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The doorknob rattled a few times, and the creature on the other side of the barrier grumbled to himself. He sighed with irritation before he started to pick at the lock again, moving the tool around the inside of the door's locking mechanisms. There was a soft click, at which point the creature outside managed to unlock the door. He grinned slowly as he grabbed the doorknob and turned it. The burly anthro slowly stepped inside the house after he pushed open the door. He closed it quietly, hoping no one was home. But the second the door shut, the anthro shut his eyes and swore when he heard raucous snoring. The anthro sighed heavily before he turned around and looked around the living room, taking note of the oversized panda bear sleeping on the recliner. He was snoring with his mouth open and drool was running down his jaw. The anthro watched as the bear's belly rose and fell whenever he inhaled and exhaled. The anthro sniffed and started to step around the living room meticulously, making sure to ignore the gaming system controllers lying on the floor, along with a few potato chips scattered around the carpet.

The anthro stopped walking when he heard the panda bear snort and stir in his sleep, his toes twitching. The bear mumbled moments before he resumed snoring. The anthro sniffed the air several times, taking note of the strong scent of the bear and human in the house. But when the anthro sniffed again, he also smelled the heady odor of an alligator. The anthro grinned and started to walk into the kitchen, still sniffing the air and looking for anything out of the ordinary. He casually looked inside the fridge, smirking when he saw all the packaged meat placed all around the giant household appliance. He opened the freezer and saw the same thing: meat scattered all around the area--way too much for only two occupants to eat. The anthro shut the freezer before he looked inside the pantry and opened the trash bin. Inside were various bits of plastic that was previously used to package meat. From what the anthro could tell, another, more ravenous creature had ripped the plastic to bits to acquire all the flesh. The anthro smirked as he closed the pantry and walked out into the living room again. The anthro saw a large, dried-up stain in the carpet and crouched down as he inspected it.

The anthro rubbed a finger against the stain, taking note of how crusty it was. He lowered his head and sniffed the stain, scrunching up his face at the bitter smell. But he recognized the scent and started to grin to himself as he wagged his tail.

"So it's true...the gator's here," the anthro said quietly.

The anthro stood up and started to walk around the house. And then he froze when he heard footsteps.

"Hey, Bendis. Get your fat ass up. We gotta--JESUS CHRIST!!!"

Jerald nearly fell down when he spotted the anthro standing in his house. He was a gray bull shark crammed inside a gray suit clearly too small for his burly frame. He had a few scars on his face, and if Jerald had looked at his chest, he would've noticed that he had been stabbed not too long ago. The gray bull shark blinked a few times as he stared at the human being, shortly before he smirked.

"Hello there."

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOIN--BENDIS, GET UP!"

Bendis snorted and grumbled as he shook his head and slowly opened his eyes. "What? Damn, I told...um, who's this?"

"Detective...Hershel Abraham," the shark lied.

Bendis blinked and rubbed the drool from his chin. "Huh. Your parents named you after two characters from The Walking Dead. Odd."

"Yes. Well," the shark said, his gills moving slowly. "It was just a joke at first--"

"Get out of our house! How'd you even--where's your warrant?!" Jerald demanded.

The shark ignored him. "I suppose I'd better get to the point. I've received...complaints about noise violation, so I came to this address to investigate."

"You mean you broke into our house while I was sleeping, and while my friend here was in his room jerkin' off?" asked Bendis.

"I wasn't jerk--that's not the point! Some cop broke into our fuckin' house!"

Bendis smirked and stood from his recliner. "Who, this guy? He ain't a cop."

The shark looked at the panda bear and flared his nostrils. "I assure you, I am."

"I'm prettyyyyy damn sure you just bought that suit at the mall and bought some fake badge online. 'Sides, you still haven't shown us your warrant."

"Oh, yes! That."

The shark dug into one of the pockets in his suit and took out a blank sheet of paper. Then he took out a permanent marker, walked over to the wall, and placed the paper against it. He used the marker to messily scribble giant letters all over the sheet before he exhaled and retrieved the paper. Then Hershel walked back over to the panda bear and held the paper up in his face.

"See? It's right here."

Bendis stared at the paper and frowned. Nothing was on it, except for a giant word reading "Warrant" in uppercase font. The shark smiled smugly before he stuffed the sheet back into his pocket.

"Is this really how you wanna play this?" asked Jerald.

"All I wanna do is ask a few questions, and then I'll leave. That doesn't sound so hard, now does it?"

"Fine then. Ask."

Hershel rubbed his chin and started to pace around the living room. "We have reason to believe that there's a giant alligator on the loose. For all we know, he's responsible for the massacre that took place a few weeks ago at that campsite. Now, normally, this wouldn't be an issue for us; we could catch a beast this large on our own. But he's been quite elusive, for reasons we don't understand. Unless, of course, he has some friends he's staying with."

