Flexible Thinking for a Modern Life: Chapter 9

 Summary: A commission series for Alfalfa. Iris Fleurs, the stretchy daughter of a slime mother and a human father, tries to live her best life and feel comfortable in her own skin. Teenage rebellion ensues.

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CHAPTER 9

Iris had quickly taken a liking to the demoness Kamika. She was fun, outrageous, and up for a little adventure. A voice in the back of her mind told her not to get too involved with a literal embodiment of evil, but she tried her best to ignore it. She wasn't about to sign any contracts with her or anything. 

Iris soon found herself back in the alley, looking skywards towards the rooftops that towered over her several storeys. Her back arched gently as she leaned back to take it all in. 

"Wow. It's a nice night out tonight." Iris whistled.

"There'll be a better view up there! The higher we go, the better!" Kamika beamed, unfurling her leathery wings from her back. They gave a mighty flap, effortlessly pushing her from the ground with grace and power. Her tail whipped back and forth as Kamika launched herself up higher and higher, her lithe figure disappearing over the ledges of one of the buildings.

Iris stood there, stunned. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do to follow up on that. 

"...Sooo... are you gonna follow her or what?" 

Iris' head whipped around, seeing the trio of gargoyles watching her with expectant looks on their faces. Her mouth flattened.

"I, uh... it's not like I have wings or anything." Iris tugged at her collar. "I-I kinda expected her to carry me up there, or something."

"Pfft! Kamika don't barely lift a finger for nobody!" Trouble smirked. "You know she's gonna put you through the ringer first, right?"

"...What?" Iris' eyebrow perked up in confusion. She glanced over to Double Double, his arms folded as he stoically looked up towards the starry skies. 

"Great things happen when a man and a mountain meet." Double Double uttered with a nod. "The mountain is yours to climb."

"...Ooookay..." Iris turned around to look at the challenge before her. "...Alright, I think I got an idea." 

She bounced in place, feeling a bit more spring in her step with each movement she made. Putting her game face on, her fists clenched at her side, she kneeled down. Her legs seemed to knit together, coming together to coil tightly together, compacting as tight as she could manage.

Her lower half had been wound tightly together, and Iris had fashioned herself into a human spring! She winced, bracing herself for launch...

Sprong!

With a single motion, her body bounced skywards, her legs unfurling and flailing behind her. Her eyes were wide and panic-stricken as she shot up higher and higher in seconds flat.

The gargoyles watched onward, overheard Iris' faint wailing as she disappeared out of sight. 

"...Hoo. Some moves on that chick." Toil whistled.

"...So, uh, how do we get up there?" Trouble wondered aloud.

"Wall kicks will work." Double Double commented, rushing for the wall himself. He performed a flip towards the wall, jumping from wall to wall to clamber up the vertical passage.

The duo watched onward with trepidation. Of course, they both understood quite plainly that neither of them were athletic enough to perform such a feat of agility.

"...Well, here's the plan I came up with just now," Trouble stepped forward. "You're gonna toss me up there, and then I'll throw you a rope, or something."

"What? You're a fatass! You should throw me!" Toil spat back. 

"Actually, I just got back from the doctor, and he diagnosed me with a reeeeal bad case of asthma," Trouble admitted, his eyes shiftily glancing down the alley. "So I probably shouldn't go doing anything strenuous like-"

"You don't have a health card you idiot!"

"You don't need one for a walk-in clinic..."

"When the hell'd you find time to go, smartass? You ain't left my side in weeks!"

"Oh, please, I have a life outside of you, Toil..."

Looks like the duo would be left behind for the better part of the night until they could sort out their differences...

---

Meanwhile, Kamika was dusting herself after her successful ascent. She tugged gently at her wings, allowing them to retract against her back.

She folded her arms. And she waited. And waited.

...She didn't much care for being made to wait. Still, she had to make a good impression with the newbie. Kamika glanced over to the alley below, seeing what was taking so long-

Whoosh! A cream-coloured blur shot past her face, far overshooting the ledge of the build. Kamika staggered back, falling squarely on her ass as she watched the figure arc in the moonlight. She must've overshot the roof of the building by a good twenty feet!

