A Second Generation Whateley Academy Adventure

Scamper 1: Pop Goes the Weasel

by

Amethyst

Part Three

Warning: This one may be a rough read, so please keep that in mind before continuing.

Claremont Road
Mesa, Arizona
Dr. Deville’s Clinic
Wednesday, December 14th, 2016 – 5:45 p.m.

Alison Tsosie appeared from her teleport in Dr. Deville’s office as they had arranged and found the good doctor sitting at her desk and looking at something on her tablet. “Knock knock, Doc,” she said to announce her presence.

“Toho, you’re right on time,” the horned doctor replied as she looked up with a smile, her spaded tail swishing absently behind her. Then her eyes opened a little wider in surprise. “Is it just you then? I thought the whole team was coming.”

The purple-haired catgirl shook her head with a sigh. “Something came up and the rest of the team is handling it while I came here.”

One of the doctor’s eyebrows rose just a smidgen as she offered, “If it’s something important, we can always meet later at my home.”

“Nah, it’s just a pair of C-list supervillain wannabes causing trouble,” Toho replied with a shake of her head. “We’ve dealt with them before. We don’t need the whole team there for that, and Bolt will call me if they do need me. This is more important. That girl… Carmen needs help, whether she’ll admit it or not. We’ve spent the past couple of days getting things in place for our plan, and you said that we only had less than a week before this window of opportunity closes.”

The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile as she said, “You’ve gotten attached.”

She had gotten attached, but how couldn’t she? Carmen was small, vulnerable, skittish, and seemingly scared of the world and even if they hadn’t found any signs of physical abuse, the whole team, and even the doctor herself, suspected that the poor girl’s mother was abusing her somehow. It was obvious in the way she reacted to some things, especially when they mentioned talking with her mother, or when mentioning her mother in any way, really.

Carmen was so different from the tiny Werefox girl that she had taken to Dallas for her MID the week before. Fanak was so excitable, and she wanted to be a hero even more than Alison herself had when she first manifested. The two young women couldn’t be more different, even if they were both on the small side.

“Yeah, I have,” Alison admitted. “That poor girl needs somebody to give a shit about her. She looked so… terrified and beaten down. I was so close to getting her to open up to me the other day when we parted ways, I could see it in her eyes.”

Dr. Deville nodded in understanding and sighed. “Without any obvious outward signs of abuse, we can’t get involved directly unless she summons her courage and asks for our help, Toho. The poor girl is running scared though, she started having a panic attack when I recognized her, and I’m half afraid that she’ll try to avoid coming to her next appointment after the way she reacted when I looked her over.”

“Which is exactly why I wish we could be doing more,” the catgirl grouched in reply before raising her hands to ward off the doctor’s protests before they could be voiced. “I know, I know, you can’t reveal any sensitive details about her to us because of doctor/patient confidentiality, which is why we have to get them to come to us.”

“Yes, I would be pushing the bounds just by letting you know that she’s a patient of mine, if she hadn’t already made it obvious to everyone herself from her reaction when she first saw me,” the horned woman said with a sigh as she set down her tablet. “Her mother is not a patient though, and so long as it has nothing to do with Carmen or her file, I can share my observations on her.”

“What can you tell us, Doc? Is her mother going to be a problem?” Alison asked, her heart tightening in worry for the girl she had befriended. “I’m telling you; something is wrong there. She’s been manifested long enough to have that kind of GSD and yet she didn’t have an MID yet, and you saw how jumpy she was when we mentioned her mother.”

For a moment, Dr. Deville wore a pensive expression as she put her thoughts in order and then she let out another sigh before replying. “The woman,” she said distastefully, “is hard to read. She puts on the act of a concerned mother, but I fear that it’s just that, an act. I believe that she is an experienced manipulator and since I can’t do much without some form of evidence, or at least more than a gut feeling, we will have to out-manipulate her. I know you’re concerned, but we need to handle this carefully if we’re going to give Carmen an escape route.”

Alison didn’t like it, but she knew the doctor was right, they needed to handle this right if they wanted to give Carmen a chance to take what help they could give right now and separate her from her likely abusive mother. Carmen needed to want to take that chance though, or they had to convince her mother to take it, so most of this was going to rest on the doctor’s shoulders now. She and the other members of the Nuevo Rangers had done all that they could to open the door. Hopefully, Carmen would step through.

She pulled the large stack of paperwork from her satchel and passed it across the desk. Much of the forms, contract, and other paperwork she had been working on with the team’s lawyer since Monday, but the rest, including some colorful brochures and yet more forms, she had gotten fast-tracked by a friend on the east coast who owed her some favors. “This should be everything,” she told her doctor friend, “when you see them, make them an offer they can’t refuse.”

“I’ll do my best,” the other woman agreed, idly scratching at one of her horns as she looked through the assorted paperwork. “This looks good. Your team has set the groundwork, and I will do my best to make the offer sound appealing, but I’m afraid that Carmen will need to choose to take the chance you’re offering her, even if I can convince her mother.”

“I know, Doc. I just… I want to save her,” Alison replied, her voice cracking with emotion that she was trying to keep a lid on. “I just know there’s something wrong with her home life, I know the signs, she reminds me of me and my sister before Mom finally got the nerve to kick the abusive prick who fathered us to the curb. You have no idea how hard it is for me to not just teleport to wherever she is right now and bring her somewhere safe, but you’re right, we can’t act on just gut feelings, and she needs to choose to take the hand we’re offering.”

“Toho… Alison, we’re doing our best and offering her a safety net, and that’s all that we can do right now,” Dr. Deville offered gently, reaching out to place a hand on Alison’s. “I would like to do more too, and believe me, if I get anything solid pointing to abuse, I’ll call you up to teleport her away myself until her mother can be hauled away in cuffs. I don’t think it’ll be that easy though, this woman knows how to cover her tracks.”

Alison knew she was right, but she wanted to do more. “Yeah, I know, Doc,” she repeated. Now, if only she could believe it. “I guess it’s in your hands, now.”

“I’ll find a way to convince them,” the horned doctor promised with a faint smile as she stuck out her silver-hued tongue. “I believe that woman has a special place waiting for her in hell, so who better to offer her a deal than a silver-tongued devil?”

Claremont Road
Mesa, Arizona
Friday, December 16th, 2016 – 12:34 a.m.

“I should have tried to get out of this.” That was the thought that kept going through my mind for almost the entire drive from Santa Fe to Phoenix, as a sense of terror and dread grew more intense with every mile that we put behind us. There was so much that could go horribly wrong on this trip.

We could get stopped by the cops or the MCO. I had my MID in my purse along with a few other important documents, but if I had to use it, I would have to explain to Mom why I had one and how I had gotten it. Then I would have to tell her about how I had snuck out while she was gone for the weekend and everything that had happened as a result. If that happened, Mom would flip and probably make it so I couldn’t get out through the basement window again.

There was also no way that Dr. Deville wasn’t going to recognize me now and realize that Carlos and Carmen were one and the same, if she didn’t know already. If she showed Mom that she recognized me, then I was toast. The doctor seemed nice enough, but I hadn’t asked her to keep our meeting last week a secret, and I was terrified of her saying something that would let Mom know about my misadventures while she was in Reno.

I was quiet, nervous, and trying to distract myself for the entire drive until we got into Phoenix last night and got a hotel room. I had convinced Mom that I was worried about being seen without a MID while we were on the interstate and so I spent the trip lying down in the back seat, quietly freaking out and texting with Megan. I had to tell her that we were going to be in town for my appointment and to ask her not to do anything to give away that we knew each other if Mom and I happened to stop in at the ice cream parlor or saw her on the street.

That night, while my mother slept in the bed closest to the door, I found myself tossing and turning anxiously for most of the night. I had managed to play off my behavior as anxiety over the appointment and what the doctor might find out about my mutation, a mostly truthful statement. When I managed to sleep, my slumber was staggered and plagued by horrible nightmares of my mother finding out about my brief escape from the house and going nuclear.

So, I was feeling tired and even more anxious this morning as we checked out of the hotel and had either an early lunch or a late brunch before leaving Phoenix for Mesa. As hungry as I was, I had to force myself to finish everything on my plate and felt like emptying my roiling stomach for the duration of the relatively short car trip. When Mom parked in front of Cool Cat Creamery, I was trembling so badly that I had to keep my hands hidden in the front pocket of my hoodie.

It was nice and warm compared to home though. We’d had a fresh snowfall the day before leaving, but here it was sunny and pleasantly warm without being overly hot, warm enough that I would have looked out of place and probably overheated in my winter jacket. “We still have a while before your appointment, Corazón. Would you like to stop for some ice cream first?” my mother asked almost too sweetly.

“Umm… s-sure, Mom,” I haltingly replied. Maybe a milkshake or a banana split might help to cheer me up and get my mind off my impending doom.

“You’ve been looking a little chubby, and we girls need to watch our weight, but just this once should be fine. You’ve been so nervous about this appointment, so I thought it might help get your mind off things. We won’t be making a habit of it and letting you become a blimp again though,” Mom said, sweetly at first and turning sterner toward the end.

What? I didn’t have an ounce of fat on me, except maybe my relatively small boobs and a bit too much junk in the trunk. The comment stung, and even though I knew it was false, I couldn’t help looking down at my very flat tummy. It did help to take my mind momentarily off my appointment though, so maybe she really was just trying to distract me?

Still, I couldn’t believe she went there, she knew how sensitive I was about my weight before. “D-did you just call me fat?”

Mom rolled her eyes and sighed as she huffed, “That's not what I meant, you always blow things out of proportion. Look, Corazón, I don’t want us to be mad at one another when we should be focusing on your appointment. Let's forgive and forget and go have a treat together."

