Oddball

by The Infinity Doctor

Chapter 3

"That was very foolish" Chrysalis said after I appeared in the void

"Not how I look at it"

"She will betray you, but no matter; onto tonight's lesson..."

"Will I finally learn how to shape-shift?"
"Yes you little foal- now pay attention"

Her horn glowed and the flames went up again, this time leaving a golden retriever
"Wow- you can turn into animals too?"
"Yes" the retriever said
"Now to transform, you just need to focus on who or what you want to turn into"
"Alright- let me try"
I focused on transforming into something simple- like a chair
I saw my own horn glow and I felt myself transforming

"Very interesting" Chrysalis said "Not many could transform into furniture on their first try"
"Er, thank you?"
"I didn't mean that as a compliment- just as a gauge of your abilities"
"Okay- if you say so"
"Now; let's move on to voice mimicry"
'This could be fun'

X

I sat up in my bed, again

'Is this the second or third day I've been stuck in here?' I wondered

"Another day in purgatory..." I muttered
Wait a minute-
"Why does my voice sound like this?" I asked myself

My voice sounded like Chrysalis' two-toned voice, only it sounded more like my original voice compared to hers

I noticed something else was wrong, too Looking down I noticed my feet weren't there anymore, instead there were-

"Hooves, of course I have hooves" I muttered

My legs were still pretty much the same, but transitioned into holed-hooves after my knees

'At least I've still got my hands' I thought

The door swung open and Sady walked in
"How are you?" I asked
"I'm fine, and you?"
"Great"
"So, where should we start?"
"You sounded pretty interested in magic yesterday, you want to talk about that?"
"Are you sure?" she whispered "If they find out- I don't know what they'd do to you"
"Well, let them do what they want"
She sighed and picked up her clipboard
"Alright, now do you know the limits of your magic?"
"Kind of"
"And by that you mean?"
"Well, I can do that spell I did yesterday with Mr-Fire-Ants-in-his-pants"
"Interesting- anything else?"
"Well...odd as it sounds, I can feel emotions"
"Really?"
"Yeah- like right now I can tell you're still a little afraid of me, and that you're feeling a little anxious"

She didn't say anything- because her mouth was hanging open

"Now I'm feeling shock, and excitement maybe?"
Sady leaned back in her chair and put a hand on her forehead
"...for as long as I've worked here...that has got to be the most incredible thing I've ever seen"
'You just wait'

"Hey- I think you dropped something" I said, pointing behind her
"Hmmm?"
The brief amount of time it took her to look behind her, gold flames washed over me and I changed into an exact copy of her- uniform and everything
"I don't think I dropped anyth-"
Correction: her jaw dropped
"Oh. My. God."
I sat there with a large grin on my face

"How did you do that?"
"How did you do that?" I parroted

"How are you-"
"How are you-" I repeated

"Stop that-"
"Stop that-"

"I mean it"
"I mean it"

"...are you finished?"

"Yeah..."

I slipped back into original form
"Top that" I said

"...I take back what I said- that was the most incredilble thing I've ever seen"

"Eh, it wasn't anything special-"

The door burst open and Ants-in-his-pants stood there with a sadistic grin on his face and two guards

"Take it to Testing Chamber Six" he ordered
The two guards were about to grab me when Sady spoke up
"James, you can't do this-"
"I can do what I want, I've got higher clearance than you" he said, waving a plastic card in her face

"I'll- I'll go over your head!" She threatened

"Oh please, like he'd do anything- besides, this is in the name of science"
'Yeah right, you just want to cut me open'

The two guards strong-armed me out of the cell and into the hall, they 'escorted' me into a room with research equipment and a table with restraints.
'James' came in a few minutes later and ordered the guards to strap me down to the table, as they did, Chrysalis' words echoed in my head

'She will betray you'

If I think about it- she didn't betray me, it was my own fault; my decision to change in front of Sady

Apparently James had gotten at least a little smarter since the last time we'd met, he produced a syringe and drew blood
"That should be enough for now" he said, placing the needle on a tray
"Now onto the real tests"

I gulped

"Transform"
"No"
"Transform"
"No"
"I said transform!"
"And I said No!"
"Alright then- let's see if you'll talk after this"
He nodded to one of the guards who threw a switch
"I don't- Oh ouchouchouchouchouch! Thereitis!"

The flow stopped

"Electrocution? Do you really think that will work?"
"We'll just have to find out then- won't we?"

The electricity started again and I tried to withstand the shock

"I...used to think...everyone just thought...you were jerks..."
BZZZZZZZZZTTT
"...now...I can...honestly say...you really are..."

"Put it back in its cell, we'll take a different approach tomorrow"
'Oh joy...'

