It had been two weeks since the convention. During that time, Skyla and Myra had both amazingly abstained from their antics of transforming humans, (those lured in Myra's case, and those who sought do Bad Things to people in the Maid District). Skyla and Anna both had also abstained from using the ray gun for the most part. Anna put things on hold to focus on the Animal Shelter. And Skyla put things on hold to focus on 're-learning' her magic from her mother, with spider-girl Marceline again an eager and willing test subject. And the Bakeneko Sophie had shown a interest in socializing with her, she didn't force the issue, but always let Skyla know she was available if she just wanted to talk.
And there was Daisy and her 'tails'. Myra 'now that she was done with her vacation' of living like a mere human, had taken an interest in this one tail and her 'little friends.'
"So it's not so much that they're mindless, it's that they rely on you for motivation Little One Tail?" Myra asked.
"Yes Honored Nine-Tails. Also, the further they're away from me, the more uncomfortable they get, like say a few miles, and eventually they do have one motivation, to get back closer to me, and each other. One thing I do know for sure... they know what pain and fear are... Miza was bitten by a huge spider as a kit and was sobbing... And even when I gave her the idea, she wouldn't follow through going into the attic again." Daisy herself shuddered at the memory.
And the doll maids were still trying to find themselves. Silvey still felt bad vibes from Sasha, and knew it was going to take a while for things to heal between them. Still, she was glad Sasha and Madison were acting like sisters again.
Fortunately, none of the junior maids in the know had tried to 'borrow’ the ray gun without permission to transform their classmates for Curt's 'greater glory' during that time, and seemed to be honoring his wishes. Their immortal firebird was learning, or rather relearning at a healthy pace with her beloved teacher, as was their baby unicorn. And their dragon princess... was still entitled and full of herself, but she behaved.
Curt himself, however, had spotted a drifter with a 'will work for food' sign, and instantly asked if he was interested in a job. After they'd said yes, and a zapping, the result had been a light brown bunny woman with blue eyes and blond hair. Her dress had been extra frilly by the standards of the other maids to make even Skyla turn her head, her long ears had gem earrings, and while in the 'busty' catagory, she was at the lower end of the scale. The ray gun confirmed her name was 'Countessa.' She'd also been an orphan for over a decade.
The ray gun hadn't vanished into thin air to find a new owner, so at least the gun still acknowledged Curt had intentions of using it.
Atarah remained a genuine mystery. She hadn't been evasive in anything Curt or the others asked her, but her answers tended to be, oddly worded, and she got confused if she was speaking to Anna, Scott (not Skyla), or Mark, since they'd all apparently filled the role of 'Master' in other universes.
Was Atarah transformed in all those timelines as well? Where they all connected to each other? Or was there one Atarah across different realities? What kinda crazy creature had Atarah been imagining before she'd been zapped that had resulted in this?
'I guess I should be happy that the Ray Gun hadn't turned anyone into a busty version of Cthulhu, would be hard being a housekeeper if everyone goes crazy just from looking at you,' Curt thought. 'Hopefully the ray gun has failsafes against that sort of thing.' Curt wondered if the creators of the Ray Gun would put in a patch to prevent more like Atarah from coming along, since they'd seemed concerned if reality got punctured. With 454 maids, it wasn't like they'd take over the world or even the city any time soon, but it was already an overwhelming number for Curt.
But all in all, it felt almost like they were having a vacation from the craziness of the Ray Gun for the most part. Everything had, for the moment, settled in a rhythm, with people finding their niches. Their human employees being just more hands at the estate. Even at work, with Meredith being his constant aid, and Dave being a naked mouseman, having feelings for Meredith, and never knowing he'd ever been different, everything had begun to feel 'normal' for Curt. And it was nice not to have his home become larger and larger every time he came home to it! He'd even had the chance to simply spend time with his parents now that they lived a stone's throw away on the estate grounds. Mother was no longer ill, she was now, and had always been, a dog woman maid, but she was still herself, healthy and happy, and that was what mattered right? With everything changing so insanely fast for him, Curt was grateful for some consistency in his life again.
---
Anna stepped out of the animal shelter on a cloudy Wednesday afternoon, her ever-dedicated stallion butler, Leroy, by her side. Her volunteer “shift” over, the cat woman was ready to head out to town.
“So,” she turned to him, a grin on her face, “you got any places you like to go for fun? Just you and me?” She held his arm.
Leroy turned his head away for a moment, a hint of a blush in his cheeks, before straightening up and resuming his professional posture. “Well, I might suggest the Whirlpool Club, if it were the weekend; no better spot for a dance in town. But if Lady Anna doesn’t mind, I would be happy to escort her through the park.”
Her tail rose and gently swayed. “Taking a nature walk sounds fun to me. Let’s go.”
The large parking lot, shared with several nearby businesses, was devoid of people at first glance. But just before Anna was about to get in her car, she heard someone call to her.
“Hey, miss!” A woman’s voice spoke. Turning around, Anna saw a human woman dressed casually, in jeans and a red t-shirt. “Miss, I seemed to have dropped a piece of my jewelry in the parking lot. Have you seen it?”
Anna shook her head. “Sorry, ma’am, I haven’t seen anything like that here.”
“Are you sure?” The woman asked, reaching into her pocket. “It looked something like this.”
She pulled out a golden necklace with a deep red pearl in its center, the gem seeming to cast an eerie glow. Anna only glanced at it for a second, but found it hard to look away… She felt… So lightheaded…
“Take a rest, dear.” The woman said with a smirk.
“Lady Anna?” Leroy gasped as he saw his employer fall forward limply into the arms of the woman. He dashed around the car, fists clenched, “just what do you think you’re…”
The woman held the gem out in front of him, its soft glow drawing his eyes, and making him feel empty. “Hmm…” The woman rubbed her chin. “A horse guy is tempting, but he looks like he’d make a big fuss. You just stay put, okay? And forget about my face and license plate, okay?”
Leroy couldn’t picture any reason to do any differently, despite feelinging a nagging sensation in the back of his mind that something was wrong, so he just stood by the car, as the woman dragged Anna into the back of a van, closed the doors behind her, and drove away.
