Animal Magick 4
Chapter 14: Be Wary of Strangers
The five misfit animals had fallen asleep in a corner furthest away from the homeless junkie. Justin lay on his stomach, with his legs underneath him, with Chris snuggled in between Justin and Joey. Lance lay behind Joey, and J.C. slept inside his shell at Justin's head.
Joey's stench was almost unbearable; both from the closeness of them and the body heat from all the animals was intensifying Joey's smell. It was going to be very ripe in the morning, but they were thankful they weren't going to have to stay.
Meanwhile, the homeless man was holding a grudge. "You worthless animals, you all should be shot-" he stopped, giving himself an idea. "No, I can't do that," he decided. "That would be wasting bullets."
He glared at the oblivious animals. His restless fingers found his plastic bag of speed, and he played with it for a minute before getting an idea. Quickly but quietly, he got up and headed out side to the nearest dumpster he could find.
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Chris's sensitive nose twitched as it absorbed a sweet, fishy smell. He lifted his tiny gray head from its nest on top of his tail and blinked his small black eyes to adjust them. He had a warm spot curled next to Joey and Justin's warm belly, which moved, rhythmically as he breathed.
The others remained in their peaceful sleep as Chris watched the old homeless man bustle about, sprinkling various things in a frying pan that must have held a fish. Black smoke was billowing out, and the man had to hold a worn rag over his nose as he worked. Chris's tiny belly rumbled, calling food to it. Chris sighed, then flicked his tail as his body obeyed his stomach and he left his warm nest among the others.
Slowly, he made his way over to the old man. The man looked up and saw the fluffy gray squirrel approaching. "Hey there you little rat, are ya hungry?" He turned around and began looking for something that would hold the dark liquid that was simmering around the fish. Chris nimbly climbed the stand that was supporting the pan above the fire and sniffed at the funny, sweet smell.
The man searched around behind him, tripping over a now empty bottle of antifreeze. He turned back to Chris who was dangling off the stand, trying to reach the fish. Then he kicked the empty bottle out of sight and found an old wooden spoon that would work nicely for his purposes. He grabbed it and quickly turned back to the curious squirrel, smiling mischievously. "Here you go rat," he said gruffly, spooning up some liquid.
He held it down to Chris, who sniffed it cautiously from his perch on the crudely made cooking stand. It smelled sweet and fishy, and his stomach called for it. Unable to resist his grumbling stomach, Chris started lapping it from the spoon, his tiny tongue scraping against the wood. In the background, he heard the others begin to wake up. They coughed at Joey's unbearable stench and quickly scattered, leaving Joey by himself.
"Good morning beasts," the man said, taking the now clean spoon away from Chris. He scooped up more of the broth and held it out to them.
"I smell fish," Joey said excitedly as he joined the others. They gathered around the old man, trying to see what he was cooking.
Lance hopped over to Chris and asked, "What's he making?"
"Fish," Chris replied, jumping down.
"I want some!" Joey said, pushing in between the rabbit and squirrel. His huge ringed tail dragged on the floor as he stood on his hind legs and grabbed the edge of the pan, peering in.
"You want some of that?" the man asked, pushing Joey down. "You gotta share with your friends." He used the spoon to pick up the rather small fish, then placed it on the floor. "Go ahead, dig in," he smiled, stepping back.
Joey lunged for the fish, his stomach taking over. "Wait!" Lance said, taking a small hop towards Joey.
Joey glared at Lance through his bandit-marked fur. "What?" he asked impatiently.
"Something's not right," he replied, sniffing the fish. His long whiskers brushed up against the steaming fish as his small pink nose took in the smells.
"We don't eat fish anyway," Justin said, stamping his hoof on the cold concrete floor.
"Well I do!" Joey replied, licking his lips and making his black nose glisten.
J.C. looked at the old man who was waiting for them to eat the fish. He looked behind the man, trying to figure out what was making the old man laugh so evilly. Then his pea-sized red eyes spotted an empty bottle of antifreeze that had been shoved in a corner. He wished he could see in color, so he could tell if the broth the fish had been cooking in was green or not. He knew antifreeze smelled and tasted sweet, and it was extremely dangerous. "Guys," he said, not taking any chances. "He cooked it in antifreeze!"
