Amy wears the Ascend receiver

Nothing about the Ascend receiver really made it stand out as some sort of facial rejuvenator, but Beth's face, Amy noted, looked great. Even when it was locked in a terrified expression from an advancing bulky baseball player. Amy was pissed at Beth and Ivy for likely ruining her pool party, and decided then and there that she was going to keep this expensive looking facial rejuvenator! Without hesitation, she put it on.

James was thrust forth into the pool party again, as Amy took a stumble--no longer fully under her own control. In fact, the 90 percent mix was still heavily in effect, putting James clearly in control of Amy's form! The mixed personality felt a tinge of annoyance at the pool party, but it was overwhelmed by a need to do something about the brute marching forward!

The body of Amy Xiao was built for soccer. She was toned, leggy, and sported incredible abs that looked great in her swimwear. Having a sizable chest when not crammed into a sports bra was just a bonus of carefully sculpting her body since picking up the sport in junior high, where it was part of her effort to get in shape. Now she was both fit and sexy, and no doubt that's why she fit in with the cool kids.

James, now Amy, assessed the situation quickly, and instinct kicked in. James wanted to knock down Dean, and Amy had basically **** but to oblige, knowing how to get leverage against a sizable guy and really shove him around! Amy did just that, rushing forward and tackling Dean in the gut, before he could get his hands back on Beth. For a moment, everyone was confused, as she knocked the wind out of Dean and sent him hurtling back into Mark, who was just climbing out of the pool, so they both made another splash. It wasn't until Ivy saw the bezel on Amy's face that she realized what had happened.

Having ten percent of Amy's personality in the mix meant it was easy to coerce her knowledge to the surface where things felt instinctual. Amy still didn't fully go along with the plan since she wanted to be on Dean's side as well, meaning James's good intentions were slightly muted, but the mix seemed to override her preferences. Amy stepped over to Ivy and Beth, talking low, seeing that Dean and Mark were already climbing out of the pool again, certainly now fueled by their own anger that these girls are fighting back, and gained an ally.

"Inside, quick," Amy said, at James's behest. She pushed them, and the other two quickly complied. When they were in, before Dean and Mark could manage to make their approach, Amy locked the glass door leading out to the pool, watching the guys prowl back and forth though the glass like seeing sharks eyeing prey at an aquarium. "Her dad's Yabusa GT Sprint is in the garage, let's take it and go. Dean's not going to let up, at least we could get some distance..!"

James and Lucas seemed to fall into this sort of coordinated escape quite well--they did have quite good communication skills when playing games online, after all. The two talked through a plan, while Beth kept watch. Every other person at that pool party was like a hostile entity, as some of the guys that were inside the house while everything had gone outside were already heading toward the glass door to open it, responding to Dean's shouting from outside.

The girls hurried to the garage, via the laundry room. Ivy got an idea as they passed through, plucking up a stack of fresh clothes that had been folded on the washing machine on their way through. Beth wanted to ask about that, but Amy just kept her moving, grabbing the keys and opening the garage door.

The silver GT Sprint was a beautiful car. It had that sexy sports car curve to the hood and roof, a rear spoiler that really topped it off. Beth climbed in the back seat, sitting in the center as Amy took the wheel and Ivy rode shotgun. It felt like an elaborate heist escape, not fleeing to safety, the way James and Lucas were coordinating it. The only thing that made a portion of Amy hesitant to leave was that the house was filled with strangers who might make a mess and trash the place after all that. The car had the home's security system on its touchscreen when Amy started it up, and she quickly tapped the 'panic' button before speeding off, so the cops would be on their way shortly. Already they could see teenagers scattering in every direction as the alarm system sounded.

Finally, Amy could breathe! As could everyone else, at least for a moment. Driving away from the house, leaving Amy's place likely a total disaster zone, was the last thing on her mind as she could finally calm down. "Everyone okay? Ivy, Beth?"

"Fine," Ivy said tersely.

"I'm good too," Beth replied. "That was a really good move back there. That punch, too, wow. Those two really deserved it. I really need to get my hand on ice though, starting to really feel it."

Amy smiled. "Glad you're both okay. I figure we just need to get some distance and get us all somewhere safe. At some point, we can take the receiver off me, and Amy can just drive back home on her own."

Beth smirked a little, glancing at the bikini-clad Amy. "You sure you don't want to keep her around for a while?"

With a laugh, Amy shook her head. "Tempting, but I'm not a thief. ...Moreso than is necessary. I don't want to overstay my welcome, let's leave it at that, yeah? I'd rather get back to being on you again." James would admittedly like to stay in Amy's body purely for enjoying the energy it provided, and the sheer sexy allure it had, but he'd grown so accustomed to being Beth that it felt strange and awkward to have limbs that weren't Beth-sized.

Beth blushed a little, and nodded. Amy glanced in her rearview, recognizing a different sports car gaining ground... "They're on their way. I don't think I can lose them so easily, so what's our plan B?"

"I've been thinking about that," Ivy said. Admittedly, the Lucas personality was feeling energized about coming up with escape plans! Doing it in Ivy's body somehow made it even more fun, like he got to play a sexy hero. It helped stave off the fear that he felt about what might happen should they fail, not knowing just how serious those two were about getting their way. "Get us to the mall. I grabbed some of Amy's clothes, so Beth, see if you fit into anything. We're gonna need to program new faces. If we look different enough and then play the part, they won't ever find us. We need to reprogram the faces, though."

"Little busy here, dude," Amy said as she started to swerve through traffic, heading toward the mall.

"Look, just repeat after me but choose a different number! AscendOS, facial generator, random seed, 6 2 9 4 0."

Ivy watched as Amy's face changed, which she could see just barely in the rearview mirror. She did the same for Ivy, picking a new number while also putting Ivy's mix back at 50 percent so Ivy and Lucas were again sharing the burden of thought. Having more Ivy in the mix was going to make behavior more believable, while still letting Lucas play mastermind.

Both Beth and Ivy find some fitting clothes to put over their swimwear from Amy's collection. She recognized them as her favorite sweatshirt and skirt for Ivy, and a nice long-sleeve tee and these really fun skirt-pants with great cargo pockets in olive green. Beth and Ivy looked lovely in each outfit, but it was far beyond their usual style. Amy was a trendy girl, though, so now they looked trendy as well!

The car came to a screeching halt in the mall parking lot, as Amy kept her hands on the wheel. "Tie my hands to the wheel," she said to Ivy. "Not too tight, just enough that she can wiggle out later, but so she doesn't follow. I don't think she's hostile, but I don't think she'd resist helping the guys search for us."

Once Ivy tied a calm Amy's hands to the wheel, Beth lifted the mask off Amy's face. Amy gasped in surprised, as her faculties fully returned. "You... you STOLE me! What the HELL was that?!"

"To be fair," Ivy said, "you put that mask on all by your self. Beth wanted it back, you should've just handed it over." Beth returned it to her own face, and the now-familiar rush of having James connected to her filled her with a wholeness she hadn't realized she was lacking without the mask on. After adjusting the mix to fifty percent as well, both Ivy and Beth leaned in.

"Sorry not-sorry about ruining your chances with Tony," Beth said, as Amy struggled against her newly imposed bindings. "If you really are our friend, you won't help those boneheads try to find us. Please be our friend on this one," Beth said simply, before the girls hurried into the mall. They hadn't spied Dean's car but they were positive it wasn't far behind. They just hoped that they could lay low and then get home in a bit, this was too much action for one day..!