#Rupert Marmalade | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

xandriagreat · 19 days ago

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Fate Be Changed

Chapter 8: Cleaning up/Dig a little Deeper

First chapter | Last chapter | Next chapter

Author’s note: reminder: The song’s lyrics are going to be bold and italic.

Notice/warnings: naked, showers/cleaning, food, scary moment, pain, transformation

▪▪▪

As they followed Granny Gumbo to her place, there were some stilt houses and there were some other people living.

It felt like a whole community.

Diane noticed the sound about people talking to each other, music playing, the chirping of birds and crickets, and the water streaming. To her, the sounds made this community all more alive.

Then they soon got to some type of tree house. Of course it was big and beautiful. Almost like a mansion but it was almost like a cottage somewhere around the late 18th to early 19th century.

The lights inside were on as they approached the tree house.

When they went inside, Diane saw Ruby (who was still human) and an alligator wearing a suit.

The both of them just finished talking about something.

Diane gasped excitedly when seeing Ruby. “Ruby!” said Diane, running to her.

Ruby turned around and her eyes lit up with excitement. “Diane!” Ruby exclaimed, hugging her when she got to her.

“Thank goodness you're ok!” Ruby said, looking at Diane again after they hugged.

“Same with you.” Diane said, smiling.

Ruby’s eyes sparkled with excitement when looking at Diane, gently petting her fur. “You are so fluffy!!!” Ruby exclaimed with a big smile. Then she pulled her hand away and quickly said, “Sorry, I should have asked.”

Diane blushed a bit red after her fur was touched. “I am fluffy but thank you for stopping.” she said

Ruby nodded and looked at Lou, Pepe, Moe, Herbert, and Webs. “Are those one of your new friends?” she asked, looking back at Diane.

The ‘fox’ looked at them before looking back at Ruby, nodding. “Yes, this is Lou, Pepe, Moe, Herbert, and Webs.”

Ruby hummed and nodded with a soft smile, waving at them.

While that was happening, Rhonda was still carrying Webs as she walked over to the alligator wearing a suit. Then she offers Webs to him, as if to say ‘Here’.

The ‘alligator’s’ eyes lit up in excitement and in relief when seeing the spider, smiling big. “Webs! You okay?” said the ‘alligator’, picking up the ‘spider’ from the ‘Tasmanian Devil’.

Webs stared at the ‘alligator’ in confusion before her eyes widened in realization. “Wait… Milton?!” Webs said in shock, realizing that it was her other friend.

“Yes! It's me!” Milton said, putting Webs on a nearby table. “You, Moe and Herbert weren't at the place of the meeting and showed you guys a place to stay. So I knew something was up finding you until I found you guys with-”

“Yes, Marmalade, and we made a dumb deal with him.” Webs said flatly as she got on a table.

“Yeah, I was completely affected by it by the time I alerted Granny Gumbo about it.” Milton explained.

Webs nodded before pausing and stared at him in silence for a bit. “Wait… How did you get infected.” she asked, pointing at him.

“It's a long story.” Milton said “But that’s why I’m also here. To see what’s going on and see if it can be reversed.”

“Ah. Got it.” Webs humming, nodding.

Then everyone looked at Granny Gumbo as Granny looked at the two ‘water animals’ and asked, “Do you two fishes need a bath too?”

“We’re good but thanks.” Pepe said, shaking his head.

Granny Gumbo looked at Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs. “I’ll show you four where the showers and baths are.” the old woman said to them. “Did you bring extra clothes?”

The four looked at each other before looking back at Granny Gumbo. “Well… uh… Lou made us some clothes.” Moe said, pointing at Lou.

Lou took a bow and smiled. “I can go get them.”

“Alright.” Granny Gumbo hummed with a soft smile. Then she looked back at the four. “Now, let's get you four washed up.”

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs nodded to her.

Diane picked up Webs before Granny Gumbo began to guide the four to the bathroom.

◇

The four followed Granny Gumbo to the bathroom.

“So, how long have you four been animals?” Granny Gumbo asked.

“Two days.” the four said in unison.

Granny Gumbo hummed and nodded before opening and going through the door to the bathroom.

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs followed after her and the four ‘animals’ looked surprised when seeing the bathroom as they got in.

There were multiple showers and a few bathtubs. There were even some sinks. There were also a few wooden benches. It was like it came out of another country.

The bathroom looked more like a bathhouse, just with privacy options and curtains.

“Well, this is very interesting.” Moe said, continuing to look around.

The other nodded in agreement.

Then they looked at Granny Gumbo as the old woman got a basket. “This is for dirty clothes.” she explained before she plugged one of the sinks and began to fill it up with water. “And this is for Ms. Spider.”

“Thank you.” Webs said.

Granny Gumbo nodded and then pointed at one of the cabinets. “There’s soap, shampoo, and conditioner in there, along with fresh towels.” she said before turning around. “Now I’ll leave to give you four privacy.”

Then she left the room to give them privacy, closing the door on her way out.

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs looked at each other.

“So, how should we do this?” Diane asked as she put Webs on the counter.

“Well, let's get the toiletries and towels out first.” Herbert said, slithering over to the cabinet.

Moe walks over to help as the ‘snake’ opens it and pulls out a few towels. The ‘wolf’ got the bottles and both of them put them on the counter.

Moe looked at the cabinet one more time and pulled out a med kit before closing it. “Just in case.” he said, pointing it at Diane.

The ‘fox’ hummed and nodded in agreement.

Then the four start to sort the bottles, for who gets what bottles and who gets which shower.

There’s liquid hand soap and travel bottles of shampoo and conditioner set up for Webs. The others are the normal-size bottles for the animal's fur, like for Moe and Diane. And lastly the other bottles are good for scales, like for Herbert.

After sorting the bottles and picking which shower, they all start to realize something.

It seems Granny Gumbo has been prepared for this.

“It looks like Granny has been doing this for a long time.” Diane said as she realized.

Moe, Herbert, and Webs nodded, looking very worried.

“Let’s get clean.” Moe said, taking his bottles and towel to the shower that he’s going to use.

The others nodded.

Diane and Herbert got their bottles and towels, taking them to their showers that they’re going to use.

Then they each got undressed, putting the very dirty clothes in the basket (except for Webs’ hoodie and Herbert’s hat, those were put on the counter) before going to wash up.

Webs got in the sink while Moe, Herbert, and Diane got in their showers after getting them going.

Diane, Moe, and Herbert begin taking a shower while Webs was taking a bath in a sink, washing off any dirt from their bodies to clean and getting their furs and scales soft.

They start to feel clean as they clean themselves.

After cleaning and washing up, Diane shook her body a bit to get some water off of her before she got her towel and wrapped it around her as she got out of her shower.

She dries herself a bit as looked around to see Webs just got out of the sink and got the hand towel over herself.

Then Webs looked at her and the both of them made eye contact, both starting to blush a bit.

“I- sorry!” Diane started, sounding panic as she covered her eyes with one hand while the other kept her towel up.

“It’s ok!” Webs reassured, wrapping herself in the towel to cover herself. “I promise it’s fine!”

Diane, slowly, uncovered her eyes and lowered her hand to look at Webs, who was still covered by her towel and got something from her hoodie pocket and started to unwrap it.

Both the ‘fox’ and ‘spider’ looked at each other for a moment.

“I've been bathing and showering whenever I can while on the run and doing my business. I normally use gym showers, sometimes rivers, motel bathrooms, or bath houses, depending on the area that I’m in.” Webs explained a bit embarrassedly. “I hope that wasn’t too much.”

Diane hummed and nodded. “It’s ok.” she reassured her, getting her undergarments.

Webs looked at her for a moment before smiling softly and then pulled out a new light green tank top, which got Diane looking confused at her.

“I told Lou earlier to just make a new hoodie. I have a spare top.” Webs said as she got her backup sports bra on before getting her new tank top.

“Ah, got it.” Diane said with a hum, getting her undergarments on before grabbing the aid kit to get a new bandage on her foot.

“How’s your foot?” Webs asked, tossing the dirty hoodie into the basket.

Diane looked at her and shrugged. “Meh…” she said as she got to one of the benches and sat down. She opened the kit and set it down next to her before lifting and checking her injured foot.

Diane looked at her foot after unwrapping the bandaging.

The cut was still there but the bleeding had stopped.

