April - London - Angel

Angel rode her Honda out to the edge of London, where the city turned to flats and then fields, to see the place where Angel had been made—not born but shaped.

The façade of St. Margaret’s Home for Girls was the color of old blood, the paint peeling in strips revealing the bones underneath. The sign out front was warped by sun and rain: “Empowering Girls For a Brighter Tomorrow.”

Late March - New York - Mark Steele’s Penthouse

Mark tried to be helpful. Really.

He knew what posh girls used on their faces though he never really had the money to buy any of it when he was working at the Licorice Elephant. So he bought Angel three types of cleanser, and a Sephora haul large enough to bankrupt a minor country. The first morning, he left a care package on her side of the sink: organic moisturizer, a detangling brush, a perfect lipstick matched to her skin.

Angel found it and said nothing.

February - New York - Angel as Mark

Dinner was already plated when Lena Park arrived. Mark (formerly Angel) wore a black-on-black best, no tie, sleeves rolled, the perfect blend of intimidating and disarming. She wore a silver slip dress, daring by her standards, paired with a blazer that she refused to remove even after two glasses of wine. Mark clocked the nervous micro-glances at his forearms, the way she tucked a stray hair behind her ear when she meant business, the tic of her heel under the table.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

25th December - London - Angel’s Flat

Mark woke up with his face pressed into a pillow that reeked of supermarket hair dye and someone else’s sweat. For three full seconds, he thought he was hungover in a particularly shitty business hotel. Then he reached for his phone and hit his breasts against the bedside table. That’s when he decided that he was really hungover and just went back to sleep

The next weekend I was back there, and there were a bunch more new garments to sort out, and we did those first. Mom, Grandma, and I were doing it again, though we reversed the sequence so I was measuring Grandma. And it was just like before, we got a variety of different ages, sizes, and looks. A few more women than men. The weird thing was I was finding I enjoyed the times I was a woman more than when I was a man.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Ever wonder where all those lost socks go? They're right here!

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Chapter Three: The Empress and the Stranger

The palace lanterns flickered to life, their gracefully curved, lotus-shaped flames illuminating the night with a warm, ethereal glow. Shadows stretched and danced across the intricate jade pillars of the throne hall, creating a tapestry of light and dark. The air was thick with an electric hum, infused with protective wards that swirled like whispers around them, empowered by the Kitsune Queen’s shimmering foxfire and the primal echoes of the Werewolf Queen’s growls, which resonated like distant thunder.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Chapter Two: The Man Who Died

David had never considered himself anything beyond ordinary. At twenty-one, he was tall and lanky, with a physique that leaned more toward fragility than strength. His dark, tousled hair seemed perpetually unruly, offering a rebellious contrast to his careful nature, while his glasses, ever so slightly too big for his face, frequently slipped down his nose, needing constant adjustment.

Immortality can come in many ways, some see it as a blessing, others, a curse. A man lays on his deathbed, welcoming passing on. Then the curse happens.

CAUTION: this is not an overall happy story and may cause triggers.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Author's Note:

I decided to see what a story of crossing Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with the revived Quantum Leap show and came up with this using a bit of help from Google Gemini.

​Mighty Morphin Quantum Refraction

I had intended to leave this story after Part 6, but Part 7 was largely written, so rather than cutting off the story part way through I have uploaded it. I know the number of readers have been dropping steadily. That is understandable, but I do hope that many of you who have persevered have enjoyed the stories.

Stephanie - Part 6 - Squaring a circle

Two events overshadowed the trio’s calendar as the new University year approached. Firstly there was the potentially difficult day of Michael’s funeral and secondly the need to get Claire and Nigel on board with their unusual family arrangement.

At the end of a long day Stephanie, Graham and Jen were lounging in their new bed, but sleep had eluded them for the time being.

“Shall we try to contact some neighbouring Community members?”

“Yes, but how do we try?”

Stephanie - Part 5 - Community

Summary of parts 1-4.

Stephanie and her partner Graham woke one morning in each other's bodies having undergone a mind-swap. They were sixteen year old students at a local school who only knew each other by sight. They managed to meet and bonded in an intense empathetic relationship that would eventually lead to marriage and a family. Subsequently they helped several other couples come together and were helped financially by a community of similarly bonded people who had material advantages, but not superhuman abilities.

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

If you ever find a target on the planet referenced in Ethertravel Report #2 (report and transmission data attached), contact me. I am available 24/7 for this at attached number. Hold target for me. I will head to nearest station ASAP to ethertravel there.

- Gregorevich

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Ethertravel report #2, received February 12, 2417.

I, Johnny Tavaros, am an ethertraveler. I went out in one of the early groups in 2416.

I arrived into the world in a confusion of darkness and pressure. Was I not born yet?

I wanted to be born, and then I was. I burst out of what I realized had been an egg. I looked at myself and was surprised to see that I was myself. That is, I was still the human Johnny Tavaros. I arrived in the world fully clothed, in clothes I had owned on Earth. How was this possible?

Alex had a terminal Cancer diagnosis and thought she would die before she got to be the girl she always was inside. That all changes when she's in the wrong place at the right time and gets transported to another world and into the body of a girl. So what if she's not human, she's alive and a girl. Now if only she had her sister with her to navigate this new world and her new responsibilities. Wait, she's here too? The passage of their souls between worlds may have doomed the Earth to apocalypse, but Alex and Michelle won't be there to see it and they have enough problems on their hands.
 

Chapter 2 - Awakening in Another Body

Previously on Victorian Detective Dilemma...

Luis Ramirez fell asleep reading a mysterious first edition of "The Chronicles of Lady Vivienne Ashworth," only to wake in Victorian London—in the body of Lady Vivienne Ashworth. Now trapped in 1887, he must navigate a world of corsets, calling cards, and murder most foul.

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