The shark walked up to Jerald. "Have either of you seen any oversized gators lately?"

Jerald shook his head and shrugged. "Can't say that I have."

"So if I go to a neighbor's house, they won't say they saw you two get out of a delivery truck and shove said gator into your home?"

"Of course not, because that never happened," Bendis barked.

"Uh-huh," said the shark, stepping closer to Jerald. "You haven't seen any unusually large gators then?"

"No," said Jerald firmly.

The shark stepped so close to Jerald that his boots were nearly planted on the human being's toes. He grinned widely as he towered over the man, crouching down slightly as he pressed his snout against his face.

"Then you won't mind letting me have a look around your home."

Jerald swallowed and sniffed. "Um, I'm pretty sure you're the one who--"

"Unless you want me to call for backup and have my allies ransack this house for you, you're going to let me through."

Jerald turned his head away and scowled when he smelled the shark's rancid breath. Hershel didn't wait for the human being's permission. He grabbed Jerald's shoulder and roughly shoved him out the way. The shark rubbed the fin on the back of his head before he started to glance inside Bendis' bedroom.

"So, you guys say neither of you have seen any gators around?"

"Of course we have. There's alligators all around the world; we've obviously seen a few in the past few days."

Hershel snorted, the gills on his neck moving slightly. "That's strange, considering this whole house stinks of alligators. Are you two absolutely sure that no gators have appeared here recently?"

"For the umpteenth time, yes. Now get the fuck out of our house."

Hershel turned around and looked at the door leading down to the basement. He grinned slowly as he started to walk towards it, reaching for the knob.

"Mind if I look down here?"

"Yes!"

"Why? You've nothing to hide, right?"

The shark grabbed the knob and began to turn. And then he shouted when he heard a loud, sputtering noise in the distance. The shark quickly stormed into the living room after hearing the odd sound, only to find Bendis leaning against the wall. Hershel sniffed the air twice and scowled as he plugged his nose, groaning.

"Yeeeeeaaaah, sorry 'bout that," said Bendis. "I went to this foreign restaurant last night, and they had this new special meal on the menu! All of it consisted of alligator meat. And as my friend here will tell you, I spent a long time in the bathroom last night, and I spent all night farting in my sleep--which probably explains why this house stinks of alligator so much. And as you've smelled for yourself, I'm still gassy."

Hershel lowered his arm and snorted. "What about that stain on the carpet?"

"Again, as my roommate will tell you, I tend to bring many 'visitors' over at night. When they get here, we fuck each other. In the ass. For a while. And sometimes, I forget to clean up any stains you probably saw on the carpet, or the wall. So yes, that stain you see probably is alligator jizz. But that makes sense, considering I have two fuck-buddies who are alligators."

"Hmph."

The three creatures remained quiet, with the shark still flicking his eyes between the panda bear and the human being. Jerald folded his arms as he leaned against the wall near the basement door.

"There. We've answered your questions. You've inspected our house. So leave," said Jerald.

Hershel smirked. "After I go into your basement."

The shark walked towards the corridor, at which point Jerald blocked the shark's pathway.

"Move."

"No."

"Get the fuck out my way. Now."

"Or what? You gonna arrest me for standing in my own fuckin' house?"

Hershel grabbed the gun from his holster and removed it. He grinned very slowly as he saw Jerald slowly walk backwards, panting nervously as he tried not to whimper. The shark kept turning the safety on and off, the switch flicking softly each time his thumb brushed against it. The shark wagged his thick tail as he slowly lifted his handgun.

"How's 'bout I shoot you? Hmm? How about I point this guy in your face, and pull the trigger? I'm a police officer. You're obstructing justice. All I'm trying to do is look around this house, but you and that bear over there started shouting at me. You became aggressive. And then, as I'm about to walk into your basement to find your hidden meth lab, you two pull out a gun. So I take mine out and shoot you both in self-defense. How's that sound?"

The shark was about to say something when he felt a cold and blunt object against his right shoulder. The giant creature frowned before he glanced down and saw something metal not far from his gills. Bendis was standing behind him, growling and breathing deeply as he had his metal bat resting on Hershel's shoulder.

"How's 'bout I bash your fuckin' skull in?" snarled Bendis.

"Y-you can't do that. I'm--"

"Bull. Fucking. Shit. Even if you are a cop--and I seriously doubt you are--you're trespassing. You have no legal warrant and we didn't invite you in, which means you have no right to be here. You broke into our home, and failed to announce that you were the police. You wanna know what's gonna happen? Some 'cop' broke into our home while we were sleeping. He didn't say who he was. He had no legal means of getting in here. So, the two startled occupants, thinking he was a burglar, killed him. That's what's going to happen."