...And she was about to come down too. 

"...Iris??" Kamika muttered to herself, utterly astonished. Her legs were lengthed, twisting together, her entire body spinning in an exaggerated arc as she throttled towards the earth. 

"Ah, aaaaah!!" Iris was screaming all the way down, bracing for impact. Kamika winced, covering her eyes. This was gonna be an ugly landing...

Splat! Iris hit the concrete rooftop, not with a bone-crunching impact, but with a floppy smack, spread out like a cartoonishly flattened pancake. She groaned. 

"Put a bit too much spring in that..." Iris groaned, unmoving. Kamika paced over behind her, carefully reaching for the back of Iris' head. 

"...Damn. Pretty impressive, though. This could work out very nicely~" Kamika grinned to herself, peeling Iris from the ground by her shoulders. Her rough landing had rendered the poor child completely flat. Iris grimaced as she billowed in the wind like a flag. 

Flap! Flap! Kamika whipped her arms up and down, shaking the dust off of Iris and shaking her back into shape. As Iris' body regained its normal proportions, Kamika lowered her down to the time, picking off the odd bit of gravel left over.

"There we go! Can't have you getting bent all out of shape on me~" Kamika smirked, snickering to herself. Iris could only laugh alongside her, a bit of red pigment coming to her cheeks.

"S-sorry, don't know my own strength, I guess..." Iris rubbed the back of her head, patting herself down to make sure everything was in place. She turned back to Kamika. "So, uhhh... what're we going up here, anyway?"

"Mmmmm, I think you would benefit from some practical experience, getting here and there with your special powers. Lord knows your mother did a fine job stifling your curiosity..." Kamika's tail flicked back and forth.

"No she didn't! I'm plenty curious, I'm..." Iris clenched her fists together. "I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for years! To really let loose and go all-out!"

"...Heh. I like you. You got spunk." Kamika grinned slyly, sauntering over to a far ledge. "With that much enthusiasm, getting around the city should be nooooo problem for you~"

Iris found her footing, staggering along behind her, peering over the ledge. It was a long way down...

"...You want me to jump?" Iris grimaced, stepping back a bit. This invited an eye roll from Kamika.

"Psh, not straight down. You can go wherever you please. It's all within arm's reach, yes?" Kamika inquired with a tilt of her head. Iris looked down at her palms.

"...Yeaaah. Yeah, I think I get it." Iris' smile blossomed slowly across her cheeks. "...But, what do you want out of this?"

"Ohhh, this isn't about me. I'm just here to make sure your wish comes true~" Kamika leaned forward to boop Iris on the nose. The tip of it bounced slightly as she prodded it gently. Iris blushed slightly.

"O-okay, let me just... take a gander." Iris wasn't sure why she felt so nervous about this. She knew she could take a fall, and she already stretched her out farther than she ever had prior in the warehouse. Maybe it was the idea of fulfilling someone else's expectations. 

She looked over the city scape, scanning for points of access. She spotted a horizontally-unfurled flag, draped and reaching towards the ground far below it. Must've been 25 feet out. She wondered if she could even reach it...

...She scoffed, remember how dumb that question was. At once, her arm began stretching, whipping out to wrap her wrist around the flagpole. She tugged her shoulder back, ensure it was taut, before taking a deep breath. 

"WhoooooOOOOOA!!"

Swinging like a pendulum, Iris zipped forward in a wide arc, flailing her legs wildly as if running in the air. As her arc began to travel upwards, she could feel her wrist coiled on the flagpole slipping free. She glanced behind her and gave a slight tug to try and tighten it...

...Which had the opposite intended effect as her arm slipped free, returning to her normal proportions in a heartbeat. 

"!"

For a moment, Iris felt like she was floating in nothingness, realizing she was alone, in the air, and about to begin her abrupt descent to the streets below. She had to think quickly! Her eyes scanned anything to reach for...

