by grapehyacinth

Sylvie's skin had been itching since the energy fluctuation had taken place at the power plant where she worked. Through the rest of the night her symptoms had worsened to the point that every exposed surface was peeling off in flakes. Her clothes rubbed so uncomfortably against the skin underneath that she wished she could strip down to her underwear.

No. Even her underwear hurt.

Passing through the building's lobby, she pictured herself shedding all her clothes and running through the power plant naked. The night staff was so small that no one would even notice! She reddened in embarrassment. No matter how good it would feel, she would never even think of removing her clothes in public. She wouldn't even wear a low necked shirt if she could avoid it...

She gazed into the large salt-water fish tanks that lined the walls. They had always captivated her – she loved to watch the colorful fish swimming lazily by. Yet when she caught her reflection in the glass, she gave a horrified yelp. Not only did she look as if she had the worst sunburn ever, but her hair seemed thinner.

“No!” she whispered, making sure none of her co-workers were around. “What is going on? Something is happening to me! I need help.” She couldn't let anyone see her like this. Even though her co-workers had proven there had been no radiation leak, and her radiation levels were negligible, something had made her this way. And it had to have been that unexplainable power spike at 3:28 in the morning.

But why would a simple fluctuation in power levels do this to her? And was there anything she could do about it?

She darted into an empty conference room and dialed her boss, Dr. Simon Vance. She had never dared to call him on his private cell, but she was getting too worried to care about how things looked.

It was seven in the morning – he had to be up...

As she listened to the phone ringing, she experienced a sudden, deep thirst. While clasping the phone to her ear, she ripped a cup from the water dispenser in the corner. Shakily, she filled it to the brim and drank it down in one gulp.

“A little better,” she murmured, scratching at her head. It was slightly rough to her touch, and she shuddered. “Gosh, even my scalp is itchy!” As she rubbed an area near her forehead, a clump of her red hair fell out.

She stared at it in shock.

“Oh, no–” she whispered. “Oh, not my hair...”

The phone message cut her off. “Hi! You've reached Dr. Simon Vance, but I'm not available right now. Please leave a message, or contact my assistant during business hours at...”

Sylvie inhaled deeply, terrified about losing her hair and frustrated that Simon was not available to discuss her problem. She was afraid to talk to anyone about her situation except for Simon. He had started out as a medical doctor, and he was always willing to discuss medical issues with his workers.

And Simon alone understood her yearnings to be an oceanographer. He had always encouraged her to go back to school and get the degree. But she was too busy dreaming to make the effort...

“Dr. Vance, Simon...” she coughed into the phone, fingering the clump of hair in her fingers. Her throat felt so dry! “I'm so thirsty and itchy...” Her voice was getting so hoarse! “My hair...a bit of it...”

She couldn't bear to tell him what was happening to her over the phone, and it hurt too much to talk anyway. “You know what, I'll call you later... I need a drink...Not....not alcoholic, I mean...Oh, who cares!” She stuffed the phone in her purse and drank two more cups of water. As she feverishly grabbed for a third, she spilled it all over herself.

The cold liquid sploshing over her body was magnificent. The soothing sensation made her feel immediately better, and she knew she needed to immerse herself in it.

But she just had to get through a few more minutes! She was still technically on the job... “I just have to finish my shift...the day people are coming in soon...”

A strange burning started on both sides of her neck. When she grasped at the area, it seemed as if her skin was almost vibrating. “What is this now?” she cried. “And what's with my hand? It feels...rubbery?” She pulled her hand from her neck and gazed at it.

It was becoming webbed.

Beyond shocked, she could only pick at the strange membrane that was beginning to enclose her fingers. And now her legs were beginning to feel funny...

She jumped up in a panic. “I have to get out of here!” Without bothering to punch out, she threw her purse over her shoulder and ran home.

She was thankful that she lived down the block from the power plant. Because, only seconds after she entered her house, her legs gave way, and she collapsed in her front hall.

For a moment, she merely lay dazed, staring up at the ceiling. Waves of near-nausea hit her, running through her body and sending strange tingles through it. Was this due to what was happening to her, or was she getting so nervous that she was simply becoming hysterical?

The dryness was returning depressingly fast, and it hurt to push out words. “What is wrong here...am I paralyzed?” she cried nonetheless, poking at her legs. They felt softer, and she couldn't seem to move them. In a panic, she slid down her slacks. When her bare thighs touched against each other, she suddenly could not pull them apart.

“What...what...” Tears fell freely down her cheek. “Oh, Simon...I wish you'd call back...”

