My Super-powered Diary Chapter 22 Clothes Call By Amethyst When Maddock Ainsley gets involved in a rescue operation with his unit things go horribly wrong and his life is forever changed. Can the newly minted Merida cope with being a girl and a teenage super hero?

We were told that the tailors worked out of one of the small shops in the town square of the faux colonial village that was Pacific Seaside Academy. It was still a little strange to get used to even though we’d been there almost a week and spending most of that time on campus. Strange to be surrounded by a village that could have existed two hundred years ago, when just outside the gates and the fence that surrounded the school grounds was a thriving and bustling modern city.

We had of course seen the shops in the square during our tour, as well as our own explorations, but we hadn’t thought that they were being used for anything. So when Lindsey, Michelle, Garret, and Hiro led us to a shop on the square with a wooden sign out front displaying an image of a needle and thread, we thought that they might be pulling our legs a little bit. It turned out though that not only were they not pulling our legs but that quite a few shops were in use to cater to students and staff alike. Aside from the tailor’s there was a sweets shop, a convenience store housed inside a grocer’s shop, a bookstore selling books for both school and recreation, a draper that sold cloth and other necessities for costume making, and a bakery that housed not only an actual bakery, but a small coffee shop as well. Not far from the square there was also the period doctor’s office with a hidden elevator to the medical clinic below ground where Mom would be working.

There was even a gunsmith shop run by a Tinker that sold actual weapons, although we were told that students would have to take and clear a firearms and weapons safety course and get a permit from Costa Verde’s Hyper Relations Office before they would be allowed to buy or carry them. The very same office at City Hall where we would have to go to get our licenses on Monday. So if Shu and Mei, or any of us, wanted to be able to carry weapons in our costumed guises we would have to pay for all of that too.

“Why let students carry weapons at all though?” Tasha asked in concern.

“This is a school for Hypers, but it’s still a school and we have our share of jerks and bullies. Not everyone has force fields or flashy offensive powers,” Michelle said looking pointedly at me. Then she pointed her finger toward Tink who was sitting atop Mei’s shoulder. “So tell me, how someone like Tink would even stand a chance if she were being bullied by a Category four enhanced or Energy Manipulator or something if she couldn’t just fly away. It evens the odd and sadly fights between students, or teams of students, do happen on campus sometimes.”

“Besides,” Hiro added, “none of the weapons that shop sells are lethal, they are all used to stun, contain, disable, or to distract. Some may have more powerful or lethal ammunition loads or add-ons available, but those aren’t kept on campus and are never sold to students.” With that explained, and our tutorial of the various campus shops given, the four guided us to door of the tailor’s shop to get our school uniforms ordered while my four new classmates promised to meet with us at the Grotto for dinner once we were done with our errands.

When we stepped inside the tailor’s shop the first thing I noticed was that there were no sewing machines, needles, thread, bolts of cloth, or partially completed uniforms or other outfits to indicate that anyone in the shop made clothes at all. Well there was some stuff, but it all looked like stuff from a few hundred years ago so the shop was probably kept looking period on the inside too. There was a curtained-off area to the back though, and two women who could probably be sisters drinking coffee at a large wooden work table.

Both women were slender and a bit lanky with bright blue eyes, but they had their differences too. The oldest of the pair seemed to be in her mid-twenties, was dressed casually in jeans and a simple rose-hued blouse, and had long wavy black hair. The other’s hair was plum-colored and cut shoulder length into a spiky punk style that I liked and she looked to be maybe nineteen or in her early twenties. She was also dressed in a style similar to my own, but with a few more piercings. The pair looked up as the small bell on the door announced our arrival. “Oh! New students! And ten of you too, that should at least keep us busy for an hour or two. Alana sent us your files and told us to expect you today, this should be fun. Welcome kids, we’re the Taylors, and we’ll be getting you all set up with your school uniforms,” the older of the pair said with a grin.

“No’ tae ge’ all technical, bu’ yuir both women, wouldnae tha’ make ya seamstresses?” I pointed out.

The eldest laughed as she smiled at us. “You’re not the first to say that, and likely won’t be the last. It’s a bit of a joke around here actually. We’re not tailors, we’re the Taylors… T A Y L O R,” she explained, spelling the name. “I’m Melanie Taylor and this is my younger sister Meghan.”

Once each of us, including the Fairies, had introduced ourselves the pair looked us over and Melanie asked, “So, which of you is going to be first?”

Meghan grabbed me by the arm, grinning from ear to ear. “Let’s start with you Merida. I like your sense of style. If you ever need new clothes just come see me, I can make you rock that look and our prices for regular clothes are very reasonable. We were told that you and the Fairies come as sets, so your Fairy can come along too.”