As the van left the lot, Leroy suddenly remembered, that woman had taken Lady Anna! Keeping his eyes on the van, he ran back to the driver’s side of the car, hastily started up the engine and pulled out, tires screeching as he tried to follow. He saw it round a corner as he got out of the lot, and slammed the gas to catch up. But by the time he made the same turn, the kidnappers were already nowhere to be seen. He desperately looked this way and that as he reached the next intersection, but still saw no trace of them.
He’d failed her. He’d failed her completely.
Meanwhile, in the back of the truck, a man in his thirties, with black hair and a noticeable gut, looked down at the pile of unconscious women and girls on the floor. “Oh ho ho! A cat lady, huh? She’s gonna make us a pretty penny. Nice work.” He paused, and stared more intently at Anna. “I get the feeling I’ve seen here somewhere before, though.”
“Oh?” The woman who had taken Anna glanced his way. “Where?”
“On the local news, duri-” The man paused, the wheels in his head turning. He fought back the urge to smile once he remembered where he’d seen her before. “You know what? Lookin’ closer, it’s just a coincidence. Forget I said anything.”
+++
Curt paced back and forth as he listened to the stallion’s story, hands trembling. He, Skyla, Sophie, Meredith, Marceline, Cassidy, and Pam, had all gathered in the parlor when he’d heard the news, all of them displaying clear signs of worry, panic, sadness, or anger, all of their attention focused on the horse anthro in front of them.
“...And after I’d lost them, I came back here as soon as I could to tell you!”
Curt frowned. “Why didn’t you call the police? Why can’t you remember what the kidnappers looked like?”
“I-in my panic, I hadn’t thought of it, Master! And I honestly don’t know why I can’t remember!”
“You’re new on staff!” Curt shouted and pointed a finger at him. “Why should I trust you? What if you’re with them, and that’s the reason for your lapses in memory?”
“Master,” Sophie spoke, “please, I don’t think-”
“Quiet! I want to hear him explain it.”
“If you want, Master,” Skyla put a hand on his shoulder as she spoke, “I can look into his mind and see if he’s telling the truth.”
Curt rubbed his forehead. “Sure. Sure. Please do.”
A blue flame appeared appeared in Skyla’s palm. “Look into the light, please.”
Leroy nodded, slowly, and looked at the flame, a familiar, lightheaded feeling overtaking him.
When Skyla entered Leroy’s mind, the colors of the realm around her seems to shift and swirl around her, yellow from fear, red from anger, blue from sadness, whipping every which way around her coloring his thoughts and memories as they swirled around her. She reached out for the nearest ones, those that were immediately ‘on his mind,’ and examined them. Most of them matched with the stallion’s story, but two stood out; not because they contradicted his story, but because they were distorted, flickering, and dim. Skyla could feel a trace of some sort of magic force at work, but she couldn’t quite tell what.
The flame went out in her palm as she and Leroy both opened their eyes. “He’s telling the truth. And it looks like someone magically tampered with his memory.”
Curt’s jaw dropped, Marceline shook her head and wrapped her arms around her torso, and Cassidy and Pam wrung their hands, while the other maids showed similar signs of shock.
“What?” Sophie gasped. “But the only people in town that would be capable of anything like that are on our staff!”
“...Or members of my family…” Skyla whispered.
“No… That can’t be it,” Curt shook his head. “All the people capable of magic in this town are our friends… There’s no way they’d do something like this.”
The other maids seemed to ease up a little, though Skyla found it harder to share that little bit of optimism when she couldn’t help thinking back to her uncle, her brother, alongside her new family tree, all of whom bore no special loyalty to Curt. And if what her grandma had told her about Aunt Minako was true, anthros weren’t inherently more caring people. Which all in all, felt like the ultimate mockery of everything she'd been hoping for with the Ray Gun once she learned of its power, she kept hoping for something, anything, to explain how such a thing could have occured. But right now, there was Anna to worry about!
“You’re sure he didn’t have anything to do with it?” Curt’s words interrupted Skyla’s thoughts.
“I’m certain of it, Master.”
Curt clenched his fists and grit his teeth, clearly irritated that he had no targets to take his rage out on. “Why didn’t you stop it, then?” He growled at Leroy.
“I-I can’t remember s-sir, I mean, M-master Evenson!”
"Ugh! If I could just get my hands on them, I’d turn them to roaches! I’d give them every ounce of misery they deserve while they tried to scuttle away like the cowards they are!”
“I think Skyla would do a better job of that first part than you,” Sophie said. “Please Master! We need to focus if we’re going to solve this; I perfectly understand your anger, but we need to put it to good use!”
Curt sat back on one of the sofas, and punched a nearby pillow a few times, then took a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry… You’re right, I need to calm down a bit.” His head hung low. “I can’t believe I got so lax… I should have had Cassidy keep shadowing her, or done more to make this town safer…”
“It’s not your fault, Master,” Sophie said, “she couldn’t spend her entire life under your wing…” She trailed off, remembering what he’d told her life had been like for them before the “big change.” He’d been responsible for Anna for years, and that sense of duty wasn’t just going to just fade overnight.
Skyla sat down beside Curt, putting an arm and two of her tails around him. She hadn’t known Anna as long or as well as Curt, but the cat woman being the only other person to know about the changes had led to the two bonding a lot over the past month, and even if she didn’t show it, she felt every bit as angry, saddened, and lost as Curt did.
+++
After the police report had been filed, and he’d broke the news to his devastated parents, Curt had retreated to his room alone. A number of maids had voluntarily formed search parties for Anna, but he knew it wasn’t likely to yield any result. He laid back in his bed and stared at the ceiling.
He wasn’t sure how much time when his cell phone rang. After a moment of consideration, he answered.
“Hello?”
“Master!” Came the voice of one of the security lionesses. “A man at the front gate says he knows where Anna is. He says he wants to speak to you about it personally. What should I do with him?”
Curt paused. It hadn’t been long enough for word to have possibly gotten out about this, so it being a faker looking for attention or a reward seemed unlikely. And if he’d heard about her going missing from the police or search parties, there was no reason for this guy not to just tell THEM about whatever he saw. Which left one other possibility as to how this guy knew of Anna’s whereabouts…
“Send him in, but have one of the lionesses watch him. Cassidy too, if she’s on duty. Let Skyla know.”
He hung up, grabbed the gun off his nightstand, slipped it in his pocket, and went out the door.
