Yo! ;) I thought I'd sorta end this part. I'll take C+C for what I missed
gladly for I plan to fix TP3.3 next. This has cleaned my mind out a bit.
B>
Enjoy, and I hope this universe gets richer. ;)

Twister.

Title - Puck : File 1
Copyright Darren Steffler( me! :)

PART ONE

     Erik hid a grin as he calmly walked away, hearing outraged
shrieks behind him coming from the home economics classroom's
doorway. I wonder why they're so upset, he chuckled to himself,
Robbie hadn't morphed the long-distance pictures TOO much. His
friend Jason had taken them when there had been a pool party this
year's summer at the home of the stuck-up Jennifer. Some bursts of
laughter told him the boys at least appreciated the summer pictures
of her and her friends' altered forms as winter holidays were
almost at hand. He swung into an empty classroom where his fellow
pranksters were muffling their laughter.
     "Mission is a success, Commander?" the red-headed Rob
chuckled.
     "Most definitely," Erik replied formally, making the two crack
up again. He had a way of making anything he said sound funny or
deadly serious when he chose, and he was doing the latter now. "The
payload was delivered without a hitch and the enemy base is in
complete chaos." He grinned. "Not to mention spitting nails of the
titanium variety."
     "Jennifer will not be pleased if she finds out who did it, as
if she didn't have a good idea already," Jason warned but Erik
waved the worry away.
     "Nobody knows your long-distance hobby and I don't know anyone
else with that sort of camera. Besides, everyone knows I don't do
two things like this two days in a row." He smiled smugly as if
saying they were fools to think he'd let himself be that
predictable. "I've always waited at least few weeks before the next
joke. I can protest that someone else did it as I walked by to
frame me. After all, it's crude and not my style at all." 
     Rob chuckled. "What isn't?" he commented wryly. "And get away
with it as usual. Haveta admit, Erik, you liven things up around
here."
     Erik shrugged innocently. "Someone has to," he said before
turning around towards the door. "I'd better look at the 'heinous
act' before anyone comments on my absence." He waved and left to
the sound of their chuckles.

     Erik calculated things correctly and he didn't get blamed for
the prank. Jennifer and her Snoot-Group had torn the pictures off
before he reappeared on the scene, asking what was going on. A few
people HAD seen him do it but he knew they had no love for Jennifer
and her crew. She had accused him but his sally that it wasn't his
style at all stopped the blame from touching him before it started.
They never did find who did it, much to the black-haired Jennifer's
ire and she kept up continual vigilance for proof that he was the
culprit.
     This was Erik's last year of high school and he was wondering
what he should focus on in University as the winter holidays came.
He was intelligent, nobody argued with that, had slightly pale
blonde hair, sky blue eyes, and an average face and body. He wasn't
buffed but kept in decent shape. His personality was his best
asset, as most of the girls he had dated occasionally told him. He
had a wry wit and made them feel special even if he didn't stay
with one for long. 
     His parents wondered whom he had got the sharp humour from.
His father, Donald Clay, was a police inspector who was methodical
in everything but didn't share his son's humorous streak, he did
chuckle occasionally and look bemused at some of the stories of his
offspring's antics. He didn't think it was criminal behaviour; Erik
was too intelligent for the criminal class he usually dealt with
and had his father's morals deeply ingrained in him. No one really
got hurt, and his victims were the ones who deserved it most, or so
Donald eventually found out in the end. 
     His mother, Amanda Clay, was a potterer/sculptor and the
basement had a room dedicated to her work. The irony of her
acquired last name didn't escape her. She was sunny in disposition
and cheered his father when work depressed him, his father never
failed to be amazed at how his gloom never wore her down - it
seemed to make her more sunny, as if to counteract his
discouragement with the legal system. 
     But unlike him, Amanda suspected she knew where Erik had
gotten his wit from.
     She loved Shakespeare. And at an early age, she had read A
Midsummer's Night Dream to her young son. He hadn't liked it
overmuch but for one character: Puck. Amanda had said the Puck had
a clever mind and a taste for doing good, if in his own mischievous
manner. Erik had taken that to heart, as some things will for
children. Not to be the Puck, but to emulate him. He'd forgotten
that event being too young to recall the specifics, but Amanda
hadn't and she marvelled the effect that event had had on her
child.
     And due to Fate, it would have an even more powerful effect on
him on New Years day.

     Erik yawned as he got into the kitchen just before noon, he'd
come home late after a friend's party for the new millennium. To
his surprise, both of his parents were glued to the television,
watching CNN. Puzzled, he came over to them. 
     "What's up?" he asked. His father turned a grave face to him.
     "Something terrible happened in a North Dakota town down south
and killed thousands of people, or so the media says. Nobody's
quite sure."
     "Look!" Amanda gasped and Erik turned to the television. The
screen was showing the town now as it was being evacuated. What had
made his mother gasp was the giant, grey dome that appeared to have
swallowed most of the buildings. The thing was enormous! Erik
stared and gulped.
     "What could've made THAT??" he asked, but both parents shook
their heads mutely. The phone rang and he numbly went to answer it.
"Hello?"
     "Erik! Man, have you turned on the tube?!" Robbie's excited
voice babbled from the receiver.
     "Just now, yeah," he confirmed. "That thing looks damn spooky
to me."
     "You ain't heard the half of it! The guy who did it posted a
really large post to the newsgroups on the internet. I even got a
copy of it before the government managed to wipe it off. This guy
was seriously cracked, Erik. What small part I could understand
says he tried to enlarge his soul." Rob sniggered. "He did THAT
alright. Jesus! Took out most of that town with him too!"
     "The dome was made because he enlarged his soul?" Erik said
sceptically. Erik's parents looked at him, startled, when he said
that. "Yeah, this guy was cracked. Give me a copy of his post
later?"
     "Sure thing. Man, this is so sci-fi it's scary."
     "As long as it doesn't turn into a B-class horror flick," Erik
retorted, getting nervous silence in reply. "I'll see you tomorrow,
Rob. We're both going to be busy today, I suspect." He agreed and
Erik hung up. After he had told his folks what Rob had said, Donald
Clay turned back to the television.
     "Whatever this scientist did, it definitely had an effect," he
commented.
     No one could deny that.
     
     They were glued to the television as the town was evacuated
and remote cameras set up. It was a media event like the Gulf War
had been, save this was much more close to home than most would've
liked. More friends called for both Erik and his folks all day. His
father was called in, just in case some nuts tried anything, so
only he and his mother saw what happened around ten o'clock.
     The remote cameras saw the dome vanish instantly and the
effects were quickly felt as nothing but vacuum remained. The
closer cameras were destroyed and the station automatically
switched to the ones further away. We stared numbly as what
remained of the town was flattened by the massive implosion. After
a few seconds, it made a sound like a thunderclap as a violent
windstorm was created.
     "Dear Lord," Amanda whispered.
     Erik just watched numbly as events unfolded, but he started
feeling a prickling sensation all over which he eventually could
not ignore. He tried scratching but it didn't help, neither did
rubbing his skin. His mother noticed and looked at him in concern.
     "Is something wrong, Erik?" she asked him.
     "I don't know," he replied with a grimace. "I feel pins and
needles all over me all of a sudden." He blinked and looked at the
TV. "Maybe that thing did it; making some people itchy. You think?"
She looked scared and worried so Erik tried to reassure her. "It'll
probably pass, like static or something similar. I'll take a shower
and," he yawned, suddenly tired, "go to bed. I'm still recovering
from the party." Amanda stood and hugged him for comfort before he
left. She stared after him, feeling an odd dread and...
     Expectation?

ERIK'S VIEW...
     
     I hated the prickly sensation on my skin and the shower only
made things worse somehow. But I was tired and collapsed on my bed.
I was very quickly asleep, surprising actually, considering the
feeling kept going and should've made relaxation impossible.
     I would've had even more trouble if I had known what I would
wake up to the next morning.
     Later, Mom and Dad told me events before the discovery. Dad
had come back around seven a.m. the next day, tired and beat even
if nothing had really warranted his attention. He was told by Mom,
who had stayed up all night, about my itchiness and he became
concerned. They both went upstairs to my room to get more
information from me about the itch, but when they came into my dark
room and turned on the bedside light, they got the shock of their
lives.
     I normally sleep on my back, which made the changes easy to
see. My hair had grown long, a little past my shoulders, and
changed to a brighter, more vibrant yellow. The face my parents
knew so well was now more angular and slightly leaner with arched
eyebrows. Hawk nose, reddish lips that were slightly thinner, and
higher cheekbones. When Dad, shocked, pulled the covers off of me
he saw that I had grown a few more inches in length and my frame
slightly thinner; my PJs were short on me now. My hands were long
and elegant, and skin now milk white, rather than my usual dusky
rose. To top everything off, when Mom brushed my hair out of the
way they saw my ears were pointed like a Star Trek vulcan's would
be but more delicately.
     Their activity stirred me at last and I blinked, showing
intense blue eyes. The stunned expression on their faces made me
frown.
     "What? I wet the bed or something?" I growled, not being an
early riser. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, then frowned deeper.
"What the heck...?" I muttered, still not awake yet but feeling a
greater drag on my head that shouldn't have been there.
     "Son, maybe you should..." Dad started to say but he was too
late.
     With now widened eyes, I felt my longer hair with shaking
hands and brushed my altered ear. I gulped and traced the points I
now possessed. Then I took a better look at my hands, flipping them
over and over, hardly believing that they were mine. I swallowed.
     "I guess that itch was a little more serious after all," I
said with a weak voice. "What do I look like?" I asked my parents.
     Mom sat on my bed, and brushed a trembling hand through my
silky hair with awe and fear in her eyes. "An elf, Erik. You look
like an elf."
     I may have been not a little terrified but I was damned if I
would panic like most people. "Better than a troll," I said,
forcing a chuckle. "I wonder if I'm not the only one," I wondered,
trying to take my mind off my own problem, and my Dad's face grew
grim as I said that, even as concerned as he was for me, he
realized the problems this would cause for others more likely to
panic.
     "I hope not, son. I pray not."

     After I had stared into the bathroom mirror, digesting the
change that had occurred, we soon found out from the news that I
had been far from the only victim. People all over had experienced
changes of an unusual nature, and not all the same way as one
reporter on CNN summarized:
     "To those who have just tuned in, I will recap the last few
days amazing events. After a terrible tragedy in Hardpoint, North
Dakota, there have been people all over the world reporting strange
powers and changes in their bodies. It seems no coincidence that
these people all felt something at almost the exact same time the
enormous dome of Hardpoint vanished, leaving a crater behind. These
reports are more frequent nearer the town, but all nations seem to
have been afflicted in some way.
     "Some who haven't changed at all can do things you would
expect a stage magician to do; these are the most frequent. Next
are those who seem to flicker into another body entirely before
returning to their normal state, these people claim to be able to
do this in an increasingly longer duration now than their first
time. These are rarer than the first group. Then there are those
who actually changed physically." My family and I paid closer
attention to this. "The changes are not extreme for most but all
have had their appearance altered to some degree. These people also
seem to be developing abilities as time passes but the final
strength of those powers is unknown. All appear to have some
measure of increased strength. This group appears to be the rarest
yet."
     "Boy, I guess I'm lucky then," I muttered. Mom hushed me.
     "The people afflicted are totally random. Race, profession,
intelligence, or place of occurrence, nothing appears to have made
a difference. It is this reporter's opinion that the police will
have a lot to do over the next few months to calm things down.
Edward Daniels, CNN, signing off." Dad turned off the TV so we
could assimilate the information.
     "You know," I said, musing. "I do feel something. Kind of a
feeling in me, growing. Really odd."
     "Puck!" Mom blurted. Dad and I turned to her and stared, she
in turn stared at my features. "I've always privately thought that
the shakespeare story, A Midsummer's Night Dream, that I told you
when you were young had influenced you a lot, especially the
character of Puck."
     I blinked as that vague memory returned to me. "You think
that's why I look like this?"
     "Could be," my father mused thoughtfully. "What did you
personally think Puck was like?" he asked me.
     "I think I confused him a bit with the King of the Elves
actually." I grinned at Mom's resigned expression. "I was into
comic book heros at the time so I'd made him into something of a
mischievous, magical hero that could do a lot to villains. Using
his wits, magic, and mighty sword to defeat bad guys and all that.
It didn't last long."
     "It appears to have been long enough," Dad mused, looking at
my elvish form. I had to laugh.
     "Beware, vile villains! I am the magnificent Puck! Alakazam!"
I cried, thrusting a palm up. The puff of fire and white smoke that
burst from it frightened me as much as my folks. "Okay," I said
slowly, "I guess more than my body changed." My laugh was more
nervous now as I turned my palm to stare at it.

