[Video x 2!]

[no_ufo_ending]

(FLAVOR TEXT FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT)

Henry had been in a lot of stressful situations in--by his perspective--the last few months. Fresh memories of his misadventure at home mingled in with the years he'd spent here finding friends and family and courage. Some of those things built him up, made him stronger, and made him shine. But some things stayed like a broken-off pencil led right under the skin.

Waking up with luxurious black curls in his peripherals was one of those things. It came rocketing backward--the body of the girl he couldn't save in the subway slithering along the floor with her hair spreading around her like ink in water, like veins from a particularly nasty bruise. It was everywhere in knots on the floor, hanging from railings, and she tangled him in it so that she could bring her horrible broken, gaping jaws closer to him.

He snatched at poor Lust's hair and cried out--a woman's scream. It clashed with his internal voice and further convinced him he was back in the Subway World or at least in a terrible dream of one. He struggled against Lust's sheets, tripped over poor Guttle, and crawled much like Cynthia herself toward the familiar low light of the bathroom. The familiar smells and sounds of the house were also mixing with his reality. Home. Home. Not Home. Hotel. The Center. The Subway. The apartment.

He threw open the cabinets and drawers in search of something, anything to get the deathly tendrils away from his face. His hands were pale, soft, well manicured. Then Henry found it--a simple pair of scissors with a few stray hairs of Pokemon fur left on it--possibly from Lust's Furfrou. He twisted his fingers into the locks and gouged them with the scissors, biting back feminine cries. It fell in long black hanks, filling the sink and littering the counter.

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, God! Augh!" His words kept coming out wrong and tears prickled the corners of eyes that weren't his. Finally the dark curtains of hair receided and left him shaking over the sink. The sluggishness of sleep drifted away from him as he heard the A/C unit kick on from somewhere down stairs.

Henry finally looked up into the mirror. He was in the Goldenrod house. He was in a room he'd rarely been in but he recognized it--the Pokemon care items scattered around. There was no grit and grime from the Otherworld anywhere and the face staring back at him wasn't Cynthia. It wasn't Henry either though.

For a long moment he just stared at himself, caught in his own eerie violet gaze. His first thought was, I'm beautiful..

Those purple eyes fell to the sink and his second thought was, I'm dead.



[VIDEO, JAN 21]


_{[You hear a familiar woman's voice yelling behind the very shaky camera. There is a living room, some nice windows, and a herd of ever-advancing well-groomed Pokemon with MISTRUST in their eyes. There's a Jigglypuff, an Spheal, a Primarina, and a pair of Umbreons. A little more shaking of the video reveals that the poor camerawoman is on the back of the couch trying to balance.]}

I-it's Henry! They know I'm not her! I've never trained any of these Pokemon before and Lust isn't answering her--my Poke'gear! I don't want to die like this! I think I'm in Goldenrod!



(FLAVOR TEXT FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT)

Purple Town.

He recognized the shapes of the rooftops as he stumbled out onto the little balcony of his hotel room. One look at his hands told him that he was in yet another body but there were no scary tendrils stuck to his face this time. The world was, however, kind of blurry. He'd forgotten to put Ford's glasses on.

"One step closer to m--oh wow." His voice was so deep. Henry's voice would never be this deep even if he lived to be one hundred years old. It wasn't nearly as jarring as speaking with Lust's voice but it also felt less invasive somehow. "Hello. Hello?" He tested it out quietly as a few of Ford's Pokemon stirred back in his room. "Haha...I'm Henry Townshend and you're watching--AAGH!"

A Patrat scampered up the side of the building and scurried across the railing Henry was leaning against in blind terror. It was swiftly followed by a Braviary that swooped down with its massive wings. In a reflex that Henry didn't really understand, he just kind of...vaulted off the balcony to get out of the way and caught the railing deftly with one hand. As the two Pokemon continued on their wild chase, Henry blinked blearily after them as he tried to parse what had just happened.