The shark started to breathe heavily. Bendis moved the bat around and pressed it against the gills on the right side of his neck. Hershel blinked a few times before he looked down at the human being's face, realizing he was starting to smirk. The shark rolled his tongue around his mouth before he sucked on his teeth and chuckled.

"Fine. That's just fine. I guess I'll be leaving now."

Hershel placed his gun back into his holster before he walked up to Jerald and got in his face again. "Maybe I'm a cop. Maybe not. But I know where you live now. And I have many...friends in the police department. Hehe, you keep that in mind the next time you call 911."

Jerald ignored his warning. "Get out. Go find yourself a new job that doesn't involve harassing people."

The shark nodded. "Very well then."

Hershel shoved the bat off his shoulder before he turned around and looked at the chubby bear behind him. The two anthros stared at each other for a few seconds before Bendis moved out of the shark's way. Hershel calmly walked over to the front door, opened it up, and walked outside. The panda bear quickly walked over to the front door and slammed it shut, locking it and sighing with relief once he heard the shark walking away. Bendis placed the bat against the wall again and rubbed his forehead, still shaken up over the odd encounter.

"He goes tonight. Understand? The second the sun goes down, we're getting rid of him!"

Bendis turned around and huffed as he looked at his friend. "Jerald--"

"No, Bendis! NO! He's been here for a fuckin' week now! I'm sick and tired of buying all this food for him! I'm sick of cleaning out his bucket of piss and shit! I'm sick of waking up every morning or leaving the house and constantly worrying that he'll escape and go on some killing spree! We can't keep doing this, Bendis!"

"Just admit it, Jerald: you're tired of taking care of him. You think he's just some outsider, some bum on the street who doesn't matter to anyone anymore!"

"That is what he is! Some fuckin' anthro we found on the street! We don't know what the fuck he's into; we don't know who he is or who's after him! That-that cop--or whoever he was--knows something's wrong! What if he comes back and tries to kill us?! What are we supposed to do then?!"

"So, what? We sacrifice a lamb to a pack of coyotes just to save our own asses?"

"Exactly! This isn't our problem. It's not our fight. The longer we keep him, the worse it's gonna be for us."

"So you're perfectly fine with letting this anthro die? You and I both know--"

"No, we don't know. He can take care of himself--he-he, he'll be fine. He'll last out on the streets."

Bendis snorted and shook his head. "You're a selfish fuckin' prick, you know that?"

"I'm sorry, Bendis; I apologize for valuing my own life than the life of some anthro who tried to kill me. I'll make a deal with you: the next time some anthro tries to kill or ass-rape me, I'll bring him home and back him a giant cake as a reward! Sound good?"

Bendis folded his arms as he scowled at the human being. "Forget it. You wanna throw him out? Fine. But don't ask me to help you."

"What if he tries to eat me again when I take his chains off?"

"Call the cops. Get that shark to help you. I'll be outside finding more bums on the street to rescue. S'what I'm good at, apparently."

Jerald and Bendis didn't say anything else. The panda bear stomped his way towards the bathroom while Jerald huffed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Both of them were trying to ignore the elephant in the basement. More importantly, they were trying to ignore each other, only talking if they absolutely had to. They both had the day off from work, but neither of them could relax if they wanted to. Jerald was still shaken up by what the shark had nearly done to him, and Bendis was still angry at how stubborn and selfish Jerald was being. Jerald blinked as he grabbed the remote control for the living room television and turned up the volume, slamming the controller back down on the table before huffing. Bendis flicked his eyes at the human being as he sniffed and scratched his face. Then the two of them heard a guttural wail from the basement, at which point Bendis sighed.

"He's crying again."

"I have ears, Bendis," Jerald snapped.

The two creatures paused, listening to some of the muffled sobs behind the basement door. Bendis rubbed his forehead.

"Maybe you should go see what's wrong?"

"You do it. Like you said, you enjoy rescuing bums on the street. I'm sure you'll be of more help to him than me."

Bendis watched as Jerald grabbed his glass of soda and started to drink from it. The panda bear roughly grabbed the back of Jerald's head and shoved him off the couch so hard that Jerald nearly banged his head against the table. The man shouted as he fell down; his glass went flying from his hands, clattering on the floor as the contents spilled out and soaked into the carpet. Jerald panted as he slowly rolled over and looked up at Bendis, who was standing up and balling his right paw into a fist.

"Go downstairs. Now," said the bear firmly.

Jerald scoffed at the panda bear before he got up and started to stomp around the floor. He walked over to the basement door, still furious at his current predicament, before he yanked on the doorknob and roughly pulled the door open. As Jerald entered the basement, he was overwhelmed by the heady stench and groaned as he covered his nose with his arm. Jerald slammed the door shut before he started to walk downstairs, lowering his arm as he got closer to the alligator still bound to the wall. Kannan was sitting down, whimpering and sniffling, his face wet with tears. Jerald wasn't in the mood to be dealing with him right now; he huffed and rolled his eyes.