The others stopped their fighting and looked at him. "You sure?" Justin asked, swiveling his ears.
"No, but I wouldn't put it past him," J.C. replied, taking a step towards the door.
The man watched as the animals began to turn away from the fish, getting disappointed. "You mangy animals, get back here and eat it!" the man yelled. He picked up a dented tin cup that was lying at his feet. He threw it at the departing animals, making them scatter and run to the door. "Go on, get out of here!" he yelled, watching them run out the door. "I hope you all get run over by a semi!"
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The guys ran out on the street, anxious to get away from the delusional old man. "Man, that guy was creepy," Justin mumbled, talking through J.C.'s shell that he carried in his mouth.
"Yeah, I guess Joey kinda owes us one," J.C. said, his voice shaking as Justin bounced him.
"Oh great J.C.," Joey said sarcastically as he trailed along behind everyone. "I owe you my soul. How can I ever repay you?"
"Just stay back there until that smell wears off," J.C. replied, watching cars and people go by.
Lance hopped along beside Chris, his soft feet thumping on the sidewalk. He noticed the squirrel's tail was dragging, and Chris wasn't his usual talkative self.
"What's wrong?" Lance asked, his long soft ears flopping as he jumped.
"I don’t feel so good," Chris replied. Justin swung his head around to look at Chris, and J.C. saw the condition of the tree-dweller.
"What happened?" J.C. asked before a passerby ran into Justin's turned head, causing him to look forward again.
"Can antifreeze kill?" Chris asked, feeling a burning sensation in his stomach.
"You ate it?" Lance asked.
"I didn't know that's what it was," Chris said, his mouth beginning to water.
Lance hopped faster, getting alongside Justin. "He ate the antifreeze," Lance announced.
"Turn down there," J.C. said to Justin, extending a rough skinned foot in the direction of an alley.
Justin ran ahead, bouncing J.C. uncomfortably in his mouth. They turned off the sidewalk, stopping in the alley. Joey trotted in after them, followed by a staggering Chris. "Guys, I think I'm gonna be sick," Chris said softly, his sides beginning to heave. The others backed away, turning as their friend proceeded to throw up most of the green antifreeze on the sidewalk. A long strand of drool hung from his mouth as he sat down. "Guys, I'm not gonna die, am I? Because no one would even know what happened. This isn't how I want to die."
"You're not gonna die," J.C. said, hopefully. "You just puked up most of the antifreeze," he said, glancing at the puddle at Chris's feet. "None of us are gonna die, because we're gonna find that witch and make her turn us back."
"Okay, good," Chris replied, going cross-eyed before he fainted.
"Is he dead?" Joey asked as Lance hopped over to the unmoving ball of fur.
"No, he's still there," Lance replied, seeing the squirrel's sides move as he breathed.
"Throw him on my back," Justin said, nudging Joey with his hoof. "Then we can keep moving."
Joey grumbled but obeyed. He hobbled over to Chris, then dragged him back to Justin by his soft tail. Joey stood as tall as he could and placed Chris over Justin's rump. "Can we go now?" he asked. "I'm hungry."
"We're all hungry," Lance said, getting upwind of Joey. They watched a large truck roll by, with the words, 'Erica's Catering' painted on the side. They looked at each other briefly then took off after the truck.
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Chapter 15: Sweet Revenge
They chased the food truck to a familiar place; Times Square. It pulled up in front of the TRL building, and stopped. Cooks began to unload from the back of the truck, and the guys started drooling as they watched platter after platters of good-smelling food go by.
"They must be having someone special on the show today," Justin sighed.
"It's not us," Lance replied.
They were standing about twenty feet away from the truck, and cars passed them constantly. Luckily, it was too early for the usual crowd to be gathering, so no one was bothering them as they stood and drooled over all the food that was being carried inside.
The delicious smell roused Chris, who had been hanging limply over Justin's back. His tail flicked, tickling Justin's back and making him give a small kick. "Am I dead?" Chris asked, pulling himself vertical with Justin's spine.
