Crystalized Munchkinry - Act II - Chapter 12 (Patreon)

Watching her dad sit across from her was heartbreaking. With every breath, he seemed to collapse more and more into himself. She was about to speak up when he beat her to it.

“I need to apologize to you, Taylor,” he began. “I’ve been a terrible father.”

Taylor wanted to contradict him. To tell him it wasn’t true. She hated seeing him so defeated, even though, on the inside, she agreed with him. But again, before she could speak up and probably utter some nonsense platitude, her father raised his hand.

“Just listen, please, for now,” he said, his eyes boring into hers pleadingly.

She numbly nodded in understanding and leaned back into the sofa.

“When I got the call that they took you to the hospital, it scared me,” he began again, his eyes now looking everywhere but at her. “But when the doctor told me how lucky you were, and that you only had to stay for a little while, I felt relieved.”

“Then I was horrified because my next thought was that I needed to get back to work.”

Taylor could only stare.

“So clearly there was something wrong with me. To ignore my own daughter. It shouldn’t be possible,” he continued. He then paused and took a deep breath, as if he were forcing himself to talk. Taylor didn’t dare interrupt him.

He started again, almost whispering. “I talked to a therapist. She pointed out a few things, and well, I wasn’t thrilled about them.”

Despite everything, Taylor was a little happy hearing that. She had long known that her father needed a therapist. But she also knew he was incredibly stubborn, so she hadn’t even dared to suggest it, lest she damage the already tenuous bond between them after her mother’s death.

“She prescribed me a few things, and I have a weekly appointment with her.” He finally looked her in the eyes. “And with time, I hope you will forgive me for what I have become.”

She didn’t really know what to say to that. Intellectually, it was amazing to hear her father finally getting the help he so desperately needed. But emotionally, she couldn’t help but resent him for not getting it earlier, when she had actually needed him.

Before she could formulate an answer, he continued, sounding a little happier.

“Also, while I was waiting for you to wake up, I went around and arranged a few things.”

At Taylor’s quizzical look, he just continued.

“I talked to a lawyer friend who will come talk to us and see if he can help with our case.”

That caught her attention.

Her own research had always shown that there was nothing they could do. But now, maybe with a professional looking at it, things would change. She hoped the lawyer would be able to provide at least some help, because she feared it would crush her father’s healing in its infancy if it turned out he couldn’t.

The next sentence, however, doused her enthusiasm.

“For that, you would need to tell me, and him, what happened,” he said apologetically.

She frantically looked around, hoping that something would catch her attention and allow her to distract Danny. But the only thing of interest she saw was Admin behind her father, rapidly nodding his head in agreement.

Defeated, she looked back at her father, who was watching her worriedly.

She hugged herself and closed her eyes. “Okay,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, Taylor, I won’t judge,” came from her father.

She really wanted to believe him, but some part of her just knew he would hate her for it.

They spent the next few minutes in awkward silence, with her father occasionally sipping from his cup and her hugging herself and trying not to vomit from nervousness.

Finally, after she got herself under control, she spoke up. “What else did you do?”

“Wha...?” Her father looked up quickly, a little confused.

“You said that you arranged a few things,” she explained. “That was one.”

“Oh, right!” Danny exclaimed. “Sorry, Taylor, I was a million miles away.”

She only raised an eyebrow in response.

She had noticed she’d been using that expression a lot since waking up in the hospital.

It seemed effective.

Danny smiled ruefully at her.

“I talked with your school. They were remarkably unhelpful.”

Taylor snorted.

“That’s not surprising.”

“Indeed. So I told them that, irrespective of what happens, you are, as of now, being homeschooled. They didn’t really argue with me about it.”

He seemed rather smug about it.

Now it was Taylor’s turn to be confused.

“Why would I need to become homeschooled?”

Her dad just sighed.

“Taylor, I obviously have no idea what happened, but the way the school reacted told me enough. You need a better school.” He smiled at that, then continued. “So for the rest of the year, you’ll stay home. Then, over the summer, we’ll arrange a place for you at a better school.”

he could only gape at hearing that. Was it really that easy? All she had to do was ask her father to call the school and bam, she was homeschooled? No, that couldn’t be.

“Really?” she asked skeptically. “That’s all it took?”

“Usually no,” he answered smugly. “But your father has some friends who can help out if he asks.”

He even gave her a cheesy wink and grin after saying that. Taylor couldn’t help letting out a small chuckle. She really wanted to ask who those friends were, but contained herself for now.