     Mom wanted to take me to a hospital but I flatly said no. I
finally convinced her when I asked her if a hospital could really
do anything for me at this point in time. She had to say no but
looked so worried that I hugged her to reassure her. Gently after
the initial start; that reporter was right about increased strength
for Mom squeaked a protest when I put more pressure on her than I
realized.
     "Sorry," I apologized. 
     "That's all right, Erik." She sighed reluctantly. "I suppose
it means you're still in good health."
     Dad kept his own opinion on the hospital matter, but I think
he agreed with me. I also think he realized, as I did, that going
to the hospital meant possibly undesirable media attention. What he
suggested instead, practical and methodical as ever, was that I try
to control whatever powers that I had gained before I did something
accidently that I would regret later.
     So for the next three days I stayed in the house, mostly
trying to find some way I could leave without attracting attention
BEFORE I attracted attention by NOT leaving. Rob and Jason called
me often on the phone, fortunately they were too excited by what
was going on in the world that they were glued to the TV and
Newsgroups and they didn't try to visit. I did the same as I was
more involved in the matter and kept myself informed. For those
afflicted at New Years their powers were becoming stronger. It was
happening at different rates but everyone agreed on one point, they
were increasing. I felt it too and told Dad everything about it
that I could.
     But whatever occurred, I couldn't say I didn't enjoy the power
I had gained to a degree. Everything I tried came from what I had
imagined of my old hero Puck, but it tired me while astonishing
myself and my family.
     For I could fly! Well, it was floating at the moment; it took
a lot of concentration to get even a few feet off the ground. 
     My strength increased as well; I could lift Dad without too
much strain, but reports were coming in of others doing more.
     Also, an... awareness came to my attention. It occurred when
I tried doing that fire and smoke trick again and faintly sensed my
energies flowing when it occurred.
     Which led to an exploration of my, hopefully, greatest
ability: spells.
     I tried doing all sorts of things but I couldn't manage them;
it was beyond my power and ability - for now. But the one thing I
COULD do was illusion, and that I began to explore with great
enthusiasm, seeing its potential. Minor illusion spells didn't take
a lot of power, just concentration and practice.
     My mother soon found me in the kitchen, seated on one of the
chairs and frowning at two apples on the dining table.
     "Erik? What are you doing?" she asked curiously, still getting
used to my new body. I smiled up at her.
     "Working on an experiment. Could you pick up these apples?" I
said offhandedly. Mom tried, but her hand passed through the first
one she reached for. She jerked it back, wide-eyed, like it was a
snake but she saw me trying to suppress my laughter and relaxed
into an angry state, directed at me.
     "Erik!" she scolded. I dropped my amusement under her glare
and gave a sheepish shrug.
     "Sorry, Mom." I sighed in frustration as I returned my gaze to
the false apple. "Actually, I'd hoped you would appear to grab it."
Mom shook her head and came closer to me, peering at the fruit
twins.
     "They don't look the same," she offered.
     "Oh, I already did that," I explained as I turned at her, "but
I'm working on differences and realism now." Mom gasped as
something occurred to her.
     "Could you make yourself look..." she hesitated, "..normal?" 
     "I tried, Mom," I ran a hand though my long hair, "but I'm not
quite strong enough for a illusion that big yet. Maybe in a few
days I will be." Then I frowned again, with a different thought.
     Mom saw this and became concerned. "Erik? What is it?" I
looked her with a seriousness in my eyes that I doubt she'd seen
often and despite my changed appearance, I could tell she saw Dad's
solemn eyes.
     "Dad's been worried for days, and I just realized why." I
paused as Mom drew closer. "I had thought that people would cause
damage with these powers in the initial first week, but they can't
if most are still weak like I am. It will be perhaps two to three
weeks before any start to be able to do much real damage." My face
turned grim; I was a policeman's son so I had a fair idea what
people on the wrong side of the law might do with suddenly acquired
powers. Mom looked concerned and afraid, for my father will be
facing those who do. I reached a decision but didn't tell mom about
it, instead I started another topic. 
     "I do need help with clothes though," I mused.

AUTHOR'S VIEW...

     The trio who arrived at Erik's house on the morning of the
fifth were understandably puzzled. Rob and Jason could understand
themselves, but Erik had asked them to bring Anne, Robbie's older
sister, along, which puzzled them to no end.
     Anne was a even tempered sort of person and was on good terms
with her younger brother. The unusual request was a curiosity that
she ruefully knew Erik had counted on to lure her here. The reason
was probably to do with her passion for making her own clothes; she
did a lot of unique designs for others that paid well. But her
brother's friend had sometimes asked for unusual details about
clothing and her help in making some rather bizarre items for their
pranks. Erik wasn't a dumb kid, she thought amusedly after
remembering the completed pranks in their entirety, you couldn't
call him that.
     As it was winter, she used her car to get them all to Erik's
house and was greeted by the blonde's smiling mother. She said her
son was in the basement on the computer and waiting for them as
they kicked off snow and untied shoes.
     Erik's basement was mostly a large room with a separation
between it and the smaller pottery, furnace, and laundry rooms. His
computer was located on a desk at the far end. As the three stomped
down the stairs, spying a figure seated in the computer's chair,
Jason said, "Yo, Erik! We're here, so what's with the mystery
already?"      
     The figure in the chair swivelled around with a grave air. Rob
and Jason froze, bug-eyed, while Anne gasped aloud and covered her
mouth with her hands as she stared. Erik broke out laughing as they
stared at him; the sight of an elf in robe and slippers must've
been something.
     "I'll give you three guesses, Jason, and the first two don't
count!" he chortled, then sobered a little but still kept his
smile. "That dome thing hit me pretty hard appearance-wise. What do
you think?" He stood and spread his arms gracefully for their
benefit.
     "Hooooooly shit, Erik," Rob said, stunned as he looked at
Erik's new body, "is that really YOU??"
     "No, I'm the Easter bunny in disguise," Erik shot back,
irritated, "and I've come for all the eggs you stole." He strode to
stand in front of his friend and mimed a couple of slaps to Rob's
face. "Yes, it's me, numbskull!" He turned to bow at Rob's still-
staring sister. "And oh, thanks for coming, Anne. I need help big
time. My clothes don't fit anymore and, while the robe and slippers
ARE fetching," she giggled at his arched eyebrow, and Erik's new
appearance made it much more effective, "I prefer pants."
     "My God," she whispered, looking me up and down, "you really
do look like an elf. This is unbelieveable." Then a kindled fire
began to shine in her eyes. "I've never made clothes for elves
before; this could be interesting." Erik couldn't believe it, she
actually licked her lips at the notion.
     "Uh oh, Sis," Rob groaned. "You have that 'experiment with
clothes' look in your eyes again."
     "Do you blame me?" she retorted, not stopping her studied
examination of the new elf's body.
     "Nooooo...." he admitted slowly. "Not really. I just hope you
know what you've done, Erik."
     "I'll survive," Erik said dryly. Jason spoke up then for the
first time. He didn't bother commenting on Erik's new look.
     "Why did you call us all here, Erik, besides for Anne's help?"
     "I had to show someone, guys, as school's tomorrow. I'll
hopefully be able to make an illusion to make myself look normal
but I wanted you to know."
     "Illusion?" Jason asked with interest, then smacked himself.
"Oh yes! All those who changed on New Years have powers. I forgot."
     "I doubt you will later," Erik said ominously. The three
looked apprehensive now. "I wouldn't worry about myself, but those
who were hit were hit RANDOMLY. That includes people you wouldn't
want to HAVE powers, and while mine aren't much right now, they're
still growing. I estimate a few weeks before some people decide to
'play around,' unless the power growth stops but I'm not taking
bets on that. Life is far too unfair for that to occur."
     "Wait a minute," Jason said, looking at me as if I was crazy.
"You aren't going to actually try and FIGHT these people, are you?!
Your dad won't let you do that!" Erik sighed, walked up to his
friend, and calmly picked Jason up with both hands at the waist. He
let his startled and slightly shaken friend down after a moment had
passed.
     "Jason, my parents are the ones who gave me my morals, and I
stand up to them, even if they are in my own way. I won't do
anything unless it becomes obscenely obvious that the police can't
handle matters." Erik grinned. "Besides, some afflicted may be in
the police department so I might not need to at all. But no one is
experienced with this, guys. So that makes those who practice the
most the experts."
     Rob spoke up. "Er... I have a personal theory as well."
Everyone looked at him so he went on. "Does it sound reasonable
that the most common type of afflicted will have the weakest
powers, while the rarest have the strongest?" Erik looked
thoughtful.
     "Perhaps. That does sound sensible, but I suppose we'll see."
He looked startled when Anne produced a tape measure and started
checking his measurements. She grinned impishly up at his bemused
glace downwards as she started at his waist.
     "No time like the present, milord."
     "Puck," he corrected, "not 'milord.'" That made her stop.
     "Puck???" she exclaimed in disbelief. "As in Shakespeare? THAT
Puck?? Also known as Robin Goodfellow??" He shrugged.
     "When I was I kid I sort of did the usual kid hero-
overpowering with him after my mom read that story. That's my
theory why I look like this." Anne looked pained, she'd liked that
play, and resolutely went back to measuring the elf.
     "Never mind," was her flat comment. Rob and Jason shrugged at
each other, confused. 
     Erik kept quiet as she measured his chest, but his grin said
it all.

ERIK'S VIEW...

     I'd never been this nervous going to school before, but as I
walked into my first class I relaxed as no one noticed anything odd
with me. Anne had done a rush job for a shirt and pants and I was
greatful for them. My shoes were a little tight right now but I
managed. Rob and Jason were surprised at my normal-looking
appearance and suppressed their chuckles when I winked at them.
     Of course, the main gossip at the school was what had happened
at New Years. Winnipeg was one of the closest major cities to
Hardpoint, thus a higher concentration of people in one place,
which had been near the border, and it appeared to have affected
more people in my city and others nearby than anywhere else in the
world. Perhaps the dome's effect had been drawn to the North Pole.
Who knew?
     In any case, people were talking about others who had gotten
small powers, people able to change into another body with powers
for a few minutes and then back, and the rarest of all, a change of
the person him/herself and then stuck with it. I kept an
interested, but normal face, though all this. However, I did make
a sour face at one piece of news.
     There was no justice in the world. Jennifer, leader of the
Snoot-Group, was one of the ones who could become another form for
a time. Oh well, at least they wouldn't pick on others who could
now, I thought. Sadly, this was not the case I found at lunchtime.
     Well, I HAVE been wrong before. Rarely, but it happens.
     Rob, Jason, and I walked into the school cafeteria to find a
crowd around a grade ten girl by the name of Cathy. I knew who she
was because I'd played a trick on a girl who'd been verbally
sniping the short, cute, and very shy girl with short red hair and
freckles. The problem was that her red hair was now long, curly,
and completely unable to hide the long sheep horns that grew high
on her forehead and curled around the sides of her head. It made
her quite attractive really, in an exotic sort of way perhaps, but
those horns framed her head rather nicely. She looked a little
thinner too, but the red on her face was pure embarrassment as she
tried to eat her lunch.
     "Hey, Miss Sheep! You look like you need to be sheared!" one
of Jennifer's crew jeered. Cathy hunched deeper and I decided to
break things up before things got ugly. I wedged my way through the
crowd, my friends following close behind.
     "All right, all right, sarcasm crew's here. Break it up," I
told everyone when I reached the clear space around the girl's
back. My own reputation was well established in the school and
people started going. Jennifer wouldn't let it go that easily
though.
     "What's your problem, Prankman?" she sneered, using a nickname
for me I didn't like much and she knew that fact well. 
     "Ease off, Jennifer. I hear you've changed too, so why pick on
Cathy here?" I saw the girl turn beside me to stare at Jennifer,
who had flushed, in surprise.
     "At least I don't look like a sheep when I change!" she
retorted.  
     "That's ewe, sheep is plural. Get your insults right at
least." My curiosity got the better of me then. "What DO you change
into?"
     She smiled wickedly and her body shimmered for a half-second,
then stabilized into a semi-naked form. Christ, she wore only a
toga and sandals, which showed off her even more shapely form to
devastating effect. Her straight, raven hair went down to the
middle of her tanned thighs. The face was still hers, but there was
something about it that made it appear she was probing your very
soul. She smirked as she posed, throwing her hair back.
     "How do you like THIS? I..." her voice died and she stared at
me in combined shock and surprise. "I... can tell if someone is
lying to me or not when... I'm like this." The males of the room
were drooling at her but she kept her eyes on me, and I had a
sinking feeling why. She shimmered back to normal, still staring at
me in disbelief.
     "Hm," I said calmly. "Must be fun. And for MY demonstration I
call apon my able, or is that unable, assistant Robbie!" Rob hammed
it up, bowing, people cheering him as they laughed. I whispered in
Cathy's ear and she reluctantly stood up to stand face-to-face with
Rob, who was over a foot taller than her. I nodded and she gripped
his waist with both hands. 
     And lifted him with a little effort.
     Needless to say, my audience was a little surprised. "In case
you people haven't heard," I said dryly as Cathy kept the grinning
Rob in the air, "those people with their bodies changed always get
a sizable strength increase. Er... Rob gets airsick easily so you'd
better put him down, Cathy." There was more laughter as she just
dropped him in her hurry and he stumbled a bit from the fall.
"C'mon, guys, let's monopolize this pretty girl's conversation."
     "But... but..." she said weakly as I gently led her back to
her seat and we sat all around her. "But I look freakish," she
finished quietly.
     Jason snorted. "Well, at least you've got better equipment to
fend people off."
     "I don't know, Cathy," I said, "people have worn fruit bowls
on their heads, and gotten away with it. Now THAT'S weird.
Besides," added thoughtfully, considering her profile, "they make
you look more attractive in a way." 
     "Huh, you're right, Erik," Rob agreed after a few seconds
study.
     "You... really think so?" she asked timidly. Our emphatic nods
got a warm, stunning smile out of her and I think she claimed
Jason's heart with that smile for he just stared at her when she
did. She noticed and ducked her head with a blush.
     "Say," I said to Rob with a grin, "did I see a guy with wings
and a bow and arrow just pass by?" Near-oblivious Rob just blinked
at me in confusion while Jason and Cathy blushed together this
time. I chuckled at their reactions.
     "I guess not."