"No, not yet," Justin said, begging to drool on J.C.
After a few minutes of staring longingly at the truck, Joey asked, "Well what are we waiting for?"
"We can't just barge over there and steal food-" J.C. started, then he found himself moving forwards with the others in their mad dash to the truck. "Well, if you guys insist," he mumbled, bouncing terribly in Justin's mouth.
They skidded to a stop in front of the open back door of the white truck. Joey jumped in the back, Chris following. "Hey!" Joey's voice echoed. "There's nothing here!"
"What do you mean?" Lance asked, sitting on his hind legs as he tried to see in.
"I mean there's no food in here! They must have took it all inside!"
"Well, I guess that's that," J.C. said, sighing.
Joey and Chris looked at each other in the darkness of the back of the truck. Their eyes sparkled as they read each other's minds. "If the foods in there," Chris started.
"We should go in there too!" Joey finished.
Without another word, they leaped from the back of the truck and took off for the door, leaving the others scrambling to catch up.
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"God Joey, this would be so much easier if you didn't smell like a public restroom," Justin muttered as they crept along the inside of the huge MTV building. They attracted a lot of attention as the wandered the halls looking for food, but in a building run by MTV employees, anything goes. Outside, people had started gathering, anxiously awaiting airtime. Inside, people were too busy doing last minute tasks to get rid of the small animal herd.
"I can't help it," Joey whispered, although no humans could understand the raccoon's clicks anyway. "We're getting there, aren't we?"
"I don't know, it's been forever since I've been in this building," Justin replied.
"Well me and Chris were here last, so move and let us go first," Joey said, barging in front of Justin and nearly tripping the long-legged goat.
They walked along a little further, passing an open window on their way to some stairs. Outside they heard screaming, and they decided to see what all the fuss was about. The window was too high for anyone but Justin to see out of, so Chris perched uncomfortably on Justin's horned head while Joey sat on Justin's back.
They peered outside, groaning at the sight that awaited them. There were hundreds of girls outside, all of them holding posters that announced their marriage proposal to a Backstreet Boy. "Dear Lord, the world has gone mad!" Chris exclaimed.
"This makes me sick," Joey said, watching the girls continue to gather.
"I know. The Backdoor Boys are only number one because we're supposedly 'missing'," J.C. said.
"This sucks," Lance said from his spot on the floor.
"Well, we are in the building," Joey hinted. "I say we do something about this."
"Can we eat first?" Justin asked.
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After eating their fill from the buffet, the five former pop singers headed up to check out the set of Total Request Live, and greet the guests. Carson Daily already had he show under way, with the help of the Backstreet Boys. The almost all girl audience was pumped and screaming their heads off, calling the disgruntled animals from two floors below the actual set.
"This is gonna be good!" Justin laughed as the elevator doors opened.
"I know! We should win a medal or something," Joey replied as they started for the set.
"But no one is gonna know it was us," J.C. said as Justin bounced him down the hall.
Lance hopped at Justin's side, while Chris and Joey ambled along behind. They had planned a revenge for a long time, but they never thought they would be getting even in animal form. It had been a secret goal of theirs to make the Backstreet Boys look like fools on national TV, and this was their chance.
They reached the door at the end of the hallway and saw a sign on it that said 'Recording'. In reality, it glowed red, but the colorblind animals it looked like a normal sign.
"Okay J.C., hold on," Justin said, bowing his head.
J.C. pulled his leathery skinned head inside his protective shell in preparation. Justin pointed his horns at the door then charged, plowing into the door with enough force to take it off it's hinges and allow them access. The guys bolted through the crowd, running straight for the Backstreet Boys and Carson Daily, the host. Joey's stench followed him thickly, gagging everything he passed. Justin was first, and nailed and unsuspecting Howie in the side, taking the Puerto Rican heartthrob down. Chris took a flying leap, the kind squirrels are good at, and latched himself to AJ's face, who tripped over the scrambling Howie. Joey attacked the pant leg of Kevin, ripping off a chunk of the bottom as Kevin tried to run from the crazed animals. Carson had dropped the microphone and was on his way out the door, leaving the singers to battle it out.