“We still have to go over some paperwork and stuff. But I hope Steve can help with that too.”

“Steve?”

“My lawyer friend.”

“Oh.”

That was the only thing she could think to say.

The conversation died again after that. However, Taylor felt the air was less awkward now.

Everything she had heard was wreaking havoc on her mind. She needed time to process it all, but she knew she still had to talk to her father about what had happened. While she felt ashamed, after her father’s admission about therapy, she felt oddly more at peace.

She wasn’t really alone with her problems.

Now she just had to open her mouth and tell her father.

Maybe she could claim amnesia due to trauma?

While she was once again searching for an excuse, her father spoke up.

“I know, Taylor, that you are probably angry at me. But I hope we can start over and be a family again,” he said determinedly. “It won’t be easy. But it would be impossible without you. So please, let’s help each other.”

Taylor looked back at her father, who was watching her with undisguised hope.

Then she looked at the hovering slime dressed as a cheerleader, a large H on his shirt, bouncing around with pom-poms.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.

“It started when…"

When she returned to her room, she threw herself face down onto her bed and tried to will away all the confusion she felt.

On one hand, she felt incredibly relieved that she could finally talk to her father. On the other hand, she felt deeply ashamed about the things she had told him.

To give him credit, he hadn't really said anything.

He had simply stood up, sat back down next to her, and hugged her while she talked. After she ran out of things to say, he told her he loved her and that, for now, she should go up to her room and relax a little.

They would continue tomorrow.

She suspected he was so angry that he didn't want her to see him like that. He had always had problems with his anger.

So she accepted without saying a word and now was lost on what to do.

"How about trying out your fancy new powers?" came a suggestion from somewhere.

"I don't wanna," she mumbled into her pillow.

"Really?" asked Admin skeptically.

"No," she answered while sitting up. Then she continued in a much more excited voice. She wanted to forget that the previous discussion had even happened. "Let's do this!"

"Very well. I have turned it on. You may proceed."

Taylor looked at herself for a few seconds, searching for something that had changed. When she found nothing, she closed her eyes, hoping to sense something.

"Try sensing the electricity around you," came the helpful advice.

"How?" she asked irritably.

"Think about sensing it, and it will work."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Taylor looked at Admin for a few seconds incredulously. She was pretty sure he was having her on, but she still had to ask.

"Just like that?"

"Yes, Taylor. Just like that."

She sighed reluctantly and closed her eyes. She thought about sensing electricity, and then everything changed.

She could feel something moving around her in strange patterns, some bigger, some smaller, but all flowing in a direction. She could even feel a larger blob around her, but it was different.

If she had to put a word to it, the things flowing were sharper, like the buzzing of an old television. The blob was like highly carbonated water, fizzing all around. Then she realized that she was being rather stupid and that she was simply feeling the surrounding electricity.

The electricity ran through the walls, following the cables laid inside them, giving her a rather strange picture of the house. She could even sense the edge of something in the ground outside the house.

Probably out of her range.

But even with that limitation, she would never be completely blind in a city.

"That is amazing," she whispered in awe. "But what is the other blob?"

"Bioelectricity."

"You mean?" she asked.

"Yes. That is your father."

"That's cool. But it seems so fuzzy. How can I really use it?"

"You need to practice," he answered. "Your brain needs to get used to the influx of information."

"Now let's try another power."

Taylor, still marveling at her new senses, opened her eyes, excited to see what else she could do.

"Okay. How do I turn it off? Just will it again?"

"Why would you want to turn it off?"

"To use my other powers?"

"Did you forget? Multitasking," said Admin smugly.

"Oh yeah, I can do that," she exclaimed, even more excited. "How many powers can I run at the same time?"

Admin gave her a very smug smirk that made her want to punch him.

"Well, I don't want to toot my own horn, but as many as you want."

"I find that hard to believe," she said skeptically.

Admin nodded in understanding.

"Without going into the details, I specialize in multitasking. Other powers are just how I express that." He chuckled a little before continuing. "Did you think the Administrator name was given to me accidentally?"

Taylor nodded and filed away the additional information about powers. Apparently, names were important. She wondered if anyone knew that. She also wondered what other powers were named. Maybe she could ask Admin about it later…

She quickly returned her attention to Admin, who had somehow turned into a rainbow slime while she blinked. She ignored it.

"What's next?" she asked, all fired up. "Flying?"

