Chapter Eight: The Morning After

Zoey woke up, and regretted it.

Her head throbbed, something had died in her mouth, and she didn't recognize the room - a dingy box that hadn't been properly cleaned in her lifetime.

The natty bed squeaked as she sat up, brain's ignition struggling to turn over. The morning light through the grimy window had some kind of death wish for her eyes.

Finally a fistful of neurons got their shit together. They'd partied all night, the Hottest Girls Night becoming Alex's coming out celebration.

There had been cheap beer and jungle juice. Somebody broke out the weed vapes. Dom, Zoey, Violet and Sarah all tried being Lola for a little while. Zoey recalled the weight of those massive tits, and understood why Lola had wished to be so strong.

They'd danced and laughed and generally made fools of themselves - and then Wyatt had produced his little plastic bag. They'd all dropped acid and sat gawking at Donna in Alex's bedroom.

She really was beautiful. That memory was crystal clear. Sarah had started to cry, begging forgiveness for calling Donna a thing, and Donna had hugged her and said they should be best friends forever.

Based on all that, Zoey assumed she was still in the frat house.

Eyes finally focusing, she saw Lola in the bathroom across the hall, towel around her waist and brushing her teeth. Zoey stumbled out of the bed, wearing some guy's T-shirt, and joined her.

“Morning hon,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around Lola's waist. She pressed herself tight, feeling that flawless skin against her face. “God, I haven't partied like that in years.”

Lola's familiar warmth was invigorating, and soon Zoey had snaked a playful hand up to her right breast. “You wanna join me in the shower?”

Zoey felt Lola stiffen, and she looked up into the mirror. The woman was frozen, eyes filled with shock.

Across the hall, Lola sat up in the bed and took in the scene.

“Hey! Asshole!” she shouted. “Party's over - ditch the wristband!”

Wordlessly, the Lola in Zoey's arms complied, tearing the plastic strip from her arm. There was a POP, and Zoey was hugging a handsome Delta with designer stubble.

“Sorry miss.” he said sheepishly.

Fifteen minutes later, the pair came downstairs to everyone hanging in the lounge, remains of coffee and donuts on the table. Dom waved as they entered. “Morning girls!”

“Afternoon, sir,” Violet corrected.

Alex and Sarah sat on a couch nearby, deep in discussion. “What about Halloween last year? You, me and Dakota went as the Powerpuff Girls.”

Alex brought up pictures on his phone. “Marvel-themed. I was Captain America, you were Scarlet Witch, Dakota was Black Widow.”

Sarah put her hands up in frustration. “I'm never gonna remember all this! You couldn't have gone in drag!?” She turned to Dominick. “Mr Vasquez, can you do something? This is all so confusing!”

He turned to Zoey. “What do you think?”

She considered. “How many charges are left in the reconfig-a-mabob?”

“Two - but one of them belongs to Wyatt.”

Wyatt and Donna were snuggled on a couch, watching YouTube. He looked up when his name was spoken, and nodded to the group.

Zoey shrugged. “Sarah's definitely earned a charge, but I promised Alex he wouldn't get short-changed.”

Alex waved it off. “I've gotten my fair share. Time for my little sister to get a bite at the apple.”

“I was born 40 minutes after you!”

He smiled at Sarah, mocking. “She's so precious - our sweet baby.”

Matter settled, Dom lifted the lid on a small beer cooler on the table. He reached in and pulled out the reconfig-a-mabob, filling the room with the purple light of Beyond. 

He moved to Sarah. “You ready?” She gulped. “No. Let's do it.” She took his hand and there was a flash.

<<It is my wish.>>

Dominick caught Sarah as her legs gave way. She shuddered in his arms, and everyone watched as she transformed. The changes were modest - longer legs, nice boobs, cute butt - a general upgrade all around. Her eyes rolled back in her head, mind filling with a second set of memories.

Sarah gasped and jerked in Dom’s arms as she came to. “Holy crap!” She breathed.

“Wild, right?” Lola commented.

Sarah nodded dumbly, then turned to her brother.

“Prom King? Hockey scholarship? You dated both of the Malone Twins at once?” She shook her head in disbelief. “At least try to make it plausible…”

Alex shrugged. “Why?”

Zoey clapped her hands. “Wyatt! Stop groping Donna and get up! Come get your heart's desire so we can go home!” The man jumped up and hustled over to Dom.

“Ok Nick, I'm fucking ready.” They shook hands and there was another flash.

<<It is my wish.>>

Wyatt stared at Dom for a moment, unmoving, then went back to Donna and flopped down.

Zoey blinked. “Wait - what just happened?”

“Got what I wanted, baby.” He gave her a cryptic smile before sitting back down.

Everyone stared at him, baffled.

“And what exactly was that, Wyatt?”

He put an arm around Donna. “Nothing fancy. Patched up a few old gunshot wounds, put some cash in my bank account…”

“Gunshot wounds?” Violet asked.