     Cathy didn't know about the power she had until later when she
played her flute in the school band, or so I heard from Jason. Her
playing seemed to come a little more naturally to her now, and the
whole band seemed to feel the same way whenever she played. The
music teacher was confused about all this until only the flutes
played and he eventually winnowed the cause down to a very
surprised red-head. Poor Cathy was tired after class for her power,
while subtle, was weak still. 
     Still, she was happier what her 'curse' also had a gift, and
one that she liked, and liked a lot.

AUTHOR'S VIEW...

     By herself, Jennifer cornered Erik after school on his way
home. She knew his usual route and when he turned into a back lane,
there she was. And with a unusually determined look on her face.
     "All right," she said, looking directly into his eyes. "Why
did you look the way you did?" Erik sighed; his illusion hadn't
been good enough to fool her other form's power.
     "Not everyone shows off, Jennifer," I said quietly. "Even
though I would've been quite the splash with my new look, wouldn't
I?" I smiled crookedly at her wide-eyed surprise that I had
actually admitted it. "No, I'm waiting. Because other people in
this city who are far more unsavory than you or I ALSO have our
growing powers, Jennifer. I'm being cautious, and if you CAN hear
and see the truth in your other form I'd be careful too. Some
people don't want the truth known, Jennifer," I said in total
honesty, "so be very careful."
     She was pale, now understanding a few of my reasons for
hiding. "Maybe I'll go public as myself later, but only if I feel
ready. For now..." I concentrated and floated around her with a
cheshire smile. "The Puck is just getting ready for our changing
world. See you tomorrow, Jennifer."
     Erik walked away with her staring after him, the raven haired
girl's thoughts whirling in confusion, the hidden elf's words
making her suddenly unsure of herself. At least Erik hoped so, if
she became more cautious...
     All the better.

PART TWO - PUCK IN PLAY

ERIK'S VIEW...

     Damn, damn, damn, and DAMN!!!
     My worst fears were tossed out the window and replaced with
even graver ones. Around eleven days after the initial changes, my
power levels jumped, and jumped a lot to my dismay. I heard similar
stories at school with those who had a second form and with Cathy,
who was the only one in my city area who had changed like me. The
first, least powerful group stopped their power increase at that
time.
     But Jennifer could stay in her form for almost five hours now,
instead of ten minutes! And she confessed to me secretly that her
powers of truth seeking had grown as well. With her increased
power, Cathy could now play in band practice without fear now; her
ability now appeared to help students learn music at an increased
rate so the music teacher, and the entire band, were very happy
with her. Her and Jason were starting to become a fast item as
well. Those horns of hers made me think of the 'randy as a goat'
phrase and I wondered about those two. 
     As for myself...
     I could actually, truly fly now. Mom and Dad were a little
startled when I woke up one morning and felt strong enough to fly
to breakfast. I didn't realize the jump until I woke up fully and
told my father about it.
     "I don't like that piece of news one bit," he sighed, and I
agreed with him.
     I could do more with illusions now as that 'sense' of mine was
stronger and allowed for more control. I even made myself
invisible, but when I moved my shape rippled like a Predator cloak.
It obviously needed more work. I also began experimenting with more
than illusion too, expanding my abilities. One priority was a
protection spell to shield myself or others. I felt I would need
it.
     I was sure I was around the power level I had imagined for
Puck in my youth, but it was like that was merely the starting
mould which expanding as my power grew.
     As it did for others.
     For the incidents I had been expecting began happening.

     Minor note: Winnipeg weather is not conducive to 'crime
fighting,' I thought on the fifteenth as I shivered. I stood on a
ledge of a building during one of my fair city's cold snaps. And a
record-breaking -42 degrees celsius as well. While my body was more
durable now, I thought my pointy ears would fall off as I stood in
the getup Anne had made for me.
     I had to admit, she did good work. And the cape was a REAL
plus at the moment.
     "Heat spell," I muttered, "Next time I practice, I make a heat
spell. Don't forget the damned heat spell."
     The cape was a dark blue and just the right weight. A gold
stitched, slightly lighter blue shirt with tasteful and rather
beautiful designs matched well with the matching, and rather snug,
pants. The high black boots she had dug up were a nice addition.
Where Anne had gotten the belt, he didn't know, but the silver and
golden metal that was twined made it look very expensive. The dark
blue gloves helped with the chill and I wore the cloak's hood over
my head. It was created more to fit my elf appearance than to fight
crime with but I figured it would do. After all, I wasn't planning
to go full time on this bit.
     The action below was heating up though. An apparent twobody
person had shouted his intentions to blow up downtown with his new
powers an hour ago. Nutcase. Unfortunately, his power was anything
BUT nuts as his body became a silvery metal form, T-1000 style, and
projected beams of not inconsiderable power from his eyes. Bullets
bounced off that reflective skin. I didn't want to become a
vigilante if I could help it so I watched, wincing at times, as the
confrontation went on.
     The police had some people change on the force too however,
and one had just arrived on the scene. My eyes were keener so I saw
him become a... cowboy?? Good grief, was my bemused thought.
     However ridiculous, he materialized a lasso and tossed it with
uncanny accuracy and speed towards the felon. It slipped around the
guy perfectly and the grinning cop started dragging him in.
     He should've ducked behind an object or something. The villain
of this drama tried breaking out of the rope but couldn't, even his
eyebeams couldn't hurt it. The cop-cowboy was another matter, and
a beam hit him in the shoulder making him cry out in pain and the
rope vanished as he collapsed. The silver guy laughed crazily when
freed.
     "Stupid cops! You cannot defeat the RAY MAN!!" he screeched in
a tinny voice.
     "Ray Man?" I muttered disbelievingly. "You've got to be
kidding." I shook my head sadly. "Our education dollars at work
here." I sighed and raised my hand. "I just CAN'T let a stupid
asshole like this guy win." My hand crackled with energy and I let
fly a lightning bolt towards him. My aim was a little off: I hit
his foot. 
     Well, maybe it wasn't off by THAT much. Ray Man???
     "Arrggghhh!!!" the idiot screamed in pain after my bolt left
his shiny foot smoking a little. He hopped and clutched it in his
silver hands as he cursed. To give him credit, he recovered fast
and sent a beam to the spot I had been standing at a few seconds
ago. Like many people would say, I'm not stupid. This guy also
tossed beams around like nothing, he had to run out of steam soon. 
     As my previous position exploded, I launched another bolt.
     To the other foot. 
     He screamed again and was literally hopping mad, or, more
accurately, hopping AND mad. I'm sure the police must've been
enjoying this since he had injured one of theirs. I had gone back
to my old position to loose the bolt but he must have seen my
distorted form as I left. His retaliatory beam hit me in the lower
arm and hurt like fucking hell. My yell of pain accompanied my fall
to earth as my concentration for flying was shot. I made an attempt
to slow before I landed and only winded myself when I hit a car
roof, denting it. My cloak spell was a self-sustaining spell so it
was still going.
     "You fucking bastard!" the so-called 'Ray Man' spat hatefully.
"You hurt me, you shifty fucker!"
     I slid off the car roof in some considerable pain and decided
to talk for a moment to catch my breath. I dropped the cloak spell
and stood tall. I then pulled back my hood with my good arm and the
guy gratefully acted startled. "If we're going to be calling
ourselves names you may as well call me Puck," I said as calmly as
I could.
     "Puck?? PUCK??!?! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!" he laughed loudly. "Stupid
name for an asshole who looks like a sonavabitchin elf!"
     "If you READ you'd know it makes perfect sense," I shot back
and smiled as a semi-transparent sphere surrounded me.
     "Fucker!" he cried angrily and shot a beam at me but the
shield spell held. Energy diffused wildly from the hit location,
much to my satisfaction and his increasing rage.
     "Now 'Ray Man'..." I mused, as if to myself. "That has such a
lack of... intelligence about it." He screamed and fired again,
twice, but I sustained the spell which would have otherwise have
collapsed after the first beam of the volley. I raised a crackling
hand as I smiled grimly. "That's three times. I'd better even
things up, yes?" I slammed three lightning bolts into his stomach,
left shoulder, and right kneecap in quick succession. It also left
him falling on his face in screaming pain before reverting back,
unconscious, to his human form. He just didn't have the energy to
sustain his 'other self' anymore, but he sure had to have had a
considerable store at the beginning. I looked around and saw
shattered glass, concrete, and cars and shook my head at the waste.
     I stayed where I was in case he was playing possum, I doubted
it but cunning sometimes made up for intelligence. Finally, I
dropped the shield and went over to him. Turning him over I saw
that his lightning burns were no longer there. Handy, I thought,
feeling my own painfully throbbing arm. I waved to the police and
they rushed over to handcuff the unconscious guy as I backed away
to give them room.
     "I highly suggest someone find out how to prevent him from
changing and doing this again," I suggested as they lifted him up.
"Like holding his face in a position that will hurt himself or hurt
nothing, and with something that won't change with him like his
clothes do." One of the officers, the cowboy I realized, came up to
me and looked me over.
     "Nice work, son," he said in a drawl, looking rather
regretful, "but we'll need you to come with us. If you'll change
into your original body, please?"
     "Why do I need to come with you? And you ARE looking at it; we
don't all switch and heal instantly, you know," I said, a little
more frostily than I intended; my arm HURT! He looked surprised,
then sighed.
     "Sorry, son. I didn't realize. But we do need to know who you
are and your statement."
     "Look," I began, "I'm NOT a 'super hero.' I helped out because
I was EXPECTING this to happen sometime. It was BOUND to happen
with all the different kinds of people affected, and some of those
will be tempted to USE it destructively. After tonight I can hope
that they realize they just can't do that and I can save myself
injury." I winced as my arm throbbed. "I now realize I couldn't let
that guy just keep going until he ran out of juice because that
would've meant others could do the same thing, police or no police.
This is the first case of this sort in Winnipeg, and maybe in the
world. You have enough to book him, and KEEP him booked. That sets
a precedent, so make it stick for that nut or there'll be even more
trouble than what will happen now.
     "And realize this: we are still increasing in power, the first
level has stopped but I don't know when the second, your's, will.
The first was eleven days, you may be longer or shorter, and then
I MAY experience another increase of power." The officer's eyes
widened at this. "I just don't know, but that's my best guess. I
want to keep order in the city, officer. But you'll have a hard
time of it, damage and life-wise, without more backup. Most
offenders will be the first and second levels because there are far
more of them than the rarer third."
     "And what do we do if a third level like you goes rogue?" he
asked me.
     "After a second power increase? I'm not sure," I admitted.
"But I'd keep the possibly in mind." I hopped up and hovered in the
air in front of the now-amazed officer. "And pray," I added before
gliding into the sky, cloak ruffling behind me, and, with a ripple,
vanishing.

     I got yelled at when I got home, all of it Mom as she quickly
pulled off my shirt to look at my painfully throbbing arm, tears of
worry in her eyes. Dad wasn't there as he was still out because of
that idiot.
     "WHY did you do this, Erik?!" Mom cried as she applied
disinfectant to my extremely burned forearm, me wincing at the
sting. "This was just plain STUPID!"
     "You're right, it was," I sighed. "If I'd put a shield up I
could've kept blasting him till he dropped without a scratch.
Unless he had hit the supporting wall."
     "This whole business was stupid!" Mom cried at me.
     "I had to show those people with the power that OTHERS with
the power could and would fight them if they did something like
this, not just the cops. Some still won't care. Mom, if someone
like him had appeared in a crowded mall and killed everyone there,
how would you feel if I was one of those killed in the crowd? I
went and acted because I had to." I paused. "And also because of
that name. 'Ray Man'??" I shook my head again at that title.
"Personally, I hope I don't have to, but I doubt it."
     Mom looked at me for a long time, biting her bottom lip. "I
just don't want to lose you, Erik," she whispered as she finished
bandaging my arm. I slowly hugged her and she wrapped her arms
around me tightly.
     "Hey," I said with love, "the Puck never loses."

AUTHOR'S VIEW...

     Erik found that he healed more rapidly as his arm repaired
itself several times faster than normal. Another blessing.
     The incident, 'Ray Man', and Puck made the newspapers the next
day, causing considerable uproar. Some crazy photographer who had
actually stayed close to the action even got a photo of Erik flying
off. Cameras weren't affected by the illusion so it was clear,
something to remember. The cop-cowboy had even repeated my
arguments to the reporter so as to get my words to the general
public, I heard from Dad that the cowboy got in a little trouble
for that.
     The hubbub around school was considerable, there was even talk
of the school going around to the affected and recording what they
could do. However, anything that was to be done would take months
to even begin. Erik and Jason weren't terribly worried about Cathy,
her music talents were purely educational and non-harmful. Erik
jokingly told Jennifer to be careful not to be drafted into jury
duty and got a frown back. With that talent of hers, that old O.J.
Simpson trial probably would've ended in a few days rather than a
few months. It was kids like that fellow who used a water
controlling power to drench some girls that people worried about.
     The first level powers could be worrisome too. Some burglar
had been going around the city and opening normal house locks at
will, literally. He got too cocky and got caught, but it was a good
example.
     A far grimmer one was Toronto. Seventy-eight killed, over four
hundred wounded by shrapnel when a lunatic like Ray Man who could
blow up objects at a distance went on a rampage. Police finally
shot him when they found him; his face had no mouth in his second
form, and, unlike Ray Man, he wasn't bulletproof. Thus it was
discovered the hard way that if you died in your second form you
died period.
     Erik, with a warmth spell, often went flying invisible over
the city. It was good practice as his power steadily increased. It
was semi-rare, but sometimes he actually found crimes being
committed.

