The subway always ran according to schedule, whether it was the passenger trains, or the battle subway cars. They were a well oiled machine that ran to the best of their abilities. People appreciated it when their daily routes were not disturbed, especially on busy week days.

  However, unscheduled errors were bound to pop up every now and again, most of the time they were as minor and easily fixed as a loose bolt. Other times it was the wrench falling into the fears.

  One of their jobs as Subway Bosses was to help direct passengers at the busiest intersection of the subway. As much as they loved the battle subway, they also loved just being out and about in the terminal, seeing the passengers. Seeing the faces of the young trainers, the normal business people, and families crossing their paths to wave hello filled the two with joy. They had been so distracted by watching the crowd, they hadn't realized the change until they saw it on their faces in the crowd.

  Smiling and friendly faces slowly melted into confusion, then paled into horror, leaving the two confused and concerned. But before the two could even glance at each other, or speak a word, a shriek erupted into the air, causing more attention to be drawn to the small area. A woman, who had been stunned a moment ago, screamed as she snatched up her child who had taken steps to get close to the twins. When Ingo and Emmet finally glanced at each other, rather than seeing their brother at their side, the two were shocked instead. In unison, with equal shock and surprise the two shouted, "A Clefable?!!!" "A Gengar!?" as they stared at their transformed twin.

"Wha-? Ingo!?"

"Emmet!? Is that-!?"

  The two were given no time to process the revelation of their predicament before the woman who had screamed loud enough to get the whole station's attention on the twins let out another, as she turned to run. "They Have It-! They're Infected!!" And the woman's panic spread like wildfire as she pushed her way through the crowd, still holding her child. When more and more people began to run, it didn't matter who could see and who couldn't, the well paced traffic of the terminal turned into waves a people running every which way to leave as fast as they could, screams and shouts of confusion easily over taking the voices of the twins and the depot agents who had rushed to the scene.

  Instinct took over, their condition forgotten in favor of looking out for their passengers, the turned Subway Bosses tried to take control of the crowd. Ingo shouted as loud as he could, telling people not to run, warning them of the oncoming trains as people were pushing and shoving each other to make it to the exits. When Emmet saw someone in the crowd get pushed down, not needing to think twice, he pushed his new pink bulky body through the crowd, people easily making a path to avoid him as he made it to the passenger on the ground.

  "Are you alr-!?" Before he could finish, the downed passenger recoiled from his tiny pink paw in disgust and fear. They scrambled to their feet, nearly falling over again just to get away from him as the younger twin stood there in shock at their reaction. Emmet didn't even realize he was being pulled away until he heard Jackie shout to get Ingo's attention, one hand locked around Emmets new arm.

   "Mr. Ingo! C'mon! I have to get you and Mr. Emmet out of here!" The agent shouted over the commotion as his free hand snatched up Ingo's equally chubby arm.

  "What-!? But the crowd-!!"

  "Cloud Is Taking Care of It! But you two need to get out of here!! N O W!!" The young man shouted with a stern voice, a serious expression spread across his usually tired face. It was enough to make the older twin's jaw clamp like a sheldar.

   Getting the led out, the twins followed the agent close behind, even though every nerve in their bodies wanted to stay to assure the safety of the passengers. It was their job to protect the people that entered their station, but it looked like their cars were derailing from that track.

-✧-

  The back office was far away from prying eyes. The station workers preferred to have their privacy, whether it was just having lunch, sleeping overnight, or just doing paperwork. Now it was being used to hide the Subway Bosses in their new forms. Jackie had told the two to wait there, before going to make a few calls, there was a lot of work to do as a result of the panic, and what would come after.

  Maybe it was just shock, or just the pure insanity of the situation, but the two were left in the backroom, unable to string together their thoughts, despite seeing the evidence of their change. Emmet was shaking in his seat, his chubby legs kicking in the air wanting to pace around so he could think and stim, but his pink body felt too heavy in his seat as he looked at his new hands in disbelief. Ingo on the other hand was gently tugging at the bill of his hat as he tried to think, but his thoughts were like scattered marbles. Words wouldn’t come out either, his mouth felt dry and his tongue was like clay, he felt like he was going to go crazy. They were both an absolute mess…

   Putting his new form aside, as much as it bothered him, he couldn’t stop thinking about the subway, the passengers and their depot agents. Oh Arceus, the paper work they’d need to sort through, damage reports, reports of injury to patrons- Flashes of the scene caused in the terminal entered his mind, and his heart clenched. What a mess. He didn’t even want to think about how many people must have gotten hurt…

  "I-Ingo…?" The newly formed Gengar snapped his head in the direction of his brother's voice, only to be met with the pink face of a Clefable dressed like his twin. Ingo looked at the Pokemon his brother had been turned into, scanning the scared, yet still smiling expression of the shaken Po- man… Emmet, the Clefable was Emmet, and he was Ingo, "It's me Emmet. I am Ingo." The older twin reassured, reaching out with his purple paw to hold his brother's pink one.