He looked up at his large fist gripping the balcony railing with ease. For a horrifying second, Henry could just IMAGINE all of poor old Ford's bones and muscles twisting and snapping from the trauma of dangling like this but--the pain never came. Henry waited and it still didn't come. He looked at his other hand and reached up to grip the other rail and then he pulled. With almost terrifying acrobatic ease, he managed to haul all of Ford's barrel-chested bulk back up onto the railing and perch like a gargoyle.

"Woah..." He wasn't even winded. "Mr. Pines, what have you been doing?"

He still knew so little about the breeder. He remembered talking about Zubats in the Pokemon Center what felt like a life time ago and how the old man had been very into surprising his opponents. Well he'd certainly surprised Henry! He climbed down off the railing and clenched and unclenched those big fists again. It wasn't nearly as weird having two extra fingers as he thought it'd be but it was incredibly weird feeling the muscles he'd never had move. He felt like he could crush an orange.

Henry eyed the wall and leaned one hand against it. He did a single wall push-up. Then he did ten more. He dropped to the floor and after figuring out exactly where to put his toes, he did several real actual push-ups. One had to keep on their toes to take care of magical fighting animals but this was a level Henry could not even comprehend...



[VIDEO, JAN 25]


<sub>[Since Henry didn't just RUIN FORD'S HAIR like he did to someone, he is far more willing to show his (and Ford's) face to the network. He doesn't look nearly as worried as you'd think he would being stuck in yet another person's body.]

[He's placed the 'gear down somewhere to film himself from afar. For a moment he hesitates and looks at his weird hands, clenching and unclenching them again before addressing the camera.]</sub>

Look what I can do.

_{[Then, Henry in this old old man's body, just does a fucking standing backflip. He staggers when he lands on his feet but soon steadies himself.]}

I'm exposing Mr. Ford Pines for being an actual superhuman.

Comments

VIDEO, JAN 25

[starry_forehead]

[Well apparently we've found out if Ford was affected by this.]

Nah, that's just what he's like.

[Besides, the metal plate in his head is stranger.]

So uh, who is this?

[video]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Oh, hey, he remembers this kid. They hadn't spoken for very long and he'd seem stressed out before.]}

But it's--it's something else! Oh, uh, my name's Henry. I work at the Pokemon Center here and...well, uh, hi. Do you know him?

[video]

[starry_forehead]

Yeah, he's my great uncle. I'm Dipper Pines. ..uh, hi.

Where were you last before you switched bodies with Grunkle Ford?

[video]

[no_ufo_ending]

Oh, wow. I'll be careful with him, I promise.

_{[He adjusts his glasses just to have something to fiddle with.]}

I was in my friend's body over in Goldenrod. It was...also something. I hope she's not still mad at me.

[video]

[starry_forehead]

He's pretty tough, you'll be fine. Just you know, don't go stabbing him with forks or anything.

[Totally joking.....only not. Also, Dipper that was your body, it was one time and it was a demon that did it. Not some random guy.]

Really? So you didn't switch back to your own body in-between? I wonder if that means he's in the previous body, or yours now.

[Hey it's the reason Ford and Dipper get compared to each other a lot, nerds.]

Was there an electric shock, or did anything else happen that stood out before you switched again?

Jan 21 - Video

[thumbsdown]

[Boone's face as he answers the video is probably comical, or would be in another situation. He just frowns, and then Pointy shoves his big Drapion face into the camera too and growls confusedly.]

You... feeling okay? The hell is this about being called Henry?

[He doesn't know anything about the whole body swapping deal yet.]

Look, I'm coming over, okay?

[She sounds really freaked out.]

Video

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Who's th--OH. OH NO!]}

UuuUuuUhhh! No-oh! That's fine! You don't have to come over. Er, hi, hello, my name's Henry Townshend and I'm Lust's friend. I have a feeling where she is but she hasn't answered me yet.

[thumbsdown]

You're saying you're somebody else? You sound a lot like Lust.

[Boone is extremely confused. Though now he realises that Lust sounds... off. It's more than what she's saying, it's the way she's saying it.]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Henry points the gear at the Pokemon as they perk their ears at a familiar voice--someone Lust enjoys the company of.]}

I know, it's messed up. I'm Henry. This just happened, I just woke up here. I'm supposed to be in Violet and if this is anything like the movies I've seen, that's where Lust is right now--er, her mind I guess? Brain? I don't know.

