Becoming Monsters: Tidbits 10

Becoming Monsters is the creation and property of Ai Loves, setting used with permission.

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Chapter 10: This Is It

The quad was not empty. It rarely was, really, but this time it was packed. Though the four of them could move around, it was slow going. The sidewalk they were following took them almost through the center of the pack, and set up there on a literal soapbox was Mr. Harrison. He was looking out at the students there with a wild grin on his face, a microphone in hand and coming up to his mouth. "Welcome everyone!"

Todd and his suitemates were stuck. The crowds pressed close, and there was nowhere to go. Jem, Ghata, and Song were pushed into Todd. Not that he minded, normally, but this time around he put his arm around Song and held her closer. The crowd around them had a lot of Humans in it, and that meant that the trembling form of the slight Korean woman was not directly nerves. She was struggling to retain self-control. Whatever happened here, Todd hoped it was over quickly.

"There have been a couple of amazing pick-up games this morning from those of you who had the open periods, but now it is my turn. If you are ready for the first official points challenge, make some NOISE!"

The response was deafening in its intensity. It was entirely disproportionate to the kind of event they were talking about... and, for that matter, the space they were in. This was an open-air quad. Todd was not the only one to realize that sound was being reflected. Bouncing back at them as though there were walls to bounce off of.

"There are enough of you here to make this a team event. Once I explain this game, you will have five minutes to group up into teams of five. Hope you have some good friends, because you do NOT want to go it alone today!"

Todd was thinking fast. Five? Okay, that's the threshold they were talking about for team sports, but since we are kind of stuck it means we're short one. I don't see any of my guys. We either need to figure out a way out of here, fast, or...

"Looks like you could use a hand, and I don't have anyone I trust out here." Given just exactly how recently Todd had cum into her... twice... it was absolutely incredible how her voice could travel directly through his ears and straight south, bypassing his brain entirely.

Jem was... not quite as affected. "May. We have a lot to talk about, including how your ex just gave Todd a shiner that looks like a freaking eclipse."

"You're right, but that doesn't change the situation we have in front of us. You guys know anything about what this is going to be?"

Ghata was looking around. "Nothing for sure. Has to be scalable to dozens of people and require no equipment except for maybe what's in that box at Mr. Harrison's feet. Maybe fifteen centimeters on a side."

Todd shook his head. "That's enough for maybe some batons or indicators, not actual equipment. There's no obstacles here, either. May, I'm happy to have you on the team, but like Jem said we need to talk. Preferably with our clothes on."

"Deal." Song and Jem did not exactly look happy about this, but they were out of time.

Mr. Harrison leaned down to fiddle with something on the tiny box at his feet. He nodded, nothing apparent coming from it, then stood back up. "Alright, everyone, your time is up! Ready to hear what it is you'll be doing for the next... oh, thirty minutes, if you're good?" The crowd got really attentive at this point, much quieter than their recent jockeying for teammates. "We will get more complex games together for the future, but for today we wanted to start off with a classic. Mr. Robinson, our staff Wizard, cooked up some indicators for you all to be able to see scores without debate."

As he said this, a handful of ghostly red orbs, each about the size of a basketball, flew out over the heads of the crowd. One of them came to rest hovering over May's head, others stopped elsewhere around the field.

"The rules are simple. If one of those balls stays over your head for too long, you will be highlighted in blue and finished with this game, then the orb will hop wherever it feels like. Make your way to the sidelines if it happens and you can keep watching. You can get rid of them by touching anyone else out here. Teams will score according to their last member standing. If you leave the area, it's the same as running out of time. That all said? TAG! YOU'RE IT!"

The field immediately dissolved into utter chaos as people suddenly scrambled away from nearby orb bearers like they were radioactive. May had a decidedly unfair advantage in that a lot of people had been trying to get close to her before anyone realized what was up, and when the initial dustup settled the one that started over her head was nowhere to be seen.

Song looked over at the group. "We have about ten seconds before any of those orbs should be anywhere near us, anyone have any bright ideas?"

