were a plain grey, bordered with a dark purple. I loved purple. Nearly everything I owned either had purple on it, or was just plain purple. My sheets were a rich, dark purple, my blankets black and purple. My headboard was black metal framework with laminated purple wooden boards and cupboards for storage. My closet doors were purple, the trimwork around my room purple... everything was purple. I stood, and walked over to my mirror, raising my glasses to scrub the sleep from my eyes, and then dropping them back into place.

And nearly fell over. Standing in my mirror, looking back at me, was a small girl. Maybe about ten, possibly eleven years old. I was thin, a little on the short side, my chest flat, my t-shirt I had slept in scrunched and bunced around my waist, revealing my hips, bony, but wider than the usual stick-figure child-like figure... my legs were at least round, not like weird chicken legs or pure skin and bone. I had small feet, normal hands, long fingers... dexterous. Perfect for tinkering, I thought to myself, then blinked. Well, of course they were. That's what I did. Not that my parents approved. Well. Parent. My mom had never been in the picture and my dad, well. He didn't approve of anything I did. Was better not to talk about him. But the most jarring—jarring? Why was any of this jarring—feature were my eyes. Pale, unearthly green, with a soft, pale glow. I blinked again. Of course they were; they had been for years. That was the reason I'd modified my glasses, right? I reached up, and found the tiny little switch on the bottom of the frames, and flicked it with my nail, turning them on. The glow faded as you looked through my glasses at my eyes, and the color slowly darkened down to a natural brown. Normal eyes. Easy to broadcast the holographic image through the lenses. Easy enough, at least, for me.

I plucked at my little purple panties, and glanced down inside them, making sure everything was still there, still a girl. Still a girl? What the fuck is wrong with my head? FUCK?! Why am I thinking curse-words? Daddy would kill me if I said fuck... hehe. It's fun though. Fuck. Fuckityfuckityfuckfuckfuck. I giggled aloud, then sniffed again, reminded that I had woken up to a particular smell. Pulling my shirt down, so it dropped around my thighs, I walked down the hallway.

The hallway, as usually, was piled with my dad's laundry, and our housemate's. Neither one of them seem to know how to clean up after themselves very well. Wrinkling my nose, I stepped over a pile of shirts, and padded my way into the living room. It wasn't exactly spotless either. The walls were dirty, in need of a good paint job, the window sill cluttered with papers and random objects that somehow found their way into the mess, the coffee table cluttered with dad's "work." Looking at that, it was small wonder I had become a tinker. Small bits of electronics were scattered everywhere, pieces of this and that. Looking at it, my eyes dashed over the pieces, assimilating and diagnosing the information in fractions of a second.

Broken circuit board, easy fix, re-solder the joints, attach with two wires crossing through to the other board, induce static charge to overpower the circuits, create magnetic field, contain with...

I forced myself to stop. I'd been yelled at more than once for "playing" with Dad's work. Generally because the parts I took to play with ended up nothing like what he intended for them to look like. Blinking, I tried to remember why everything felt so off, so weird, so unusual again, only for the spike of pain to slam into my forehead again. Swaying on my feet, I stopped, and moved forward.

There was a bar seperating the kitchen from the living room, and my dad was in the kitchen, from the sounds and smells. Bacon. That smell is bacon. Why was that unusual? Dad almost always had bacon for breakfast. And dinner. There was a near-permanent smell of bacon in the house, almost like a coating of bacon grease. I shuddered. I was beginning to hate bacon. He turned and saw me in the entryway of the kitchen, and frowned.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked.

I shrugged. "You woke me up."

He glanced down at the fact I had no pants on, and his frown deepened. "Go get dressed. Take a shower. You have school today."

School? I hadn't... OWWW... stop thinking about that! I yelled at myself, and nodded instead, turning and heading back down the hallway into my room. I gathered some clothes, barely even paying attention to them, and stepped into the bathroom. As I opened the bathroom door and turned on the light, I heard our housemate cough his way into the living room, then the signature whisk of his lighter, followed by an "ahhh," which was shortly followed by him dropping heavily onto the couch, and flicking on the TV. When it's noise flooded the room, I shut, and locked the bathroom door. He had a habit of trying to walk in on me while I was in the shower, or even just taking a pee. There had been a few times I had forgotten to lock the door with him around, and suffice it to say, I did not want to be left alone with him more than was necessary.

I flicked on the water, frowning to myself. The tech in this house was so archaic, so desolate. My dad's skills were barely passing as a repairman. The only jobs he ever really made any money on were the ones I took over for him, without his knowing, and repaired something beyond the point of making it new. Generally that resulted in a happy customer that brought several more jobs, and money, to the table, but a lack of opportunity for me to get my hands on them, and therefore... after a series of mediocre jobs, the customer went on their way to someone else, and I had to wait until the next chance came up. I sighed, and stripped out of my clothes, laying my glasses carefully on the counter, then hopping in the shower, dancing and twisting in the hot-then-ice-then-hot water spray. I hated this house. I hated the fact that I could have fixed everything in it inside of an hour, and had money to spare to buy three new homes on top of everything else. I hated the fact that I wasn't allowed to do any of it. I hated it all. I wanted out.

