Ms. Catarelli fired up the projector at the front of the class while I worked my hands over my face. This was a disaster and I had no idea how to proceed. On one hand I could come clean right away and reveal to everyone that I have a differently sexed Alter form or, alternatively, I could not say anything and let this hang over my head while I hoped I could keep this a secret for as long as possible. One of my groans must have been audible as I felt Cass reach over and pat my shoulder.

“You okay, Gav?” they whispered while Ms. Catarelli shut the lights off. 

“Yeah.” I nodded and tried a lie. “My uh, breakfast isn’t sitting right in me.” They seemed to buy it and returned to their usual posture at their desk. Ms. Catarelli clearing her throat at the front of the class brought our collective attention back to her.

“Touching on the same topic we were previously on, this morning we’re going to be watching an instructional video about why Alter Academy requires all of its students to adhere to the sometimes strict rules of power use. Believe me, it might not look it, but there are reasons for the madness.” She clicked a button on a small remote in her hand and sat down as a screen near her desk lit. The movie processed through the usual anti-piracy and distribution warnings before displaying the title So You’ve Got Body Hair and Laser Vision, What Now? To hokey old pop music. A taller african american woman stepped onto screen with an empty school hallway filling up the background behind her. I couldn’t help but notice that her surprisingly large muscles seemed to ripple beneath the sleeves of her magenta silk top.

“Hi, I’m Savannah Skyler, though you may know me as Miracle Maiden,” she began, “So you have an Alter form and have found yourself at Alter Academy. But you may not have expected so many rules to be placed on your ability to use your powers, and that may frustrate you.” 

A series of groans let out in a chorus around us, prompting a quick “Shh!” from Ms. Catarelli.

“But there are very good reasons for this, First and foremost, while not all of you possess abilities that are inherently dangerous, some of you do and could place yourself or others into danger without proper training and management of these amazing abilities. It’s always been Alter Academy’s mission since 1994 to teach young people how to be the heroes in their own lives by learning control and restraint over their powers. Helping students avoid causing serious collateral damage to their surroundings doesn't hurt, either.” She chuckled. I couldn’t tell if it was a fake laugh or not, but something told me this wasn’t the first take. 

She continued, “Additionally, we very much want to avoid students abusing their powers for ill-will or becoming involved in a sensitive situation and escalate the problem…” her voice trailed off, I couldn’t bear to listen to her any more. My chest had been aching as of late and I found myself massaging my pectorals gingerly. How the hell had I hurt my chest? I couldn’t recall getting hit in the chest with anything, even when I fell into the bushes. However a picture began forming in my head of how my chest had bounced around aggressively while I had been speeding around the town. I blushed deep crimson, by the gods I hope nobody saw me while I was moving that fast. Cass threw a note onto my desk, catching my attention. I turned back towards them, welcoming the diversion from my own thoughts.

“This video is so bad,” the paper read in neat script.

“This feels like every shot of the movie was either the first or the tenth take,” I wrote and flicked it back over to them. We continued on for a large portion of the movie to pass the time.

“Yeah, she doesn’t look like she’s exactly having a great time.”

“Must’ve felt like making a workplace harassment video or something.”

“When I had to shoot a movie for a class back at my old school it took forever for us to get a take that was worth anything, so I can kind of empathise TBH.”

“TBH?” I wrote back. Cass giggled once she unfolded it.

“To be honest.” she replied. I smirked.

“Are you originally from Crescent City?”

“No," they wrote, "I’m from Pickrock, Nevada. We moved out west to here for the school.”

“Oh wow, really? I’ve lived in the city for a while, I should show you around downtown sometime. There’s this really awesome pizza place I know, you’ve gotta try it.”

“Today? Sure, I be thrilled! Since I just moved here I haven’t had much time to make friends beyond you and this cool punk-chick.” I turned my head to give her an incredulous look. They had punk chicks here too? I guess cliques were everywhere teenagers were.

“Sweet, meet me outside after school.” I finished and flicked the note back over. Cass looked it over and nodded eagerly. Finally, my social life was starting to look up. I brought my attention back to the movie as it appeared to be winding down.

“Now, not all of you will be heroes. Some of you will pass the Heroic exam, but statistically speaking most of you will find you aren’t cut out for hero work and will opt to instead use your powers for something more low-key, like mail delivery, fire fighting, or working with the police as an officer.” I shot Cass a confused glance.

“What’s the Heroic exam?” I whispered quietly. They gave a simple shrug in reply, leaving me wondering myself. 

The video continued, “It’s important to know that when you leave Alter Academy, you will be prepared to make whatever choice you wish to make about your life moving forward.” Music started playing in the background as the screen faded to back. Ms. Catarelli turned the lights back on and stood up gingerly on her heels.

“Okay guys, what did we learn from the video?” she asked casually, appearing to have calmed down since earlier. I raised my hand.

“That no matter if you’re in super school or not, the movies are all still really bad quality?” I asked in a slightly sarcastic tone. For her credit, she smiled somewhat at my joke.

“I can’t disagree there, this one isn’t the best quality. But, what else did we learn?” she replied, hoping for a better answer than my own.

