Kombat Champion

by

Morpheus

 

Part Three

 

I stood in the middle of the mall, wearing the same violet costume I always wore when fighting. It was amazing I had been able to get into the mall at all with the police all over the place, but there were far too many mall entrances for them to watch them all or to keep everyone out, not that anyone would actually want to get in at the moment, other than me.

"I hope Tina won't be too mad at me," I muttered, remembering the look of confusion on her face when I had ordered her to remain outside in her car where it was safe. I didn't think she'd appreciate my concern for her safety... not when I had gone charging in.

Then I saw the lunatic who had been causing such a scene in the mall and froze, unable to take my eyes off of him. He was just the way I remembered him from the game... But this time, there was no doubt that he was solid flesh and blood... just like Pi and myself.

The man stood nearly seven feet tall and he was bursting with muscles... muscles that screamed of strength and power. His face was grim and brutal looking, almost like it could belong to some sort of barbarian warrior. A pair of dark eyes glared at everyone and everything around him, contrasting with his dark red hair.

His clothes, which had also come directly from the game, were fairly minimal and consisted of a pair of black pants, and a pair of heavy black boots. These were accessorized with a thick red metal belt around his waist and a pair of red metal wristbands. Other than that, he had a tattoo of a black skull which covered most of his chest, and a huge scimitar which was strapped to his back.

"Ghengis," I whispered his name.

I knew Ghengis...or at least his reputation in the game. I had even fought him once. In fact, it was Ghengis who had killed off my first character in the Kombat Champions game, during a black tournament I had foolishly entered. Black tournaments were the only place in the game where your character could be killed by losing a fight, and those were the only kind that he ever entered. He only played when the stakes where high... and he NEVER lost.

Ghengis had been playing the game just about longer than anyone else, and he had really built up his character. As a result, he had a reputation of being a very powerful character...nearly unbeatable in a fight. In fact, I don't know of anyone who can claim to have ever beaten him at all. And he also had a reputation for viciousness, largely due to the fact that he only fought in black tournaments and therefore killed off all of his opponents' characters.

"You idiots really think that you can stop me," Ghengis laughed, grabbing some cop who had gotten close enough to try using a taser on him and tossing the man through the window of a Victoria's Secret. Ghengis laughed even louder at that. "No one can beat me..."

My heart raced as I stared at Ghengis thought about his reputation from the game. He had a well-earned reputation for being unbeatable, and that was not good for me. When I'd faced all of my other opponents, I had never really doubted that I was better than they were. I had even known from the start that I could beat Pi. But Ghengis... Ghengis was a different story entirely.

For a moment, I just stood there, a part of me screaming to turn and leave as fast as I could. After all, this wasn't really a video game... If Ghengis killed me here, I would really be dead. And I knew that I couldn't beat him... Not if he was as good as he was in the game. It just couldn't be done.

But on the other hand, Ghengis was causing all sorts of destruction as he went on his rampage through the mall. He didn't seem to be actively trying to hurt anyone, but he didn't really seem to care if he hurt them either. It was like it was all a game to him. And I knew that I was the only one who had even a chance of dealing with him...and perhaps just of keeping him distracted long enough for everyone else to get out of the way and for the cops to bring in the heavy firepower.

And then, there was one more fact which tipped the balance of my decision. Ghengis...or whomever had been playing him had been transformed into their character the very same way that Pi and I had been. He was my link to what was going on...and he might be able to provide me with a few clues. But from the way that he was going on, I seriously doubted I'd get any cooperation from him until he'd been beaten.

"Just like Pi," I muttered to myself.

It was at this point that Ghengis finally noticed me standing there. He smirked, "So they have to end in some scrawny girl, dressed up like a super hero to bring me down... I am SOOOO scared..." Then he burst out laughing.

"Hello Ghengis," I said grimly.

He stared at me in surprise, "How did you know my name?"

"Because," I told him with a grimace, "I play the same video game you do..."

And with that, I jumped straight at Ghengis, catching him by surprise and getting in a few really nice hits. However, he backhanded me and sent me flying. If it hadn't been for my agility and being able to shift my position as I did, he likely would have broken a few ribs.

Even as I got back to my feet, I realized that charging had been a bad move. Ghengis was sort of like a brute character, but he'd built in enough additional abilities to support his impressive strength. And since he was one of...if not THE oldest player character in the game, he'd also built up his abilities quite a bit. A few punches weren't going to stop someone like him...

"You stupid girl," Ghengis yelled, punching the ground and using one of his special techniques... He created a minor earthquake and sent a shockwave across the ground towards me. A cop who had gotten too close got knocked on his ass, but my agility let me avoid it.

"Who the hell are you people?" one cop demanded, pointing a gun at me.

I was a little surprised that he'd be pointing it at me, but I remained calm, "I'm one of the good guys," I told him. "I'm here to stop this guy..." Then I took a deep breath, "Now point that damn gun somewhere else because you have more important things to worry about..." I pointed out the people who were still coming out of the stores. "You need to evacuate them..."

The cop let out a stream of curses but turned and ran to help evacuate the people. "I feel like I'm in a damn comic book," he yelled out.

I looked up at the TV cameraman who was standing further down the aisle, "And get them out of here too..."

Then I turned my attention back to Ghengis, who strangely enough, seemed to be flexing his muscles and showing off for the witnesses more than anything else. He even posed for the camera, giving a tough glaring look...

"What is up with this guy?" I muttered to myself.

I didn't have time to worry about Ghengis' eccentricities at the moment as I wanted to take him down and then ask him a few questions. So I silently summoned my spear...the same way that I had my katars. I hadn't even been sure that I could until that moment, but now there was no doubt about it.

"Oh yeah," I grinned, spinning my spear around like a quarterstaff. In the game, once you learn either the quarterstaff or the spear, it makes it much cheaper and easier to add the other to your list of abilities.

"What the...?" Ghengis blinked as I charged straight at him with my spear extended.

Ghengis tried to dodge my attack, but he wasn't fast enough. I caught him right in the side with the spear's blade... Unfortunately, it didn't really do nearly as much damage as I'd hoped. Still, I had bloodied him a little and that was enough to make me feel a bit more confident. I lashed at him for another attack, but this time Ghengis was ready and hit me with another of his special chi techniques which was something like a small explosion that just knocked me back.

"At least it didn't hurt too much," I grimaced, wincing from the slight burns that had formed on one of my hands which had been just a little too close to the source of the burst.

But while I was getting back to my feet, Ghengis was pulling out his scimitar. He didn't appear to have the summon ability and had to actually carry it on his back... That would certainly make it much more difficult for him to sneak his weapons around in public, but at the moment that didn't seem to be one of his concerns. And from the way he was currently dressed, I doubted that it ever had been.

Ghengis stood there with his large and extremely dangerous looking scimitar, a nasty grin on his face. And as if just to make his weapon seem scarier, he used a channel technique and his blade stared to glow with a reddish light.

"So you want to play do you...?" Ghengis smirked, then suddenly lashed out with his sword.

He was a good distance away from me but to my surprise, though I should have expected it, a slash of red energy came from the sword blade and went straight at me. I jumped out of the way, barely managing to do it in time. Still, it had gone right through the opening of the clothing store behind me and had cut one of the mannequins right in half, leaving no doubt as to what it might do to me if it had actually hit.

But Ghengis wasn't going to just sit back and let me come at him. He continued on the offense, sending more of those glowing red sword slashed at me. I was leaping and dodging, using every bit of my speed and agility to avoid them, and even that wasn't enough. I got clipped on my leg, which left a painful burn mark and slash across my thigh. However, I couldn't let that slow me down or I'd be killed.

"Man," Ghengis laughed aloud, "Look at that... I bet I could even kick Superman's ass if he were real..."

I just grimaced and took the opportunity to try going on the offensive myself. I went straight at Ghengis, hitting him with a few more good strikes from my spear. With my speed, I was able to hit him and dodge back, then lunge forward again... And to make things even better, I was too close for him to use his flying slash attack... Unfortunately though, I wasn't too close for him to use his sword as it was intended...

"Gotcha," Ghengis laughed as he finally blocked one of my attacks and actually cut my spear in half. The head went flying and I was left with just a handle. I dropped it and noticed that it vanished almost as soon as it had hit the ground.

"No," I grimaced, "I've got you..."

And with that, I sent three throwing knives right at him. They all caught him straight in the chest, causing him to grunt slightly in pain. There were blood marks where they had hit, but the blades themselves quickly vanished, and from the way that Ghengis was still standing, I doubted that I'd done too much damage to him with that move.

"That fucking hurt," Ghengis snarled at me, giving his sword another swing. I let loose with a few more throwing blades, then jumped back and out of his way.

"Doesn't anything stop this guy," I grimaced, thinking about my spear.

I kind of liked using the spear as it gave me bit more range and some distance options that my katars didn't. However, I had some tricks that I could use with my katars and not the spear. I had a feeling that I would really need those for this fight. So I took a deep breath and pulled out my katars, letting out a sigh of relief when I did. In the game you couldn't change weapons like that in the middle of a fight...

"But this is no game," I reminded myself grimly.

I took a deep breath and braced myself, channeling my chi into the katars until they were glowing blue. Then I stood my ground as Ghengis charged straight at me. As soon as he was close enough, I used one of my katars to deflect his sword, then stepped in and hit him in the stomach as hard as I could with the second. This time I definitely did some damage, though not enough to stop him completely.

"That hurt," Ghengis roared out, getting angrier.

"We can stop this anytime," I told him, not sure that I believed it myself. "Put down your sword and we can talk..."

"No one tells me what to do," Ghengis yelled, suddenly even angrier. "Not anymore! No one's tougher than me now... Not my dad, and certainly not some scrawny girl!"

Then Ghengis yelled and came at me again, swinging his sword wildly. I was easily able to block and even give a few more quick slashes of my own. As I avoided his attack and jumped back to get a bit more breathing room, several things suddenly occurred to me.

"Holy shit," I whispered in realization.

