The Rain was coming down hard. At first, it was just a light sprinkle, but now it was coming down in thick icy sheets. I knew coming out here tonight was a mistake. Once again, I had ventured out into the night with no actual plan. And now I was drenched and awkwardly dragging myself back home after a night of nothing.

I was nearly home when A nearby lightning bolt snapped me out of my disappointed trance. From below me, I heard the distinctive screech of pealing tires. I glanced downward at the overpass below me.

Solace has one rather weird feature, there are overpasses everywhere. I don't know who cursed this town's infrastructure with their dying breath, but It was damn effective. The roads in this town were a tangled mess that put a bowl of spaghetti to shame.

Roads aside, I was yanked back into reality by a loud and rather worrying screech. The car was one of those old trucks from the '60s, the ones that look all bubbly and smooth in that classic pale blue color. Unfortunately, it didn't look like it was going to remain bubbly and smooth for very long. Its tires were spinning uselessly on one of the higher overpasses, right before a bend in the road that would send the truck directly into the concrete wall that lined the road.

I can stop a car, right?

I sure hope so, because if not, I'm about to have a terrible night(and probably several broken bones).

The truck was actually the only car that I could see on that particular overpass, which meant that I didn't have to worry about other cars when I do get down there and attempt to help. The same could not be said about the lower roads, which were some of the busier streets in town. Even in the pouring rain, there was still a pretty steady flow of traffic underneath me. That meant that a crash on the overpass would have lots of bad consequences. Even if the concrete wall stopped the truck dead in its tracks there was likely to be some debris thrown down into the lower road which would pose a huge threat to the much busier street below.

I really had to help.

Dropping myself in the sky, I put myself directly in between the out-of-control truck and the wall. I began mentally preparing myself for what was about to happen, but the possible outcomes of this situation began weighing down on me. I could get really hurt, and then I would never be able to pull off my whole shapeshifter plan.

Then a selfish thought began creeping into my mind. I didn't have to help. if I never came out here tonight this crash would have happened anyway, right? So who can hold me accountable for not preventing it? I don't need to risk my- No.

People might die! How could I even let those thoughts get that far? Those are despicable selfish thoughts that need to be ignored at all costs. If I can help, I have to help.

The truck was almost upon me at that point. No turning back now, not that I was going to let myself.

I braced myself.

There was no question, I was going to stop this truck. I was sure of it,

Just before the truck would have hit me, It stopped. The glow was nearly blinding this time.

Wow that's a lot of energy, But I couldn't stop now, I had to absorb that energy - all of it. There was no way That I had the capacity to store it all. Which meant an unpleasant rest of the night and another facet of my transformation.

Bracing myself once again, I reached out to touch the front of the truck.

Up until that point, over-absorbing wasn't a huge burden. Sure it made me tired and I couldn't use my gift until I recovered, but the actual absorption was fine,

This time was vastly different.

Blinding pain streaked down my limbs and into my fingertips. My skin turned to white-hot fire. My insides screamed out in agony as they shifted inside of me.

And then it was gone, along with something else.

My body... It was perfect. It was finally everything that it was supposed to be, that I was supposed to be.

Apparently, I had collapsed onto the floor in my bout of blinding pain. I picked myself off the asphalt of the road and shakily stood up against the car.

Huh, that's weird... shouldn't there be someone driving the-

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" A man rushed over to me, "Where are you..." He looked over me, "hurt? What? how are you..."

His eyes widened in realization, "Oh my god... Thank you so much! I was terrified!"

"You're welcome," I shrugged and gave him an awkward grin.

My voice... It was perfect too! Clear and high, none of that awful resonance in my chest. I almost wanted to sing just to hear it more... almost.

"I've never seen you before. Are you a new hero? What's your name?"

"I go by Meteorette"

"Okay, well thanks again, I look forward to seeing what you get up to" He turned around, got back in his truck, and drove off, hopefully, more carefully this time.

I stood there as the rain continuously pelted me. I looked down at myself. For the first time, everything was perfect.