“Don’t bully people with our powers?”

“Don’t play hero because you or someone else can get hurt?”

“Don’t blow shit up because the school will have its pants sued off?”

Ms. Catarelli pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration but sighed heavily. “Yes, that’s all technically correct. Long story short, wait until you’ve gone through the Academy’s training program and graduate, and you’ll be able to use your powers in whatever non-criminal scenario you have in mind.” I raised my hand quickly after her last syllable, I was still incredibly curious about whatever the Heroic exam was and wanted to squeeze the answer out of her before the end of class.

“Yes Gavin,” she pointed towards me.

“What’s the Heroic exam?” I asked.

“Oh,” she said in a surprised tone, “Right, the Heroic test. I’ll make a note to touch on that tomorrow, but long story short if you want a career as a hero and don’t want to be treated as a vigilante by the authorities, you need to pass that test and receive a state issued license.” She was interrupted from going into further detail by the ring of the bell, prompting the class begin to packing up. “Remember guys, no playing hero!” she called out as Cass and I left the room.

“See you in gym?” I asked.

“Yeah, see you there!” they chirped and headed off in the other direction. I headed towards my next class quickly, but found my efforts hampered by everyone in front of me. They were all so slow! Couldn’t they just, I don’t know, get off to the side so that I could pass them? I had to stop myself from snapping at a group of boys that were just standing in the hallway. Was this what Markus felt all the time? I groaned, I can’t believe I found myself sympathizing with that windbag. 

Speaking of the douche, I passed him and his posse of three other goons while they were shaking some poor kid down for his lunch money. One of them, Buckley, was tall and lanky and had his greasy dark hair slicked back down just underneath a popped up collar from his jacket. The middle one, shorter and somewhat more filled out that Buckley, was Kip. He had a thing for jewelry and wore several silver and gold necklaces and rings around his fingers. He was wearing sagging jeans and had a pencil thin mustache lining his upper lip. His blonde hair was tied into a bun on his head. The last one, Vince, was wearing a cut off tank and sunglasses with a gray canvas beanie over top of his shaved head. He seemed unable to do much more than act as verbal support for whatever comment or retort the others made, and his laugh was incessant. I had only seen them from a distance so far, but their appearance certainly didn’t do them any favors if they were trying to convince anyone they were anything but second rate background thugs. 

If I could just use my powers I could help that kid, but I couldn’t. Not here. As I passed by Markus though I felt an odd pulling sensation deep within me. He turned around at the same moment, locking eyes with me. We were quiet for a moment as I passed, perhaps both experiencing this same feeling. We were both speedsters after all, perhaps it was something to do with that negative and positive stuff? A dumb grin appeared on his face.

“See ya in gym, dork.” He smirked. A frown wormed its way onto my face as I considered what I could do to defend myself, and the options were “nothing” and “zilch” as his goons hollered through the halls about how “noice” of a burn that was. I’d have to figure out some way to pay him back for harrassing me. Eventually I arrived to my advanced history class and took a seat. I never found history hard in any of my other years, it usually was one of my strong points. Mr. Bayes entered class looking very pleasant on the eyes with his golden blonde hair and beard well trimmed, complementing his sleek suit that accentuated his chest and biceps. I had to admit, while his lectures were wildly boring, his physique was nothing to sneeze at. 

We moved through his lecture over the history of Alters in the world from the emergence of the first known Alter in 1962 in Bordeaux, Paris to the subsequent public outcry against the ever increasing amount of Alters in the world. I found it interesting that we were covering the topic with such detail; back at my old school influential parents had stymied much of the discussion by claiming the act of studying Alter history was against God’s will. Unfortunately, this proved effective at restricting much of the conversation.

After history I once more endured what felt like an eternity behind the slow-moving hallway walkers and entered into the gymnasium.

“Gavin!” Cass beamed and jumped up to greet me from the bleachers. They were already dressed in their gym suit which, even though it was technically a girls’ suit, it looked nearly indistinguishable from mine beyond a bit of extra piping around the chest. Extra support maybe? I couldn’t exactly ask though so I opted to keep my curiosity to myself.

“Yo,” I mumbled in reply.

They couldn’t help but show a smile on their face when they told me that Mrs. Bittenboulder had dodgeball on the agenda for today.

My face screwed into a puzzled expression. “You like dodgeball? You don’t seem the type.”

“Let’s just say my powers make me a good dodgeball player.” They winked.

“Flying with your wings? I feel like that wouldn’t-”

“No, no. I have another power that goes with it. Just wait and see,” they chimed as they walked away. I made my way into the locker room still thinking about it. What was their other power? In no time at all I was once more suited up. Walking back out to the main gym floor I began to notice little details on the suit that I hadn’t noticed before. The suit hugged me from every direction, but it never felt restricting. Something this fitting wouldn’t give me any trouble at top speed. The sock-like boots on my feet felt secure, and had very intricate rubber soles for traction. I stole a glance at Markus as he stretched his legs across the gym, frosted tips and all. His boots looked to be in tip-top condition, seemingly able to take the abuse he could give them himself. An idea began to form in my head, but I filed it away for later when Mrs. Bittenboulder blew her whistle. We all gathered in front of her as she held a rubber dodgeball in the crook of her arm, confirming what Cass had told me. While she was dressed in her usual track uniform, she had rings under her eyes and her hair wasn’t as clean and styled as it usually looked.