“Hm…” Diane sighed softly and started to clean her foot with disinfecting cream, which got her to hiss a bit in pain.

The sounds of running water stopped and then Moe asked, “Need help?”

Diane looked over to see Moe and Herbert just got out of their shower, with their towels over themselves.

Diane nodded. “Yes, please.” she said, putting her towel over herself to cover herself.

“Alright. Give me a moment, then I’ll help.” Moe said, walked over to get his undergarments. After he got his undergarments on, he went to Diane and knelt down in front of her. He checked her foot before getting new bandages from the kit.

It looked like he knew what he was doing as he wrapped her foot.

“I did this all the time back when I was young and while I was on the run with Herbert and Webs.” Moe said, continuing to wrap carefully the foot.

Diane hummed with a soft chuckle. “That’s interesting.” she said, nodding.

Then the ‘fox’ looked at the ‘snake’, who was looking at the door, as if to either distract himself or know something was coming.

Then there was a knock on the door, which got all four of their attention.

“I’ll get it.” Herbert said as he slithered over to the door, holding his towel around himself tight so it wouldn't slip.

He carefully opened the door to see Lou, who was holding the new outfits.

“Hi. I’m back with the new finished outfits.” Lou said, showing the outfits in a folded pile.

Herbert nodded with a hum and carefully took the pile from him, bringing them inside.

Lou turns the other way as he gives the outfits to him.

“Thank you, Lou.” the four ‘animals’ said as Herbert put the clothes on the counter.

“No problem.” Lou said, his head still looking the other way. “Could one of you put the basket of dirty clothes out? There’s a washing machine that Granny has, it’s fast and quick with cleaning.”

“Alright. Here you go.” Herbert said, taking the basket and putting it out into the hallway before closing the door.

The four ‘animals’ looked at the door as they listened Lou pick up the basket and then walked away.

Then Moe went back to bandaging Diane’s foot. “Alright, here go.” Moe said when he was done.

“Thank you.” Diane said, wiggle her toes for a moment before standing up. Then Diane started to sort out the clothes in order while making sure her towel doesn't fall off her back.

“Ok, I just sorted out the outfits so we don’t get a bit of a mix up.” Diane said when she was done sorting.

The other ‘animals’ nodded and all four got their clothes.

Diane, Moe, Herbert and Webs smell great, they hadn't washed up since yesterday, aside from the river. They got dressed after they finished washing and drying off.

Diane got on her clothes, which is a violet purple pinafore dress over a royal blue t-shirt, and black flats that fit perfectly.

Wolf got an ocean color blue suit coat along with a gorgeous grass green swirl design on it, green pants, white socks and even brown shoes.

Snake got a white shirt with a unique ruby red snake scale-like design on it. He put on his bucket hat back on.

Webs got on cyan blue hoodie with red lining.

All four of them looked at their reflections and they were amazed by their reflections.

The four animals left the bathroom when they were ready.

◇

When Moe, Herbert, Webs, and Diane got to the others, they could hear some of the conversations.

The four of them looked around as they entered the room.

Granny Gumbo was the first one to notice them as they entered the room. “Ah! I see that you four are done.” she said to them before pointing at a nearby table. “I made warm drinks for the four of you.”

“Thank you.” the four ‘animals’ said together.

They noticed warm hot drinks for them on a table as the four went to the table while Granny left the room with Lou and Pepe.

Diane put Webs on the table when they got to the table.

It's been a while since they had warm drinks. There were three normal cups with one small cup.

They each picked up one of the cups.

Moe sniffed his cup before drinking it.

Herbert and Webs looked at their cups before drinking theirs.

Diane blew her cup before she drank hers.

The drinks tasted good.

They were able to drink some of it.

When Diane finished drinking her drink, she got up and went after Granny Gumbo.

“Hey, wait for us!” Moe called after her as they put their ups down and started to follow her to get the same answer.

They found where Granny went around the house.

It looked like she was looking for something.

“We are so glad we found you, Granny Gumbo. Pepe and Lou have been telling us all about you. We’ve been traveling quite a long way. And you can’t imagine what we’ve been through.” Diane said, walking over to Granny Gumbo, who looked like she was looking for something. “And we heard that yo-”

Then Granny Gumbo began to interrupt her by calling out, “Zee!”

Then a lizard jumps onto a desk and squeaks, getting Granny Gumbo’s attention.

“Come on, over here, you bad boy. Give me some love now.” Granny Gumbo said with a smile, offering her hand to Zee.

Zee got on her hand, nuzzling, as Granny Gumbo gently pets him and said, “You just missed your mama, don’t you?”

Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs all look at each other with weird looks.

Granny Gumbo chuckled as she put Zee on her head. Then she looked at Pepe and Lou, smiling at them. “Again, it’s good to see you both again, Pepe and Lou.” she said as she went to a recliner. “How's everything been since we last talked?”

“Yeah, it has been a while.” Pepe said, smiling.

“We have been surviving but we’re good.” Lou said with a soft chuckle.

Granny Gumbo sat down in the recliner and laughed warmly, “That’s nice.”

Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs went to Granny Gumbo, who got comfortable in her seat.

“Granny Gumbo… We don’t want to take too much of your time.” Diane said

“You want some candies?” Granny asked, opening her hand to reveal some candies that looked a bit old and could break your teeth if you tried to bite them.

The four look at each other

“No, not really.” Moe and Daine said while Herbert and Webs said, “No, no thank you.”

Granny looked at them and hummed, nodding slowly.

“Well now, that’s too bad.” she started as she took one of the candies, putting the rest away and wiping one of them off the dust before eating it. “This is a special candy. Woulda turn y’all human.”

After hearing that, Moe, Diane, Herbert and Webs’ eyes widened in a panic. “No, no, no, please!” the four said in a panic. “We’ll take it!”

Granny Gumbo just started laughing, like she just pulled a good prank. “I’m just messing with y’all!”

Moe, Diane, Herbert, and Webs sighed in relief after realizing that it was a bit of a joke, laughing a bit and calming down.

Diane smiled at the others as she started “How on earth did you know that we want to turn back-?”

She was cut off when seeing Granny Gumbo napping in the chair.

“Um… Granny Gumbo?” Herbert asked, tapping her arm a bit with his tail.

Then Granny Gumbo jumped out of her seat, startling the four (again), and ran into a different room, shouting, “Zee! Why didn’t you tell me my gumbo was burnin’?!”

“Gumbo?” Diane asked before smelling air to smell the scent. It was one of her favorite father's cooking when she was a kid (No offense to her mother's or her friends or even her own).

She followed the old lady to the kitchen, seeing her stir a big pot.

“I can’t believe this…” Granny Gumbo grumbled to herself. “Got to do everythin’ around here…”

Diane glanced over to see what was in the gumbo pot before looking at the old woman. “What type of gumbo is it?” Diane asked, checking and inspecting. She's seen many different types of gumbo, so much so though she couldn't identify which one exactly it is.

“It’s a recipe that I made.” Granny Gumbo said, glancing at her as she stirred the gumbo. “You can taste it if you like.”

The old woman pulled one of the nearby drawers to show where the silverware was.

Diane got a spoon out, so she could taste it. She got a spoonful of the gumbo and tasted it. She noticed that it was a bit sour and a bit sweeter than any gumbo she had tasted.

“Well? What do you think?” Granny Gumbo asked, looking at her.

“Hm… Your gumbo is pretty amazing actually unlike anything I have seen since I was child but… add a little cumin, hit the parsley, lemon zest, additional cinnamon, with a mix of Tabasco and red peppers and it'll have a good taste.”

Granny Gumbo hummed and went to a cabinet, looking for the things that Diane suggested.

Zee got the cheese grinder out, for the lemon zest, with his mouth holding onto the handle of it, while Granny Gumbo got the things on the counter.

The others peaked in as Granny Gumbo got the things into the pot and then stirred the food together.

Then she began taking a taste after letting the ingredients mix together.

It tasted better than expected.

Granny Gumbo started to laugh and exclaim excitedly, “That got some zydin’ to it! I guess that’s what we needed.”

“No problem.” Diane said with a confused chuckle.

Granny Gumbo chuckled and looked at her. “Now, you figured out what you need?”

Diane was confused by the question as Webs crawled onto her shoulder while Moe and Herbert walked over to them.

“Uh… Well… It’s just like you said, Granny Gumbo. We need to be human.” Diane said, pointing at herself and then at the others.