I turned off the water spray, and wrung my hair out, before stepping out, toweling myself dry, and getting dressed. Apparently I had picked up a cute pair of white with little purple hearts panties, a jean skirt that came down to my knees, and a white and purple striped short-sleeve top. I put my glasses back on before I combed my hair, then wrung it out some more, and combed it again, then pulled it into a ponytail, shrugged, and took my dirty clothes back to my room, shut my door, and walked straight out of the house without either of the adults even realizing I had left. Stupid adults.

I was barely a block down the street, which was an average suburb street, dotted with homes and cars carrying people to work, when I saw... well. Him. There was no other word for it, nothing that adequately captured the thick essence of the man... thing... lurking in the shadows between two homes which were only a few feet apart. I paused, then walked over. He turned as I approached, obviously hearing me before I got there. "Hi, Kelsey."

His voice was low, gravelly. Rough. I liked it; it was wild. I smiled up at him, and reached out, plucking at his trenchcoat. "You really think that's going to help?"

He shrugged. Uneasy. Unsure. "Dunno. Doesn't feel... normal today. You get me?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I know what you mean. Today feels really weird. I keep feeling like things aren't what they should be, can't remember things clearly. But whenever I try, I get this splitting headache." I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "I don't like it. Wish I could remember things."

"You mean you can't recall—" he cut off abruptly.

I waited a second, but nothing else came from him, so I prodded for more. "Recall what?"

He shook his head. "Nevermind. Can't say."

I frowned. "Why not? Do you know why I can't remember things?"

He shrugged, visibly uneasy with the conversation. "You're younger than I remember," he said, changing the subject.

I glanced down at myself. "Younger? What do you mean? I'm a day older than I was yesterday. That makes me older."

"Yesterday," he repeated, then scoffed, a deep, rumbling chuckle. He lapsed into silence after that, and I let him. Honestly, I didn't even really want to go to school. Who on earth did? Plus, the work was so easy, so simple. The school had been trying to skip me forwards in grades for years but my dad wouldn't let them. He said I needed to be "normal" and do what other kids did. I hated normal. Normal was boring.

Looking up at my big friend, I frowned. I knew he was my friend. I knew I felt... well. Something, in terms of familiarity and comfort with him. Plus, he knew me. But why wouldn't I remember anything specific? It was driving me insane, trying to focus on the memories and bring my past back to my conscious mind. I grit my teeth briefly as the pain spiked in my forehead again, and I stopped trying, instead going back to the first topic at hand. I pulled at the edge of his trenchcoat again. "This really doesn't do much to hide yourself."

He growled, literally. Not a human imitation of a growl, but a feral growl that only a wolf could produce. Of course, that was easy, for him. He was a wolf, afterall. Standing on two legs, with a torso as thick as many bodybuilder's, broad shoulders and thickly muscled arms that ended with human-esque hands, but covered in fur, the tips of his fingers ending in curved claws. His torso tapered down to a narrow waist, but his thighs and legs were thick, muscled heavily. His trenchcoat was pulled tightly around him, but couldn't hide the way his legs curved, and the hood, even pulled all the way forward, couldn't really hide the wolf's muzzle that peeked out, and nothing at all was hiding the tail that peeked out the back of the bottom of his coat. Maybe in the dead of night, he could pass for a drunken man walking down the street, but like this? In the bright light of day? Never.

I tapped my lip, and a thought occurred to me. "I have an idea. I have to... break some rules to do it though..."

He looked at me sharply. "What?"

I smiled up at him. "Well. I could program two phones two broadcast an image around you, if they were set right on your belt, that way people just looking at you would see whatever I wanted them to. But, it wouldn't be perfect." I thought quickly for a moment more. "At least, not with what I have available here."

"What do you mean, 'what you have here'?" he growled.

I waved a hand around us. "There isn't a whole lot of tech just laying about here, is there? But with a couple of cell phones, I could make the basic version. Once I had some better equipment, I could build a better projection unit, one that could even fool human senses of touch."

"You... how?"

I shrugged slightly. "Technology is vast; humans aren't. It's pretty easy to trick the senses, really. I mean, it still won't be foolproof, but it'll have it's uses, I'm sure." I bit my lip, looking up at him. "So, do you want me to try or not?"

He paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

I smiled. "Awesome! I love being able to play with stuff. Hey, do you have a screwdriver? No. Of course you don't. Wait here. I'll be right back."

He blinked, but settled back against the wall, watching me turn and jog back home.

I slipped back in the door, quietly. Dad, nor our housemate, even noticed. Again. Stupid adults. They were sitting on the couch, watching some stupid show, eating their bacon. Stupid bacon.

I slipped into the kitchen, moving stealthily to the table. There were several piles here of broken, discarded electronic devices here. Toasters were piled up on top of microwaves sitting on the floor, with smaller components spilling across the table. Everything from broken tablets, cell phones, harddrives, optical drives, graphics cards, motherboards... I glanced across the pile, sorting through the phones quickly. I pulled out two simpler, older cell phone models, checked the battery power. Dead, of course. I looked around some more, and finally found a couple with a little charge left, swapped them out with the dead ones quickly, then found a charger in one of the kitchen drawers. I pulled out a couple screwdrivers and a little knife from a tool drawer, then ducked back outside, and headed back to my friend, Warren the wolf. He was exactly where I had left him, looking impatient as I jogged up, clutching my little bundle of goodies in both hands.

"Okay!" I declared. "Just have to do some quick work here... come on, let's see if they have an outlet along the back of their house."