“A few?” Zoey added.

He waved it off. “That's all just gravy.” He put a hand on Donna's cheek. “All I really wanted was Donna's digits - and I got them.”

He held up his shitty smartphone, and loaded the contacts app. The room, as one, recoiled when otherworldly light poured from the screen.

“Now I can call my girl anytime, even when she goes home.”

“We're gonna try a long distance relationship,” Donna added with a smile.

“We Treadwells know what's important in life.” He kissed Donna, triumphant.

The light faded from the reconfig-a-mabob, and Dom dropped it in the cooler.

He turned to Zoey. “Ready to go, hon?”

“One more thing.” She moved to Alex. “You and I, we've been given a gift. We have to make sure everyone who wants it can get that gift too.”

She gestured to her family. “We’ve got a place, down in the Caribbean, where a woman can go to put things right. But we don't have a place for men.”

Alex nodded, resolute. “Tell me what to do.” Sarah took his hand. “Tell us what to do.”

Zoey smiled. “Dunno yet. Just be ready to let more brothers into your fraternity.”

“We're not going back,” Zoey concluded, “but I am going home. Best of luck kids.”

Donna sighed, long and deep, as she looked at the Shining Dodecahedron, floating in Dominick’s hand. “You’re sure you can’t hold on to my suit? It’s so pretty.”

Lola put a consoling hand on her back. “Sweetie, we would if we could - but having a lifeless body in the house is terrible for the property value. Master says it’ll be easy to put back together, now that we know how. Besides, Wyatt likes the way you really look.”

The girl smiled at that. “He’s so cool.” Then she sighed again, and pulled off her wristband. The foam mascot suit returned with a POP. Donna turned her plastic eyes to the Vasquezes.

“Thank you so so much for everything! I’ve never had so much fun! Best. Weekend. Ever! I’m totally 4D-pilled!” She hugged everyone in turn, saving Dom for last. “Ok, Mr Vasquez, I’m ready. You can call Dad.”

He gave her a big smile, then shut his eyes. Everyone put a hand on him as he spoke.

<<The will is Infinite. I rend space, I twist time, I open my soul to the Beyond…>

“MY DUDE!” Margot lifted Dom into the air, tentacles wrapping him in a bear hug while he held his Barbie cutout in front of the girls. “Thanks for letting my baby girl crash with you over the weekend! Hope she didn’t harsh your mellow.”

“Not at all, man - we had a blast.”

“OhMyGod Dad, it was so cool!” Donna’s cutout - a cardboard copy of her human suit - bounced up and down with excitement. “We visited a college! I met so many cool humans, and did cool human things, and I danced so hard I got dizzy! It was amazing!”

Margot shook his cutout in an imitation of a nod. “It’s a pretty dope dimension. I’m a big fan. But…” He pointed a tentacle at her, mildly scolding. “You really shouldn’t barge in on Dom and his family unannounced - and you definitely need to check the gas tank before you leave next time!”

Donna shuffled a tentacle. “You’re right, dad. Sorry - it won’t happen again.”

Zoey coughed politely. “Donna, don’t you have something else to tell your dad?”

The girl wrote ‘embarrassed’ on her cutout, and her tentacle shuffling redoubled. “Um, dad… I kinda sorta met a boy at the college party. He’s really sweet and thoughtful and so smart…”

Margot took this in, silent. He turned his cutout to Zoey. “What do you think about this boy, Mrs Dude? Does he… know where Donna lives?”

She considered the question. “He’s certainly unusual. But I agree with Donna - he’s a good guy. And he’s very open-minded; the dimensional gap isn’t an issue. He said Donna’s the prettiest girl he’s ever seen, and I believe him.”

“Well, if Mrs Dude gives him the OK…” Margot wrote ‘shrug’ on his cutout. “I guess I should meet him.”

“Just give him an hour’s notice before showing up,” Lola suggested.

There was a few more minutes of small talk after that, but Margot had swung by directly from his conference and was wiped out. Everyone said their goodbyes and he departed, Donna waving as she faded from Dom’s mind.

The family dropped back into realspace and Dom flopped onto his back. “Well, that turned out ok, all things considered.” His head rolled to look at Zoey. “What’s your next move, hon? Gonna make a “Hot Guys™” ride or something?”

Zoey waved that away, clearly done for now. “Probably gonna ask the Bishops to handle it - I’m sure they can figure something out. Send them down to the Bay to look at the ride, maybe.”

“Whatever - that’s a tomorrow problem. I think I’ve defended trans rights enough for one week.”

She dragged Dominick to his feet and gave him a big hug, looking at Lola and Violet over his shoulder.

“I’m heading to the bedroom. We’ve finally got some privacy, and there’s something I’ve wanted to do all day. You can join me if you want…”

Twenty minutes later, Zoey was fast asleep, Lola snoring in her arms. Dom pulled the covers over them, then left to help Violet start dinner.

The End