Why was it that every time we had one of these arguments recently, I ended up feeling like the bad guy? Still, to avoid making things worse, I replied, “S-sure, Mom. Forgive and forget.” After all, she hadn’t really meant it that way, right? I was probably being oversensitive and overreacting because I was so anxious.

I followed Mom inside the ice cream parlor, where both Kelly and Megan were at the counter, and I winced at the possible trouble that might come from this. Megan looked discreetly in my direction before slapping a customer service smile on her face and greeting us. “Hi, welcome to Cool Cat Creamery. I haven’t seen you around before, are you new in town?”

I silently thanked my friend for playing ignorant as Mom responded, “We’re just here for my daughter’s doctor appointment.”

“Dr. Deville? She’s a great doctor, I’m sure she’ll be a big help. Manifesting and having GSD is so hard, and she’s so supportive. I’m Megan, so, what can I get for you ladies today?” Megan offered, somehow keeping her smile in place.

“I’ll try your banana split,” Mom replied thoughtfully. “Carmen had it the last time we were here, and it looked delicious.”

“J-just a chocolate milkshake for me, please,” I requested. I wasn’t even sure I could finish that with the storm of anxiety that was still brewing in my chest. The moment that my mom had paid for our treats and was at a table while I waited for them to be ready, I silently whispered, “Thank you soo much, Megan.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” she quietly hissed. “Kelly is memorizing your face and scent and if I ever think you’re in any sort of danger from your mother, she and some of her friends will come and find you and pull you out of that hellhole you call home. Don’t think she won’t or can’t, now that she’ll know your face and scent. With her powers, she could track you down anywhere.”

I glanced over her shoulder at the white-haired catgirl, who was looking at me with an intensity that made me shiver, even as she nodded to agree with her ward. Then her expression softened to one of concern as she quietly spoke up. “So, you’re the ‘Carmen’ that she’s been so worried about. Know that if you ever need help or a place to lay low, you can always call on us. Please don’t wait until it’s too late.”

The bell above the door signaled another customer entering the ice cream parlor so Kelly turned to start quickly making our order as Megan pointed two fingers at her eyes, then one at me before I could step aside so she could serve the new customer. I was very thoughtful as I took our order to the table where Mom was waiting and barely registered the taste of my milkshake. Somehow, I found the glass empty though by the time we needed to leave for my appointment.

The moment that we walked into Dr. Deville’s clinic, Mom walked up to the reception desk to have a quick and quiet conversation with Stacy, the receptionist, while I found a seat. Mom had mentioned something about making sure she knew the right name to call me by. By this point, I had gone from nervous to emotionally numb about whatever was about to happen. Thankfully, it wasn’t long after Mom had come to sit beside me that Stacy called out, “Carmen, come on up, Sweetie.”

My legs very nearly gave out on me as I got to my feet and Mom asked, “Do you want me to come in there with you, Corazón?”

“N-no, I’ll be okay, Mom. I’m a big girl… even if my height disagrees,” I said with a sigh of relief. Going alone meant that I would have a chance to get a feel for the Doc and her reactions before she had a chance to meet with Mom, and maybe head off any potential trouble at the pass.

So, I managed to make my way up to the reception desk on my own, where Stacy led me to an exam room, a different one than last time, and ushered me inside before finding me a paper gown. “Here you go, Carmen. You can just put that on, and Dr. Deville should be with you in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Stacy.” I had barely gotten the reply out before she smiled at me with her razor-sharp teeth, nodded, and left the room to give me privacy and return to her station.

Now that the moment was at hand, I found myself nervous again. My breathing hitched and my hands trembled as I carefully removed my clothes and donned the paper gown. I found myself nervously clutching my tail and holding it in front of me as if I could hide behind it, as I waited on the examination table. Thankfully, it was not long before the doctor herself stepped into the room and closed the door behind her to ensure our privacy.

Nor did she waste any time getting to the heart of the matter. “Good afternoon, Carmen. How have you been feeling since we saw each other last week?”

I would have collapsed, had I not already been seated, and let out a long sigh that I wasn’t sure whether it was from relief or resignation. I almost let out a spray of musk from the fear building up inside me, but I managed to hold it in somehow. I knew that it wasn’t like I was going to be able to hide it from her, but now I needed to figure out how I was going to convince her not to tell my mom anything about last week.

“I… thought you might have… recognized me,” I finally said between labored breaths, still clutching my tail, my heart hammering away inside my small chest.

“I didn’t, at least not at first. Not until I saw that you recognized me,” the devilish doctor admitted. “Since I already gave you a fairly thorough exam last week, today I will just give you a brief visual exam and have you get into the larger scanners that I wasn’t able to use last week. We can use the rest of the time that I would have spent for a full exam to have a little talk.”

“But I…” I began to protest.

To my surprise, the doctor hopped up on the examination table beside me as casually as if we were both sharing a bench in the park. Her tone was gentle as she said, “You’re easier to read than you think, Carmen. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and there were too many other coincidences about you for me to discount your true identity.”

I sagged behind the cover of my tail, but she wasn’t finished yet. “I’ll be frank with you, Carmen. Toho and the other Rangers are worried about you, they’re concerned that you might be having trouble at home. Seeing your reactions to mentions of home or your mother while I was there, I am inclined to agree. Now, is there anything you need to tell me? I’ll remind you now that I am your doctor. It is your health, wellness, needs, and interests that concern me, not your mother’s. Nothing that you tell me here will be shared with anyone else except upon your request, not even your mother if I think your safety is at risk.”

For some reason, my heart clenched in my chest, and I could feel hot tears stinging my eyes and running down my cheeks. For a second I considered it. Telling her everything that had been going on since our last appointment, and my life before it. She and the Nuevo Rangers thought I was being abused, and so did Megan, could they all really be wrong? Even I sometimes thought it, when I realized how trapped I felt in my life and the way she treated me sometimes.

“I… I… can’t,” I choked out in answer to her question, my voice barely audible as I tried to choke back tears that were already flowing as terror held my heart in a vice. If Mom somehow found out I said something, she’d go nuclear, and who knew what she’d do then. And if I was as easy to read as people seemed to think, then she would know it just by looking at me.

The doctor sitting beside me let out a long and weary sigh. “I feared that would be the case, but I want you to know that the Rangers and I will all be here for you if you ever need to open up about what’s eating you up inside. Toho tells me that you have her number, and she can get to you faster than any of us if you ever need us. She and the other Rangers have been working hard on a safety net for you as well, to give you an escape option. I won’t tell you what that is now though, I would rather you look genuinely surprised when I bring it up later with your mother.”

“S-sorry…” I blubbered into the tip of my tail. I wasn’t even sure why; it was just the only thing I could think to say.

I felt a gentle hand on my back as Dr. Deville sighed and said, “If I’m right, you’re the victim here, you shouldn’t be the one who’s sorry. That should be your…” She didn’t finish, but we both knew who she meant, only adding, “I don’t believe she’s the type though. If I’m right about her, she would probably even make herself out to be the victim.” There was a moment where my muffled sniffling was the only sound and then she suddenly asked, “Do you remember what I said when we first met about GSD?”

When I couldn’t respond after a moment, she answered her own question. “I said ‘You need to take your situation and own it, or others will do it for you, and they probably won’t be as good-natured about it.’ Well, sometimes the same goes for life. If you can’t take charge of your life, somebody else will, and they usually won’t have the best intentions or your best interests at heart. It could be a bully, a manipulative friend or boyfriend, or it could be your own mother.”

“Yeah… but…” I started to say but halted the words when I didn’t know how to finish. But I’m just too scared of her? Of what will happen? Of losing the only family I have? But I just want to believe my mother loves me? There was this mix of thoughts, daydreams, nightmares, and possible outcomes running through my head, a steady stream of battling truth and fiction, and I wasn’t even sure which was which anymore. It all made my chest tighten as I hugged my tail and started to cry again.

Dr. Deville gently rubbed my back. “You’re a smart girl, Carmen, smart enough that I think you already know the score, and maybe even why you don’t want to admit the truth to yourself,” she said as if reading my mind. “You’re also smart enough to realize that, as your doctor, if I even suspect some form of abuse when our meeting with your mother is done, I will have to report it.”

Yeah, I did know that, but I didn’t answer her. Because as she said, I knew the score, and I was also smart enough to read between the lines. Not only was I Latina, but I was also a mutant now, one who couldn’t hide what I was. CPS wouldn’t give a shit about what happened to me; even if they did by some miracle send someone to investigate the claim, they would probably just sweep my case under the rug and keep ignoring me and Mom after that unless I ended up in an emergency room or a morgue, and maybe even then.

I was pretty sure she knew it too. She let out a sigh and then, with a huff, she hopped off the examination table as I was thinking over what she said and gave me a smile that was obviously forced. “Now, lay down on that table, please, so I can get your examination done. It’ll give you some time to calm down before you have to go back to the waiting room.”

I had enough time to calm down before I went back to the waiting room and was fairly sure by that time that I could trust Dr. Deville not to reveal anything to my mother that I didn’t want her to. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait until she closed the clinic for my test results this time either since Stacy had already booked a half hour for that, which ended up being a little less than an hour after I got out of my examination with her. Now, after playing on my phone in the waiting room for that time, we were once again in Dr. Deville’s office.

As soon as we were all seated, Dr. Deville got the ball rolling. “Well, seeing as Carmen has told me that she recently had her first period, and what I’m seeing here in my various scans and test results, it would appear that her changes are now complete.”

After that announcement, she started going over the very same results that she had discussed with me from her examination last week. She even elaborated and went on to explain what some of those results meant, as if I had never heard any of it before. That could have been for my mother’s sake, but I had a feeling that she was covering for me too and a feeling of relief swelled in my chest as I relaxed in my chair.

I thought that she had already brought up everything that she did last time when she added, “Speaking of Carmen’s unique traits, an opportunity has come across my desk that she, out of all my patients, is uniquely suited for. I’d like to take a moment to tell you both about it since it is something that could change Carmen’s life.”