     "Come on, you whore!" a brown-skinned, burly man shouted as he
slapped a heavily made up, crying woman in a short skirt and
leather jacket. She was on the snowy ground below the angry man
with three other men around him in the shadowy, sheltered alleyway,
breath frosty in the cooling night air. "I know you're the one so
don't you fucking hold out on me! Fucking shifter, think you too
good for me?"
     "I c-can't!" she protested weakly. "N-not like..." She was cut
off in mid sentence by another slap.
     "Ah, hell with it," one of the standing men said. "Let's just
our rocks off in her and leave the..." A chilling laugh made him
stop and he whirled to the alley's exits, his fellows pulling out
guns while he took out a knife. "What the fuck was that?" he
whispered tensely.
     A form silently, eerily, shuffled out of the darkness, wearing
a long black robe and holding a pole with a long, curved blade. The
head rose and the men around the woman felt their neck hairs stand
on end. For it was a skull looking out from the hood.
     The Grim Reaper.
     Death.
     The men shot at the figure in panic but it didn't even slow
the thing down as it advanced. The woman began to scream as the man
on her leapt off to back away in a panic. Then the Reaper shifted
his hands' positions and gripped the scythe tightly in it's bony
grip. It made a few, deadly silent swings of the gleaming blade.
     That did it, the four men ran in terror out of the alley while
the woman scrambled away from the Reaper in frightened horror.
     "Well, that worked well, didn't it?" a voice laughed out
behind her and she whirled her head around to look. She gaped at
the person who called himself the Puck. "Okay, Reapie," he
chuckled, "disappear." The spectral apparition vanished instantly
making the woman gape even more. 
     Erik knelt by the woman and looked her over. "You okay?" he
asked, concerned. She nodded, wide-eyed. "You want to get out of
here before those shots attract attention?" She nodded again, more
frantically. "All right then," he said and before she could
protest, he picked her up and then FLEW straight up to land on the
roof before she could even scream. "What's your name?"
     "G-Gail," she stuttered, then realized the air around him was
toasty warm. "H-How do you keep warm like this?"
     "Heat spell. Need it for this cold when flying." 
     "Thanks... thanks for the rescue, not many would care to save
a hooker from rape," she said a little bitterly. Gail was loosing
her chill from the ground as he kept holding her in his arms. "Dumb
bastard didn't realize I couldn't shift for him."
     Erik was startled at that. "Shift? Why would he care about
that?" He noticed she was looking at him quite carefully now and
beginning to smile. She was starting to feel that now-familiar, and
delightful, sensation again as the Puck held her. Gail knew full
well what it meant.
     "Because he's a man, if a scumball. Are you?" Gail teased and
reached up to trace his suddenly sensitive ear, making him start.
Something was making him feel aroused but didn't think it could be
Gail, well, she wasn't unattractive but it was hardly the place to
make out.
     "Ah... I'm more elf now I guess."
     "Oh?" She smiled widely now. "Then our meeting is perfect."
     "Eh?!"
     Her form shifted and suddenly Erik found himself holding a
naked woman who was radiating a sensual fire that made his blood
suddenly pound. Her form was voluptuous and lips sinful as she
smiled at his startled look. "I can only shift if I'm with a
male... I... like!" she said, slowly and teasingly tapping his
straight nose. "And that's why I call myself Nymph." She giggled as
she caressed his ear again and this time the delightful sensation
from the touch was increased.
     "So... er... your power is... uh... pleasure?" he asked as he
lay Gail on the snowy roof, making her squeal in shocked surprise
and delight from the cold. She wrapped arms around him and kissed
Erik deeply. He was beginning to respond when she broke off the
kiss.
     "That's right, elf," she breathed, placing his gloved hand on
one of her soft breasts and smiling.
     Erik smiled back, figuring it was the right place after all,
and cast heat and illusion spells around the two of them. "Guess
resisting is a lost cause," he commented as his eyes drank in her
beauty. She eagerly started to help him take his clothes off.
     He had never known just how much his endurance had improved
until that night.

     All over the world, more incidents happened as people began to
discover, and become more confident in, their abilities. Those
affected in warring third world countries began fighting amongst
themselves, believing this new power was to help decide their
conflicts. Casualties escalated when powers clashed.
     With a oil-baron's slave harem, one mistreated lady decided to
leave and left her footmarks on her former owner, literally, for
she was living fire at the time, before escaping and returning to
her home country. On the flip side, another sheik quickly found out
about a third-level woman who could shape shift into any female
form she wanted and asked her to marry him. She accepted. A good
deal for the sheik for she was a one-woman harem, and from all
reports the two eventually fell in love with each other.
     A new Jack the Ripper surfaced in London, a first level who
could hide in fog, at least until he met a certain prostitute with
a feline cast to her features. Things got messy; after the incident
the woman complained about the blood on her painted, three-inch-
long fingerclaws, which were razor sharp and able to cut through
steel.
     Some transformations were not all pleasant, especially for
some who had permanently changed bodies like Erik. One man gained
so much muscle he could barely move, and there was a woman with a
similar problem with stiff skin like flexible marble, but it seemed
to be getting easier for her to move as her power increased while
the man kept bulking up.
     Things in North America heated up, sides formed for control or
freedom of those affected and as they were people in all walks of
life it was a difficult issue. There was at least one in all
nationalities, all races, and all political parties. It was natural
for people to panic, these events were slowly adjusting the normal
lifestyle of countries.
     Erik's presence in Winnipeg helped, but he couldn't go out of
town, and he knew he just didn't have the near the power to do so.
     Until February the 2nd. Groundhog Day.
     That was when the next increase of power happened.
     It was like the difference between the firsts and the seconds.
One day Erik was on par or slightly greater than the seconds he
occasionally fought to keep order, the next it wasn't even funny.
And people noticed when on next day he creamed a lightning throwing
maniac. He'd got hit, but it merely stung a bit. His own
unintentionally powerful retalitory bolt blinded some people and
overloaded the poor idiot into unconsciousness. Spectators noticed
Erik's surprised and startled look at his hands before he left.

ERIK'S VIEW...

     This was getting scary, I thought as I lay on my bed at home.
I took down that second level fellow far too easily. I knew that I
had gotten stronger but now I'm like a second-level fighting a
first! I suppose the second form people will stop increasing their
growth now, which is a relief. But the thirds... At least there are
fewer of them but these new power levels might make things
difficult.
     Not only that, I had still gained power after the first boost,
slowly, but it was a sizable amount.
     Ten days for the firsts.
     A little over twenty days later and the seconds finished at
thirty-some days total.
     If the pattern continued, it meant the thirds had over forty
days more to go, over a month. Over a month to become even more
powerful.
     Life was not easy, I mentally sighed.

     Things settled down when the fact that the third level
affected could usually trample a second level head-to-head now got
around. I certainly would do so if anyone went nuts. Mom was
happier now at least; if a lightning bolt that could shatter stone
couldn't hurt me much, neither could the average bullet. 
     I had improved my invisibility even before the boost so there
wasn't much change there. I flew much faster and if I carried
anyone I made a shield for wind protection. My shields I learned to
shape and could make them unseen, more powerful too. As for spells
and illusions... I tried to expand my knowledge of spells beyond
the few I had created for battle with seconds. I fiddled with
transformations slightly more because of the inclusion of that in
Shakespeare's play, I found I had a talent for it. My illusions
were getting better and more complex. Jennifer couldn't even see
the real me anymore. 
     A new thing that came to me was that I started sensing those
who had power as well as my own. Compared to Cathy, who didn't seem
to have the same ability, and myself, Jennifer was a small campfire
to our raging bonfires. As for the red-head, the increase of power
only made her and the band better, making the music instructor
almost bowing before her in worship. It didn't go to her head,
bless her tender heart.
     The leader of the Snoot-Group seemed to be subtly pursuing me
for some reason. I guess I knew why, I did look handsome as an elf
and my power WAS growing pretty strong. It might also have
something to do with the fact that she now had a pretty good idea
when someone was lying to her, even in her normal body. I was
usually honest when it came to her and her friends still weren't,
that must've grated on her nerves something fierce.

     Trouble occurred on the tenth. 
     The three of us guys and Cathy had taken to walking home from
school. A couple of blocks away from it however, two odd-looking
people were waiting for us. Unfortunately, we knew who they were
for, like Cathy and most others, they were thirds who had revealed
themselves to the public eye. I, being more involved with matters
and my Dad's information, knew even more.
     One was Jonny 'Chain' Steel, age 22. African, afro cut,
slightly paler than most, he had been a happy, relatively fit young
man a few years ago. Now, he was an unsatisfied negro who had been
dealt a bad deck when his folks were killed in one of the few but
bloody inter-gang shootings that had occurred in 1998. With the
loss of his family, he had fallen into depression, then bouts of
rage that surfaced with more and more frequency. One such had cost
him his job as he dropped out of University. New Years had stuck
him like the final blow of a long series of blows when his hands
enlarged to three times their normal size. But his mood improved as
his power emerged. His grip was unbreakable, such was the strength
in his hands and he could crush metal and bone with equal ease at
this point. His overall strength was better than the average third
as well. On the first boost he found he could create energy chains
in his hands and could control them with his will very well.
     The second was Oscar Polinski, age 54. Prematurely white hair,
and slightly wrinkled face on a wiry frame before his change.
Despite my disbelief, he was a postal worker. Average life, average
job, until January 1st. I was surprised he was here at all. The
change had hit only the man's eyes at the time but I noticed he
looked ten to fifteen years younger than he should, they now held
only energy swirls, dizzying to look at so he wore shades all the
time. I wasn't sure what his power was, but it usually matched a
person's physical changes. (Suddenly materializing a gun and
shooting everyone in sight, perhaps? No, no, no... Be serious,
Erik.)
     Both were ignoring us guys and staring intently at Cathy, who
shyly ducked behind Jason after a moment. The black third looked us
over disdainfully and waved one of his huge hands.
     "Get out of here, punks. We only want to talk to the girl." 
     Cathy gripped Jason's arm in fright. I stepped back and took
Rob with me.
     "Uh... We'll see you in a bit, Jason," I said, and only my
long time friends and fellow pranksters Jason and Rob heard the
subtle message in my words. I ran away, Robbie following me around
a fence corner into a back lane where he almost rammed into me.
"Get to a phone and call the police, Rob," I told him. "I'm going
back as someone a little more famous."
     "Gotcha!" he said quickly before running off. After I made
sure no one was looking, my own form vanished.
     Nothing had happened in my absence. Jonny was upset at Cathy's
insistence to keep Jason around, Oscar looked uncertain on how to
deal with it.
     "I said GO, kid!" Chain said angrily and pulled a massive hand
to slap my friend away. That got a surprising response from the
short red-head as she moved to block the slap.
     "Don't you DARE!" she shouted furiously, eyes blazing. Her
curled horns started vibrating with a high pitched hum that
surprised everyone save Cathy, who was glaring at the man who had
threatened her boyfriend. I noticed a wavering in the air above her
head and suspected anything she butted with her horns wouldn't be
lasting long. The ominous hum made Chain back off so she calmed
down and her horns went back to normal. She looked surprised.
     "I was wondering when you'd show a red-head's temper," Jason
murmured quietly to her. "Thanks, Cat."
     "Very well, let the boy stay," Oscar decided and Jonny backed
off, "this won't take long to say."
     "Oh good," I said as I dropped from the hover I'd been in and
quickly reappeared, using an illusion of my usual Puck get-up. "I
get so bored with long speeches," I said flippantly, walking closer
to my friends as everyone save Jason stared at me.
     "How did YOU find out about this?" Chain demanded, to which I
responded with a thin smile.
     "With MY broad range of spells?" I scoffed. "Easily.
Especially since I suspected something would happen after our
second boost in power. You were the most likely, Mr. Steel, to do
something." I was lying through my teeth but I figured they'd buy
it. While I should have, it's not my job to babysit others with
powers all the time.
     "Easy, Jonny," Oscar soothed, placing a restraining hand on
Chain's shoulder. "At least we don't need to find him." He turned
to address me and Cathy. "Jonny and I have been thinking of
organizing some kind of group composed of those changed like we
four have been. You've seen the news, people doing horrible things
with these powers and normals," that sounded alarm bells through
me, "have started to become afraid of our kind."
     "'Our kind'?" I said. "We're still human, even if," I coughed
politely since I was the most obviously inhuman of the four, "some
don't quite look it anymore."
     "Yeah?" Chain sneered. "Well, I don't want to be part of the
'normal' society! Look!" he said forcefully and those glowing
golden chains formed in his big hands. "Is THIS fucking normal?
Oscar and I, we want to band together and get some kind of system
going before the damn normals start slapping laws down on us. The
ones who got only them wimpy powers and didn't change, people don't
care 'cause a lot got hit that way. The seconds they worry about
but less than some terrorists who blow up some bus or something.
They can still look normal all the time if they want. Us, on the
other hand, don't have a choice! We're gonna be the most powerful
of the bunch and most, like me and the girl, can't hide that. We'll
be the minority with superpowers so we'll be the ones most feared."
     "Not unless we give them reason," Cathy murmured softly. But
I frowned, predicting the response to that.
     "Girl, people don't NEED reason to fear something," Chain said
forcefully. "They'll turn, oh you may be hot stuff now, but they'll
turn against you in the end."
     "Except we're not much of a minority," I commented, "and the
first and second level affected will fight something like what you
fear. And so will their families and friends. Too many people in
too many areas of society have been hit and they won't want those
kinds of laws. If we try to band together into some kind of elite
group this early we will create EXACTLY the focus some people in
power, who would fear us, need to turn the public against those who
changed and didn't have a choice. It is far too soon for anything
like that and I would be very opposed that kind of band."
     Chain snarled and whipped one of his glowing chains at me,
intending to wrap me up in it. It only wrapped around the close
shield I had erected around myself. I had been fighting people with
powers for weeks so I had been ready, he hadn't. I pointed at the
ground beneath him and it exploded with considerable force, fire
erupting from below Chain's feet. It was enough to toss him high
with a howl of pain and his chain vanished from around me.
     Oscar didn't approve. His power manifested and the world spun
dizzyingly around me and I collapsed to my knees as my balance
became shot to hell. I heard Cathy and Jason moaning too as Oscar
didn't have much fine control yet and affected everybody in front
of him. I managed a lesser lightning bolt, hoping to stun him, but
it veered crazily around the man's body. Apparently, he distorted
matter and energy around himself for his own kind of protection.
     Fine, I thought, resisting the urge to hurl as I closed my
eyes, which helped immensely. Two can play this game. I cast a very
large and powerful illusion over the area where we were and I
didn't need to look for this one. But I did when I heard startled
and frightened oaths from two men.
     We all stood on nothing, saw nothing save stars, and
everything was black. Space. I myself saw the real world imposed on
my illusion but everyone else saw only my illusion which I
controlled with my will.
     "Hard to disorient someone when they can do the same to you,
isn't it?" I said as I 'stood' in their eyes. They were wobbling as
all visual clues were substituted with few, new, and unhelpful
ones. We were in an empty park area so no one else was bothered by
the effect. I helped a frightened Cathy and Jason up and turned to
the lurching men, grimly.
     "Join, or else? Not a wise choice to give to one who named
himself after a trickster, guys." I pointed at the two and 'space'
seemed to start swallowing them whole. It wasn't real and they
managed to struggle successfully as their power rendered them more
immune than normal folks, but it was unnerving all the same. My
grasp on physical delusion was shaky but for this is was
sufficient. "My specialty is illusion, and while it may not sound
like much, it can be devastating is done properly. And I've been
practicing." My voice turned cold. "You've made your message very
clear, so now hear mine: forget this group idea for a while. Maybe
others will try elsewhere, but I hope not in Canada. And if I hear
you trying in the next year, ESPECIALLY 'persuading' others like
you tried here, I will be very, very angry. This is not a threat.
This is a fact. Good day," I finished curtly and I turned to help
my friends leave the illusion's area of effect, ignoring the two
third's cries for help.
     Eventually, we got out and the two with me sighed, relieved,
to be free of the illusion of space. Cathy hugged Jason, lightly,
and turned her head to me. "Thank you."
     "No problem for a friend, Cathy," I said, and grinned as I
shimmered back into my old self, putting my illusion back up. Her
jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she realized who 'The Puck'
really was. "Rob went to phone the cops so we should expect company
soon." Jason nodded, then sighed in relief.
     "Thanks, Erik," he said and winced when Cathy hugged him
tighter but in shocked irritation this time.
     "You knew?!?" she demanded.
     "Hey, it's HIS life, Cathy," he pleaded as she frowned up at
him. "I hoped he would tell you though." He relaxed as Cathy
released him and she looked down, embarrassed.
     "I'm sorry, you're right," the red-head murmured, red-faced.
Jason rolled his eyes in exasperation and hugged her in his turn.
     "I never thanked you for defending me," he said softly in her
ear. She blushed harder and wrapped her arms around him in return.
He lifted her head up with a soft sigh. "You should look up more,
Cat."
     "What? I thought you liked the horns," I commented with a
grin. They gave me a glare and I merely smiled.
     Turning back to themselves, they looked into each others eyes
and their faces drew closer together, lips ready.
     "Randy as goats, I'd say, but the second set of knockers don't
match," I remarked. I'd meant to think it but it slipped out. I
slapped a hand over my mouth but it was too late. Cathy's eyes
snapped open and she released Jason instantly, turning to me with
that red-head's temper showing on her face again.
     Uh oh.
     "Errrrrriiiiikkkkk!!!" she growled, stamping towards me as I
backed up nervously. People had walked into the park so I couldn't
simply disappear and fly away.
     "It slipped out!" I protested weakly as she advanced on me.
"Slip of the tongue! You know, that sort of thing." She wasn't
listening so I turned and started running around the park, Cathy
hot on my heels.
     The sight had Jason whooping with laughter as the cops came.