Ghengis was acting pretty strange and had been since the fight started...  It just hadn't really dawned on me until then that he was someone else...and had merely been given the body and power of Ghengis. Inside of that body, he was whomever had been playing the game...not the unbeatable warrior. He had the power and even the skills...but not the mindset. And not the experience. With the way he had been going on, yelling, showing off and throwing a tantrum, he was more like a kid than a warrior...

"Maybe he is," I grimaced, realizing that there was no way of telling who Ghengis had been before he'd become his character. He could have been some snot-nosed teenager who was now able to act out all of his macho revenge fantasies for all I knew. In fact, that was the very feeling that I was getting from him.

The way that Ghengis was fighting suddenly reminded me of my first fight in the arena...when I had gone against the Tiger. During that fight, I'd had a lot more power and skill, but I didn't have the real world experience and hadn't been able to focus right... In this fight, Ghengis was the one with more power and skill....or at least potential power and skill. And though he had more experience in the game, it was becoming quite obvious that with all of my fighting in the arena, I was the one who had more real world experience and that's what counted.

"Good," I grinned to myself, feeling a lot more confident.

"I'm gonna show you," Ghengis was yelling, "I'm gonna show everyone! I'm the toughest one around..."

"Yeah," I smirked, "Hulk smash....right?" Then I decided to push him a little further, "You're not so tough... Hell, you're getting beaten by a girl..."

That did the trick all right and Ghengis suddenly launched at me with more of those red energy slashes from his sword. I dodged all of them, then called out a few more taunts. Then I stood there and braced myself, blocking several more. Finally, I used my reflection technique to send a couple of his slashes right back at him before he realized what was going on.

"What the hell?" Ghengis gasped as he grabbed his chest with his free hand, surprised that his red slashes had bounced right back at him.

"Is that all you have?" I taunted him.

It took a little effort to stand there and look smug. I was sore and injured, having taken a few more nicks and burns while I'd been fighting him. And of course, I was going to have a few really nasty bruises. But I couldn't let him see that. I couldn't let him see any weakness at the moment.

My plan worked because Ghengis yelled and stared attacking me again. He'd send out a red energy slash, followed up by one of those shattering shockwaves along the ground. Several more chi attacks followed, all the while I kept dodging, avoiding and even blocking them. And at the rate he was using his chi energy it didn't take long before he finally ran out.

"Oh yeah," I grinned, having been a bit more conservative with my chi levels.

Ghengis was cursing that his attempt to use his signature move on me had failed because he didn't have enough energy, and then he stared yelling about how he was going to crush me and prove that he was the toughest guy around. By this time, I had stopped paying too much attention to the specifics of his rants. He was like a broken record, spouting the same things with every bellow. They sounded like so much trash talk from a high school locker room.

"My turn," I grinned at Ghengis.

And with that, I used one of my special moves which I had yet to try out in a real combat situation. I crossed my katars in front of me and channeled my energy into them so that they glowed an even brighter blue. Then in a move that was basically similar in nature to his energy slashes, I fired the energy out of my crossed katars...in a single blue energy blast which caught him right in the chest and sent him flying back.

"Gotcha," I snarled, already jumping forward. And before Ghengis could recover from the energy blast, I hit him with a couple of nasty katar slashes, doing some nice damage.

"You bitch," he snarled, swinging his arm and hitting me with his fist. He would have done better to have used his sword instead, but his fist still did enough damage. He was pretty damn strong and it hurt like hell.

"Maybe," I grinned up at him, "But at least I'm not a weak loser like you..."

Ghengis growled and swung his sword at me, but I dodged out of the way, hit him with another katar strike and then retreated a ways back. I was really getting sore and tired and knew that I didn't have much left. He was a lot bigger and stronger...and though he was out of chi energy, he still had a bit more endurance than me.

"Not for long," I muttered, calling upon my signature move...my second wind technique.

I gasped as my chi energy flooded through my body, repairing all of my injuries and filling me with renewed energy for the fight. Since I had already used a good deal of my chi energy, I didn't have the excess energy to make me hyper and enhance my abilities... I was only back to full health...which was all that I needed for now.

"Now we're both out of chi," I grinned at Ghengis, hoping that he hadn't recharged enough for any real nasty attacks just yet. I didn't bother to tell him that I wasn't tired and injured anymore while he still was. That might not be considered a fair move, but I didn't particularly care. "Now you'll see why they call me the jagged wind...".

I took a deep breath and collected my focus before going straight at Ghengis. And without a word, I let loose with my full speed, hitting him with multiple katar strikes. I even caught his arm, forcing him to drop his massive scimitar. Then I went at him with a few nasty kicks in especially sensitive areas... I felt a bit bad about kicking him in the nuts since I knew exactly how that kind of thing felt, but I didn't feel guilty for long.

Ghengis was already weakened and injured from our fight, so it didn't take all that much more to push him to the edge. He was on the verge of losing it and he could barely even stand. Still, he had the energy to try talking trash, though now it only came out with a pitiful note of desperation in it.

"No one can beat me," he growled without being very convincing. "NO ONE! I'll tear you to pieces..."

I was tempted to taunt him again, but didn't say a word. Instead, I jumped at him, sending a powerful flying kick into his face. The impact sounded painful even to me, but it did the trick as he finally collapsed to the ground. He lay there with an almost pitiful and even pleading expression on his face as he realized that he was completely done for. He had nothing left to fight with.

Finally, I looked down at Ghengis and asked, "How long have you been like this?"

He was silent for a moment before quietly answering, "Yesterday..."

"Let me guess," I sighed, "You were playing Kombat Champions and you got struck by lightning..."

"What?" he blinked with a look of surprise, then quietly gasped out, "How did you know...?"

I let out a long sigh. He couldn't tell me anything about our changes that I didn't already know. From the looks of it, I already knew a lot more about it than he did...and I didn't really know all that much.

Then I finally looked up and around me, realizing that a bunch of cops were slowly coming closer. They all had looks of stunned amazement on their faces and half of them looked as though they were trying to decide whether to arrest me or not. But apparently, my display of power and the fact that I had just taken out Ghengis had convinced them that it might not be a great idea at the moment. Apparently, one of them had tried opening fire on Ghengis before I showed up, and not only did it not hurt him...but he'd taken that cop and thrown him through a brick wall.

"Just great," I sighed, looking back down at Ghengis.

However, as I stared at him, I was stunned to see a boy on the ground where Ghengis had been a moment earlier. He was an overweight boy of around 16 years old... There was a strange purple glow around him, but that was quickly fading. My eyes went wide as I realized that THIS was who Ghengis had really been... This was the kid who had been playing him in the game.

"What the hell?" I gasped in shock, trying to figure out why he had suddenly turned back to normal. It hadn't happened to Pi after I'd beaten him and I'd never run across any clue as to what might change me back. "How the hell did he turn back...?"

"That would be my doing," a voice behind me responded.

I snapped around and froze in surprise. Standing there was an old man with a white beard, dressed in what looked to be an expensive looking gray suit with a purple tie. But what held me in stunned amazement was that I recognized him from the game.

"The Kombat Master," I gasped in disbelief.

He bowed his head slightly, then said, "Come... You and I have much to speak of..."

I stood and silently stared at the Kombat Master...at the old man who should not exist. He was a fictional character in a game...and not even a player character. He was just the referee who watched over all of the tournaments... But there he was, standing right in front of me and holding all of the answers...

With that, the two of us slowly walked away from the scene of the fight. They cops made no move to stop me, even after all the fighting I'd just done. In fact, they didn't seem to even notice me anymore. It was almost as though they had even forgotten I existed.

I glanced back, wondering what was going to happen to Ghengis...to that kid I'd left behind. But then again, I doubted that the cops would believe that he had been the crazed lunatic that had been destroying the mall. After all, he no longer looked anything like Ghengis. In fact, they would probably just assume that he had been one of the victims of the lunatic's attack and let him go.

Once we were outside of the mall, the Kombat Master gestured for me to sit down on one of the benches on the outside. Then he took a seat beside me.

"My true name would be nearly unpronounceable to one with your language," the Kombat Master told me with a faint smile, "So you may call me Keiron... It is the closest I can come to your tongue..."

I nodded, wanting to ask him a thousand questions but deciding that it would be best to keep my mouth shut for the moment. Something told me that I might get more out of him if I let him give it at his own pace.

"I believe that you have some questions," he told me.

"That would be an understatement," I responded. Then ignoring the decision I had just made, I said, "I thought you were the Kombat Master..."

Keiron nodded faintly. "That is merely a title I chose for my likeness when I created the game..."

"YOU created the game?" I gasped in surprise.

Keiron nodded again, then said, "Perhaps I should explain...from the beginning."

"I'd appreciate it," I told him.

For a moment Keiron rubbed his beard thoughtfully, then he said, "The universe is composed of multiple layers...what you might call alternate or parallel dimensions. Each of these dimensions has it's own rules...it's own laws of nature. And many of these have their own peoples as well..."

"Sounds like a science fiction movie," I muttered, then reminded myself that my whole life had been a science fiction movie...or maybe just a martial arts movie, ever since I had been struck by lightning.

"One of these worlds is much like the world I created in the game," Keiron told me with a grim look on his face. "It is a world where personal combat is held in high esteem. It is a world where they have...evolved to be great fighters... Even their leaders are chosen by such..."

"Then one day," Keiron continued, "a warrior, even more skilled and powerful than any other in that world arose... His name is Rekegei the Black Flame... He defeated all he faced and became ruler of this world... But it was not enough... He yet hungered for more battle..."

"So what happened?" I asked, wondering what this had to do with me, the Kombat Champions game or my transformation.

"Rekegei came upon a way of traveling to other worlds," Keiron said with a grim expression. "He took an army of his followers and went to other worlds, wreaking great havoc and destruction upon them... Each member of his army is a great fighter in their own right, the product of generations of personal combat... They go from world to world, challenging their might against the fighters of those worlds...then spreading out, taking or destroying everything within their paths before they leave for the next world."

Then Keiron let out a long sigh, looking horribly sad. "They eventually came upon my world... It is a world that deals more with magic than fighting, though we did have champions of our own... We sent all of our champions against Rekegei, one after another...only to watch them all fail. Eventually we were able to use our magics to trick Rekegei and his army into leaving our world...but only after they had created great destruction and caused a great many deaths."

