The Zapper's Club

Part 5

On cue, a fireball rippled out from the professor which shook the curtains but didn't flame far enough to scorch anything (even the professor, who watched the blast wave and flames with his eyes wide).

What the explosion did, however, was tear off his clothes down to his brown boxers (aside from his shoes). And that wasn't all it did, as the Club began to notice other things. His skin, which looked merely glossy before, now had a deeper tone to it, almost tan compared with the professor's pale flesh. Also, the force seemed to push back his skin like a persistent hairdryer blasting over his body. Except, the wrinkled excess wasn't behind him or hidden, it was altogether gone with only supple, youthful skin all over.

The professor examined his new state with an emotionless look as Gloria folded her arms and looked on proudly. His remark came quickly.

"Is that all? You want to sell beauty products? I've honestly seen better…"

Gloria's enthusiasm waned a little, but she swiftly shook her head and announced, "This is only phase one!"

Narrowing his eyes at her, he asked, "So…this isn't because one of your creations failed again, is it?"

With a finger up, Gloria answered, "No…not entirely. Yes…it didn't do as much as I expected but this opens up a new possibility to test multiple inventions."

Bending over, she picked up something which looked like a small harpoon. The professor widened his eyes but looked more bored than alarmed.

After a sigh, he asked, "So, what does this one do?"

"Oh! This one is based on the idea from movies…where people get miniaturized…that matter is largely air and if it were compressed people would get smaller and lighter. In reality, they'd just become super-dense, approaching neutron star material. Oh, and die. More than likely. Painfully. But that's not quite what I'm doing here. I had the idea that nanites can make flesh more like clay. Not entirely so but like a waterbed of clay. Which doesn't make sense. Analogies are tough. But you'll see."

Pushing a button, a probe launched from the apparatus and sunk into the professor's chest. He grunted and staggered back. Softly, he said, "Sure you're not trying to kill me?"

Gloria shook her head. "Not intentionally. Dead people are not the most ideal test subjects. At least for the vast majority of tests. And it never turns out well…so many times I've made zombies. All they want to do is talk about philosophy."  

She manipulated the controls and added, "You should be able to breathe. If you feel a slight but tolerable burning sensation…please tell me. That's not supposed to happen and might be a prelude to combustion. Nanites get overheated easily."

The professor groaned and commented, "Lovely. I'm fine, but I do have a rod in my chest."

Gloria looked up calmly. "Actually, I'm ready for the next phase now. You'll feel a weird sensation, if it's operating normally. Sorry if that's vague. But I've only tested this a small number of times and each subject said the sensation was 'weird' without any elaboration."

The professor folded his arms and sighed. Slowly, his flesh started to ripple and shift, much like a waterbed which had started moving like waves on a sea. Some sections rose above the rest, particularly his hips. Others ebbed, especially around his waist.

Overall, the shifting gave the impression of a more feminine shape to the professor. While he lacked breasts, there was a small swell around his chest. His arms narrowed, shaped like watery clay as in Gloria's analogy. His skin was still as smooth and as soft. Like his arms, his legs underwent a similar shift, but also appeared fuller.

The ripples settled but the machine Gloria was holding gave a ferocious string of beeps. She grimaced and quickly retracted the probe. No hole or scar remained where it struck and the professor's flesh solidified back to normal.

With a sigh, Gloria proceeded to slap the machine before finally putting it aside, folding her arms and muttering, "I forgot to recharge the battery. But! I have one last thing to use for a test which should take care of all of this!"

Katsumi, who had been making a series of pen doodles on a napkin, leaned back and asked, "Uh…do you need any sort of help, Gloria?"

The professor remarked, "That much should be clear…to anyone."

Gloria gave a soft "shh" and responded to Katsumi, "Just some technical quirks which require improvisation. Nothing serious. If it was serious, then I would be the first to run screaming from the room. At which point, I'd highly recommend everyone else do the same. But we're fine. Ah yes! I have the Sneezer! I love this one!"

From her bag, Gloria pulled out a two-foot, pink-colored nose. Showing it off, she said, "It's my nose. Well…by which I mean I used my nose as a model. And expanded it. I clearly don't have a nose this big. Last I checked…" She touched her face then nodded confidently.

Before the professor could offer the cutting remark he was surely pondering, Gloria pushed the underside of the nose. A sound like an intake of air came from the apparatus. Then, a sudden, concussive blast fired and hit the professor right in the face. He shut his eyes tight just in time. What shot out of the nose was a mass of what looked like clear mucous and hair. The hair settled on the professor's head, consumed what hair had been there, and left longer locks in a platinum blond color from the snot explosion.

An open-mouthed Katsumi dropped her pen and could only ask, "Did you just fire a wad of booger and nose hair at him?"