"What? You jonesing for a fix now or some shit? Just be quiet; we're trying to watch TV upstairs."

Kannan sniffled and slowly looked up at Jerald, his feral eyes wide and watery. Jerald shook his head.

"You gonna give me the sad, puppy dog eyes now? I'm not falling for that shit."

Kannan suddenly found himself gritting his teeth. He snarled ferociously as he grabbed the bucket he was using as a toilet and threw it at Jerald. The man shouted and shielded himself, but there was no way he could avoid the pool of waste as it spilled out of the bucket and splashed onto his clothing. Jerald shouted as he looked down at the yellowish-brown waste dripping from his body, and then he made two fists as he stomped towards Kannan.

"What the fuck is your problem?! All I've even done since you came here is try to help you out! All I'm trying to do--"

"I have a family," Kannan abruptly said in a low voice.

Jerald blinked and unclenched his fists. "What?"

The weregator reached behind and picked up a small, black object he had lying on the floor. Then he tossed it over to Jerald, watching as the man fumbled with the object and let it fall to the floor. Jerald huffed as he bent down and picked it up. The human being blinked once he realized he was carrying a wallet and proceeded to open it up. He thought nothing of it at first--nothing special was inside except for some cash and a few debit cards, and what appeared to be a library card. But after Jerald removed some of the cards, he came across a photo of a man standing in front of a sandy playground with a young girl sitting on his shoulders. There was a woman standing not far from the man, looking like she was snickering as the young girl rested on the man's shoulders.

"Who's this?"

"My...my wife and daughter."

"Bullshit. You stole this wallet--"

"We were in the park one day. She...my daughter fell down and skinned her knees. So...I-I carried her. I let her sit on my shoulders until she felt better. My wife kept laughing at me, at all the times my daughter kept pretending that I was a car; she kept pulling on my hair or ears, telling me to go left and right. My wife thought it was adorable...so she took a picture of all of us."

Two more tears came out of Kannan's eyes as he stared at Jerald. "I don't even know their names. I couldn't even remember what they looked like until I looked inside that wallet!"

"You had this wallet the whole time, and you just now opened it up?"

Kannan sobbed and sniffled. "Oh, I know, I know! Poor, stupid, smelly alligator, right? Oh, I tried to kill you! Oh, I'm invading your personal space! I'm so horrible, right?! You can still go to work every day! You have a roommate who cares about you! You still remember your fuckin' name and you're fuckin' family!"

More tears were streaming down Kannan's face. "That man in the photo used to be me! Don't you understand that yet?! I used to be no different from you! S-someone turned me into this--this horrible, ugly beast! I've spent the last several days chained up down here feasting on raw meat, voiding my bowels into a bucket, and slowly losing my mind! I barely remember my name anymore! I can't remember my family's name! I don't know what I used to be like before I turned into this! I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE!"

Kannan sniffled and wiped some of his tears away. "I-I just...I only have that photo...I have nothing anymore..."

Jerald stared at the alligator as he began to frown. "Kannan--"

"I don't even know if that's my real name...I don't know anymore."

Jerald blinked as he stared at the sobbing alligator. He didn't know what to do; he felt like going upstairs, ignoring the beast until he quieted down. But whether or not Kannan was telling the truth, the human could see that he was in terrible pain. Jerald slowly walked up to the alligator and tried to grab him, but Kannan whimpered and scooted away from the human being.

"Keep away. Just go back upstairs to your miserable life. Go sit up there and whine and bitch about...about how horrible your normal life is. Go whine th-that you're not chained up in some stranger's basement. It must be so awful for you."

Jerald didn't listen. He kept trying to walk towards the weregator, but Kannan kept scooting away until the chains around his ankles wouldn't let him move any further. Jerald put a hand on the reptile's shoulder. Kannan snarled as he slapped it away.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped.

Jerald didn't listen. He kept walking towards the alligator, trying to wrap his arms around the oversized beast. Kannan sobbed as he tried to jerk the human being away.

"GET AWAY!! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Jerald ignored him and started to wrap his arms around the weregator's back. It wasn't until Kannan felt Jerald pressing his body up against him that he realized the human being was hugging him. Kannan stopped fighting Jerald and shut his eyes, shaking as he continued to cry to himself. Jerald thought it'd be awkward at first, hugging the unhygienic, rugged creature who tried to kill him not too long ago. But there he was, his arms wrapped around the gator as he tried to comfort him. Jerald found himself blinking several times, breathing heavily as his eyes became watery.

"I'm sorry," Jerald said softly. "I didn't..."

Jerald couldn't finish. He was too busy trying to force himself not to break down crying either. But when he felt his cheeks becoming wet and his nose started to run, he knew that it would be impossible.