Granny Gumbo’s smile faded into a frown and then she gave a loud forced laugh in her face, making the ‘fox’ jump back a bit and bump into the ‘wolf’.

Webs quickly got onto Moe's shoulder after the bump, clinging onto him.

“You are blind to what’s in front of ya!” Granny Gumbo said with sass, pointing at Diane in the chest.

Diane was confused about what saying and looked at Webs, Moe, and Herbert to see if they understood what she’s saying.

The three of them looked equally confused.

“What’s going on in here?” Pam asked, walking in with Emmlylou, Joy, Rhonda, Ruby, and Mitlon.

“Well the thing is-” Herbert started but was interpreted by Granny Gumbo clearing her throat, which got everyone’s attention.

“You want to be human…�� Granny Gumbo started, sounding calm. “But you blind to what you need.”

“What we want, what we need… It’s all the same thing, yes?” Moe asked with a shrug.

Then Granny gave the ‘wolf’ an angry glare before slapping on the back of his head.

“Ow!” Moe exclaimed a bit in pain, rubbing where he got slapped.

“It’s the same thing? No!” Granny Gumbo shouted at him before walking away, going to the .

“Come on, there has to be something!” Ruby said angrily. “I don’t want my friends to be hurt or dead because of an animal mix up from hunters!”

Granny Gumbo began to think for a moment as she walked to the main room, where there’s a huge open sunroof on the ceiling and some neighbors went over by the rooftops.

“Well I got an answer.” she said, turning a crank of a record player to play music.

Everyone (except for Pepe, Lou, Milton, and the other guests) were confused of what’s going on.

Granny Gumbo around to look at everyone, chuckling, “You all better to listen to Granny now!”

She set the tone as she hopped back a bit, smiling at them. Then she begins to sing, “Don't matter what you look like!”

Granny Gumbo summoned a sort of cane as she continued, “Don't matter what you wear! How many rings you got on your finger, we don't care!” She summoned magical rings on her fingers, showing it to the four animals before making the rings disappear.

“No we don't care!” The neighbors (suddenly appeared on the rooftop) singing like the chorus, which startled most of the ‘animals’ again.

Granny Gumbo chuckled softly as she picked up Zee and put him on the floor.

“Don't matter where you come from. It doesn't even matter what you are.” Granny Gumbo sang before snapping her fingers. “A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat! Had 'em all in here!

She turned Zee into different animals as she listed the animals before turning him back to a lizard.

“We had 'em all in here!” The neighbors repeated.

Granny Gumbo chuckled and spun around a bit as she continued, “And they all knew what they wanted, what they wanted me to do. I told 'em what they needed. Just like I be telling you! You got to dig a little deeper! Find out who you are! You got to dig a little deeper! It really ain't that far! When you find out who you are, You'll find out what you need! Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed!”

Granny Gumbo got her magic cane out and did a digging motion.

“You got to dig!” “(dig!)”

Then Granny Gumbo looked at Moe, Herbert, and Webs. They looked like they were about to step out of the room, like this doesn’t infect them.

The old woman got a crate that was near them, looking down at them while they tried to step out.

“Hey, Mr. Wolfy, Mr. Snakey, and Websy.” Granny Gumbo sang as Moe stepped away with Herbert and Webs. They stopped and looked up at her when she tapped her magic cane.

“Hey!” the three exclaimed as she pulled them back into the spotlight to them.

“You wanna keep on running with your lover? That ain't gonna make you happy now, Did it make you happy then?”

Moe and Webs were about to say something but were cut off by Granny Gumbo shouting “No!”

With the tap of her cane, Granny gumbo begins to use some wind with her magic spinning all around the three of them.

“Running means no stopping! Running means to let go!”

Moe and Herbert held onto each other while Webs clung onto Moe’s suit jacket like her life depended on it.

“All you need is to stop and look around.” Granny Gumbo explained, tapping her cane and the magic wind stopped blowing. “Make yourself a brand new start! You got to dig a little deeper.”

Moe and Herbert let go and looked at each other before starting to laugh while Webs started to slide off the suit jacket and onto the crate, looking at Granny Gumbo in confusion.

The old woman smiles down at her while she hops down from the crate and then points a hand to someone as she explains to her, “Don't have far to go.”

Webs looked to see that Granny Gumbo was pointing at Diane, who was dancing Rhonda.

The ‘fox’ looks happy and beautiful while dancing.

“You got to dig a little deeper!”

Webs start to recognize that she did feel different when she was with Diane. She stared at Diane in awe, a small smile and blush a little appeared on her face as she started to realize what Granny was singing.

“Tell the people Granny told you so!” Granny Gumbo chuckled, putting a gentle hand on Webs’ back. “Can't tell you what you'll find, maybe love will grant you peace of mind. Dig a little deeper and you'll know!”

Webs looked up at Granny and nodded to her, showing that she started to understand.

Granny Gumbo chuckled softly as she gently patted Webs’ back before she started to walk over to Diane.

Then Moe gently tapped the crate top, getting Webs’ attention. She looked up at Moe and smiled softly at him. “... Moe, can I ask you something?” Webs asked, walking over to him.

“Sure.” Moe said, offering his paw to her. “You want to talk about something?”

Webs smiles soft and nodded, climbing up his hand and up his arm. “Yeah… The question is this… How do you tell someone that you… like or love them?” the ‘spider’ asked a bit embarrassedly, looking at the ‘wolf’.

“Here are a couple of suggestions. Pick a good time to tell the person how you feel and don’t rush into it. Also be your real self and be the better person that you want to be.” Wolf explained as he looked at Webs, a soft smile on his face.

Webs nodded before looking at Diane again. ‘Maybe I’ll ask her.’ she thought, smiling softly.

Diane stopped dancing when she noticed Granny Gumbo walk over to her.

“Miss Foxy, might I have a word?” Granny Gumbo asked.

“Yes, ma’am.” Diane said, nodding.

“You're a hard one, that's what I heard.” Granny Gumbo chuckled as she took Diane to the kitchen and to the gumbo, while her friends followed them and stood by the doorway.

It shows Diane a memory of her childhood with her parents (the one with them at the potluck).

Diane’s eyes lit up when seeing the memory, smiling softly at it.

“Your father is a loving man. Family through and through. You are your father's daughter. What he had in him you got in you!”

Granny Gumbo patted Diane's back and guided her out of the kitchen by a different door, taking her up the stairs to the rooftop.

“You got to dig a little deeper! For you it's gonna be tough. You gotta dig a little deeper! You ain't dug near far enough! Dig down deep inside yourself, you'll find out what you need!”

Everyone starts to follow them, very into the song.

… except for Ruby.

Ruby looked dizzy as she tried to follow everyone but kept on stumbling until she just stopped and leaned on the wall, panting softly while watching everyone go to the next level as the song continued.

“Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed!”

“Open up the windows! Let in the light, children!” Granny Gumbo exclaimed, using her magic to light up the darkness.

“Blue skies and sunshine! Blue skies and sunshine!” Everyone sang happily.

“Blue skies and sunshine!” Diane sang, a big smile on her face.

“Guaranteed!” Granny Gumbo sang.

Everyone sang and held a long note until the music finished as a grand finale, the magic lights shined bright.

Everyone started to talk with each other when the music stopped.

Diane had never felt this joyful since New Year's Eve of Y2K.

The neighbors talked with each other as they went back to their homes

Lou and Pepe thought the music was still on but Milton snapped them out of it by tapping their shoulders. “Hey, it’s done.” Milton said to them.

The two looked at him and gave (more of tried) a thumbs up.

Granny Gumbo chuckled softly and looked at Diane as she asked, “So, Ms Foxxy? Do you know what you need?”

Diane nodded excitedly. She didn't know what to say but before she could say anything, a loud crash came from down stairs and a loud scream, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!”

Everyone jumped and looked at the direction where it came from.

It was Ruby… and she sounded like she was in a lot of pain…

Diane was the first to snap out of the shock. “Oh my- Ruby!” Diane exclaimed worried, rushing over to where Ruby was.

“Ruby!?” Diane, Pam, Emmily Lou, Joy and Rhonda called out, quickly rushed downstairs to help and see what’s going on.

The other ‘animals’ and Granny Gumbo quickly followed after them.

“Ruby-!” Diane started as she got to the room but she stopped when seeing what was happening to Ruby.

There were different colors spinning around the friend.