     Later that day...
     "WHAT are you doing NOW, Erik??" Jason exclaimed with extreme
disbelief as he stared at me. He had come into my basement to find
me hanging upside down, wrapped with the cord that I hung from.
     "Still can't get that darn Indian Rope Trick right," I sighed
as I swung gently from side to side. "Could you untie me?" He came
up to me and placed a hand on my rope-encased side with a bemused
look.
     "Mind telling me how? Hey," he frowned, "you can get out
yourself, can't you?"
     "Quite right."
     Jason started violently when the real me spoke from behind
him. He looked back and forth between me and the illusion with a
comical look. He patted the fake me then hesitantly came over and
poked my chest. "Glah??" 
     I laughed and my other self vanished. "Sorry, Jason, I needed
to test my new illusion. It makes you think you actually touch it
instead of passing through. Works better than that stunt with those
two earlier today. Uh..." I looked at Jason nervously. "She's not
mad at me still, is she?"
     "A little," he admitted, "but she knows you have a warped
sense of humour at times, and saving her from that confrontation
helped a lot too. It wasn't a nice thing to say, Erik," he said
evenly.
     "I know, I know," I admitted with a sigh. "I really am sorry
about it. I know what she means to you," I eyed him, "even after a
month and a half." Jason rubbed his head.
     "Yeah, surprised us too," he admitted in his turn. I grinned.
     "I just hope you can keep up once you do get to that
certain... stage." He flushed but he turned worried. "Oh, don't
look like that," I groaned. "If you have problems, come to me.
Maybe I can whip up a spell for you or find someone who can do it
better. If I'm right, don't worry about it." He nodded with relief.
     "Thanks, Erik," he said gratefully. "And what about your love
life? I hear Jennifer's on your tail and she knows about you."
     "Well... She does look nice," I admitted, "but it wouldn't
last long. We think too differently. Oh yeah, did you hear the
recent news?" I snickered a little.
     "What news?"
     "I checked on the alt.hardpoint.facts newsgroup when I got
back. Apparently some studies have been going on with the two-form
people. You know that their power forms don't transmit damage to
their original bodies, right?" Jason nodded. "Well, the same goes
for germs and sex. The germs can enter their bodies, but don't
effect them and get destroyed when they shift back. Women can't get
pregnant in the second form or get transmissible diseases. Behold!"
I cried as a stunned Jason digested the news. "The birth of the
ultimate contraceptive! Even if they have a disease in their old
body, it don't appear in the second, germ-free one. Driving the
scientists crazy." I smirked. "And doctors panting for knowledgable
two-form assistants for really hazardous illnesses."
     "What about the thirds?" Jason asked, but I shook my head.
     "Hard to tell with that change. Almost all our skins are too
tough to be sure, our powers make things difficult, and there are
far fewer willing to spend weeks in a hospital being a guinea pig.
Good luck stopping them too." I looked up and mused my thoughts
aloud. "I suspect we may be at the very least more disease-
resistant, or totally immune disease. Sex... We'll have to see, but
we might still be able to have kids because our bodies aren't the
energy forms of the seconds. What they'd look like is a big if.
Though," I added, trying to dispel Jason's worries again, "in my
case I may have half-elves for kids."
     We had a good laugh at that joke.

AUTHOR'S VIEW....

     Chain and Oscar didn't want to tangle with Puck again, but
after being arrested, and to boost public opinion of thirds, they
offered to help the police with rogue two-bodies. The police
accepted them as trial deputies and they did well since the rogues
couldn't match them in raw power reserves. Erik welcomed the help
and the other five thirds, not including Cathy and himself, in
Winnipeg didn't bother to comment.
     More tales around the globe arose as the days passed, too many
to tell. Some seconds and thirds could fly as Puck did. Mental
powers, elemental feats, strength, and more were part of the
variety of abilities. Puck was rare in that he was a third and had
the potential to do many things with his spells, he only needed
time and experience to expand his capabilities. 
     Erik and his friends began getting ready for university. They
didn't want to separate so they decided to all go to the faculty of
science. Rob naturally planned to go with Computer Science. Jason
decided on Chemistry, though he was thinking on transferring into
Engineering. Erik himself was uncertain because of his changes, he
made hazy plans for Physics or Biology because of his involvement
with both. Plastic surgery was also an option as his newly long
fingers were very precise and could have a very delicate touch when
he wanted to.
     Recruiters from some of those departments had started visiting
schools, as did some companies. While Cathy was still in tenth
grade, she was offered a scholarship for the Music school, as if
she was going anywhere else. Erik, while invisible, overheard some
of the recruiters talking. Those few from companies hoped the kids
with powers would speed up some sections of research and
development. Since some kids had amazing abilities they were
probably right. The kids affected would be more adaptable and at
ease with the powers they had gained as well.
     On the other hand, the political war raged on over the
consequences of all the new developments. It favoured the
afflicted, for even with the few rogues, many were neutral and an
equal few eager to help. And that help was considerable. A
politician in the States had spoken on focusing on issues most
normal people couldn't do to prevent job loss. Bright idea. One
third even had a strange appetite for radioactive waste, and with
the sheer amount of it he could eat happily till the cows came
home. A few seconds and thirds would take to work underwater
perfectly with some training, that is, if they couldn't continue
with their old jobs in some way.
     Otherwise, life went on. No third had gone amuck in North
America yet, probably because of the painful examples of the
seconds. They really didn't need to, with their powers they could
find work SOMEWHERE.
     Erik did not have to go out much now, Chain and Oscar were
able enough to handle most trouble makers. So he practiced his
powers and went on with school as usual. Jennifer became more
persistent, especially after finding out about her other form's
immunities, and the fed up Erik finally told her privately the
reasons why they shouldn't date. Even with her growing inability to
read him, she could tell he spoke the truth as he knew it. She
grudgingly acknowledged this, but still asked him to date her for
a few weeks. To his puzzled confusion, she smiled and said:
     "I'm curious. Dating an elf should be an experience."
     So they started going out on the first week of March, which
puzzled the whole school since for most of high school the two had
been on two opposite sides of the fence. Needless to say, when they
were in private Erik often showed her the results of his practice,
much to her delight, as well as... other things.
     Jennifer was not disappointed.
     Erik waited for the middle of March like most thirds,
expectant for their period of growth to end.
     Then March the 16th passed.
     And Erik was rudely nuked with a surprise bombshell.

PART THREE - GODS ARISE

ERIK'S VIEW...

     Son. Of. A. Bitch!
     I had gone to bed anxiously for all the boosts had occurred in
my sleep and was expecting my end of growth any day. All thirds
would be doing the same.
     For myself and a few others, I was dead wrong.
     For when Mom came up to me to nudge me awake she stopped and
gasped, I had boosted again, incredibly, and she could tell. I
hadn't changed, and I wasn't glowing with light from my newly
increased power, but Mom felt my Presence with a capital 'P' like
I WAS glowing. And it made her want to touch my face in awe. It was
no wonder people called my true group 'Gods' after the first year.
     For I wasn't a third.
     I was a fourth.
     Even when I first woke up I felt the difference and bolted
upright in shock to see Mom still staring at me. My big bonfire of
power had become a forest fire. My senses were severely fucked and
I tried desperately to adjust to them. As I had used spells, I
could feel their energies more and more, enabling me to
instinctively manipulate them to the results I desired. That had
become even worse; I could feel Mom's aura, sense other things that
I had no idea about, and my other augmented senses were not helping
me at all.
     "Oh... my... God..." I whispered, Mom ran out of the room at
the sound of my compelling voice, then I froze. Did this happen to
other thirds?? I thought in a panic. I picked up my phone and
dialled Cathy's number.
     "Hello?" she answered sleepily.
     "Cathy? It's Erik," I said quickly. "Has your power stopped
growing yet?"
     "Uh... yes!" she said more alertly as she realized it herself.
"That why you called?"
     "Oh God," I whispered.
     "Erik? Erik, what's wrong?" she said in a concerned voice.
     "Mine hasn't," I choked.
     "So?"
     "Cathy, I'm not a third, I'm a fourth." I got puzzled silence.
"I boosted again last night."
     "What??" she gasped.
     "Mom even felt the difference. Christ, she ran out of the room
when I talked," my voice was cracking with suppressed emotion.
"You'd think I'd feel invincible," I laughed hollowly. "It's all so
disorienting though, my brain's trying to adjust to my heightened
senses. Oh, Jesus," I groaned, closing my eyes but it didn't help
much. "C-could you call the other guys and come over? I think you'd
be least effected until I control this, if I can." I swallowed.
     "Sure, I'll be right over," she said quickly. "Stay calm,
okay? We'll be there soon." She hung up and I slowly put the
receiver back before laying back down.
     I lay there for a few minutes before I heard Dad running up
the stairs. "Holy!" he near-shouted when he saw me, astonished, but
when I opened my eyes he looked like he was in a real panic, and
not because of me. Totally uncharacteristic of him, he grabbed me
and sat me up in bed.
     "Dad, what..."
     "Erik," he said quickly, "you're my only son, and I hate to
ask this of you, but I don't have a choice. I can tell you boosted
last night, how could I not?? But someone else in Edmonton did as
well, and she's going berserk because of it." THAT got me out of my
funk as I stared at my father. "Her power is fire, and she's
started burning the city down. They need your help there BADLY."
     I'd been practicing transformations for weeks, but with my new
might it was a simple matter to change PJs into my usual costume.
I ran over to the window, opened it, and, as I turned invisible,
flew out the opening with an audible whoosh of wind.
     "God speed, son," Donald Clay said as he closed the window.