Ah! A billboard! Advertising "NEW! Elixa-Cola"! That'd have to do! She had to think quickly.

Her other arm shot forward just as she began to fall once more, successfully grabbing the catwalk. This time, Iris was ready for the swing, and she grinned to bear it, anticipating the rushing of win past her face. It was like a rollercoaster that she was in complete control of... and it was utterly exhilarating.

"WOOHOOOOO!" She shouted, laughing all the way. Extending her arms to ropey lengths, she reached for the highest points to swing from, over and over.

She spotted a narrow antennae on top of a skinning building and reached out to spin around it, reversing her momentum and bouncing her back in an all new direction, at blistering speeds. From her elevated vantage, the streaming lights of the streets, the cars below, were merely a blur beneath her. She felt so much power coursing through her entire body, the energy tingling through her limbs.

Iris had an idea. She kicked upwards, swinging upwards as high as she could managed. She retracted her limbs to normal proportions, performing a front flip. With great flexibility, her hands reached for her feel, clutching just above her heels...

Her midriff stretched out as she began to descend, revealing her petit belly button. Her cream-coloured skin bent and expanded in all directions, until...

Fwoosh!

...Her midriff had resembled a parachute, catching the air and slowly her descent. She griped her feet right as she looked down upon the streets below. 

"Now this is a view~" Iris cooed, her eyes focused downwards just past where her arms and legs met. She could really drink it all in here. She winced, feeling the cool night air brushing her belly, shivering slightly. She had to maintain control, but it was all so much to take in, so much to experience all around her. 

Like a miniature kite, Iris allowed herself to float back and forth. She spotted a chimney, and decided to drift over. The steamy, warm updraft allowed her to ascend just a few feet higher, before she returned to her descent once more. She giggled, the strange sensation tickling her belly, now stretched in all directions to a diameter of at least 20 feet. 

"I wonder if I could make wings like Kamika..." Iris wondered to herself, left along to her own thoughts. "...That might be a lot more complicated." 

She was already rather bushed from her earlier experiences, and allowed herself to lazily drift along, content to follow the wind wherever it went. 

---

"You know how many calories that milkshake has?" 

"Hey, this is my reward for our big win the other day! I think I deserve to treat myself every now and then~"

"But Miguel, that's gonna undo a whole week of conditioning we worked on..."

"...Ah well. It's enough exercise to last me a lifetime."

Miguel and Sarah were done with the arcade and had hit up a small cafe specializing in ice-cream concoctions. Sarah treated herself to a modest lime sorbet, but Miguel was splurging with a fully-decked milkshake. It looked more like a sundae than a milkshake with all the toppings layers on top.

"Besides, I can afford it! What about you? The arcade pretty much cleaned you out of all your quarters~" Miguel taunted.

"You never told me how to jump in that Alley Avengers game! There wasn't any jump button..." Sarah pouted, prodding her shaved ice with a sullen expression. 

"What?? I told you, like, a billion times! You just tap up, it's that easy!" Miguel rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, excuses excuses... tsk tsk."

"You just made a powerful enemy, Peralta." Sarah pointed her spoon directly at Miguel. "I swear by my family name, I'm gonna vanquish the shit out of you."

"Ha! I'd like to see you try!" Miguel smirked, flashing a cheeking grin as he sipped at his shake. "More money to clean out of you~"

"...What the heck?" Sarah glanced up towards the sky. 

"Psh, is it that much of a surprise that I'm actually good at something??" Miguel frowned, sulking a little.

"No, not you. Up there. You see that?" Sarah pointed towards the sky.

"...Huh? Is that... a parachute?" Miguel tilted his head. "It's coming this way... is this a safe place to land?"

"Proooobably not." Sarah noted. She squinted. She swore she could hear something. As the shadowy figure descended closer and closer to the ground, the figure was illuminated by the streetlights below, as well as the lights staggered along the billboards.

"Holy crap! It's Iris!" Miguel shot up from his seat. "What the heck's she doing??"

"...Having a hell of a time, it sounds like. She's screaming her head off." Sarah tilted her head, her eyes following Iris' trajectory towards the ground.