Ruby was on the floor, she stopped screaming as different colors spin quickly around her, starting to transform her into an animal.

When the transformation was done, the different color lights were gone and Ruby was a German Shepherd. Ruby panted as she passed out from pain.

The five friends stared at their passed out friend, processing what happened, as the rest of the others and Granny Gumbo just got into the room.

Before anyone walked over, Ruby let out a groan, “UGH…”

Ruby slowly opened her eyes as she slowly sat up and looked at everyone, confused about what happened.

“What… happened?” she asked, looking at everyone before looking at herself. Her breathing became heavy and quick, tears peeking at her eyes. “What… What happened to me?” Ruby whimpered, fear in her voice as her ears went back to her head and she looked at her hands that just became paws.

Pam and Granny Gumbo quickly went to her and checked on her.

Ruby looked at both of them, hoping there was an answer to what was happening.

Everyone was worried and wanted an answer for what’s going on too.

“Is she ok?” Emmy Lou asked, worried.

“Does it look like she is ok?!” Diane snapped angrily at her.

Emmy Lou looked at Diane, a look of confusion on her face. “I’m just asking if she’s ok! I’m worried for her. We’re all worried!”

Diane froze for a moment and then took in a breath, trying to calm down. “I… sorry about that…” she apologized.

Then Diane walked out of the room to get herself to calm down.

Moe looked at where Diane went before going after her. “Diane?” he called out to her.

Diane was in the hallway, leaning against the wall. She took a deep breath before looking at him.

“Hey… You ok?” Moe asked, walking over to her.

Diane stared at him for a moment before looking at the ceiling and sighing, “I don’t know what I’m feeling… Mad? Upset? All I know is that the emotion I’m feeling it’s at myself…”

Moe nodded in understanding. “Can't blame ya.” Moe said, shrugging a bit and looking up at the ceiling. “When Herbert, Webs, and I woke up after our transformations, I was mad and upset at myself…”

Diane looked at Moe. “You were?” she asked.

Moe nodded sadly, looking down. “Yeah…”

They pause for a moment, silence filled the air in the hall.

Then Diane started to ask, “How are you so calm?”

“What do you mean?” Moe asked, looking at her again.

“I mean you sometimes calmer in situations.” Diane said

“Well, remember I told you about how I grew up with my mother?” Moe asked with a chuckle.

Diane nodded.

“I was taught to be calm during situations.” Moe explained, a small smile on his face. “Ever since Young age with my mother's guidance but not only that but along with some of my father figures.”

“Father figures?” she asked “I didn't know you had father figures other than your mother?”

“Yeah. It does also make sense on how I act and treat others.”

Diane hummed and nodded.

Then they looked down the hallway at the room where they came from, seeing Herbert slithering over to them.

“Everything ok?” he asked, looking at both of them.

The two ‘canines’ nodded.

“Yea… I feel a bit better now.” Diane said.

“That’s good.” Herbert said before pointing into the other room. “Granny and Pam just finished checking on Ruby. We’re most likely going to have an answer about what’s going on.”

Diane and Moe nodded before they both followed Herbert back into the room where everyone else was in.

The others were still in the room when they got back in.

Granny Gumbo and Pam finished checking Ruby to see what was going on with her.

“Oh… this is bad… this is not good…” Granny Gumbo said under her breath, shaking her head.

“What’s wrong?” Pam asked, worried.

“This curse is different from the others… The curse is spreading.” Granny Gumbo answered loudly, turning around to look at everyone.

“What?!” Milton shouted angrily, walking in. “Granny! You said that it wouldn't spread unless it was fresh made contact!”

“She didn't touch any of the water.” Pam said while Ruby said “I didn’t touch the water.”

Granny Gumbo sighed and looked at the ‘animals’. “This curse is acting more like a sickness that can spread like wildfire instead of just infecting a few people at a time…” the old woman explained, worried in her voice.

Pam’s eyes widened when hearing this, like it reminds her of her studies. “Like a plague…” Pam said, very worried.

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock and worry, unsure of what to say.

The quiet silence filled the room.

“Is there a way to break this curse? Or is there nothing?” Herbert asked, breaking the silence.

Granny Gumbo looked at him before nodding and pointed at Herbert, Moe, Webs, and Diane. “You four, follow me.” she said as she started to leave the room.

As the four began to follow her, Diane looked back at her friends then at Granny Gumbo.

Diane had a lot of things going through her head and it made her worried. ‘Hope everything will be okay and this will all be fixed.’ she thought.

“There’s one way to break this curse.” Granny Gumbo said to them as they walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

They made it to the kitchen, seeing that Zee was helping with the gumbo by watching it and making sure it didn’t burn again.

“And that’s what?” the four ‘animals’ asked together as they watched Granny Gumbo as the old woman got a spoon out, tapped it and made it glow gold.

“Look in the gumbo pot.” Granny Gumbo said as she got to the gumbo pot, putting the spoon into the pot and begins stirring the gumbo

The four ‘animals’ went to the gumbo pot and looked at the gumbo inside as Granny Gumbo started to chant something.

“Gumbo, gumbo in the pot…” Granny chanted as she stirred. “We need answers, show what you got!”

The gumbo shined for a moment before showing Marmalade with Cuddles in a hotel room.

“Huh?” Diane, Moe, Herbert, and Webs asked, confused and looked at Granny Gumbo.

“Just watch the gumbo.” granny said, repeating what she said earlier as she pointed at the pot.

The four ‘animals’ looked back at the pot to watch the scene.

“Everything will be ok.” Marmalade reassured Cuddles.

(But what we don’t-!) Cuddles started to sign but stopped when Marmalade shouted, “We will!”

Cuddles stared at him, worried on his face.

Marmalade took in a breath, calming down, and then smiled softly.

“Thankfully, I have a plan,” Marmalade said, taking something out of his jacket pocket. It was a voodoo doll.

The voodoo doll looked like Vinny Wolf.

“Once the shadows come back and we get the Wolf’s blood, things will get back on track. You play as Mason Wolf for the wedding.” Marmalade explained, showing him the voodoo doll. Then a dark smile around his face as he said, “After the ‘I do’s, Vinny Wolf will be taken care of.”

Cuddles look at him, unsure about all this. (Ok, but what about Mary? She will find out that I am not Mason.) Cuddles signed.

Marmalade stared at him before smiling softly at him. “Don’t worry, everything will be ok, Cornelius.” Marmalade reassured him, putting the voodoo doll back in his jacket pocket.

Then Marmalade went to the door, “I’ll be back.” he said to Cuddles, looking at him as he opened the door.

Cuddles nodded.

Marmalade left the room and closed the door before walking down the hallways.

He sighed as he went down the hallway and went into the stairwell.

Marmalade got something else out of his jacket as he went to one of the walls of the stairwell, drawing a door.

When he was done drawing, he snapped his fingers together and the drawn door started to glow before it became a real door.

The door was a dark purple.

He opened the magic door and entered this new magic room.

It was a dark room, full of other voodoo dolls that look like they’re from different centuries. In the middle of the room, there was a table. On it were some tarot cards, a candle, a science kit, and a spell book.

Marmalade walked over to the table, flicking his wrist and the candle lit up.

He got the Talisman out, looking at it with his shadow. Marmalade sighed as he looked at the Talisman.

“Come on, now… I’m running out of time, I need more for the harvest- wait…” he said to himself then an idea popped into his head. Then he looked at his shadow with a dark smile before grabbing and opening the magic book.

Marmalade looked at a page with his shadow.

On the page, it showed how to combine a good soul along with a sinister soul.

“Combining two souls, one good and one sinister, it’ll make a bigger soul. That’ll be more than enough for the harvest.” Marmalade said out loud, pointing at the page.

A sinister smile began to form on his face while his shadow nodded.

Then Marmalade looked at his shadow and asked, “Could you get some more of the shadows?”

The four ‘animals’ were shocked and looked at each other then at the gumbo again.

Marmalade’s shadow showed a bit worried by -body- shadow language.

“Don’t worry.” Marmalade reassured the shadow. “It’ll give us a bigger chance.”

Marmalade’s shadow showed calmer and nodded as Marmalade smiled at his shadow.

Then the vision in gumbo faded away and went back to being gumbo.

“This can't be happening…” Moe breathed, worried as he looked at Herbert, Diane, and Webs. “We need to stop this from happening. If he does this, who knows what horrors will happen…”

Herbert, Webs, and Diane nodded.