I stared at Keiron for a moment, a bit stunned by his claim to be from another world. I wouldn't have believed him at all if it wasn't for the fact that I'd already seen some pretty weird things since my transformation. In fact, my transformation had been one of the weirdest.

"And this Rekegei guy...?" I encouraged Keiron to continue.

Keiron frowned, then told me, "He is coming here....to your world."

"WHAT?" I gasped.

"Rekegei and his army are coming to this world," Keiron explained with a sad look. "I do not know when they will arrive, but it will not be long... It may be days...it may even be months. Sadly, I can not tell you precisely when they will arrive...only that they will."

"WHAT?" I repeated.

Then I gulped and took a deep breath, trying to get my head around all of this. It was so much...and it was so unbelievable. An alien invasion...from another dimension... I shook my head at the very thought.

"The army can stop this Rekegei and his bunch," I told Keiron, "They leveled Iraq in just a couple of days... I really don't think these guys are going to be any problem for them..."

But Keiron just gave me a look as though I had just said something exceedingly foolish and stupid. And somehow, that worried me a little.

"Your military would stand no chance against Rekegei and his forces," Keiron told me carefully.

"Sure they would," I told him, "They've got some really nasty weapons... They've got guns that can shoot through just about anything and bombs that can level whole countries...."

"You do not understand," Keiron scowled, giving me an intense look. "I have told you that each world has rules and laws of it's own... The rules of this world allow for such weapons, but the rules of the world that they come from do not... Such weapons will not work..."

"But they'll be in our world," I pointed out, feeling as if I was reminding a child of something simple. "That's the whole point... They're trying to invade us..."

Keiron shook his head, once again giving me a look that made me feel as though I was missing something important. As though I had no idea as to what was really going on. And I definitely didn't like that feeling...not in the least.

"Have you noticed the aura around your body?" Keiron asked me. "An aura which affects things close to you..."

"Yeah," I responded, a bit surprised by the change of subject, and the fact that he knew about that weird aura that kept messing with any electronics I touched. It had been a real bitch to control it enough to use just about anything... In fact, it seemed to even mess with how video cameras recorded me sometimes, so I had to keep it tuned down when filming the movie.

"This aura represents the point where the rules which bind you and the rules which bind the rest of this world meet," Keiron told me with a grim expression. "Within this aura, you are bound not by the rules of this world, but by the very same rules which bind Rekegei... These are the rules which allow you your special abilities. These are the rules which allow for your strength and power to be beyond what anyone in this world could ever achieve... Within this aura, the rules of that universe apply so your technology holds no power..."

"I...I've noticed," I said carefully, thinking once again about the gremlin effect.

"Rekegei and his followers each have an aura like this as well," Keiron told me, "An aura which holds the laws of their world to be dominant... And their auras are each a million times stronger than your own... Once they enter this world, their auras will spread out for miles...preventing all of the technology of this world from working. All of your weapons will be useless... All of your guns will be as harmless toys to them... Even your vaunted bombs will as nothing..."

"My God," I whispered, immediately realizing the significance of what he had just told me.

If what Keiron said was true, and I had no reason to believe that it wasn't, then as soon as these people arrive, it would be almost like an EMP going off... But it would be even worse... If an EMP went off, that would just fry all electronics... If these guys showed up, it would mess up all car engines, guns and nearly everything else that used any kind of modern technology.

"Oh God," I repeated, suddenly realizing the disaster that it would be if this Rekegei and his people showed up in the middle of a city.

I could just imagine what would happen in a city of all technology suddenly went dead...  People would suddenly lose control of their cars... Hospitals would lose power and people who were on life support would lose it... Airplanes could even drop out of the sky... Thousands could easily die just from their appearing alone... And none of the military's weapons would mean a damn thing if they couldn't use them.

Keiron nodded sadly as he saw that I finally understood what he had been trying to tell me. "I know the destruction these people can cause," he told me quietly. "And the only thing that they truly respect is personal combat... They respect a face to face battle between two individuals...and little else."

"Personal combat," I grimaced, "Like in the game..."

"Precisely," Keiron told me grimly. "Rekegei hungers for challenge and will not deny any who might provide him one... The only way to stop Rekegei and his forces once they arrive is for a champion to challenge him...and defeat him. But unfortunately, your world is sadly lacking in such champions. Your world has none who are nearly strong enough or powerful enough to face even the least of Rekegei's followers... The rules of this world do not allow for this kind of strength..."

"Oh," I whispered, feeling a cold chill run down my spine.

"My people tried but could not defeat him in personal combat," Keiron told me with a look of incredible sadness. "Our strongest champions tried...and all of them died...my own son included. Many in my world perished before we were able to combine our energies and expel Rekegei and his forces from our plane... But such a trick will not work in your world... The rules of this world are far too different... The only choice that you have is a strong champion..."

"Which we don't have," I gulped.

Keiron gave me a strange look and then a faint smile. "My world is safe but I could not allow Rekegei to continue his rampage across other worlds... I...and several like me left our world and came to worlds like this one...worlds that were in Rekegei's path. Our goal...my goal is to give this world a chance to survive... I came to this world to create the champions that it needs..."

"Oh shit," I whispered, finally putting the rest of the pieces together in my head. A part of me had already put them together enough to know what he was about to say.

"When I came to this world and saw that you had no champions...," Keiron explained, "none who were capable of facing Rekegei and his forces...I knew what I had to do. I knew that I would have to craft your champions myself... This was why I created the game. This was why I created Kombat Champions..."

"You did this to me!" I exclaimed, gesturing down at myself, "You turned me into this..."

For a moment, Keiron just sat there silently, looking a little regretful. Then he nodded faintly, a guilty expression passing over his face, though it was quickly replaced by one of resolve.

"I saw that your world understood the rules which Rekegei operates under," Keiron told me, "Though only in stories and games. So I decided to create a game which would find champions...which would find those who understood these rules, who understood the nature of personal combat...."

"Kombat Champions," I grimaced, suddenly realizing just how appropriate the name of the game actually was.

Keiron nodded yet again, proving that he seemed quite good at doing this. Then he continued his explanation, "I created the game so as to allow the players to craft their own alternates...their own perfect fighting forms and powers. Such would provide great affinity for them..."

"And the lightning?" I asked him with a bit of a glare. "I got struck by lightning..."

"I tied a great deal of magic to the game," Keiron told me with a frown. "In fact, it draws the power from the world I came from... Once the magic had build up enough, it surges out through the game, finding someone who is playing at that time... It finds someone who has created a strong fighting alternate and who has a strong affinity to their alternate. Then it transforms them...giving them the form and power of their fighting alternate."

"And this surge comes in the form of lightning?" I said, earning another nod.

Keiron held his hand out and a bit of purple electricity jumped around his fingers before he closed them and made the electricity vanish. It had been a pretty impressive display while he had been doing it, or at least it would have been if I wasn't now capable of some pretty interesting tricks myself.

"My hope is that those who have been so transformed will be strong enough champions to face Rekegei," Keiron sighed.

"Why did you choose me?" I demanded, getting a bit angry, "You turned me into a woman..."

"I have no control as to who the magic transforms," Keiron sighed. "The magic is outside of my direct control." Then he frowned, "I apologize for how it effects your life."

"Effects my life?" I grimaced, "It destroyed my life..."

Keiron bowed his head a bit, though he didn't look too apologetic. Instead, he gave me a steady look, "I am sorry for this but my concern is for the survival of your world."

I stared at Keiron for a moment and took a deep breath. "You turned Ghengis back to who he was..."

"He was too unstable," Keiron sighed. "I feared that he was of such a mind that he was of more danger than he would be help against Keiron... I was forced to use a good deal of my personal power to undo his transformation..."

"Can...can you change me back?" I asked Keiron, my heart nearly jumping into my chest. "Can you turn me back into who I used to be?"

Keiron shook his head, "No. I could not, even if I had the power left or desire to do so." He let out a sigh, "That one had only just transformed and his old pattern yet remained as a shadow. But these old patterns quickly fade and are gone within a week. Your old pattern is long gone and all that remains is the one that you now possess...."

"You...you can't change me back?" I asked him in a near whisper.

"This is who you are now," Keiron told me gently, "This is who you shall always be..."

I just stared at Keiron for a moment, my mind swirling with thoughts. Somewhere in the back of my mind there had been the thought that perhaps I could one day return to being plain old Craig Belmont... But now, that was gone. There was no doubt that I was going to remain a woman...that I was going to remain Kestra for the rest of my life.

Then to my surprise, I felt a strange sense of relief at that. I was a little confused by this as I knew that I should be wanting to go back to being my old self more than anything... But I didn't. I was happy as Kestra...

It took me a moment to put the pieces together and make sense of my own feelings... When I was Craig Belmont, I had been an ordinary guy who didn't really have either friends or a life. But now I had both. I had Nancy, Tina and so many other things... I had my fighting in the arena, the movies, and all of the skills that came with my body.

I looked down at myself, smiling faintly. It wasn't as though being a woman was bad...except for a couple days a month. This body had definitely grown on me... Of course, it helped that I felt incredibly healthy, and was stronger, faster and so much more alive than I had ever been before. And I suddenly realized that if I did go back to my old body, I'd probably feel slow, weak, clumsy and unbalanced in comparison.

After a minute, I finally let out a long sigh of relief, deciding that I was definitely happy to remain as Kestra. I had so much more....and was so much happier than I had ever been as Craig. I realized then that I wouldn't go back to being the old me even if I could. And the fact that I couldn't go back left me with a strange sense of relief and security.

"Okay," I slowly told Keiron, giving him a steady look. "You said that you were creating champions to fight Rekegei... How many are there? How many others have you transformed too?"

"Six people have been transformed so far," Keiron told me with a serious look. "I do not know if there will be time for the magics to build up and transform more before he arrives."

"And you're changing as many of us into our characters as you can," I frowned thoughtfully, "so that there are more chances to beat Rekegei..."

