Chapter 1

Warning: This story contains strong language and some profanity.

Note from Author: In the beginning of this story a lot of the conversation is written in two languages. In the story, where a foreign language is used, the translation is in brackets behind it.

The language used is called Fries. It is from a province in Nederland that still has it's own Flag, Anthem and Language. In fact, it is the only recognized minority language in Nederland. The language comes from before the Middle Ages when the Fries people lived next to the Saxons and other tribes like Germanic. It has commonalities with English, Dutch and some other old extinct languages.

Like the author, the main character is proud of his heritage as a Frisian national.

I slammed the door shut. Another lousy day at school. Mom's voice came from upstairs.

"Who's there? Is that you Gabe?" She still pronounced my name like we said it in the country I was born in. Meaning that the a and e are like the a and e are pronounced in the word father.

I answered in my normal gruff voice, "Ja mem, ik bin wêr thus." [Yes Mom, I'm back home.]

"I told you to speak English, Gabe."

I sighed, "I praat alline mar Ingelsk oeral oars. Ik wol graach Frysk prate hjirre." [I only talk English everywhere else, I really want to speak Fries here.]

Mom came downstairs, "But I need the practice."

"OK, can I go to my room?"

"Sure Gabe, Tutsje first?"

I gave Mom a kiss on her furry cheek, "Careful, you're mixing languages again."

Mom cursed, but I already ran up to my room. I was happy to have a room again. This was already our fifth new location since we got kicked out of our country. Well, not exactly kicked out, more like strongly encouraged to leave. Dad was part of the MORFS supremacist movement in Nederland. When the government decided to act against it, we had to move away.

Now we lived in an Enclave in Western Canada with other Morfed people. Dad had been lucky to get a job as a security chief here. Of course he is well suited for that job, as he is a true wolf hybrid. He looks like a regular werewolf from the movies. Mom is also a canine hybrid, but more like a husky. This led to my being just a mutt. I don't look too much like a dog anymore though.

At first I did look like a humanized dog, but then I caught MORFS at 12 and changed to a more human appearance. Still I have the fur, fangs, tail and sense of smell, and I also have much enhanced muscles and quick healing power. As all our neighbors are similar full hybrids, the neighborhood wasn't my problem. But I still had to attend a regular school, and there I got hammered for being what I am. I'm an only child since Mom can't have more children after me. The doctor said it would kill her. Sometimes I really regret that. It would be nice to have a sibling to talk to about school, and in general things that you just can't talk to your parents about.

The evening went as normal as ever, with me doing my homework, Mom and Dad watching TV or complaining about non-morfed and non-hybrids, and eventually I went to bed.

Morning came to soon again.

I yelled to my parents, "Ik gean nei skoalle." [I'm going to school.]

Mom answered"Ferjit dyn iten net mei te nimmen." [Don't forget to take your food with you.]

"Ik haw it al in myn rechsek." [I already have it in my back pack.]

Then I set off for another lousy day at school. It isn't easy being a child of hybrid parents. Not that I'm complaining, but the jokes and harassment never seems to stop. Of course there are laws against discrimination of hybrids, but children don't think, or don't seem to care. And you know what, Children are cruel, very cruel.

As I came near the school, it started again. "Hey look there is the son of a bitch. And I do mean that literally." All the guys laughed out loud of course.

Well two can play at that game. I sniffed in the air, "At least I don't smell like a piece of shit, Alan."

Some of the more moderate guys snickered while Alan made a face. He thought hard, trying to come back with a good reply. "Well what do you know? It can even speak," tried Alan as a snide remark.

I just gave a short laugh. "I have better grades than you will ever have."

Alan stood up and came at me. "I'll show you, you freak."

Menacingly, I stood before him. "Bring it on. Forgot who is stronger already?"

Alan backed off in a hurry. He knew he couldn't match my strength, even with some help. So a fight would not be to his benefit. During classes I always kept a watchful eye out for someone trying to get me into trouble. At lunchtime I doubled my alertness. At last school was out. I prepared to go home, but got called into the principal's office.

Mr. Rickman said, "You're a good student Gabe Kramer. But I foresee many problems in your way. I don't want to do this, but some influential parents complained. Please give this letter to your parents. I wish you all the luck and good fortune." He handed me an envelope.

"You're kicking me out?" I could hardly believe what I just heard. Shit, the school wasn't the nicest place to be, but I really learned stuff here. Mr. Rickman made a sour face.

"Like I said Gabe, I don't want to do this. But I'm left with no choice in this matter. I did include a good recommendation for you."

I snorted, "Thanks, for all the good it'll do me."