The audience was screaming and running now, but the cameras were still rolling as Lance proceeded to urinate on the pile of disoriented Boys. Justin had begun eating the shirt right off of Brian's back, and J.C. crawled to a safe corner to watch the fun. Nick blindly grabbed the microphone and attempted to hit Joey, who was sitting on the blonde's face and swinging his furry tail. AJ grabbed Chris by the tail, but the limber squirrel pulled himself up and attacked AJ's wrist.
Kevin pulled himself out of the tangle of arms and legs, than began helping his cousin, shoving the blue-eyed goat away. Nearly Brian's entire shirt had been eaten or chewed and was now just a collar and an arm. Nick finally decked the hardheaded raccoon in the head, knocking the reeking animal off his face. AJ slung the flesh-eating squirrel from his wrist then joined the others on their mad dash to the door. Nsync gave chase, hot on the heels of the battered pop group. Cameras followed the mad chase as the presumably 'rabid' animals chased the Backstreet Boys through the doorway and through the building.
The chaos had spread through the building like a good rumor, and soon no one was sitting still. The chase continued to past the buffet, where the Boys quickly grabbed handfuls of food and hurled it back to their assailants as they ran for the front doors.
Justin used J.C.'s shell to shield him from the thrown finger sandwiches and vegetables. His black hooves pounded down the hall after the rest of the guys scrambling to catch up.
They skidded around a corner, slamming into the wall on their way. The Backstreet Boys had made it out on the sidewalk and into the mass of girls that had been waiting for them. Nsync stopped in the doorway, panting as they watched the Backstreet Boys met their fate and were engulfed in the crowd of teenyboppers.
"Guess we showed them!" Joey huffed, catching his breath.
"That's the last we'll be seeing of them for a long time," Justin mumbled through J.C.'s shell.
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Chapter 16: An Understanding
The five animals walked down the sidewalk with their heads down. The rush from earlier had worn off, and they were getting hungry again. They had been walking through New York all day and hadn't found one clue as to how they could be changed back to normal. They walked by a parked car and heard the radio blaring inside. The news came on, and they listened as the DJ said, "The search for teen sensation Nsync continues, police still have no leads as to what happened. Meanwhile, a group of animals including a raccoon, a goat, a turtle, a rabbit, and a squirrel invaded MTV's building on Times Square and proceeded to attack the Backstreet Boys. The Boys are okay, although the assault of fans hurt them more than the wild animals."
"Losers," Joey huffed as they continued walking.
"That was pretty good," Justin laughed.
"I wish we had been rabid," Chris added.
"If we had been rabid, we would be dead right now," J.C. said as his legs dangled out of Justin's mouth.
"Maybe that would be better than being stuck as animals," Chris replied. The effects of the anti-freeze were still making him ill, and he had become irritable.
Justin was about to say something, but a young girl accidentally bumped into him. "Watch it," he bleated.
"Sorry," she replied as they kept walking.
"Jeeze, people have no respect for poor, homeless animals," Justin said sarcastically.
They walked a little farther, looking at the ground. Suddenly, all their heads jerked up and they looked at each other in amazement.
"She understood us!" Lance exclaimed.
"We gotta find her!" J.C. said, but Justin had already turned around and was in hot pursuit.
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The guys spotted the girl as she stepped into an awaiting cab a couple yards away. "Wait!" Joey yelled as he padded down the sidewalk towards her.
The girl shut the door behind her, not hearing the animals thundering down the cement. The cab put on the turn signal, then pulled out into traffic, passing the group of animals as they screeched to a halt.
"Come back!" J.C. called, but it was no use. The cab continued it's slow pace through the crowded rush hour traffic.
The guys stood still, their tails drooping as they watched the girl drive away. Joey sat down, his hind legs resting straight out. Then he turned around to look at the others. "Well what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's follow her."
"Through that?" Lance asked, looking at all the cars. He raised his head slightly so his long soft ears no longer rested on the hot cement.