“Carmen has just gotten used to being a girl, she doesn’t need some quack miracle remedy giving her false hope. She’s healthy, and that’s all we need to know,” my mother said vehemently, moving to stand up, turning away, and reaching out for my arm as she cut off the doctor’s spiel.

“This offer isn’t for some medical treatment,” the doctor offered soothingly to my mother’s turned back. “I know that you must want the very best for your daughter, any good mother would, so I think you’ll want to hear this.”

Mom froze, her hand just shy of gripping my wrist to pull me out of my chair, as if those soothing words were an accusation otherwise. By the time she turned around to face the doctor again, she had gone from gritting her teeth to smiling in the blink of an eye and her body language became a lot more relaxed. The sudden change was frightening in a way, and her scent felt wrong somehow compared to what I was seeing with my eyes.

“Of course, I would be happy to hear you out then, so long as you aren’t trying to offer her false hope about her… mutant situation,” my mother replied in a conciliatory tone.

“I would never consider it, being a mutant myself,” Dr. Deville placatingly assured us. “This opportunity is more… educational. The Nuevo Rangers have recently approached me about a scholarship of sorts for a deserving young person. Since most of their team have some sort of GSD, they are looking to sponsor a young mutant with GSD from the Santa Fe area to attend Whateley Academy, an exclusive private school for mutants to learn to control their powers, and where she can learn to live with having GSD. They have yet to find anyone locally through their outreach programs and, as I mentioned earlier, Carmen is uniquely suited to meet all the requirements for their sponsorship since I have nobody else in my patient list who is from Santa Fe and meets all the requirements.”

The doctor paused, letting that hang in the air briefly before adding, “This would be a full sponsorship.They would be covering her travel expenses, tuition fees, dorm fees, books, and other related materials, and offering a monthly allowance for her personal needs. She would also be able to train with the team regularly when not in school so she can join them officially when she becomes an adult and would have a private room available at their headquarters. The team wants to give a hand up to someone who can lead their next generation of heroes. Given the tuition rates of this prestigious school alone, the best of its kind in the world, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

My jaw dropped when she started talking about the offer and I was still trying to pick it up. Was this the safety net she was talking about? It had to be, what else could it be, coming from the Nuevo Rangers themselves? Mom looked torn, as if she was trying to find some reason to refuse, but why would she do that? Dr. Deville was right that I would probably never get another opportunity like this in my life.

Mom looked at me, at Dr. Deville, and then turned her gaze back to me before sighing and making an expression like this decision was causing her physical discomfort. Then she asked slowly and carefully, “This school, is it safe, for people like… my daughter?”

“Absolutely,” the doctor assured her without hesitation. “There are plenty of students with GSD there, just like your daughter. Whateley Academy takes the protection of its students very seriously as well, on and off campus. Even the most dangerous of supervillains would think twice before trying to harm one of their students.”

“What do you think, Corazón? Is this something you’re interested in?” my mother asked after a brief silence.

“Of course, Mom,” I replied immediately. “You heard her, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

My mother winced, just faintly enough that I nearly missed it. I was still getting used to different scents, especially since I didn’t get out of the house much (at all) to explore my enhanced senses much, but for some reason, it almost seemed like this offer made Mom angry for some reason. Hasn’t she been saying that the whole reason I can’t go outside is because she wants me safe?

Finally, she nodded slowly and took her seat again as she said, “I would like to hear more details then… so we can be sure this is going to be good for Carmen.”

Dr. Deville smiled across her desk at us, not looking the least bit flummoxed or disturbed by my mother’s strange resistance to the idea as she organized a stack of forms and brochures on her desk and pushed them across and towards my mother. “I thought you might. As it happens, they sent me copies of the proposal and contract for any possible young adults under my care who fit the requirements to look over with their parents. There is also information and brochures for Whateley Academy and registration and associated forms for the school. I’ll let you take the rest of the afternoon to look over the materials and see you after the clinic is closed to discuss Carmen’s hopefully bright future. Perhaps I can also arrange a face-to-face with my contact for the Nuevo Rangers.”

Mom and I spent the next hour back at Cool Cat Creamery, looking over the materials that we had gotten from Dr. Deville, my mother nursing a coffee while I had another milkshake. Dr. Deville was right about me being well-suited for the offer, to the point that I had to wonder if the Rangers had made this whole thing up just for me. Some of the requirements seemed logical enough, but also seemed to point right at me with a neon sign.

First, of course, they wanted someone with significant GSD, enough so that it might cause them to face discrimination and have an impact on their daily life, and then there was tiny fuzzy me with my obvious animal features. Then they were looking for someone who would normally be disadvantaged by their gender and/or ethnicity, preferably female or nonbinary and Latina, Black, or Native American. The final ones were someone from Santa Fe or the surrounding area, from either a low-income or single-parent family, and fourteen or fifteen years old so they could start school as a freshman either in the coming winter term or next fall.

I mean, I’m sure they could have found someone who met all those requirements if they really looked, but they wouldn’t have an easy time of it. Dr. Deville wasn’t kidding about me being uniquely qualified. The terms being offered were exactly what the doctor said they were too, and there was also something stating that ‘If the candidate does not yet have an MID, the Nuevo Rangers will arrange for the testing and front any associated expenses related to both that and MID registration.’

I was pretty sure that there were no costs related to testing or getting a MID, but I had a suspicion that it was another little ‘perk’ to make Mom want to take the offer and avoid me having to explain to her why I already had one. Whoever had worked on this proposal and contract had thought of everything. And then there was the stuff that I was reading about the school, it sounded amazing, even for a socially awkward introvert like me. Then again, anything was better than being stuck as a prisoner in my home and maybe some time apart would make things between me and Mom less tense and help our relationship.

In the end, Mom grudgingly decided to take the offered deal and started looking over the registration forms for the school. I didn’t envy her the task of filling them out since that stack of forms was thick, and it looked like they were going to take hours to fill out. At least it looked like a lot of those questions could be answered from stuff we found out from Dr. Deville.

Other than powers, issues related to my mutation, and stuff like that, a lot of the stuff looked pretty standard, if extensive. It looked like there was a whole page for just gender and sexuality alone, including what looked like a ‘Male to Female Changeling’ option for people like me. It was while Mom was going through that page that she said quietly, “I need to know what to put for your sexuality when I fill these out, Carmen.”

I thought a moment and shrugged since I honestly had no idea how to answer that, and not only because of my mother’s strong feminist leanings. “I honestly don’t know anymore, Mom. I don’t think I’ve been attracted to anyone since I manifested, but it’s not like I get out much.”

The last part was muttered under my breath, and it seemed like Mom didn’t hear it since she didn’t jump on me about needing to keep me safe. Instead, she just nodded as she absently said, “Fine, I’ll mark it as ‘unknown/undecided’ then. I will start filling these out once we get home since you seem so set on doing this.” It sounded like she was still really conflicted about this for some reason, but she was going to let me go.

I did manage to sneak away for a few minutes while Mom was concentrating on examining the various paperwork, as if searching for something sinister. Excusing myself to use the washroom, I managed to sneak in a quick and private talk with Megan to let her know I was okay and let her in on what was happening. While my friend seemed happy that I was being offered this chance to get away from my mother at a school on the East Coast and that the heroes had given me a safety net in general, she was still worried about my mom doing something nasty to me. Before we had to split up again, she reminded me to be careful and to call her or the Rangers if anything happened and I needed an escape.

It was just shy of four o’clock when Mom and I finally finished looking over the Rangers’ offer, the school materials, and other related information. Between that, needing to be back at Dr. Deville’s by five, and having an early lunch, Mom decided that we should go to The Odd One for dinner. Mom was mostly quiet throughout the meal, and it seemed like she was doing a lot of thinking, so I was hoping that maybe she really was turning over a new leaf here and I wouldn’t be locked up inside all the time after this.

Lucía frowned thoughtfully as she ate her meal and considered how to navigate these new complications. She had to accept this offer, there was no doubt about that, that devilish doctor had made that much apparent. That bitch had somehow seen right through her and expertly backed her into a corner on this, and she was still seething about it. If she refused to take this ‘golden opportunity’ then that doctor would move to have the boy taken away from her, and she couldn’t afford that. He was instrumental in her future plans and her revenge against Arthur Pond.

Even she had to admit that this opportunity was a good one for a child like hers and the boy fit the requirements perfectly. She would almost suspect that the opportunity was created specifically for him, but it was most likely a fortunate coincidence. Capes wouldn’t go to such trouble for some child they had never met and she doubted that the doctor had told them anything about him.

Despite her devilish appearance, Lucía pegged this doctor as the type to follow the rules. She had no doubts that Deville would be sure to carry out her implied threat to report her to child services should she think, even for a moment, that Lucía wouldn’t do what she felt was best for her child. By that same measurement though, Lucía was certain that she would not break patient confidentiality to these heroes.

Still, Lucía was certain that there was a way to turn this situation to her advantage. For one thing, she could get that annoying MID issue taken care of without having to answer difficult questions about why she had waited so long. For another, the boy would be getting training on how to use his powers, which would only make ‘her’ more appealing as a face for her feminist group.

This future leader of a registered hero team bit alone would have the other women in the group salivating while thinking of an entire team of women with an established presence that would hold to their ideals. Of course, that meant they would need to hurry and start properly educating the boy. Unfortunately, she was going to miss the meeting tonight and they weren’t due to have another for another two weeks, after Christmas.

She would have to be sure to bring him to that meeting to start instilling their ideals before he left for that school. When he returned home for the summer, the group could arrange a little vacation or summer camp for a few weeks to firmly instill the realities of being a woman and the organization’s goals, core beliefs, and purpose. After some structured education with appropriate reinforcement of desirable behaviors, they would be able to truly bring him into their ranks.