Skyla was already waiting for him in the entrance hall, as were Cassidy and a blue-furred lioness. And standing between the two big cats was a black-haired man with a noticeable gut, who looked like he wasn’t comfortable with how they were looking at him. His confidence seemed to return when he saw Curt in front of him.
“Why hello, Mr. Evenson,” the man smirked. “I imagine you’ve gotta be feeling worried right now, with your sister suddenly going missing and all. Lucky for you, I happen to know exactly where she is.”
“Tell me,” Curt said sternly.
“Now, now,” the man said, “nothing in life comes free. But I’m sure someone as rich as you could part with a couple million without it breaking the bank, right?”
Curt scowled and reached into his pocket.
“W-woah! Ease up man, I-” There was a flash of green, and where the man had stood, a tall foxhound woman, with a hefty chest and behind on full display due to her lack of clothing, stood in his place, frowning, before falling to her knees and bursting into tears. “...can’t do this anymore! Looking at you now, seeing all the people hurt by what we’re doing up close? No! The Hartman gang? They’re the ones that took her. I’m part of it. We’ve been doing human trafficking for years now.”
She panted for a moment, catching her breath. “I know it makes no difference, Master, but I am so, so sorry for all I’ve done. I don’t expect you to forgive me, and if you want me to rot in jail, or punish me, I’ll take it all. I’m scum, and I deserve to die for what I’ve done… But let me make it up to you before you do, at least! I’ll get Anna back, and then I’ll suffer as you see fit.”
“...Do you really think we should trust her, Master?” Cassidy asked, looking down at the sobbing dog woman.
Curt glanced up at the tigress. “Lets just say I have reason to believe she’s every bit as sincere as you were.” He took a deep breath. “That said… I don’t want her to bring Anna back.”
The rest of the room was visibly shaken, turning their heads to Curt in confusion.
“I don’t just want Anna back,” he explained. “I want their whole operation brought down, and every one of the people involved brought to justice, so no-one else will have to suffer like Anna is. I want our new friend here…” He gestured toward the foxhound woman.
“Call me Betty Greene…”
“I want her to give the police all the information they’d need to stop this whole mess.”
“I’d be happy to, Master…” Betty whimpered softly, “But I don’t think it’s a good idea. The Hartmans see their ‘stock’ as expendable, nowadays. They have no problem with just killing all of them to make sure there’s no witnesses at the first sign of a police raid. It’ll be a lot easier for me to go in and get people out myself. I can get at least a dozen out before they realize what’s up. At that point, it won’t matter what happens to me...”
“No, I don’t want you killing yourself,” Curt forced himself to say. He knew the woman’s change of heart due to the ray gun was genuine, but he still was feeling angry with the scum she had been moments before. He shook his head. “How could they be so callous?”
“It’s been that way since Duke Hartman found the Red Pearl. Wouldn’t say where he got it, but it seems to be able to control people’s minds, somehow. As long as you’re looking at it, you can’t say ‘no’ to anything the person holding it says. They’ve made members of rival gangs off themselves with it, forced their victims unconscious, and made witnesses forget it ever happened. The one good thing is that when it’s out of sight, it stops working. Some of the gang’s found things that work longer; like, if you tell someone to forget something that happened while under, it’ll stay forgotten, or if you put ‘em to sleep, they’ll stay asleep until they’d wake up normally, but most of the time, you’re not lookin’ at long term control.”
“So that’s what happened to Leroy…” Skyla murmured.
Curt lowered his head, then clenched his fists. “If the police can’t risk it… Then maybe I will.”
“What?” The foxhound gasped. “But Master, you’ll-”
“I don’t care what the risk is, we’re NOT losing Anna!” He took a breath, and looked down at the plastic gun in his hand, while the foxhound went quiet. “Besides, we have some advantages of our own…”
+++
Curt was in the mansion’s basement, running through his final preparations for the rescue operation, when he heard the rush of small, beating wings behind him. Before he could turn around to look, the source of the sound flew around him, and a little black and gold dragoness wearing a plastic tiara was hovering in his face.
“Master! I heard bad guys kidnapped Lady Anna, and you’re gonna rescue her, right?” Simone asked.
Curt could immediately see where this was going. He took a deep breath. “Yes, and-”
“Master! I want permission to come with you too, and BITE THEIR STUPID HEADS OFF!” Tiny embers flew out from between the young dragon’s mouth as she shouted those last words.
“No.”
“No?” The dragoness hovered back. “But I’m a princess! A princess can’t just watch and let her friends get hurt!”
“And we want to help, too.” Curt turned around to see Emma and Kasai looking up at him, and Carrie and Kathy standing in perfect mirror of each other behind the mythical toddlers.
“Anna’s been, like, a good friend to all of us,” one of the eastern dragons said.
“And we’ve all got super-useful magic to help out, too.” The other said.
Curt sighed. “Look, I appreciate the offer from all of you. But I can’t risk it. I don’t want to put any of you in harm’s way.”
“Come ON, Master!” Simone whined. “My scales are bulletproof. And Kasai can’t die. We-”
“Kasai doesn’t STAY dead,” Curt corrected. “And just because you MIGHT be bulletproof doesn’t mean I want to test that. And besides, it’s not the physical harm I’m worried about…”
“What do you mean?” Simone asked.
“I… I don’t know… I think I should wait until you’re older to say.”
“I’m fourteen and two-thirds!” Simone pouted.
“And I’m more than twice as old as you,” Emma said quietly.
“That’s not- ugh… Look, we’ll be fighting the worst types of monsters there are. Stuff that’ll give even dragons nightmares-”
“Cthulhu?” Simone gasped.
“...Yes… Cthulhu…” Curt decided to just roll with it. “I don’t want any of you scarred for life, okay? So please, PLEASE either stay in the mansion, or with your parents, okay?”
The toddlers nodded, wide-eyed, and darted out of the room. Curt looked up at the eastern dragon twins.
“Look, Master, we know the kinds of totally horrible people you’ll really be dealing with. We’re prepared for it,” one said.
“Besides, with our weather magic, we can literally blow them away, or, like, stun ‘em with lightning!”