"Well, if she's our only way to get back into our human bodies, then yeah, we follow her through rush hour," Joey replied.
"I'm with Joey," Chris squeaked, flicking his tail to scare away a fly. "Being a squirrel sucks. I'm the littlest."
"Chris, you always were the littlest," J.C. said as Justin started walking again.
"Hey guys," Justin started as they began following the slow moving cab, "I can honestly say that I have the biggest package!"
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"How much further do we have to follow her?" Chris whined. "I can't keep up!"
"Then why don't you get on my back and I'll carry you?" Justin asked, sighing as a long string of drool slid past J.C.'s shell and plopped to the ground.
"That is sick," Lance said as he hopped along.
"Thorry," Justin muttered. "My mouth ith getting tired." Justin flinched as he felt Chris's sharp toenails dig into his back. "Watch it," he said, bucking a little.
Justin's rear hooves caught a middle-aged woman behind him in the shins. "Ow! Stupid goat!" she yelled, then started cursing as she rubbed her throbbing legs.
"Yeah, thame to you," Justin mumbled as the others snickered.
"There she goes!" Joey said, spotting the cab as it turned off the main street.
"I'm not crossing that traffic," Lance said. "I'll become road kill for sure."
"We have to," J.C. said. "If we all stick close together, we should make it. The cars are going slow anyway."
"Yeah, until they see a nice fat furry animal to run down," Lance replied.
"Justin, I command you to cross the street," J.C. ordered.
"Make me, turtle boy," Justin shot back. Justin suddenly felt a sharp pain on his ear.
"Do it, goat child, or I won't let go," Chris said through a mouthful of Justin's ear.
"Okay, okay!" Justin bleated, shaking his head. He stopped and faced the busy street, taking a deep breath before setting a shiny black hoof onto the road. Immediately a car screeched to halt, making Justin jump out into the road. Joey and Lance scrambled to stay with him, but the long legged goat awkwardly dashed through the cars, weaving in and out of the lanes with urgency.
Chris dug his sharp nails into Justin's back to stay on the jumping goat as it dodged oncoming cars. J.C. drew himself inside of his shell, afraid to watch as car after car slammed on the brakes to avoid a head on collision with the parade of animals. Lance hopped along behind, his ears dragging the ground as he ducked. Joey hobbled beside Lance, his tail nearly getting run over several times.
Justin finally reached the other side, pulling himself onto the curb quickly. His fur was wet with sweat, and every muscle in his shoulders stood out on the sunny day. Lance hopped on the sidewalk next, getting run into by Joey. The guys stood panting on the sidewalk and looked at each other. "Well that was a fun idea, let's do it again sometime and see HOW MANY TIMES IT TAKES TO GET US KILLED!" Chris yelled, standing on top of Justin's head and using his tail for a balance.
"Chris, calm down buddy!" Joey said, sitting down. "Jeeze, you're even worse as a squirrel," he mumbled.
"Guys, there she goes," Lance said, perking his ears up as the girl got out of the cab and walked to an apartment building.
"Let's follow her," J.C. said, extending his head out of his shell and blinking in the bright sunlight.
Justin started walking down the sidewalk, his hooves clip-clopping as they struck the concrete. People were too busy to notice them and they were able to reach the apartments with out a problem. They looked longingly up at the many floors, wondering where the girl had gone.
"'How do we get in?" Joey asked, trying to reach for the door handle.
"You are suppose to be good at opening doors," Justin said. "You figure something out."
Joey jumped, reaching his tiny black paw up towards the doorknob. His fingers brushed the bottom, giving him hope as he fell back to the ground. He tried again harder, and caught the knob with both hands.
Joey dangled there for a minute, trying to figure out his next move when Justin decided to help and lifted Joey up with his horned head. "Thanks," Joey said, turning the knob and jumping back down.
"Don't mention it," Justin replied. "And I mean it."
The five animals cautiously walked in to the air-conditioned apartments. The lobby was empty and quiet, except for the sound of Justin's hooves on the floor.
"Where do we go now?" Chris asked, hopping down off Justin's back.
"Who are you looking for?" A voice asked.