Lucía would need to make sure that he knew not to bring up the shameful fact that he was born male, it would probably be as humiliating for him as it was for her though if anyone found out. Far better for everyone if he was just born a girl. The only ones who knew Carmen’s true circumstances were the two of them and that doctor, and that goody-good doctor wouldn’t be giving anyone such confidential information.

The boy could be convinced to keep it quiet and play the role, even if someone did think to ask, with the proper motivation. She would make sure that the registration papers were filled out properly to reflect that he was a girl. Carmen already having the proper documentation and a body that would convince any naysayers would help with that.

Yes, this didn’t affect her plans as much as she originally feared. This could work to her advantage, and the campaign against Arthur coming from someone connected to an established hero team would only lend more credence to them when combined with paternity and DNA tests to establish the boy as Arthur’s daughter. She would be able to drag Arthur’s name through the mud for months and ruin his reputation before telling her story and taking everything that he held dear. The thought brought a smile to Lucía’s lips.

Mom went from pensive and seeming a little miffed about the chance I was being offered to almost seeming happy about it while we were eating dinner. Maybe this was a good sign. Having some time away from my mother and not being a prisoner at home would certainly be a big improvement in my life. Was this what Dr. Deville meant about a safety net?

By the time we finished dinner, we had to hurry to get to Dr. Deville’s clinic before the official closing hours. Thankfully, Stacy was expecting us and led us right to the doctor’s private office to wait for her to finish with her last patient of the day. We had been waiting for about ten minutes before Dr. Deville entered the room with Toho, who was in her Native American themed costume.

I had to carefully control the expression on my face to not give away that I already knew her as Dr. Deville made the introductions. “This is Toho, one of my contacts with the Nuevo Rangers. Toho this is the promising young candidate that I told you about, Carmen Melendez, and her mother, Lucía.”

Relief flooded through me as Toho put up a wonderful act, looking me over thoughtfully before reaching out to shake both of our hands. She was all smiles as she said, “It’s nice to meet you both, I was beginning to think we’d never find someone appropriate for our sponsorship. We really wanted to give a chance to someone whose GSD and social setbacks would hold them back from other opportunities. Dr. Deville here tells me that you meet all our selection criteria, Carmen.”

“I… I guess,” I replied nervously with a sidelong glance toward my mother, who was trying to look supportive. I was pretty sure from the acts Toho and my doctor were putting on, and my talk with Dr. Deville earlier, that the only true selection criteria was being me. “Dr. Deville would probably know that better than me.”

Toho smiled but nodded. “She has assured me that you do and believes that you can benefit from this opportunity. Have you both looked over the contract and forms that the Doc gave you? What about the pamphlets for the school? What do you both think? Do you want to be a cape, to train and eventually work with us in the Rangers, Carmen?”

“I’m… umm… very grateful for this chance,” I said as I smiled and tried to show just how grateful I truly was.

“Yes, we’ve looked over everything, and I think this will be a great opportunity for my daughter,” Mom answered next, sounding like she was almost excited about this. “I’m afraid we haven’t had the time to fill out any of the forms yet though, and Carmen doesn’t have an MID yet. I’ve been a little afraid for her safety and have been homeschooling her since she manifested.”

Toho quickly waved that off, still smiling as she told us. “We can handle getting her a MID, but I’m afraid we will have to hurry with both that and the paperwork if she’s going to be able to start in the winter term, Lucía. If you could sign the consent forms and the contract for our sponsorship now, that would be ideal.”

Dr. Deville pulled a pen from the pocket of her lab coat, offering it to my mother as she said, “Feel free to use my desk.”

“As for the MID and the forms and registration papers for the school,” Toho continued with a pensive look on her face, “I could take Carmen to our headquarters back in Santa Fe tonight and give her a tour. That way, I can take her for testing first thing in the morning at an MCO office I know is more mutant-friendly than the one in Santa Fe. I’m afraid that the testing will probably take most of the day since they’ll want to be thorough, but I would be happy to provide meals for her and bring her home in the evening after we’ve gotten her MID sorted out. If you could have the paperwork for the school ready for me to send to them by tomorrow evening, I can get some contacts at Whateley to help me put a rush on Carmen’s registration.”

Mom looked like she was reluctant but thinking it over as she went to Dr. Deville’s desk to begin signing the forms and contract for the Rangers. Finally, she nodded and let out a sigh that my sensitive ears barely picked up. “That should be… fine,” she replied as she signed the last of the consent forms.

Downtown
Los Angeles, California
Friday, December 16th, 2016 – 4:43 p.m.

I still couldn’t believe that Toho managed to convince my mom to let me out of her sight for the night and most of tomorrow. Since I didn’t have much with me in the overnight bag we had brought for the trip to Mesa, and I had worn those clothes yesterday, Toho had promised my mother that she would see to it I had some clothes for tomorrow before stuffing the signed contract and forms in her messenger bag and teleporting us away. I had my eyes closed as we vanished and then suddenly, I was smelling unfamiliar scents and smog.

I opened my eyes to see palm trees and skyscrapers. “This is not your headquarters,” I said as I looked around. Way to state the obvious, Carmen. “Where are we?”

“You didn’t think I was actually going to give you a tour of our headquarters when we’ve already done that, did you?” Toho teased with a grin. “We’re in Los Angeles, I did promise to get you some clothes, and there is something I think you need to take care of. Thank goodness we’re in another time zone; we should be able to do the stuff at the bank before it closes.”

“What?” I asked, completely confused. It was only then that I noticed we were in front of a fancy-looking building with the words The Bank of Karedonia and the Maldives carved into the stone archway above the pair of glass and steel doors.

Toho looked suddenly very serious as she told me, “I think it would be a good idea if you open a new bank account and place any money you have there, where only you can access it. You have a MID now, and there are a few banks that will allow you to open an account with them using that as your identification. It’s up to the banks whether they allow it or not, and most still don’t, but KatMBank is one of those that do. It’s also very secure, and one of the best banks in the world for keeping your assets safe. This is the bank that the other Rangers and I use.”

“But I don’t…” I began to protest.

Toho crouched down so she was eye-to-eye with me and smiled. “You don’t have to, Carmen, and I don’t know your financial situation, but I think it’s a good idea for you. Regardless, we will need an account to transfer your living allowance to while you’re in school. I have the first month’s here and you could use it to open the account if you have no other money to do so today.”

She did have a point there, so I let her take me inside the bank and opened an account using my MID. As someone with major and obvious GSD, it actually made sense to use my MID so the account would be under the name Scamper and I wouldn’t have to reveal my real name and other personal details. Toho said that was a good way to get one’s family and friends hurt.

We walked out of there with a new temporary bank card for me, the permanent one would be sent to the Nuevo Rangers headquarters, hopefully before the new year. The account only had the four hundred that Toho had given me, but I was seriously considering her suggestion to transfer the funds from my other account too at some point. I wasn’t sure how much access Mom had to that one since my monthly allowance payments were automated, but she hadn’t touched it so far and she was my mom, so I could trust her, right?

Still, there was almost twenty thousand dollars in there, from the monthly deposits since I was born, and what if I needed that money? The reason I was considering it was because that account was still under the name Carlos, and using my bank card in person with that name still on it could be tricky. I decided that Toho was probably right, and I should transfer my funds to my new KatMBank account using my online banking app. There were no real restrictions on the account, so it only took a few minutes, and I could transfer my future allowance payments as I got them.

After we were done at the bank, Toho took me shopping for some clothes, not only to wear tomorrow but also stuff that I could keep at the Rangers’ headquarters for when I spent time there. There wasn’t a lot of stuff in a lot of the shops for a young woman my size, especially one with a tail, but we did find some stuff and Toho knew how to make adjustments for tails, having one herself. She said that she’d show me how, but that there was also somebody I could go to for properly fitting clothes at Whateley, so we only bought three complete outfits for me.

It was while we were picking out a nightshirt for me to wear tonight that I asked Toho in concern, “How can your team afford this? The clothes, the sponsorship, and stuff, I mean. I don’t imagine there’s a lot of money to be made as a cape.”

“It’s your team now too, you’re officially a junior member in training now,” the catgirl chided me with a smile. “As for our finances, don’t you worry about it. We’re the official team of Santa Fe so the city sponsors us. They gave us the office building for our headquarters, partially funded the renovations, and we don’t have to pay taxes or utilities on it. We get some funding from the city, and state funding too since we do disaster relief. I know a big team in Phoenix that makes bank though, being paid by the state and all the cities in the Greater Phoenix Area, doing interviews, and selling merch. We’ve started doing some of that too; we sell merch from the team website, but since Santa Fe isn’t exactly a hotbed for superhuman criminals, we all have time to make an extra income on the side as well.”

“What kind of extra income?” I wondered aloud. I couldn’t see Crag pulling shifts at one of the local supermarkets or something.

Toho grinned as she leaned closer to whisper, “I won’t tell you what pen name he uses, but Crag writes science fiction novels. White Stag offers magical services and consultations, and Bolt comes from a very wealthy family and has some investments, she’s set for life so long as she doesn’t go too wild. She was financing the team before we started getting funding from the city and state. As for me, I do deliveries.”

“What, like pizzas?” I asked in confusion as I thought back to the night I had spent at their headquarters.

“No, silly, people and sometimes precious cargo that need to get somewhere quickly and might be in danger,” she explained. “Versatile teleporters can make a lot that way. Sometimes I pick up mutant kids who are in danger and take them to Whateley or escort them to get MIDs like I did with you. You were a freebie though, my second this month, because I didn’t want to risk you registering in Santa Fe. The Rangers are on good terms with quite a few other teams in the Southwest too, and sometimes they’ll hire me if they need a teleporter for some reason.”