     There was a distance of around 1500km involved between
Winnipeg and Edmonton on the road. Less as the crow flies. I don't
know how I did it but I arrived at the burning city in an hour and
a half. I had relatives in the city so I'd been here many times and
knew the general way to get there. Unfortunately, the ominous smoke
had helped.
     I found her standing on an empty street, screaming into the
sky. She was TALL. Well over seven feet, tanned, and muscled like
a female bodybuilder. I could tell because she didn't have any
clothes on, likely all burned off. She had long, wildly disarrayed
black hair and her irises were crimson on her aquiline face. 
     Around her everything was on fire and the smoke swirled around
my shield as I dropped behind her cautiously.
     "Lady!" I shouted. Bad move.
     "GET AWAAAYYY!!!" she screamed as she turned towards me. Fire
exploded from her in a raging torrent aimed straight at me. I got
a little singed before I increased my shield's strength. She was
STRONG I found out as I strained to match her power, pushed back
all the while. Finally, she stopped and I rose from the crouch I
had been in, shocking her.
     "You... withstood... me?" she said, stunned.
     To prevent further damage I placed a shield around her without
her noticing. "Yes, I did," I replied acidly. I could feel the same
presence in her that I could feel in myself now, she was a fourth
all right. "You weren't the only one who boosted and got severely
disoriented. What the hell are you doing?!?" I demanded, waving
angrily at the burning buildings around us to show what I was
talking about. 
     "Go AWAY!" she yelled. It was like she hadn't heard me. Her
eyes were wide and her hands were in tight fists by her sides; she
looked terrified of something. Or herself. 
     The woman put fists to her forehead and screamed. I was not
prepared for the immense pressure of the holocaust she released
then. The shield held for a second as I watched with amazed eyes at
a half-sphere of roiling reds, oranges, yellows, and whites, before
it collapsed, releasing a wave of plasma that rolled over me like
a white-hot tsunami. With my personal shield gone after a too-brief
moment, I screamed in pain as my clothes crisped and hair burnt,
and was thrown fifteen feet away to slam against, and through, a
brick covered wall, landing in a heap on the other side. I wrenched
my shoulder, but my lightly burnt skin was my biggest concern as it
covered most of my body.
     The firestorm she had unleashed must have been incredible to
burn my skin in my more powerful self, but then, she was just as
powerful and more of a fire oriented specialist. I lay still for a
second, rallying myself, before getting out of the pile of brick
and concrete rubble I had become mixed in with.
     "Oww..." I groaned standing up as my skin felt raw. The
costume was about gone and I was almost as naked as she had been.
Most of my hair had been burnt off too.
     The worst part about the mess was that it didn't seem like she
had really strained herself doing it. She was just blasting
everything in sight, like her new power had driven her over some
limit to what she could cope with. I thought about illusions but
she would just blow up again and I definitely didn't want that. The
smoke had cleared from the hole and I saw her running away down the
street. A glowing crater marked her position when she had blasted
me, and more buildings had collapsed from that event.
     I wasn't at an advantage here. Her raw power allowed greater
offensive capabilities at this time while I had yet to make any
spells that would take advantage of my greater capacities. My
shields weren't good enough to hold her and even if I could, which
I wasn't sure of, I didn't feel right about killing her. She was
frightened crazy...
     A strange mood came over me then. Why, I don't know, nor did
I know the cause. Maybe I got slammed through the wall I little too
hard. I snorted, chuckled, then started laughing loudly.
     "Well now, Lady, 'tis crazy ye want, 'tis crazy ye get!" I
cried with a wild whoop and with a lunging hop, forgetting my
injuries, I flew out the hole.
     I never thought this might be my own delayed reaction to the
shock of power, delayed and triggered by the shock of battle.

AUTHOR'S VIEW....

     Valerie Decelles stopped running two blocks from where she had
blown off more of the power that was driving her mad. She wasn't
even winded but hardly noticed as her disorientation was as bad as
ever. Her senses had been enhanced like Erik's but in place of his
mystic senses she felt heat sources all around her. Her eyesight
was a mix of normal vision plus infra-red. The added part of the
spectrum made looking at things highly confusing, and the other
changes to the other four senses didn't help.
     "Why ME??" she yelled/wept.
     The other contributing factor for her current maddened state
was that before New Years Valerie had been a 23 year-old fashion
model, and attaining that had been a goal of hers since puberty.
She had been 5' 10" then, thin, good looks, and climbing her way to
the top.
     The ruin of her life had started on January second. After
waking up she had screamed, startling her roommates who had rushed
in to see a shaking Valerie whose white skin had become slightly
tanned, but couldn't disguise the new traces of larger muscle
underneath. When she stood up at the stunned prompting of her
friends, she found she had grown three inches taller, her eyes
become red!
     And ravenously hungry. She tore through a week's worth of food
before the hunger was bearable. Oddly, while she gained weight, it
didn't show more than her already changed self did. Then she had
started crying, while her friends started wondering what had
happened to her. 
     It didn't take long to find out Valerie was not an isolated
case, a lot of people had changed to one degree or another. Not
that it consoled the stricken model, who locked herself in her
room, miserable. She tried ignoring the spark she felt growing
inside her, but couldn't, not after the first boost.
     She woke up one day to find the spark in her had grown
immensely compared to what it had been like before. Stifling a cry
she found that she had tanned more and looked even more leanly
muscular. Four inches she had gained, putting her at 6' 5", and the
hunger had come back, forcing her out.
     Her manager had finally come that day after getting almost two
weeks of stalls from Val's roommates. He had just arrived when she
emerged and his jaw dropped at the much taller woman in the short
robe that used to fit her. He threw a fit when recovered and called
her freakish.
     Val discovered her power of fire then in her angry response,
and very nearly barbecued him as a burst of flames flew from her to
singe his hair. It had been close; her startlement and desire to
stop the flames had saved his face from receiving nasty burns. As
he ran away, frightened, she yelled at him that he wasn't her agent
anymore. Swallowing, she almost broke down then but her friends
were extremely curious and cautious about her power. They also told
her she'd better control it.
     So it was a useful distraction for Valerie to find out what
she could do. She found she could create and shape fire, even make
little fireballs in her hands. Oven mitts were not needed for her,
and cool air around her warmed quickly when she wanted it to; it
saved on heating bills so she did it often. 
     But an article in the paper said that another person who had
changed and called himself Puck expected another of those 'boosts'
to happen again. Val dreaded that, but her roommates were
fortunately sympathetic and promised to let her stay until the
changes were done.
     As expected, the next boost came, and she grew five inches
this time, putting her at 6' 11". More tan, more muscle, and more
power. But she couldn't do anything big in the apartment to test
it. The new sense of knowing where heat sources were was a little
unnerving but she got used to it. Val rearranged the furniture
often, all that muscle was useful for some things. When one of her
roommate's boyfriends got too persistent, she threw him out into a
snowdrift 10 feet away from the door. Flora, the concerned friend,
appreciated the changes a lot more then.
     However, Valerie was not at ease with herself, everything was
changing so fast for her and she was walking a tightrope to stay
calm. She would have adapted eventually, but then, impossibly, she
boosted again.
     This time was different. Her senses had become too sensitive,
she saw differently, and her power enormous. Val almost hit the
door frame as she had grown six inches, making her 7' 5". Flora
dropped her purse as she stared wide-eyed at her friend, the power
created an unseen aura around her and it sparked awe in those who
sensed it. Val had trouble recognizing her with the heat image
overlaying everything and stumbled around her.
     It was too much. Valerie ran naked from the apartment, running
as if she could escape her change as people stared at her. Faster
than a normal human could run she went, until she was stopped by
two cop cars. The police knew what a third could do, but they were
unprepared for Val's aura and her now-near hysteria.
     "Okay, lady," one with a mustache said carefully, "could you
please come with us?"
     "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Val shrieked, and fire bloomed around her.
The cops immediately pulled out their guns.
     "Would you please calm down, miss?" the same cop said. "We
don't want to have to hurt you." He didn't know if she was
bulletproof but he hoped the threat would make her think.
     It didn't.
     "GO AWAY!!"
     No one knew how powerful Val was, she'd never experimented
much in the apartment. But when she glared at a cop car, everyone
got a damned good idea. The massive horizontal stream of plasma she
created threw the car back a few feet before the middle of the car
splattered into molten metal, and continued across the empty street
to hit a small grocery store's window, melting through like a hot
knife. Everything inside, including the clerk and two shoppers, was
burnt beyond recognition. It almost went through the back wall but
it held, barely, since most of the blast's fury had been spent.
     Further down the streets, people who had been curiously
watching started running in a panic to escape. The cops behind the
car had jumped away but had severe burns by the beam's scorching
nearness and groaned in pain. The other two, stunned for a second,
shot at Val. They pushed her back a little but didn't hurt her.
     She ignored it as she realized that people had been in that
store and they were very likely dead now. NO! she thought in a
mental wail. I... I... I... Val closed her eyes and grit her teeth
as emotions tore at her. Fire around her began to build again as
her inner conflict built higher.
     "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"
     The two cops saw and realized what was coming, they ran for
the two downed men and tried pulling them away but it was far, far
too late. Val's power exploded outwards as an expanding, massive
dome of plasma. It would be the most powerful example of her force
that day. All four policemen died as they were so close as to
become vaporized, as were their vehicles. The heat and shockwave
completely destroyed buildings up to four blocks away and minor
damages beyond that point. Around four thousand died, many more
injured.
     Val, after climbing out of her crater, continued to walk
towards Downtown, blowing away the occasional car or building.   
     Then she met Puck.

     Val hadn't recognized him until now, there had been something
distorting his heat image and it had made things fuzzy. But
recalling the outfit and pointed ears brought forth recognition.
Not that it mattered, it looked like she had burned him away like
everything else. She wasn't excited by that, she only felt hollow
inside. What else could she do save keep on blowing things up until
someone killed her? 
     Like she had killed others today, the thought flashing across
her mind. For the first time since waking up, tears flowed down her
cheek.
     "Greetings!!"
     Val stumbled back in shock as Puck's grinning and slightly
sooty face suddenly appeared before her.
     "Ah, thy bonfire's burning bright, in the buildings of the
night," he said exuberantly, whirling around and making his
restored cape rise behind him. "'Tis a time for fun an' games.
Circle 'round the Lady of Flames." With a wild grin he snapped his
fingers and six more Pucks appeared around Val. Stunned, she saw
his elven features clearly on the duplicates for they radiated no
heat.
     They all started dancing around her in a low but fast Russian
dance, crouched low to the ground and kicking their legs out. All
with a silly, slightly insane smile on each Puck, crying, "Hoy,
hoy, hoy, HOY! Hoy, hoy, hoy, HOY! Hoy, hoy, hoy, HOY!!" On each
'HOY!' they would jump up onto their heels like jumping jacks and
face her directly, grinning.
     She was about to shout angrily at them when they stopped and
she felt strong arms wrap themselves tightly around her firm waist.
     "Going my way?" Puck chuckled and, before she could react,
flew straight up with his cargo. She was heavier than he but
managed to get to a formidable clip.
     "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Val screamed in horror
as wind whistled past them, the two leaving the ground ever further
behind. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!?" she yelled.
     "What? Don't like the view?" Puck asked her curiously. "Funny,
and here I thought ye'd like to see the party from the bird's eye
view." He twisted in the air and Val saw.    
     The devastation was plain, especially from their height. Fires
burned in a semi-straight line, originally starting from a large,
circular depression where her first and major blow-up had been. Val
stared, realizing the scope of the destruction she had caused.
     "Urban renewal! The quick and easy way!" Puck commented
cheerfully. His passenger started shaking from internal emotions.
"Tsk. Ye do not have barf bags on this flight ye know."
     "Shut up!" she sobbed and her dam burst. The tears flowed
freely and she started crying in a severe way. "Oh God! Oh God! You
should drop me!" Puck considered that.
     "As ye wish," he said, and let go of her.
     Val screamed a second time as she was unexpectedly dropped.
The ground was a long ways down and she started tumbling as she
flailed, finding out she really didn't want to die but getting her
wish anyway. She kept screaming, wide-eyed.
     Then something hit her underneath mid-way and arms stopped her
rotation as they cradled her body. Val whipped her head around,
half dreading to see the crazed Puck again, but saw someone else,
a woman.
     A woman with white wings. 
     She wore a white halter top that must have been specially made
for her, and a pair of blue jeans on her legs. Her feet were bare
and her form was a dancer's body. The woman had shoulder-length,
golden blonde hair and her heart-shaped face held a pair of sky-
blue eyes that seemed full of compassion.
     Val thought she had died until the blonde woman spread her
wings and gently stopped their descent, saying, "Are you all
right?"
     "Y-yes," Val managed to stammer, then broke down again and
started crying in the angel's arms. "I should die, but I don't want
to die," she sobbed.
     "Shh," the stranger soothed, and Val felt a curious peace come
over her. "I was confused this morning too. You just had a harder
time of it than me."
     "'Tis no reason to blow up a city, winged one."
     Both women looked up and saw the floating Puck calmly
regarding them, arms crossed on his chest. The angel-like woman
frowned at him.
     "Did YOU drop her?" she demanded. Puck whirled around once in
thought.
     " 'Oh God!'" he said in near-perfect mimicry of Val's voice,
"'You should drop me!'" Puck shrugged. "I but did as she asked,
nothing more." He laughed crazily, unnerving Val and taking the new
arrival aback. "And who might you be, woman with the wings o'
white?"
     "Betty Forrest," she answered him. The elf grinned.
     "A flying Forrest. How droll. I wondered where those flying
squirrels came from." He laughed again and spun head over heels.
     "He..." Val swallowed and tried again, whispering to Betty,
"He didn't sound like this when he first came. I blasted him and he
came back crazy."
     Betty looked at Val, startled, then peered at Puck's spinning
form. She nodded slowly. "His soul aura is disturbed," she said,
confusing her passenger. "Maybe I can..." Betty murmured to herself
and stared at the laughing Puck.
     Slowly, the elf went from laughing, to a chuckle, then a low
murmur before it died completely. His face, that had held a
unnoticed tension before, relaxed and his eyes drooped. Suddenly,
he jerked wide awake, eyes wide as he stared at the two in front of
him.
     "That's better," Betty said, nodding.

