Animal Magick

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Author's Note- Hopefully this will rank right up there with Puppy Love for you guys, 'cuz this is a kickin' idea! Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: The Change



'Finally, revenge is mine,' the witch laughed to herself. She closed the secret door behind her, then stepped down onto her dirt floor. This was her underground temple, where all of her magic was done.

She brushed away a strand of frizzy, gray hair as she walked to a crude wooden table, laying out five dolls made from hay. A single torch lit the entire room, although it wasn't very big.

Her name was Witch Haggitha, and she took in a deep breath of the musty air before beginning her ceremony. Her long, tattered black cloak swiped over the table as she motioned with her hands above the dolls. Humming to herself, she grabbed what looked like sand and sprinkled it over the dolls, watching it glitter on the way down. She had big plans in store for her victims, and she double-checked to make sure the lock was tight on the wooden door.

Haggitha reached down into the bag that she laid on the floor beside her, which was now serving as a rubbing post for a large, midnight black cat. "Scat," she hissed, shoving the cat with her foot. The cat ran off, annoyed at its owner.

The witch picked up her bag and smiled to herself. She laid the black velvet bag on the dirty table and took out her fist item as she began chanting something in an ancient, forgotten language. In her long, yellow nails, she held a single strand of blonde, curled hair. With the other hand, she pierced her index finger with a needle and let the blood drip onto one of the dolls. Then she carefully placed the hair on the drop of blood, and moved on to the next doll, repeating the process as she kept up her chanting using different types of hair she pulled from her bag. Lightning started to flash outside, and cool drops of water started leaking through her poorly made roof into strategically positioned pots on the floor. The cat walked over to one of the pots and lapped up the water as it fell.

The witch was unaware of her surroundings as she poured her soul into creating this spell. Her chanting grew louder as the lightning increased its fury, and the thunder threatened to overpower her. When she was finished with the last doll, she raised her hands to the sky and screamed, "May you pay the wrath of breaking my daughter's innocent heart! With this spell, I turn you, Justin Timberlake, into a creature not unlike your greedy, annoying self; the goat! I turn you, Joseph Fatone, into the equally clumsy raccoon! Lance Bass, you will become the quiet, laid back rabbit!" Wind howled and the thunder roared as she continued. "J.C. Chasez, you will become a turtle, wise and quiet like yourself! And Christopher Kirkpatrick, I turn you into the animal that suits you most, the hyper squirrel! Now change to the beasts I have commanded, and be doomed to live these lives until I undo this witchcraft!"

The lightning gave one final strike, scaring the cat so it hid under the table. A magnificent blue light gathered at Haggitha's feet, working its way up her body until it reached her outstretched fingertips. With the last of her energy, she flung the magic into the five dolls, and watched as they burned briefly.

Then she slowly sagged to the floor, listening as the storm outside slowly blew away. She sat on the dirt floor with a contented smile, thinking about her devilishly clever spell. The black cat curled up beside her as she fell into a peaceful sleep, relaxing her old body.

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"Where did this storm come from?" Justin asked, looking out the hotel window. The wind had suddenly kicked up, and the sky grew very dark before it tore open, drowning the New York natives with cold raindrops.

"I don’t know, but it better knock it off," Chris mumbled as he tossed his rollerblades on the floor.

The guys were all in J.C.'s hotel room, waiting for one of them to come up with an idea. The night before they had a concert, and they had just now gotten all their energy back. Lance and J.C. were watching TV, and Joey, Justin and Chris had been playing Go Fish, until they got too restless.

"Hey, Joey, do you still have your rollerblades?" Chris asked, getting an idea.

"Yeah, I think. Why?"

"Meet me in the hallway. I got an idea," Chris smiled, picking up his rollerblades and going out into the hall.

Joey went to get his skates, leaving Justin alone to laugh at the people getting soaked outside. J.C. and Lance were too involved in the TV show they were watching, and didn’t even realize when Joey joined Chris out in the hall.

"So what's this great idea?" Joey asked, putting on his skates with Chris.