Okay, that made sense. I picked out a nightshirt that wasn’t too bad, a soothing lilac color with what looked like little white ferrets playing spread out all over it. “Nice, it suits you,” Toho said, ruffling my hair as I added it to the pile in our cart. “Now let’s pick out something for swimming and we can head to the hotel.”

“Swimming? Hotel?” I asked, confused and a little stunned.

The catgirl grinned and nodded. “Yup, I reserved us a hotel room near Santa Monica Pier for tonight. I thought we might have some fun and check out the pier and the amusement park tonight and then go to the beach and explore L.A. a little more tomorrow before I take you home. You’re way too tense, you need to have some fun. Don’t worry about the team, Bolt will call if they need me for anything big and I can drop you off at headquarters before going to help them.”

“A-are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked hesitantly.

“Absolutely, Carmen, big sis Toho has your back, so let’s find you a bikini and have some fun!” she replied cheerfully. In the end, I picked out a fairly simple white bikini with Toho’s help and tried to follow her lead.

Once we checked into the fancy hotel room that Toho had reserved for us and dropped off the clothes we had gotten for me, Toho took me to the pier where we explored, got some snacks, and then spent most of the rest of the night at the amusement park trying out the different rides. When we got back to our hotel suite, she encouraged me to relax in the hot tub for a bit before heading to bed. The bed was so big and comfortable too, and I think I had the best sleep of my life in that hotel room.

The next morning, after we were both showered and dressed, Toho quickly teleported everything we had bought the night before back to the Rangers’ headquarters in Santa Fe. The only things we kept with us were our purses and the contents of the beach bags she had gotten us the night before. There were our bikinis, sunglasses, suntan lotion, towels, and enough room to keep our purses in there as well.

After enjoying the hotel’s continental breakfast, we went on a three-hour morning bus tour of Los Angeles. Though we didn’t spot any celebrities or anything, there was a lot to see, and it was so nice to be outside of my house and exploring an entirely different city without my mom constantly looking over my shoulder. I occasionally had to bury the thought, “What if Mom finds out about this,” but spending time with Toho was fun and I tried to soothe myself that she wouldn’t find out. Toho wouldn’t tell her and neither would I.

We had lunch at an open-air café on the boardwalk at Venice Beach and did some people-watching there for a while after the tour, and then Toho took me to the beach itself. It was my first time at a beach or swimming, so I was a little afraid to go too deep, not to mention a little self-conscious about how revealing my bikini was. Toho and I got a lot of strange looks, but she encouraged me to ignore them and just have fun.

It was certainly different than New Mexico, not that I ever got out much at home. There was this cool breeze coming off the ocean that smelled salty and, at the same time, was so relaxing in a way I had never experienced before. I just wanted to melt into my beach towel and relax there for the rest of the day. Toho taught me the basics of swimming but stayed close to me when I was in the water, telling me that I would have to get actual swimming lessons so we could have more fun next time.

I even saw a pair of real celebrities while we were at the beach. Gwen Carter and Lily Pond had been on the celebrity news often over the past few months and it looked like they were doing some sort of photoshoot on the beach. Yeah, okay so I watch celebrity news, what of it? All I really had to do while I was imprisoned at home was watch TV or surf the net and that usually meant either watching Tangled Webs or catching up on the latest celebrity news and gossip.

I was surprised to find myself a little jealous of the two celebrity girls. They were both so tall and pretty and then there was me, tiny with GSD. I was more surprised though to find myself not attracted to them at all, they were interesting and all, but I wasn’t attracted. Hell, I think I spent more time looking at the buff lifeguard.

Nope, I’m not thinking about that. I’m gonna file that away for later, under ‘I don’t want to think about it ever again’. He, his tight speedo, and his glistening muscles did not interest me at all. I was just jealous because he was a buff guy and I was now a tiny girl with GSD, that had to be it.

Let’s get back to the pretty celebrities. I watched them for a while in keen interest and while they were both smiling at the cameras, whenever they took a break, Gwen would immediately cover up and put her sunglasses on. I would have expected her to take the opportunity to get a tan with how pale she was. Did she have some sort of sensitivity to sunlight? My thoughts were interrupted as Toho pulled me off my towel and back toward the water for another swimming lesson, or as I called it, splashing around.

By the time Toho took me to a nice steakhouse for an early dinner, I didn’t want to go home. This little side trip was easily the most fun I had ever had in my life, and I liked Toho, she was kind of like a big sister. Unfortunately, that time came far too soon, and Toho teleported us back to the team headquarters.

Nuevo Rangers Headquarters
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Saturday, December 17th, 2016 – 6:50 p.m.

Bolt was the only one who seemed to be in the entertainment room when we arrived and almost immediately, she called out to us. “Toho, you’re back, and you’ve brought our new junior trainee. She’s what, the second fuzzy little amazon this month who you’ve wanted to help? I was almost afraid you were going to start a new team and leave us. Welcome to the team, kiddo, we’ll take good care of you.”

She seemed more friendly than the last time I was here and welcoming too. Maybe last time something just had her in a bad mood? She did seem kind of worried about my lack of a MID and I guess I can understand that since they explained the importance of having one.

Toho stuck out her tongue at her teammate. “They needed help, and Fanak doesn’t count since I didn’t bring her home with me.”

“I know, I’m just teasing, so did you get Carmen’s mother to sign everything?” the speedster asked.

“Yup, the contract and consent forms are in my room with the spare clothes I got for Carmen. She should have the school forms and registration filled out and ready for me when I drop Carmen off,” Toho replied. “Carmen, you should call your mother and tell her I’ll be teleporting you home now.”

Trying not to make my disappointment visible, I prevented the sigh that threatened to escape and nodded. “Sure thing, Toho.”

Five minutes later, the task was done, and Mom was waiting on our front porch with papers in hand as we materialized from the teleport. For some reason, things felt really tense. Mom barely said two words to Toho, and while the catgirl was trying to be friendly, it seemed a bit strained. Toho gave the papers a quick once over to make sure everything was in order and then spoke up.

“Carmen, Lucía, I’ll speak with you both later regarding a training schedule for Carmen and to let you know when she’s registered for school.” I think Toho wanted to hug me then, but she quickly stopped herself and added, “I’ll see you later,” before vanishing from our front porch.

Mom huffed as she led the way into the house. “You got your MID then?”

“Yeah, Mom, she took me to Dallas to get it because the people are a lot friendlier to mutants there,” I said as I took my MID out of my purse to display it. “It was a long day though, with all the tests and stuff they put me through, so I’m pretty tired.”

“You didn’t tell any of those capes that you were born a boy, did you?” Mom pressed, surprising the hell out of me.

“No, why would that even come up, Mom?” I asked in genuine confusion. It wasn’t like I was trying to hide it; I didn’t even really consider mentioning it and nobody had asked.

Mom snorted and gave me a look that made me want to run downstairs and hide in my bed as she said, “Good. Keep it that way. I registered you as a girl at the school.”

“What? Why, Mom? There was a section there for changelings like me,” I protested. I was not comfortable with lying to people, especially on official forms like that.

“It’s better this way; you’ll be safer if nobody knows that you weren’t born a girl,” Mom snapped, shutting me down. “And remember that the week after Christmas you’ll be coming with me to the Feminists for Freedom meeting, I want to introduce you before you leave for school.”

“What?! I didn’t agree to that!”

Mom let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes as she said, "We already talked about this, don't you remember?"

No, we didn’t… did we? I was sure I would remember that, and that I would have refused. “But, Mom…”

She didn’t let me finish, talking over my protest. "Going to this school is a privilege, Carmen, one I'm allowing you to have. I signed the papers to register you, and I can withdraw you just as quickly. You will not tell anyone that you were born a boy, you will act as a proper girl at all times, and you will be coming to that meeting with me, and future meetings when you’re not in school, or I will pull you out of that school so fast, it will make your head spin."

She was serious, I could see it in her eyes as she loomed over me. I couldn’t go against her on this, who knows what she would do if I stepped out of line. There was only one answer I could give here. “Yes, Mom,” I replied quietly. All the happiness that I had briefly felt during my trip with Toho dried up in an instant and I shrank away from my mother, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a ball and hide.

Melendez Residence
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sunday, December 18th, 2016 – 1:42 p.m.

I was still depressed from the way my nice day ended last night with my mother. Since there was nothing else to do and I didn’t even want to look at Mom, I decided to catch up on the two episodes of Tangled Webs that I missed for our trip to Mesa. I loaded them up on my streaming service and settled in with some snacks to try to lose myself in the show and ignore reality for a while.

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. With the Hanna, Ricardo, Catherine, and Kishandra storyline taking a back seat while Hanna was in search of a monastery and a way to summon an Angel, some other less prominent storylines were taking a front seat. They briefly showed Kishandra making the occasional deal or Hanna landing in Spain and then wandering the countryside, but that was just occasional background stuff.

The last episode I watched had ended with Carly Carlisle, the local supernatural private eye, being asked to investigate a haunting at the Devereaux mansion by one of the maids. The mansion was owned by Agatha Devereaux, a wealthy widow and one of the nastiest characters on the show, and that was including the Succubus whose loyalties flipped on a dime and who dealt in souls. I had heard that the actress was a really sweet lady in real life though. Despite knowing that, for some reason, just watching the character on screen made me uncomfortable, but I really wanted to catch up on my show.

This first episode mostly showed Carly investigating the mansion after a tense conversation with Mrs. Devereaux and ended when she found the ghost of a little girl and got possessed. The ghost girl looked so small and sad, and I felt like I could kind of relate to her. The second episode started kinda weird though, and had these sort of disjointed flashbacks between other scenes from other plotlines.