Then they looked at each other before looking at Granny Gumbo.

“What should we do?” Diane asked, worry in her voice.

“There is one way to break the curse.” Granny Gumbo said, putting up a finger. “Break the talisman.”

The four ‘animals’ nodded.

“Ok… Break the talisman…” Webs repeated, recapping what was told before asking, “Then what?”

“I’m getting to that.” Granny Gumbo said, looking at her before stirring the gumbo again.

The gumbo glowed again and showed the silhouette form of the talisman.

“You four, or at least one of you, need to break the talisman.” Granny explained, pointing at the silhouette of the talisman “When you do, BOOM!” She tapped on the form and a burst of light shined and then showed everyone’s silhouettes as human in the pot. “The curse will stop and you’ll all turn back to human!”

The four started to smile with excitement but then stopped when Granny held up a hand and added with some worry, “But… if the four of you aren't back being human again after the talisman is broken… then I’ll try and find something else to help.”

The four ‘animals’ looked at each other, worried expressions on their faces.

“Like a kiss or something?” Webs asked, looking back at Granny.

Granny Gumbo stared for a moment before shrugging. “Maybe.”

That didn’t ease their worries.

“We need to go and stop this from happening.” Moe said, looking at the others before starting to leave the room with Webs. “Come on!”

Herbert nodded and followed after them while Moe talked to the others in the other room.

Diane was about to follow them but stopped by Granny Gumbo grabbing her arm.

“Hm? Granny?” Diane asked, confused.

The ‘fox’ tried to shake her arm to get Granny to let go of her, but the old woman had a tight grip on her arm.

Granny looked at Diane, worried in her eyes. “Diane, I need you to be strong when you face Him.” the old woman warned, not letting go of her arm.

“Um… What do you mean?” Diane asked, getting more confused and worried.

“I see two paths when you face him.” Granny Gumbo explained with warning in her voice, still holding her arm. “He gives you a deal, a deal that you can’t refuse. You MUST say no to him.”

“And if he eventually wins then that means…?” Diane asked, starting to get scared.

“Everyone will be nothing but food and play things to his ‘friends’ while he joins them as being a powerful being… along with you…” Granny Gumbo explained before begging, “So, Please… when the time comes, say no to him!”

The ‘fox’ snapped out of the fear and nodded. “I understand. I won’t let you down.” she reassured her.

Granny Gumbo sighs with a small smile as she lets go of Diane’s arm.

Diane looked at her before leaving the kitchen, looking at the other ‘animals’.

They all begin checking everything and getting their things before they leave.

Diane walked over to them, going to Ruby first.

Ruby looked at herself in the mirror, looking at her new form in the reflection. She looked like she was close to crying, whimpering a bit as her ears went back to her head.

Diane went over to her and asked, “Hey, you ok?”

Ruby looked at Diane and shrugged. “I don’t know…” she replied, holding her hands close to herself.

“Everything will be ok.” Diane reassures her.

“But what if I never-” Ruby started, sounding panicked, but was cut off as Diane held her hands to get her attention and interrupted, “You will go back to being human again, along with everyone else. I promise.”

“That’s right.” Pam said.

Ruby and Diane looked over to see Pam, Emmy Lou, Joy, and Rhonda nodding in agreement.

Ruby started to calm down before hugging Diane, who hugged her back.

Meanwhile, Webs was on a table as she looked at Daine with her friends. She sighed softly and hugged herself.

“Webs?” Milton asked with a blank around his face

Webs look up to see Milton walk over to her. He had a satchel bag full of something.

“You ok?” Milton asked when he got to her.

“Hm? Oh, I’m ok.” Webs said, trying to sound reassuring.

Milton raised an eyebrow and gave her a look. “Come on, I know you. Something is on your mind.” he said.

“It's just…” Webs started, trying to get out what she wants to say. “I’m just thinking… of asking someone out… It’s stupid…��

Milton hummed softly, nodding. Then he noticed the others starting to leave.

“How about you tell me while we leave?” Milton asked, looking back at Webs.

Webs nodded.

Then she looked at that satchel bag. “What’s in the bag?” she asked, pointing at the bag

“Some light. Just in case those Shadows come out and attack.” Milton said, adjusting the satchel bag on his shoulder.

Webs hummed and nodded.

Milton smiled softly and offered his hand to her, so she could crawl up.

She got on his hand and crawled up his arm.

Milton started to walk as Webs explain, “It's just… being on the run for so long and just going from place to place, barely stopping. I just… I’m also scared she would say ‘no’… after everything.”

Milton hummed softly and nodded as he continued to walk. “Well… you can still ask her to see if she wants to. It’s good to ask.” he reassured, smiling softly at her as they got outside.

Thank you.” Webs said, smiling back before then realized something. Then she looked at him and asked, “Wait… how did you and Diane’s friends get here?”

Milton got quiet for a moment before laughing softly. “Well… It's a long story. A complicated one, but…to cut it short, we got here by a yacht that Emmly Lou owns.” Milton said

Webs hummed and nodded. “Interesting.”

Milton nodded with a chuckle. “Yeah, but anyways, you got this. Ask her.” he said as he continued to walk.

Webs nodded a bit before looking at where Diane was, who was talking to Pam and Ruby for a bit.

Webs couldn’t help but smile at her. ‘Got to dig deeper and tell her.’ she thought, chuckling softly.

▪▪▪

Author’s Notes: Just to explain, Granny is older and she doesn’t always remember the right things. Like the witch from Brave; she forgot the bit of the spell when Merida left but then remembers sometime later.

8 notes · View notes

xandriagreat · 7 months ago

Text

Fate Be Changed

Chapter 4: Animal Party Mayhem

First chapter | Last chapter | Next chapter

Notice/warnings: food/eating/drinking, rude/mean, CAPs, fighting, body horror/transformation, screaming/shouting/yelling, chasing, kiss

▪▪▪

Around 6 PM

Diane just got out of the shower and just dried off in a towel, now in her undergarments. She was finding an outfit to wear for the party.

It was the weekend after all and it was at Hogwild's place.

The music was on her 1997 CD player radio and it was playing NSYNC's ‘bye bye bye'.

She was humming along with the lyrics as she looked at different dresses, suits and jumpsuits.

She found the perfect dress.

It was something she got from her 18th birthday and wore to her high school senior prom.

It was her mother's old dress from the 70s. It was a pink and blue dress with a light blue shawl wrapped around it.

‘Hope it still fits.’ she thought as she tried it on.

It fit her perfectly.

Diane looked in the full length mirror in her room and she smiled at her reflection.

She looked like she could be a princess.

She begins doing her hair and makeup and then putting on the jewelry before she gets her light pink heels with small bows on top.

Diane looked at herself in the mirror before leaving.

She definitely looks like a princess now.

Then she heard her cell phone ring. She picked it up and looked at it.

It was a text from Pam.

[Pam: I’m almost to your place. I’ll have one of the girls get you when we arrive. Don’t forget the food that you made.]

She began to text her back.

[Me: Got it.]

Diane quickly grabbed her purse, putting her phone in it, and went to the kitchen, where she made some beignets and vegan foie gras prior before getting ready.

She hummed and checked that she had everything ready as she waited.

Then the door was knocked on.

She went to check and it was Ruby, who was wearing a red dress.

“Hi Diane! Wow! You look beautiful!” Ruby exclaimed, looking at Diane’s look.

“Thank you, Ruby. I Thought I would wear something From our high school. It still fits.” Diane said with a soft smile.

Ruby hummed and nodded with a smile before asking, “Need any help carrying the plates?”

“Don’t worry, I got it. I got it. But thanks.” Diane said as she got the big dishes and went out of the apartment. She did her best with balancing the plates on her left hand and forearm while locking the door before she went with Ruby to the car.

Pam was waiting in the car for Diane and Ruby with Rhonda and Joy in the back.

She was fixing her box braids in the rearview mirror. She was wearing her special party dress which was a black and gold asymmetrical type.

Then she heard tapping from the window on the passenger side. Pam looks over to see Diane and Ruby. Diane held a plate full of beignets.

"Right on time, girl." Pam said with a smile, unlocking the passenger side door and opening it so Diane would get in.

“Hi, girls!” Diane said, smiling as she closed the door after getting seated and her seatbelt on.