"Not much, I just felt like going for a skate," Chris smiled, not looking at Joey.

"In case you didn’t realize, it's raining outside," Joey remarked.

"I did notice," Chris replied. "That's why were skating inside."

"Oh," Joey said. "Should have known."

"Yup," Chris said, patting Joey on the back as he stood up.

Joey stood up also, and followed Chris as they started down the hall. "Won't we get in trouble or something?" Joey asked.

"We're too popular," Chris replied. "Besides, with all the money we sp-"

Chris was cut off as something suddenly grabbed his throat. An invisible force knocked him down, and he barely realized the same was happening to Joey. Chris gasped for air, feeling an incredible pressure on his whole body. Stars shone brightly in his eyes as he got a vision of an old, gray-haired woman laughing at him. He squirmed around on the floor in a great deal of pain, feeling himself shrinking, getting smaller every time he moved. Finally pain overtook him, and everything went black.

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"Mom, I'm going out for a walk!"

"You just want to go look for Nsync," the middle aged woman smiled at her daughter.

"Well mom, when the number one boyband is rumored to be in your hotel, you kinda wanna check for yourself," the young girl replied. "I'll be back."

She stepped out in the hall, smiling to herself. 'I hope I don't see them, because I would be such a basket-case,' she thought. 'But it would make everyone back home jealous,' she grinned.

She skipped around the corner, then halted when she saw two dead animals lying in the hallway. Shocked, she remained where she was, half expecting a jerk with a camera to pop out from somewhere. She watched the dead squirrel and raccoon with pity, wondering who could have pulled such an awful prank.

Suddenly the squirrel's tail flicked, and the girl screamed and ran back to her room.

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Chris slowly came to, squinting as he opened his eyes. 'What the…' he wondered, looking around. Everything was black and white, and huge. Chris looked down and saw tiny, furry paws that were growing long, pointed nails.

He jumped, clumsily standing on his four new paws. He had also sprouted a bushy tail, and then he realized he had become a squirrel. 'I'm never going skating inside again,' he said to himself, jumping when next to him, a large raccoon stood up too, almost falling over instantly.

"Joey?" Chris asked.

"In the fur," Joey replied. "What just happened? How come I'm a big raccoon? Did you slip me something in my Dr. Pepper? Am I dreaming?"

"I didn't do anything to you, what about me? How'd I get to be a squirrel?" Chris asked.

"Wait a minute, how come we can understand each other?" Joey asked. Their lips weren't moving, but yet they could hear each other talking.

"I don't know, maybe because we're both ANIMALS!" Chris yelled, or tried to, as much as a squirrel could yell.

They surveyed their surroundings, seeing their skates lying on the floor where they fell. The hallway had grown tremendously, making the hall table the size of a large horse. The light was bright, and hurt the small animal's eyes at first. The carpet was short, almost like a welcome mat that made it easy for little toenails to grip.

Joey was considerably larger than Chris was, and his black and brown striped tail hung to the floor. The black rings around his eyes made him look like a bandit. Joey's coon body was pretty fat, for a wild animal. His pointy nose and long whiskers made him a comical appearance, and years of complaining about his large feet finally earned him some smaller, clawed ones.

Chris, on the other hand, still had his tiny feet, that were disproportionate to his large, fluffy tail, which flicked continuously. Chris had long, sensitive whiskers too, but his head was smaller than Joey's. He was all gray, with a nimble, agile body made for jumping in trees.

"Do you think something happened to the others, too?" Joey asked, breaking the heavy silence.

"I don't know, but how are we gonna get in the room to see?" Chris asked, looking up at the towering doorknob.

Behind them, a soft hissing began, and they turned to see a brown and white spotted cat crouched under the hall table, it's ears pinned back as it moved it's tail like a snake.

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"Um, that's a problem," Joey said, watching the cat prepare to pounce.

"Nice kitty," Chris said, taking a step towards the cat.

"Chris, cats eat squirrels," Joey announced, backing up clumsily.