"Correct," Keiron told me, giving a faint nod. "Though so far, you are the only champion who has sought out true personal combat in such a way... You are the only one who has been gaining the experience that will be needed to confront Rekegei..."

"Lucky me," I sighed, thinking that perhaps all that time I'd been spending in the underground fights was good for more than just making money.

I gulped as I thought about this Rekegei...this unstoppable warrior that Keiron had told me about. It was only then that it fully dawned on me that he was expecting ME to fight this guy and beat him... It would be like a suicide mission...

Of course, I reminded myself, I was one of the very few people on the planet who now had any chance at all against him. And if none of us could stop this Rekegei, a whole lot of people would likely die. Hell, it sounded like a lot of people might die anyway, just from his showing up.

"How much damage can these guys cause?" I thought aloud, thinking of what this army might be able to do when no guns could be fired from anywhere near them.

"A great deal," Keiron told me sadly. "Each of them is capable of capable of much destruction. Each of them has great chi abilities. And once they arrive, they will start to spread out and wreak havoc wherever they tread."

I looked down at myself, shaking a bit as I sat there on the bench.  Then I slowly stood up, giving Keiron a steady look. I didn't like the idea of being a tool, of having my life messed with just to fulfill someone else's agenda. Nor did I like the idea of going into some kind of suicide fight.

"Damn," I muttered grimly.

But even less than these things, I hated the idea of what this Rekegei and his army might do to the world. I shuddered at the thought of all of the extra chaos and destruction...all of the deaths that they would cause, just because they could. I couldn't live with myself if I ran away from that just because I was terrified. I couldn't live with myself if I knew that I had even a chance of ending it.

Then I took a deep breath and steeled myself, feeling a powerful sense of determination forming. I would do something... I was damn well going to do everything I could to stop Rekegei and his army. I would face him in personal combat if that was what it took...and I was damn well going to find a way to win.

"It looks like I'm going to have to start getting ready for this fight," I told Keiron, "I'm not going to let anyone destroy this planet."

Keiron stared at me for just a moment, then gave me a faint smile and a nod. "Very well," he told me, sounding somewhat pleased. "I had hoped you would feel this way... Now come, we have much work to do..."

I took a long, slow and deep breath, paying attention to the way I breathed the air in, then released it back out. My eyes were closed as I sat in mediation, trying to think of nothing but the universe and my own energy as Keiron had been instructing me.

Unfortunately, thinking of nothing wasn't easy. It was actually pretty damn difficult. It was like telling someone not to think of a pink elephant, because as soon as you tell them that, they can't help but thinking of exactly what they were told not to.

After a few minutes, I opened my eyes and looked around the large but empty room that I had been sitting inside. It was pretty damn boring, but I guess that was the point. There were not supposed to be any distractions at the moment.

But I was distracted. I was distracted by thoughts of Nancy, of Tina...and even of this Rekegei fellow whom I had never met. I was thinking of all of these and not the training like I was supposed to.

When Keiron had asked me to take some special training a few days ago, I had immediately agreed. If I was going to fight Rekegei, I wanted to have as much chance of winning as I possibly could.

The first thing that I'd done after agreeing to the training was to call Nancy and let her know what was going on. Of course she had been skeptical when I'd told her about Keiron and Rekegei, but I assured her that it seemed to be real and that I was going to do my best to stop the invasion. She wished me luck and I thanked her as I would undoubtedly need as much as I could get.

Then I had to talk with Tina... I let out a sigh as I remembered how I'd gone out to where I'd left her in the mall parking lot and how I had tried explaining what was going on. She had been a hell of a lot more skeptical than Nancy, and it hadn't been easy to convince her about any of it. Fortunately, I'd already had some practice in convincing people about my abilities...

I told Tina about myself and my transformation, though I left a few details out, such as the fact I had been a man before I'd been struck by lightning. But I did tell her about how I had been struck by lightning and transformed, about all of the abilities I had gained and even about how I had been fighting in the arena. And then, once I had convinced her that I wasn't insane, I told her about Ghengis, Keiron and Rekegei... This was a little more difficult for her to accept, though the news people were still around and she'd seen their live footage of our fight.

"I hope that she'll still be there for me when I get back," I sighed aloud. She had been a bit shaken by the revelations of what was going on, and I wasn't sure that she'd want to still after she'd had a chance to absorb it. "I guess I'll have to find out..."

After a few minutes, my thoughts turned to the training that I had been going through with Keiron. Most of the training that I had been doing had been more or less on my own, doing all sorts of exercises until I couldn't do any more, trying out all of my abilities and pushing myself to my limits. The idea was that I would get even more in tune with my body and what I was capable of. Keiron swore that this was the key to maximizing my effectiveness, and from my experience so far I agreed with him.

And then there was the part of my training that Keiron had really been teaching me.. He had been teaching me how to meditate, saying that it would help me master my body, my environment and my chi energies. I wasn't sure that I completely believed him on this, but I was doing as he instructed and trying to go into that meditative state.

"Enough thinking about it," I muttered in annoyance. "Just do it..." But that just reminded me of the quote from a green Muppet who said, "Do or do not...there is no try," or something like that.

With that, I closed my eyes and went back to my meditation, eventually getting the proper focus and slipping into the state where I could feel the chi energies inside of me in a way that I had never been able to before. I kept breathing in and out, feeling the ebb and flow of those energies, of my own life energies which seemed to create the chi energies.

I had no idea how long I remained in that meditative state, though it had to have been for hours. And once I was done, I had to admit that I felt strangely refreshed, which was a good thing as it was time for me to get onto other aspects of my training. Specifically, I was going to have to go into the gym and work myself into utter exhaustion.

"Just what I love doing," I sighed, wishing that I could find something else to do instead.

Keiron had been pushing me to train almost nonstop, though admittedly he didn't have to push too hard. Just the thought Rekegei was coming and that he would kill countless people was enough to motivate me.

And of course, my training didn't really stop just because I had worked myself into exhaustion. When I got to that point, I simply used my augment or second wind techniques to recharge myself so that I could go again. I'd lost track of how many miles I had run nonstop at a full sprint the day before using that method, and I really didn't want to know.

"But I'll be running more tonight," I muttered, knowing that I'd be pretty tired by then, but that it might be worth it if it helped me to survive against Rekegei...or even more importantly as far as Keiron was concerned...if it helped me beat him.

I was soon in the gym and dressed in a pair of sweats that were still soaked with sweat from that morning. It was a pain in the ass going through several sets of clothes a day, just because I kept getting them all dirty and soaked with sweat. It was an even bigger pain in the ass to keep cleaning them.

"I should probably stick with my uniform," I said in sudden realization, wondering why I hadn't thought of that earlier. After all, the clothes that came with my body were self cleaning, so no matter how dirty or sweaty I got, they would still be nice, clean and fresh. "I guess I'll change into them as soon as I'm done in here..."

With that, I went to work lifting weights. I used a bench press to lift a lot more weight than I ever could have with my old body, though I wasn't sure that it was enough to qualify me as being super strong. Then I went the rounds over just about everything in the gym, quickly losing track of myself and the time as I focused on just one exercise at a time. Focusing on the moment and doing things one moment at a time was the only way to keep from losing my mind doing all of that stuff. But when I finally finished in the gym a good three hours later, I was pretty confident that I'd had a good workout.

Then after I had taken a shower and changed into my costume, I went back to work, this time doing weapons practice. Mostly it was me pulling out my weapons, my katars, spear and throwing blades, and practicing just about every move I knew in the air, even trying them against a number of targets. I wasn't sure what good this would do, but I knew that I had no choice but to keep on trying.

Once I was finished with my exercise and training for the day, I sat back in exhaustion, not even having the chi energy left to perform a second wind. The only cure for my current exhaustion would be the good meal which I had just eaten and plenty of rest, which I planned on getting in just a short time.

"So," I started, looking at Keiron who had been absent for much of the day and who seemed to keep appearing and disappearing at random times. "Why am I training here alone? Wouldn't it be better if I had some people to spar with or something...?"

"You are likely correct," Keiron admitted, "Though no normal fighter on your world would offer you challenge enough to balance the distraction they would offer. And I fear that I have been less successful convincing the other champions of the need..."

"They don't believe you about Rekegei?" I asked with a frown.

"Or do not wish to face him," Keiron sighed. "The one you faced in yellow called me many horrible names and ran off to hide... Shameful..."

"And the others?" I pressed.

Keiron paused to run a hand through his beard, "One is convinced that he can beat Rekegei single handedly, without any help or training. Another believes that I am some delusion or figment of his imagination, or possibly some form of trick. One woman insists on using her new abilities for personal gain, while the last champion refused to get involved." Keiron let out a long sigh and shook his head, "That last one even threatened me physical harm if I did not return him to his previous form..."

"Tough break," I sighed, feeling a bit for that last one who had threatened Keiron. I might have done that myself if I'd run into him a lot sooner than I had. But now I was in it till the end.

"It is time to rest," Keiron told me with a gentle smile. "You have worked hard so far, but there is more to come.. And tomorrow, I will begin teaching you something new..."

I nodded at that and went to bed, knowing that it had already been a very busy couple of days and that the next day wouldn't be any easier. I was going to have to work my ass off if I wanted to fight Rekegei, especially as it was looking as though I wouldn't have much help.

As I had expected, the next day was full of hard work and exercise, as was every other day that I trained for the next week and a half. There were no days off...no weekends. I only had hard training for what often came up to sixteen or more hours a day. And I knew that every minute would be worth it if it helped me against Rekegei and his army.

Then on my final day, just as my training with Keiron was through, I sat on the floor in meditation, just as he had taught me. My eyes were closed and I went inside of myself, performing a little trick that Keiron had just told me of just that morning.

With my eyes closed, I came that that place inside of myself...and suddenly I had my character profile pulled up right there in my mind's eye. I could see the profile in my mind, just as if I were looking at it on the computer screen. It showed me everything about my character...about Kestra...about myself. It showed me all of her...my stats and power levels. However, there was a major difference in my profile from the last time I had seen it, which had been the night of my transformation.