[thumbsdown]

So you're saying you've... swapped with Lust?

[Oh jeez. At least it seems to be with someone Lust is friendly with. He runs his hand down his face.]

...Alright, well, you want me to come and look after the Pokemon at least?

Audio

[a_sin_for_him]

[It takes Lust a bit to respond. She's...dealing with the other half of this issue. And not particularly well.]

[But when she's gathered her wits about her and goes to the network...]

Oh for God's sake, they aren't going to do anything to you. They're just confused.

[That sure is Henry's own voice, though in Lust's cadences and speaking pattern.]

Just explain it to....hmm.

[Alright, in fairness to Henry, that is not exactly a collection of Lust's most reasonable and intelligent Pokemon.]

Just explain it to them, Guttle knows you.

Audio

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[For a long moment, Henry is shocked into silence. The Pokemon stop advancing when they hear a familiar speech pattern. Finally, Henry speaks.]}

Is that what I sound like? Gross.

Audio

[a_sin_for_him]

You sound perfectly fine.

And really I think that's the least of your concerns at the moment.

[no_ufo_ending]

R-right! I'm just. This is a lot. Are you okay? Try not to hit your--my head on anything. It's a problem. Look out for Sword, he's kind of over-eager about everything.

[a_sin_for_him]

I am....managing.

To an extent. Your limbs are so long and you're so slim, I keep fearing I'm going to go tumbling to the floor every step I take.


.....that sounds ominous.

VIDEO, JAN 25

[shiro2hero]

... Okay. I did not know he could do that one.

And yet. I am not completely surprised.

[no_ufo_ending]

What...what else can he do? You need to tell me, I don't think I'm ever going to be this athletic again.

[shiro2hero]

Arm wrestle, for starters. He's not bad at it, either.

[no_ufo_ending]

I've never really arm-wrestled for fun before...okay. Consider it added to the list.

[shiro2hero]

It's not as intimidating as it looks. Especially when you've got someone with experience on your side.

[video]

[meteorman]

[Okay. Okay. There's a lot here to deal with. The first thing is that Ford feels like actual, real, grade-A shit. He hasn't felt this bad brain-wise since his days being Bill's puppet, and that mixed with seeing another person's words moving his mouth is... a lot. The only thing keeping him from Actually Losing It ^TM is that the eyes on his body still look just the same as they always have. No yellow, no slits, just the same dark brown he was born with. On top of that he also feels physically like shit. It's like this body doesn't want him in it and has decided to protest by just giving up around him. Add on to all this that the whole thing started with an unexpected electric shock and he's... look. These aren't his vocal chords so his voice can't do that thing it does where it breaks like a fourteen year old's when he's worked up, but if it could be doing that it would be doing that.]

This shouldn't have happened. I actively took steps to prevent this from happening.

[video]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Don't worry, Ford, Henry has that covered when his own face appears and speaks with that familiar tone.]}

Mr. Pines! I'm sorry, I--I would undo this if I could. Are you alright?

[meteorman]

In a manner of speaking. I'm well-aware this isn't your fault. Mainly I'm concerned that the metal plate I had installed in my head for the express purpose of keeping other consciousnesses out of it seems to be not doing its one singular job.

[hhHhHHHHHHHH what even was the point of spending one (1) whole week holed up in an oracle's guest room recovering from life-threatening experimental surgery if it doesn't even work like it should? Good grief.]

[no_ufo_ending]

_{[Henry very...very slowly brings Ford's six-fingered hand up to his own noggin, in the wrong place, and feels of his skull.]}

Oh...

[meteorman]

[Ford, because he is used to doing the 'clang clang' for people who don't immediately believe him, raises one of Henry's hands and mimes knocking in the Correct Head Area. Moving these skinny arms feels so floppy. The weight is completely unlike what he's used to and it's giving him the same impression as being on a planet with markedly different gravity would.]