Fawn and I were ushered behind the curtain at the back of the shop into a comfortable little room with period furniture, a small table with a tea set on it, tailoring supplies, an old-timey mannequin, a pair of clothing racks filled with empty hangers, and a stool in the center of an open space. “I hope that neither of you are shy,” Melanie commented as Fawn and I were herded toward the stool at the center of the room. “This process will require you both taking off your clothes several times, but only down to your underwear.”

I flushed slightly at the thought, but I then I told myself sternly that it wouldn’t be the first time that I had been without clothes in front of others since getting this body. I looked at the pair hesitantly and tried to shrug it off. They were professionals after all and they probably saw both girls and boys in their underwear every day. “I think I kin manage, bu’ why does Fawn need tae undress? This is jus’ fer school uniforms.”

“Alana specifically told us five uniforms for each of you girls and the Fairies as well, plus whatever enchantments you’ll need on them. The Fairies are students too, just because they’re tiny it doesn’t make them immune to the rules or the dress code,” Meghan pointed out. “Now off with those clothes, both of you.”

Sighing, and wondering what Dr. Edwards had told them to make them believe that Fawn and the other Fairies were students as well, I began to take off my clothes as Fawn touched down on the stool and began shimmying out of her dress. As we were doing that we listened as Meghan explained how their little shop worked. “Now here’s the thing girls. I’m a Category three Generator, I tap into magical energy via ley lines and I can use that energy to create any clothes that I have seen or that I can imagine, in any material that I have physically touched, but to make sure they fit right I need to create them on you, so that’s why you need to be in your underwear. If I were creating underwear you’d have to be naked.”

I was really glad that Fawn and I both had proper underwear. Mom had insisted on making all of the Fairies several sets of undergarments, using the same machine she had to make our costumes and their everyday clothes. Fawn was out of her dress and I was half finished disrobing as Melanie continued where her younger sister had left off. “Meghan will create the uniforms on your bodies and then you’ll have to remove them and hang them up before she can start on the next one. She can’t really do adjustments once the clothes are set, so if you need the uniforms taken in or let out anywhere at some point you’ll come see me so I can magically alter them. I’m a Category three Mystic, but I don’t really enjoy using combat magic. My real strength is enchantments so once the clothes are made and hanging up I’ll enchant them with whatever I feel will work best to keep them from being damaged should you need to use your powers.”

The Pacific Seaside Academy uniform for girls turned out to be a white blouse, a navy blue blazer with the school crest over the heart, white knee socks, a pair of shoes that were called Mary Janes, and a plaid skirt in navy, light sea green, teal, and silver. The final touch was a ribbon tie matching the tartan on the skirt worn with the blouse and tied in a ‘proper’ bow. I had to get Meghan to show me and Fawn how to properly tie the damn thing a few times before we actually got it. Apparently the boys wear navy slacks and a blazer, dress shoes, and a button up shirt with a tie in the same tartan pattern as the girls' skirts and ribbon ties. Fawn was having to be very careful removing the blazer and blouse, carefully slipping her wings through the slits in the back, and I was sure that she’d have to be just as careful while putting them on.

Inwardly I was seething about the skirt and ribbon tie as Fawn and I removed the first uniforms that Meghan had finished. The tartan wasn’t even a proper Scottish one, I was pretty sure it was Irish. How could they expect me to wear that? My force field snapped into place as Fawn finished removing her uniform and we were both surrounded by that familiar red glow that was beginning to bubble with instability.

“Oh! That’s perfect! Just let me do a quick magical scan Merida and I’ll be able to come up with what enchantments I want to use. Force field right? Do I need to worry about your uniforms getting damaged at all?” Melanie fired off as she watched me and Fawn in sudden interest.

I took deep slow breaths to try and calm myself and the bubbling slowed. It wasn’t their fault that the school had a stupid uniform and as much as it might gall me to wear an Irish tartan it wasn’t going to kill me and it wasn’t worth blowing up half the campus over. Once I had managed to calm myself down I replied to the elder Taylor sister. “It only seems tae co’er the surface o‘ our skin. It doesnae protect our clothes an’ when it gets unstable things aroun’ me tend tae explode, or burn tae ash when it gets hot enough.”

Melanie nodded as she continued to watch us, her hands moving as she chanted under her breath for several minutes. Finally she spoke again. “I see, I’ll enchant both of your clothes to phase slightly out of our dimension whenever you use your powers then. They’ll still be visible and preserve your modesty, but they won’t be vulnerable to any type of damage from your powers or anything else that could physically damage them in our dimension. I’ll put that in your file for future uniforms and any regular clothes you might come to us for.”