I silently reviewed this mental profile that I had of myself, knowing without a doubt that it was completely accurate, but still being a little surprised by the changes. Nearly all of my statistics and levels had increased. My strength, speed, agility, balance and power levels... All of them had increased between ten and twenty percent. I knew that I had grown stronger, faster and more powerful...and could feel it inside of me. But this was the first time that I was able to put any kind of numbers on my improvement.

And then of course, my chi levels had improved as well. Thanks to my training, specifically the meditation techniques that Keiron had taught me, I had doubled the amount of chi energy that I had available for my use...and drastically increased the rate that I could restore it when used.

After all of that hard work, exercise and training that I had gone through, there was no doubt that I was about as ready as I could be. Or at least I was as ready as I could be without having a whole lot more intensive training with a lot of sparring and combat with other champions... But I was a hell of a lot more confident of myself and my chances against Rekegei.

"I'm ready," I said aloud.

But at the same time, my thoughts weren't really on Rekegei and his army of powerful warriors. Instead, I was thinking about my friends, about Tina and Nancy, as well as how much I was looking forward to seeing them both again.

I let out a long sigh, thankful that I was finished with Keiron's training and that I could finally return home. Though technically, it wasn't really my home, merely the place I was staying. I had no home anymore, though I was still quite thankful to Nancy for putting me up at her place.

However, I knew that I couldn't stay with Nancy and Tom for much longer. Not only was I imposing too much on them, but with the recent revelations about Rekegei and the reason for my transformation, I thought that it would be much safer for them if I was somewhere else. Now I just had to break the news to Nancy.

Once I reached the door, I paused for a moment, not sure exactly what I was going to tell Nancy about the other things as well. I had already explained most of what was going on with Rekegei, though there were other details that I had learned later and had yet to reveal, as well as a few things that I had sort of glossed over.

"And don't forget Tina," I mused, realizing that I still hadn't really told Nancy about my relationship with her. I wasn't completely sure how Nancy would react to finding out that I was out and dating now, though I suspected that she would be supportive of it.

Then I let out another sigh as I thought about Tina. I hadn't seen her since that day in the parking lot when I'd given a rushed explanation before running off with Keiron. I still felt pretty bad about that and wanted to see her again, as well as give her a full explanation as to what was going on. Well, maybe not a full explanation... I still wasn't sure that I was ready to tell her about who I had been before my transformation.

"I wish she'd pick up," I muttered, thinking about how I'd already tried calling her twice that day. Unfortunately, she hadn't answered either time. I wasn't too surprised as I figured that she'd be on set working, and I knew that she had her cell phone turned off when she was... But I was a little disappointed as I hadn't talked to her in over a week and a half and I kind of missed her voice. "I'll try again in a bit..."

After a minute, I finally went inside, immediately calling out, "Hey, I'm back..."

"Did you have a good time?" Tom asked from where he sat on the couch, reading a newspaper.

"Define good," I responded with a sigh. I couldn't exactly call spending all day long exercising and meditating a good time. But I had to admit that it had definitely done what it was supposed to. I was stronger than ever, and I could feel it. "I've just been pretty busy..."

"It's great that you're doing so much work in the movies," Tom smiled at me, "You must be pretty proud of yourself..."

"Somewhat," I grinned back at him. "It is kind of fun..."

Tom nodded, "I heard that you had some big publicity thing going on a couple weeks ago..."

"Um...yeah," I responded, not sure what to say. I had a feeling that he might have seen something about my fight with Ghengis, and that Nancy had given him some sort of explanation. I wanted to talk to her and find out what she'd told him before saying too much. "So, where's Nancy?"

"Oh, I think she's in the back playing on the computer," Tom shrugged, absently flipping the page of his newspaper.

"Thanks," I told him with a smile, "I want to ask her to help me look for a new apartment..."

Tom looked a little surprised at that, though I think that there might be a little relief there as well. I knew that he must be looking forward to having his home back to being just for him and his wife. It had to be strange having me come in and kind of interfere with their privacy.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you need," Tom told me, and I could tell that he was sincere.

"Thanks again," I grinned, "But I've been having some good fortune lately...what with the movie and other jobs... I've managed to pay off most of my old bills and I think that I can afford a place on my own now. Besides, I don't want to inconvenience you any more than I have too."

You've both been so nice to me..."

"No problem," Tom nodded with a bit of a smile, "It's my pleasure..."

With that, I went to the back side of the apartment where I could see Nancy sitting at her computer desk and typing away. I watched silently for a moment before sneaking up behind her, putting my hands over her eyes and exclaiming, "Guess who...?"

"Marilyn Monroe?" Nancy responded with a bit of a giggle. "How about Donald Trump? I know..." She turned to grin at me, "Kestra, the Jagged Wind."

"You got it on the third try," I grinned back.

Nancy was immediately to her feet and hugging me. "I'm glad that you're back," she blurted out, "I've missed you... And I saw that thing on TV..."

"Ugh," I grimaced, "They actually showed my fight with Ghengis?"

"The whole thing," she told me with a serious look, "Or at least most of it since the camera guys had to keep running and changing position, and both you and Ghengis both kept blurring out on camera... You both got really blurry whenever you were using your chi moves..."

"Our auras," I muttered, having noticed that mine sometimes interfered with me while filming if I wasn't careful.

"So what's going on?" Nancy demanded, "You said that you met the Kombat Master... For real?"

I hesitated a moment, then nodded, "Yeah... His name is Keiron and he's from another dimension... Don't laugh, I know that it sounds like a movie...or a video game, but he came here to help us save the Earth from alien invasion."

After letting out a deep sigh, I told Nancy everything that I had found out... I repeated everything that I had told her over the phone before I had gone into training with Keiron, and I even told her of the few bits and pieces that I'd learned while training, though admittedly that wasn't much. But it was interesting to see her expression when I told her about my training.

"Wow," Nancy exclaimed, "That's hard core... It sounds like basic training..."

"It was a lot shorter than basic," I told her with a grin. "I would have hated to do that for six to eight weeks. But on the other hand, imagine how much stronger I'd be if I did..."

"Well it sounds like too much work for me," she shrugged.

"Me too," I quickly agreed.

We talked for another few minutes about that before the subject turned to the movie that I had been making. "So what's he really like?" Nancy asked me, "What's Tyler Reese like in real life?"

I thought about that for a moment, "Not bad...once you get past his ego." We both chuckled at that.

And then I brought up a subject that I'd been meaning to for awhile. "You know," I started slowly, "I've been dating someone while I was out working on the movie..."

"Really?" Nancy asked in surprise.

"You're actually going on dates?" she gasped. "I never would have guessed... I mean, since you changed..." She blushed a little, then abruptly asked, "So what's his name...?"

"HER name is Tina," I corrected Nancy.

"Tina?" she repeated, then laughed, "I should have guessed..."

"She works on the set," I told Nancy, then went on to describe how I'd met Tina, which got even more laughs as Nancy heard me describe my fight with Tyler. Of course I'd told her about that before, just not all of the details that followed. "We get along pretty good..."

"Have you told her about...?" Nancy gestured at my body.

I let out a sigh at that and shook my head, "Not exactly. I kind of had to tell her that I was changed, I mean after the whole thing with Ghengis... But I didn't tell her that I used to be a guy. I'm not sure how she'd take that. Hell, half the time I'm not sure how I'd take it..."

And then, I suddenly remembered one more bit of information that I had kind of forgotten...or just neglected to tell Nancy. "I can't change back," I told her quietly. "Keiron told me that I've been changed for too long, and that this is my natural form now. It looks like I'm going to be Kestra for the rest of my life..."

"Oh," Nancy responded quietly, obviously unsure of how to respond to that. "I'm sorry to hear that..."

"I'm not," I told her, causing her to stare at me in surprise. "I've kind of gotten used to being this way. And I kind of like everything that came along with this body..." Then I looked down in embarrassment and shrugged, "Well, maybe except for the monthly visitor thing..."

"I can understand that," Nancy grinned.

"Well, I've got to go relieve myself," I told Nancy as I started back the way I came, pausing only long enough to say, "I guess being able to pee standing up is something I miss too..." Nancy just laughed at that and turned back to her computer.

After I had taken care of my personal business, I slowly made my way back to where Nancy was, wondering what I was going to do about Rekegei and his army when they arrived. I made a mental note to warn Nancy that she and Tom would need to prepare for an emergency...just in case.

I was just about back to Nancy when suddenly there was a brilliant flash of purple light and a booming explosion sound that caused me to jump. I was immediately braced for a fight and charged forward, freezing as soon as I saw Nancy's computer desk. It was a horrible ruin, with a black burned out lump where her tower had been.

"Oh God," I gasped.

My eyes lingered on the wreckage of the computer for just a moment before going to figure which had been thrown back from the desk and was sprawled over the floor. But a single glance was enough to tell me that this wasn't Nancy... I gulped as I saw the green hair which could only belong to Nancy's Kombat Champions character Vypra.

The scene in front of me was almost surreal, not to mention all too familiar. It looked almost identical to the wreckage that had been left behind when I had been turned from Craig into Kestra.

"What's going on?" Tom suddenly yelled as he came rushing in, nearly shoving me aside as he tried to see what was going on. This he froze as he saw the scene in front of him, his eyes going wide and a confused expression passing over his face. "What the...?"

I just ignored Tom and rushed over to where the video game character Vypra was sprawled out on the floor. I took a careful look at her, seeing that like me, she looked exactly as she did in the game. And though I knew it wasn't necessary, I put a hand to her neck and felt for a pulse to verify that she was alive.

"Who is that?" Tom demanded with a strong tone of panic in his voice, "Where's Nancy...?"

"This is Nancy," I told him without looking up. "Now grab her feet and help me get her to her bed... I think she's going to be out for awhile..." I knew that I had been out for hours after my transformation and saw no reason why Nancy would be any different.

"But...," Tom gasped, looking completely confused and as though he were on the verge of panic. His eyes went to the wreckage on top of his computer desk and then to the woman who had been sitting in the chair. "That's not Nancy..."

"Just grab her feet and help me get her to bed," I snapped at him, "I'll explain what's going on after that."