ERIK'S VIEW...

     It was like a fog had been lifted from me as I looked at the
angel-like Betty, thinking clearly once more.
     "I..." I started to say, then shook my head. "I... Oh, boy,"
I sighed. "I hadn't realized I had lost it that badly. Thanks...
um... Miss Forrest. I... er..." I had a hard time looking the
fearful and confused fire woman in her arms. "Ah... sorry for
dropping you. I guess I wasn't in a stable frame of mind myself to
try stopping you, huh?" I ran a hand through my long hair,
nervously. Losing one's mind is NOT a pleasant experience and I was
a little unnerved about it still. 
     "I'm not one to blame anyone," the woman said bitterly, not
looking at either of us. "God, I don't... How many I killed..." She
closed her eyes in pain.
     I sighed. "The courts will likely accept temporary insanity.
Christ, I would." I was beginning to become uncomfortable with her
nudity so I concentrated on making a blanket using the air around
us. Which I covered her with, getting a surprised look from both.
"I'm working on transformation spells," I said roughly, defending
myself. "So I got uncomfortable, alright?"
     "Fine. What do you think we should do?" Betty asked me.
     "Well..." I hesitated, then frowned. "Am I seeing things, or
is there one damn big bird coming our way?" Betty turned to see
herself.
     There was a bird, I didn't recognize the species, but it's
size was enormous. It's wingspan was in the kilometer range and I
actually saw small lightning bolts racing on the wing feathers. The
bands of colors on it shifted but it was usually a cloud grey or
forest brown. It was almost upon us when it imploded, slowly so
there was no noise, into a man. A native indian to be exact, but
his manner of hovering was blurring his features. He hovered much
like I did and I flew over to him. I cleared my throat.
     "And you are...?"
     "Pillan will do," he said brusquely. He looked down at the
burning city. "Do you want rain for the fire?" I nodded.
     "If you can do that, it would be helpful. Yes, please."
     After eyeing me carefully, he nodded back and flew up. He
became a huge bird again but this time clouds trailed behind him.
I could sense his power reaching for rain clouds and moisture and
the partly cloudy sky above Edmonton began to darken. I flew back
to the others.
     "Whoever he is, he said he'd make it rain," I told them. "I'm
going to try stopping the bigger fires. Anything you can do,
Betty?"
     "I can heal people and soothe them. I think I'll be needed."
In her arms, Val lowered her head in pained shame.
     "Look," I said, trying to break the unfortunately valid grief
she was feeling, "if you have fire powers then you might be fire
resistant. Are you?" The cradled woman took a shuddering breath and
nodded. "Great, then you can help get people get out of the burning
wreckage." I held up a hand, stopping her protest. "I KNOW you were
the cause, but do you want to LEAVE victims in the fires like
that?"
     "No," she whispered, shaking her head.
     "Then perhaps you can start making amends that way." I
suddenly laughed without humour. "Christ, like I'm an authority on
righting wrongs!"
     "You can at least learn to protect with your powers, rather
than destroy," Betty told the distraught woman. 
     I had to smile as it seemed that last comment stopped the
self-pity in the blanket-covered woman for the moment. She even
looked slightly determined as she made some kind of personal
decision. I flew close and tapped her on the nose, getting a
startled look from her. "Remember, you're not alone."
     "That's right," the winged Betty affirmed.
     The raven-haired giant looked at us both, saw Betty's smiling
face and my own grinning one. I think the glint of determination in
Forrest's eyes must have been in my own for the fire woman relaxed
a little.
     "Let's go down," I said and flew down to the burning section
of the city with the wing-carried pair behind me.

     Valerie wasn't well received when people identified her as the
cause of the disaster. There were angry shouts, even bricks thrown,
by people who had lost loved ones and friends. Forrest, who was
getting not a few stares remained close by the depressed Val. 
     The bricks were totally ineffective on any of us, but I was
getting annoyed so I grabbed one in mid-flight and casually crushed
it. When that happened, the bricks stopped flying.
     "Do you mind?" I said loudly and sardonicly. "Besides, they
might as well be Nerf bricks. And if you're thinking of mobbing us,
go right ahead!" Everyone, including Betty and Val stared at me.
"Sure! Why not? Go ahead and set her off AGAIN! She's scared, she's
frightened, and probably didn't WANT her power! So she went
temporarily nuts when she became more powerful, would most of YOU
handle it!? All she wants to do is help save those who survived! So
let her do it!" I stopped ranting and glared at the crowd. They
listened mostly because that aura 'presence' of mine was still
affecting others, the same with the other two. My voice had a
compelling quality to it that was hard to ignore once I had
distracted them. A sooty fireman and a cop cut through the crowd
and faced us. They stared at us but they were too rushed to let it
affect them.
     "Does she really want to help?" the fireman asked.
     "Yes," I said more quietly, "I don't recommend her using any
power. Her natural fire-immunity and strength would help you a
lot." I saw their eyes glaze a bit so I had to snap my fingers and
they started. "And the third damn boost is making us look a little
too alluring. We don't know how to control it right now so please
try resisting it."
     "Can you and... uh... the lady with the wings help?" the
policeman asked, obviously making the effort to overcome the awe
our increased powers were generating.
     "I can heal and soothe," Betty replied.
     "I have shields that I can contain fires with and I've mucked
around with water, ice, and cold spells," I said.
     The fireman nodded. "Okay, Patterson, you escort the wing lady
to those we've rescued. Ask the doctors to locate the worst burned
and go from there. You two," he pointed at Val and myself, "come
with me."
     "Er... Just a moment," I said as Betty, getting red-faced at
the stares she was getting, was quickly led away towards the
recently injured. I turned to Valerie and looked her over her
towel-covered form carefully, then took a walk around her.
     "What are you doing now?" she demanded. I merely grinned and
gestured. I wasn't a fashion designer, but the white t-shirt and
jeans I transformed the blanket into shocked her. It also surprised
the crowd because now her full height, muscles, and well-developed
body were fully revealed.
     "I don't think a towel would be very useful to walk around
in," I said with a smile. Disbelieving, she gripped the new
clothes, then frowned. I guessed why. "Ladies underwear I wasn't
confident enough to make," I said hastily, though it was more like
comfortable and not confident. She reddened under the stares of
everyone watching so I quickly motioned her to follow the fireman
and we talked with him.

     To be honest, I'd forgotten all about that guy who'd called
himself Pillan until the downpour started. Like all of us, he
couldn't focus things perfectly yet for such a large scale effect
so all Edmonton and the surrounding area got well soaked. His
motives were unclear but it definitely helped.
     Before that, Val and I had separated to help fight the fires.
There were several major ones blazing and spreading swiftly.
Initially uncertain, Val started running through roaring infernos
with ease that ordinary firesuits couldn't handle, dragging two
gushing fire hoses in either hand I heard later. Her clothes didn't
survive long, much to her embarrassment when she first came out.
     Me, I preferred fighting fire at a distance, even though I
didn't mind the heat. Fires died quickly in my force fields as the
oxygen ran out, I never had to use any other type of spell for
fire. I did help airlift some volunteer firefighters around and the
few watermain breaks I found were quickly frozen solid.
     Also, I rushed one very badly burned man over to Betty. She
stood with wings spread and I felt the aura of relaxation she was
emitting. She looked tired, I was just beginning to feel pooped
myself, but she still concentrated as she touched my passenger. The
power she had was amazing, third and fourth degree burns faded away
as he relaxed from unconsciousness into a peaceful sleep.
     We worked for five hours, all in all, and the fires died out
before then. Despite my trying to avoid fire, I had become slightly
dirty and singed as I stepped into the tent that had been set up
for us. Both women were there, Pillan wasn't and, as the rain had
stopped, I suspected he wouldn't be. Poor Betty looked worn out and
Val seemed depressed again, she wore a fireman's yellow jacket for
meagre cover. They looked up at my entrance.
     "Pardon me while I collapse," I sighed as I slumped onto a cot
and closed my eyes.
     "Puck..." I heard Betty say and I opened my eyes to peer at
her. She told me Val's story then finished with, "What do you think
will happen to Valerie if she gets arrested?" 
     "She flipped out because of something that she really didn't
want but got anyway; a muscular, tall, and powerful body. Excellent
case for temporary insanity, which I recommend you plead since it's
true." I shook my head sadly. "Personally, the system will not have
a choice right now." Val frowned.
     "What the hell do you mean by that?" she demanded.
     "If you DO get convicted, where would you get sent?"
     "Prison."
     "And how would they KEEP you in prison?"
     "They'd..." she said but her voice died as she realized the
problem. Her eyes widened and I nodded, seeing she'd figured it
out.
     "Right. They CAN'T do it. You blitzed an area the size of a
normal prison already, and could do it again. And in a prison,
SOMEONE would push you too far, eventually." I sighed. "It's just
not feasible. It would take one or more people of our new power
level to do that, plus having the right powers to do so, and I
don't think there'll be many of us in the first please." I regarded
her. "It's fortunate you were repentant. None of us have truly
mastered our full powers, especially me."
     "You?" Betty inquired, puzzled. "You seem as in control as the
rest of us."
     "Have you noticed how BROAD my powers are, even with my power
level the same as yours?" I replied. "Shields, lightning, flying,
transformation, ice, etc etc." I shook my head negatively. "And
that's just what I've created so far. I don't know anything about
my full limits, perhaps I couldn't do anything as majorly fire
oriented as Val, but I might be able to come close. My spellcasting
powers make me a jack-of-all-trades. It will take a lot of time."
     "But what about me?" Val asked. "What should I do?"
     "People know who you are; you can't escape the public," I said
sadly and she drooped a little. "And we can't hide these damnable
auras we have at the moment, I suggest we try or we'll never be
able to walk around without more notice than usual."
     Betty nodded. "My kids looked at me pretty strangely before I
left." Val and I stared at her as she looked to be only in her mid-
twenties. "I got younger," she said, responding to our disbelief
with a blush. Then she looked thoughtful. "Actually, that seems
common among the older changed." I nodded at her conclusion as I
remembered Oscar and a few others. "After I rest, I'd better go
home."
     "Actually, I look a little older," I thoughtfully murmured
quietly to myself. I forgot we all had better hearing and now it
was my turn to be stared at.
     "Pardon me??" Val demanded. "You look twenty, MR. Puck. Just
how old are you? Eighteen?" I hesitated.
     "Er..." I stopped when they looked at me with gaping mouths.
"So what's wrong with that??" I demanded irritably.
     "Nothing, I suppose," Betty said, but her lips were twitching
as was Val's.
     I glared at them before grumbling something inarticulate and
wrapped myself up in the cot's one blanket. The model started
laughing so I stuck a hand out and transformed her clothes once
more. There was sudden silence, and I heard Betty gasp.
     "I thought you couldn't do ladies underwear," I finally heard
Val say in a strangled voice, as if she was trying to hold her
temper at bay. I wondered why; I suppose black leather and rubber
could look very stylish if done right, but then, I didn't know how
to do it right.
     "Motivation does wonders," was my muffled and sour reply
before I fell asleep.