Gloria paused a moment before answering. "Not literally a booger and nose hair. It just kinda looks that way. Intentionally. It amuses me."

Slowly, the professor brought a hand up to wipe the substance from his eyes and shake his hand to the side, before noting, "That….that…is quite literally…the most…bar none…the most disgusting and disturbing thing I've ever been put through."

Gloria chimed in, setting aside the nose, "Actually, that's just the first round. Your voice will start to shift, then the next round comes in."

Shaking his still-mucous-covered hands a little, the professor added, glaring, "Be still…my heart. Ahh…" He coughed and took a deep breath, like right before a sneeze. Then he took another. As he breathed in, the inhale rose higher and higher in tone. When he finally sneezed, a faint "choo", he made a sound like none he'd made so far.

He tested his voice by saying, "Never been so humiliated…" While the voice was softer and womanly, the sentiment behind it was just as harsh.

Ignoring his protestations, Gloria folded her arms and looked to him with her best smug look, which looked more like she was tipsy and wobbling. The professor found that the sneeze did little to alleviate the need to sneeze. His nose twitched again, and he took another swell of air into his lungs. This time, his voice didn't shift but a faint swelling began in his chest, pushing out his nipples, seemingly with the air he was swallowing.

After as much air as he could take in, his next sneeze burst out so violently that it flipped his still-slick hair over his face. The Club watched as the burst also shot through his chest, giving him breasts which nearly put Cassandra to shame.

Groaning, the professor brushed his hair back cautiously, looked down without surprise, and noted, "Going to leave me topless, eh?"

Gloria shook her head and chewed on her lip. "Nah, the next part just takes longer. And there it is!"

She pointed at some of the "snot" flowing over the professor. It became cloudy at first and then solidified into opaque lace before assuming the regular, though slightly wet, texture of a bra. Another gob down lower shifted the professor's boxers into a narrower, feminine cut of underwear over the lingering lump of his dwindling maleness.

The professor looked ready to remark on something else but the words caught in his throat with another twinge of his nose. This time, the sneeze was so intense it was almost a yell. While the force expelled outwards from his nose, the lump sucked in, leaving behind the obvious result. A second, aftershock sneeze blasted the remaining snot across 'her' body into regular clothes, jeans and a brown top.

As she recovered from the sneezes, she looked down, unsurprised, folded her arms and asked, "Done now? Or do you wish to alter my mind as well, so I'll be a happy, supportive 'girlfriend' for you? Tell you that everything is happy and wonderful and I don't have nary a criticism for you, ever? Want nothing but sugar from me?"

The confidence in Gloria's expression a moment ago started to wane. She frowned and leaned back. "No. I don't want to force any of that upon you…Like you forced your negative attitude upon everything I rambled on about or thought of…or anything. I just…"

She sighed and slumped a little. The professor's arms slid down and his expression softened, if only a tiny bit.

Gloria looked at him and said, "I know I'm not much of a scientist. Although, I do often work from scientific methods. I repeat my experiments as often as I can outrun and tackle my test subjects. And I've actually written everything out. I've tried. I've done my best. I've made some amazing things. But more often accidentally. I'm not strong with my points. I'm…guess you could say...a bit odd. I ramble, of course. My mouth is more like a stream out of my brain. Not literally, although I have considered…I mean. I…came to you, professor…with all my flaws. I came to your classes in the hope you might make me better. But no. At every turn, you…gave me every reason to want to give up. To doubt myself. Professor Daniels…you are a sucky teacher!"

Daniels leaned back and brushed her long hair again. She approached slowly and stated, "Only I'm not Professor Daniels. I'm just a random man from a universe full of people who want to be transformed…who your friend Kersi passed along knowledge and a form. I don't know if any of this helped. But I think you're one of the niftiest mad scientists I've ever seen." She gave an uncharacteristic smile.

Gloria nodded softly. "I know. I know all that. Actually, I didn't know that Kersi did that. That's really cool of her. I dunno. I never wanted to zap Daniels. I kinda wanted to tell him off, and I got that. I also kinda wanted him to tell me…I was doing okay. But he never said it when it was important to me. And it's too late for it to be meaningful. But I appreciate your own words…although I'm not really a mad scientist. I get coughs after crazed cackles. And I don't feel angry at anything. I'm just…what you see here. Although I do have countless goggles and lab coats. Love those."

Daniels returned the nod and stretched out her hand. Gloria took it and they shared a handshake. Daniels bowed her head and replied, "It's been an honor, Doctor *Peizo*. Be well." With that, she receded through the curtains and back to her own world.

