After meeting up with their children, Susan and John entered the circus tent. John's condition raised a lot of eyebrows, so Susan took the family to one of the seats in the back. She hardly noticed as Shasta sat on the ground next to them, instead of finding a seat. Emily started petting him, causing him to break out in a low purr. Billy tried to contain his laughter, as their mom shot both of them an angry glance.
The show itself was amazing. The trapeze artists were phenomenal, and the clowns even managed to make Susan laugh. Everything was going great, as the ringleader announced the animal acts were starting. Then Mesmero walked onto the stage. Susan's face paled, as he began calling for Shasta. Eager to play with his master, John raced down the stairs, getting all kinds of laughter.
As he finally reached the main stage, almost everyone in the tent gave him either laughter or strange looks. Mesmero whispered to John, "Heel." John sat on his butt, staring at his master.
Mesmero addressed the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman, Shasta here is one of our best performing animals. However, he's looking a little bit strange..."
He addressed the tiger, "When I count to 3, you will transform into a tiger. You are already a tiger, but on the count of 3 you will become the perfect tiger. You will not be human. You will be a tiger. You will be my perfect tiger. Do you understand?" Shasta nodded.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to turn this man into the amazing Shasta. However, I can't do this alone. I need your energy. We are going to count to three together but I need you to do this as loudly as possible. I need all the energy I can get. Are you with me?" Various shouts of encouragement rose from the crowd.
"That's not near loud enough. I said, 'Are you with me?'" Louder shouts of approval.
"I can't hear you... One more time, 'Are you with me?'" Even Billy and Emily joined in on the cheer this time.
"Okay..." He pulled his arms back, as if getting ready for a magic spell. "On the count of three,"
"One!" John's heartbeat began increasing. He was ready! He was a tiger! He would be the perfect tiger!
"TWO!" The thoughts were so loud. He only had tiger thoughts. No other thoughts remained. His mind was completely a tiger's. He wasn't human; he was a tiger.
"THREE!!!" Shasta roared. What was once merely costume became actual fur. His face pushed out into a muzzle. His arms bent backwards becoming his two front legs. His claws became deadly weapons. He was no longer human. In an instant, it was over. Where once there was a human male, now there was only a large roaring circus tiger.