I looked at Tom and silently started to curse. Tom was a nice guy, and pretty damn generous. But after seeing this, I really didn't think I'd want to count on him during an emergency. He looked as though he were about to fall to pieces, and things hadn't even really gotten bad yet.

Tom stared at me for a moment more before finally doing as I had told him. He helped me pick Nancy up and carry her to their bedroom where we set her on the bed. I made sure that she was comfortable, or as comfortable as I could make her there, then let out a sigh.

"Damn Keiron," I spat bitterly.

The whole thing about the transformations and with Rekegei was nasty, dirty business and I had been trying to protect Nancy from it, to keep her away from it. That was one of the main reasons that I had been planning on moving out. But now it looked like this was no longer going to be possible. Now it looked like she was stuck in it up to her neck, the same as I was.

I silently cursed Keiron as well, knowing that he was to blame for Nancy suddenly having her life torn out from under her and being thrown into the middle of this mess as well. I knew damn well how hard it was to have your very identity snatched away like that... And just because I ended up liking what I had become, that didn't make it any less of a violation.

Of course Keiron had told me that he didn't choose who was transformed specifically, and that it was like a computer virus, which once set loose would do it's own thing. But I was no longer completely convinced, not with Nancy having been transformed right there in front of me.

At the same time, I partly blamed myself. I knew how dangerous that game could be, that playing it could cause you to get struck by lightning and changed... Hell, I'd already told Nancy about it but I hadn't really thought that I'd had to warn her against playing it anymore unless she wanted to be changed.

But that thought caused me to suddenly freeze and wonder.... I knew that Nancy was a bit envious of all of the cool things I could do now, but could she possibly have gone onto the game again HOPING that something like this might happen to her? Did she get on just so that she could become Vypra? I was definitely going to have a talk with her once she woke up.

"You said that you'd tell me what the hell is going on," Tom said, giving me a steady look that made me wonder if maybe I had misjudged him a little. At the moment, he definitely had more backbone than a few minutes earlier. It was obvious that he wanted answers...and he wanted them now.

"Okay," I told him, sitting down on the bed beside Nancy, "You might want to sit down for this one..."

How do you tell someone that their entire world view might be wrong? How do you tell them that the things from comic books, movies and video games which they had always told their children were just make believe, were not only real...but could kill them? It wasn't easy, though fortunately I'd already had a bit of experience doing just that as of late.

I started off by giving Tom a sanitized version of my own transformation. Without mentioning the fact that I used to be a guy, I told him about how I had been playing Kombat Champions when I had been struck by lightning and transformed. Of course he didn't really believe me, but after I pulled my katars out of nowhere and did a few tricks, I had him convinced enough to listen to the rest of my story.

Once I was finished with my explanation, Tom stared at me in disbelief and amazement, then giving Nancy the same look. I couldn't blame him with that since it had to be strange, seeing a green haired stranger that he'd never seen before on his bed and being told that this was his wife. He was taking it a little better than I might have expected.

"I... I've watched Nancy play that game a few times," Tom told me with a forced smile. "She was sort of addicted to it..." Then he stared intently at her as she slept on the bed, continuing, "I do recognize her... She does look just like that character she played with..."

"Vypra," I told Tom. "Her character is called Vypra... Mine was Kestra..."

"But you're...," he started, then gasped, "Oh..."

I nodded at that, "It was pretty weird getting used to being a living, breathing video game character. And if it hadn't been for Nancy helping me, I don't know what I would have done..."

"And will she be stuck like this?" he asked, sounding pretty worried. I didn't really blame him for that either.

"I...," I was just about to tell Tom that she was, when I realized that there was still a chance for her. "Maybe," I frowned. "This Keiron I told you about could change her back...if he gets to her soon enough. There's only a couple of days before it becomes permanent..." I let out a long sigh as I admitted, "The problem is, I have no idea how to contact Keiron. And there's no guarantee that he'll change her back even if I could... In fact, he's pretty likely to refuse because the whole reason he's doing this is to create champions to fight Rekegei..."

"My wife is NOT going to fight any monster," Tom said insistently. "She isn't a fighter..."

"She is now," I told him quietly. "She has all of the skills...all of the abilities of her character. As far as it goes, she is Vypra. Anything that Vypra can do in the game...she can do in real life."

Tom went quiet at that, suddenly realizing just what his wife might become. I thought of telling him more but decided to just be quiet and let him and Nancy talk it out once she awoke. After all, they were definitely going to have a lot to talk about now.

"How long will she be out like this?" Tom asked me quietly.

I thought about it for a moment before telling him, "A few hours at least... I was out all night...probably around twelve hours."

After this, Tom and I just sat around and waited... We waited for hours before she finally started showing signs of consciousness again. I was just relieved that she hadn't been out as long as I had been. I wasn't sure that I could be patient for that much longer.

"What hit me?" Nancy groaned as she slowly sat up, "I feel like shit..."

I couldn't help but noticing that her voice was different than before, though that was no surprise as her entire body was different than before. And I expected that it would be something of a shock for her too as I knew first hand that it was more than a little strange to wake up in a body that wasn't exactly your own.

"You got hit by lightning," I told her as she looked around and blinked. "Specifically, the same lightning that hit me..."

"What?" Nancy blinked in confusion. Then she looked down at herself and let out a loud gasp. She grabbed at the green fighting uniform that she was now wearing and demanded, "What the hell am I wearing?"

"You're wearing Vypra's uniform," I told her grimly, reaching for a bit of her now green hair and pulling it around to the front of her face so that she could see it. "You've turned into Vypra..."

"WHAT?" Nancy gasped, jumping off the bed and onto her feet.

She stood there for a moment, staring down at herself and patting her body. She grabbed at her breasts, which were noticeably larger than before. She had to be about a D cup now rather than her previous B. And of course the rest of her body was slimmer and much more fit. I could see the wheels turning in her head as she examined herself.

"Nancy?" Tom asked as he came into the room. He stared at her again with a strange expression that was part disbelief, part worry and part admiration. From the bulge in his pants, there was no doubt that he rather liked the new and improved Nancy.

Nancy turned to look at him, looking a bit self-conscious as he realized that he was there as well. They just stared at each other before she quietly told him, "Yeah, it's me... I know this is weird..." She rushed to him and gave him a hug, which seemed to break down some of the tension.

"I think you need a mirror," I told Nancy, knowing that she had to be dying to now what she looked like now.

A minute later, the three of us were crammed into the bathroom while Nancy stared at herself in the mirror. She kept touching her face and hair, as if to prove that it were indeed her reflection. I just kept quiet, knowing exactly how she felt. Of course, my situation had been a little more extreme.

"Is that really me?" she asked in awe.

I just nodded at that, then stepped out of the bathroom and waited around while she checked herself out. She even kicked out Tom and closed the bathroom door so that she could get undressed and really check out the changes to her body. It was obvious that Nancy was somewhat stunned by her transformation, but I could tell that she was excited by it as well.

After Nancy had checked her new body out to her satisfaction, at least for the moment, she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my... My job... I can't go to work like this... And my family... What in the world am I going to tell my parents? What am I going to do?"

In that moment, I watched Nancy's excitement turn to worry and fear. She suddenly realized all of the practical problems that would come from her transformation. She even looked to Tom, as if afraid that she would suddenly lose him...

"Oh my God...Kes," she looked at me with a strange expression, "Is this what it was like for you?"

"Pretty much," I responded quietly, not wanting to think about that at the moment. I knew very well what she could lose due to her changes since I'd pretty much already lost it all myself.

"But at least you're not alone..."

"There is that," she let out a sigh, then gave both Tom and myself a thankful look.

"I'm going to go for a walk and give you two some time," I told her, knowing that she and Tom would have a lot to talk about. "But later on...we're going to have to talk..."

When I came back from my walk a few hours later, I could tell from the smell and from Nancy's goofy grin that she and Tom had been doing a lot more than just talking. In fact, Nancy must have completely worn Tom out because he was taking a nap in the bedroom while she had just gotten out of the shower.

"I can't believe that this is really me," Nancy told me with a big grin. "I admit that I've been kind of jealous of you...getting a great looking body and all of those incredible abilities. I even imagined what it might have been like if I'd been changed into Vypra. But I never thought that it could happen to me, and now that it has, I'm not completely sure what to think."

"You do realize," I said slowly, "That the reason you were changes is so that you could be a champion...so that you could fight Rekegei and his army..."

Nancy went pale at that and I could tell that she didn't particularly like the idea. I could tell that even after realizing the problems she would face, she had still thought of this as some sort of game or grand adventure. Only now was she beginning to realize just how deadly serious this whole situation was becoming.

"Why can't this Keiron guy you told me about deal with him," Nancy grimaced. "If he's powerful enough to change us like this, he should be powerful enough to beat Rekegei..."

"A different kind of power," I told her with a sigh. "And I did ask Keiron that myself while we were training. He told me that he isn't allowed to interfere directly... Something about his people's rules and the conditions of his being allowed to come here. He said that he could help us create our own champions, but that he couldn't be involved in the fighting itself. In fact, once Rekegei gets here, he's not allowed to contact us or interfere at all."

"That stinks," Nancy grumbled, "But how in the world does he expect me to help? I might look like Vypra, but I'm not her..."

"I know," I told, "Trust me...I know. But according to Keiron, this is our only chance. Keiron can't make us fight...only give us the tools we need to do it." I didn't bother adding that if we didn't fight, if Rekegei wasn't stopped, than thousands or even millions of people would die.

"You really trust him?" Nancy asked me skeptically.

"Not completely," I responded honestly. "I mean, don't think that he's lied to me about anything. I think that everything he told me so far is the truth. And I think that he really is trying to help save our world. But I think that his goal is to stop Rekegei and save our world...not to look after our welfare. It's the end justifies the means... He doesn't care if he disrupts people's lives or if we die fighting Rekegei...just as long as Rekegei is stopped."

"But you were with him for a week and a half," Nancy said, "I thought you trusted him..."

"I kind of like him," I admitted. "He can be a nice guy and he really is trying to help. But remember, he's looking at the big picture, and I'm afraid that our personal lives don't really matter much in that scheme of things."