The flashback scenes showed the little girl when she was alive, so I assumed she was sharing her memories with Carly, and the episode ended by revealing that the ghost girl was murdered by her own mother, Agatha Devereaux. For a while after the episode, I just sort of stared at the screen blankly in shock. I wasn’t shocked to find out that Agatha murdered her own kid, that was pretty telegraphed from the beginning, but because those flashbacks made me think of myself and my mom.

The ghost girl, Gillian, was practically a prisoner in her own home when growing up, and her mother was controlling, manipulative, and just plain mean. She either ignored Gillian completely in favor of her older son or constantly criticized and belittled her, even when she was pretending to care. Even the way Agatha manipulated her made me think of my mom’s behavior since I manifested. When Gillian tried to run away, Agatha couldn’t take not being in control and while it wasn’t actually shown, it was heavily implied that she beat her to death and hid the body.

I was lost in my thoughts until dinnertime and working into a downward spiral. “Holy shit. Is that like me? Am I like that girl? Sure, Mom kinda gaslights me all the time, and she's been so controlling since I manifested, especially last night, but she's not like that, is she? She cares in her own way, and she would never really hurt me, right?"

I couldn’t breathe; it was like my rapidly pulsing heart was ten times too big for my chest and I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs. Suddenly, all that I could think about was Megan trying to convince me that my mom was abusing me, Dr. Deville telling me that she suspected the same, and how Toho and the other Rangers had concocted this sponsorship to give me a way out. It was like I had been struck by lightning, and I was overwhelmed with the realization that they might be right.

For a long time, I just sat there, shaking, crying, and trying to convince myself that it wasn’t real, that Mom wasn’t like that. It was too easy to see how she was like that though, especially after the way she had acted last night after Toho left. I didn’t know what to do.

I almost called Megan, but my trembling finger hovered over the icon for her in my contacts list, unable to make contact until after power saving turned the screen off and the option disappeared. No. I couldn’t tell her or the Rangers, those would be the first places Mom would look if I just up and left. I just needed to not rock the boat for a few more weeks, and I’d be on my way to a school on the other side of the continent. I’d be safe from her there, right?

Somehow, I managed to calm myself down before dinner and act naturally while we ate. I couldn’t let Mom suspect, I couldn’t rock the boat until I was far away. CPS wasn’t going to help a mutant like me, if I could just last until it was time to leave for school, I could talk to Toho about it then. She’d help me, wouldn’t she?

Melendez Residence
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sunday, December 25th, 2016 – 9:02 a.m.

Mom had just finished making breakfast for us and we were eating in the kitchen while we watched the morning news. She had gotten me a few Christmas presents this year and said we could open them after eating, but I honestly wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what was in those gift boxes. I was just trying to be on my best behavior, constantly telling myself not to rock the boat.

I tried to focus on the news and not my situation as the anchorman brought up this morning’s top story. “Arthur Pond, CEO of Pond Technologies in Silicon Valley, died this morning at Los Angeles General Hospital. The cause of death was stated to be complications from being exposed to regenerator blood after he and his wife, Evelyn, reportedly kidnapped and attempted to murder their estranged daughter, Lily.”

Wait, Lily Pond? The one I saw at the beach last week with Gwen Carter? The anchorman continued his report, shedding more light on the incident. “Lily, who publicly revealed herself to be a mutant, has been in a legal battle with her parents for months, trying to get access to her trust fund and filing charges of abuse. The trial and public exposure of this ongoing legal battle has had a negative impact on Pond Technologies stock prices and this new development is expected to cause them to plummet even further. Evelyn Pond is currently being held without the possibility for bail until trial.”

Lucía stared at the television in shock as the anchorman reported the death of the man who she hated more than anyone in this world. He was humiliated, had his name dragged through the mud by his own child, was brought to the brink of ruin, and had just died in disgrace. This was her plan. This was her plan, and that little mutant bitch stole it!

Everything was ruined! The plan that she had been working so hard to put in place was useless now, the vengeance that she deserved was stolen! That bitch had taken everything from her, just like her fucking father before her! It was like Arthur’s entire lineage existed only to mock her and make her miserable!

I was still watching the television when my attention was torn away by a scream of unbridled fury. It came from my mother and I soon as I turned my attention toward her, I wished that I hadn’t. Mom’s face was contorted in rage for some reason as she threw her glass of juice at the television screen, smashing into it hard enough to shatter the flatscreen and render it useless.

“Fucking Ponds! You’ve taken everything from me! First, that bastard, Arthur, raped me and made me lose everything! Now that daughter of his has stolen my revenge!” she screamed. For a moment, I could only look at her in shock before she turned to level her furious glare at me. “But you’re the worst of them! Fifteen years of my life, gone! All of it for nothing! You worthless, useless, piece of shit! You and that fucking sister of yours, I’ll make you both pay for this!”

I was starting to get out of my chair, intent on backing away and finding somewhere to hide because it looked like Mom had completely lost her marbles. I was too late. She threw the table aside in her rage and before I could pull completely away, she smacked me across the face hard enough to send my tiny body flying across the room.

The entire side of my face burned from the blow, and I was dizzy and unsteady as I scrambled to my feet, intent on getting away. I needed to hide. I needed to call Toho, she would come to help me, I knew she would.

Mom was coming at me like an angry bear. Her first blow surprised me, and I didn’t have time to get out of the way, but this time I bent backward, using my flexibility to avoid her follow-up blow and twisting my body into position to bolt. I ran as fast as I could, sending things flying from the displaced air as I raced through the living room and up the stairs, looking frantically for a place to hide until help could arrive.

The closet. The one place in the house that terrified me, the one place that she probably wouldn’t expect me to hide. I still had nightmares about being locked inside as a child when I misbehaved, or when Mom was in a foul mood. I bolted inside, hoping that my speed gave me enough of a head start to delay her finding me or to make her think about what she was doing.

I dashed inside, closing the door behind me as carefully and quietly as I could, and then I took the phone out of the pocket of my hoodie with shaking hands. The screen was cracked from my fall, but it still worked, and my heart hammered wildly in my chest as I listened for my mother, curled up against the wall, and tapped my contacts list followed by Toho’s icon. With a trembling finger, I touched the icon to call her.

“Hey, you’ve reached Alison. I’m not available at the moment, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.” Voicemail. I’m not even sure what I said after the beep, I just babbled desperately until her voicemail accepted no more and disconnected the call.

I called Megan next, hoping that she would pick up as I heard Mom screaming and searching the house downstairs. It rang. Once, twice, three times that seemed to take an eternity as my heart raced and tears stung my eyes. “Carmen? Are you just calling to wish me a Merry Christmas, or is something…”

“M-Megan… I… I need help,” I managed to get out, my voice catching as I choked out the words in a whisper.

I had her immediate attention. “Just a second, I’m gonna record this call. There, now what’s wrong, Carmen?”

“I-it’s Mom. S-something on the news m-made her snap. She h-hit me. I tried c-calling Toho, b-but I landed on voicemail. I’m hiding, but M-mom is in a rage. She’s s-screaming and searching for me,” I quietly blubbered into the phone. I could hear Mom coming up the stairs now, she was getting closer.

“Can you get out of there and find a safe place until Toho or Kelly can get to you?”

“C-can’t,” I replied, breath catching in my throat as I heard Mom in the hallway screaming about how she was going to make me suffer like she had. As quietly as I could, I explained, “D-doors and windows are l-locked tight, only Mom has the code. Only one w-window in the basement isn’t, and she’s b-between me and it.”

“Hang in there, Carmen,” Megan said, almost sounding as terrified as I felt but somehow keeping it together for my sake. “If you can, get past her and make a run for that window. Get the hell out of there and find someplace safe to wait for Toho or Kelly to arrive. Probably Toho, I don’t think Kelly could get there any earlier than sometime this evening.”

Suddenly, the closet door flew open, and I was yanked out into the hallway by my mother, dropping my phone as I screamed. Then she was on me, pinning me with her greater weight, slapping me across the face again and again as she shouted, “You little bastard! I’m going to make you regret ever being born! You, your sister, your father! You’ve taken everything that’s important to me!”

“Y-your… kid. I should… 'portant t’yoo,” I managed to blubber between blows, pain, and tears. I wasn’t though, and I knew that now. I tried to push her off, but even exemplar two strength isn’t much use if your opponent is twice your size, pinning you, and you don’t have any leverage. It didn’t help that my head was spinning either.

“You?! You’re a curse, you’ve been nothing but misery for me since the day you were fucking born!” she shouted as she struck me again. My whole face was sore now, starting to become numb, and my eyes were almost swollen shut.

“Get off!” I screamed back as I felt my musk release in my mounting terror. I wasn’t in any position to spray her with it directly, most of it probably hit my tail and the floor, but the smell was enough to make her recoil. It wasn’t much, but it gave me enough space to twist and contort my flexible little body and escape her grasp.

I didn’t get far. Mom got a hold of my tail and used it to violently pull me backward, causing a shooting pain to go through it and my lower spine, my claws leaving gouges in the hardwood floor as she pulled me back while I was trying to get traction. “You’re not getting away!” she screamed. Then she kicked me hard, my left side flaring in pain as she knocked me to the ground where she tried to pin me again.

This time, she didn’t have as much leverage, I pushed against her with my feet to hold her back, but in the struggle, she had managed to grab hold of my long hair with one hand while trying to pin my left arm with the other. In my panic, I shouted and blubbered nonsensically as I slashed wildly at my hair that held me trapped, her face, and anywhere else I could reach. Bits of hair fell around me, tickling my whiskers, until I found my claws dragging through something with more resistance. She screamed again, this time in pain from the slashes that my claws tore across the left side of her face.

Mom reeled backward as she screamed, releasing my shredded hair to stand up and clutch at the ruined side of her face, blood dripping between her fingers. I tried to use that time to try to scramble out from beneath her, but a vicious kick to my ribs knocked all the air out of my lungs as my right side erupted in agony. I lay there gasping for air as she kicked me again.