"Just one. None of us are fast enough to dodge," Todd said, "so hiding is the only option. Ghata, Song, that's you. We all dive into the nearest mosh pit, you two morph into the smallest things you can think of and scatter until you get a random orb. Hopefully nobody notices you do it. Jem, May, and I will just try to be conspicuous."

"I'm seven feet tall, she has boobs that are literally hypnotic, and you're on the hit list of every one of her ex's friends who are around. I think we'll manage just fine at being conspicuous. Incoming!"

Jem had hardly managed to cry out the warning when a pack of about ten students came stampeding past them, being pursued by someone uncomfortably tall, dark, and slender with crazy long limbs. Todd and his teammates dove in with them, running in the same direction until they could scatter at least somewhat naturally.

It definitely worked for what he intended... but just before they made good their escape Todd felt an icy cold touch on his back that made his skin crawl. The orb moved over his head as the tight group dispersed, and he found himself with nobody in arm's reach all of a sudden. A quick glimpse around showed a couple of people highlighted in blue making their way to the sidelines... and neither Ghata nor Song easily visible. Good. He could give it his best shot without worrying about much.

Which was... a relief. He wasn't exactly great at this to begin with, and the fact that his face was pounding with pain in time with his increasing heart rate wasn't helping. The shiner on his face would disappear with time, but the memory of being punched more than halfway to death would not fade so easily.

He ran at a dead sprint towards a different knot of students fleeing a different orb. Almost made it to them before one noticed him, and managed to get a touch off before the pack could get out of his way. This was tiring, and it wasn't like he was starting from a good spot. As one of the orbs flew across the field after its bearer ran out of time, Todd had a moment to look around again.

Okay. I don't have any super tricks to use here. I'm not going to win it myself, but that's not the point. Teams and powers. That guy with the long arms used them to tag me. May used her boobs to lure people in... hey, she did it again... and with Ghata and Song not able to be easily seen we look to be coming out ahead.

As he looked on, he saw one of the orb bearers coming at Jem. It would be difficult in the extreme for her to evade due to her size. She juked to the left and cast something, her pursuer suddenly bursting forward twice as fast as expected. By the time he turned around, she revoked her "gift" and took off running again. He got highlighted in blue, the orb sailing away.

More and more students were walking off the field over to the sideline area. Most of them highlighted. Some who ran out of Stamina, Mana, or patience. A handful were up in the skies darting around on wings or jets or by force of will, looking like a dogfight as one orb bearer pursued them in flight patterns that would give an air traffic controller a heart attack. One flew much too high, and was suddenly highlighted in blue as he left the area of their game.

That was over fifty feet up. Todd had exactly zero way to catch someone up there. That came back to why powers were looked down upon elsewhere. It just wasn't...

He hadn't been looking around himself in too long. Thus, when the Human-but-enormous man looking to offload an Orb got to him, he didn't even twitch in self defense or evasion. For the second time in four hours, Todd "Tidbit" Reed went flying as a much larger person impacted him. Plus side, this time it wasn't a directed attack, so it only knocked the wind out of him as he lay on the grass.

The couple of moments it took for him to get back on his feet, plus the extra time it took to take a few shaky steps, turned out to be enough for everyone to get well clear of him. Before he could get close enough to anyone to matter, his vision was filled with blue light. He was done.

Appropriate. He wasn't exactly doing so hot, either.

As he made his way to the side, he got a clipboard thrust at him to write down his team. Much to his shock, there were a LOT of names already down. Despite everything, he had gone out around the middle of the pack... and he was the first of his five to do so. Jem walked off around the time he finished the paperwork having gotten caught in a block of ice as she tried to tag someone. "See any of the others yet?"

Jem shook her head. "There was a pidgeon with an orb following it that dive bombed someone, but I'm not sure if that was Ghata or someone else."

"How many people do you think were on this field who can transform into a bird?"

"Considering there are two on our team of five? Odds are good there's at least a couple more." He couldn't really argue with that point. "Now. While May is busy out there and nobody is paying attention to us. We need to talk. About May."

"Can we just leave it at 'complicated'?"

"No, Tidbit. No we can't. You might or might not get it, but she's got it bad."

