By the time I woke up, I felt the sweat rolling down my arms. My hands grabbed the edge of the bed as I looked around, seeing the dolls had followed me once again. Only this time, they were lined up against the walls, looking lifeless.

Wait, my arms!

I looked down, pushing myself up into a seated position. I was no longer turned into a human meatball. I also didn't have rope tied around my legs. Pulling my arms closer, I realized there was nothing around my wrists either. My hands rubbed around my wrists to make sure. Nothing was there.

The only problem I had was that I was still in that pink frilly dress. That was new. Not new as in that was something I wasn't in, but after being kissed by Nightshade, I was never in that outfit. I was in the U.A. school uniform.

For once, I knew I was awake, but how long would it be until they came back for me? I pulled my legs into my chest as I wrapped my arms around them, laying my head on top. The last thing I wanted was to be told what to think. I didn't want to work for them. All I wanted was to be home with my family and friends.

They still wanted me, didn't they? Or was there a bit of truth in what Kannon said, that they wouldn't care, that they wouldn't look for me?

Kannon. My stomach sunk as I dug my head deeper into my knees, feeling the wet tears forming into my eyes. I had always known whoever my father was, he wasn't a good man. After all, he left my mom on her own to raise me just to be a hero. Or, at least, for some time, he was a hero. I just never thought he'd be a villain, an actual villain.

Did that mean there was some bad blood in me? Was that why I was so easily persuaded that all heroes were selfish? Was...was I going to turn evil some day?

My arms tightened around my legs as I let the tears roll down. My stomach ached as it could barely move, making breathing even harder. The room was so warm, getting hotter by the minute, cutting off all circulation. I opened my mouth to try and get more air, but it didn't seem to work.

Why? Why? What did I do to deserve this? I didn't want to end up like him, but what if...what if that's all I could do? What if I just ended up having bad blood that would consume me?

Ollie wouldn't want a sister who was evil. My friends would shun me if they knew I had an ounce of it. I-I couldn't believe it, but it made sense. That man, I was really a part of him, even if we looked nothing alike. Just why did this have to happen?

I sucked in as much air as I could, but it didn't work. I fell to my side, squeezing my eyes shut, only to see blood everywhere. My eyes shot open the moment they closed. No. I couldn't be the reason...I couldn't...I couldn't cause harm. I didn't want to cause harm.

But what if I did? What if the longer I stayed here, the more I would start to think like he did? There was no way out. With no way out, one of these days, I'd just turn into one of his puppets, just like Nightshade and Goro. I wanted to be good.

My hands balled up into fists as I rubbed my eyes, trying to stop the tears from coming, but they wouldn't stop. The tears flooded out of my eyes, dampening everything in its path. My stomach tightened with each tear that fell.

Why?

My thoughts were interrupted by a strange noise escaping my stomach. I bit the inside of my mouth as I started to realize how hungry I was getting. The last meal I had was at the Musutafu Hero Festival. It was a hard time telling how long ago that was.

I did my best to push myself to the edge of the bed. As I did, I felt my head spinning. My left hand grabbed onto the bed to steady myself, as I felt something running from my nose. There was nothing I could've cleaned it with, so I wiped my arm across my nose, feeling disgusted.

While I did, I saw something laying in the corner of my room. My right arm grabbed my stomach as I could feel my sides aching even more than before. Short breaths escaped my mouth as I squinted my eyes, to make sure they weren't deceiving me.

On the other side of the room sat a plate full of food, or at least, there was a plate full of food. Flies circled around it while rats and ants grabbed whatever food they could. One rat in particular stuck its head into the cup that was there before spilling the orange contents all over it. How was it a rat could sneak its way in and out of here, but I couldn't?

Unless...unless I tried?

The thought was completely crazy and out there, but I was running out of options. I didn't want to turn into that man. I didn't want to hurt my friends...if my friends still wanted me. What would anyone think if they found out?

No. I had to at least try. I fell off the bed, landing on my knees. The animals on the other side of the room didn't seem to have noticed as they continued to eat their food. While they did, I did my best to keep quiet as I crawled towards them. The moment they noticed me, they paused, staring back at me. Not wanting to disturb them, I froze.

I just needed a good look at one of them. I could do it, couldn't I?

It took everything in me to stop crying, but the pain was still there. If this was going to work, I needed to keep these animals undisturbed. Just which animal could I turn into in order to sneak out? Assuming this would work. It was a long shot, but it was all I had.