"If they're home and see me," Warren the wolf began, but I waved his complaint off.

"This is the Cullens' house. They work, and don't have kids. They probably left about two hours ago." I lead the way to their back yard. They had a little concrete patio, with a charcoal grill sitting out and a few basic pieces of lawn furniture. Nothing fancy. But next to the sliding doors, there was an outlet. I sat down, crossing my legs and tucking my skirt around my legs, glancing up to make sure Warren the wolf wasn't trying to catch any peeks—he glanced away rather quickly as I looked up at him, which made me think that perhaps he was—and then plugged the charger in, and the first phone. I powered it up, popping the case open, and used the knife to pry the screen off, getting to the deeper components.

A few tweaks and turns of the screwdriver later, I placed the screen back on, swiping it with my thumb. It unlocked, and I pulled up the browser, finding a generic picture. I quickly set the camera into reverse; much the same as I had done with my glasses. Instead of capturing an image, it would now project it, when I wanted it to. I turned it off, unplugged it, plugged in the second, and did the same thing, finding the same generic image. Then, turning both on, I synced the two, turning one into the broadcast and the other into a receiver, then held them up.

"Okay. Put them in your pockets, one in each. Screens facing in."

He took them in his furry hands, and did so. Nothing happened. He growled. "What's supposed to happen?"

"Nothing, until I turn them on, silly," I said. I pushed his trenchcoat back, and then tapped the power button on top of each at the same time. There was a shimmer of light around him, and then...

Standing before me was a pretty regular, generic man in a trenchcoat. Tall, still. But normal. Brown hair, blue eyes. Clean shaven, angular face. He looked at his hands, and his lips curled into a smile.

"It works!"

I frowned. "I'll have to do something with a voice module later, too. You still sound like a wolf."

He chuckled. "I can be quiet until such a time."

I nodded. "You might have to. Okay... listen. I have some money, stashed away."

"You. Have money." He stated dully.

"Yes! Now hush, and listen. You don't have but maybe a couple hours, on that battery life. And I'm not sure how these phones will hold up with prolonged use, anyway. They're pretty jury-rigged... overloading their lenses and processors. I need to get you better equipment. So! Come with me to the bank, and make a withdrawal for me. I can buy some better stuff, and make you a proper projection unit, that you could use whenever you wanted."

"Why would I need to make the withdrawal?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Cause I'm a minor, duh. And I'll probably need around five-to-six thousand, roughly, for the proper equipment. So, c'mon. No time to waste!"

He frowned at me, but allowed me to grab his hand, and drag him back around the front of the house and down the street. I didn't live all that far from the bank; in truth, it was about a ten minute walk, when just taking one's time, strolling along, pausing at intersections. I did little of that, concerned about how long the batteries were going to last in Warren the wolf's current projector, and, to be perfectly honest, I was a little curious as to just how much money I actually had in my bank account. There was also the state of the sky, which I had now noticed was heavily overcast, and threatening rain. Before I really realized it, we were walking inside, looking for all the world to anyone that noticed like a father with his daughter, just going to the bank like any one of a million normal pairs of people. And, it seemed like they had made it inside just in the nick of time as well, for the sky cracked open and the rain began pouring down.

Little did these people know they were soooooo wrong. Warren the wolf lead the way to the stand in the middle, with all the withdrawal slips and the like. "Do you know your information?" he growled at me.

I nodded, and grabbed one of their pens, and jotted down the account number from memory. I had several accounts, but only the one number actually memorized. It was my primary, actual account. I had a few others, set up with untraceable protections, that I received payments into, then funneled funds down through a list of transactions into my own, and only in small amounts. One or two hundred here, fifty there, and so on. Still, the account had to have quite the balance.

"Withdraw... six thousand," I said, writing in the numbers. For a kid, I mused, I had pretty decent hand writing. "Cash. Big bills are fine, easier to carry, hide. I'm not worried about cash tracing anyway. And get the remaining balance, please." I handed him the slip, and we stepped into line. They were fairly busy, but the line moved pretty quickly.

A young woman got in line behind us. I turned and gave her a smile. She was brunette, pretty, delicate features, a smattering of freckles accenting her prettiness, completely unremarkable, except for the fact that I couldn't help but feel like... she was entirely remarkable. I should know her face. She noticed me looking at her, and gave me a nervous smile, shuffling in place. I turned away as Warren the wolf tugged my hand, leading me to the counter. Guess it was our turn. He let my hand go as he conducted the transaction, leaving me to lean against the counter and survey the crowd. Many were just coming and going, using automatic tellers to conduct their daily business. Others were waiting for accountants, loan officers, a ceaseless flow of personnel moving about the floor. A few minutes passed, then Warren the wolf reached down, taking my hand, and we went to leave...

Right as a huge monster, followed closely by a second, barged into the lobby, skidding across the tiles. One dug it's claws in, sliding to a stop, tearing a deep furrow into the floor. I was oddly focused on that, rather than the fact that these huge monsters had appeared. Calm, collected. The lobby exploded in panic, screams, terrified wails... that went silent just as everything went totally and completely black a split second later.

I froze in place, unable to see even an inch in front of my own face, which I verified by waving my hand in front of my face, successfully nearly knocking my glasses off doing so. Apparently, being blind also messed with your depth perception. I strained to look around, dropping to my knees, feeling Warren the wolf crouch next to me, having moved slightly in front of me, as if trying to shield me with himself though I assumed he had to be as blind as I was.