"I'm sorry," he said again, his voice cracking.

Neither of them said anything at that point. Kannan merely sat still as the human being held him close to his body.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The young canine panted as the tall man took the bag off his head. Once the bag was removed, the dog could see that he was trapped inside a torn-down building, with the walls either crumbling or moments away from falling apart. Many windows were busted, dust and broken cinder blocks were scattered across the floor. A few men dressed in ripped denim jeans and jean jackets were standing around the room. The canine whimpered as he looked around and saw that there was no way to escape without someone catching him. The canine was still dressed in all his clothes, although he was barefooted, and his head was throbbing from when one of the men punched him to the ground.

"How old are you, pup?" asked a heavily tattooed man.

The canine gasped as he saw the bald-headed Kinley walking towards him. He shook and slowly backed away.

"Eleven...I-I didn't do--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You anthros ain't do nothin'. You anthros don't shit on our streets. You don't stink up the city on a hot, summer day. You don't leave your hair and fur lying around on all of our brand new couches and chairs. Yeah, you anthros are sooooo innocent," said Kinley snidely.

The dog whimpered and started to shake, his eyes watering as he looked at all the humans around him. "I-I wanna go back home! I won't say anything to anyone--just take me back, please!"

Kinley nodded. "Sure. I'll do just that. After you sit down in that chair right there."

The dog slowly backed away as he sat down in the chair. He didn't know what any of the human beings wanted or why--he just wanted to go home as soon as possible. Kinley gestured for two of his thugs to approach the eleven-year-old canine, and they proceeded to tie rope around his wrists, binding them to the arms of the chair.

"Stop! STOP--LET ME GO!"

"Technically, we're not physically holding you. The ropes are," said Kinley snidely.

The thugs moved away from the chair after tying the dog's arms down. He started to sob as a few tears began to fall down his cheeks. Kinley walked towards the dog as he saw the wet tears staining his cheeks. Then he looked down at the canine's groin and heard a faint hiss. The dog whined as he urinated in his green pants, the yellow fluids quickly dripping onto the floor. Kinley scoffed.

"Lookit you, pup. You're a mess! Didn't your mommy and daddy potty-train you and teach you that big dogs don't cry?"

"SHUT UP! Just let me out of these fucking ropes!"

Kinley laughed as he started to walk towards one of the pillars, bending over and picking up a large gray container. "He's got a mouth on him too! Guess that means I'll be giving you a special surprise tonight!"

"What?! I don't care about your stupid surprise! I just wanna go back home!" he whined.

The dog started spluttering when strange, odorous fluids were dumped all over his body. Kinley giggled as he continued to drench the canine in the strange, clear fluids, masking the dog's scent with the fumes of the fluids. The dog started to shake his head and tried to look up at Kinley, hoping none of the fluids blinded him. The tattooed man tossed the container aside while the dog started to sniff the fluids and began to whine.

"WAIT! No, no, no, please--"

Kinley took out a lighter and ran his thumb against the wheel. A small orange flame emerged from the tiny device, illuminating the man's devilish grin and some of the men standing around the building.

"Light him up, boss!"

"Hehe, hey boss! I didn't know you planned on makin' hot dogs!"

"Go on, boss! Torch his ass!"

Kinley waved the flame in front of the canine's nose a few times, watching as the dog tried to jerk his wrists out of his restraints, furiously shouting and whining as he started to rock the chair, hoping he'd fall over and break it.

"Seems like my boys wanna see you burn. I'm not gonna sit here and deprive them of such a treat, so..."

"KINLEY!"

Kinley was just about to burn the canine when he heard someone shout out his name. The bald man closed his eyes slowly before he shut his lighter and turned around. He huffed with irritation as he heard someone walking along the floor, his heavy boots clomping against the concrete.

"I'm busy, Reilcuf! Can this not wait?!"

The shark shook his head. "No, it can't! I think I found him!"

Kinley ignored the dog and walked over to the shark. He stuffed the lighter back into his pocket as he stood in front of the giant fish and sighed.

"What is it? I'm in the middle of something here."

"You can wait a few minutes before you slaughter another helpless anthro. You told me about a week ago that some anthro roughed up a few of your guys, correct?"

Kinley scoffed. "No, roughed up is what you do to someone who gives you the stink eye. That asshole killed two of my guys, damn near broke another one's skull."

"Is the survivor awake yet?"

Kinley was about to answer when the young canine started to scream for help, grunting and rocking himself around in the wooden chair. The bald man glared at the dog before he huffed.

"Pup, please. I am trying to have a conversation. And no. He keeps going in and out. We can't take him to the hospital or find a decent doctor."

"Then kill him. He's of no use to us."

"Pfft! You think I haven't thought about that? He's one of my men's cousins or some shit. The guy flat out told me to my face that if I harm him, he's gonna cut off my balls in my sleep. I don't know about--"

"HELP!!! SOMEONE! SOMEONE PLEASE, HELP ME!"