“Nice to see everyone here today,” she began, and her tone reflected what must have been a rough night, “I wanted to address the elephant in the room. Yes, last night my spouse was almost mugged. Yes, someone we believe was a student here at Alter Academy was responsible for preventing this mugging from being carried out. No, we do not know exactly who was responsible. But I will say, if that person is here in class today, thank you for your bravery,” I found myself feeling good once more, glad to be even indirectly noticed. “However, as I’m sure you’ve heard earlier today, you are forbidden by the school code from utilizing your abilities outside of school. I’ll leave it at that, but I will say again, thank you.” Cass and I exchanged concerned glances. Hopefully she was going to recover from the event last night. 

She gestured for the students with Alter forms to move out into the gym floor while the students who still didn’t possess their own abilities remained on the bleachers. I watched Cass walk away found myself becoming frustrated. I could be out there, flexing my abilities to see what I could do, but here I was, chained to the bleachers. Sure, I could jump out there right now and transform, but how many people would laugh and point at me? Would I be immediately carted off to the principal’s office to explain my actions the previous night? It was all just too much, I couldn’t risk it. I groaned into my palms. Why did my Alter form have to be a girl? Obviously, something had to have gone wrong with the process. There’s no way that could mean what it seemed to imply.

The other Alters had seemingly divided up into teams and were all hanging back, waiting for the sound of the whistle from Mrs. Bittenboulder. Cass and Markus were on opposing teams with a multitude of differently shaped Alters surrounding them. ‘Usual rules’ Mrs. Bittenboulder had said, including no flying. I bit my lip, that was one of Cass’ strengths. The whistle blew, and the teams rushed at each other, Markus scooping up most of the balls from his team for his own use before retreating while Cass’ team each grabbed their own ball from the line separating the teams. Curiously, Cass had hung back at the edge of the play field and watched the others intently. I scratched my head, wondering what they had planned. The match proceeded, with each team knocking roughly the same amount of people out of the game, though Markus was the main scorer on his team. Before long, Cass and Markus stood alone on their teams, each facing each other. All of the balls had rolled over to their side, so Markus was waiting for them to make a move, likely he’d catch any ball they through with his quick reflexes.

“C’mon, loser! Think you can take on a speedster by yourself?” he called out antagonistically. His goons called out from the bleachers, cheering him on. Mrs. Bittenboulder seemed to be watching with playful interest. What did Cass have up their sleeve?

“By myself? What ever gave you the impression that I was by myself?” Cass called back. Their tone was confident and powerful, almost like they had expected this. Bright orange flame erupted all around them, scorching across the concrete floor. The flame separated into four pillars before pulling back to reveal four lumbering humanoid figures. Each of them stood up to 7 feet tall and their skin was bluish-grey and looked incredibly leathery. While each had a distinctly feminine shape, they looked incredibly strong as their muscles bulged tightly. Short horns capped their heads above glaringly yellow eyes, each glowing fiercely as they knelt down at Cass’ feet, resting their arms onto their knees. A wave of gasps sweeped the crowd and I thought for a second I saw a smile tugging at Mrs. Bittenboulder’s cheeks before she returned to her usual emotionless mask.

“Rise, my cambions,” they commanded, gesturing for them to stand. The lumbering giants stood up and staggered forward at Cass’ request. They each grabbed one of the red rubber balls in their surprisingly large hands.

“Wait, what? Come on, that’s not fair!” Markus called out, though he was met by a terse response from Mrs. Bittenboulder.

“I’ll allow it.”

Cass smiled and began marching towards the edge of the line. They whispered something to each of the cambions and received curt nods in return. Each of the Cambions threw their balls straight into the air and were each engulfed in a cloud of flame similar in appearance to when Cass first summoned them.

“Wait, no!” Cass screamed, causing us to jump. A grin started to spread across Markus’ face as he sped forward to catch one of the falling balls. Imagine his and our surprise when the Cambions poofed right back into the space they had previously vacated. 

“What?” Markus shrieked.

“Now!” Cass called as her minions mirrored her movements. Markus tried to slow his approach but his efforts were of no use. Each of the Cambions caught their respective balls and hurled them at Markus. He was unable to alter his trajectory in such a stance and found himself pelted with ball after ball. Mrs. Bittenboulder’s whistle blew shrilly, announcing that the match was over.

“Good job kids, good job. Cass, I liked your tactical use of your powers in that instance. You put Markus into a headspace you could easily predict.” Markus moved to object but was silenced by Mrs. Bittenboulder. “Now, Markus, you could do with losing every once in a while. In the real world you only get to lose a few times, so practice here is always well-served.” I couldn’t help but erupt into a poorly stifled chuckle at her remark. Unfortunately this drew his line of sight right to me. A deep frown pulled across his face, telling me I’d likely regret my actions later. But who cared? It was just good to see him get some sort of comeuppance.