"Just great," she grumbled, "That makes me feel much better."

I just shrugged at that, not having anything comforting to say. I didn't like much of anything about the situation that we were in, but there wasn't much that I could do except play my part.

"So what do we do now?" Nancy asked me.

"You make a choice," I responded quietly. "You either choose to avoid Rekegei and this whole mess...at least as much as you can. Or you choose to face it head on. I've chosen the latter..."

"So we fight," Nancy sighed, shaking her head. Then after a moment, she said, "Well, I always did like the fighting games..."

I was really looking forward to seeing Tina again, even more so than I would have thought. My heart raced with excitement, but also a bit of nervousness. Then again, I suppose that I had good reason for feeling both.

It had been two weeks since I had last seen her, and we hadn't exactly left on the greatest of terms. Hell, I'd given her a rush explanation of what was going on in the mall parking lot and then left for my training, I didn't know how she was going to react.

When I came to Tina's door and finally saw her again, I wasn't sure what kind of reaction to expect. However, I don't think that I would ever have guessed her demand of, "Where the hell have you been?"

"What?" I blinked in surprise.

But before I could even consider how to respond to that, Tina grabbed me, yanked me inside of the door and then threw herself against me, pressing her lips into mine so forcefully that I couldn't tell if she was angry or happy to see me. Or maybe just both.

"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded again once we finally broke apart, "I've been worried..."

"It's kind of hard to explain," I started, then quickly added, "But I'll try..."

"Later," Tina grinned at me with a hungry look in her eyes.

And without another word, Tina grabbed me for another passionate kiss and sort of pushed me back towards her couch. She shoved me down onto it and sort of hopped right on top of me. She was being pretty damn aggressive, but I sure as hell wasn't complaining. In fact, I was definitely getting into the whole thing.

"God you're hot," Tina exclaimed, tearing her lips away from mine just long enough to say that before returning.

"Ditto," I responded once I was able to a minute later.

My heart was racing and my body was responding in ways that were completely different from my old one. I wasn't a complete stranger to the sensations that my new body could provide, and I had definitely taken the time for some self-exploration of a more sensual nature, or just plain masturbating. However, the fact that Tina was the one manipulating my body and bringing about those sensations made them completely different.

I don't think that I was quite conscious of when my clothes came off as I was busy thinking ahead a bit. My bra went flying halfway across the room, followed by Tina's. We giggled as we tore at each other's clothes.

"Holy shit," Tina abruptly exclaimed, "You really do have naturally blue hair.."

I looked down to where she was staring between my legs and grinned, "I told you that my hair color didn't come from a bottle..."

"Rub it in why don't you," she grinned at me.

"Don't mind if I do," I grinned back, rubbing at her breasts.

Tina moaned and returned the favor, going at my breasts with one hand while sneaking her other one between my legs. The sensations from both actions were completely unbelievable and brought several loud gasps from my lips.

And then, things really began to steam up... Tina brought me to my first orgasm, one where I wasn't sure whether I screamed or not. I returned the favor for that and we kept it up for the next hour or so, with me quickly losing any doubts that I might have had about the fact that sex as a woman was MUCH better than it had been as a guy.

Once Tina and I were finally done, we just lay cuddled up with each other on her bed, where we had eventually ended up. It was definitely a lot more comfortable than her couch had been, and I was quite content to just stay there forever, savoring the afterglow.

"I'm definitely glad to be back," I finally told Tina, smiling dreamily.

I'd been wondering what it would be like to have real sex as a woman, and I certainly hadn't been disappointed. Of course I still hadn't had any sex as a woman with a man, but I had no intention of finding out what that was like either. I might have had the body of a woman, but the thought still nauseated me a bit.

"So tell me again why you left," Tina responded after a few seconds, "You weren't exactly real clear before you ran off like that..."

I let out a long sigh, knowing that I'd much rather talk about something else...or better yet, doing something else. I gave Tina a very appreciative look, smiling as I thought about what we'd been doing such a short time earlier.

Then I looked up at the ceiling, let out another sigh and slowly began to give her the story of my transformation, my meeting with Keiron and even most of what Keiron had told me about the invasion. Of course I had already told her a good bit of that before, but that had been pretty rushed and without all of the details. Then again, I still left a lot of details out, like the fact that I used to be a guy.

After I was finished giving Tina my explanation, she stared at me in amazement. Of course she already knew a good bit of what I'd told her, but I had just filled in a lot of details and made it seem all the more real.

"Holy shit," she whispered, sitting up in bed. "We really are going to be invaded by some guys from another dimension?"

"Pretty much," I told her with a sigh.

"It sounds like the plot of a movie," she frowned, giving me an odd look.

I shrugged, "Trust me...I know."

Tina stared at me for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. She shook her head, then at my blank look, she told me, "I was talking with Chase the other day, and he says that he really wants you for his next movie. When he found out about the whole mess in the mall, he insisted on it."

"Yeah?" I urged her to continue.

Then Tina stared at me for a moment and started laughing again. "Sorry," she apologized, "But all of this sounds a little like what I overheard Chase saying about his next movie..."

"Yeah?" I gestured for her to go on.

Tina laughed again, then told me everything that she knew about the new movie that Chase Maxwell was planning to make. I was a bit startled when I heard some of the details, but more so when I thought about the fact that he wanted me to star in it.

"Of course it will be a direct to video thing," Tina told me, obviously trying to keep me from getting my hopes up too high, "All of Chase's movies are..."

"That's all right," I told her, thinking about it with a bit of a grin. "It might be fun to do more of this movie stuff..."

"Well, he hasn't actually asked you yet," Tina pointed out. "He hasn't been able to get hold of you yet." She couldn't resist teasing me about being gone for my training again.

"Then I guess I'll just have to go talk with him," I grinned. "I've got a lot going on, but I think I might make time for something like that..."

"Just as long as you still have time for me," she cautioned, giving me a mock threatening look. "If you run off like that again, you're going to make me mad. And you wouldn't like me when I'm mad." Then she started to giggle.

I grinned back at her, "I'll definitely keep that in mind."

"Well you'd better make sure you do," Tina grinned. Then she abruptly said, "Well, now that you're back, I want to take full advantage of it..."

A moment later, Tina and I were locked in a passionate embrace that brought all of my hormones to a new height. And before long, we were both deep in another long bout of hot and steamy lesbian sex. God I loved being a lesbian.

I stood in the middle of the small field, facing off against Nancy. Neither of us made a move, though we were both tense and ready. My katars were clutched tightly in my hands, just as she had her katanas in hers. And there was no doubt that in a moment, we would be going at each other with just about everything that we had.

The scene had a strange sense of familiarity to it, almost like a deja vu. It was a fight scene of Kestra versus Vypra, just as I had seen countless times on my computer monitor... But this time, it was no video game. This time, Kestra and Vypra were in the real world and would be fighting with real weapons.

Of course, the whole fight scene wasn't quite real. Nancy and I had been sparring every day since she had transformed into Vypra nearly a week earlier. I figured that this would help her get used to her own new body and abilities, as well as provide us both with a bit more experience in fighting people in the real world.

However, I had noticed pretty quickly that even though our characters had been pretty evenly matched in the game, there was now no doubt as to who the strongest fighter was. I could beat her with ease, which I figured was not only due to the fact that I had a lot more experience with my capabilities, but that I also had experience with real fights...and not to mention all of the extra training that I'd gone through with Keiron.

"Ready?" I asked Nancy, not about to lose my focus or I'd lose the fight. Being the stronger fighter didn't guarantee victory if you weren't paying attention or underestimated your opponent.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Nancy told me.

And with that, Nancy and I both went at each other at once. My katars clanged against her katanas... She had the longer reach, due to her longer blades, but I was faster. I saw an opening and knew that I could have pressed my advantage and gotten through, but the goal wasn't to beat her. The goal in our little match was to test our abilities and give us both a chance gain more experience with them.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Nancy exclaimed, "I mean, I still can't believe that this is all real..."

"Get used to it," I told her grimly.

I hadn't been at all surprised when I saw no sign of Keiron all week long. I knew him well enough to suspect that even if he knew about my best friend being transformed as well, and that he knew that she wanted to be changed back, that he still would have avoided us. He wanted more champions in the fight against Rekegei and he wasn't about to be forced into removing one of them from the game just because she didn't want to play.

But of course, I wasn't completely sure that Nancy didn't want to play... She was definitely getting into her new body and obviously loved some of the things that she could now do. How could I blame her when I felt the same way? After all, she was stronger, faster and healthier than she'd ever been in her life, and that didn't even take into account all of her cool new super powers.

Nancy had spent quite a bit of time during the last week, not only getting used to what she had become, but convincing Tom that she was still the same woman that he married and that she still loved him every bit as much. From the silly way I frequently caught him grinning, I had a feeling that this part was working quite well.

"It's too late to change her back anyway," I quietly reminded myself.

If what Keiron had told me was true, which I had little doubt it was, then her old pattern was gone and couldn't be retrieved. She had been Vypra long enough for it to become permanent, or at least nearly so. As far as I knew, there might be a day or two left where she could possibly be returned to her old body, but I was pretty damn confident that I wouldn't see a thing of our other dimensional patron until after then.

And while Nancy had been busy with Tom and just trying to adjust, I had been busy as well. I had been training... It hadn't been nearly as strenuous as when I'd been with Keiron, but I made sure to exercise and push my abilities a bit each and every day. However, I wasn't sure that it would do a whole lot of good. If things worked in real life like they did in the game, then I might have already reached my maximum strength for the moment, and I might have to get more experience points in order to increase my potential again. That was one of the reasons that I'd been sparring with Nancy every day. She might not be my equal in a fight, but she was a damn good closer than anyone at the arena.

"So how are things with you and Tina?" Nancy asked, perhaps to distract me...or perhaps because she just wanted to know.

"Good," I told her, giving a couple lunges with my katars and then blocking a slash from one of her blades. "We're doing pretty good. I can't see her as much as I'd like at the moment, but hopefully once this whole thing with Rekegei is over..."

"Didn't Keiron say that he might not be around for months?" Nancy asked, taking another slash at me.