Kinley paused, and then he continued. "I don't know about you," he said, shouting over the dog's screams, "but I rather enjoy my testicles. Last thing I need is my own guys turning on me because--I'm gonna need you to excuse me for a moment."

Kinley took out his lighter. Then he flicked the wheel, walked over to the canine, and tossed the lighter at his body. It bounced off his chest, the lit flame running along his shirt and pants before clattering to the floor. The fire began to spread around the dog's body very quickly, lighting up into various blue and orange flames. The dog only felt a warm sensation at first that quickly became hot. Soon enough, it was agonizing and rampant, spreading all around his chest, going down to his crotch and legs. Even his neck was catching on fire, his soaked fur only accelerating the growth of the fire. The canine started to howl and screech in pain as he was burned alive, unable to do anything further. He started to thrash his legs around, hoping the chair would break before the fire did any permanent damage. But his fur was already being burnt off. He could already smell his flesh and clothes burning, emitting an acrid, horrible odor that made the dog want to vomit. It wasn't long before the flames reached his head, and the dog's eyes were blinded by his own tears and the fire dancing around his face.

"Tch! Some children are so rude sometimes," said Kinley.

"I know. They never know when to shut up once the adults start talking," Reilcuf added.

The shark and human being watched as the dog continued to thrash about, his screams gradually dying down as the fire gave him third-degree burns all over his body. Once the dog was quiet enough, Kinley turned back around and resumed his conversation.

"As I was saying, Hoss is still injured. Doubt if he'll even get back up again."

"That's unfortunate," said the shark in a tone that suggested otherwise. "Like I was saying earlier, the reason why I came here was because I'm pretty sure I found out where this so-called gator is hiding."

"Then get him and bring him to me! I'll execute him in front of an audience this time around! Chop off his head and film it, send the video out across the world! All these youngsters and news moguls care about is the Internet, shock value, all that other bullshit. Just walk on the sidewalk and shoot some black guy in the face. You'll be famous in no time."

"I still need time to flush the gator out. After I do, you can have as much fun with him as possible."

"So when do you think you'll have him?"

"Soon. In a couple days if we're lucky."

"Good." Kinley turned around and smirked when he looked at the roasting dog. He wasn't screaming anymore, and his body was limp and slowly becoming charred. "Gotta hand it to you, you seem different from most of those creatures. You didn't even bat an eye when I threw that lighter."

Reilcuf folded his arms and grinned. "Oh yes. I'm all torn-up that you murdered one of my fellow 'anthro brethren.'"

"No, it's not that. You just seem...colder than most of the people I've worked with."

"And this is bad...why?"

"I never said it was bad."

Reilcuf laughed as he turned around and gestured Kinley to follow him. "C'mon! I think I have a way to deal with this problem of yours regarding one of your men's cousins."

Kinley nodded and began to walk away. As he departed from the burning corpse, one of his men glanced at Kinley and shouted at him.

"Um, boss? Whatcha want us to do with the hot dog here?"

Kinley turned and chuckled softly. "You got any marshmallows?"

The man shrugged. "Yeah. Why?"

"You're gonna need 'em if you wanna make s'mores."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The young man was pacing back and forth inside the large, but broken down bedroom. Hardly anything was inside, short of a few soiled mattresses and dirty blankets. The wall was stripped of its paint, and various holes and cracks within the foundation made it possible for vile-looking insects to crawl into the room. The young man stomped on his fourth cockroach for the night before he sat down on his stained blue folding chair and stared at the man resting on the mattress. Suddenly, the dusty, wooden bedroom door opened up. The young man grabbed his handgun and pointed it at the intruders, breathing heavily.

"Goddamn it, Kinley. I told you to knock first," the man said.

"Why? You think we're gonna run into you while you're stickin' your dick in Hoss' ass?"

The man ignored Kinley's sense of humor and lowered his gun. "What is he doing here? I thought you said we were done with him?"

Reilcuf stepped towards the mattress Hoss was lying on. "I'm only here to help your cousin. You want him to get better, do you not?"

"That depends. How do you plan on helping him? Cause when Kinley told me he'd 'help,' he pointed a gun at Hoss' face and tried to pull the trigger."

Kinley shrugged. "Look at him, Wesley. He's gonna die either way. I'm gettin' tired of you spending your time here coddling him when you should be out there finding more anthros for us to kill!"

"He's my cousin. You got a problem with me actually giving a shit about my family, then that's your fuckin' problem."

Reilcuf sighed as he removed a syringe and a small vial from his pocket. "You humans sure do love to argue."

Wesley glanced up at Reilcuf as he shook the vial and started to twist open the tiny glass bottle. Then the shark placed the needle inside the strange-looking ooze and began to retrieve a large dose of it.