  The young twin sniffled, his pinkish silver eyes becoming misty, the corners of his mouth trembling to keep a smile.

   "We….. w-we have… Hybrid's Disease…. Don't we…?"

   Ingo furrowed his brow at the question. Emmet's use of tone often made questions sound like statements even if he didn't intend it, but the twin's voice was trembling so much, it made it obvious this time he was asking a question, looking for some kind of reassurance. It hurt to see his brother so shaken.

  The room went as silent as the dead as the two twins stared at one another, waiting for an answer to the obvious. Biting his lip, fingers tightening around the pink paw, the Gengar nodded solemnly, unable to say it. Ingo flinched when he heard Emmet take in a sharp breath, and he could feel his "fur" stand on end. Emmet was clutching hard to the Gengars paw as he took in deep breaths. He needed reassurance, confirmation that they'd be okay, they were always okay if they were together, but his older brother lacked the words. The Clefable began taking deep, long breaths, like he'd learned when he was younger. It always helped before. Safety checks never failed him in the long run.

  “What are we going to do…?” Ingo asked aloud, staring up at the ceiling, “We can’t work like this… getting accustomed to such a bulky body feels impossible. And if we have the same abilities as pokemon…”

    He felt a shiver at the thought of being met with those same looks of terror from earlier. If they didn’t have control of their powers, the public would surely lose faith in them.

   “We’ll need to get this new engine under control, otherwise this train will run off the tracks....”

   Emmet looked at the ground, “We still have our uniforms… but we do not look like Ingo and Emmet. No good…” the younger win tugged at his coat sleeve, as if to check it was real. Despite the drastic change in shape their bodies had undertaken, nothing hurt, no sore bones or pain, and oddly enough their clothes had also changed to fit their new shape. Odd. Emmet knew they were also avoiding the real topic by talking about work… but work talk was… easier. Much easier.

  “And our pokemon…” the older twin added, his paws unclipping the orbs from his resized belt, happy to see they were all accounted for. “But as we are now, I have high doubts anyone will be comfortable around us… the disease manifesting has really caused an upset…”

   At the time all Ingo could think about was work. He’d taken so much pride in his job, he and his brother had always worked tirelessly to keep the subway running at its top condition. It was like his mind didn’t have room to really process the new reality-

  The thoughts and worries of neglected work were quickly put to a halt as both hybrids jumped nearly 6 feet in the air when the office door flew open like a bomb had gone off. It nearly makes their hearts jump out of their chests.

   "INGO!! EMMET!! ARE YOU GUYS OKAY!? I Heard Screaming!!" Elesa screamed, as she burst through the door looking just as much of a wreck as the two men turned Pokemon. 

   Her hair was a mess, her eyeliner running, and she wasn't even wearing shoes when she threw her arms around the two, pulling the two rounded forms into a tight hug.

  "Oh dragons look at you two!! You both look like someone dumped cold water on you! Emmet you're shaking like a rattle!" The model didn't even stop to breath as her blue eyes darted over their new forms, as if looking for physical injuries, though her reaction to the forms themselves seemed a little lackluster compared to the extremes of earlier.

   "Did it hurt!? Are you okay!? Shouldn't we get you two to a hospital or- or-!? Ugh! I dunno!"

  "We're fine Elesa… just…. Shaken… a lot has happened, and we are still processing it all…" Ingo said, glancing at Emmet who had most of their friend's attention, and seemed a bit overwhelmed as his stubby leg began tapping on the ground. "I-I am Emmet. I am… not okay. I will be. Later. Maybe." The younger twin said, as he began to tug at his jacket sleeve, his eyes looking everywhere but Elesa's face. It took the gym leader a moment to realize what she'd been doing in her panic, and quickly apologized to the subway boss, "I-I sorry for riling you up Emmet…" to which the twin just nodded as he was given a bit of space to collect himself. "It is okay, Elesa."

  Elesa understood the twins well, but sometimes her own excitement could blind her and she'd slip up. "Fuck… you guys…" she started to say after she calmed down enough to not loose control of her voice. "I- What… how did this happen…?" The woman managed to ask the older twin, only for him to shake his head. "I don't know. It happened so fast… we didn't even feel it when we changed and… oh dragons everything derailed so fast…" the Gengar looked down, his somber tone feeling bitter on his tongue as he stared at his purple paws, still finding it hard to believe he didn't have hands anymore. "We contracted the Hybrid's Disease… and now we’re like this…”

  “ I am Emmet… I would like to go home now…”