     When I woke up the next day I felt refreshed. Then Val, who
was a natural early riser, sat on me heavily and demanded more
decent clothes. After a clear look, I hastily agreed, and she now
owned a deep red jogging outfit that fit her nicely.
     Like she had promised, Betty left after hugging both of us
goodbye and flying away. That left us two to explain everything,
but a sober Val shook her head when I said so, surprising me.
     "No," she said, "this mess is my fault. Thank you for coming
and," she chuckled a little, "for the clothes, but you have your
own life. Besides," she said soberly before I could speak up, "I
NEED to do this on my own. Please?" I nodded reluctantly, this sort
of thing would be hard on anyone.
     "I don't own you," I sighed, then grinned up at her much
higher face, "but I won't miss the neckaches." Val giggled at my
wry look. "Still, let's see what we can do with controlling these
aura's of ours, otherwise you'll need to explain over television or
risk charming everyone. I can't go anywhere myself unless I do."
     Valerie nodded in agreement and we tried over the next few
hours to damp or contain our power auras. It wasn't easy, we
learned best by my watching Val struggling to do it using my Sight,
as I was beginning to think of my energy-sensing ability. I would
comment on her state as an indepentant observer and she would try
to correct it. I would copy her and offer my own suggestions.
     When the police officer who first talked to us came in, he
noticed the difference in us. He still blinked at our uncanny
presense but it was reduced. "I see you've started working on
stopping that weird effect," he said and I nodded.
     "Damn hard though," I said, some sweat on my forehead from our
trial and error efforts. "It'll take time to do this
automatically." I sighed as I glanced at him. "Come to take the
prisoner away?" 
     Officer Patterson nodded slowly. "Sorry, miss, but I have to
take you in," he said apologetically to the model. 
     Val swallowed, glanced at the floor, then firmed her reslove
and stood. "I understand."
     "You DO realize there's no point locking her up," I asked the
policeman. "She could break out anytime if she wanted to."
     "I... just realized that," he said slowly as the towering and
powerful Valerie stood before him, trying to be brave. "I suppose
an armed escort will do, if to satisfy the public at least."
     I nodded and we left the tent. There was a crowd of reporters
and photographers behind the disaster control area reserved for the
police and firemen. Val saw my sudden nervousness at the obvious
interest, all my previous encounters with the media was them
arriving as I flew away, and grinned.
     "Hey, I'm used to being looked at, how about you?" she said
with humor.
     "I think I'd better go home," I replied, not rising to her
bait. She turned to me and leaned down to hug me. "Be careful, all
right? Don't let them streamroll you from public pressure," I
whispered
     "I'd melt the streamroller first," she whispered back and
released me with a smile. 
     I nodded and rose into the sky, slowly at first but
accellerated. However, I wasn't immune to a little prank so I
circled around, gaining speed, and blasted off with a final sonic
boom above her area. I laughed inside my force globe.
     Yes, I could go DAMN fast now. I adjusted my shield into a
more aerodynamic shape and headed home.

     When I reached Winnipeg, I slowed to sub-sonic speed, became
invisible, and whipped by houses to reach my home, entering my
unlocked bedroom window when I did. My noisy arrival got my mom's
attention and she rushed into my room, crying, "Erik!!", and
gripping me tightly as she cried with relief. I wrapped my arms
around her, feeling a little guilty at making her worry.
     "Sorry, Mom," I said in a low voice as she sobbed. "Maybe I
shouldn't do this kind of thing anymore."
     She looked up at me with teary eyes and saw that I was
serious. "No," she said reluctantly, "if you didn't you'd tear
yourself apart. I'm your mother, and I know you too well, Erik
Clay, to think that you could. But," she smiled tremulously, "I
appriciate the offer."
     "Thanks, Mom. I'm working on that strange presense I have now
as well." She nodded as she looked at him.
     "I noticed," she said dryly, wiping her tears from her eyes,
"but you still need to work on it." 
     We both laughed before we went downstairs to talk about what
had happened.

     I got several visitors later that day who rushed to the
basement when they found out I was back. Rob, Jason, and Cathy
rushed down and I turned in my chair. My older friends stopped dead
in their tracks as they stared at me, Cathy turned and frowned at
them.
     "What's the matter?" she asked. I raised my eyebrows; she
didn't feel my aura.
     "H-He's..." Rob stuttered, "...radiating! Christ, what are you
DOING, Erik?!"
     "He's what??" Cathy said, looking at me in startled surprise.
     I shook my head, sighing. "Side-effect of the third boost,
guys, I'm working on it but I'm not that good yet. THIS," I
released my control and even Cathy could feel it now for her eyes
widened. My other two friends' jaws dropped before I forced it back
down again, "is the full effect. I can't go anywhere unless I can
turn off the charm more, so just bear with me for the moment."
     Jason tore his eyes away from myself and looked instead at
Cathy. "I heard you went to Edmonton on the news this morning.
Somebody who changed went berserk or something?"
     I sighed, remembering about Valerie's problems, and nodded.
"She boosted again, like me. She hadn't liked the change much and
it was the last straw on her back because she got taller every time
she boosted. She's well over seven feet tall now." I rubbed my
forehead as I looked down at the floor, remembering. "I didn't take
it very well myself, I got more than a little disoriented and
almost did the same thing she did." I felt a small hand on my
shoulder and I looked up, surprised, at the gently smiling Cathy.
     "You've helped a lot of people, including me, Erik. Don't let
what happened get you down, and let us help YOU." Cathy was
normally shy, but she had a firm belief in the goodness of people
and she let it show now.
     I stared at her face, topped by her horns and red, curly hair
and saw that she meant what she said. Looking over at Jason, he
gave me a 'what she said' nod at Cathy. Rob gulped when I looked at
him, then grinned when I gave him an arch look.
     "Hey, just how powerful ARE you now anyway?" he asked me.
     I considered that, looked at them all, my friends. That
included those not with me. Mom. Dad. Rob's sister, Anne. Jennifer,
who was becoming more bareable. Valerie and Betty, two others who
were as strong as I was. I laughed, it was a happy laugh, and stood
up, my clothes shifting into my elven gear.
     "Let's find out," I grinned.

AUTHOR'S VIEW...

     Washington, D.C. Center of the American government and home to
many of the States' agencies. Here, trouble for Erik began brewing.
     A tall, stern man with greying hair in a grey suit strode into
an office and slapped a folder onto the surprised, older man's
desk. "Well, here's yet another problem, Everett," the slightly
younger man said with a disgusted look on his stern face. "We got
more information about the incident in Canada."
     "Tell me the bad news first, Chander," the older man sighed.
     "The woman went temporarily crazy because she had another
power increase," Chander said bluntly and his superior shook his
head sadly. "That's how she was able to do more damage. There seems
to be an even rarer sort among those who physically changed who
have even greater power than they do." He waved at the folder.
"This has the information on those who have shown some indication
of that in North America, about seven including those who appeared
in Edmonton, we're working on finding out if other countries have
them as well. "
     "And I thought things would have settled down somewhat,"
Everett said, groaning at the thought of people with even greater
powers.
     "Even worse, there are none of this new fourth group in any
known US government branch. We have a fair number of the other
three but not this bunch." The door opened and Chander raised his
eyebrows. "Speak of the devil. What do you have, Stone?" he asked
the new arrival.
     "Morning, Walter, Tom," the white haired man replied casually.
He was obviously one of those who had physically changed; very pale
skin, snow white irises, which made looking into his eyes
unnerving, and a slim physique. If you stood by him long enough you
would start feeling cold; that was his main power, ice and sub-zero
cold. He had taken the change in stride and even enjoyed it a
little, for the forty-five year old man now looked like he was in
his late twenties and a bad leg he had received when he was shot
once was cured. "Just came back from the egg-heads. Some of them
are excited as hell, still, so I had to wait a bit before I got
anything coherent from them." He casually sat in one of the chairs
and Chander belatedly did the same.
     "They have any solid theories?" Everett asked his agent, who
nodded.
     "A few. They make sense actually." He paused for a moment,
then went on. "They think that what powers were gained was affected
by pre-adolescent desires or experiences." Chander leaned forward,
interested.
     "Really?" he said, and the frosty haired agent nodded.
     "I used to love snow and the cold, more than most kids. Used
to visit an uncle up in Canada a lot and skied. Most people they've
tested can recall these things, a few can't," the irritated gesture
he made showed his annoyance, "but that's more a recollection
problem with those people. As for the level of powers," he went on,
"some of the bigger brains think it has more to do with an
individual's affinity to whatever happened at Hardpoint. The bigger
the affinity, the more power a person has and the bigger the
change. The least powerful group who can, say, make a flame like a
cigarette lighter with a finger," that got a few chuckles, "never
changed physically because their bodies didn't NEED much changing
to handle the power. The second stage, those able to change into a
second, more powerful body, are caught somewhere between; they have
greater powers, but can fully use them only if their body isn't
their purely human one. Otherwise, and they'd burn out. They just
didn't harmonize enough with the power for their bodies to change."
Everett interrupted him.
     "Just WHERE does this power come from?"
     Stone shook his head. "They haven't a clue. Dr. Young was the
only one who likely did, and everyone agrees he had seriously
cracked. Problem is: his theory DID do something and he was the
only one who understood his own work. The smarter eggheads get only
a glimpse of the whole picture from the document Young sent and
they say it's a higher dimension of physics than anyone had ever
conceived of. You'd have to be insane to almost understand it."
     "Better and better," his superior sighed, rubbing his temples.
He waved for Stone to continue.
     "The third group combine power and their bodies. Changes
happened literally overnight, like myself, with no noticeable
tiredness despite some radical changes in some cases. In some, the
change continued to happen during the increase of power but all
changes are different to some degree. As power went up, our bodies
were forced to become tougher and more efficient to handle the
increased energy that facilitates these changes. Some common, some
different. For differences, say myself," he said and held out a
hand palm down. Cool mist suddenly surrounded it and drifted to the
floor, "I can handle extreme cold far better than the average
person who changed physically. Heat I can take too, but not as well
as those same average changed could. Similarities are youthening
and disease resistance." He hesitated, and frowned.
     "But this new fourth group is something else. These are people
who harmonized so well they increased to a new level. They seem to
possess 'auras' that practically enchant the normal citizen, but
affect the changed to a lesser degree depending on power level. And
they will become even more powerful if their cycle matches the same
pattern as the others. The scientists give them another ninety days
to add to their power, possibly giving them added power equivalent
to the total amount of a second or third level, if not more as it's
hard to say. There is one theory about them that I find very
disturbing," he added, looking straight ahead.
     "They could be becoming, or have become, archetypes of ideas
in the group human consciousness, something I would have laughed at
until this happened."
     "What the hell does that mean?" Chander demanded of him.
     "A woman of fire, an angel who can heal, an indian becoming a
thunderbird, and a elf who has the name of a trickster," Stone
stated. "All notions related to ideas and concepts that races and
religions have created. Not only did they resonate particularly
well, their current personalities must've been close to these
archetypes in order to go to this fourth level." He started ticking
off fingers.
     "Valerie Decelles, fashion model. Fiery personality,
beautiful, a new boyfriend every month indicating a strong
sexuality, all excellent qualities for a goddess of fire."
     "Goddess?!?" Everett exclaimed. "Are you mad?!"
     "It was just a comparison I was told!" Stone cried
defensively, and his boss settled down. "Like I said, something
like one would expect a fire goddess to sound like.
     "Betty Forestt, divorced mother of two. Married late as she
was too shy to marry someone and was somewhat plain, though
everyone seems to like her a lot for she apparently possessed a
very caring personality. Currently lives in a small house and
everyone nearby would immediately jump to help her, like they did
when she changed. All agreed that her new body fit her much better
now than her old one. Caring, healing, protecting, the qualities of
an angel.
     "Pillan is still a relative unknown, but the indians believed
in thunderbirds bringing lightning, thunder, and rain, or if not a
thunderbird, then some other kind of rain spirit. Mythology is full
of those type of beings.
     "But the Puck, while we have more information about his powers
than the others, bothers me the most."
     "Why?"
     "He might have chosen the name to be misleading. For all we
know his personality is more in sync with Oberon than Robin
Goodfellow, and Oberon was much more powerful than Puck being the
King of the elves. Imitating Puck would fit the type. If he IS like
Puck, then he is a trickster, which is present in many myths.
Teaching others a lesson or doing mischief that he believe is
right. He brings one too many archetypes to mind and I don't like
it."
     "Remember, you said it was only a theory," Everett pointed
out, but frowned along with Stone and Chamber. "But it sounds too
much like the truth to be comfortable. So what is our current
situation on those four, Chambers?"
     "Miss Decelles is still awaiting trial in Canada. Mrs. Forestt
returned home to her children and is trying to adapt. Pillan, who
remained a thunderbird, vanished from radar before entering US
airspace but I reserve judgement on whether he stopped or became
invisible to radar. The Puck stayed with Decelles for a little
longer before leaving, presumably back to Winnipeg where he has not
reappeared since. He flew too low for radar. He and Decelles seemed
to have begun controlling that aura before he left."
     "I see," Everett mused, then focused his gaze on Stone.
"Stone, while I have been assigned to be the head of a new agency
dealing with those changed," Stone blinked, this was news, "I feel
that I will need agents who can meet those people who turn criminal
on equal terms. That is why I will recommend you to be my second in
command while Chamber takes over my current position. I'm proposing
that most of the changed government employees be reassigned to this
new agency."
     Stone leaned forwards. "In that case you'd best create some
kind of science program, with that many people with powers you'll
be getting requests from the military and NASA for our people's
assistance in project development."
     Everett nodded thoughtfully. "Good idea, best get friendly
with those with the big budgets. It's not likely more changed will
appear."
     Stone sobered quickly. "There's one more thing I haven't
mentioned yet."
     "Oh?"
     "There is a CIA agent who changed into a third level and she
seems to have the ability to be an accurate oracle." Both of the
other men stared at him. "Her prophesies are dead-on and pretty
clear when the result is totally inevitable, like a hurricane, and
changeable and obscure when not. Here is the one that she made on
her own and I think you will like it much." He inhaled and started
with:

     "Change has struck the world of blue and white,
      But once is not to be,
      For the Cycle of Change has now begun.
      The greatest was first, 
      But the lesser shall come,
      For every new year's birth."

     Stone looked at his two colleagues. "It's guessed from the
oracle's words that this will happen again on every New Years, but
to a lesser degree than the massive burst this year."
     "Are you saying MORE people will change each year?" Chander
said, astonished.
     "Not nearly as many, but it's likely. Needless to say, I
hushed this up in case it's wrong, but if it is... we need to get
a handle on things as soon as possible."
     "How so?" Everett inquired.
     "It's simple; as soon as it's possible," Stone said grimly,
"we go after the vigilante, Puck."

                       ---END FILE ONE---