"Oh, yeah," Chris replied, stopping.

Suddenly the cat exploded into motion, springing forward with it's claws out and ready to stab a tender woodland animal.

Chris jumped and ran, his tail bobbing as he bounded down the hall. Joey watched as the cat followed on close pursuit, then he too joined the chase, hobbling as fast as his short legs could carry him.

People scattered in shock as he hobbled after the cat and his friend. They stared as the squirrel flew down the hall, a cat on his tail, followed by a hefty raccoon. Joey rounded a corner and nearly ran into the cat, which was sitting and licking his lips as it watched Chris search for a safer place than on top of the cleaning lady's cart.

"Oh please, oh please," Chris chanted, desperately looking for somewhere to jump.

"Hang on Chris, I'll help ya," Joey yelled, trying to think of a way to do so.

"Hurry, this stupid cat is gonna eat me and everyone will laugh that the cool dude from Nsync was eaten by a cat!" Chris pleaded.

"I am not stupid."

"Not, you," Chris replied. "The cat."

"I am not stupid," the voice repeated.

Chris froze and looked at the cat. "You can understand me?"

"Of course, you're an animal, aren't' you?" the cat replied in a snobbish male voice.

"Not really," Joey interrupted, stepping forward. "See, we just got changed into these animal bodies, and we have no idea why."

"Oh, well that explains how you got in here," the cat sighed, sounding relieved. "I thought I was getting old. Then the master would throw me in the street with all those commoners."

The cleaning lady returned, and Chris burrowed under a pile of towels, quickly pulling his tail in. He was pushed a couple of feet down the hall, then the lady started on the next room. Chris popped back out, a corner of the towel still lying on his small head. Joey and the cat were waiting for him. "So you're not going to eat me?" Chris asked hopefully.

"Certainly not! Rodents like you carry all kinds of bacteria and diseases!"

"So what's you're name?" Joey asked, sitting down beside the cat.

"I'm Chester, but the master calls me Toby. You can call me Chester though, and if you ever do call me Toby, I'll throw you to the alley cats."

"That's a deal," Joey said, smiling on the inside.

"Well, I'll be going now, and don't you two get too comfortable. And don't let the master see you, or he'll have my hide," Chester warned, then he daintily bounded down the hall.

"Locals," Chris mumbled, jumped nimbly to the floor.

"Well, how about we check on the others?" Joey asked, getting up.

"Yeah, I wanna see what happened to them," Chris said, hoping something did happen to them. That way they couldn't make fun of him.

The cleaning lady returned to her cart, and glanced down the hall before going back in the room to finish. She froze; telling herself there was no way a raccoon and a squirrel were walking down the hall. 'Of course not,' she thought. 'That's why we have Toby.'

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Chapter 2: Reunion



"Jump higher!" Chris encouraged, watching Joey's clumsy body trying to reach the doorknob.

"I…can't…make…I got it!" Joey exclaimed, his paws finally gripping the knob, turning it as he fell to the floor. Chris jumped out of the way, nearly getting flattened by Joey.

The door slowly swung open. Chris and Joey stepped inside cautiously, and Chris hid behind Joey in case one of his friends tried to eat him.

"Hello?" Joey called, taking another slow step.

There was a clip-clop sound and eventually a small goat appeared before them. It was mostly gray, except for a white tail and a white beard. It had wide blue eyes with long eyelashes, and it's body sat on top of long, wobbly legs that ended with hollow sounding black hooves.

"Dear Lord, Justin?" Joey asked, bewildered. Behind him, Chris erupted in an infectious, chattering laughter.

"That's Justin? Oh, man, I'm so sorry!" he laughed, sounding like a chipmunk.

"Don't laugh," Justin bleated, shaking his head and stamping a hoof in embarrassment. As his head shook from side to side, his ears flopped against his horns, making him look like a long-eared dog.

Slowly behind him, a small Box Turtle appeared, dragging its feet as it crawled. Its shell was distinctly marked with yellowish strips and spots. It had long nails at the end of each of its four toes, and a long neck that held a chiseled head with red eyes. "I'm coming Justin…who is it?"