Mrs. Bittenboulder lined up the other students back into their same teams and placed them back their respective starting lines. She blew her whistle and started the second match. Immediately, a ball flew out of the small arena towards me. Everything seemed to slow down slightly, though assuredly not as much as I had experienced the previous day in my Alter form. Instinctually I started to move my head, removing it from the path of the ball when something in my eyeline caught my attention. Markus stood in the middle of a scramble of students looking directly at me, his arm outstretched in my direction. I watched as the devious grin dissipated from his face while his brow began to furrow in confusion. My stomach dropped from under me, I hadn’t even realized I still had reactions like this in my default form. Maybe it was sort of an echo thing, kind of like the weird impatience I had been experiencing all day. Before I could think on the issue further and talk myself out of it, I moved my head back into the path of the ball. In total it couldn’t have taken more than a second, but in the end the ball impacted my face with a loud WHAP, jerking my head back sharply. Gasps filled the air as I crumpled backwards onto the bleachers in a pain-filled daze.

I heard Mrs. Bittenboulder yell something but wasn’t able to make it out through the searing pain spread out over my face. A strange hum filled my senses and a faint blue hue pierced through the blackness of my closed eyelids.

“Gavin! Come on, son, open your eyes for me.” I was able to understand and did my best to comply. I opened my eyes slowly, trying my best to ignore the additional pain it caused. Mrs. Bittenboulder was hunched over me looking uncharacteristically concerned while a sparkling blue canopy stretched over us.

“W-wha?” I groaned.

“No open wounds or fractures that I can see. How does your neck feel, son?” she asked while looking me over thoroughly. I slowly ran my fingers over the back of my neck, confirming I didn’t feel any additional pain there.

“Not as bad as the garbage can…” I mumbled, recalling the fall from last night. She turned her head slightly.

“Maybe we should get you to the school nurse,” she muttered under her breath. Once I confirmed that I could stand she pulled me up onto my feet. The blue shield around us faded away, the particles of which collapsed back into her.

“Shields, they come in handy with this job,” she said while helping me over to the door before pressing a button on a silver wristband previously hidden under her sleeve. An AndrAI bot whizzed down from the rafters of the gym, stopping just in front of us.

“What are you going to do with that?” I asked somewhat sourly while gingerly holding my hand to my face.

“Lead Gavin McArthur to Nurse Prim please.” she spoke carefully. The whirring midnight blue drone beeped cheerfully and hovered through the door. I looked back as I walked out, seeing that Cass had a worried expression on their face and Markus looked positively puzzled. It didn’t take long to arrive at the nurse’s office, a placard read “Nurse Eliza Prim” outside the wooden door. The drone beeped at me once more and hovered away. Still feeling my skin sting from earlier, I sighed and walked in. At the very least she might have some pain killers.

The door triggered a bell-like tone as I walked into the cream colored office. Unlike the other rooms I had seen thus far in the school, dark carpet lined the floor leading up to a small desk situated right in front of the entrance with a door directly behind it. The desk had papers strewn all about, they looked like sketches and models and a few biology and chemistry papers had been scattered around. The office was cozy and square shaped, the wall to my right held two cabinets full of medical supplies and a door that looked like it lead into a bathroom. A commotion sounded in the room behind the desk. The door quickly opened up, revealing a tall slender woman with raven-colored hair and sharp cheekbones. She was wearing a simple black pair of slacks and a grey turtleneck sweater underneath a white coat. She looked rather frazzled as she evaluated me, seeming to forget for a moment that I was an actual person. Her eyes widened and she let out a soft laugh.

“Hah, goodness, sorry. Not a spark of decency in me. I’m Nurse Prim, what brings you here young man?” she asked quickly. 

“Uh, it’s-” I began, but she cut me off before I could find my words.

“Oh, yikes, looks like you took a whack to the face.” She pulled out a small flashlight from one of her pockets and turned it on my face, peering into my eyes.

“Um,” I mumbled, still unable to find my words.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” she asked, swapping between my eyes.

“G-Gavin,” I muttered. She had me feeling constantly on the back step, like I was a half beat out of sync with her.

“Pleasure to meet you, Gavin. What month and day were you born?” She ushered me back into the room from which she had just emerged. A patient table sat in the far corner with some medical lighting and trays at the foot of the table. I hopped up on the table, letting my legs dangle off the edge.

“March 11th, ” I replied.

"Year?"

"2002."

“Ah, just 17 years old then. Those were some good years for me, though I learned some hard lessons as you do in youth. Are you from the city?”

“Yeah, I grew up here,” I answered.

“Nice to hear from a local, then. I moved here and took up this role about two years ago, never thought I’d end up a school nurse myself but life can take interesting turns.” She turned around and opened up one of the cabinets in front of the table, revealing a metal box with a handle. She opened up the box and pulled out a small bag and handed it to me.

“Is this just a bag of ice?” I asked her, raising it just above my face.

“Yes and no, just go ahead and apply it to your face. It should help calm your skin somewhat and reduce the irritation.” I nodded and placed it down, finding myself immediately relieved from the chill of the bag on my throbbing skin. She walked out of the room for a moment before returning with a clipboard. “So, Gavin. Last name?”