She kicked off her shoes to remove her pants the rest of the way, only to find that her toes had merged. “My feet! They're...they're getting flat! They're–”

As she stretched to touch them,something ruptured in her neck, and air was somehow escaping out the sides. At the same time, a pile of hair fell to the floor. Silvery scales were sprouting from her skin, and she was now screaming at the top of her lungs. She needed the water with every inch of her being. If she didn't get any soon, she was beginning to wonder if she would die.

Her body burned from the dryness, and the thirst was as if she'd spent days in a desert. Purse still strung over her arm, she laboriously pulled her changing body to the bathroom, bobbing like a seal. Stretching to reach the knob, she turned on the shower and closed the bathtub's drain so the water would fill the tub. “Oh, God, I have to get in!” Painstakingly, she hoisted herself into the tub and lay helplessly, eyes closed, as the water replenished her.

Despite the near-healing power of the water, her lower half still felt stiff. What was wrong with her legs? It was as if she couldn't pull them apart, but she couldn't really feel them to do it anyway.

Finally, she brought herself to open her eyes.

She no longer had legs. What was left of them was covered in fish scales. Her feet were now fusing together and growing into an impressive fin...

...Which she could move.

“My God! I'm turning into a fish! Oh, God! Help me!”

She still had arms, but now her whole body was covered in scales, and there was a strange flap on her now-bald head. And she had gill slits on her neck, which didn't seem to be doing anything because she was still breathing through her nose...

“Oh God, Oh, God, I'm going to die,” she moaned. “Simon, Simon, please help me...”

She saw that her purse lay beside the tub where she'd dropped it. She fished it up, pulled out her phone, and, after several unsuccessful attempts with her webbed fingers, she called Simon once more.

“Pick up, pick up,” she prayed silently. She let out a grateful breath when she heard a click on the other side of the line.

“Sylvie? It's actually Drusilla. I got Simon's phone. What's up?”

What was her co-worker Drusilla doing with Dr. Vance's phone? The way those two talked to each other made Sylvie think Dru would murder him some day. But it didn't matter. Oh, God, she had to go under the water...

“Help me,” was all she could muster. She tossed the phone away and submerged herself.

A loud crash made Sylvie finally come up for air. She was not quite sure how long she had been under the water, but she had not come up to breathe once. Her new gill slits seemed to have done their job. And she was glad. For the water had revived her. She felt wonderful, and strangely calm.

But she had to rub her eyes several times to make sure she was not dreaming as a seven-foot-tall, muscular Drusilla entered her bathroom. She was carrying a woozy Simon in her arms.

“Put me down,” he uttered weakly.

She deposited him roughly onto the tile floor.

“Oof. You bitch, can't you be more gentle?” he muttered, rubbing his head.

“Well, that ought to wake you up, asshole,” Drusilla retorted.

For a moment, Sylvie forgot her own dilemma as she studied Drusilla in amazement. Her co-worker looked like one of the grotesquely-muscular women bodybuilders that she couldn't stand to look at. And she was carrying a full-grown man like he was a ragdoll!

”Drusilla, what happened to you?”

Drusilla snorted, nodding at Simon. He coughed.

Sylvie wasn't quite sure what Drusilla meant, but her mind was already wandering. “How'd you get in? My front door was locked!”

Drusilla rolled up her sleeve and displayed her arm muscles. “Does it look like a lock can keep me out, sweetie?”

Sylvie gulped.

“You're paying for the damage you did to her door,” Simon demanded weakly.

“Go to hell, Simon. Just help the poor girl out,” said Drusilla.

Rubbing his head once more, Simon rose, nearly falling back down. Slowly, he made his way to the tub, staring at Sylvie.

“Are you covered up?” he asked her. “Is it okay if I look at you?”

“Always the gentleman,” Drusilla snorted. “Her shirt's still on, and you can't see anything with those scales anyway, you schmuck.”

He delivered her a nasty look, than drew closer, his mouth falling open. “Sylvie, you look like Abe Sapien from the Hellboy comic!” He said this almost proudly, and Drusilla stomped her large foot angrily.

Syvlie started to cry. She flapped her fin in despair, splashing water all over the room.

“Way to make her feel better, you jerk,” spat Drusilla, grabbing a nearby towel and blotting herself with it.

Drawing herself partly from the tub, Sylvie whimpered, “It's from the power fluctuation, right?”

“Why would you cry, Sylvie?” Simon exclaimed. “You're fascinating! You're like a sea creature! Did you look in the mirror yet?”

“Not lately! It's horrible! Why couldn't I just be a mermaid if I had to be something – ow!”

