Grace was a prankster at heart, and a pretty clever one at that. But this was different; this was a one woman war against an intruder in her own home. Sure, Grace had a lot of practice tricking and getting the best of her cousin Melin, but deep down, Grace loved her cousin. This was different; there was no mercy. No room was safe as machines exploded, buckets of nails dropped, drinks were tainted, and toilets doubled as mini harpoon guns…. Stella didn’t know which was worse, Grace’s traps or Tess constantly glitching as it tried to “take care” of her. She was fighting for her life while her opponent sat in the living room reading a comic book! Finally, Stella grabbed a thick wrench about a cubit long and, finding Tess’s computer room, smashed everything in sight!

~~~

Back in the theatre, Melin tried and failed to escape her bonds. Tied up in a theatre…it reminded her of her teenage to early adulthood days, back when she was the superheroine Super-Frog. The Specter had her in an almost identical predicament, but she used her long tongue to untie herself and defeat the menace. She wished she could try the same strategy again, but that was a long time ago, and, ever since Melin had a run-in with a witch, her powers hadn’t been working right. Instead of a human with frog powers, she would just turn into a giant frog or tadpole when she screamed. Wait…turning into a frog or a tadpole…
It was worth a shot.

Melin screamed and screamed, but simply making noise wasn’t transforming her. Perhaps it was the emotion behind the shout that triggered the change? She thought of Grace, alone in their house with a stranger. Not just a stranger, but a vindictive criminal who was pretending to be her! Grace was in danger at that very moment, possibly having no idea about the threat and Melin had to save her!
Another scream, with feeling this time, and Melin splatted against the cold floor, in the body of a tadpole the size of a grapefruit. She had done it! She slipped through her bindings! Now to find some food or water to change back. She considered hunting the roaches scurrying around the floor, but she knew she was too slow to catch them. Besides, she didn’t want to eat bugs if she could avoid it. Then she remembered: snow was water! She bounded outside and into a snow bank, which made her human again, albeit one who stood naked in the snow, the winter air stabbing her exposed skin and causing her to lose the feeling in her feet.
Luckily, a garbage truck was passing by. When no one was looking, she jumped in the back and became insulated by the putrid bags. It wasn’t the most comfortable experience, but it was faster than walking and she wouldn’t freeze to death on the way home. She just hoped this wasn’t the kind of truck that crushed its trash.

~~~

Grace heard a loud crashing noise and smirked as she continued to read her comics. Eventually, this lady would give up and leave…or she’d knock herself out. Either way was fine by her. Then Stella rounded the corner, furious, cut, burned, her wig and makeup melted off and still holding the wrench.
“Game over, kid! I’ve had enough Time to deal with you!”
“What…what are you going to do?” Grace asked, eyeing the blunt weapon Stella was carrying.
“I’m going to tie you up and throw you in a sack.” She said, “Then we’re going to take a little road trip. I know this island about 200 kilometers west of here. I’m going to take you there, dump you and leave so you’ll never bother me again!”
“200 kilometers west? That would put me in Portugal!”
“Exactly! Good luck getting back to Spain with no boat, no money and no passport.”
“You…you can’t make me! I won’t go!” Grace said, fear transparent in her voice
“You know, kid, once we get to the island, it will be pretty hard for you to escape your sack with a broken arm.” She snarled, raising her wrench!
But then the door flew open and slumped against the doorway was a filthy, naked Melin, her lips blue and fingers red from the cold.

That momentary distraction was enough for Grace to snatch the wrench and disappear into the house, leaving the two adults alone. Stella’s rage boiled.
“How are you here!? You’re going to take everything from me! You don’t deserve happiness, none of you do! Do you have any idea how hard my life has been!?”
“No, I don’t” Melin said, straightening up, “But lady, you crossed the sympathy line when you tried hitting a little girl with a wrench.”

Stella lunged and the two of them began fighting all over the house. Melin was skilled as a former superheroine, but she was rusty. Meanwhile, Stella was untrained, but desperate and vicious, ferociously swiping like a cornered cat. Melin got some well-calculated hits in, but her body was slow and weak from the cold trip home and soon, Stella overpowered her, leaving the redhead on the ground.

KLANG!

And Stella fell to the floor, an angry Grace standing behind her holding the wrench.

After tying up the criminal, Melin and Grace comforted each other and Melin enjoyed a rewarding, hot shower. The police, called when Grace disappeared, arrested Stella and took Grace and Melin’s statements. Stella, having been found guilty of identity theft, destruction of property, assault, attempted kidnapping and attempted assault with a deadly weapon, finally got a home of her own, albeit one with bars on the door and a twenty year contract. In time, things at home returned to normal as Tess was insured and repaired. A strange part of Melin still felt sorry for Stella and she wondered what could drive a person to such desperation. But a bigger part of her was just glad Grace wasn’t hurt.
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