They watch the parachuting Iris drift lazily along the sky. She was still too far away for the two of them to make out exactly what she was saying, but she appeared to be shouting about something or other. Some part of her caught on the ledge of one of the rooftops, and her entire body began to unravel and unfurl, plummeting into one of the alleys. 

Her two friends exchanged glances, before rising up from their seats and hurrying over to the alleyway. They didn't have to run far, before finding Iris' legs sticking out of a nearby dumpster, set aside for cardboard. 

"Iris!? What're you doing out here??" Miguel shouted, running down to the dumpster. As he got closer, he could make out a curious sound. 

"...Pffftt... haha... ahahaha!" Iris was caught in a laughing fit, her legs kicking back and forth as she lay sprawled in the dumpster. "You guys see that!? I was flying!!"

"Falling very slowly, actually." Sarah pointed out, joining Miguel in helping Iris out of the dumpster. Each of them took one of Iris' arms and pulled her out and back on her feet. 

Iris seemed to stagger a bit, trying to find her legs once more. All the while, she had a big, stupid grin on her face. "...Guys, guys! I had the craziest night! You gotta hear this!!" Iris drew them both closer, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Whoa, okay! I guess the date went well!" Miguel beamed, glancing over to Sarah. "So, uh, who was the guy anyway? ...Or girl, or... whoever!"

"That's the thing, it wasn't really a date! I think?" Iris folded her arms, thinking on the idea. "...Well, I dunno. It'd be a little creepy if it was, she's kinda too old for me. But no, guys, guys, she's a demon!"

"...A demon?" Sarah's eyebrow perked up, exchanging looks with Miguel. 

"Yeah!! With the wings, and the tail! And she had three dudes with her, and they're letting me practice my powers at their place!!" Iris jumped up, stretching her arms three extra feet in a victorious jump. "It was so cool!!"

"...You sure you didn't hit your head on the way down?" Miguel wondered, tilting his head.

"What!? No, it's totally legit! I swear, it sounds unreal, but..."

"So what you're saying is, you're still single." Sarah noted casually.

"Th-that's not important right now!" Iris blushed, rubbing her shoulder. "I don't need a lover to feel good about myself..."

"...Well, uh, it's good to see no one went and kidnapped you, but..." Miguel glanced left to right. "This is all a lot to unpack right here and now, and this ain't the time or the place to do so."

"Yeah, it's getting late..." Sarah stretched her arms skywards in a yawn. "We should start getting home."

"Ah, right, but... I should at least say goodbye." Iris glanced up towards the rooftops. "...Except now I don't know where they are. Weren't they supposed to follow me...?"

"...C'mon Iris." Sarah took Iris' hand, pulling her along. "We can talk about it in the morning."

"Heh, must be a hell of a story, though." Miguel smirked. 

"...Where are they...?" Iris wondered aloud, before running along with the other two out of the alley. 

As the three of them turned a corner to run down the road, they were being watched from a silent figure, atop a nearby rooftop. Her tail flicked back and forth as she quietly watched Iris disappear into the distance.

"...Hmm. Very impressive moves today, Iris." Kamika smiled to herself with a chuckle. "I think you'll work out just fine."

"Mistress Kamika? Did you lose track of the apprentice?" Double Double wondered as he approached from behind.

"What? No, I... opted to observe her from a distance." Kamika folded her arms. "Besides, she's with her dumb friends now. We can't go and cause a scene." 

"Ah. Of course." Double Double bowed. "You would think so far ahead; it was my mistake to question your judgment..."

"Damn straight," Kamika smirked. "...Where're the other two chucklefucks?"

"Still trying to scale the first wall, by my recollection..." Double Double glanced behind him.

"...Tch. So hard to find good help these days..." Kamika clicked her tongue, shaking her head. "Ah well. Our team would benefit from an infusion of new blood, wouldn't it?"

Kamika turned back towards the dark streets below, a devilish smile stretching her cheeks. 

"...Iris Fleurs. You'll make a perfect pet project, won't you?"

---

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