Suddenly the scales on the top of her body began to retract, the skin flap on her head disappeared, and beautiful red locks began to flow in its stead. She tugged at the long strands confusedly. “Uh...what just happened?”

Gently, Simon touched her neck. “Look at that! You kept the gill slits, but changed the whole rest of your top half back to normal. Your bottom half is a tail with a fin...you made yourself into a mermaid!”

“The sea creature was cooler,” Drusilla said.

Sylvie started to weep once more. “I want to swim.”

“The Olympic-size pool at the Y might work,” Simon suggested. “You'd be safe from predators.”

“Predators?” Drusilla gaped at her boss in amazement. “And, oh, yeah. No one would notice the mermaid swimming in the pool at the Y, right, Simon?”

“How would I get there? I need legs!” And suddenly Sylvie's tail was ripping apart, and her feet were re-forming.

“It's controllable!” she breathed. Cautiously, she stepped from the bathtub and tested her legs out. They were as normal as ever. “My legs are back! I'm not stuck like this forever!”

Simon clasped his hands together. “Perfect. Now once I feel better, we can all band together and save the world.”

Drusilla and Sylvie stared at him.

“What the hell does that mean?” Drusilla finally spouted.

“Well,” Simon touched the bump on his head and winced. “Drusilla, if you ever hit me like that again, I swear...”

“You swear what? That you'll turn into another cowardly lion and try to scare me?”

“I wasn't cowardly.”

“I knocked you out, didn't I?”

“That's when I turned back. Plus I was naked.”

“Yeah, that was sad.”

Sylvie, who had merely been looking back and forth from one speaker to the other, burst out, “You really turned into a lion? You can do that?”

“Show her, Simon,” Drusilla instructed, kicking at him.

Simon rolled his eyes. Then he changed into a very moody-looking animal.

Sylvie jumped up and down, squeaking in delight. “Oh, Simon, you're gorgeous!”

He changed back, blushing slightly. “Now just tell me that when I'm in human form.”

“Oh, wow! What else can you be?”

“Anything.”

“Can I do that?” Sylvie asked excitedly.

“No, you seem to become sea creatures. We can explore how far you can go with it. Maybe you have to stay humanoid, maybe you can become fish, who knows?”

“How do you know so much about this, Simon?”

Drusilla scowled. “He did it to us.”

“What?”

“The bastard did this to us without our ok,” Drusilla explained coldly.

“But look at you two! You're both amazing! Look what the other girls can do! Nellie is a fairy, for God's sake!”

“A fairy?” Sylvie giggled. “Really?”

“Well, she doesn't have magical powers or anything...” Drusilla snickered. “The least you could have done is given her fairy powers, Simon.”

“How the hell would I have done that, Dru?”

“How the hell did you do any of this?” Drusilla yelled into his face.

Simon snapped his mouth shut.

Sylvie made a shy smile. “You should have asked, us first, Simon, but it's still amazing. Thank you.”

“You would never have done it if I asked. Hey, wait!” His eyes grew wide. “You're not going to yell at me?” Simon looked puzzled.

“She should beat the shit out of you,” mumbled Drusilla.

“I actually got a thank you! Thank you, Sylvie.”

She chuckled. “You're thanking me for thanking you? Well, thank you for thanking me for–”

“Shut the hell up, you two. I'm gonna vomit.”

Meanwhile, Sylvie was beginning to twitch, and her bare legs started to merge.

“Dru,” she gasped, “please take me to the ocean. Immediately!”

Sylvie dove from Drusilla's arms straight into the depths of the sea. The waves welcomed her, and she explored the ocean floor for hours, never once coming up to the surface. All the wonders of the deep were revealed to her, and with her greatly-enhanced eyesight, she was sufficiently amazed.

I want to stay down here forever, she told herself. She had kept the form of a mermaid, which she was most comfortable with. She had felt ugly when she had been the sea creature, and she remembered what the Abe Sapien character had looked like. He was disgusting. She wanted to be beautiful, and with her long red hair undulating with the current, she knew she was.

She tried to change herself to become like the fish swimming by her, but, although she could take the same form, she did not seem to be able to shrink. So she remained a large trout, flitting about the school of smaller fish. Then she became a whale.

She couldn't grow any larger, so she wasn't much of one, but she didn't care. She still liked the way it felt.

Suddenly a huge woman's foot smashed through the water. “Is this silly whale her?” someone boomed far overhead. “It's so damned tiny!”