My lips curled into a smile. I laughed and jumped around. I was so happy. I screamed and yelled with my new amazing voice until my throat was sore.

But... something wasn't right, I could already feel it. It wasn't going to last. My energy was fading, and I knew that it would take my body with it. I couldn't do anything about it, not until my powers returned. I was doomed to slowly shift back into my old body.

But now that I had felt everything right for once, It would be even more painful when I went back.

I can't go home like this... not until it's permanent. My parents won't understand. What if they think that my gift made me want this? They won't let me stay like this. I can't give them any hope that "Aaron" is still in here, not that "he" ever was.

I need to get to Emma's

Luckily, I was on my way home, so I was already almost home, and I was actually closer to Emma's house. Unfortunately, without my powers, I had to walk. It took about forty-five minutes to get there, and by the time I could already feel myself reverting back. I wasn't sure how obvious it was, but I could feel it.

Knock

I rapped my knuckles on the door. Nothing.

I knocked again, still nothing.

It took a few tries, but eventually, the door swung inward revealing a tired-looking Emma.

At first, she looked terribly confused, but after looking me up and down her eyes widened, "Izzy?"

I finally relented and told Her everything, she deserved to know for putting up with my bullshit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So... what I'm getting is that you wanted to force this random shapeshifter into transitioning you with their powers?"

I nodded sheepishly.

"And that you've been going out behind my back in the middle of the night fighting crime?" She continued.

I shrugged, "That was more of an accident..." I protested as she - both figuratively and literally - talked down to me.

"Izzy..." She cupped her face in her hands, before taking a deep breath and continuing, "Well at least you don't need that shapeshifter now, you got what you wanted"

"Actually," I butted in, "this... isn't going to last"

"What?"

"It's like my hair... I'm going to change back". Tears were already forming in the corners of my eyes.

"How can you be sure? I mean what if it's different this-"

"Emma!" I glared at her, "I just do" I paused and took a shaky breath and looked at my hands, "I'm gonna turn back.... and I- I-" It was all too much. My voice couldn't make it out through the sobs escaping my throat. My vision blurred from the tears now flowing freely from my eyes.

Something warm wrapped around me, probably Emma hugging me with her blanket. She directed us to a couch and sat me down next to her and pushed my head down onto a pillow on her lap.

I lied there crying for who knows how long. The pillow was soaked with my tears when I finally came out of my fit. Emma had been gently stroking my hair and head for a while but stopped sometime earlier. I peeked up at her; she was asleep. She had propped up her head with her arm resting on the arm of the couch, her head was slightly tilted back and she was snoring softly.

Wow, I cried her to sleep, that's a new one. I sniffled and sat up as slowly and quietly as possible.

I successfully made it out of Emma's lap without disturbing her and went to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

The lights were off in the bathroom.

I readied my finger on the light switch. This is it, you're actually about to see yourself for the first real time.

I flicked the switch and looked in the mirror.

Despite the still damp clothing and hair. I looked good.

All that awful hair was gone, none on my face or arms, It was all on the top of my head, right where it belonged. My facial features were soft and cute. My blue eyes were big and round with surprisingly full eyelashes. Above them were thin eyebrows that were the same deep red as the rest of my hair.

I reached up and touched my face. My skin was so smooth! It had never been this smooth before, even after shaving there were always tiny prickles of hair that poked at my hand.

I kept prodding at my face with my fingers, feeling just how different everything felt. My lips were full and twisted into a semi-permanent smirk that made me look mischievous and happy.

I was still pretty thin, that transferred over from my last body. From my perspective, I was not very gifted in the chest and hip areas, but looking in the mirror proved me otherwise. In fact, with my petite frame, anything bigger would have seemed weird on me.

It was strange to finally see myself like this. My mind didn't register my reflection as me, It was just some other girl to my mind. It somehow felt wrong to be looking at myself like this. I didn't even want to see myself naked like this, It's my own body. So why does it feel wrong to see myself like this?