"Now we need to get going." Rhonda said from the backseat, who was wearing a yellow jumpsuit.

"We don't want to get in traffic again!" Joy said also from the backseat, wearing a full black dress.

"Look, Let's just have a good time." Ruby said as she got in the back and got her seat belt on.

Pam nodded and started the car.

They went to the party.

◇

They soon arrived at the party.

The party was lovely.

There were a lot of people there, all dressed up nice and ready to party.

"Last college party before graduation." Diane said to herself.

The Hogwild staff greeted all the guests and reminded them to be on their good behavior.

Emily Lou Hogwild was talking to one of the guests. She is wearing a beautiful pink heart puffy dress.

"Looks like Emily Lou is having fun." Diane said to the three.

“Plus, that dress, isn't that from prom high school senior year 1996?” Joy sarcastically ask about Emmylou

Diane looks at the dress, thinking for a moment. “That’s a new dress in the fashion line that Emily Lou is in.” Diane said, looking at her.

“Right, good point.” Joy said, looking at Diane.

Diane nodded with a smile. Then she went to the staff, asking the staff where to put the food and they told her where.

Diane went to the food table as she added her two plates of the beignets and vegan foie gras with the other foods on the food table.

She started having some fun by socializing and small dances.

Then Diane saw that Rhonda was on a phone call as she went to one of the tables to get herself a drink.

“Hey, Milton. Did Stefaine come over with her two friends?” Rhonda said on the phone. Diane watches Rhonda being quiet to listen to her friend on the phone then Rhonda asks, “What do you mean by that?”

Diane got curious about what Rhona was asking and talking about on the phone.

But then Diane’s attention went to Pam, who was being bothered by a big muscle man.

The man was wearing a red ripped sleeves vest, showing a bull tattoo on his arm, dark jeans.

"Buck, please leave me alone, or I'll ask Hogwild to get the guards to kick you out." Pam said, warning in her voice as she glaring at him.

"Aww, come on, baby… You don't mind me being a manly man. Can I continue showing my tattoo to you, a curvy and thin beautiful juicy black woman?" Buck flirted

Pam did have a pretty natural set of curves, but she felt like insults more than a compliment because of her body. Of course he was one of the few that sexually harassed her at the college. She completely kicked him and slapped him in the face.

She was about to walk away but Buck grabbed her arm.

"Do that again and I will use Kung Fu on you!" Pam said, pulling her arm away.

Emily Lou came to check what was going on and luckily pulled her friend out of the situation, walking away from him.

"That guy is bothering you again?" Diane asked Pam when she walked over to them.

Pam nodded and mumbled, "I hate men like him."

"Agreed." Diane said, getting a drink.

“Let’s go outside. For some fresh air.” Pam suggested, pointing out to the front porch.

The three friends went out to the front porch to get some fresh air.

"Ahhh, fresh air!" Emily Lou exclaimed, smiling and taking in a deep breath.

"Yeah, at least we are out of the crowd" Ruby said, stretching her legs.

Daine nodded. “Yep.”

As Daine sips her drink, she sees something in the distance by the gate.

It looks like a man.

He was looking around the place through the gate before spotting them. The man waved to get their attention.

“Hey, Em.” Diane started, pointing at the man.

Emily Lou looked and noticed the man.

“Oh! Hey, Michael!” she called out to a guard. She went to a guard to tell him to open the gate.

The guard listened and immediately opened the gate and let the guy in and asked the servant if he could help him.

The friends went inside to see the guy, to see if he’s alright or not.

Diane noticed and recognized the guy was one of the men with the woman who bumped into her earlier that day but he didn't speak, which confused her.

'That man…' Diane thought for a moment. But then she was bumped into by a guy with his girlfriend and other buddy, Buck.

"Why are you out here, freak." Buck growled.

He has always called her that and he has made fun of her and family and cultural background, including her intelligence and hard work.

"I was just having a fun time with my friends. Thank you very much." Diane said, trying to be calm and not start a fight. “Why won't you just mind your own business and go back to the party? Haven't you bothered each of us enough? You need to grow up, When not going to be in college forever you know?"

Buck rolled his eyes.

"Well look who just woke up the girl whose parents should have married the same color." the woman said, crossing her arms across her chest and looking at Diane with a judgmental look.

"If you have a problem with me, stay out of it!" Diane growled, warning in her voice.

“Hey! Watch it!” the boyfriend shouted at her.

Diane glared at him and growled, “You watch it.”

She started to get mad.

“Oh, you should control that anger of yours.” Buck said with a dark chuckle. “That would just ruin things for you.”

The girlfriend nodded with a hum.

“That is why a woman of your background, you will never be in a government position, wouldn't have a hands full, trying to run a campaign like that." the boyfriend said. "You are better off as a housewife and a subordinate to men!”

Diane growled and then the next thing everyone knew was that she started to fight the guy.

But then the man ripped her dress and pushed her, knocking down Diane to the big inside fountain as her shoes flew off her feet.

Diane was wet now and her mother's beautiful dress was ruined.

The woman and Buck started to laugh at her.

But it was short as Emily Lou and some guards got to them.

Buck and the couple nervously chuckled about to leave the scene.

The guards blocked them as Emily Lou exclaimed, “What did I say about roughhousing?! There is no roughhousing!”

Before the three could say anything, the guards took them out of the party.

Emily Lou helps Diane out of the big fountain. “You ok?” she asked, worriedly.

Diane didn’t answer and just started to cry.

“Oh, honey…” Emily Lou said softly, hugging her.

Pam, Ruby, Rhonda, and Joy walk over to them as Emily Lou hugs Diane to comfort her.

“Let's get you cleaned up.” Emily Lou said as Rhonda picked up the shoes.

Diane nodded, looking down.

"I got something for you, Sugar." Emily Lou reassured Diane, guiding her to the second floor to where one of the bathrooms that was near Emily Lou's bedroom.

◇

Diane got dried up in the bathroom after cleaning up. She got on her garments when there was a knock on the door. “Enter.” she said, looking at the door.

The door opened to reveal Emily Lou.

“Hey, Honey. I have something for ya.” Emily Lou said, walking in with a dress box. “Since your dress got ruined and is being fixed now, I got a dress from the fashion line that I was in. Don’t worry. I made sure it’s the right size for you.”

Diane took the box from Emily Lou. “Thanks…”

Emily Lou nodded and left the bathroom, closing the door so Diane could get dressed.

She went to the other young women, who were in her bedroom.

They were looking at their reflection in the mirror, fixing their dresses and makeup.

"Hopefully that'll be the last time we ever see Buck." Pam said, fixing her box braids with some.

"I mean to be honest, us girls are getting sick and tired of men like Buck." Joy said, fixing her dark purple lipstick.

“Yeah, thankfully he and his friends are not getting back into the party again. I'm thinking about filing a restraining order, but I'm just glad we're going to graduate from college to get away from him, FOR GOOD!” Emily Lou said.

The women start to change the subject a few times, to not focus on the bad.

“Do you all remember wishing on stars?” Ruby asked at one point, looking at everyone.

The four other young women nodded.

“You know, I thought that wishing on stars was just for… Babies and crazy people.” Emily Lou said as she was finishing up doing her makeup.

That’s when Diane came out of the bathroom and into the room.

The young women gasped when they turned around and saw Diane in the new dress as she looked down.

It was a beautiful pink sleeveless dress.

“Oh! Look at you! Aren’t you just as pretty as a Rose from Spain in March?" Emily Lou said, smiling as she walked to her. "Seems like only yesterday we were… heh… all of us little girls… dreaming our future lives. And now all of us, all grown up, ready for graduation. Well… back into the party!”

Emily Lou ran out with Joy and Rhonda as Ruby and Pam were about to follow but noticed that Diane looked down, hugging herself.

"Don't worry, we'll give you some space." Ruby said, looking at Diane, putting the necklace back on her.

"Yeah. You just need to process things." Pam said "But don't worry, we'll be right back to check on you, ok?"

Diane nodded.

Ruby and Pam went to join the party, closing the door of the bedroom.

Diane began sitting on bed, taking out something from her purse and it was the photos of her grandmother and great grandmother.

She stood up and walked towards the balcony. She began thinking about her life.

She couldn't believe that she was humiliated and made her feel bad after all this.

Diane looked at the night sky and the stars.

She saw a few shooting stars.