I expected a third kick to follow, but that was when I heard another voice shouting in fury above me, “Leave her alone, you bitch!” I heard a blow and a thump as a body hit the floor nearby, and then I was being cradled gently in Toho’s arms as she whispered, “It’s okay, Carmen. I’m here now, and she will never hurt you again.”

Toho held me until the police arrived with the other Nuevo Rangers, and they broke down the front door to get inside. Honestly, everything after that was a blur as adrenaline receded and agony took its place. I was pretty sure that someone found my damaged phone on the floor and talked Megan down, I think Mom was hauled off in handcuffs after the EMTs treated her face, and I vaguely remember Toho riding with me to the hospital, where I was examined, x-rayed, and photographed for evidence before they finally let me rest.

Nuevo Rangers Headquarters
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Monday, December 26th, 2016 – 11:24 a.m.

I was lying in my bedroom, well for now at least, probably until the Rangers decided what to do with me. I hadn’t been injured badly enough to warrant a stay in the hospital, but I had cracked ribs on both sides of my body, and those hurt like hell every time I moved even a little. Between that and the fact that I could barely see because of the swelling in my face and eyes, I was trying to move as little as possible right now.

It also gave me time to think, and I had a lot to think about. Mostly it was just processing a lifetime of abuse, but there were questions too, like what do I do now? Then there was what my mother let slip during her crazed, screaming rants.

I knew in my heart that she had never wanted me, but she was raped? While I wanted to feel sympathy for her, years of her abuse left me feeling too emotionally weary to summon any. I can get that she was hurt by what happened, but to take it out on a child? I just couldn’t understand her anymore. If she truly loathed my existence that much, why not give me up for adoption?

I knew the answer to that, of course. It was the money, at least at first, until she found a use for me. And now I knew where that money came from. If Mom was to be believed, my father was the recently deceased billionaire, Arthur Pond, which probably meant that the payments would stop soon even if Mom wasn’t going to jail. The thought that seemed to keep coming back to me though was that I had a sister, well, half-sister. Lily Pond was my sister.

I tried to put those thoughts out of my mind. What, was I just going to walk up to her on the street and say, “Hi, I’m Carmen, it’s nice to meet you. By the way, my insane mother said I’m your sister.” That was never going to happen. Not only would I be too terrified to bring it up if we ever did meet by some miracle, but I had about as much chance of meeting Lily Pond in person as I did Gwen Carter.

I was snapped out of those dour thoughts as I heard the door to my room open and Toho was talking to someone as footsteps approached. “Thanks again for coming, as you can see, she’s in pretty rough shape.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll have her up and fighting in no time, Toho. The All-Stars owed you a favor, and even if they didn’t, I wouldn’t refuse since you’re providing the transportation,” a girl’s voice replied. They seemed to be getting closer and in the dim light of my room, I thought I could make out some sort of blue light.

“I’ll leave you to it then, thanks again, Gwen,” Toho said, and then I could hear her light footsteps fading as she left the room.

The blue light remained, seeming closer as someone sat on the edge of my bed beside me. I hissed in pain from my ribs as I was startled by the closeness, but that girl’s voice soothingly offered, “Hey, it’s okay, I’m here to help. You’re Carmen, right? I’m Gwen, and it looks like your Christmas sucked even more than mine, but don’t worry, I’ll have you feeling better soon.”

Warm and gentle hands tenderly alighted upon my forehead and collarbone and almost instantly, I felt a pleasant warmth flowing through me, chasing away the pain. “Huh, interesting. Toho said you’re an internal energizer, right? I’ve never copied that before,” Gwen said thoughtfully before adding almost too quietly to hear. “Not really what I would be looking for though, even if I did have a permanent slot still.”

For a time, everything was silent as that soothing warmth enveloped me. My face was feeling better by the minute and soon I was able to open my eyes fully. There, sitting beside me and healing me, was none other than Gwen Carter. My gasp of shock at the sight quickly turned into a hiss of pain. If it wasn’t for the pain, I might have thought I was dreaming this. “G-Gwen Carter?”

“Yeah, that’s my name, I guess you’ve seen me on TV?” she replied calmly before admonishing me. “Don’t move yet, I’ve got your face mostly healed, but the bone structure is different than I’m used to; you have a slight muzzle even though it’s barely noticeable. I’m not used to healing anything like that and I want to make sure I get it right. Your ribs are going to take a while longer too, those must really hurt, huh?”

“Y-yeah,” I responded as I nodded slowly in an attempt to follow her instructions.

“I’m still not used to people recognizing me yet,” she admitted, “but I think I have some of the new publicity photos in my purse, if you want an autograph, Carmen. Just, try not to move too much until I’m done.”

“Publicity photos?” I asked quietly, still a little dazed.

“Yeah, the companies that do the All-Stars’ toys, posters, and other merch were practically begging for me and Lily to let them use our likenesses. Aunt Darcy allowed it, so now Lily and I have a bunch of posters, toys, and other merch coming out. Since the media is following us around anyway, we might as well take advantage of it. We’ve started modeling careers, and now I’ve got a product sponsorship and a guest spot on a TV show soon. It’s kind of weird, to be honest, exciting in a way, but I’m still trying to get used to all the attention.”

I tried to stay quiet and not move too much after that and Gwen was as good as her word. Not only was I feeling much better far faster than I had any right to, but she took some photos from her purse when she was finished and let me pick one before signing it for me. She even gave me a hug, her phone number, and told me not to be a stranger.

When she finally left so Toho could take her home, I found myself staring at the photo. It was signed, “Wings of light and justice! Your friend, Gwen Carter.” It wasn’t the signature or the message that had me staring at it though. This photo was of her and Lily, my sister.

They both looked happy as they stood together, both of them giving a victory sign with their fingers. I had never seen Gwen’s costume in the media before, but it gave off big magical girl vibes, and Lily was wearing what looked like a black catsuit. I wasn’t sure for a while whether to be happy I was healed and got Gwen’s autograph or sad that I had a sister who would probably never know I even existed.

New Mexico Women’s Penitentiary
Outside Santa Fe, New Mexico
Thursday, December 29th, 2016 – 4:15 p.m.

Lucía made her way through the cell block toward the visitors’ room, a prison guard watching her every move. Jeers and taunts of her fellow inmates followed her every step. Since they had found out that she was in for child abuse, they had been doing everything in their power to make her stay here miserable. They didn’t do anything obviously violent, of course, not in sight of the guards. Instead, it was low-key bullying, a trip here and a push, a bump, or a shove there, and some veiled threats.

She had tried to explain things, telling her fellow inmates that the child in question was a dangerous mutant, but only a couple of them believed her, a couple of tough-looking women who claimed to be with Humanity First. That was fine, she had two allies now. Once she was out of here, they could help her get her revenge on the boy and his sister. They had taken everything from her, and she would make them pay.

The thought of the boy made the wounds on her face ache even more than they already did. The little bastard had popped her left eye like a grape, ruining it, and she was told that the four gashes across that side of her face would likely leave terrible scars. That side was completely covered in bandages, and she would need an eyepatch when the wounds fully healed. The other side of her face was badly bruised from where that bitch cape had punched her. She looked like a mess, and likely would for the rest of her days. Something else to make them pay for.

She was ushered inside the visitors’ room, where her lawyer was waiting behind the glass that would separate them. Not her regular lawyer, Natalie Geller wasn’t a criminal lawyer, but she was able to suggest this man. Hmmph, depending on a man to save her, let alone a weaselly man like the one she saw behind the glass.

Lucía sat down and picked up the phone which would let her speak to him but said nothing. He had come here for a reason, so she might as well hear what it was. “Ms. Melendez, I have good news and bad news, which would you like first?”

“Bad news,” she answered simply, her mind still filled with visions of making both of Arthur’s mutant spawn pay for what they’d done.

“You were caught red-handed by the registered hero, Toho, and she will testify against…”

She cut the weasel off. “She was trespassing on private property; her testimony shouldn’t count.”

The weasel in the suit sighed. “I’m afraid that’s the worse news, Ms. Melendez, she was called by your daughter and came to rescue her, there is a voicemail message confirming that, and the judge will most likely let her testimony stand. In addition to eyewitness testimony from a registered hero, there is the recording of a phone call your daughter was having with a friend to ask for help when you… caught her. The recording is… damning, and the prosecution has an airtight case against you.”

Lucía seethed. How the hell had the boy made a friend without her knowing? “What’s the good news then?” she asked through clenched teeth.

“I can get you a plea deal,” he replied, the look on his face encouraging her to take it. “The prosecution is willing to let you off with a sentence of three years, with good behavior you could be out on parole in a year, but they want something from you.”

Of course, they did. “What is it?” she asked, fuming at the thought that the boy had brought her to this.

Her lawyer gave her a serious look. “They’ll be willing to give you that deal if you sign permanent custody of your daughter over to the Nuevo Rangers. No visitation, no contact, ever. I have the paperwork here if you…”

“Fine, hand it over, the little freak is nothing but trouble anyway.” Realistically, she knew they would probably never let her have custody of the boy again, and the sooner she was out, the better. Once she was, she wouldn’t rest until she got her revenge on both of Arthur’s children.

Nuevo Rangers Headquarters
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Monday, January 2nd, 2017 – 3:02 p.m.

The last week since Christmas was eventful. The day after I was healed by Gwen, the Rangers started moving everything from my mother’s house that I wanted to keep to my room in their headquarters. There wasn’t much actually since the bed and dresser in the headquarters were much bigger than mine and I had no intention of keeping the vanity my mother bought, though I did keep some of the makeup like lip gloss and mascara.

Mostly it was just my desk, computer, television, and stuff like that, which we somehow managed to find room for in what they had designated as my room. It helped that they had renovated the building for comfort as well as security and all the bedrooms were spacious. Other than those things, we just took my clothes that fit, which I figured I would need. As for those unopened Christmas gifts from my mother, well, they could remain unopened and sit in that house for eternity for all I cared.