“McArthur.”

“Interesting name. Any relation to the-” I cut her off, I’d heard this one before.

“No relation to Colonel Copperside,” I said flatly. He was an old Alter, back in the day he rose to prominence by being one of the first Alters to become a multi-nationally known hero. He ended up revealing his identity at one point to bridge the gap between normal humans and Alters, but a few months later he was assassinated. Whoever killed him failed to stop his message though, legislation was taken up later that year to afford rights to Alter individuals so that we could be treated equally.

“Shame, it’d be an honor to meet one of his lineage.” She smiled. “Speaking of, Alter form?” I felt a creeping feeling of ice rise up in me independently of the bag on my face.

“Not yet,” I stated, not wishing to reveal my secret yet. She nodded and continued grabbing my information to fill out the form.

“Well Gavin, looks like we’ve got a record for you now. That’ll be helpful moving forward.” she trailed off as she continued filling out information on the chart. I figured I’d ask her a question while I had a moment.

“While we’re on the subject, do you have an Alter ability, Nurse Prim?”

“Yep, I’m a healer. I can mend most anything save death or chronic illnesses. I can do a doozy on fractures.”

“Really,” I asked, impressed, “That’s very cool!” She looked up from the chart and smiled.
“It is, isn’t it? Gavin, do you know how we get our powers?” she mused while writing additional information down onto her form.

“Well I know it isn’t always biologically manifested.” My old school never really touched on this topic before, so my being struck by a lightning bolt was pretty much my first introduction to how the forms were acquired.

“That’s a good place to start for sure, but it’s actually an incredibly nuanced question with many different kinds of answers. As you know, Alters can manifest from biological processes within one’s DNA structure, however there are many other ways one could achieve Alter status. And it’s a large range of options too; you could be bitten by a radioactive animal, make a contract with beings from another dimension, find a magical item that bonds with you and grants you a form, come into contact with magic itself, or, heck, you could even be struck by lightning,” She let out a snorting laugh, I tried to replicate her authenticity with a laugh of my own, hoping that I was convincing. Whether I was or wasn’t she didn’t seem to pick up on as she continued, “That one was always a favorite of mine. The important part is that people who are to receive alter abilities nearly always have a sort of echo present in their cellular structure that seems to indicate that they will have an Alter form later in life. We can’t pin down what the power will end up being or why exactly this echo exists, but best we can figure it appears the creation of your Alter from acts as a some sort of cellular big-bang that can reach back into your early childhood. It completely contradicts the laws of physics as we understand them, but that’s what research is for.” I sat, wide eyed as she finished. My mind was racing. I’d never really had the science behind Alters explained to me before, and I liked that she didn’t really sugarcoat her explanation of it.

“Woah,” I mumbled.

“Woah indeed. I’ve always found the science behind Alters fascinating. But it looks like our time is up, Mr. McArthur. Take the bag off for me?” I complied and lowered the bag as she peered again at my face, suddenly feeling somewhat sour. I never really liked when people called me Mr. McArthur. It just felt like they were calling me old or something, and that just wasn’t how I saw myself. She brought her fingers to my face and closed her eyes. My skin started to itch, but the itching quickly gave way to a pleasant sensation that I found myself becoming lost in. She opened her eyes again and stepped away, satisfaction framing her face. “There we go, all fixed. No black eyes for you.” She smiled.

“That’s it?” I asked.

“That’s it! Now off you go, grab some lunch, kid. I’ve got to finish some paperwork.” She herded me towards the door to her office.

“Well, thank you for the help,” I said as I stepped out into the hallway.

“Anytime, Gavin. You’re a pleasure to talk with. Let me know if you ever have any other questions.” I nodded and made my way down the hall, hearing her door click shut along the way.

I made my way back to the gym and changed back into my clothes in the vacant locker room as a different class replicated our earlier game of dodgeball. As I moved to return my suit to the locker, I paused for a moment. The syllabus Mrs. Bittenboulder had given us said that while our gym suits were created with materials that were resistant to sweat, germs and had a degree of self cleaning tech woven in, they still needed to be turned in each friday for cleaning over the weekend. I bit my lip as I started to feel a touch of anxiety creeping in my stomach. Would they really notice if I took it? I looked around the vacant locker room as my hands stuffed the suit between my books and folders. I quickly exited the locker room with the suit in my possession and speedily walked out of the gym. I made my way to my locker avoiding the gaze of anyone I passed. I quickly opened my locker up and stuffed the suit inside my backpack, making sure to keep what I was doing as inconspicuous as I could. I sighed in relief as I shut my locker. Tonight should be fun.

I walked over to the lunchroom with a hop in my step, excited for the possibilities that lay before me while I grabbed some food. I stepped out of the line and found Cass flagging me down from a table in the far end of the cafeteria where she sat with a girl with a pink side shave. I wandered over to find them engaged in a deep conversation. The girl was wearing a worn and ragged green canvas jacket with a large amount of patches and pins attached to its sleeves and body. Her jeans as well were very ragged and worn, the knees almost entirely ripped out. Her black combat boots were oddly clean considering the rest of her outfit. The sleeves of her jacket were rolled up to 3/4ths length, revealing a shiny copper colored metal band around her right wrist.