Chris's chattering laughter increased. "J.C.? You're a…"

"Chris? Joey? What did you guys do?" J.C. asked, still moving towards them.

"Us? We didn't do anything! We went skating, and the next minute, a giant cat is trying to eat Chris!" Joey exclaimed.

"Do cats eat rabbits?" A tiny voice asked, preceding a large, chocolate brown rabbit.

"Lance?" Joey asked. He and Chris studied the good-sized rabbit as it hoped over to Justin. His ears long ears flopped as he hopped, and when he came to a stop, he twitched his nose. His long whiskers moved with his nose, and he looked at the others with big, soft brown eyes that were outlined with white spots of fur.

"Well now that we're all here, we can decide how to get out of here," J.C. said.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked, sitting on his big back end. "We don't even know what happened."

"Did you guys see this old witch lady during the change?" J.C. asked, resting his heavy shell on the floor.

"Yeah," Chris said as he poked his head up from behind Joey's thick tail.

"I think it's got something to do with her," J.C. said. "I bet if we find her, we can get back to normal."

"We don't even know who she is, how are we going to find her?" Justin asked, lowering his horned head to be even with the others.

"Really fast," J.C. replied.

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Chapter 3: Stepping Out



Justin poked his head out of the hotel room and looked down both ends of the hall. "It's clear," he whispered to the others.

"Okay, let's go," J.C. said, starting out in the hallway. Justin quickly passed him, with Chris riding on his back. Behind him, Joey hobbled down the hall Justin's heels, and behind him Lance hopped along. Slowly but surely, J.C. followed, going as fast as his scaly legs could carry him.

"Chris, don't dig your claws in my back," Justin whispered as he swung his head around to bump Chris.

"I'm not trying to," Chris replied, flicking his tail.

"You know, being a raccoon really sucks," Joey panted as his tail thumped on the floor.

"I don't have any complaints," Lance said, hopping silently on his soft, padded feet.

"Try being a turtle," J.C. mumbled, getting farther behind. "I got this big old shell to lug around, and I need a manicure."

Suddenly a tiny brown mouse ran out in front of Justin, causing him to stop suddenly and sending Chris sliding off his side, landing in a ball of fluff. "What was that for?" Chris asked, uncurling his tail.

The mouse looked at them with wide eyes, then squeaked, "Run!"

"Get back here you rodent!" A strong man's voice yelled, bringing a tall man in a suit around the corner. In his hand, he held a large carving knife. He froze when he saw the miscellaneous herd of animals in the hallway. "A goat-? What is going on here?" he yelled, scaring all the animals.

The mouse darted in a hole, forgotten. It then turned to watch the action.

"Let's get out of here!" Justin yelled, turning around in the hallway. Once again Chris found himself almost getting trampled as he bounded after Justin. Joey and Lance found themselves following the bouncing tail down the hall, and J.C. kept up a painfully slow, steady pace after the others.

The man ran after them, yelling for security as he ran. He chased the animals down the hall and into the stair well. Justin galloped down the stairs, surprising himself as he managed to stay upright. His fury friends ran after him, Chris jumping from step to step while Joey and Lance took two at a time.

J.C. watched the man chase the others down the stairs. "Forget that," he said, making his way to the elevator.

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Justin rounded the corner, his hooves threatening to slide out from under him. He screeched to a halt, his horns stopping inches away from a security guard's stomach. Justin backed up, and he felt the others slam into his back legs. Justin was forced to sit down, and heard a tiny squeak as his back end went down. He scrambled to get up again, and Chris ran out from underneath him, darting under the security guard. Joey and Lance followed, and Justin took a deep breath as he backed up. Then with full speed, he charged into the guard, knocking him out of the way.

Together they ran to the door. To the side, the elevator dinged as the doors opened. A woman stepped out, then immediately backed out of the way of the fleeing animals. J.C. crawled out from behind her, joining the others for a second before falling behind again.