The guys turned and searched the shadows until they found the still form of a jet-black cat crouching behind the door.
"Who are you?" Justin asked as the littler animals hid behind his legs.
"I’m the house cat, when they can find me," the cat replied, swishing it's tail lazily. "They call me all different things, but I prefer Ebony."
"Well we're really the group Nsync, but we've been transformed into animals," Justin replied, waiting for Ebony to laugh.
"So Haggitha's at it again, huh?" Ebony replied. She blinked her glowing green eyes, then proceeded to lick her forepaw.
"Haggitha? Who's that?" J.C. asked, creeping out from behind Justin.
"That's Becky's mom," Ebony replied. "She's a witch."
"How do you know?" Joey asked.
"Because the New Kids on the Block came through in the same predicament," the cat replied. "Didn't you ever wonder what happened to them?"
"Are you serious?" Justin asked.
"No I'm lying," Ebony said sarcastically as she stretched. "Of course I'm telling the truth. That witch has been doing this for decades."
"Well how do we find her?" J.C. asked.
"Follow Becky. She's going home tomorrow for the weekend."
"Thanks," Justin smiled, dying to be back in his human body.
"No problem. And good luck to you," Ebony replied, then she slid through the shadows and ran up the stairs.
Justin bent his head down and looked between his legs. "You can come out now," he said to Chris and Joey.
"I wasn't scared," Joey huffed as he shuffled out into the lobby.
"Well my past with cats isn’t too good," Chris said. "I don't want to die in this body."
"We're not going to die," J.C. said. "We're going to find that witch and make her turn us back.
"I hope so," Lance said. "I hope she doesn't live too far away."
"Let's wait down here for Becky to come back," J.C. said. "Then we can follow her."
The guys all agreed and picked out a dark corner to hide in. "No matter what," Justin said, "We gotta stick together. I'm not leaving any of you behind."
"I'll second that," Chris replied.
"We'll get through this," J.C. sighed, setting his shell down on the floor.
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Chapter 17: The Light at the End
Joey was content. He was warm, having a wonderful dream of being human again, and his subconscious knew his friends were curled up at his sides. His ears flicked as he listened to movement in the lobby, then felt Chris snuggle against him even more. 'Okay, now it's too hot,' Joey thought. He tried to lie on his side, but a pointed horn stopped him. Joey yawned and opened his eyes, blinking to get accustomed to the light.
"Guys, wake up!" Joey yelled, scrambling to get out of the pile of bodies.
"What?" Lance asked, shaking his head to get his long ears out of his face.
"There she goes!" Joey replied, pointing Becky out to the others.
Justin hoisted himself up on his long skinny legs and picked up J.C. in his mouth.
"Let's go!" Chris said, taking off after the girl with the others in hot pursuit.
The guys ran after the girl and followed her out onto the street. She was unaware of the misfit group of animals behind her until Justin bleated, "Wait!"
Becky stopped and turned around, causing the animals to slide to a stop in front of her. "Where did all of you come from?" she asked herself out loud.
"What did she stop for?" Joey asked the others.
"Because I heard you yell wait," Becky replied.
"You can understand us?" J.C. asked.
"Yeah, I don't know why, but I can. Why are you following me?"
"We need your mother," Lance said, sitting on his haunches.
"Why?"
"Because she turned us into animals!" Chris chattered.
"Oh no, not again. Who are you really?" Becky asked.
"We're Nsync," Joey replied.
"Oh my God, really?" Becky smiled.
"Yeah, really. We're altho really dying to be back in human form, tho if you don't mind…" Justin said through J.C.'s shell.
"Oh right, I suppose we can talk once we're on the pl- uh-oh," she stopped.
"Uh-oh what?" Chris asked. "Don't tell me we're stuck like this forever!"
"No, it's just that I was on my way to the airport, but I doubt they'll let a goat and a raccoon onboard."
"Well thcrew them," Justin shot back.
"Now how are we going to find the witch?" Lance sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll just return the tickets and get train tickets or something," Becky said. "Now let's start walking, since I don't think you will all fit into a cab either."
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