“Hey,” I said, taking a seat next to Cass. The girl turned to me with a large smile on her face, showing off a large number of piercings in the ear exposed by the side shave.

“Sup, shithead, I’m Sammy. How the fuck are you?” she said through a full mouth, leaning back as she chewed on some of her food. I found myself at a loss for words for the second time that day, surprised by her vulgarity.

“Uh, good, I guess?” I replied, confusion evident in my voice. Cass waved their hand in my direction and swallowed what they were eating.

“Gavin! Don’t worry, she’s hilarious.” Cass giggled, unable to contain residual laughter from what must have been a hilarious joke.

“Yeah, dude, don’t fuckin’ worry about it. Cass tells me you’re cool?” Sammy smiled, tilting her head to the side.

“Er, yeah I guess. I don’t know if I’ve ever described myself as cool but I won’t deny it being thrust upon me,” I replied, starting to dig into my food.

“Kickass. Cass and I hit it off pretty quickly, if you’re half as cool as her, we should be fast buds.” I raised my eyebrows. 

“Her?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. I guess that clarifies what Cass was, though I was hoping to ask about it.

“You didn’t notice?” Cass said, her voice teetering on the verge of whispering.

“I mean, props to you, dude. Either too polite to bring up that she’s trans or you actually respect people, I’m chill with it.” Sammy said. I had encountered trans people in the past, it was only natural since we lived in a huge city, but I hadn’t ever really talked with anyone who was dealing with that whole… thing. I just knew that it was a thing and that anyone who was trans always knew they had the wrong body from the start, at least as far as the news had told me. Despite my semi-regular forays into my sister’s wardrobe I actually didn't hate my body and any daydreams I might’ve had were probably totally normal for teenagers. My parents had kind of avoided the topic for the most part, in a world where superheroes were a regular sighting bathroom discussions weren’t really on the forefront of people’s minds. At least, not as far as I had noticed. Cass hit her friend lightly to silence her.

“Sammy!” she hissed, though the smile on her face betrayed her tone. She looked back at me, her expression turning somewhat more vulnerable. “So yeah, I’m trans. Is that cool with you, Gavin?” She asked. I took a moment to re-evaluate her appearance. What before I had thought seemed androgynous now seemed perfectly feminine on her. My gaze lingered over her eyes. They were pleading, begging for kindness. What had she experienced that caused her to expect the worst when telling people about this? 

“Sure, it’s totally fine with me, Cass. It makes total sense, you’re super pretty.” I smiled. Her entire posture shifted as if a huge weight lifted from her shoulders.

“Cool,” she replied.

“Oh, Cass, I wanted to ask you something. What was the deal with those things you summoned in gym?” I said, hoping to get some answers.

“Yeah, I heard about this! It sounded so fucking cool Cass. What’s the deal with that shit?” Sammy added.

“My cambions? I summoned them,” she answered simply.

“Right, but what the hell are cambions?” Sammy retorted. I nodded along for her to clarify.

“Well, basically they’re like these beings from this other world, or, well, place. I’m not really sure where it is. But it kind of ties back to how I got my Alter form. I was looking into magic for reasons.” She coughed lightly, clearly uncomfortable talking about why any further before continuing. “That’s when I found that I could communicate with this world of demon-like creatures. I kept talking with them back and forth for while actually, they were sharing all this information with me about magic and spells until one day this incredibly beautiful being approached me and persuaded me to…” she trailed off. 

“To what?” I prodded. Sammy clearly was intrigued too, her elbow was square in the middle of her mac and cheese.

“Sign a contract, essentially. Eventually I signed it and I received my Alter form. I was able to take on a form similar to what they look like, and I gained the ability to summon my own command of a warrior being they create called cambions. I can actually summon a couple other kinds of things too, when we’re in the gym next time maybe I could show you?” she finished while toying with some food on her plate.

“Yeah, that sounds awesome, dude!” Sammy and I agreed before she added, “Well, we’re not in the same class, but I doubt ol’ Bittinboulder will notice me chilling behind the bleachers. It’s pretty roomy back there.” Cass and I laughed, agreeing to keep quiet on her plan before she piped up. 

“Oh, Gavin! My dad texted me earlier, I’m going to need to take a raincheck on pizza. Is that okay?” Cass asked me. 

“Sure, no prob.” I replied. Lunch was pretty uneventful afterword, and soon enough it had ended and I found myself moving through the rest of my classes focusing purely on what I’d get up to after school. How would the suit feel around my other body? Would it fit? I was excited to find out.

“Mr. McArthur,” a deep voice called out in front of me, rousing me from my reverie.

“Yeah?” I answered nervously. Giggles could be heard from my classmates around me.

“What purpose does the chemical-compound clelium serve?” asked Mr. Burges, the chemistry teacher. I wracked my brain but was unable to find the answer to his question.

“I uh… don’t know.” I admitted. Mr. Burges chuckled under his breath while shaking his head.