I left his office feeling even worse than before. I hadn't been feeling well all day already, probably from being at this stinking fucked up school. Now I felt a bit queasy. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings, thinking about what to do next. The nearest other school was at least three times as far and I wasn't even sure they would accept me. Lost in thought I made the biggest mistake of my life. I walked out of the school without checking for trouble. I walked straight into a waiting ambush. My first clue was the baseball bat landing hard in my stomach. I keeled over in pain, cursing myself of being so stupid.

Someone said, "New rule in school. No dogs allowed."

I growled, I wanted to rip their throats out. Everyone single one of them. I rose up from the ground, but felt so sick that I stayed hunched over and puked my guts out. It landed with accuracy on Alan's shoes and pants.

"Fuck, what a sick puppy we got here. Hold him, Harve!"

I felt a pair of strong hands grab me from behind. Yep, that would be Harvey Slinks, the football blocker. He wouldn't be able to hold me for long though, if I just didn't feel so bad. Then I remembered that I'd felt like this before, when I got MORFS. Shit could I get MORFS again? I didn't think I could get it again. Now I was in real trouble, not only was I seriously sick, but I would get beaten up in the process.

My one last attempt I tried to free myself failed miserably as the pain inside me doubled. The boys around me didn't waste any time as well. They were raining punches and kicks on my body. Fortunately it took only a few moments for me to lose consciousness but they kept up their beating much longer.

I've been told it only stopped as principle Rickman was coming out of school. The boys stopped their assault and scattered in all directions. Mr. Rickman was shocked and furious at the sight that this could happen at his school. As he quickly checked my pulse, he dialed 911.

The ambulance arrived in a record time and took me straight to the ER. I arrived there still alive, but then I went into cardiac arrest.

Somehow, I could see myself lying on the gurney while doctors and nurses were working on me, did CPR and put some air into my lungs. They charged the paddles of the defibrillator and put it to my chest to shock me back to life. As it fired I got ripped back into my body. What happened outside was even weirder. The defibrillation unit overloaded as my body sucked out all the power.

"Fuck," said one doctor. Then he asked, "Is he an elemental?"

A nurse checked my records that they already pulled. "Not according to this."

The head physician said, "Get another unit here stat, preferably one with a higher capacity. And make sure it is surge protected."

Moments later they tried to shock me again, but the current just vanished into me again. However right after that, my heart did start beating again. How had it started again? Nobody had a clue. The hospital staff didn't complain though, I was back among the living. They put me through an MRI and had a Medical Bio Elemental standing by.

When my parents rushed in, they were alerted by the police, anxious about my state, the doctor told them what had happened and what was happening to me at the moment.

"Gabe is in very serious condition. Not only did he receive an almost lethal beating, but he is also in a rapidly advancing stage of MORFS. He arrived already in Stage 2 and we are feeding him all the energy and fluids we can and have to hope that he can survive it. From the scans that we took, we can see some new organs forming inside his body, but it is too soon to tell what they are."

My parents were shocked. Their son was going through MORFS again and he had also been viciously beaten in an attack.

For the next several days I lay comatose in my hospital bed, my body changed rapidly and drastically. The hospital documented it carefully, while Mom and Dad watched the changes with horror and fear.

Meanwhile, principle Rickman gathered all of the students.

"One of our students was viciously attacked and beaten to near death. Right now he is fighting for his life on the ICU ward."

A buzz started among the gathered students. Some questions were audible, like "Do you know who?"

Mr. Rickman continued speaking more loudly, "What is even more disturbing is that the persons responsible are students at this school." The buzz grew louder as students started asking more questions and looking around them.

Mr. Rickman waited a little for the buzz to quiet down. "I want the students responsible for the attack. Come forward now and there might be some leniency. If no one responds, we will all wait here till someone does."

At first, no one dared to step forward, but as time went on, some voices spoke out softly at the cowards in the auditorium. Then Harvey and Ricky stepped up to the platform. Alan and the others didn't, however. It didn't matter anyway, as for a reduction in their punishment, Harvey and Ricky gave the names of all the boys involved.

I opened my eyes and discovered I wasn't at the school grounds anymore, I was lying on my back on a soft mattress. The air had a peculiar smell. Hospital smell came to mind. 'So I'm in hospital? Then that dream about me hovering over my body wasn't a dream, It had really happened.' I lifted my arm. 'Wow, it doesn't even hurt. Actually, now that I think of it, not any part of my body hurts. So why do I have tubes attached and a needle stuck in my arm?' I didn't like seeing a needle sticking out of my skin. 'Wait, skin? Did they shave of all my fur? And what happened to my claws?' Now that I thought more about it, my tail should have been squished lying on my back. 'My tail, I couldn't feel it anymore. Did I lose my tail?' Before I could go on with my examination, a nurse going by noticed that I was awake, and soon a doctor came into my room.

