Switch: Alien Invasion/Violence&S*x-Chapter 153: We want to help you fight the demons

"You have been distant. You have been carrying all of this alone. I didn’t know how to help, and I panicked. They are my sister and my friend—I trust them. But that does not mean I should have spoken for you."

Tears are shimmering in her eyes now, but she refuses to look away.

"I am sorry," Stephanie says sincerely, and the anger that had been simmering in my chest wavers.

"I trusted you with that," I say, my voice lower now.

"You do not understand what this means. My power is not just some impressive ability. It is a double edged sword. If the wrong people find out about it, if the wrong government agency hears even a whisper of it, if someone decides I am more useful as a weapon than as a person, everything changes."

"I know," Stephanie cuts in gently. "I know now. And I will never tell anyone else without asking you first. Ever. That was wrong of me."

The sincerity in her expression is undeniable. There is no pride there and no stubbornness. There is no attempt to defend herself or justify what she did. There is only regret. Pure and unfiltered.

Mary and Stacy remain silent, sensing that this is not their moment to interfere.

Stephanie shifts a little closer to me on the couch, careful, almost hesitant.

"I do not want to be someone who adds to your burdens," she says quietly. "I want to be someone you can lean on when things get heavy. But I cannot do that if I break your trust."

That hits me harder than anything else she has said.

Because that is what this is really about.

Trust.

I’m not angry because she told them about my power, or that she told them about the alien and ship. What I’m pissed about is that she made a choice for me without asking for my opinion first.

I let out a slow breath that I did not realize I had been holding, and the tension in my shoulders eases just a little.

"I am not angry that you trust them," I say finally.

"I am angry because you did not trust me enough to talk to me first. You made a choice for me without asking for my opinion, and you decided I would be fine with it without giving me the chance to say yes or no."

Her shoulders drop slightly, as if she has been waiting for that verdict.

"You are right," she says again, softer this time.

The silence stretches between us, but this time it is not sharp or suffocating.

After a moment, I reach over and take her hands again. This time I am the one who squeezes.

"Just do not do that again," I tell her.

A small, relieved smile breaks across her face, and I can see how much those words mean to her.

"I will not," she promises. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

And just like that, the sharp edge of my anger dulls. It does not vanish completely, but it softens into something manageable. She made a mistake, and she owned it without deflecting blame, that matters more than I want to admit, because a lot of girls don’t do that nowadays.

The conversation slowly shifts back to the reason they called me here in the first place. The air in the room still carries emotion, but it is steadier now.

Stephanie straightens her posture and says again, more calmly, "We want to help you fight the demons."

I do not respond immediately. I just look at all of them, studying their faces one by one. Determination. Fear. Love. Stubbornness. Courage. It is all there, woven together in a way that makes my chest feel tight.

"We really think we can help," Stacy says, leaning forward slightly, her hands clasped together as if she is trying to physically hold her resolve in place.

I feel Mary’s hand on my thigh before she speaks.

"Please. This is our planet too, and we should be able to defend it as well. What makes you think we want you to be the only one in danger?"

We?

Her choice of words lingers in my mind. I glance at her, confused, searching her expression. There is something there that goes beyond simple concern. It is not just about Stephanie. It is about all of them. About belonging to this fight.

"Look, Stephanie loves you. Her sister cares for you. And I... well, I care deeply for Stephanie. If you are going into danger to fight off these demons, then I say you should get all the help you can. Maybe in Doom one man can fight off an invasion of demons, but you cannot respawn." She gives a small, humorless smile at that last line.

The image from my nightmare flashes through my mind again. Demon ships descending from the sky. Buildings crumbling. Screams filling the air. Blood on pavement and the sickening feeling of helplessness pressing down on me like gravity.

She is right, of course. They are all right in their own way.

But being right does not make this safe.

I run a hand through my hair and lean back slightly, trying to organize the chaos in my thoughts.

"You cannot fight them," I say, more tired than angry now.

"I at least have my switches and I can alter matter and also strengthen myself, Loveth can also makes me stronger just by being near me .No offense, but what can you guys do?"

My words come out harsher than I intend, sharpened by fear and frustration, and the memory of my dream.

The room falls silent for a moment, the weight of what is coming settling over us like a storm cloud waiting to break.

Stephanie is the first to move.

"I will not sit on the sidelines and be your cheerleader," she says heatedly, and I turn to look back at her. Her blue eyes are smoldering icicles, something I did not even know was possible, and her beautiful lips are pressed into a tight line. "I have been talking with Leslie, and—"

"Wait, what? What does she have to do with this?" I splutter, the sudden shift catching me off guard.

"You did not let me finish," Stephanie complains. "She is an expert martial artist, and I think," I raise my eyebrow at this statement and she quickly continues, "that with your help, we could be trained and be able to fight as well."

That would explain how Leslie was able to dodge me so effortlessly the other day. Or was that this morning? Time has started to blur together lately. Either way, that realization does not solve the larger problem.

"How do martial arts translate into a space battle, and how am I supposed to help you get trained in only a few days?" I ask. I cannot help the faint note of smugness in my voice. There is no way they will be able to answer those questions.

Why are they all smiling?

"Away teams, of course," Stacy says at the exact same moment her sister says, "Your switches, of course."

I look back and forth between the twins, trying to decide which one to respond to first. I turn to Stacy.

"How do you expect to board their ships? Vage does not have shuttles. No amount of martial arts training is going to stand up to a gun. Besides, you will be outnumbered, and they are also battle hardened armed with technology, while y’all are just ordinary modern college girls with zero experience in fighting."

"Leslie already thought of that," Stephanie replies.

Of course she did.

"She has already recalibrated the teleporters and is fairly sure she can get us onboard one of their ships. Then we can take it over and use it against them."

"Fairly sure?" I ask, doing my best to keep the disbelief out of my voice. With Leslie’s intelligence and confidence, if she is only fairly sure, that does not inspire comfort. That sounds like a margin of error, and margins of error get people killed.

"Vage has been talking with the other aliens, and they are going to try some practice runs with inanimate objects tonight," Stephanie says. Her eyes grow distant and she smiles slightly. "Or rather, they just completed the trials and were successful."

Apparently she is communicating with someone on the ship through nanites.

"That still does not answer the question about you being outnumbered on their ships," I remind them, refusing to let go of the practical reality.

"Oh, come on," Mary says. "Have you not seen enough Stargate episodes? A small team that is well prepared and properly armed stands a better chance of getting on board and taking over the bridge. Surprise, coordination, speed. It is not about brute force."

"Were you not the one who just used Doom as a bad example for why that would not work?" I ask.

At least she has the decency to look embarrassed, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"We will have weapons," Stacy says, her voice firm. "And we can use those light suits my sister told us about for protection. They enhance strength and resilience. We will not be going in unprotected."