Curt shook his head. “I’m sorry, but you’re still not adults yet. If anything happened to you, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for it. Plus, there will be a lot of innocent people there. As much as I’d like to call down a storm on these creeps, I don’t want anyone else to get caught in the crossfire. We need stealth here, not a storm.”
The twins frowned. “I knew we shoulda studied some subtler spells, Carrie.”
“We’ll know better next time, Kathy.”
“Thanks for understanding,” Curt said. “And thanks for wanting to help, anyway… If you want to help another way, would you please watch those kids for me while we’re gone? I don’t think they’ll disobey, but I’m sure they’ll want someone nearby to keep them company while they’re worried about Anna.
The two dragons bowed. “You got it, Master,” the said in perfect sync.
+++
“Are you sure about this?” Skyla asked, as Curt stepped up to the door of a small house in their neighborhood, and rang the bell.
“About trying to rescue Anna?”
“Yes. This isn’t like you. I’m worried about Anna too, but we can’t do anything reckless, especially with their ‘take no prisoners’ attitude.”
“Which is exactly why I’m here.”
“Are you sure you don’t want Grandma’s help though?” Skyla pleaded. “You’ve seen the kinda stuff she can do. I’d bet she could take this entire gang down in minutes on her own.”
Curt shook his head. “Look, I know you love your grandma, but I’ve read enough fables, fairy tales, AND TF stories to know that, when making deals with a capital-T Trickster, the only way to win, is not to play. And even then, half the time, you’ll be entered involuntarily anyway. I don’t want to get Anna back only to find that because I didn’t read the fine print, she has to be turned into a statue for five hundred years, or give her firstborn child up to be raised by kitsune, or something.”
“Curt!” Skyla leaned in. “My grandma would never-”
“Sorry, sorry, I can’t help but be paranoid about this stuff, its-”
The door opened, to reveal a man in his forties, with a prosthetic left leg. “Mr. Evenson? What brings you here?”
“Sergeant Robert Hayes, my sister’s been kidnapped, and I need a man with your expertise to get her back.”
The man looked like he was about to laugh, but when he saw how serious the couple on his porch looked, he hesitated. “I’ll admit, this sounds like some crazy movie, but I’ll bite. How can a one-legged soldier help you?”
“I heard during a veteran’s banquet at church that you led a stealth operation and rescued several prisoners of war during your time in Afghanistan. I need you to lead another stealth rescue for me. My sister’s being held captive by human traffickers in a warehouse on the other side of town, and we can’t rely on the police to help in time. I have several trained security guards, a former thief, a few magical assistants,” he gestured toward Skyla, “and someone on the inside. You’re the one missing piece.”
“That really does sound crazy.” Hayes shook his head. “Look, I’m in no shape to lead anyone right now. I think that should be pretty obvious.”
“You don’t have to lead in the field if you don’t want to,” Curt said, “Even just some general strategic advice would be appreciated.” He paused, his hand drifting to his pocket. “But I do have tech that could let you fight beside us like you did at your peak. Maybe even better.”
“Really? You’re worried about the police not being able to act in time, but you have time to get me fitted with a fancy robot leg?” Hayes laughed.
“It wouldn’t take as long as you’d think,” Curt said. “But I mean it. I need your help to avoid making potentially fatal mistakes, and I’ll be willing to reward you with just about anything. And it’d be another chance for you to make a difference.”
"Are you asking to go vigilante?" Hayes asked.
Skyla spoke first, "Allow me Master: technically speaking, human traffickers are 'hostis humani generis' they are not under any form of legal protection." Skyla had, in the new reality, been enacting 'small town justice' in the Maid District for years apparently, though through documents she found, her sister-maids on the force tolerated her doing this within the maid district, and only with drug dealers, arm robbers, wife beaters, and the like, as long as she kept them in the know so could write off their time as objects as 'community service'. Though Skyla knew 'right to trial, right to jury, right to lawyer', etc, meant it was the reality filter that likely REALLY allowed her to get away with this. Maybe. She still wasn't quite sure how it worked. Still, she was a kitsune, a fox spirit, enacting supernatural protection upon the place she resided was part of the deal, or it was for her at least!
"Sir," Curt said quickly, "I want you help to save my sister and innocent people WITHOUT anyone dying if it's possible!"
Hayes leaned quietly on the doorframe, a hand on his chin. After what felt like ages to Curt, he spoke up. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll give you what tactical advice I can, on the condition that you get me a waiver saying that I told you that this was a crazy idea even with my advice, and if you get yourselves killed, it's not my fault.”
“That’s perfectly fair. Would you mind writing a waiver up, Skyla?”
“Not at all, Master.” Skyla nodded.
“Thank you again, Sergeant Hayes.” Curt took the man’s hand and shook it. Still, in the back of his mind, Curt hoped for a little more. With Anna’s safety on the line, he needed every advantage he could get.
“By the way… Are you sure I couldn’t interest you in that tech I mentioned earlier. Even if you’re not helping us on the front lines, I’d still gladly let you have it, if you want…”
Hayes looked at Curt for a moment, and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess I don’t see the harm. What sort of tech is it?”
“I could show you right here, right now, if you want,” Curt said, feeling a twinge of guilt, especially after he’d just finished speaking ill of Tricksters moments ago.
“You’ve got it on you? What is it, some kind of nanomachines you’re keeping in your pocket?”
“Sergeant Hayes, I’m being serious.”
“Alright, alight, go ahead and show me.”
“Gladly!” Curt unholstered his gun, and fired, unleashing a bolt of blue lightning.
Hayes suddenly gasped, feeling strangely warm as deep brown fur grew over his torso. He shivered as his waist narrowed, and hips widened, feeling a distinct shift between his legs.
“What’s going on? What did you do to me?” She asked in a higher voice, before her prosthetic leg vanished. A mysterious force held her upright as her left leg grew back completely as if nothing had ever happened, her foot growing back as a large lioness paw, her right foot shifting to match. “You were… how did you?” She reached down and felt her ‘new’ leg as white feathers covered her chest and upper arms, spreading up her neck and face as well. As her fingers felt over her fur-covered legs, yellow scales covered her forearms and hands, curved talons extending from her fingertips.