After a long breath, Gloria quickly wiped at her eyes and looked back to the rest of the Club. "You're welcome…to give your opinions. I don't mind. I'd like to hear them. Although, I know the flaws."

A good span of silence followed. Finally, Cassandra spoke, "Gloria, my dear. I'm happy you faced this painful chapter in your life. No matter your methods, the final result was lovely and cleverly improvised…as always with your work. I'm not sure how I would be if I had to face my own past…" Looking down at her hand, the flame rippled over Cassandra's wrist. For the briefest of moments, the ridges in the flames almost looked like scars across her flesh. Cassandra gave a quiet smile at Gloria, who smiled back.

(by Aisaku)

Nodding to herself, Gloria answered, "Well, it did help so…I guess that's what matters…best. Or does it?"

Katsumi slapped her hands down on her lap. "Figures Kersi would throw you something so meaningful. I've never blasted any doppelgangers I've been itching to get by proxy. For that, yours was interesting. But…do you even test your inventions before you bring them here?"

Gloria rocked her head. "I try not to. That last hole I put in the apartment complex was really costly. Fortunately, there are a few holes they don't know were because of me. But then that's probably due to the mass hallucination of a crazed wombat. And I'll stop there."

Cynthia cleared her throat and offered, "I would say the same as Lady Cassandra about your technique. But the result was fortuitous and meaningful. Good transformation also tells something of a story…and is cathartic. So, I give you my appreciation and I'm glad you enjoyed it."

Lynx only noted that Gloria lost some of her intensity from the beginning, but she liked it on the whole. Siana didn't seem as buried behind her table, but she still trembled. Cassandra had kept her eye on the little one from time to time. Lynx and Cynthia were now sharing a table and looks at one another.

Smiling, Gloria picked up her bag then paused. "Oh! Last two this round, huh?" Katsumi nodded as verification. Looking between Cynthia and Lynx, Gloria grimaced. "I can never choose. Can't you both go or…double-team someone?"

Looking to one another, it seemed there was a moment where they considered Gloria's idea, but Lynx eventually chimed in, "I'll go last. It's alright." She looked at Cynthia and gave her a slight smile.

Standing from her seat, Cynthia approached the stage. Calmly, she drew her bow from around her back but left the quiver of arrows where they were. She stood and waited. It didn't take long for her target to emerge from behind the curtain.

He wore a black shirt with the image of a tipped over can of beer and the white words, "Keep 'Em Coming!" underlined. The sides of his neck looked like a pink sheet clenched tight. He had a durag on his head which matched his shirt and wore a faded pair of black jeans. To complete the ensemble, he had on tall leather boots which hugged his calves as he stepped out. On his chin was a golden bit of facial hair that had spread like mold over his face till it became an obvious dome of fur.

Cynthia didn't need much more motivation to stretch around and draw an arrow from her back. The man put his broad hands out.

"Fuck! Who's the fucking crazy-ass bitch with the bow?! I was supposed…" Before he could continue that thought, Cynthia fired her first shot towards his head. Yelling out wildly, the man brought a swift hand up to deflect the arrow. It sliced right into his wrist and wedged itself halfway through.

He grunted, groaned, and cursed over and over to himself. Cynthia bent her bow down and approached him. "So…what were you supposed to do?"

After getting out a few more good swears, he said, "Be in the back room of a fucking strip joint!"

Automatically, Cynthia pulled out another arrow. "I should just put you out of your misery. If you were an honorable example of man then I would challenge you, give you a sporting chance. I might've even been gentle. But you are foul. I can smell it in your essence beyond the cheap liquor and your addled mind. You are my prey."

He held up his hand again, clenched, and panted. Looking at the hand which had been struck, he expected red blood to ooze out of the wound. But what he saw, while red, wasn't blood. It was satin. Like some demented trick he couldn't fathom, the material was streaming out of the puncture point like he was made of the stuff.  

"The fuck…" was all he could manage as he turned it around. Both sides of the puncture spilled out cloth. Once released, it seemed to spread across his hand. He tried to pull it away, but it hugged his skin like something alive. Where it touched his skin, what once had been broad and rough narrowed to match a more pleasing shape to Cynthia. The man felt the smooth tickle of what should've been his own flesh under the satin.

When the material had spread to his elbow, it stopped and formed a lace-traced line at the end. What he now had on his altered arm was clearly a soft, long evening glove. The arrow drooped and fell against his wrist. Instead of melting, it seemed to collapse. In doing so, it crafted a bit of new ornamentation to the glove and the wound vanished.

Cynthia drew another arrow. The man kept glancing between his gloved, slender arm and her bow. He asked her, "What do you want from me?!"

The string flexed as she prepared her shot. She bent her head towards her weapon and told him only, "I want your foulness gone."