The darkness deafened sound, as well. I looked around, and couldn't hear a single scream, sniffle, or snob. "Interesting," I remarked, and barely even heard myself through the echo of my own voice vibrating straight into my ears. "Very interesting..."

A moment later, the blackness parted, and a group of figures moved into the center of the lobby. There were five of them, all dressed in costumes.

Villains.

I pursed my lips thoughtfully, and watched as they made their way to the center. One of the thinner, more feminine in appearance, turned to address the lobby as a whole, showing off a spider. I blinked. There was a spider on me? Ewww... serious amounts of ew. I tapped Warren, and pointed at the phones on his hips. He glanced down, then shrugged as he looked at me. I rolled my eyes. I would have to wait till I had a more direct way of asking for them.

The girl that had been in line behind us, I noticed, was next to us, laying on the ground. She glared murder at the group of villains. It was weird, noticing the strange amount of passion on her face at this moment. The girl that had spoke to us seemed to notice it as well, her yellow-lensed mask sweeping across me, then away, dismissing me out of hand. I grinned. Excellent.

They made their way into the vault, ignoring us for the moment.

"Warren," I whispered. He turned to look at me. "Give me the phones."

"But the projection..."

"Did you see those monsters there?" I pointed with my chin at the main entry way, guarded by two of the behemoth beasts that had charged into the room just before the blackness. "No one is going to notice you right now. They're all terrified. Pull up your hood, and hunker down behind the counter here. Just give me the phones."

He nodded, and did as I said, the air shimmering around him as he pulled the phones out of his pocket, his real appearance coming back into focus. "Hey," I hissed to the girl, next to us. She was the only one within my range. "Wiggle a little closer."

She glanced at me. "Why?"

I rolled my eyes again. Why couldn't people just do what I asked sometimes? "Do you really enjoy the idea of a black widow spider hanging out on you, ready to bite? I don't. C'mere."

She did as I asked, glancing at the phones in my hand distrustfully. I pulled my screwdriver and knife out of my pocket, popped the cases open, and a couple twists later...

"Okay. If she has complete control over them, she's probably going to realize when I kill these three spiders, so let's wait for the right moment..."

"Wards are outside."

I glanced at the girl. "What?"

"The Wards. They're outside, waiting."

"How do you know that? We can't see outside." I motioned to the lingering blackness that covered the windows. "Why wouldn't they come in?"

"Because they can't see in, but these villains have to go out, right? So. They're waiting... for the right moment. Wait until they're distracted."

I nodded, and tucked the phones into the pocket of my skirt, and waited. It didn't take long, and one of the girl villians gathered the others. They went to the windows, and conversed amongst themselves for a bit... I looked around the lobby, seeing the people hunkered down, scared, afraid of what was happening, of the spiders, of everything. I wished I had more at hand to work with, but without a way to amplify the electric current, without making it lethal to us, I was a little limited.

"We need some volunteers," one of the villains said, and walked through the group of hostages. "People to send out, to the Wards waiting."

"Are you going to kill us?"

"Honestly? I hope not. Can't promise nothing will happen," the girl said with a shrug. She had a cute costume. An interesting angular mask... I met her eyes briefly, and she glanced away with a slight shake of her head. I liked her.

A few hands went up, but apparently not enough. She selected a few others, took them to the doorway. The villians talked a little more, then sent them out front, running out of the darkness.

I couldn't see the rest from my vantage point, but judging by the slight pause, then suddenly flurry of action, the beasts charging out, the sudden fight that engulfed their attention, I stuck my hand in my pocket, pulled out the phones, looked to the girl. "Touch me, put your hand on my arm." She and Warren both did so. Her eyes widened as she noticed Warren the wolf's furry hand, but she didn't say anything. Yet.

I thumbed the switch, and felt the electric surge, draining the rest of the batteries, flow through me, completing the circuit, flowing through me into the other two, then dissipating through the floor. It wasn't nearly enough to harm us in any way, but to the frail body of a little spider... I smiled as I saw the small black shape shrivel and fall from Warren's shoulder and out of the girl's hair.

"Dead," I confirmed, and gave myself a shake to get the one on me off, if it was still on me. Then Warren the wolf rose, looking back to me. I shrugged, glancing around. The villians were engaged all-out with the Wards, trading blows, focused entirely on one another, completely ignoring us... except for the bug girl. She turned and looked directly at us, then shouted to one of the others, who turned, glancing in our direction. He raised his hand, and blackness billowed over us.

Warren grabbed my hand, dragging me backwards, out of the cloud. I tripped over a prone hostage, and landed on my hands and knees on their other side, glancing back over my shoulder as I saw a blast from one of them, no clue who, shatter one of the windows, drawing the villains' attention back to the front. I glanced up at my friend, and his muzzle, sticking out of his hood, was twisted in a snarl as he looked around, obviously trying to decide what was the largest threat...

I laid my hand on his arm, drawing his attention. "The PRT want me... if the Wards get their hands on me..." I left the rest unsaid. He merely nodded, and looked around, re-evaluating the scene.

I shut him out for a moment, and assessed the situation for myself. The Wards were battling in the street, having a tough time of managing those behemoth monsters, apparently. One of them, Gallant, hit one of the girls, and she screamed, twisting with such a look of pure rage on her face I could only wonder what in the world he had done, and the monsters reacted to her instructions, flying towards him, only to twist aside and dive at someone else at the last second.