“Wait, scales? What the…”
As feathers covered her head completely, her hair vanished, and a yellow beak grew from her mouth, her nostrils moving to the top of it. Her ears shrank away, and her clothes unraveled and vanished. Her chest suddenly swelled up to a hefty size, which she hesitantly felt over, and a long, feline tail snaked its way out of her back, twitching. Finally, she felt a pressure in her shoulder blades, and two new “arms” grew from her back, brown feathers coating them as they spread into a wide pair of wings.
In her mind, meanwhile, she suddenly felt deeply concerned for Mr. Evenson. And why shouldn’t she? She felt even better than she had before she’d lost her leg in the explosion, just like Mr. Evenson said she would. At this point, she realized, it would be completely ungrateful for her to think of Mr. Evenson as anything but Master, like all his maids did. Still...
“Well Master, I believe you… Now, could you tell me how the hell you did this?”
“You can probably tell by now, but this gun is no toy. It can permanently turn almost any human into a perfect anthro maid, free of illness or injury, and completely loyal to me, with the whole of reality changed so that as far as anyone else is concerned, it’s never been any different."
"I guess that means I don't need to explain anything to anyone." Hayes thought of a few girl friends she'd had before, some were sweet but had never got anywhere. 'Guess we were just best friends now. Well, better than how some of those break-ups went.'
"It can even be adjusted to let the target’s desires affect the species they become, among other aspects, though I chose to pick griffon for you, this time, since I figured they might stay in their prime a bit longer.”
“I see.” The griffon woman stepped closer to examine it. “It would be quite a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands… And since you weren’t honest about about your little demonstration being permanent, I gotta wonder if it’s not already in them.”
Curt looked down in shame. “I… Yeah, you’re right. I know ‘sorry’ would mean nothing at this point… But… I am sorry. If you want to back out, then that’s fine. You’re not under any orders not to.”
Hayes stood tall, and looked down at him. She sighed. “Well, I wouldn’t have chosen to be a woman, but it feels natural, now that it’s happened. And having my own leg back, with wings on top of it? That’s a trade I can be happy with.” As if to demonstrate, she stepped outside, and spread her wings wide.
“And I know you were desperate, and that I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d asked honestly beforehand.” She frowned. “I can forgive you for this, Master, even if I DO think you could have handled it better. I just hope you don’t make a habit of just changing anyone with it.”
Curt nodded.
“As for your rescue plan… I still think it’s suicide, and frankly, that ‘complete loyalty to you’ thing is making me want to urge you now more than ever not to try it… But with your sister’s life on the line, I know I’m not gonna be able to talk you out of it.” She shook her head. “And if I can’t stop you from going, I might as well go myself, and make sure you’re as safe as possible.”
Curt’s face brightened. “Thank you very much, Sergeant Hayes!” He shook her hand vigorously.
“So,” Hayes continued, “I guess you want to use this thing to turn these slavers and kidnappers into respectable members of the community? You know, despite what I just said about not turning that thing on just anyone, that’s probably one of the better ways to use it. I’m in, Master.”
“Great!” Curt said. “I knew you’d be a good pick. Now, let’s get down to what we know…”
+++
That evening, just as the sun was setting, Curt walked up to a normal looking warehouse on the far side of town, Skyla and Sophie by his side, all of them lead by the foxhound who was now their woman on the inside. Sergeant Hayes flew down to meet him, with Zelda, Cassidy, and two of the security lioness, approaching from another direction, to avoid too large a group showing up at once arousing suspicion. (It had taken ages to convince the guilt-ridden Leroy to stay put at the mansion, but Curt didn’t want to risk anyone without magic or fighting experience getting caught up in this.)
“Now remember,” Hayes told the big cats, as she handed each of them a gun, “we want to stay stealthy. If they hear shots fired, they may start executing prisoners, including Anna. Only shoot if it looks dire. We’re gonna be relying on Skyla and Sophie’s magic, here.”
“Gotcha,” Zelda nodded, then turned to Curt. “But, what are you gonna do, Master? I know this is personal for you, but if you don’t have a weapon yourself, it might be better for you to just sit this one out. I don’t want you getting hurt if we can help it.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Curt said, “I’ve got a subtler enchanted item with me, but it’ll be making a difference behind the scenes. With any luck, nobody will even notice what’s happening.”
Zelda looked to Skyla and Sophie, who both nodded their heads knowingly. “If you’re sure, Master.”
The group carefully approached one of the door, with Betty in the lead. The foxhound opened the door and after a quick glance, motioned for the others to follow. They stepped into what looked like a small, unlit office, with a basic desk and laptop, and a door into a hall. Hayes carefully peered into the hall, and saw a single, male guard, armed with a pistol, standing at the end of the hall. He turned around and signaled Curt.
Taking out the ray gun, Curt pointed it out the door as subtly as he could and fired. In a flash of green, the man’s skin was covered in black and white fur, his pants reshaped themselves into a tiny black with white trim miniskirt, and his shirt became a black blouse with a low V-cut, allowing ample view of her rapidly expanding chest. Her jaws stretched forward slightly into a feline muzzle, her teeth sharpening as her ears grew into wider, triangular ones. Finally, a tail grew out from her spine, poking out through a hole in the back of her skirt.
Curt sighed in relief, and after another check, Hayes motioned that the cost was clear, and the group poured into the hall.
“Oh, Master!” The newly minted catgirl whispered in a sultry voice as she saw Curt. “Glad to see you here. I’ve been a good girl, they still don’t know I’m spying on them, so you can keep going through. Careful though. I wouldn’t wanna lose you.”
“Thanks,” Curt said.
As he walked past, she reached out and grabbed his upper arm. “By the way, when this is all over, Master, I’d LOVE to help you work through all the extra stress you’re going through. I’m sure you’ve got a lot of needs to meet…”
Curt wrenched his arm loose, and Skyla rushed between the two, scowling.
“PLEASE keep your priorities straight!” Curt huffed, before moving on.
“Sorry, Master!” The cat said defensively. “I’ve been a bad girl! I’ll do what you say!”
They soon came to a locker room, and saw through a window on the door that it had two occupants, a man, and a woman. The man seemed to tower over her as she sat quietly on the bench, looking away from him.
“Alright, Betty,” Hayes said, you go in first and try to distract the man. Once we’ve worked some magic on him, we can take care of the woman.”