"What do you mean?" He was looking around the field, watching as the numbers dwindled. May was out there, using her charm absolutely shamelessly to keep other students between her and the orb bearers.

"Yep, you're oblivious. Just freaking perfect." Her tone indicated that she found the situation anything but ideal. "Why is it that I get you a social life for the first time since the Change and you end up with a love dodecahedron inside of a week?"

"You didn't exactly let me get very much practice doing things the right way to get used to it, did you?"

"Touché. Still. Girl's completely redefined her standards since meeting you. Lost a lot of her social standing when she did, too, now that a lot of folks know they aren't getting between her thighs any time soon. A lot of her protection went with it. I've had sex with you, it was great, probably the best I've had, but that's not enough to get me to redefine my entire life about it."

"Huh. She... actually, she came to visit me last night."

"Last night? Weren't you cuddling with Ghata all night?"

"Wasn't in my actual room. She visited in my dreams. We had a good talk."

Jem facepalmed hard enough Todd was afraid she'd give herself a black eye to match his. That seemed unnecessary to him. "A talk. Facilitated by an unbelievably rare and powerful ability even among her rare and powerful kind, which she saw fit to use for you. To. Talk. Are you even listening to yourself right now?"

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Look. I'd normally say it's not my business, but for the next ten days it very literally is. She is probably the best sex you're ever going to have, but she needs a lot more than that. So do Song and Ghata, for that matter, but you seem to be doing well enough with them for now."

"And what do you mean by that?"

Jem's head slumped a bit. "Aaaaand scratch that. This is just you being you? Or just being lucky?"

"I still have no idea what you're talking about."

"Both, then."

Suddenly, May was highlighted in azure. She had run out of chumps to use as human shields, and one determined student whose body seemed to be made of tornados tagged and pinned her for long enough to send her packing. With a frustrated sigh, she looked around the sidelines for her teammates. Spotting Todd, she began to walk over with a bit more sashay in her step.

With a frustrated sigh, Todd realized his opportunity to ask questions was over. Why does everything have to be complicated? Can't I just... be a student? Second day of actual college, and now Jem is telling me I've managed to get into a place where I have to... what? I don't even know.

May hugged him when she got to them. On the one hand, Todd definitely enjoyed it. On the other, he knew at least a dozen folks identified what just happened, and Bradley the Greater Demon Ex Boyfriend would likely hear about it by the time dinner was done. That would likely be both difficult and painful. On a third hand (or tail tip), he could feel May stick her tongue out at Jem while she hugged him. "Looks like I lasted longer!"

Neither Todd nor Jem believed for a second that she was talking entirely about playing Tag.

The field was looking awfully empty at this point. It was much less like a bunch of kindergartners playing a game at recess and more like a combination of parkour and dueling circle. Fire, ice, and lightning flashed as Elementals, Magi, and others did their best to immobilize or stun their targets. A burly, four-armed man dove forward at a slender and very pale one, only to smash headfirst into an invisible barrier.

It was May who noticed it first. "Guys, take a look at Mr. Harrison. That doesn't look like someone who is refereeing a game of Tag, does it?"

Now that she mentioned it? No, he didn't. Mr. Harrison looked at the ongoing proceedings with a mix of intense focus and equally intense glee. It reminded Todd very, very strongly of every schlocky, stereotypical mad scientist in every bad movie he'd ever seen (which was quite a number). Right at the moment of witnessing their creation. He was out here to Do Something, and had very clearly done it. Honestly? It was slightly creepy.

"Jem. You have anything that will boost your Perception? Even if you have to borrow mine." Todd had a hunch.

"Just tell me what to look for." She was already muttering something under her breath.

"Around the perimeter of the field. Fifty feet up or so, possibly also at ground level too but I doubt it. Looking for a camera or magical sensor of some kind. Take all that you need."

Her chanting stopped. "Remember that you said that. I'll dismiss it when I'm done." And with that, darkness closed in on Todd's world. No, that wasn't quite it. In technical terms, Jem's spell borrowed ten points from his Ability score. This left him with two. It was as though a layer of dense wool had been drawn over his eyes and ears, like his skin went numb and the air lost the smells of flowers and sweat. May stepped in to support his weight, but he could barely tell that she was there to do it.

