Chapter 1
Gavin loved flying. It was one of his favorite benefits of what had happened since the Change he and Cacy had experienced the change that had moved their lives in a new direction. The Change had allowed Gavin to become Karis. She could fly and she hadn’t found anything on the planet that could hurt her, but he still had difficulty at times with being a woman.
Karis was shaken out of her thoughts as she just missed being caught by the giant claws that were obsessed with crushing her. Mornigan seemed to enjoy creating huge monsters to plague her life.
A claw grabbed for her as she ducked out of the way, but the other claw was close behind. Diz was dashing around the six legs of the monster, but its attention was fastened on the fly buzzing around it. Karis hoped that Diz would do something soon.
Before Diz could act, a claw snatched the crimson-headed fly. Invulnerability didn’t’ make her position any less uncomfortable. Besides, the not-crab was intent on testing the limits of Karis’ hard shell. Perhaps it wanted a game of who’s-shell-is-harder.
Karis felt Diz in her mind. There was a sense that something was about to happen. Why didn’t she have super strength to go with her invulnerability? With her own strength, she would never burst out of this shell.
The claw popped open as the creature start fall. Karis hovered over the beast and saw that its legs had been tied. It was still scrambling, but since it was bound, the creature wasn’t going to get very far. Diz gave her a thumbs-up sign before dashing out of sight. It was still amazing to Karis how fast his body moved when Cacy inhabited it.
Karis flew close to a mile away and back at top speed straight for the crawly critter’s head. It didn’t make a difference to the strange animal, but it made her feel better. Perhaps she would feel even better back in her own body. Now that the situation had settled down, she took a moment to brush a lock of her red hair back into place.
Black cars with black windows pulled up to the crustacean as well as several white trucks. Karis floated to the ground and waited for the Greys to make contact. Diz rushed beside her and Karis waited a moment for the air to flow past them.
“You always have to make an entrance, don’t you?”
“Only when I’m in your body,” Diz joked. “When I’m Cacy, I seldom get the urge.”
Cacy may have been in his body, but it wasn’t exactly the body he was used to seeing in the mirror. The body stood around six feet tall and there was much more muscle definition than he used to have a year ago. His red hair had been replaced with Cacy’s blonde hair, and the same was an exchange of her blue eyes for his green ones. It was an unusual side effect of their powers. It was one of the many strange exchanges that went along with their powers.
“Can we change back,” Karis pleaded.
“Let’s wait until the Greys are gone,” Diz apologized. “We don’t want them to know all of our secrets.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Karis lamented. “Let’s get this out of the way so we can get back to our own lives.”
A man stepped out of the group of men and women in the grey track suits milling around the animal. He was taller than Diz and had long brown hair and black aviators. Karis again found herself surprised that these men were not dressed in black suits, but instead Michaels and his compatriots were in their grey track suits and running sneakers.
“What’s the word, Michaels?” Karis asked.
“Crayfish,” Michaels answered briskly. “Best guess is that it crawled out of the river about five miles west of here and has been tearing up the countryside all the way to here.”
“Has it been growing like the others?” Diz wondered.
“Yes,” Michaels answered holding his fingers a couple of inches apart, “it started around this big when it left the river.”
“So do you need us for anything else, or can we get out of here?” Karis inquired.
“There doesn’t seem to be any other activity at the moment, but we’ll keep you posted,” Michaels replied.
* * *
Karis lifted into the air as Diz flew down the road. Karis pondered her life and the direction it was taking. Perhaps it was time that Gavin and Cacy had a talk about the future.
She flew toward the old tree where their adventures had begun. It was their standard plan. Karis could see his car off in the distance, and Cacy was running circles around the tree. It was situated at the end of an old dirt road and it was the only landmark for miles around. The tree was in the center of a large patch of untended field with uncut grass and brush all around. Of course they couldn’t see much this late at night with no moon visible. Gavin landed a few feet away from the tree to avoid being run over.
“Why do you always do that?” Diz demanded. “You know that I have enough control to stop for you.”
“That’s not why I stop,” Karis explained, “I just like to give you some space; I can to at least that much.”
“It isn’t that easy,” Diz admitted.
Karis still could adjust to seeing his body from this perspective, especially with the hair. So much had changed for the two of them since that night a year ago, but he tried not to think about that.
Seeing his own body from another body was nothing compared to the sensations of being a woman. His breasts were always in the way and even with the powers; he could still feel the chill in the night air. It didn’t help that Cacy insisted that they look like superheroes as possible. Their bodies had changed to fit that mold all on their own, but now, he felt almost naked whenever he went out as Karis in the skimpy green and purple swim suit the Greys had put together for her, especially when she compared it to the black full-body costume and black helmet than had given Diz. Karis had asked for a cape, but everyone had insisted that she wouldn’t look right in one. Cacy most of all.
“Can we change back now,” Gavin implored.
“Sure, what’s on your mind?”