Betty nodded and walked through the door and started talking to the man on the other side, as the other members of the group stayed out of sight. Once the man had turned around, Curt took aim and fired through the window, the lightning’s angle bending as it passed through the glass, but still hitting its mark.
The man’s clothes turned into a black and white dress, as he became female, her figure becoming an exaggerated hourglass while deep black fur emerged all over her skin. A thick, shackle-like metal collar appeared around her neck, with chains attached to the front, and either side of it that ran down the fabric of her dress, joining to a set of metal cuffs on her wrists and ankles, making her look like a prisoner herself. Her eyes turned yellow as she gained a wolf’s ears, snout, tail, and paws.
With the coast clear, Skyla stepped in and approached the woman. “Don’t worry miss, you’re safe now! We’re here to help get everyone out.”
The woman looked startled at first, then smiled. “Oh, I know I’m safe.”
There was a clicking noise, and Skyla felt something cold being pressed against her chest.
“Question is, are YOU?”
Curt gasped, and rushed in quickly firing the ray gun again. The woman suddenly stood at attention as her clothes shifted into a black dress and white apron. Pale blue feathers grew over her arms, legs, and head, and white scales appeared on her hands and feet, as her arms became wings. Her mouth stretched into a short, curved beak, as she turned into a short, cute, doll-like parakeet.
Skyla breathed a sigh of relief.
“What the hell were you THINKING?” Hayes demanded as she entered.
“Sorry…” Skyla whispered. “I didn’t think a woman would willingly be a part of this, I just…”
“Well, if there’s one thing war can teach you, it’s that ANYONE can be a monster. Be more careful next time, got it?”
“What’s she talking about?” Cassidy whispered.
“I think it’s a lingering effect of the enchantment Curt’s been using,” Sophie explained.
“Master,” the parakeet woman said in monotone, “I’ve told a few of the other gang members that Rita and I,” she gestured to the wolf woman next to her, “would cover their route on the west side of the warehouse. You should meet with less resistance there.”
“Thank you,” Curt nodded, trying to hide his anxiety about almost being caught.
“Of course Master.” The Parakeet curtsied. “I live to serve.”
“And I’m happy to serve too, Master!” The wolf woman chimed in, coming uncomfortably close to Curt, and dropping the other end of the front chain in his hand. “Feel free to yank me into ANYTHING you want.” She pressed her massive bust against his chest, panting slightly.
Curt pushed her away and rolled his eyes. “Just be ready to help protect the captives, okay?”
The wolf girl whimpered. “Yes Master.”
As they made their way to the next room Hayes turned to Curt. “The guys you’re changing here seem kinda… off. Are you doing that on purpose?”
“No. The gun seems to turn people into ‘ideal maids’ based on a combination of what that means for the person firing, and the person getting shot. I’m guessing these people don’t have the best view of their ‘lessors.’”
“I guess it’s still better for us and their victims, but, geez, I hope I won’t have to work with them.” Hayes shuddered.
“This door leads to the main storage room, and where we kept a lot of the victims,” Betty said. “There’s some shelves scattered around that might work for cover, but most of the guards are gonna be here. They’ll be the ones with guns. Hopefully, Duke’s gonna be busy in his office, and won’t notice if we take out the guards with Skyla and Sophie’s magic. But if he shows up, DO NOT LOOK AT HIM, no matter what you do! If you see someone staring at him, assume they’re an enemy, even if it’s one of us. You only need to look at the Red Pearl for a few seconds for it to affect you, and once you’re affected, he can keep you in its range as long as he needs.”
Cassidy shook her head. “Why did little Anna have to get caught by these guys, of all people? I should have gone with her…”
“Then they’d have you too,” Zelda said. “Just stick to the plan.”
The group silently filed into the large room. The metal shelving obscured their vision somewhat, but they could see dozens of people standing in groups, many of them beaten and bruised, and looking severely malnourished. As Skyla had expected, the majority of the prisoners were women, though she was surprised to see a few men… and children of both sexes. Skyla held back the urge to vomit at the thought of what THEY were going through.
And standing among the crowd of women was a distraught Siamese cat woman, looking this way and that for any sign of escape. Curt wanted so badly to just rush in and take her back now. He gripped the handle of the ray gun tighter.
A set of stairs at the opposite end of the room led to a second-floor office, with a tinted glass window through which light just barely shone out. ‘Probably where this Duke guy is keeping himself,’ Curt thought.
The gang members kept their eyes on their prisoners as they sorted them out into groups, in preparation for being shipped off for their nightly “jobs” or to be sold elsewhere. Hayes watched their movements for a moment, then guided the group along the outer wall, staying hidden behind shelves and boxes, and motioned for Curt to take a shot at a pair of guards. The first, a woman, was covered in brown fur, relieved of her clothing, and gained webbing between her fingers and toes, as she became a short, slender otter woman. In the crowd, Anna suddenly straightened up when she saw the woman change, and looked around, before one of the guards hit her with the butt of his gun. Hayes and Cassidy had to grab Curt and hold him back before he rushed in to do something reckless.
When he calmed down, Curt fired at the male in the pair. Which, unfortunately, caused an error message about the gun’s inability to change fathers.
“Figured it couldn’t stay that easy, given what this place is.” Curt shook his head in disgust. He got out his cell phone, and found the newly made otter on his contacts.
“Please send the male beside you to the left side of the room. (Your left)”
A bag on the otter’s hip vibrated, and she looked down at the message. She then told her partner to check behind the shelves, while she kept an eye on the captives.
“Looks like it’s your time to shine, Skyla,” Curt said.
“With pleasure.” Skyla crouched down as the man came closer, and once he’d come around the corner quickly engulfed him in her tails before he could make a sound. With the other guards so focused on their captives, nobody saw a thing. Within the haze of brown and silver fur, the man felt his body becoming stiff, and immovable. His skin turned gray and cold, and his stone form was re-molded. He was forcibly hunched over into a squatting position, his mouth opened wide, his teeth replaced by four small fangs, his fingers and toes carved into claws, and a tail added to his back, wrapping around the base that was now attached to his hands and feet.
The new gargoyle concerned itself only with sitting in place and looking menacing, considering all else vanity, as Skyla pulled her tails back.
“Nice work,” Curt whispered. “Still a ways to go.”