Jem, however, was very busy. The fading afternoon light was suddenly brighter than the noonday sun, the pull of the Moon Goddess a palpable force beyond the spiritual. She had a mission, though. Right where Todd said they would be, four orbs floated. Nothing physical, they looked like specks of heat shimmer. Without knowing they'd be there, she might not have noticed even if she had flown through them. There was a lot the faculty hadn't told them, as it turned out. How the little Tidbit had figured it out, she would never know.

May, though, was nearly as blind to the field as Todd was. Not due to any curses, but because someone was leaning on her. Him. He needed her, even if it was only for the moment, and it felt good. The tip of her tail was twitching back and forth, a fact observed by only one person on the field. Jem, as she pulled her eyes back to her surroundings before releasing her spell.

It was fairly obvious to Todd when the world snapped back into focus, just as it was that May's breasts were pressed into his arm as she helped hold him up and steady. "Find anything?"

"Yep. Four sensors, right where you said they'd be. Looks like Song is on her way over, too."

Todd didn't want to break the moment, but it was about that time. "Okay. We can talk about what that means. Later, though. Not out here. Song, how did it go?"

The Korean girl was looking slightly frazzled. "Better than I expected, especially once the crowds thinned a bit. Fox form isn't exactly the stealthiest on Earth, but I could move around in it and the orb made it look like someone taller than a foot and a half was running around. I got a tag, but this last time I ran into an illusion and got turned around. Ghata still out there?"

In response, Ghata popped up from seemingly out of nowhere, growing to her full size (or, at least, the size of the petite Indian woman) from where she had crawled over as a snake. "I think I was the next one off the field after you, Song. Tried to dive at someone who saw me coming at the last second, hit the ground kind of hard. I guess that's everyone."

Nods around the circle. Todd looked around. "Looks like it's almost done. We will be able to go soon, but there is a lot to talk about after dinner once we get back to the dorms."

Song shook her head. "You forgot a couple of steps in there. What is your Mana at?"

Todd pulled up his Status screen... very, very briefly. It still felt like someone was using an ice pick to carve it onto his eyeballs when he did so. "I'm at 95%, just watched it tick over."

Ghata and Jem nodded knowingly as Song pulled out her phone and did some calculations. "My turn to dictate plans. Jem, Ghata? You two can take May with you to interrogate while you grab dinner. Make sure to bring trays back for us, okay? Todd, we need to get back to the dorms. Like, now. You need to cast your buff. And renew mine. I don't think I can take the cafeteria right now."

Ghata looked at the others. "You sure you're safe to have Todd alone?"

Song nodded, grabbed Todd by the wrist, and started dragging him in the direction of her room before he could find a reason to object. As they were leaving the quad, they could hear the explosion of raucous applause when the event ended.

After staying just barely long enough to confirm that their team got their points (three each, Ghata having gone out just outside the five range), the three ladies made their way to the cafeteria. Rapidly. Hunger might be a part of it, but with a big bunch of people just getting out of a major physical event the place was bound to get crowded fast. Their conversations could wait until they got clear of the building.

They managed it, getting out of the door carrying six trays between them just before the place got slammed by extremely hungry students.

The truce lasted a quarter of the way back to the dorms before Ghata looked over at May. "Okay. Spill it. Todd's had trades and exchanges before. Why are you here?"

May was silent for a bit. "You know? I'm not entirely sure. Todd's a snack, but not my normal type. Can't get him out of my head."

Jem chuckled. "You might be the first person to have ever described Tidbit with that word. You're right, though. He's going to need a lot of help."

Ghata looked over... and up... at the Amazoness. "Don't pretend to be stoic. You care. He absolutely is going to need us, though. I guess the hard part is going to be integrating."

May tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that you want to join up with him, which means us. You are bringing a lot to the table, which will help both him and us, but we need to talk about your ex. He's a problem, and would be regardless of if you suddenly got standards or not."