"The hell is that?"

"It ain't heroin, that's for sure. It'll make your cousin feel better."

"What will it do to him?"

Reilcuf stared at Wesley and smirked. "I said it'll make him feel better."

Wesley was still apprehensive, but he let Reilcuf continue on with what he was about to do. Biting the tip of his thumb, Wesley watched as the shark finished filling up the syringe and proceeded to slide the vial back into his pocket after he screwed the cap back on. Then the shark walked over to Hoss' unconscious body and crouched down. He briefly stared at the man's neck before he stabbed him in the proper artery with the syringe. Then he depressed the plunger, injecting the man with the full dose of the oddly-colored fluids. Once he removed the syringe, Reilcuf tossed the small pump aside and put his hands in his pockets.

"Now just step back and watch. He'll be up in no time."

The two human beings did as they were told, backing up and waiting for the fluids to take effect. In only ten seconds, they all heard Hoss mumbling and snorting, his body shaking in his sleep. Then he opened his eyes and gasped, breathing heavily as he slowly sat up. Hoss blinked a few times and looked around the filthy bedroom before he held his head.

"Ow...what happened?"

Wesley smiled and laughed. "Some punk alligator knocked you around."

Hoss glanced up at Wesley and smirked. "I don't know what you're talkin' about. No slimy reptile ever got the upper hand on me!"

Hoss grunted as he got off the mattress and stood straight up. He rubbed his head again before looking down at his hands and smiling widely.

"Did it work? You feel all right, Hoss?"

"I feel great, cousin! Kinda got this burning sensation in-between my toes though. Hmm...my skin's kinda itchy too. But yeah, I feel awesome!"

"This is the part where we step far back," Reilcuf warned.

Kinley took the shark's advice and stepped backwards a few feet alongside the burly creature. Wesley frowned as he turned around and looked at them, raising an eyebrow.

"Why would I need to step back?"

Hoss chuckled. "Relax, guys! It's not like I just...um, just..."

Hoss began to shake and wrapped his arms around his torso. The man bent over and groaned, his stomach grumbling and his body cracking. Wesley frowned.

"Hoss?"

"I'm fine...j-just a stomach--" Hoss shouted when he felt something in his chest cracking. The man stood straight up shortly before staring at his hands. The light inside the room was dim, but Hoss could still tell that they were becoming brown and fuzzy. The man's skin continued to itch as he heard and felt what appeared to be tiny hairs quickly growing all over his body. Wesley slowly backed away with wide eyes, noticing that his cousin had fur all over his face. Hoss blinked a few times and snorted, noticing stronger smells all around the room. He could suddenly tell how musky Kinley was; he smelled the mildew growing inside the building; he could detect the faint odor of dried-up urine stains on the mattress he was previously lying on. After Hoss opened his eyes, he started to sniff the air several times, hearing more cracking and squishing within his body. The man groaned, unaware that his eyes changed from their natural brown color and were icy blue now. Hoss grabbed his head and started to whine, his body slowly beginning to take different shapes.

"I-I take it back! Something's wrong!"

Hoss started to grunt and cover his mouth, unaware that his nose and mouth were both contorting horribly. He groaned in a muffled voice before letting out harsh snarls, drooling and breathing heavily, his saliva slowly dripping down onto the floor. The man whimpered shortly before some of his teeth began to fall out of his mouth, clattering onto the floor noisily. Reilcuf watched with a grin on his face as he looked at the seat of Hoss' pants and saw a large bulge forming around the human's lower spine. Hoss started to grit his teeth, but in the process of doing so, more of them popped out. The man covered his mouth again and started to retch. Wesley groaned with disgust as he saw bile dripping from in-between the man's fingers. Then Hoss lowered his hands and emitted a horrible gurgling sound as he proceeded to vomit all over the floor, the chunky yellow and green bile splashing in multiple directions. Wesley shouted and backed up towards Kinley and Reilcuf, grimacing when he noticed that several of Hoss' teeth were simmering in the bile now. Wesley looked up at Reilcuf and whimpered.

"Wha...what did you do to him?"

"I made him better. That's what you wanted, right?"

Wesley heard a loud tearing sound, which was followed by a very long and thick tail bursting free from Hoss' pants. The tail hung limply on the floor; the long extension was colored a sickly pinkish-gray color. Hoss lifted his head and moaned as his face started to extend forward, turning into a disturbing muzzle, the nose having shifted downwards to the upper tip of the muzzle. Hoss collapsed to his hands and knees, shouting and spitting, snarling as his body continued to change shape. He shook his head as new teeth began to grow, all of them looking more feral and wider; some of them were much sharper as well. Two incisors extended low from the upper jaw, looking so long and lethal that they put vampire fangs to shame. As Hoss continued to change, he groaned in a deeper voice, his body gurgling as his back started to crack. Wesley watched in horror as the back of Hoss' shirt ripped right down the middle, exposing an unkempt patch of brown fur. Hoss shut his eyes and groaned again as his ears started to crackle a few times, wiggling and extending outwards as they widened to look more circular. Bits of hair started to emerge from the earholes, and the tips of the ears began to curve and extend backwards, making them look more pointed and scruffy.