Hayes examined the room, mentally mapping out who would be where, and determining which angles would allow for the most discreet shots. When finished, he gave orders to Curt, and the zapping commenced. One woman became a busty tabby cat maid, another a cute nude gray fox, while a man was turned into naked, busty vampire bat (with separate limbs for her arms and wings). Another pair of women became a horse maid and a hawk maid, as the man beside them became a squat but busty black bear, in a latex maid outfit so tight it almost looked sprayed on (to the point anyone could tell she wasn’t wearing anything underneath it). The last of the women among the guards was turned into a short, nude rabbit, with black and white splotched fur.
As the guards were changed one by one to turncoats or deep cover operatives, and the legitimate members of the gang became the minority, many of the bruises and signs of mistreatment vanished or became less severe.
“The last five guys have gotta be fathers,” Curt told Hayes. “All of them just led to error messages when I tried zapping them.”
“Well, they won’t be much trouble now. They’re outnumbered, and outgunned. If it weren’t for the risk of getting the captives hurt, I’d say to just give all our “insiders” the order to turn their weapons on the scum. Now Skyla just need to change the rest without being seen."
Skyla nodded, and used the “ignore me” enchantment to slip around the room, the guards only ever seeing her as a slight shadow out of the corner of their eyes. She positioned herself behind one of the last real guards while the others had their focus elsewhere, and wrapped her tails around him. When they were lifted, a tiny husky plush fell to the floor without a sound. A few moments later, and another guard vanished, replaced by a short tanuki statue.
At this point the remaining three guards were starting to get suspicious. One of the men, looking away from his prisoners for moment, saw a statue that he KNEW shouldn’t have been there, and realized he’d lost track of three of his comrades. He shuddered. He’d heard the rumors about how the Kitsune maid at the Evenson’s place supposedly punished every criminal she came across? Was she here? Now? He was tempted to drop everything and run, but his fear of what Duke Hartman would do to him instead made him pause to weigh his options.
That moment of hesitation was all Skyla needed, and soon, a small fountain, shaped like a female angel pouring a jug of water out over it’s head.
Now even a number of prisoners were noticing something strange, while the guards-turned-maids pretended not to see anything.
“Something weird is going on here!” A guard shouted, raising his gun. “Nobody move, or try anything funny, just stay right where you are!”
He suddenly felt something cold and metal press against his back as the gray fox maid turned her weapon on him.
“Put down your weapon.” She ordered. When he saw more of the maids had turned their weapons toward him and the only other truly loyal member of the gang in the room, he slowly bent down and put down his gun, then raised his hands, the other remaining guard doing the same.
The two suddenly saw the brown and silver fox in the middle of the crowd of captives, having dropped her enchantment with the need for stealth over.
“Skyla!” Anna’s eyes brightened, and she hugged her friend tight.
“I’m glad you’re safe!” Skyla smiled and hugged her back. When the two let go, Skyla turned to face the two remaining guards. “Don’t worry,” she said, approaching the men. “You’re getting off pretty easy compared to what you’ve done to all these people.”
Within moments, two plastic, toy-sized figures shaped like busty anthro cows dropped to the floor with a “clack.”
Hayes, for her part, felt a shudder, she was just grateful Head Maid Skyla was on their side, if she could do this with just five tails, what the Hell could her grandmother do with nine? Was there anything they couldn't do? At least they were loyal to Master Curt who could obviously be trusted. Hayes didn't want to think about if they ever decided to just 'take over the world.'
The prisoners all showed signs of either relief or disbelief; sighs, tears, falling to their knees in gratitude. As the rest of Curt’s infiltrators came out from behind cover, Curt rushed up to hold his sister again.
“I’m so, so sorry I let this happen!” He hugged her tight.
“I thought I’d never see you again! Thank you for rescuing me!”
A loud voice suddenly interrupted the reunion. “Looks like I really ought to emphasize the value of loyalty around here, if half the gang is just going to turn on me in one night.” Without thinking, Skyla looked to the voice’s source, where she saw the woman that had kidnapped Anna, two hulking bodyguards, and standing tall at the top of the stairs, the one that must have been the leader of the operation, Duke Hartman. “Luckily, I have ways of ensuring loyalty…” He opened his hand, and suddenly, Skyla felt incredibly lightheaded.
Curt, Anna, Cassidy, Sophie, Hayes and some of the victims and transformed gang members managed stop themselves from looking and jump behind cover. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the big cats, and six of the armed maids.
“Well well!” Duke smiled, and walked down the stairs, toward Skyla, motioning for the crowd of mesmerized victims to part for him. “Looks like the rumors of a kitsune Vigilante were true. I was pretty worried about you finding us after seeing all those girls turn into dolls. But it turns out your magic isn’t gonna protect you from this, huh?” He grabbed her by the snout and looked her over “Having someone like you working for me would really move me up in the world. But for now, we need to teach these turncoats and wannabe heroes that their actions have consequences. Drag your little friends out of hiding, and make an example of them.”
“Yes,” Skyla responded in monotone. Flames flew from the tips of her tails and connected with the shelves and crates Curt and the maids were hiding behind. They began to shake as Skyla's flames magically tugged at them. The bolts grounding them to the floor held for the moment but all of the maids found themselves taking a step back.
“This is awful!” Cassidy cried. “How are we supposed do anything to him if we can’t even look at him?”
“Blind fire?” One of the lionesses suggested.
“With this many non-combatants around?” Hayes said. “You’ll definitely hit someone.”
“Wait…” Anna spoke up, “what about-”
With an ominous creaking sound, the shelves were pulled away and tossed to the side of the room. Curt and the maids shut their eyes, and suddenly felt Skyla tugging them closer to her.
“Open up your eyes, girls, and… Is that that Evenson guy?” Duke laughed. “I’ll need to remember to make you write me up a check before I make your tiger friend there tear you to shreds.”
“Looks like they’re wise to your little toy, honey,” the woman by his side said. “What do you say we force their eyes open?”
“I think our foxy friend should be able to handle that, babe… Fox lady, make these idiots open their eyes and face the facts.”
“Yes.” Skyla said.
Curt gulped as he suddenly felt a strange force pulling at his eyelids.
‘No,’ Anna thought, ‘not again…’ With every ounce of strength, she turned her head away, even as her eyes were forcibly opened. Looking to the side, the Red Pearl out of her view for the moment, she suddenly saw something that filled her with hope.