Everything was progressing so rapidly, so quickly. I watched one of the villain girls turn and run back, dismissed her for the moment. I thought she might have been the one I decided I liked, but wasn't too sure at that moment. The bug girl was standing still, watching, but I could see dark blurs moving and twisting outside. She was probably controlling a swarm of insects, trying to do so from a safe place. Lasers bounced around outside, hitting some, missing more often than not, however. I watched as the brown-haired girl snuck up behind the bug girl, and bashed her with a fire extinguisher, and began making my way there—only to find myself rolling across the ground as a white blur slammed into the lobby only a few feet away, casting a rolling shockwave that knocked me off my feet, and sent several others flying in different directions. I twisted around, coming up on my knees, looking as the newcomer straightened from a shattered piece of marble flooring.

Glory Girl.

I knew about her, at least, somewhat. Everyone knew who she was, and knew she was notoriously unaffiliated with the PRT, Wards, or any known villain groups. But what on earth was she doing here? I felt, again, like I should have known the answer, but as soon as I focused on it, trying to drag the knowledge forward, that spike drove straight through my forehead again, and I collapsed backwards, shaking my head to clear it.

Glory Girl glanced at me, dismissed me out of hand, and shot forwards, towards the brunette and bug girl. I noticed the bug girl had the prior in a type of headlock, with a knife to her throat. Glory Girl paused a few feet away, trading banter back and forth. I turned my head, and saw the other girl moving in their direction. I hurried to my feet, and moved to intercept her.

"Hey," I said, grabbing her hand. She twisted, glancing at me, and again her face wrinkled in a weird way as she looked at me.

"You're... what?" she asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Huh? Hey. Listen. I can help. You. I can help you guys."

She blinked. "I can't read you. Well, I can, and I can't, and I don't like things I can't. Why should I trust you?"

I sighed. "Because I have a very, very good reason for not wanting to be here if you leave and the PRT and the Wards start asking for statements from people. I'd much rather be with you. Besides," I said with a little smile, and turned, pointing at Warren the wolf, who was slowly approaching Glory Girl from behind. He had taken off the trenchcoat, and looked very intimidating as a wolf. In his hand, he was carrying what appeared to be some type of mace, or hammer, quite large, and so black that it seemed to absorb light entirely, making your eyes hurt when you looked directly at it. "I bring him with me."

She glanced at Warren, then back at me. "You have my attention."

I bit my lip, glancing around quickly. "We need to deal with this situation, and fast, and get out of here. Promise I can come with you. I'll tell you whatever you want to know if you do. But I can help."

"You're just a kid, how can you help?"

"I am not just a kid!" I protested. I pulled one of the phones out of my pocket, and thumbed the switch. Nothing. Oh.. right. I had used up the last of the battery. "Fuck. Do you have a phone you don't want anymore?"

She frowned, but reached into her pocket. I popped open the case, pulled out the battery, and handed the phone back, slid the battery into my phone, tossing the dead one aside. It was useless now anyway. All I could hope for was that I hadn't stressed the circuits in this too far, yet. A few tweaks and turns of my screwdriver later, I handed her the phone. "When you have a chance, get Glory Girl to hold that."

"What am I supposed to do, walk up to her, and tell she has a call?" the girl asked dryly.

I looked up at her, and giggled a little. "If you have to. And hey... you're pretty."

She blinked in surprise as I turned and ran to Warren, who was nearly to Glory Girl. He raised his hammer, and brought it down on her shoulder with a surprising amount of force. She collapsed to her knees, crying out in shock and surprise. The brunette cried out wordlessly, and the villain girl I had talked to ran into the room. Glory Girl turned, catching Warren by the ankle, flipping him into the air. Just before he smashed into the ground, blackness, like his weapon was formed from, wrapped around his torso completely, protecting him even as the marble underfoot cracked from his impact. He twisted as he landed, swinging the hammer into her back, knocking her forward, skidding across the floor a few feet.

The girl I had given the phone to cried out "Hey, catch!" and tossed the phone through the air to Glory Girl, who got to her knees, and confused, caught the phone, looking for all the world like she had no idea why she had done that.

At that moment, I pushed reality. There was no other way for me to accurately describe what I did. I visualized what was about to happen, then pushed it into the reality around me, forcing it to become that reality. The space around Glory Girl widened, warping until it seemed like two football fields seperated us and her. She glanced around herself in surprise, the brunette cried out again, trying to get to her, and I hit the little switch I had kept from the phone in my pocket. The phone detonated, with a surprising amount of force, the internal energy driving in a loop through the phone, creating a feedback loop that when I interrupted it, exploded violently. As soon as the explosion had ended, I pulled reality back to itself, and Glory Girl snapped back into place just before us, laying back, stunned, her uniform blackened and burned away from half her body.

Which, I noted idly, was a pretty sexy body.

Warren picked her up, and heaved her into the wall, where she slumped, unconscious, and I smiled, dusting my hands off. "There's that," I said.

"Tattle, what the fuck..." the bug girl asked.

The girl I liked, the pretty one, shrugged, staring at me in a whole new light. "She's coming with us. And her friend?" the last was a question, but Warren nodded.