“No problem, I just wanted to see if anyone had any pre-knowledge of it. Clelium is a chemical compound designed to combat the physiology of Alter individuals essentially nullifying one’s powers. This compound is used is several different ways; from being woven into wearable items an individual with more destructive powers could wear while they train to being used by police forces when engaging with an Alter breaking the law and endangering civilians. Essentially, it needs skin contact with an Alter to temporarily nullify their powers and return them to their default form, or if worn prevents the Alter from shifting into their Alter form. Whispered gasps made their way around the classroom, causing Mr. Burges to make a calming gesture with his hands, “I know that sounds scary, but this compound has several laws around its usage and is only used in extreme cases. We all have nothing to worry about.” The class seemed to collectively relax somewhat at his rationale, though the idea of a material that could force someone back into their default form sounded somewhat terrifying to me.

The journey home was uneventful. I stayed in my default form for the whole trip as none of my clothes seemed to fit my other body very well and I didn’t want to risk the same smouldering effect that had happened to Jules’ clothes, which I still had no idea how I was going to cover for. I walked in the door as the sun was beginning to set and found little fanfare waiting for me compared to yesterday. I kicked my shoes off and headed to the kitchen, hearing only the songs of birds and passing cars from outside. Taped to the fridge was a note from mom in her usual flowery script. It read:

Hey Gav, Jules and I are out at a small ballet performance in the city tonight, we should be home by 11pm. We didn’t want to bother you boys with it since it’s a girl thing, I hope that’s okay. Watch Parker for me while we’re gone, I left pizza money for you two on the counter.
-Love Mom. 

I sighed in frustration, letting the note flap back onto the fridge surface. Yes, while I might’ve balked at being asked to go to the ballet, I still didn’t like being excluded from things my mother and sister got up to under the guise of “girl time.” I turned around to find Parker hurrying down the stairs and heading for me.

“Gav, Gav!” he shouted.

“Yeah?” I replied wearily.

“Come play this game I just downloaded on my console, it’s one of those free to play ones but you can play local split-screen!” Parker gushed, clearly excited by this new gaming find.

“Local split-screen? That’s rare these days,” I responded. Parker and I had always shared a passion for gaming, both electronically and more conventional board and tabletop games, but more and more it had become difficult for us to actually find a game where we could sit next to each other and play like the old days.

“C’mon, check it out!” Parker continued enthusiastically, starting back towards the stairs. I started to agree, but the tug of my backpack’s strap on my shoulder reminded me that I had other plans set for the night.

“Sorry, bud. I’ve got homework and junk, I’ll have to take a raincheck,” I lied, hoping he wouldn’t be too disappointed. He turned around, emotion swirling in his eyes.

“Seriously?” he asked quietly. “You’ve been dodging me all summer. Since when do you even do homework?”

“Since superhero school wants me to not blow a bodega up with my laser vision or super strength. Listen, we’ll play later, okay?” I pleaded, hoping he’d leave well enough alone.
“Whatever,” he muttered and walked up to his room. A loud slam of his door reverberated through the house, making me flinch. 

“I’ll make it up to him,” I said to myself, hoping that I could convince myself I actually would. Even though he’d found what seemed to be the perfect game, if I was honest, I didn’t have it in me to even try it.

I followed Parker’s steps and headed upstairs into my own room, shutting and locking my door securely. With trembling hands I threw my backpack onto the ground and dug out my gym suit. Finally. I unfolded the legs and top and set the shoes on the ground. Quick as I was about to be, I dug around and pulled my clothes off, tossing them onto my bed. I closed my eyes and searched for that buzz I had felt last night. It wasn’t hard to find, traces of it were evident within myself at first glance. I mentally grabbed ahold of the buzz, and felt it explode outward throughout my body. In a flash of light, I was her. I was a speedster again. 

I started to turn around to face myself in the mirror, but found myself hesitating. This wasn’t about the body, it was about the powers. I shook my head and searched through my dresser, hoping to find some better fitting underwear. I fished out some older underwear I had scarcely worn from a few years back. It was made of silky material Mom had gotten me when I was younger and trying out a new style. I slipped them up my thighs, letting them settle around my hips. The crotch thankfully was low and didn’t appear to give me any kind of frontal wedgie (The thought that I was suddenly able to receive one made me shudder in response). They pulled somewhat tightly around my butt, but not uncomfortably so. I remembered that my chest had been sore from running last night, so I also dug around for anything I could put on my chest. Unfortunately I didn’t find anything quite so restrictive as a bra, but I was able to find a tight under tank which I slipped over my rather generously sized chest. I turned and in a flash pulled my pants and top on. They were form-fitting in my usual form so I had expected they may be a tad loose now, though the clothes surprised me be being a rather snug fit. They hugged my curves in a comforting yet not overtly outrageous fashion. I actually looked quite respectable in the mirror, I just looked like a cute girl with messy hair heading for a workout.

I sauntered over to the boots I had left on the ground. I had no idea whether these would fit as well as the other clothes, but I desperately hoped they would so I could finally see what this body could do. With a prayer for good luck spoken, I slipped them on. They still fit perfectly. What in the world were these outfits made out of? I had to admit, some of the students did end up quite big in their Alter forms, so maybe they have some sort of sizing tech woven in? I’d have to ask about it later. I started towards my window before I realized I didn’t have a mask on, my face would be totally bare. I couldn’t explain exactly why, but it was important to me to conceal my identity in this form, just in case I needed it later. I pulled out a box from underneath my bed and dug around for a moment before finding an old domino mask I had worn when I dressed up as Hawkstro a few Halloweens back.

