Episode 3: The Beginning (Cheesy Title, but what ya gonna do?)

        Blu Flyer hopped up and down impatiently. She glanced excitedly at Trixxy, her friend, who stood beside her. Then she glanced at the line of Aliroos ahead of them. How long she had waited for this day....But *ugh* How long would it take to get her TransDimensional license?

        She and her best friends morphed with boredom, playing the age-old game of Morph Match. In this game, they would change their form from their natural winged kangaroo, to a small animal. Like and insect or small rodent. The next person would morph, then, into a creature that could kill/eat or overall defeat the other person. The first aliroo would then morph to defeat his or her opponent.

        The game was old, and boring. They had been taught to play it to develop their transforming skills. But after a while, each Morph Match turned out basically the same.

        As the foursome neared the counter where they would pass tests to get their TransDimensional license. Blu, Trixxy, Strype and Cruisor had been best friends since they were younglings, and today they would earn the right to travel to the infinite worlds of the Universe. They were all fifteen this year; The official age you needed to be to get your license. Blu had heard from her older brother Boomer about a world where the inhabitants were human-like animals, called the Lylat system. They flew in space ships. That was where she and her friends had decided to go first. How much fun that would be!

        Blu glanced at Cruisor, a red aliroo, and then at Trixxy, who had dark purple fur. Strype had gotten the looks of his family; his fur was a dappled black and reddish gold. No wonder Trixxy had fallen head over heels for him! But they made an extremely cute couple. Blu smiled ruefully as she remembered the days when she used to have a thing for Strype...But not any more.

        Cruisor never had had a girlfriend, and never intended to. He enjoyed a platonic relationship with Blu and Trixxy.

        Blu could see the counter now. They had drawn sticks to see who would go first, and Trixxy had won out. Then came Cruisor, and then Blu herself. She carefully went over the light blue fur on her ears. Then she turned and brushed the blue feathers on her back into place. They approached the deck.

        The silvery aliroo at the desk looked over the bunch. Trixxy stepped forward.

        “You four must be here for your license, “ the ‘Roo asked rhetorically, “Who’s first.”

        “I am, ma’am,” Trixxy said. The silver ‘Roo gave her a pass, and pointed to a door.

        Blu waited with her friends, giddy from the excitement. A bell rang, and then Cruisor got a ticket and passed through the doors. Trixxy came out of one, looking a bit disheveled.

        “So! What was it like??” Blu asked eagerly.

        “Sorry,” Trixxy said regretfully, “Can’t tell ya. But it was...Interesting.”

        Blu grinned. The bell rang. She approached the ‘Roo, who gave her a ticket, and then happily bounced to the door. It swung open, and she turned to see Cruisor return from the exit, looking just as befuddled as Trixxy. Blu frowned, then grinned, and continued into the door.

        The room was black, and cybernetically molded. The lights turned on with an electric boom. The room seemed huge. Some lights glowed, and a sizzling electric yellow aliroo appeared. He seemed about Blu’s age, but larger.

        “Greetings, Blu Flyer,” it said in an automated voice, “I am BuzZz, the Automated Training Program. I am here to test you on your morphing abilities. We will begin by attempting to match and conquer eachother using shapeshifting. It will be a physical match. You will not be harmed, but must react with satisfactory responses to pass this test. Do you have any questions?”

        Blu shook her head. It was a Morph Match!

        “Then we will begin. You may have first change.”

        Blu nodded, and considered. As long as she did not present any stimulus to the Program’s Artificial Intelligence, it would not move. Only until she reacted or moved or changed the situation would it react similarly, so she had time to think. She pondered, and decided. Concentrating, she began to glow a blue color, and shrunk until she was a small blue mouse.

        Blu darted across the room, when, as she anticipated, BuzZz pounced on her as an electric yellow cat. Blu in turn took the form of a donkey, and kicked the cat as it pounced. He went flying, but rebounded as a tiger. Blu thought. The rules of the game did not allow return to a previously used form, and you couldn’t shift to a creature smaller than you have been. She quickly shifted to a giant cobra, with venomous bite, just larger than she had been. She lunged at the tiger, attempting to strike at a hind leg. BuzZz was too fast, and leapt out of reach, shifting into an elephant. Blu used her underbelly scales to move swiftly away from the stomping feet, and then changed into a human form.

        She had improved on her human form. Many places she intended to travel to required human forms. To enter Starfleet on Earth, to capture Pokémon and many other interesting things required a human form. Of course, it had to be modified. On Pokéworld, she was allowed to have blue hair. on Earth, it made her stand out.

        She assumed her human form, and stood back. BuzZz had used too much mass, and couldn’t assume any form below the mass of an elephant. That was faulty play. But still, many options were open. He glowed, and became a serpentine wingless dragon. He approached her, and began to breath flame. She changed into a winged human, and leapt into the air, avoiding the fire. Then she dove down, having experience with wings, towards his back. As she did, he changed the dragon type to have a spiked back. Blu was learning. She modified her human form to be resistant to puncture, and landed on the back. Then she decided to use a form she had studied; The ameobic form from the planet of Proton. She modified it to be resistant to flame. This form was highly versatile, but took longer to change, unlike aliroo changes, which were almost instantaneous. She spread her jellylike substance around the dragon’s body, aiming for the head and forming a tight grip on his snout. She closed the sir holes, and held on. BuzZz clawed at her substance, but she modified to be a steel like material. She had learned something! A complete change is not always necessary, modifications of the small kind were highly beneficial!

        BuzZz struggled, and then went limb. His holographic representation flickered, and disappeared. Blu resumed her natural shape. BuzZz reappeared in kind.

        “Your shapeshifting abilities are competent. We will now take a mental assessment.”

        “What do I have to do?” She asked.

        “Nothing.” He paused. “Mental Assessment has been completed. Your intelligence rates above average. More than satisfactory. That is all. Pick up your license at the door.” He smiled, “And Luck to you.” He flickered out. Blu proceed to the door. There a machine waited. She knew procedure; Boomer had told her all about it. He didn’t tell her about the test, but he did tell her about the license. She carefully placed her right forearm under the scanner. It flashed.

        “Your Individual Color Frequency has been measured and put on file,” the machine said, “A small stream of particles will travel in your blood. They will be your license. Congratulations, Blu Flyer!”

        Her license! Finally! She exited the door, and entered the room just as Strype went in for his test. She pranced over to Trixxy and grinned widely.

        “Wow!” She exclaimed , “Where should we go first?”

        “First,” Trixxy said, returning an equally, if not brighter, grin, “We need to each pick up a TransDimensional Transporter. I asked the ‘’Roo at the desk; She says we each get a free one with our license!”

        “Then what?” Blu asked dreamily, “I can’t wait to terrorize the universe....”