We followed them out, Tattle, as I guessed her cape name was, grabbed my hand and pulled me up behind her onto one of the huge beasts, darkness blanketing the road, and it began to run. Unable to see, I had to trust they knew where they were going, or had some way to navigate in the total black. I wrapped my arms around her waist, holding on for dear life as the beast heaved and lurched, leaping through the air with huge bounds that continually tried to unseat me. I hoped Warren was faring better on his own. The bug girl was sitting just in front of Tattle, and with periodic lurches, I could feel her armored costume pressing back against my hands, which were clasping one another on Tattle's belly. She put one hand over mine, almost reassuringly, and I smiled into her back.

When we finally stopped, Tattle held my hand as I slipped off the beast's back, and I could very dimly hear the swishing and such of clothing. A few minutes passed as I stood there tensely, occassionaly reaching out to touch Tattle, reassuring myself that she was still there. She soothed me, patting my shoulder, then after around twenty minutes, the darkness finally parted and lifted. I found myself standing between two girls, each holding a normal-looking shopping bag and sporting umbrellas. So, that was why we weren't getting rained on now, I mused. One of the girls was holding a leash with a little dog on the end, which was sitting and panting, looking around itself curiously as the world came back into view.

The one girl was dark haired, curly, a bit awkward looking, to be honest. She had large glasses, and held herself awkwardly, like she expected to fall over at any moment. She looked at me, and then looked away, pointedly trying to ignore my presence. The other, the blond girl, Tattle, was even cuter, I decided immediately, out of costume. She had a few freckles across her nose and cheeks, and a ready smile that I immediately liked. I stepped closer to her, and bit my lip.

"So um... where do we go now?" I asked softly.

Tattle looked down at me, and smiled. "Now, we figure out who you are."

I shrugged. "I'm an open book. I won't hide anything from you." I noticed the short glance the dark haired girl shot my way, before going back to ignore me. Tattle noticed it as well, giving her a curious look, before starting our walk down the street. I followed along, doing my best to stay under her umbrella, which meant I was pretty much pressed against her side as we did so. She laid an easy arm around my shoulders. I wasn't that much shorter than her, coming up to her shoulder, so I suspected to most passerby, we appeared to be sisters, just walking along as we went home. Tattle passed the dog on a leash to the other girl, and we walked in silence for a long moment, before stopping at a little cafe.

"Hungry?" Tattle asked us both. I nodded, but the dark haired girl shrugged, uncomfortable still with my presence, I assumed. Tattle took note, and spoke quietly to her. She went off on her own, and Tattle took me inside. We ordered before I remembered I didn't have any of my money; Warren the wolf had it.

"I um... I don't have any cash," I said lamely. "I can cancel my order, you don't have to pay for me."

Tattle giggled. "Don't worry about it, I'll cover it."

"You really don't have to," I insisted. "I have money, just not... with me. My um. Friend, he has it. Warren. The wolf," I finished in a whisper.

She nodded. "Seriously, it's okay. I don't mind. This place isn't super expensive. Just enjoy it. You look like you need something to eat."

I smiled. "Thanks."

She gave me a little wink. "Don't mention it."

"Kinda makes this a date, huh," I mused aloud. She paused, and gave me a curious look.

"Aren't you a little young to date?"

"No. I'm not a kid."

"You look like a kid."

"Looks aren't everything, don't ya know. Hey, I've been through a lot. I know a lot. I've done stuff. I'm mature."

"I find it hard to argue those points," Tattle pointed out with a smile.

I nodded. "So. Um. Can I ask your name?"

Tattle shrugged. "That depends. What's your aim here?"

"I want to join you guys. That was fun, back there. I want..." I shrugged. "I don't know, really, what I want. I've got the attention of the PRT, but I don't want to join them and work under their rules, have everything I make taken away and distributed to idiots who can't come up with their own shit."

"Language," she admonished lightly.

"Sorry..." I looked at the table for a moment. "I'm a tinker. I think you know that, though."

"I gathered as much. And you seem to also have some spatial control, similar to Vista's."

I nodded. "Yeah. But mine's better."

She arched an eyebrow. "Better?"

"Yep. She can't control stuff with people, or living things, in it. I can. I can manipulate any space I want. And build shi... stuff."

She nodded. The waitress brought us our orders, a couple burgers with some fries. I picked up a fry and popped it into my mouth. "What makes you think we'd take you?"

I shrugged. "Iunno. Blind hope? I guess. I don't have a lot of experience. No one will give me a chance. But I like you. I think you're pretty."

She flushed slightly at that. "You said that once already."

I shrugged. "Never hurts to repeat the truth, does it?"

"Never thought of it that way."

I ate another couple fries, took a sip of my iced tea. "I can't promise anything," she said at last. "But I'll talk to the others, let them know how you helped us out. Let them know you're interested. Would your friend join with you?"

"I can't really speak for him, but I think so." I paused. "Where is he, anyway?"

"He'll meet us when we get back to the hangout. He was with Regent, I think."

I nodded. "Okay. So... who are all the members? You, Tattle...?"

She smiled, that coy, semi-flirty smile that I really liked. "Tattletale. That's me. Grue is the darkness guy, Regent, Bitch—the one with the dogs—and... well. Bug girl. She hasn't picked a name yet."

"Dogs. Those monsters were dogs."

"Yep. The one she walked home? That's what we rode out."