Satisfied with my wardrobe I turned back to the open window. Taking in a deep breath, I raced towards it and jumped out.

I flew right through the opening as if it were as simple as jumping up and down.
My feet touched down on the soil of my back yard and I quickly took off towards the city, finding the boots were providing much needed traction. Despite myself I found myself hollering in delight as I raced down the suburban streets towards the city. The suit clung to me so well, it felt like I was free of a thousand invisible chains I wasn’t even aware I was wearing. I increased my speed, pushing harder, longer, faster. I could finally test this body out. Regardless of avoiding main straightaways to prevent being spotted like the previous night, I found myself making good time as I entered the city downtown just as the sun finished setting over the horizon. I zipped from alleyway to alley way, performing athletic feat after feet as I jumped fences, cars, and dumpsters in my test run. Not only was I fast, but I was athletic. This all felt absolutely incredible. 

I crouched beneath an overpass to catch my breath after darting all over the city as I pondered what I would do next before a wailing alarm caught my attention to my left. A group of four men had smashed in a storefront window of a security equipment store and were stepping inside. Disregarding what Mrs. Catarelli had cautioned, I took off in their direction. They couldn’t hit what they couldn’t catch, right? I stopped short just in front of the window as the last goon stepped through.

“Really, a security camera store? Did you guys want to hit the police station down the street next? I heard they have a vault in the basement,” I called out in my best cheesy hero voice. They turned their attention to me and scowled.

“Run along girly. This ain’t the place for a kid like you to pretend to hero,” one of the men growled as he pulled a pistol from his hoodie pocket. Oh, shit. That’s a gun. And he’s aiming it at me. Holy shit this is real.

“Waste the cunt, M. No witnesses, remember?” another called. He pulled the trigger of his gun and everything came to a halt. The muzzle of his gun flashed slowly as a small projectile slowly flew in my direction. I stepped to the side of the bullet, amazed beyond belief that I was currently dodging a bullet. I wasn’t going to give him another chance to do that. I sped at him, ploughing him into one of the security cases behind him knocking him behind the counter. I staggered back, wowed at my speed when I felt a CRACK against my back, knocking me over.

“The bitch is an Alter, get her!” One of them yelled. My vision became blurry as time seemed to slow and speed without reason. I pushed myself up and swung wildly around, connecting after a moment with the jaw of another assailant. He crumpled under my attack, flying towards another display like the last goon. I tried to kick to my left at the other goon, but my perception was all out of whack, causing me to miss him. Why couldn’t I focus? It was like it was all too much sensory input, like I had turned my music up to max volume on accident. Another hit, this time in my gut, knocked me back as I hobbled over. The same goon continued his advance looking for another blow. I jumped forward, head butting him and kicking him in the crotch. I was tackled to the ground by another, this one grabbing hold of my throat and pressing down tightly.

“Nighty-night!” he cried, pressing down even harder as he said it.

“Terrible… one-liner. Sound like… serial killer from… shitty cop show,” I moaned through ragged gasps as glass from the smashed window dug into me. I pulled my feet underneath him and started kicking with reckless abandon, putting my full fury into him as I kicked him what must have been hundreds of times. His grip relented as I kicked him a final time with all my might, sending him crashing clear through the wall of the shop. I staggered back to my feet, evaluating the situation. The goon I had sent crashing through the wall was still on the ground, as was the guy I kicked in the nards. That left the other two. I barely had time to turn my head before I felt an arm wrap around my neck attempting to again choke me out.

“Try kicking me, dumb bitch, see where that gets you.” His haggard voice called out. I could smell the scent of cigarettes on his breath and clothes and found myself gagging.

“Why kick when I can stomp?” I muttered. I pulled him forward with me as I hunched forwards and jumped straight up, colliding his back with a wooden rafter in the ceiling. He let out a deep guttural grunt as we fell back onto the floor and didn’t move after we landed. I drew in a deep breath. One more.

I heard a click behind me.

“Last stop,” said the goon behind me. I didn’t need to look to see he had his gun back. I closed my eyes, hoping I would figure some way out of this situation, praying I’d be able to make it home. Before I could get far, he cried out and flew past me, straight into the wall behind the counter. He smashed into it and bounced off like rubber, collapsing onto the ground behind the case. A small voice called out behind me as I opened my eyes.

“Are you okay?” I turned around to find a smaller feminine silhouette with multi-colored hair, ranging from blue to pink to white cascading out of the top of a half-mask with shining eye screens. Their costume was sleek, black and white mixing together, seeming to alternate what was black and white on one half to be reversed on the other. They reached out their hand.

“It’s okay, I’m a good guy.” they smiled. I grabbed their hand and they pulled me to my feet.
“Who are you?” I asked, suddenly feeling the pain from the encounter’s wounds take hold.

“You can call me Kayden.” they replied with another warm smile.