Toho also took me out to get my hair cut, it was a bit of a mess thanks to my claws, and I had never wanted long hair anyway. Now it was short, not quite shoulder length and the style looked kind of wild. I thought that it suited me much better.

When the Rangers assured me that they would make sure that I never had to worry about my mother again, I thought they just meant that because she was likely going to prison for a while. On Friday though, I found out that they had somehow got my mother to sign custody of me over to them, permanently. She wouldn’t be allowed to even see or speak with me ever again.

So, I guess that was why they were moving my stuff in, and why we spent the weekend getting to know each other better whenever they weren’t out stopping a supervillain or something. They were trying to get me settled in, used to my new home and family, as they called it. Whenever we were at home, we even used our real names rather than codenames. It was a little strange living with people who gave a shit about me and wanted me to be happy.

Bolt, or Jenny, was kind of the stern mom of the group, and I guess her mood when we first met was because she thought my mother was not taking care of me, and maybe abusing me, and she did not approve so she came off as a little bit of a bitch. I found out that she cared about her teammates and me though and could let loose and have fun once in a while.

White Stag, or Greg, was the serious papa of the group. He was possibly the most patient person I had ever met though, something that he demonstrated a lot as I was settling in. He was sure to let me know that if I needed help or advice, he would always have time to lend an ear and a hand.

Crag was otherwise known as Nigel, which I thought suited his posh British accent. Despite his massive size and fearsome appearance, he was as gentle as a lamb when not in a fight. If ever I had met the gentle giant, soft-hearted big brother type, it was Nigel. Just knowing he had my back made me feel safer in Santa Fe because I knew he wouldn’t let anyone mess with his little sisters.

Those little sisters were, of course, me and Toho, or Alison as her mother named her. I really liked Alison, and since I had gotten to know her during that first night I stayed at the Rangers’ headquarters, she had always given off big sister vibes. She was fun, I felt like I could tell her anything, and she literally came to my rescue when I was at my lowest.

That was why I felt the need to tell them that I was a changeling when we got my acceptance letter to Whateley this morning. I told them that Mom had threatened me to keep it quiet and had probably put in my registration form that I was born a girl. None of them seemed bothered in the slightest, though Jenny did warn me that we probably wouldn’t be able to change my dorm this close to the start of winter term. She and Alison suggested seeing how things go with my roommate and asking to change dorms if it looked like there may be a problem.

After that somber discussion, I talked to Megan on the phone for a while. I called her every day since Christmas to update her on how things were going in my life since she had been pretty worried about me for a while there, though with my cracked phone screen I was going to have to replace it before going to school. I had just gotten off the phone with her and now joined Alison on the couch in the entertainment room.

On the weekend I was watching a week’s worth of Tangled Webs episodes to catch up after my chaotic week. Alison watched with me to keep me company and she got hooked. I was really eager to see today's episode because the last one ended with Hanna returning to Twilight City and I was desperate to know if Catherine would wake from her coma and what would happen with Ricardo and Kishandra.

Alison had popcorn waiting and the opening theme music was just finishing as I arrived and got cozy next to her. I still had to tell her who some of the characters were and explain some of the minor plotlines, but it was nice having someone to watch with. By the halfway point in the episode, the only time I had seen Hanna was when she hailed a cab to the hospital and had a hushed phone conversation with Kishandra, who was by Ricardo’s sick bed. His depleted essence had weakened him to the point where he was as bedridden as Catherine.

Just after the midway mark, there was another scene where Kishandra wheeled Ricardo to Catherine’s room in a wheelchair while Hanna drew a circle framed with nonsensical sigils on the floor at the foot of Catherine’s bed. There were only ten minutes left in the episode, and I was beginning to lose hope that it would be resolved this episode, when the scene changed back to Catherine’s hospital room. Hanna was standing outside of the circle she had drawn with an ancient-looking tome in hand.

She started chanting in a language that I assumed was supposed to be Latin, and for the first couple of minutes nothing happened. Then there was a blinding flash of light and when it cleared, a very familiar young woman was standing in the middle of the circle. It was Gwen Carter in all her glory; glowing freckles, hair, and eyes, and wearing a white dress that really showed off her figure.

She also had wings, large angelic wings that looked like they were made up of feathers, but they didn’t look quite right, it was as if they were made of light, slightly transparent, and glowing as brightly as her hair. The angelic Gwen turned to Hanna and asked in an imperious tone, “Why have you summoned me here?”

“Her,” Hanna quickly replied, gesturing frantically to Catherine. “I love her more than life itself. Please, heal her.”

“Hey, don’t forget about Ricardo!” Kishandra snapped. “Heal him too, return his youth!”

“Very well, it shall be done,” Gwen said as her wings flared with light and the camera zoomed in on her. When it zoomed back out again Ricardo, who was still in his wheelchair, was once again his youthful and handsome self. Angel-Gwen wasn’t finished though as she turned her attention to Kishandra. “As for you, Demon. I think that you have caused enough trouble.”

Gwen’s wings flared with light again as she gestured at the Succubus and the camera zoomed in once more. Kishandra screamed as the camera focused on Ricardo’s horrified expression and when it zoomed out again, Angel-Gwen was gone and there was nothing but a pile of ash where the Succubus stood a moment earlier.

Ricardo stumbled from his wheelchair, kneeling by the pile of ash that slipped through his fingers as he tried to deny it was real. Then he raised his hands to the heavens and yelled, “Noooooo!”

I let out a gasp as I watched it unfold. “I can’t believe they killed off Kishandra!”

There was a groan from Catherine’s hospital bed as she awoke and while Ricardo was in existential agony from losing his love, Hanna rushed to the bedside of hers. “Catherine, it’s okay, I’m here for you!”

“W-who’s Catherine? Who are you? Where am I?” The cat woman in the bed looked confused as she asked those questions and Hanna looked as horrified as Ricardo had only a moment earlier.

Hanna gasped, tears welling up in her eyes. “Please, say it isn’t so! She has… amnesia!” That was where the episode ended, leaving both me and Alison on the edges of our seats.

Boston Station
Boston Massachusetts
Sunday, January 8th, 2017 – 12:45 p.m.

“Are you sure you have everything, Carmen? I can still go back home to grab anything we may have missed,” Alison told me for what must have been the third time. She sounded almost as anxious as I felt.

To humor her, and possibly because I was nervous enough to have forgotten something, I checked again. I had both suitcases, my purse, and my messenger bag. Looking through the latter, I found my laptop, peripherals, and phone exactly where I remembered placing them when packing last night. The phone was new (and pink), a replacement for my damaged one, and only Megan, Gwen, and the Nuevo Rangers had the number for this one so my egg donor couldn’t try to pull anything. My purse had my bank card, MID, and other important documents and cards, so it looked like I wasn’t missing anything.

“Yeah, I’ve got everything,” I assured her.

Alison let out a long slow breath and nodded. “Okay, good. You’re not nervous, are you?”

“A little,” I replied, heavily understating my anxiety. I was going to a school for people with superpowers and my GSD was probably going to make me stand out. Not to mention that I wasn’t sure I could handle people in general. I was shy, anxious, and barely had any experience socializing with people my age, and my mother had instilled a fear of people in me, one that was not easily dispelled by mere platitudes and a couple of weeks with people who treated me like family should. In truth, I was terrified.

Alison and the other Rangers had been trying to prepare me for this for the past week. Everything from telling me about their experiences while there to giving me an idea of what to expect in terms of social groups and cliques. Apparently, I was going to be in Whitman dorm, the same one that Alison was in when she was at Whateley, something she seemed pleased about.

Alison had warned me about the ‘Dick’inson girls particularly. I guess back when she was at Whateley, she had a feud going on with some girl in Dickinson called Quicksand, who she called an annoying motormouth. From what I was told, they were on speaking terms now though since the Rangers had somewhat regular contact with Quicksand’s team, The Elementals. To hear Jenny talk about it, they both were still pretty childish about it though, and practically every time Toho had to deal with the team she came home complaining about mud on her clothes.

Two hours ago, we had an emotional goodbye with the other members of the team and when we were done, Alison teleported me here to Boston, where we got a nice lunch and then came to the station to wait for the train to Dunwich, a small town near the school. She probably could have taken me straight to the school, but she didn’t feel that I would be in any danger with my former caregiver behind bars. She also felt that the train trip would be a good time to meet my fellow students and maybe make some friends.

Soon, I would be on that train, and I would have to try to socialize. The mere thought of it sent chills down my spine and made my hands shake and my breath catch in my throat. I could already see some other kids who looked around my age waiting for the train, early arrivals like me. By late afternoon, I would be at Whateley Academy, and until we got there I would be on a train with other people, other mutant kids like me. Tiny little me, a prime target for bullying.

I had experienced enough bullying at my last school that I didn’t want to even think about what it would be like if the bullies had superpowers. At the same time, I didn’t want to let Alison or the other Rangers down when they were paying to send me here. As a result, the thought of trying to socialize with other kids on the train, and even at school, had me torn.

When my train finally arrived and started taking passengers, Alison crushed me in one last hug and said her final farewell. I hugged her back tightly and promised to call at least once a week. Then I shouldered my purse and messenger bag, gripped my suitcases so tightly that my knuckles were probably white, and walked to the train and boarded on legs that felt like Jell-O while my heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. Once I was on board, I began my search for a cabin where I could hide and wouldn’t be forced to socialize until I got to school.

Scamper will return

Get Help if you are a victim of abuse or know somebody who is.
If you suspect or are experiencing child abuse call: 1-800-4ACHILD or 1-800-422-4453
If you are a victim of domestic abuse call: 1-800-799-7233