"Holy shit," I mused.

"Language," she admonished again.

I grinned at her. "You're cute," I said again.

She blushed, a little, and took a bite of her burger. I did the same, lapsing into silence for a few minutes.

"My name is Kelsey, by the way. I don't have a cape name."

She looked up at me for a moment, chewing her last bite, then smiled. "Lisa."

We finished the burgers, Lisa paid, and we went back out. The rain had stopped, for the most part, slowed down to a few spits and spurts here and there, but I remained pressed against her side. She seemed even more relaxed now, and put her arm around me comfortably. We walked down the boardwalk, then turned off into the docks, for a few blocks, and eventually found a group of people standing in the entry way of a large abandoned warehouse. Grue, the darkness guy, was standing between the dark-haired bug girl and Warren the wolf, looking a little wary, but at ease. The girl with the dogs was leaning against a wall, not paying any attention.

"Tattle," Grue said, as we approached. "We need to talk."

She nodded. "Yup. Inside, group huddle!" She turned to me. "Hang out here, for a sec, kay?"

I nodded, and she let go of me, slipping into the interior with the rest of the group.

I walked over to Warren. "Hey."

He looked down at me, and the corners of his muzzle turned up in a bit of a grin. "Hey."

"Did you... um. Save my money?"

He nodded, and pulled a packet out of his coat, handing it over. I popped the top open, glancing inside, and saw the six bundles of bills. I smiled, and handed it back. "Hang on to it for me till we're done here, I don't have any pockets. Please." He nodded, and tucked it back away. "Sorry I blew up your temporary projector."

He shrugged.

"I'll make a good one, promise."

He shrugged again.

"I have a question." He looked at me, curiously. "Before, you said I looked younger than you remembered. I feel older than I look. Why am I younger?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "I can't say," he growled.

"You mean you don't know, or you can't physically say it?"

He shrugged, noncommittal. I sighed, and sat against the wall, crossing my legs and tucking my skirt around my thighs. I caught him trying to peek again, and smiled slightly. He sat across from me, and we waited.

Ten or so minutes passed before Grue and Tattle returned. The other three had disappeared somewhere inside. "Here's the deal," Grue said. "We'll give you two a trial run, for helping us out. You stay here, where we can keep an eye on you, and agree to any restrictions Tattletale needs to make sure you're not going to betray us. Take it or leave it."

"Taken," I said immediately, bouncing to my feet. "Thanks for the opportunity."

Tattletale, Lisa, smiled at me. I smiled back.

Warren the wolf rose to his feet as well, stared at me for a long moment, then nodded. "Taken," he growled. I smiled even wider.

"Well then," Grue said, and reached up, pulling his mask off. "I'm Brian. Welcome to the Undersiders."

I shook his hand, Warren did as well, then Tattle lead us up the stairs to the loft. It was quite comfortable looking, in all honesty. "Guys, welcome our two new members. They've agreed to the terms," Tattle said to the others, all in various positions of lounging on the couches.

Regent turned and looked us over. "Yo," he said, then turned back around, a game controller in his hands already. The bug girl nodded at us, but refused to look at me still. And the third, Bitch, just frowned, then turned and walked off, her dogs following after her. A door shut somewhere in the back of the hallway.

"And that's the rest of the group!" Tattle said with exaggerated cheerfulness, turning to us. I smiled at her nevertheless. "I'll show you guys to what we can use as your rooms, while you stay here. We're kind of out of space, so, you'll have to make do. Um. Warren, is it?" she asked.

Warren the wolf nodded. "Warren is fine. For now."

"We'll have to get you a cape name, too," she said. "Just seems to make it a little easier." Her eyes flickered to the bug girl, who glanced away. "Sorry, but we don't really have a room for you, but Grue has said we can put up some new partitions on the other side of this wall, and build you a space. Tonight, you'll have to settle for a couch. Tomorrow we can get the furniture and materials for you."

He nodded. "It's fine. Couches are good."

Regent snorted behind him, but everyone else seemed to ignore him, so I did too. Tattle turned to me. "No extra rooms, like I said, but Grue said since I vouched for you, I get to split the space. So, you'll be bunking with me. Hope that's alright."

I nodded. "Super alright."

She smiled. "Excellent. So. I'm gonna take a nap, I've been up for way too long. You guys make yourselves at home."

Instead, I followed Tattle back to the hallway, and into her... our... room. She turned in a circle when we entered. It was pretty cozy looking, with a big bed in one corner, the sheets and blankets all mussed up, clothes hanging on a rack on one side, a few tubs stacked up acting as a dresser. A radio, a small TV, and a mirror on one wall. No purple, however. I would need to add some purple.

"So, this is it," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, and bit her knuckles as she yawned.

"Looks comfy," I noted. "Sharing the bed, or..."

She nodded. "That's fine with me."

I smiled, and sat next to her. "Thanks for vouching for me."

She shrugged it off. "No worries. I have a good feeling about you, even if I can't seem to pull any information up about your past."

"Neither can I," I said softly. "Every time I try to think about anything before today, my head hurts, but I know... general things. I just can't remember specifics. Like, I feel like I should know more about you, but when I try, it hurts."

She frowned at me. "That's curious."

I nodded. "Tell me about it."

She reached over, lifting my chin with her fingers, turning my face to look at her, then pulled my glasses off. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw my eyes—my real eyes—for the first time. I blushed slightly.