“Go for the thing in his hand! Now!” She called out.
Curt wondered who she could be talking to, before his eyes finally opened, and a strange red light made his head start to swim… only to suddenly be knocked away by a screeching blur of brown.
Duke cried out as the pearl was knocked from his hand, falling back, as the orb fell to the floor, and was quickly covered by the wings of the bat maid, who’d had her eyes closed the whole time.
The bodyguards quickly drew their weapons as Skyla came to her senses, dropping Curt and the maids she’d been holding.
Duke pulled out a gun of his own as the prisoners screamed and ran. “Looks like we’ve gotta do this the old fash-”
A vicious roar echoed through the room, as a large, four-legged beast of a fox tackled Duke to the ground, and a fiery force blew his bodyguards and girlfriend back, where they were each quickly pinned down by maids.
“NEVER! MAKE! ME! HURT! MASTER!” The beast called, grabbing him in one of its tails, lifting him up, and slamming him into the ground, to punctuate every word.
“Skyla, Stop!”
Skyla panted and turned to see Curt behind her.
“But Master! You’ve seen what he tried to do to Anna, to everyone here! What he did to me and you! He needs to suffer!”
“I agree,” Curt nodded, “but we need to find out where he got this thing, first.” He motioned for the bat maid to get up, who promptly did so, handing him the Red Pearl, while batting her eyes at him. The gem inside flashed dully once once Curt touched it.
Curt ignored her, and walked over to Duke. “So, mind telling me where you go this?”
“I don’t remember.” The criminal said in monotone. “One day, I blacked out in a bar, and woke up the next morning with that thing, and a note on how it works, and was down 6000 dollars. I think I bought it from a guy, who made me forget his identity so he couldn’t be traced.”
Curt groaned and shook his head. “Great. Well, while I have your attention, tell me this; do you have any animals you hate? Or fear? Or loath?”
“Roaches. I hate roaches.”
“Good.” Curt put the orb in his pocket, watching as Duke suddenly cringed in fear once he was back in control.
“H-Hey…” Duke wheezed, “maybe we can work out something…”
“I think I’ve worked out exactly what I want from you. Skyla? Can you turn him into a cockroach?”
“No! Please no!”
“Did you ever stop when your victims said no?” Curt glared down at him. “Make sure its not anthro, and to leave his mind as intact as possible. I want him fully aware of his new state, and what he did to earn it.”
“Absolutely, Master.” Skyla smiled, reverting to her anthro self, and wrapping her tails around the man.
Duke squirmed as his clothes hardened and fused, becoming smooth glass as his body shrank and shrank, the glass confines around him quickly growing to hundreds of times his size. He felt his bones vanish while his skin hardened, his fingers and toes shrinking away to nothing, and his arms and legs became far thinner, and he was forced to all fours. A third pair of legs appeared between his original limbs, and brown wings appeared on his back as his face distorted into that of an insect. He stared up as a lid with tiny holes was attached to the top of the glass jar his clothing had become, only able to feebly skitter around inside, wanting the nightmare to stop.
“Nice work, Skyla.”
“Thank you, dear,” Skyla said, picking up the jar. “So, should we call the police now, or try to get everyone some sort of help first.”
“Well, there’s one more thing I want to take care of first.” He took aim at the last three loyal members of the Hartman gang with the ray gun. The first bodyguard proved immune to its effects, but the second was soon wearing the spots of a timid-looking jaguar. Finally, Duke’s girlfriend, the woman that had kidnapped Anna in the first place, was changed into a busty hawk maid.
Then, the world itself seemed to blur and distort, everything fading away, until Curt, Anna, Skyla, and Hayes found themselves in a staffing agency office a short distance from the warehouse, where all the former gang members were sitting behind desks and taking calls, or filling out paperwork. It was as if more than half the Hartman gang being retconned into being turncoats or plants had undone it from history.
Curt suddenly realized that he couldn’t feel the Red Pearl in his pocket, and instantly panicked. Even if the other gang members never went into a life of crime, that meant the mind control device was still out there somewhere, didn’t it?
“Oh, Skyla!” Betty Green said, with an armful of various objects. “I picked up those… Changed individuals for you.” She held out a Husky plush, and gestured behind her desk toward a small angel fountain, tanuki statue, two plastic figures, a deflated pool toy (presumably the bodyguard that hadn’t been maidified), a jar with a cockroach in it, and a small red orb beside it. “Good job at stopping their attempted kidnapping last week, by the way.”
“Uh, thanks…” Skyla said. “I’ll probably bring them in to the police later.”
As Curt again picked up the Red Pearl, the gem inside gave a faint flash twice and suddenly cracked, and its color faded from bright red to a dull, muddy brown.
The eyes widened of those aware of the changes in reality, while those oblivious to them didn't even notice. Another mystery to talk about back at the manor.
‘Probably for the best that this thing’s gone,” he thought. ‘Wouldn’t want more trouble coming from it.’
“How do you guys get used to this stuff?” Hayes shook her head.
“It happens eventually,” Curt assured her, before turning to his sister. He and Skyla hugged Anna, who tightly hugged them back. “I’m just glad we’re all safe…”
+++
Meanwhile, in an old, one bedroom house not too far from the maid district, a man sat over a desk, looking inside a broken plastic casing, shaped like an old 50’s scif-fi B movie prop gun. Inside were strange stones like no element on earth, and bizzare, otherworldly tech.
The man had never liked the “moral” of the story of the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg. Sometimes, you needed to take things apart to truly grasp how they worked, and make them better. And sure, he’d needed to travel to a parallel universe to even try to tamper with this, but it was looking more and more worth it. His earlier experiments to isolate and reproduce the obedience-inducing aspects of this gun had proven inefficient; the other processes were too interwoven to make something long lasting. Still, he had gotten six thousand dollars off pawning his failed copy to some fool. By now it’d probably completely broken down.
The man bent a few thin flat parts, removed a couple others, and then glued the plastic together. The holographic UI flashed in front of him, flickering and glitchy, but the message he most wanted to see was still largely legible.
“Please refrain from use; safety protocols disabled.”
The man smiled. It would take time, and a few more adjustments, but he’d soon have everything he needed for a simple, happy life...