The clatter of hooves and paws echoed in the hall, then quieted as the guys burst out onto the busy New York Street. Justin looked around, and so far no one had noticed them. "Which way?" he asked, stamping a hoof.

J.C. drug his shell past them, falling down the stairs. "Follow me!" he yelled.

Suddenly the security guard came up behind them, waving his arms. "Get back here you mangy animal!" he yelled.

The guys took off; the herd of them clattering down the stairs. The guard ran after them for a few feet, but quickly got tired and gave up. "And don’t come back!" he called after them.

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Chapter 4: Getting it Together



"Is it safe to stop now?" Joey panted, dragging his tail as he tried to keep up with Justin and Chris.

"Yeah," Lance said. "We gotta wait for J.C. anyway."

They all stopped and turned, waiting for J.C. to drag himself to them. "Let's get out of the street first, he said, going into an alley. The others followed and they stopped to get their breath.

"Man, I'm beat," Joey said, rolling on his side. His side heaved as he panted, his fur making him extremely hot.

"My feet hurt," Lance complained, stretching out on the cool pavement. His hind legs stretched out behind him, and his short white tail relaxed and lay between his hind legs.

"Wimps," Chris squeaked, sitting down and flicking his tail.

"You two have it the easiest," J.C. said, resting his heavy shell on the ground. "You were made to run."

Justin smiled somewhat through his beard. "I kinda like being a goat."

J.C. ignored his perfect chance to tease Justin. "We gotta think of what to do next."

"Yeah, like where are we going?" Chris asked.

"We're going to find the witch that did this," J.C. said, looking at Chris with his red eyes.

"That won't be too hard," Joey said sarcastically.

"We also need to get something Justin can pull me on," J.C. said. "I'll just slow everyone down if we have to run away again."

"Me and Chris will look," Justin volunteered, flicking his ears back and forth.

"Okay, you guys do that while we rest a minute," Lance agreed.

J.C. watched as Justin started towards the street, with Chris bounding very snake-like at his side. "And don't get caught!" J.C. called after them.

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"So what are we looking for?" Chris asked, jumping to keep up with Justin's big strides.

"A board or something," Justin replied, looking all around with his goat eyes that were on the side of his head.

They earned weird looks from people as they walked down the street. Justin looked in every alley they passed, and then jumped when he felt Chris's sharp toenails dig into his back.

"What are you doing?" Justin bleated, shaking his head.

"I need a lift," Chris replied, making his way to the spot between Justin's shoulders.

"Well don't prick me so much. I still have feelings," Justin mumbled.

"Sorry," Chris said, flicking his bushy tail.

They went into the next alley, and saw some thrown away street signs. "These are perfect," Justin announced, stopping in front of them.

"Go ahead and get them then," Chris said, not moving.

Justin stretched his long neck down and took the sign in his mouth. Then he yanked it backwards, pulling it free from the pile. Chris turned around on Justin's shorthaired back and navigated Justin the whole way back to the alley where the others were.

"That's great," J.C. smiled when he saw the giant stop sign.

"Better be," Justin said, dropping the sign in front of J.C. "I don't know what was worse, the metal taste, or that rodent's claws."

Chris blinked his big black eyes innocently and flicked his tail.

Joey suddenly drew everyone's attention as he tipped over the trashcan he had been hanging on. "I got it!" he exclaimed, holding up a long piece old twine with his long, black, clawed fingers.

"Good," J.C. said. "Now just loop it around Justin's neck and tie the ends to the sign."

Joey ran to Justin, the twine held tightly in his skinny fingers. He did as J.C. had instructed, and J.C. slowly crawled onto the makeshift wagon. "Now mush," J.C. teased.

Justin rolled his blue eyes as he put his weight into going forward. J.C. wasn't that heavy, but the sensation of something around his neck was strange and new.

Lance laughed from where he was crouched in the corner. "I can't believe this. What did we do to deserve this?"

"That's what were going to find out," J.C. said.

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