"I made a projector in the frames to broadcast a normal image through the lenses, so you don't see the glow, or the green."

"Shame you have to hide them," Tattle said softly.

"Why?"

"They're beautiful," she said. "And, you're really cute yourself, by the way."

I blushed, biting my lip... until her thumb came up, gently pulling my lip free from my teeth, and traced my bottom lip. "I'm going to kiss you," she whispered. And then she did, lowering her mouth to mine, kissing me softly, gently. I shivered slightly, goosebumps racing down my back and arms as her lips covered mine, softly pressing against them intimately, then her lips opened, coaxing mine apart, and her tongue, small, searing hot and wet, darted between my lips, touching mine lightly, pulled back, then did so again. I gave a soft little "Ooohh" moan as it ghosted between my lips again, slower, pressing against mine longer. I curled my tongue around hers, and before I realized it we were laying on the bed, facing one another, mouths sealed together, tongues twisting and dueling, rubbing together. I cupped her face in both hands, one of her arms wrapped around my shoulders, bringing me close to her body, so I could feel her breasts pressed into my chest, the other tangled in my hair, loosening my ponytail, holding my head in place while she kissed me thoroughly. One of her thighs came up, rubbing gently against my own, and my legs parted, my top leg lifting over hers. Her jeans were rough, but still felt good as they rubbing over my inner thighs, her leg lifting up until the top of her thigh was pressed against the junction of my thighs under my skirt.

I moaned slightly at the contact, and she pulled back, laying a finger over my lips. "Shh," she whispered. "Can't be too loud."

"Sorry," I whispered back, and she kissed me again.

"It's okay. I like the sounds you make. Just keep them low, kay?"

I nodded, licking my lips. She watched my tongue, then kissed me again, coaxing my tongue into her mouth, sucking on it gently, rubbing her thigh slightly back and forth against my sex. I ran one hand down her side, feeling the swell of her breast, the bump of her bra wrapped around her torso, the dip of her waist and swell of her hip, then back up, ghosting my fingers under her shirt, pulling it up to the bottom of her bra, tickling her side lightly, running my fingers back and forth over the exposed section of her midriff. She pressed tighter against me, then rolled us so she was kneeling above me, pressing me down into her bed, still kissing me. She reached down, lifting my shirt up, then broke the kiss long enough to pull it off over my head. I wasn't even wearing a training bra, didn't really need one, and her hands covered the soft swellings in my chest where my breasts were just beginning to grow, my little pink nipples erect, tweaking the sensitive nubs with her fingers. I gasped at that, and she smiled, kissing my nose, my cheeks, turning my head to the side, licking my ear, teasing along the rim, then dipping her tongue into the center, making my toes curl in my shoes in a spike of pleasure. She sucked on my earlobe, then licked my neck, teasing her tongue along my hairline, rising more goosebumps down my arms and back. She giggled and pinched my little nipples again, turning my face back to face her, kissing me again, thrusting her tongue into my mouth. I kissed her back hungrily, spreading my legs as she laid between them, pressing her lower body to my own, running one hand down my belly, finding the zipper that held my skirt together, undoing it, laying it open, leaving me clad only in my little panties.

She licked down my neck again, then kissed my collarbone and the hollow of my throat, her tongue making teasing, small licks as she moved across to my other side, then back to the center, then straight down my breast bone, moving her mouth to one side to press her lips to a nipple, kissing it before sticking her tongue out and licking it, then sucking it into her mouth. I arched my back, pressing up into her, biting my lip to keep quiet, a soft whimper escaping despite my best efforts, and her hand on my hip came up, tracing the waistband of my panties, then eased under, sliding down my clean, bare skin to cup my little sex, her middle finger running up and down my slit ever-so-slightly...

"You're wet," she murmured, switching nipples, and I pushed my hips up into her hand more. She gently parted my lower lips with her finger, and rubbed the tip around my little hole, spreading my wetness around, making my whole pussy slick and wet, rubbing it up and down, teasing my tiny clit with small tickling brushes of her fingertip. I whimpered again, and she licked down my belly, kissing my navel, licking it teasingly, then down...

She pushed my legs up in the air together, and pulled my panties up them, tossing them aside, leaving me totally bare before her, and lowered herself down as she set my thighs on her shoulders, my feet on her back, and kissed my pussy, taking her first taste of my sweet juices, running her tongue up and down my folds, pressing them open, sliding her tongue deep into my whole and up around my clit...

I writhed on the bed, whimpering, biting my lip to keep from crying out as she expertly manipulated me, driving me rapidly to orgasm. And when I came, I did so hard, my body jerking and thrusting up against her mouth as she slid a finger into my tight pussy, not penetrating very deeply, making me push harder, trying to get her inside of me deeper. She sucked on my clit, and I grabbed her pillow, putting it over my face as I lost control and cried out, my body jerking as I came and came...

When I finally came down, and took the pillow away, Tattle was laying next to me, idly stroking my belly and chest, smiling at me. She was propped up on her elbow, and leaned over, kissing me lightly.

"You're so cute when you cum," she whispered, and kissed me again. I cuddled against her, and she drew a sheet over me, covering my nakedness just in case, pulling me close while she laid down. "But now, it really is naptime."

I smiled, happy, and wiggled even closer to her. I was good with that. And content with where I was.