Once I had managed to turn my force field off again we got back to hanging up the uniforms that we had taken off before Meghan got to work on the next set. Melanie had even managed to conjure up a tiny clothes rack and some hangers for Fawn to use. It was almost half an hour before we were finished and Fawn and I walked out of the back room with our arms filled with five new uniforms and our new shoes, all freshly enchanted. Meghan poked her head out of the curtains behind us and said, “Okay, let’s do the mermaid next. I really hope that you’re not shy.”

It was nearly o’ sixteen hundred by the time that we were all finished and loaded up with uniforms. Tasha, the twins and their fairies didn’t need any enchantments on theirs other than a fairly simple one that Melanie usually used to make students uniforms more sturdy and damage resistant. Vanessa’s and Silvermist’s were enchanted to make them water resistant as well, and the only reason that Vanessa had taken longer than the rest of us was because she had not only hers and Silvermist’s uniforms made, but two dozen pairs of panties in various styles and colors as well. They had all been enchanted to be sent to a pocket dimension whenever her legs shifted to a tail, and to return to their place when she shifted back to legs.

With that done we dropped our uniforms off at our respective dorm rooms and met up at Toxin’s office in the courthouse building that served as the high school where Tasha, Vanessa, and I would be taking classes. I knocked carefully and Kendra’s voice called from inside, “Come on in.” Then once I had opened the door she looked up at us from behind her desk in the small cozy-looking office. “Hello girls! I take it you’re here to choose your classes for the first semester? One at a time please, my office isn’t that big. Though I can probably manage the twins and their little Fairy friends together.”

Since I was closest to the door the others sort of volunteered me to go first with a solid shove. Sighing, I entered the office with Fawn riding my shoulder, closed the door behind me and settled into the comfortable armchair she had in front of her desk, feeling just a little bit uncertain. “It’s good to see you both again. I hope that you’re all adjusting well to the Campus and life in Costa Verde,” Kendra said.

“Aye, we’re doin’ fine Kendra,” I tried to assure her as I squirmed in the seat.

“A little nervous to be starting high school again are you?” Kendra said after a moment of watching me, her tone sympathetic. “I would be too in your place, but this will help you to make friends, adjust to your new age and gender, and learn to control your powers in a relatively safe environment. Try to see the positives in this Merida. And what do you think Fawn?” Her gaze turned toward the Fairy on my shoulder as she said the last.

“It’s all so strange and exciting. It’s nothing like Neverland or Pixie Hollow here and I’m getting to experience all of these things with my best friend. We got something called ‘school uniforms’ earlier. They are a bit strange to wear, but we match in them.” Fawn seemed to have no issues talking about her feelings, but she was generally very open and spoke easily with others. I guess that came with being an Animal Fairy.

“That’s good to hear Fawn, I’m glad to hear that you’re adjusting so well and enjoying your time here,” Kendra said with a nod before getting down to business. “You will each have nine classes per semester and they rotate on a daily basis with six classes per day. Classes are in session from eight thirty in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon with an hour in the middle for lunch. Now I have some classes in mind for both of you, but I would also like your input on this since your classes may well effect your futures. Are there any specific interests you have? Would you prefer to take classes together rather than each having your own separate schedules?”

I stared at her for a moment. “Fawn ‘as tae take classes too?”

Toxin nodded slowly and sighed as she took a small folder out of her desk drawer and pushed it toward me. “Dr. Edwards has decided to make your Fairies official students at the Academy. They are living sentient beings with powers of their own that should be nurtured and developed. It will also explain their presence here. We’ve had to come up with a cover story for all of you since you can’t tell people about how you truly Activated with it being classified, and we don’t want the truth about Mei’s powers to be commonly known since it could put her and the rest of you in danger.”

I opened the folder and Fawn and I carefully read the contents. I was glad that Mei had seemed to instill basic literacy and her own education in the Fairies since, if they were going to be taking classes, they would have trouble otherwise. The file contained a cover story with just enough truth in it to be believable. Me and my new sisters had all been discovered to be non-Activated Hypers and were kidnapped, them from orphanages and me on my way home from a friend’s house, by a Supervillain Mystic calling herself “The Matriarch” who was more than a little insane and apparently wanted superhuman children as minions. She performed experiments on us to try to get us to Activate, including attempts at brainwashing, and severely traumatized most of us in the process. Mom was able to follow her trail though and, with her help and our new powers, we were able to defeat her and escape, after which Mom adopted my sisters to keep them safe.