Hoss slowly rose to his feet, hissing and snarling, his entire body thickening as it became more muscular and tougher. More brown fur spread around the man's body, turning him into a primal creature. Panting, Hoss stared at his arms as he felt them cracking and visibly extending outwards, the muscles, flesh, arteries and veins all changing shape to adjust to the creature's rapidly changing exterior. Even Hoss' hands and feet weren't immune to the effects. His hands started to thicken and the nails on his fingers extended outwards and turned into long black claws. Hoss started at his hands as they transformed into rodent-like paws, the fingers skinny and equipped with deadly claws. Then Hoss looked down at his shoes and watched as they casually ripped into dozens of giant pieces. His new black toe claws emerged first, the long claws looking as sharp as knives. Then his feet crunched as the bones extended and widened, turning regular, human feet into two giant, furry rodent footpaws that were too large to fit inside any footwear. After the rodent's new footpaws appeared, Hoss found himself hissing and grinning constantly, drooling uncontrollably as the rest of his clothing tore.

Wesley was bombarded by the strong smell of the rodent as he gave off a putrid stench from his unwashed body and his giant footpaws. Hoss' cousin could only watch as the creature's chest, arms, legs and torso all gradually bulked themselves up, acquiring several more bulges as the muscles reached their maximum size. The bottom part of Hoss' jeans ripped, and what was left of his shirt slowly fell to pieces, the large bits of fabric floating down near the rodent's aromatic footpaws. Hoss blinked several times before he sniffed deeply with his large black nose. The giant creature clenched his paws into fists and curled his toes, listening as his black toe claws scraped along the floor. Hoss closed his mouth, his two sharp incisors hanging out like a pair of buck teeth. The newly transformed brown rat wiggled his nose before he resumed looking at his new body, admiring his shirtless, furry, dark brown exterior. He wagged his thick tail and wiggled his ugly ears before snorting and laughing in a guttural voice. Wesley could only whimper as he stared at what used to be his cousin. He turned around and looked at Reilcuf and Kinley with shock.

"L...look what you did. Y-you turned him into an anthro! You turned him into a goddamn monster!"

Reilcuf grinned. "Hey, I did my part. You wanted him better? Look at him! He looks perfectly fine and healthy!"

"He's a fucking rat! What the fuck are we supposed to do with him now?!"

Kinley rubbed his beard. "Keep him. He'd make a wonderful attack dog. Hell, maybe we can train him to do tricks if he's smart enough!"

"He's not a pet! He-he's not some wild animal for you to tame! ...He's my cousin, Kinley. We have to change him back!"

Kinley glanced up at Hoss and noticed that he was staring directly at him with a wide, slobbery grin on his face. "Hmph. Well, he sure as hell is staring at me like some wild animal."

Reilcuf scratched the back of his head. "Errrr, maybe we should give the cousins some alone time, Kinley. Y'know, let 'em bond for a little while!"

Kinley nodded. "Great idea! You let us know how that turns out, Wesley. We'll be...away. In a safe place."

Wesley frowned. Reilcuf and Kinley scampered out of the room and slammed the door shut before Wesley could say anything else. The man turned back around and stared at Hoss the wererat. Hoss blinked twice before he took two steps towards his cousin, forcing Wesley to slowly walk backwards.

"Hoss? It...it's me, buddy! It's your cousin. Remember?"

Wesley grunted when he found his back pressed up against the wall. He stared at the massive brown rat as he growled and approached him very slowly, his huge footpaws thudding against the floor with each step.

"Wesley. Y-you remember buddy? You remember your older cousin Wes?"

Wesley whimpered as the wererat got directly in the man's face, blasting his hot breath against Wesley's nose. Wesley's eyes became watery as the rodent lifted a paw and ran a claw along his right cheek slowly, drawing blood.

"Hoss. Y-y-your name's Hoss. Just say it! Say it and-and you'll remember, okay? Hoss...please just...I'm your cousin. You have to remember!"

"H...H..."

Wesley's eyes grew wide. "That's right. Hoss is your name."

"H..." Hoss let out a choking noise as his vocal chords started to readjust. Wesley nodded and began to smile.

"C'mon buddy! I know you remember!"

"Ho...hungry..."

Wesley frowned. Hoss nonchalantly reached over and grabbed Wesley's throat, moments before he began to squeeze. Wesley whimpered as Hoss drooled and grinned maliciously.

"Hungry..."