Author's note: Since the name 'Mary' is also being used, I changed the name to 'Piper'.
Most people wouldn't want the job of 'sewer worker'. It seemed like the kind of job that someone would only have if they had no other option. That certainly was the case for Piper. Unable to scrape through college to get an architectural degree, she found life sliding downhill fast. Plumbing school was a lot easier to get through, but it didn't leave her with a sense of accomplishment. It was particularly frustrating that plumbing was considered a 'man's job'. Why should something even as lowly as a plumber be considered only men's work?
Quite understandably, Piper had a lot of resentment inside her. Society in general hadn't been kind to her for lack of finances and her sex. She was certainly very envious of the women who seemed to coast through life on their good looks. Piper was rather plain-looking, bordering on homely. And she wasn't likely to find someone who'd like her for her personality in her line of work.
Piper's troubles didn't start with the Animalian Outbreak. It actually occurred some time before that. She was down in the sewers, wading through the indescribable filth. Too many people topside were complaining about some blockage. Probably some idiots flushing something they shouldn't. It was hardly what Piper would call a good work day, but at least it kept a roof over her head.
The first thing she noticed that was off was the absence of rats. She wasn't a skittish woman, rats have never really bothered her before and her constant plunges into the sewers have numbed her completely. But there ought to be some vermin down here, skittering away as soon as she shone the light in their direction. She told herself it was probably nothing big, maybe it's mating season and the critters were busy in their nests. But that attitude changed when she started finding bones. Hundreds of tiny little bones. There was enough skulls to tell Piper that these were rat bones, quite a lot of them too. For a minute, she was worried that there was some disease or poison that killed all these rats. But then she looked closer and saw that the bones have been gnawed on.
Then she heard something skittering in the dark. Piper waved her flashlight around, trying to see what it was. Then something tackled her, pushing onto her back. Piper looked up in surprise to see some kind of huge rat standing over her. It was definitely not like any rat that Piper had seen before. It was very muscular, but its body was a lot more humanoid than Piper had ever seen on a rat. There was also a gleam of intelligence in its eyes, though that was mostly overshadowed by madness.
Quite suddenly, the rat started clawing at Piper's uniform. The clawed fingers made very short work at the clothing that minimized her exposure to sewage. The reason why it was shredding her clothes became very obvious as a rather large penis was emerging from its sheath. Piper fought back as hard as she could, it was no use. The rat man was a lot stronger than her and her bra and panties were soon torn away with the rest of her clothes. With the last barrier removed, he plunged his penis into her unprotected vagina. Piper screamed loudly, though it was in vain. No one was there to hear her, let alone save her from being raped by a giant rat.
The horror didn't end there. As Piper tried to push the rat man off of her, she noticed her hands becoming twisted, growing claws and hair like rat paws. She soon noticed the fur covering up her exposed skin. It was bad enough being raped by a rat, now she was becoming one herself. She fought harder, but her transformation seemed to turn on the rat man even further and he pounded harder into Piper. Piper squeaked in outrage as her face pulled out into a muzzle, her teeth becoming sharper. Her ears also became larger as fur spread across her face. Her kicking feet suddenly found themselves bare as her boots flew off, her new paws being too slim to keep them on, though the claws tearing through the socks. Piper could feel her new worm-like tail completing its growth when the rat man let out a loud squeak and ejaculated deep inside her. Piper was mortified to feel herself orgasming as well.
Piper had hoped she would be able to escape, but then the rat man dragged her back to his nest where he proceeded to mate with her more. Escaping the rat proved to be fruitless as he'd always drag Piper back and mate with her again. Eventually, the constant matings had their effect as Piper's belly began to swell. Now unable to leave, Piper was forced to stay in the sewers. At least her 'mate' provided for her, catching smaller rats and other morsels for her to eat. While disgusted at first, Piper found her new instincts were a lot less picky than she would have preferred.
It only took a few weeks for Piper's first litter to be born. Despite herself, Piper felt a mother attachment to the rat creatures she gave birth to. She promised herself that as soon as they were raised, she'd go back to the surface. However, her new family was a lot less civilized than she had hoped. Their minds were too primitive to fully grasp her teachings. They matured rather quickly, though this was probably normal for rats. Most disturbingly, as soon as they were sexually mature, they began fornicating with each other. Their father made no attempt to stop them and in fact started mating with his daughters when not with Piper. Her sons were no better as they'd mate with their mother when they got the chance. Before long, Piper and her daughters were all pregnant.
And so the sewer rat kingdom began to grow, the results of one particularly screwed-up family. Eventually, Piper decided that if she was going to be the matriarch of these vermin, she'd at least act the part. It seemed to work a lot better than everything else. She soon had her throne, crown, and robe of trash, her subjects clothed in rags. She was the Rat Queen now, though her mate was not her king. In fact, Piper tried to kill him a few times, but the rat-bastard keeps coming back to life. His children also inherited this nigh-immortality. The only thing that seemed to actually kill them was if one of them ate another. But none of the rat children tried to overthrow Piper's mate and she didn't have the stomach to try and eat him.
Piper was not oblivious to what was happening on the surface. She had her subjects bring her news of what was happening along with better food. She was aware of the development of Animalian society. However, she never made any move to join it. The Animalians may be recognized as sapient beings by others, but they were still freaks to her. And Piper and her brood would probably be considered monstrosities even by Animalian standards. All Piper could do was sit and watch, resenting the Animalians' freedom and hoping that someone would eventually invent a cure.
Piper thought her wait would be in vain until she heard about Jeremy Green, the scientist who turned his little sister into a polar bear and was desperate to change her back. Piper waited eagerly for him to discover a cure so she could finally leave these miserable sewers once and for all. But then she heard that Jeremy had given up, that his sister and that dinosaur bitch had convinced him it was pointless and being Animalian wasn't bad.
This proved too much for Piper. She had her subjects, normally forbidden to interact with the surface-dwellers, bring Jeremy to her. She hoped she'll be able to persuade him to create a cure so she could finally become human again. However, that was soon dashed by the unexpected intervention of the Rhino Guard's Stealth Division.
Though the question remained about what to do with the sewer rats. They were noticeably different from the other rat Animalians, even without considering their primitive 'culture'. For one thing, they were a lot shorter than other Animalians. Even Animalians who were originally smaller creatures became at least the size of average humans when uplifted. Piper was even shown to have shrunk since being transformed. They also had a much faster pregnancy period and maturing rate than other Animalians, giving birth within a few weeks instead of a minimum of 6 months and becoming functional adults when they should have been no older than toddlers.
Eventually, the answers were found when they examined the rat patriarch. To the surprise of the Horizon scientists, it was the rat they had first tested their virus with. They had thought the rat had been euthanized and disposed of, so they were very surprised to see him alive again. it would appear that the rat had been injected an earlier batch of the virus, which resulted in him retaining most of his bestial traits which he had passed down to his children and to Piper. As an apparent trade-off, the rats had a greater healing factor than most Animalians. The Animalian virus that had been released in the Outbreak was a different batch, having mutated and evolved more to produce stabler Animalians instead of the psychotic monster that the rat had become.
Another thing that was noticed was that the rats showed no signs of double-dosing, despite their frequent mating with each other. It could be that their strain of the virus lacked this particular feature. Which could mean that exposure to the evolved strain could change them into normal Animalians. Whether the virus could repair their primitive minds or the genetic damage caused by their inbreeding was still unclear. But at least 'Queen Piper' had been captured before she could cause any harm.