"Yeah," I agreed, "But I want to be prepared..."

Nancy and I continued to dance around each other for several more minutes, trading slashes with our weapons as well as kicks and other attacks. We were avoiding our chi moves at the moment, but that didn't mean that we didn't have some interesting attacks.

"Well you shouldn't get so focused on getting ready that you forget everything else in your life," she advised me, "Or else it might not be there when you're ready for it..."

"Thanks," I told her, deciding to end our sparring for the moment by sweeping her feet out from under her and bringing a katar to her throat to indicate that I'd won.

Nancy shrugged and sat up as I pulled the katar away, giving me a grin, "Just being a friend..."

"And a good one too," I admitted.

"Well I'm glad that I can talk some sense into you," Nancy grinned at me.

I just nodded at that, then gave a bit of a smirk, "Oh, by the way...I was already planning on heading over to see Tina tomorrow anyway..."

"You rat," Nancy laughed.

"At least I'm not a snake," I pointed out, then stuck my tongue out at her, which caused her to laugh even harder.

"Besides," I grinned, "I have to go see Chase Maxwell and pick up my script for the new movie..."

"Yeah?" Nancy asked with a grin, "You're really going to do it? Make another movie?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "And this time I'll be the hero... I'll be a rebel soldier fighting off an alien invasion..."

Nancy suddenly burst out laughing, "Imagine that..."

"Yeah," I grinned, "And this time he said I could keep my hair blue... I won't have to keep dying it every morning..."

"That's convenient," Nancy smirked.

"Damn straight," I told her. "You'll find out just how annoying that is once you try hiding your green hair for a bit..."

After we had both rested for a minute, Nancy asked, "Ready for another go...?"

"Sure," I slipped my katars away and summoned my spear out of whatever limbo it gets stored in. "Let's go..."

"I was wondering," Nancy mused, giving me a thoughtful expression, "If we could get out of shape in these bodies... I mean, we're both in perfect shape now and we're getting a lot of exercise... But what if we just sat around, watching the soaps and eating bon bons?" Then she grimaced, "It would be a shame to ruin these legs with cellulite..."

I thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, "I don' t think that's much of a problem. I mean, as energetic as I am now, I don't exactly feel any urge to just sit around eating bon bons... And besides," I grinned at her, "When we're on the game, our characters don't get any weaker or lose any points if we don't play with them for a long time... They stay in the same shape as when we left them. The game characters don't get fat or weaker, only stronger and better... And since we're operating under the same rules as the game..."

"I don't even have to exercise?" Nancy gasped in realization. "I'm in heaven..."

We both laughed at that before I shifted my spear into position and said, "Well, let's get some exercise in anyway..."

Within moments, the two of us were going at it once again. I was using my spear now instead of my katars, which gave me the advantage in range, but she now had the advantage of multiple weapons against my one. It was quite an interesting bit of sparring, and only made more interesting when she abruptly started channeling chi energy into her swords, changing the rules of the fight quite a bit.

Nancy tried surprising me with some of her special techniques, even hitting me with her 'snake fist strike' attack. I managed to avoid or block most of her attacks, returning with a few of my own.

By the time our sparring session ended an hour later, Nancy and I were both dripping with sweat and ready to call it a day. It had been a good match, which I thought was appropriate since it would be the last one that Nancy and I would be able to have until I got back in a couple days. I was going to miss sparring with Nancy while I was gone, but I was looking forward to seeing Tina again even more.

I gathered my concentration and sharpened my focus, not wanting to get distracted as I was fighting with a half dozen trained martial artists at once. They were surrounding me at all sides and coming at me with everything they had...and it still wasn't much of a challenge.

"Take it easy on them," Tyler Reese called out from the side with a grin, "We're still going to need those guys for the movie..."

"I'll try," I called back, not taking my eyes from the swirling mass of punches and kicks. Even though I was outnumbered, I was giving better than I got. "But it won't be easy...."

"Showoff," Tina called out with a laugh. I just grinned back, knowing that she was right.

I had come back to the movie set in order to help film a couple of new scenes. Chase Maxwell had wanted to redo one of the scenes that I was in, and he had decided to add a whole new scene that focused a bit more on my character and just how much of a bad-ass she was. I was quite willing to ahead and do this, even if I didn't really get any extra money. It was kind of fun.

But almost as soon as I was on set, a bunch of the stuntmen and martial artists who were in the movie started to challenge me. They had seen me take on Tyler Reese and wanted to test themselves against me. And then of course there were the rumors about what had happened at the mall... Apparently the cops didn't really know who was involved, but the people on set had recognized me, at least from the pieces of news footage where I was visible.

"Too bad my aura didn't blur the whole fight out," I muttered, regretting that it had kept blurring out bits and pieces of me rather than the whole thing. It would have made things a lot easier.

At first, I had turned down the challenges, but after being asked a few times, I finally gave in. But to make it a little more interesting, I told all six of the guys who wanted to spar with me that they would all have to do it at once. Me against all of them. They had thought I was crazy...at first. Now they were all breathing hard and wondering how the hell one woman could beat the crap out of all of them at once.

"Go get em Kes," Tina called out with excitement, "I've got two hundred bet on you..."

"Well I can't disappoint you now," I grinned, quickly spinning around, taking the feet out from under two of my sparring opponents and slamming my palm into the solar plexus of another. With another quick move, I blocked a kick, swung my arm out and caught the hand of another opponent, just as he was throwing a punch.

"Damn," Chase Maxwell called out, "Somebody get this on film... This is spectacular..."

"I'd rather you didn't," one of my opponents grumbled, "I really don't want any record of my being beaten by a chick like this..."

"I hear that," one of my other opponents echoed.

I just grinned, feeling rather smug. Of course that wasn't too surprising considering my abilities. And though all of these guys were pretty good, they just weren't in my league. It was no wonder that Keiron said we didn't have anyone in our world who was strong enough to be a decent champion.

Once I finished with all of my opponents just a minute later, I was definitely feeling charged up. I wouldn't mind a real challenge...a real opponent. Of course that meant that I'd have to go back and spar with Nancy again. Kestra versus Vypra was always a fun fight, especially now that we were able to do it in real life.

"Good one," Tina grinned at me, "That was a great fight..."

"Thanks," I grinned back.

Then Chase came up towards me, giving me a speculative look. "We're going to have to add something like that to the new movie... It'll be fabulous..."

"Sure," I grinned, "But when are we going to start filming it?"

"It'll be a few months," he told me with a serious look. "I've already got the ball rolling, and as soon as I finish this one I'll be able to give it my full attention..."

"Just wondering," I told him.

"Enough with the break," Chase suddenly yelled out, "We need to get back to work..."

I just nodded, knowing that I wasn't going to be needed right away. But as we walked back to the set, I noticed the way that the men were staring at me. That wasn't exactly new since I'd sort of gotten used to getting that reaction from men after my transformation. However, I wasn't sure that I'd ever get completely used to the idea that men were staring at me like that and thinking dirty thoughts.

"Not like I have a choice," I mused, smiling faintly.

Then I noticed one man staring at Tina and muttering, "Damn waste..."

Another man added, "Yeah, but that camera girl is one lucky chick..."

I blinked as I realized what they were talking about and turned to Tina, "Are we that obvious?"

"I guess," she grinned at me. "But then again, we've been hanging out together quite a bit, and I haven't made it any secret that I'm out of the closet. And after what you told Reese when you fought him, everyone knows which way you swing..."

"I guess," I grumbled, feeling a little embarrassed though that it was that obvious and that I didn't even realize it.

Then Tina brightened up, "Maybe you can talk Chase into giving you a female love interest in the next movie... Maybe a hot looking girl..."

I just laughed at that, "Yeah, but I don't know how well it would go over with the action movie people... " Of course, knowing guys as well as I did, having a lesbian main character might get more people to watch the movie...at least as long as we actually showed a make out session on film.

A short time later, I was sitting back and sort of scanning through the script of the new movie that Chase had given me. It was far from a final script, but it was enough to give me a good idea about some of the main plot points that he wanted to cover in the movie. The movie didn't look particularly creative or unique, but I thought it should be fun making.

Suddenly, some guy came running onto the set, yelling, "C'mon... You've got to see this..."

"CUT!" Chase yelled, turning and glaring at the man who'd come barging in and ruined the take. "You'd better have a damn good reason for wasting my time and money or I'll skin you alive..."

The man paused for a moment, staring at Chase and then everyone else before suddenly blurting out, "It's on TV. You've got to come see this..."

I frowned, then followed along behind Chase, Reese and just about everyone else. Someone had a TV going in one of the trailers and had pulled it to the door so that everyone could see. The channel was on one of the news channels and the reporter was going on with a look of terror.

When I came in, the first words that I heard were, "another nine eleven..."

"What the?" I blinked in surprise.

Then the details began to pour on. "All communication with Las Vegas Nevada has been lost..." Then there were other comments, "All phone lines to Vegas are dead...," and "Satellite photos of Las Vegas are blurry and indistinct..."

"What he hell is going on?" someone asked from near me.

"A terrorist attack?" Tyler demanded.

"Maybe someone used a nuke," one of the stunt men suggested, with more than a bit of nervousness in his voice.

Everyone was tense, and more than a few people were making comparisons to nine eleven. More than a few suggestions that this was the new Twin Towers... There was fear and confusion, which was only made worse by the fact that the news didn't seem to have anything to report other than that something extremely strange seemed to be going on in Las Vegas and that the situation was being investigated.

The news continued, "Planes and helicopters that have gone too close to Las Vegas are reported to have crashed..." And then there was one 'expert' who was saying, "From what we can tell, it looks like Las Vegas was the center of an electro magnetic pulse..."

"Oh shit," I whispered, feeling my heart jump up into my throat. Then I turned to Tina and exclaimed, "I need to get to an airport NOW!"

"Why?" Tina demanded, looking at me with a worried expression. I was already rushing towards my rental car, with Tina following close behind me. "What's going on...?"

I finally stopped and gave Tina a steady look. Then I took a deep breath and announced, "It's Rekegei..."

 

To Be Continued