"Hello Gabe, I'm doctor Sutrani. How are you feeling?"

I managed to utter in a quite clear voice, "Fine, better than I should after a beating."

'My voice?' It wasn't a deep gruff growl anymore. Now it was just like another guy.

"Well I think that being in the third stage of MORFS helped you with that."

'Oh yeah, I forgot. I got MORFS again.' "How long have I been out and in here?"

"You've been here just over a week now."

A whole week had already past by? What the hell happened? "How, what?" I managed to stammer out.

"Let me sum it up for you, Gabe. All your fur, claws, fangs and tail are gone. Well, you do have a bit larger canines, but otherwise you look just like a normal teenage kid now. Your tissue is a little denser than normal, and I suspect your strength is a bit above average as well. I would like you to be tested as soon as possible. We suspect that you might be an elemental now."

The last almost didn't register in my mind. I looked like a normal human now? What would this mean for me now? What would my parents say? What was I going to do?

The doctor asked me something, "So, is it ok for a telepath to come in here and test you?"

Absently I nodded. The doctor went out and a few minutes later a nice looking young woman came in. "I see you're quite shocked by all what happened to you and how you have changed. If you want to, I can come back later."

I shook my head, "No, it's OK, Miss. I've got nowhere to go anyway."

Then I heard a voice in my head. Ok then let's get started.

'Wow that is weird. She must be a really powerful telepath.'

The woman just smiled. 'Of course, she heard my thoughts.'

It took only a little while for her to concentrate and to probe me.

Then she said, "Oh sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sandy and no, you can't take me out to dinner."

'Shit, she heard my thoughts again.'

She continued, "As far as I can see, you're a powerful electrical elemental. You know about electric eels and rays right?"

I nodded quietly.

"Well you have a similar organ now that lets you make or absorb electrical power. Probably with some training, you can vary the voltage and current at will."

My eyes widened, I couldn't wait to try it out.

"I do have to warn you, Gabe. Don't try out your power just yet, please. Find an isolated and preferably insulated place, or go to a designated MORFS center before using your power. If you don't have the necessary control, you might destroy property or even kill people. And you will be held liable for anything that happens with your powers."

'Bummer, I got a cool power, but cannot use it.' "Ok Sandy, I will refrain from using my power at the moment."

Sandy smiled amusingly again. 'God she looks good.'

"Gabe, I know you really want to try out your powers, but be careful and thank you for the compliment."

I closed my eyes. I really need to learn to shield my thoughts. Sandy just smiled at me, and said goodbye and good luck to me.

Moments later doctor Sutrani entered my room again. He gave me a short exam, asked me some questions and then declared me fit to leave the hospital. He gave me a referral note to report to the MORFS center in Vancouver and gave me my clothes. Soon I was dressed. My clothes were a little too big for me now, and not warm enough. They were intended to be worn over my furry skin, but I didn't have the fur anymore.

I half was expecting Mom or Dad to be waiting to drive me home, but neither one was at the hospital. The nurse at the duty station did tell me they had come to visit when they thought I was dying, but the last couple of days they hadn't looked in on me anymore.

I counted my money. I had enough for the bus ride to the enclave. Soon, the bus arrived, and I found a spot in the back. It was deserted, so I had the entire bus all to my self. I got to wondering why my parents weren't there at the hospital. But I just couldn't figure it out.

Then I thought about my powers. Some years before, I'd found an old VCR tape that my dad made when he was young. They didn't have the equipment anymore to play it, but I found an old player at a junkyard. I tinkered with it till it worked and watched the tape. It was a recording of several TV shows. One was an episode of a TV series called Mutant X. Apparently the show was about young people gaining powers through gene manipulation. Almost frighteningly similar to what is happening with us in this world.

The episode I watched was OK and quite well done. The theatrics were a bit too much, but okay. The thing that stayed with me was about one of the guys on the show. He had gained electrical powers, like I have now. He could play with the electrical currents around his fingertips and for more power, rolled his hands close together like making a snowball. But instead, he made an electric power ball that he could throw. From what I'd been told, I thought I could just use my power as a power socket and power up a device, but this effect might look cool and give me a chance to practice a little without too much danger. Or at least I hoped, time to try something out.

As the bus puttered on towards home, I tried to power up my fingertips and let the currents jump from one tip to the other. It took a while to get the hang of it, but then I succeeded and soon the electric currents were playing between my fingertips, just like in the movie. I played with it for a few minutes before wanting to up the power.

This time I used both hands and rolled them like making a snowball. At first, nothing happened. I put my hands a little closer together and suddenly a small ball of lightning started to form. I poured more power into it and it grew. Soon I had to make the gap between my hands bigger. I made the ball grow even bigger, but then realized that I couldn't release it here. So I drew all the power back in.