'I can not believe I’m doing this.' Diane thought. Then, with her wish in mind, she closed her eyes and whispered, “Please… Please… Please!”

She opened her eyes and stared at the starry sky, hoping for a miracle.

After a while, Diane spotted a redknee tarantula with a hoodie on the rail and gasped from being startled for a moment.

Then Diane frowned as she glared at the starry sky. "Very funny." the young woman mumbled, looking at the starry sky. Then she looked at the tarantula and chuckled, “So, what now? I reckon you want a kiss?"

The tarantula stared at Daine for a moment. But then the spider spoke, "If it turns me and my friends back, then yes."

Diane’s eyes widened at that before she screamed loudly backing away fast as she ran back inside.

Then she trips on something, making her fall and crashing into the closet cabinet hard that it tips over, hitting the lamp light and the room becomes dark.

‘Opps…’ Diane thought as she looked at the broken lamp before looking at what she tripped.

It was a snake hiding under the bed, with half of the tail poking out. The snake slithered out of the bed. The snake was wearing a red Hawaii shirt and bucket hat.

Diane gasped loud and got up.

Just then she began hearing a voice call out, “We’re sorry! We didn’t mean to scare you.”

Diane looks up to see a silhouette of some type of person from the balcony. “You… You know these animals?” she asked, trying to calm down.

The person nodded as they started to walk over and said, “Yes. I know them, one is a friend and the other is my partner… The reason that they’re animals is because of… me.”

When the person got about five feet from Diane, the person wasn’t human but a wolf.

Diane gasps and begins finding something to throw at the strangers, which were mostly stuffed dolls and animals.

The three strangers avoided throwing dolls.

“I- wait, no, no! Wait, wait, wait! Hold on!" The spider said, jumping onto her arm. "You know, you have a very strong arm."

Diane looked at the spider with wide eyes and swatted the spider.

The spider landed on the desk. “OW!” the spider exclaimed when hitting the top of the desk.

"Stay back, or I’ll… I’ll…" Diane started, picking up a book from the floor in a panic.

The wolf raised up his hand and grabbed Diane’s arms, so she didn’t squish the spider. “Wait! Please, please, please… Allow us to introduce ourselves.” the wolf said in a calm voice. “I am Mason Wolf or also known as Moe Wolf.”

"And I'm Herbert Scale." the snake said, waving with the tail.

“And I’m Webs.” the spider said, standing up right on the desk.

Diane stopped herself and looked at the three ‘animals’, slowly lowering the book down as the ‘wolf’ let go of her.

"Wait a minute…" Diane said, putting up a pointer finger up as she got her thoughts together. "But I didn’t wish for… Hold on, if you’re the missing Mason Wolf, then… then who was that at the gate that Emily Lou let in?" She points at the ‘wolf’ and then at the door.

The three looked at each other, confused about what she’s talking about.

“All I know is one minute we’re human and the next thing we know…" Herbert started but then tripped on his tail, still getting used to his body as Moe walked over to him and picked him up. “We’re these animals!”

Diane began to back away slowly, still holding a book close to herself, ready to smack any of them.

She finally recognized them.

They were the same people she met earlier.

“Wait… you three were at the diner.” Diane said, pointing at the three while holding the book with one arm.

"Well, yeah…” Webs started, sounding awkward but then it changed to excitement when looking at the book title of the book that Daine was holding. “Wait! I know this story!"

Diane looked at the title of the book in those same cursive letters.

The Frog Prince

“The Frog Prince?" she asked as she read the title then looked at the tarantula again.

“Oh yeah! I remember reading it” Moe said, grabbing it from Diane and taking a look at it. “Yes, yes, yes… My mother used to read this to me almost every night before bed as a kid!"

He began looking through the book until he stopped at a page then set it on the desk where Webs was and then Webs was flipping a page back and forth.

It was the Frog Prince kissing the Princess and the transformation back to a human Prince.

"Yes, yes! This is exactly the answer!" Webs said before turning around to look at Diane. "You must kiss one of us!"

"Excuse me?" Diane said, confused.

“What?” Herbert asked in disgust.

“Don’t worry." Moe said, walking to Diane. "It’ll just be one kiss-”

The next thing that everyone knew was that Moe was pulled back by Herbert and held him as if to say ‘mine’.

Diane looks at the three ‘animals’, very uncomfortable.

“Look, I’m sorry. I’d really like to help you, but I just…” Diane said with a sigh before she turned around, her arms crossed across her chest. “I don’t mess with things that shouldn’t be messed with.”

The three begin looking at each other in shock then at Diane.

“Wait a second! But… On the balcony, you ask me…” Webs started, pointing at the open balcony.

“I didn’t expect you to answer!” Diane exclaimed angry, turning around to look at her and pointing at the balcony.

"But you must kiss one of us." Webs said.

“Not us!” Herbert growled, still hugging Moe close.

Diane looked at the ‘snake’ and ‘wolf’ with a deadpan look. “Well, why don't you two kiss?” she asked with some sass.

Herbert stared at Diane for a moment before hiding his face behind Moe’s shoulder.

Moe gently patted Herbert’s head as he looked at Diane and explained, “We… We tried but nothing happened.”

Diane hummed and nodded.

"Look,” Webs started, getting Diane's attention, “if you help us, we can offer you some type of reward or a wish we could grant perhaps… Yes?"

Diane stared at the ‘animals’ before looking at the photos of her grandmother and great grandmother. Then she sighed and looked at Webs.

“Just… One kiss?” Diane asked, making sure if it’s just one.

“Just one.” Webs said, nodding. "But just to let you know… This is my first kiss… So… This is going to be awkward."

“That’s fine.” Diane said, offering her hand to her.

Webs got on her hand.

Diane picked her up and close to a kiss but then had to set her down on the desk again so that she could calm down from all that’s going through her head. “Ok Diane, you can do this… Just a little kiss, just a little kiss." she reassured herself.

Webs found a Spearmint flavored breath mint nearby. She immediately chewed on it, hoping to get a good breath. She swallowed after she finished chewing and looked at Diane. “Ready when you’re ready.”

When Diane calmed down, she turned around, picked up Webs, and kissed her.

Then an electric light running through even some sort of lightning of different colors started to spin around quickly all around them.

Then loud ZAP shocked them, making the four go back flying back and knocking them out when hitting the floor.

◇

When it was over, Webs, Herbert, and Moe groaned as they woke up.

They checked to see if anything had changed for them.

They were still the same.

“It didn't work.” Moe said, looking at his tail.

Herbert and Webs sighed.

“Wait, where’s the lady?” Webs asked, looking around.

The three ‘animals’ look for Diane, who was on the ground.

They noticed the dress that ripped but they also noticed that there was something different now. Not about the dress but Diane herself.

The three friends gasped in shock when looking at Diane.

◇

Diane groaned a bit as she woke up and looked at the three.

“I don't get it.” Diane said, looking at them confused. “You three don’t look different. How do you guys stay the same and why did I end up-?”

But when she began dusting some dust off the dress to realize she now has four fingers and a big paw, instead of her usual five fingers and her hand. Her body is covered in orange cream colored fur all over. She touched her face realizing her mouth became a muzzle as she turned to the full length mirror to see that she completely shifted into a fox.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" she screamed as she jumped up to stand up.

That startled the three.

"Easy lady! Do not panic!" Webs said, trying to reassure.

"What did you do to me?!" Diane exclaimed, looking at the three before looking back at her reflection in the mirror. "I got half a foot taller than my normal height! I'm furry and orange! My ears are up and pointy! My feet and body are a bit bigger than normal! Is that a tail?! And my mouth is big, my nose is small and pink and my teeth are sharp!"

Diane inspects her new body, touching her new set of teeth and texture of fur.

Webs, Herbert, and Moe looked at each other before going to her.

“The sharp teeth are called fangs.” Moe corrected, pointing at the mouth.

"You have soft fur." Webs said, feeling the texture of Diane’s new fur.

"Plus your tail looks like it's fluffy up." Herbert said, looking at her tail.

Diane looked at the three in the mirror reflection, eye twitching, feeling the anger and blood boiling. Diane began pretending to roll up sleeves, ready for a fight.

The three noticed and felt that they needed to go.

"We gotta-!" Webs started to shout.

“Run!” Herbert shouted, grabbing Webs and already quickly slithering to get out.

Moe ran with Webs and Herbert slither quickly to the balcony as Diane starts to shout at them in German and she starts chasing them to attack them.