Sylvie was staring up at a woman that seemed hundreds of feet tall. Strangely, the giantess resembled Angela, another co-worker.

At that moment, a boat floated by with Drusilla at the helm.

“That's her,” said a face etched in the wooden bow.

“How do you know, Simon?” Drusilla called out.

“She forgot to get rid of the hair on her head,” said the boat.

So she'd been discovered. Great. She wanted to be as far as she could from humanity. Yet the fact that a watercraft was talking to her friend was too much to bear. “Simon! You're a boat?” Sylvie exclaimed despite herself. “How is it even possible? That would make you not alive! You're like...an object! And you're so big, and–”

“Sylvie, you look ridiculous,” Drusilla yelled down to her. “A talking whale with long red hair? Really?”

“Well, I'm happy this way, and I'm staying out here forever. Leave me alone,” Sylvie responded. She flipped around and began to swim away.

But something seemed to be buzzing after her. Was that a water bird? An insect?

“She's here, Angela!” cried a tiny voice. It seemed to be coming from the bug.

“What is that...thing?” Sylvie wondered aloud. She paused to gape at it. It almost looked like a butterfly, but the wings were transparent, and...it also had arms and legs...?

“Got her! Thanks, Nellie!” Enormous hands fished the confused whale from the water, clamping large fingers around her as she began to struggle in protest.

When Angela's words sank in, Sylvie uttered, “Nellie? That's you? The bug?”

“That's me!” smiled the fairy. “But don't call me a bug, please!” She then flew over and alighted on the bow.

“Put...me...down, Angela!” Sylvie demanded. The large fingers were squeezing her so tight that it hurt.

“Yeah, whatever, Sylvie.” The giantess deposited her on the boat's deck.

“Damn, she's heavy!” it groaned.

“Stop flopping around, Sylvie, or I'll have Simon turn into a net,” Drusilla grumbled, swatting at her fin.

“Then he won't be a boat, and you'll all drown.”

“Shut up, Sylvie, you whale.”

“Girls, cut it out! We have things to do!” came Simon's voice from the side of the boat.

“You shut up too, Mr. Boat,” Drusilla added. “Angela!” she directed her voice into the air. “Are you ever going to join us or are you walking ashore?”

Angela shrunk down and joined them aboard their boat-boss. “It's colder down here,” she murmured, wiping moisture from her brow. “The weather's seriously different when you're ten stories tall.”

“You weren't ten stories tall!” said Drusilla.

“No, she was far bigger,” the boat said proudly. “Nice job, Angie!”

“Take us ashore, Simon,” Drusilla instructed, ignoring Sylvie's moan of dismay.

Even though their shift did not start for hours, the exhausted five sat in the break room of the power plant, ignoring the other employees.

“Simon, what's it like being a boat?” Sylvie piped up.

Nellie cringed, watching one of the day workers cast her an odd glance as she walked out with a cup of coffee.

Simon took a moment to reply. Making sure no one else was in earshot, he replied, “Well, you feel big, hard, and...well, buoyant.”

“Hm. Well, that about sums up Simon,” Drusilla smirked.

Angela passed over her comment. “So, Simon, you had plans. We're all powerful. What's next?”

“Time to save the world,” he said without pause. He picked up a cup of dark coffee and sipped at it.

“Save the world? How? By me turning into a fish?” Sylvie said with surprise.

Simon put down the cup and clasped his hands together. “Who knows? We all have special abilities that we can adapt to whatever situation needs fixing. The world is going to hell – I mean, look at the presidential election coming up. We're screwed.”

“Her turning into a fish won't change that,” Angela pointed out.

“Simon could turn into an alligator and eat all the candidates,” suggested Drusilla.

“I doubt I'd be able to stomach them – even as an alligator,” Simon snorted. “So, okay, that was a bad example. But watch the news. So many of the world's problems can be fixed, people can be helped...”

“We're superheroes!” breathed a delighted Nellie.

Simon winked. “We sure are!”

Drusilla rolled her eyes. “Talk about dramatic.”

“Call us whatever you want. We can do so much good. I like it,” Sylvie smiled.

“Good. Fish girl can go after pirates and eat them,” Drusilla said, but her sparkling eyes gave her away. The idea of fixing the world was filling them all with purpose.

“I'm excited, and the powers are wonderful! Let's do this!” Angela jumped up with such enthusiasm that her feet exploded out of her shoes and she had to catch herself from growing ten feet tall. “Oo, sorry,” she covered her feet in embarrassment, “guess we still have to work on controlling them a bit better, though.”

“I think we need to make that a priority,” said Simon, and everyone laughed.