The Fairies were explained too. They were other captives, college students who had been magically transformed into Fairies based on some of those in the Disney movies. They hadn’t turned out well though, because they lost all of their memories from before their transformation and now believed themselves to be those Fairies, taking on their abilities and personalities. They had been meant to be companions for us, gifts from the insane woman trying to be a mother figure to us. They had bonded with us and we became friends and when we had Activated, one of the Matriarch’s experiments had resulted in Fawn and I becoming quantum entangled and each gaining a portion of the other’s powers.

It seemed that the Matriarch was actually a real villain who had escaped a high security asylum for Hypers around the time that the girls really were kidnapped. She had been captured again not long after our escape, and while it had made the news the details had been sketchy so it loaned itself well to our cover story. There were even photos of her in the file and with the kidnapping and trauma and such there was enough truth in the fictional story to be believable. The Fairies even had identities created for them from before their ‘transformations’ including birth certificates and other documentation that Dr. Edwards had got Tara Miller at the Hyper Protection Program to cook up and that would be used in their school records and student ID bracelet.

Kendra handed me the packet for Fawn, or Lisa Anne Conrad as her documentation indicated. The Fairies wouldn’t have to play the part much since the story had been concocted to allow them to be themselves and answer to their own names for the most part. They would have to remember some details about their fictional identities, but they seemed to have the easy part in this fiction.

With that explained Kendra started to discuss classes with Fawn and me. We had decided to take the same academic classes this semester, Math, English, History, Introduction to Zoology, and ‘Beginner Martial Arts’ with Kasumi Forrester, Megaman’s mother, for our P.E class. For our other classes we shared Energy Manipulation and Aerial Combat and I took Archery, again with Kasumi Forrester, and Art to help with my constructs. For her other two classes Fawn took Spanish and Home Ec. Once our classes were chosen we left with our class schedules, and Fawn’s new documentation, in hand to let the others have their turn at their debriefing/class selection with Kendra.

 
Why dae I ‘ave tae dae this anyway? Wouldnae Blair be better fer talkin’ aboot all this sciencey stuff? Wot dae ya mean it’s in ma bloody contract?! I’m goin’ tae need tae read the fine print on tha’, an’ then we’re goin’ tae damn well renegotiate.

*sigh* Good mornin’, afternoon, or evenin’ tae all o’ Amethyst’s readers, whate’er it is where ya are. I’ve jus’ been informed by Amethyst tha’ I’m supposed tae be hostin’ this new segmen’ tae teach ya all aboot Hypers, the world we live in, an’ so forth. So since I dinnae ‘ave a choice in the matter, welcome tae the first episode o’ “Merida’s Corner”. Today I’m goin tae start by talkin’ aboot power levels an’ introducin’ the twelve diff’ren’ classifications o’ Hypers.

Powers are rated like hurricanes, rangin’ from Category one tae Category five. Category one powers gen’rally make the person who ‘as them a wee bit more than human, bu’ no’ quite considered superhuman either. In the case o’ Enhanced mutants, where physical abilities are increased, those physical abilities would be on the level o’ peak human or an Olympic athlete. In other power types Category ones gen’rally ‘ave wha’ are commonly termed as nuisance level powers, fer example a Teleporter who kin only ‘port somethin’ small, like a marble, tae within a foot or two o’ its original location. No’ really tha’ terrifyin’, aye? Though I could think o’ uses fer somethin’ e’en tha’ small.

Category two is where things star’ gettin’ interestin’, an’ Hyper’s are really considered superhuman. Enhanced gain physical abilities tha’ go beyond tha’ o’ even the best human athletes, such as bein’ able tae lift an’ toss aroun’ large vehicles an’ other classes ge’ powers tha’ may actually be o’ some use in a fight. Power levels an’ range continue tae increase exponentially all the way up tae Category five, which are the rarest an’ usually the mos’ dangerous. Mos’ Hypers are somewhere in the Category one tae four range an’ when a five appears it’s a pretty big deal an’ their power levels kin be compared tae a Category five hurricane, a major earthquake, or other nat’ral disaster when unleashed a’ full power. Tha’s when ya ge’ intae people like Paragon or me. Tha’ level o’ power is hard tae learn tae control a’ full power an’ kin be dangerous tae anyone aroun’.

There are twelve loose classifications o’ mutant power types. Some mutants fit intae one o’ these, while some fit intae more than one. These classifications are: Energy Manipulators (EMs), Generators, Shifters, Psychics, Regens, Teleporters, Tinkers, Mystics, Mediums, Elementals, Enhanced, an’ Wildcards. There is a lo’ tae learn aboot all these diff’ren’ classes, so nex’ week I’ll begin talkin’ aboot the various types wi’ the best one, Energy Manipulators. Until then, this is Merida signin’ off, see ya nex’ time on Merida’s Corner… unless I kin manage tae renegotiate ma contract.