When they got to the balcony, Diane ran after them and ran into them, causing all four of them to fall off the balcony and into the pool.

They made a big splash into the pool.

All four ‘animals’ got out of the water and layed on the pool deck, coughing and catching their breath.

When they got their breath, Diane glared at the three and started to chase them again, shouting in German after them.

◇

The ruckus noise outside was so loud that it got the attention of the people at the party.

People turned their heads around and went to the windows to the back to see what was going on outside.

“What’s going on?” one asked, looking out one of the windows.

“Are those humans or animals?” another asked, also looking out one of the windows.

“Run!!!” another shouted at the beings that were running.

Emily Lou, Pam, Joy, Ronda, and Ruby walked over to one of the windows to the back to see what was going on.

Joy begins to shrug her shoulders at the situation. “Whatever.” she mumbled.

“That's not helping, Joy.” Pam said, looking at her before looking at the window again.

The five young women look out the window a bit more.

“The one person sounds a lot like Diane when she is angry.” Ruby said, pointing at the person who was chasing the other people.

“Let’s see what’s going on.” Emily Lou said before going outside to confront what’s going on.

The other four young women followed her to see what the commotion was about.

◇

Diane continued to chase the three, still yelling at them in German.

She was so angry that she didn’t look where she was running that she accidentally crashed into Emily Lou, Pam, Joy, and Ronda.

Diane stumbled back a bit and fell into the pool again, causing a big splash again.

She swam up and got on the pool deck again, coughing for a moment as she looked at her four friends, who were now wet.

Emily Lou was upside down showing a gown cage underneath the skirt and her undergarments underneath.

Pam, Joy, and Ronda fell over too and were on the ground.

All five of Diane’s friends were shocked to see Diane in a different form.

“Diane?” Emily Lou, Pam, Joy, and Ronda asked in shock and worry.

Diane looked at them and smiled awkwardly at her friends. “Hallo.” she said in her accent.

She touched the puddle as she stood up but there was a small electrical shot that went through the four of her friends. They felt tingling sensations in their hands.

“What- Diane?” Ruby called out when she got near them.

Diane looked at Ruby and waved awkwardly at her. “Hallo.” she said again in her accent.

Then people begin to scream when they see Diane, who froze in fear.

"Guards!" Emily Lou's dad shouted to get the guards’ attention. “Get those animals!”

"Uh-oh." Diane said, her eyes wide with fear.

The next thing she knew was that Moe quickly grabbed her and they started to run.

Mayhem was on the loose as the guards started to run after the ‘animals’, which got everyone’s attention, including the fake Moe, who was holding a drink.

"Run faster!" Moe shouted as they ran.

"I can't! Do I run on all fours or twos!? I'm a FOX!" Diane shouted while running.

“Just don’t get caught!” the three ‘animals’ shouted.

They ran as the party was in chaos.

Some guests were screaming in panic while some of the guests were cheering and making bets as they all watched the guards try to get the ‘animals’.

The ‘animals’ got to the backyard bar section, Moe got an idea as he grabbed two bottles of champagne. He shook the two and popped both to spray two guards down.

But when the two bottles were empty, Moe panicked. “Uhhh… heh…” he chuckled awkwardly as he tossed the empty bottles at a guard.

Then he ran with the others to get away from the guards.

The four ‘animals’ run as fast as they can as more guards approach them.

The four ran to the great big metal fence of the backyard, the guards were gaining on them.

Webs and Herbert were able to go through the fence by their different shapes and sizes.

Diane and Moe weren’t.

They looked around quickly to see where they could get out.

Diane spotted a huge tree that the branches went over the fence. “There!” she exclaimed, grabbing Moe’s wrist as she kicked off her shoes. They both ran to the tree and climbed up.

Webs and Herbert were worried for them as they watched them climb.

“We got to do something!” Webs said, worried.

Herbert looked around quickly to then find a hot air balloon tied up on the tree.

“Come on!” he said, grabbing Webs and went to it.

They immediately hopped in, trying to get it to start. Herbert tries to get it to work but his tail doesn't work. "Stupid slimy tail!" Herbert mumbled to himself, trying to get his tail to work so they could escape.

Moe and Diane got to the branch that went over the fence. They slowly, but also quickly, walked on the branch. They both carefully jumped down and got the rope untied before getting into the basket.

“I got it!” Diane said, getting the fire of the hot air balloon working.

Soon as the hot air balloon was working, it floated up quickly before any of the guards grabbed them.

Diane and Moe were unaware that one of them must have cut off the rope from their fingernails which now are claws.

"Pew, man that was close." Webs said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

“Agreed.” Herbert and Moe said, sitting down in the basket.

Diane was looking at the three and said, “Ok… you three need to explain ALL of this.”

"Well… Since it’s going to be a long night, we should get somewhat comfortable." Moe started, looking at Diane. “Luckily there’s blankets and pillows here.”

Diane looked at him for a moment, nodding and putting more heat into the air balloon before sitting down.

◇■

As the four flew up in the sky, they were unaware that Marmalade was watching all of this in disguise.

He looked at ‘Moe’ inside and noticed him rushing out the party.

He followed him by the shadows.

‘Moe’ got to an abandoned shop and went inside.

He went into the back of the shop to a huge cloth that was covering a few things. He removed the cloth to find that the two big cages and one little cage were broken and the chains were easily broken as well.

‘Moe’ gasped when seeing the empty cages as Marmalade showed up from the shadows.

"You let them go?!" Marmalade asked 'Moe' in anger.

‘Moe’ jumped and turned around to look at Marmalade. (You’re quiet.) ‘Moe’ signed at him.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Marmalade growled, walking over to him.

(Hold on. Please. Let me explain.) ‘Moe’ signed, backing away. (The wolf was begging me to leave the keys-)

Then ‘Moe’ was tripped by Marmalade’s shadow.

‘Moe’ looked up to see Marmalade’s shadow ‘laughing’ at him before disappearing into the shadows.

(How did I ever get tangled up in this madness? I can't go through with this!) 'Moe' signs in anger. Then he takes the talisman off, turning him back to… Cuddles as thunder rumbles outside.

Marmalade rolled his eyes.

(You wear this awful thing!) Cuddles signs before he throws the talisman at him.

Marmalade’s eyes got wide in fear from the action. "CAREFUL WITH THAT!!!” he shouted as he quickly grabbed the talisman before it hit the ground just in a nick of time.

Marmalade took in a shaking breath and then turned around, glaring at Cuddles. “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THIS BREAKS! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO THIS, I'M GONNA BE-!" Marmalade shouted at Cuddles but he paused as he noticed Cuddles quivers with fear.

Marmalade sighs and calms down, putting a smile on his face.

“Fun fact about this and my friends, Cornelius.” Marmalade said, showing him the talisman.

Then he put on the talisman and nothing happened to him, which surprised Cuddles.

“See? Can't conjure a thing for myself.” Marmalade said, look at the tall man before taking it off.

Marmalade walked over to Cuddles as he continued, “Besides, you and I both know the real power in this world isn't magic. It's money! Loads of it!”

He shows him the newspaper on the table, showing him the photo of Vincent Wolf.

Thunder rumbles outside as Cuddles nodded and signed, (That’s true.)

"Aren't you tired of living in the shadows?" Marmalade asked. "While all those rich people, thinking that they’re god and do whatever they want. Driving in their fancy cars while they don't give you so much as a sideways glance?”

Cuddles thought for a moment and remembered all of those moments that he felt what Marmalade explained as he looked in a broken mirror. (Yes... I am.) he signed, an angry look on his face.

Marmalade got on a chair to level with Cuddles.

"All you gotta do is marry Vin's arrange bride for Mason… and we'll be splittin' that juicy Wolf fortune right down the middle. 50/50, like I said." Marmalade said, rubbing Cuddles’ back before putting the talisman back on Cuddles, turning him back to ‘Moe’.

Cuddles looked in the reflection and smiled for a moment at the different face in the broken mirror. (Right. But what about the animals?) Cuddles sign, a curious look on his face.

"Your little SLIP-UP... will be a minor bump in the road." Marmalade said, holding the talisman in his hand. "So long as we got the rich boy's blood in this."

Cuddles smiled and nodded.

Marmalade smiled maliciously knowing that his plan was working. Soon, he will be free of his debt from his friends.

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