An ant would be easily squishable. As for a fly, well, I don't think they lived very long. My eyes landed on the rat with the orange juice splattered all over it. The creature was now trying to shove as many pieces of bread into its mouth. It was a scruffy brown thing with a long tail that had no fur on it. I could see four whiskers and its messed up left ear when the rat decided to look at me.

With the details in place, all that was left was for me to memorize them when I closed my eyes. My mind was set on the rat. Nothing else. Just the scruffy brown rat.

I could feel my body shift and shrink. My bones started to crack, causing me to wince a bit. The transformation was much more painful than it was turning into someone else, but I had to do it. I needed to do this. If I stopped now, I might be stuck as a half human, half rat for a long time. I didn't want that. No, I needed to keep concentrating on what that scruffy little rat looked like.

By the time my hands should have hit the floor, I felt tiny claws scratching the floor. My eyes shot open, just in time to see pink fabric fall on top of me. I used all four of my legs to scurry out from underneath the dress and towards the other animals. They didn't pay any attention to me as they continued to eat whatever foods they wanted.

Despite being in the form of a rat, I could feel my stomach grumble. I wasn't sure if it was because of how hungry I was, or if it was the fact that I was a rat, but the rotting food in front of me looked appetizing. I could see the bread coated with green with a pile of slop had an unusual smell to it sitting beside it. Part of me wanted to eat, but I don't think eating horrible food like this would've been good.

It took everything in me to turn away and look into the spilt orange juice that the rat I had turned into spilt. Looking into it, I realized I had turned into a perfect replica of the rat. There was no telling I was a human, as all I could see was the rat.

I turned around to see a heap of clothes behind me. If I turned into a human, I'd have to be careful. That was something I would worry about later, especially as I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Wakey wakey, wittle baby! It's time to see if you wearned your wittle wesson," a high pitch voice squealed.

The animals around me started to scurry away. I followed them as they did. Whether it was the rat's instincts rushing through me or the fact that I was terrified of that woman finding out, I didn't need to know. I just ran, following one of the rats running behind an old rag doll where there was a hole in the wall.

My heart started to race. An opening! Finally, now was my chance to escape. I started to take off even faster on all four of my legs as I leapt into the hole, just in time to hear the door open and for Nightshade screaming on the tops of her lungs.

~*~*~*~

I scurried out of that building until I found myself in the midst of downtown Musutafu, Japan. Police cars were everywhere as I noticed a building with broken windows and police officers slapping some handcuffs on a pair of robbers. They were still much taller than me being that I didn't shift out of the rat that I had changed into earlier to escape.

To think of all things, I was a rat. A rat! Things weren't going to be easy for me if someone caught me. I mean, it was not like I could shift back. If I did that, well, I'd have a lot more explaining to do. Seeing the police dealing with what they had to right now, I was the last thing they needed to worry about.

Even then, I don't think running around the streets of Musutafu as myself would be a good idea. I'd be beyond embarrassed if someone caught me outside my rat form. The last thing I needed was more drama and chaos in my life.

I stopped dead in my tracks as that thought came across my mind. Kannon Smith was my father, and he was still alive. This whole time, I thought he was some hero that was there to help others, but a villain in my mind as he left my mom before I was born. Never in my wildest dreams have I ever imagined him being a villain, and actual villain.

While I had realized this earlier, there was one more thought that sickened me. No one would believe that a hero like him would turn into a villain. If they did, what would they think of me?

Instead of moving around like I should have, I laid down on all four of my little legs, looking down at them. My tail wrapped around my body. Maybe I could just stay a rat for the rest of my life. I wouldn't bother or worry anyone. Ollie's life wouldn't be in danger if I just fell off the face of this planet. Kaito, Sakura, and Raiden would never find out about who I really was. Heck, I wouldn't have to worry about trying to impress everyone by trying to be someone I'm not.

For that moment, I thought life as a rat would be great. That was until I heard someone scream moments before a large, high heeled boot came crashing down above me.

Author's Note:

And that's the end of this arc. Good thing we're on a double update schedule, otherwise it'd be a LONG time to find out what happened to our heroine.

Until then, I want to know, if you could turn into any animal, what would it be and why?

Character Spotlight: Tami Smith
Quirk: Biochange
Likes: Dino Chicken Nuggets

Song: A Nostalgic Dream by Peter Gundry