"I recommend not flying in your room for the first time," Admin replied wryly. "However, I have one last surprise for you."

"I hope it won't be like those other surprises..."

"No, this is a good surprise."

Taylor could only sigh and brace herself for whatever nightmare Admin had created in an effort to 'help' her. She really needed to look into whether the bookstore had a copy of How to Be Human for Dummies.

While she was contemplating his oddities, he acquired the teacher's hat again. This time it was rainbow-colored.

"You see," he began, "I noticed you like your hair!"

She just looked back at him, trying to be as deadpan as possible.

He continued, ignoring her reaction. "So I'm giving you a Changer power."

She took hold of one of her strands of hair and raised it before her eyes.

She was relieved to see it was still the same deep black, lustrous hair. She had been half afraid Admin would turn it into tentacles or something even worse.

"So the Changer power will allow you to change the properties of your hair, including its color," he continued, ignoring her actions. "I even added eye-color changes free of charge."

Still holding her hair, she concentrated a little just like when she was sensing elecricity. The strand turned sky blue. Then orange. Then red. And so on, cycling through the colors as fast as she could think of them.

Then she tried different lengths.

And styles.

After a few minutes, a small cough broke her out of her experimentation. She looked back at Admin guiltily and gave him a smile.

"Thank you. I really like it."

"I'm glad," he answered happily. "It will come in handy when you want to disguise yourself."

She looked back at him, confused.

"Your hair is rather distinct."

She nodded proudly, then looked around for a mirror. She wanted to see what her hair really looked like in different colors.

And she had always thought silver eyes were cool.

Finally, after a few minutes of futile searching Taylor remembered that she had thrown out all of her personal mirrors, she gave up and walked over to the bathroom.

She didn't come out until her father called her down for dinner.

She woke up to a very familiar scene.

Endless rolling hills, a gentle breeze, and a few trees.

"What now?" she yelled out.

She had been rather looking forward to resting after the emotionally exhausting day.

"Now you train," came the reply from behind her.

This time, she only jumped a little.

"Do you really have to do that every time?" she asked angrily.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It is hilarious."

Taylor closed her eyes, counted to ten, then opened them.

"What am I training?"

"Your electrokinesis," he explained as the scenery changed around them into a featureless gray hall. "You need to get used to it, what it can do, how it works. You need to be able to use it instinctively."

She nodded in understanding and walked up to the red circle on the ground that had just appeared.

"So I have to stand here and shoot at targets?"

Admin nodded with a smile. "Smart cookie. They work the same way as your other powers."

"Also, don't think I forgot that you didn't tell your father about your powers."

Taylor looked away guiltily. After that talk, she didn't think adding another thing would have been a great idea. Better to leave it for later.

He sighed dejectedly. "You have until Sunday night to tell him."

"Or what?"

"We will see what kind of shapes I can turn your hair into," he answered smugly.

Taylor swallowed, touched her hair nervously, and nodded. "Got it."

"Good."

"Now, prepare yourself for a grand battle against unmoving targets!" he exclaimed as though he were some kind of announcer for a wrestling match.

She turned toward the wall facing her and stretched out her hand.

Several human-shaped targets appeared, all of them suspiciously resembling Emma and Sophia.

By the time the first lightning bolt struck its target, she was sporting a rather shark-like smile.

It took her only a few seconds to destroy all the targets, but the feeling of exhilaration left her panting.

"That was awesome!" she yelled, throwing her hands into the air and firing off a few lightning bolts just because she could.

"Yes. The Mighty Taylor defeated the Atrocious Army of Immobile Targets," he said flatly. "Truly one for the history books."

She crossed her arms and pouted at him. "You don't have to be mean."

"But I enjoy being mean," he said with a smile. "How about the next level?"

"Sure!" Taylor answered. She couldn't wait to use her new powers.

The next thing she saw was the wall falling away to either side, then vanishing before it reached the ground. She was now standing before a forest. She could even hear birds chirping and other forest sounds.

She was about to ask Admin about the forest when a basketball-sized clone of her power came bouncing out from between the trees. It was the same in every way except for the eyes.

While Admin's eyes looked rather cute, they were obviously hiding an inhuman intelligence with rather questionable motives. The clone's eyes, which were watching her like a hawk, were empty of anything but simple animal intelligence.

And now that she looked closer, that intelligence seemed rather hungry.

"I recommend dodging. They like the taste of human flesh."