Gymnastics Center. 4:30 PM...

Chelsea's beam performance was the last one left for the judges to score. Her hair was tied into a bun and she was wearing her lucky black leotard that had sequins decorated around her torso.

She stretched her hands on the beam; feeling it's slick texture with her baby-blue manicured fingers. Then she lifted her left leg on top of the beam and pulled herself up and swung until she stood on top of the beam. With her hands out, she stretched her arms into various poses above her head and prepared for the main performance. With one foot in front of the other, she performed a scissor leap, then an aerial cartwheel, and finished with a split leap on the other side of the beam. She could hear clapping from the audience and cheers from her teammates. She then readied herself and performed a front handspring, a straight jump, and attempted to land on the mat below. However, when she landed on the mat her heels slightly turned which made landing a bit crooked. She stood up and cheers could be heard throughout the stadium.

"And now it's in the judges hands, will UCLA come up on top with Chelsea Yan's performance on the beam?" the announcer boomed. Silence for two whole minutes...

"The judges are ready to score... and the Michigan Wolverines are the victor with a score of 198.2. UCLA in second with 198.1. And..." The announcer continued and cheers could be heard echo around the room; for the other team.

The distraught UCLA team, still huddled together, all sighed and gave each other a sloppy high-five and watched as a judge presented the first-place winners plaque to the University of Michigan team. Afterwards, the top three teams came together and shook each others hands and filed out of the stadium; Chelsea, still bitter, quickly left to change into street clothes and get the hell out of there.

Umi Sushi restaurant. 5:30 PM...

With the tournament now behind them, the team ate together and gossiped with one another at a private room in the restaurant. The school quarter had just started and they were in the heat of talking about various professors and which parties they were gonna attend. Chelsea, the somewhat socially inept of the athletic bunch, sat and listened as the gossip continued.

All of a sudden, Chelsea's phone ringed; it was her mom calling. She quickly muted her phone and the first call went to voicemail. A minute later, her mom called again and Chelsea excused herself outside to take the call. She slipped on her bare feet into her black flats and walked outside into the cool San Diego pier air with a loose tank top and a pair of leggings. Once she was outside, she took the call and started pacing on the sidewalk.

"Hi Mom," Chelsea greeted.

Through the phone, her parents wanted to talk to her about her performance earlier that day. They were watching her performance from back home and wanted to know how she felt.

"It's fine mom. I might have just been tired today so I kinda slipped up on the landing..."

Meanwhile, as Chelsea paced on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, a black inky goo started to seep out of a manhole on the street. The ooze, now less than 24 hours after it escaped the nearby naval base, was finally able to calm down and find a willing host to let it recover. The liquid pooled to the edge of a nearby sidewalk and felt a human presence walking back and forth above it.

As it looked up, it saw her strong athletic legs and her sculpted defined arms swaying in the air as she talked on her phone. It could sense strong emotions being emitted from her and a strong personality that lay underneath. From its cursory observation, it decided she would be a good enough host for the night. To avoid being noticeable, the ooze formed into a small gum-sized blob on the sidewalk and prepared for the athlete to step on it.

"... ok talk to you soon mom. Say hi for dad for me," she ended and walked towards the restaurant; casually stepping on the gum-wad shaped ooze on the sidewalk. The ooze altered it's material to silently, and without friction, latch onto the bottom of the outer soles of her shoe and attach its entire being without being detected by the lady above.

As Chelsea walked back in, the ooze felt a warming sensation brought upon by not only being led indoors but from the heat that permeated from her bare feet. She walked inside, took off her shoes and re-joined the rest of her teammates as they finished their meal for the night.

Chelsea's hotel room... 8:10 PM

After hanging out with her teammates, Chelsea headed straight back to her room to pack and get ready for an early flight back to Los Angeles.

She took off her shoes and began to get ready for bed. As soon as she slipped off her flats, the wad of ooze slid out from under her shoes and pooled into a dark corner of her room; watching the female disrobe. As she disrobed, the ooze was pleasantly surprised to see her host's physique. Her defined abdominal muscles had grooves that were cut like marble, her legs were tone, and her biceps and pectorals were built up from years of intense training. She was no Anne Weying or even Eddie Brock... but she was something more; a different level than its previous hosts.

With herself now in the buff, Chelsea sauntered over to the bathroom to complete her nightly ritual before going to sleep. It was a tough and, somewhat, embarrassing day but she wanted to look past it and be able to head back and continue to practice before the next competition in the spring.

As the bathroom door closed, the symbiote knew it hit a gold mine; an attractive, yet delicate figure that it could impose its influence.

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