The guards unstrapped me from the table and practically dragged me back to my room

I fell onto my bed and wept

X X X X X X X

"Sam? Are you okay?" Sady asked, cautiously stepping into the room

"I was just tortured against my will- how do you think I'm feeling?" I grumbled
"Sam- I want you to know, I'm really sorry about what James did- he had no right to do that; I reported him and I'm hoping he'll get busted"
"You didn't do anything- you shouldn't be sorry for something he did"
She flinched
"That's just it, I forgot to turn off the cameras before I came in..."

I took a deep breath and counted to ten

"It's alright, it was an accident- I would have made the same mistake"
"Thank you...I hope you can forgive me"
"I already have Sady, it's alright, really"

We sat for the next few ours and talked

"-so then I said-"
"Hold on" She said, holding her hand to her ear-piece
"We've got a situation; and I'm going to need you help"
"My help? What for?"
"...you'll see..." she sighed

With the handcuffs in place, she led me into what looked like a hospital wing for injured soldiers or whatever- what caught my attention was the bodies of flesh and chitin laying on at least five of the beds.

"What- what happened to them?"
"Apparently James gave some of our soldiers your blood..." She said
'Am I sensing disgust?'

The walking goofball himself walked into the room, followed by two other scientists

"So, you did this- didn't you?"
"Yes" he said, no emotion in his voice
"And just what were you thinking when you injected my DNA into their bloodstreams?"
"Think of it! We could create the perfect soldier- one who could blend in with their surroundings, change their appearance at will!"
"Even if this did work- how would you think other countries would react to you having this kind of technology?"
"The secret would never get out-"
"Ah, but what if it did? Then you'd have world leaders vying for the secret- everyone has their price; and if it got out, everyone would be using it to their advantage- you could impersonate anyone- and if that happened, you couldn't trust anyone; nothing but anarchy and havoc"

James had no reaction to my little speech, but one of the other scientists spoke up

"Wait- you said 'if', why wouldn't it work?" He asked
"Well my blood is specific to my genetic code, if you injected it into someone else- you get that" I said, pointing to the groaning soldiers
"What you've only accomplished now is sending them to an early grave"

"It will work!" James said

"Will it? Look at their condition now- it's only going to get worse"
"That's true sir, their statistics have dropped since injection"
James turned and glared at the woman who had spoken as if to say 'whose side are you on?'
"Then you can save them" James reasoned
I sadly shook my head
"I'm sorry, I can't- even if I could, I wouldn't even know where to start"
"Use your magic!"
I turned to Sady
"You told him about that?" she smiled sheepishly
"There's no spell that could save them, the blood's already worked itself into their systems- if there is a way, I don't know what it'd be"
"I'll bet you're just lying" James said, closing the distance between us "I'll bet you're telling us all of this just to decrease our numbers, catch us off guard"

"Dude, you have no idea how much I want to back-hand you; but I won't, only because of these" I said, showing him the cuffs "-and I wouldn't just let innoccent people die, it's not because I won't do anything, it's because I can't"

"What do you care?!" he shouted "You're just some freak! Maybe this was your plan all along! Maybe you wanted me to take your
blood-"

"Let me just stop you there before I really lose my temper- I didn't ask to be electrocuted! I wasn't the one who came up with the idea to give someone my blood! I didn't ask to be put through this torture!"

After my little rant, I felt realization and understanding radiating off all who were listening, excluding James

"You still won't listen? After all I've said? You know what- fine, play god for all I care! But if, pardon me, they croak- don't come crying to me"
I turned back to Sady
"Could you please take me back to my cell?"

Sady nodded shakily and led me back to the room

X X X X X X X

"I've just gotta say- that was impressive" Sady said
"What? The way I blew up like that?"
"Well, sort-of, I've been waiting for years to give James a piece of my mind, but you gave him some of yours, too"
As we continued to talk, I heard Chrysalis whispering in the back of my head

'Be ready'
'Ready for what?' I thought back

'You'll know it when you see it'

As if on cue, a muffled explosion was heard outside and alarms went off
"What- what's going on?" Sady asked
"I think- that'll be my escape"

"Indeed it is, now come"

I turned and saw Chrysalis standing there with a portal of green fire

"I'm seeing things, I'm seeing things- right?"

"Sady this is Chrysalis, Chrysalis this is Sady"
"That's Queen Chrysalis to you" she said, ignoring the introduction
"Now hurry!"
"Wait, what about Sady?"
"Her? She is of no use to me"
"-but it would be the right thing to save her"
"You humans are insufferable, just like those ponies- Fine! But hurry- NOW!"

I ran into the portal as fast as I could, Sady hesitantly stepped right in front of it Chrysalis groaned and pushed her through with a hoof

Chrysalis was the last to go through and the portal closed, leaving the room empty and no one the wiser.

Author's Note:

I'm planning to post the next chapter tonight.

As always, please let me know what you think- please post your comments or questions

Comments

[The Slending Angel]

WOOP WOOOOOOOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tsaukpaetra]

Hmmm....