If the three of them were going to figure out how to fix the mess that shampoo caused, they'll need to find out where it came from. And there was only one place to do that: the pet store where they got it at. Thankfully, it was still dim enough for the three of them to get to Adam and Evelyn's car without being noticed. Driving a car wasn't so difficult, even in their partly-alligator state.
Unfortunately, it was still too early for the pet store to be opened. Evelyn sighed and said, "I guess we'll have to wait."
"Wait? I'm hungry. We ought to be out of this city and back in the wetlands where we belong," said Mary Lou.
"Where YOU belong," said Adam, "Me and Evelyn aren't being dragged along just because you want to go to the wild. We want to be human again."
"You're a lot better than human in my opinion," grumbled Mary Lou.
"And you'd rather be full gator, wouldn't you?" asked Evelyn.
"Of course I would!" snapped Mary Lou, "What is the point of an alligator having hair or breasts? Having hands is useful, but I'm too close to looking like a human."
"Being human isn't-" started Evelyn.
"Hey, look," said Adam, pointing. The other two looked to see two people wearing the pet store's t-shirt walking around the side.
"It's still too early for them to open," said Evelyn, looking at the clock in the car.
"People need to get to work early to get things ready before it's open," said Adam.
"I don't see how that helps us," said Mary Lou.
"They bring in supplies for the store," said Adam, "So they might know where the shampoo came from."
"And since we're so early, there's not as many people who will see us," said Evelyn.
"Fine, but if they try to report us, I won't hold back," said Mary Lou.
"We're not resorting to violence," said Evelyn before the three of them got out of the car.
They walked towards the back as quietly as they could. They soon found a young woman there who was busy texting on her phone. She had long blonde hair in a ponytail and large, round glasses but they were thinner than most glasses that size. She was wearing the pet store's T-shirt before Adam said, "Excuse me, miss."
"The store's not open yet," said the woman, not looking up from her phone.
"We're not here to shop," said Evelyn, "We've had a little trouble from one of your products."
The woman partially looked up at that, "Which product?"
"This shampoo," said Adam, holding out a shampoo bottle and hoping she wouldn't notice his scaly hands.
The woman took the shampoo bottle and said, "I was wondering when someone would pick this up. I guess it wasn't as big a bust as I thought."
"You know where it comes from?" asked Evelyn hopefully.
"Of course, I help make it in my other job," said the woman, looking them in the faces. Her eyes widened slightly, but she didn't seem surprised to see three gator people. "I can definitely tell Dr. Ludo Chris that it works the way it's meant to."
"You created a DNA-swapping shampoo on purpose?" asked Mary Lou with disbelief.
"Not just this stuff," said the woman, "We've got a couple of other shampoos but they aren't designed for interspecies transformations. So, tell me how it all happened."
"Why should we tell anything to a stranger?" asked Mary Lou with a growl.
"Easily fixed, I'm Kaley. Now tell me how it happened and I'll be able to help," said the woman.
Adam and Evelyn exchanged unsure looks, but they didn't have alternatives. Evelyn told of how she had given Mary Lou a bath only for she and her to become roughly humanoid gators. Adam told of how he found the two gator girls and they explained their situation before they forcibly gave Adam a bath to try and restore more of Evelyn's humanity. The process only partially worked, making them more humanoid before and changing Adam. Adam would have left it at there, but then Mary Lou butted in, telling how Adam lost most of his manliness and gave some of it to her and Evelyn. Adam was very embarrassed by this and Evelyn gave Mary Lou a hard glare.
"Hmm...it wasn't meant to cause sexual changes," said Kaley thoughtfully, "We might need to change the original formula. But I can still work with this."
Evelyn was starting to get a little worried about Kaley. She seemed barely phased by what her shampoo did. If anything, she was very interested in the results. Adam was a little too desperate to notice it and Mary Lou was mostly indifferent to the whole thing except for the occasional hostility.
Then Kaley said, "Well, the only way to fix you three is to come with me to the doctor's. He'll be able to fix you up. Just head over to my van over there while I tell my manager I'm need elsewhere today."
"We could just drive-" stared Evelyn.
"It'll be faster if we take my van," said Kaley dismissively, "Just climb into the back and I'll be with you shortly." With that, she headed into the store.
"I don't trust her," growled Mary Lou.
"For once, you say something I agree about," said Evelyn.
"But we have no choice," said Adam, "We can't stay like this."
"True," said Mary Lou, "I'd rather be a natural gator over this silly-looking hybrid any day."
"But-" stared Evelyn but the other two were already heading for Kaley's van. Evelyn sighed and followed after them.
The back doors were unlocked so it was easy for the three of them to get in. They closed the door behind which automatically locked. They barely had time to sit down before the sedative gas started spraying and they were all out cold. Some time later, Kaley looked in the van and grinned at the unconscious gators. "Perfect," she said before getting into the driver's seat and heading off with the trio.