It was in the energy drinks that the subterfuge was located.
At least, that was the plan. Ethan Campos and Ashley Hughes were both completely over and done with their high school's varsity football team. The team occupied a space of total power over the school, and while not all of them were obnoxious bullies, enough were that Ethan and Ashley were ready to undertake such a radical step. Ethan stood about six foot tall, had a gaunt figure and slightly boyish features, covered by a pair of unflattering glasses. His blond hair was disheveled and almost perpetually bushy - it would be charming if it wasn't for Ethan's usual behavior.
Ashley was the poor, put-upon nerd. His stocky and short frame, together with his curly brown hair and matching eyes, all made him seem painfully below average. And people could tell that. The bullies targeted him the most out of the two. Largely because his response to any sort of confrontation was to recoil and fold in on himself. But there was only so much that one guy could take...
Meanwhile, Ethan was, as one of his teachers so adequately put it "an angry, horny misanthrope".
As far as Ethan was concerned, he was just a skip and a step away from adonis. If he didn't have the jocks at the school to compete with, he could start working out and really come into his own - and then occupy their coveted spot as the center of the senior class girls' desire. Some of the athletes even had college girlfriends! And the fact Ethan remained tf no gf burned him right in that most sensitive of places - the ego.
So imagine Ethan's delight when he saw his dad's research from his "cool night scientist job" come home, and just...end up left under the dinner table. Largely due to his dad getting a little too drunk that night and forgetting to take it up to his room. Supposedly, these vials full of blue liquid were capable, together with a sample of DNA, of "slowly adjusting and altering the DNA of whichever animal takes it into another animal." It was apparently something related to food production. The effects sounded plainly fantastical.
But Ethan was willing to believe it.
Even if this didn't work, hopefully it'd serve as halfway decent poison ahead of the big game coming up. The jocks certainly were practicing the whole time for it. And he knew the waterboy well enough to have his trust. He'd done some talking with him already, convincing him it was all just a prank - not that anyone would really be able to believe it.
Like Ashley wasn't, right now.
"Dude, we are gonna get in so much trouble if the jocks get the waterboy to talk." Ashley shook his head, "And...seriously? Seriously? A magic potion that can turn someone into an animal?"
"It's not magic, it's science."
"Wasn't there, like, some saying? Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic?" Ashley contemplated.
"There's also a saying about looking a gift horse in the mouth, Ash," Ethan retorted, patting his backpack which contained his samples. He'd taken care of the exact animals in question with a trip to the local zoo and attendant wildlife sanctuary. They'd be a bit randomized, but he was pretty sure that the job would be done well enough.
"And even if this is real..." Ashley asked, "How long is it gonna take?"
"My dad's notes indicated it'd take two weeks for the serum to fully change the individual in question," Ethan answered, "Pending on the animal, the meatheads'll probably think their steroids are just kicking in extra nice. I made sure to pick some beefy customers."
"How'd you even get the samples?"
"You would be AMAZED by how many people are willing to help a concerned, scientifically inclined teenager with a school project," in other words, even as he didn't say so, Ethan lied.
"You're kinda a sociopath, Ethan." Ashley awkwardly chuckled. Even if this did work, and if it was kind of amoral, he was absolutely done with getting picked on. At least Ethan didn't push him around the way Chuck and his pals did. So if it did work, Ash wasn't gonna be losing any sleep over it.
"I'm YOUR sociopath, though," Ethan replied as guided Ashley over to the locker room, where he knocked three times per the instructions of the waterboy, "Don't forget it. We're best friends. We've been through the same bullshit on account of the boys will be boys and jocks rule nonsense here."
"You don't gotta tell me twice." Ashley said before jumping backward as the waterboy opened up the locker room.
"Do it quick," The slim boy said in a harsh whisper, "They're out there practicing now, and I dunno how fast they're gonna get done. Coach has been changing up their routines out there quite a bit."
Ethan led the way inside, and made a bee-line for the water cooler carrying the team's energy drinks. As soon as it was opened up, Ethan grinned broadly, "Time to make my mark." He took off his backpack and started mixing in the genetic alteration mixtures with the energy drinks. Going by the samples, the jocks would be changing into horses, bears, gorillas, pigs, donkeys and cattle over the course of the next two weeks. Could be pretty fun to watch them and see how they react over the course of it.
He doubted they'd believe it until it was way too late. He did notice there were quite a few energy drinks in there, and he guessed they might include one drink for the waterboy. He looked over at poor Clive Kincannon. Washed out from the team due to being unable to build muscle, black hair cut in a buzzcut, he had bright blue eyes and tanned skin indicating some light hispanic ancestry. Ah well, Ethan figured. Hopefully the effects would at least let Clive be buff before turning him into an animal!
Before long, the nerdy conspirators were done, and they made their exit. Once they were a good distance away, and Ethan made sure they were all good and safe, he chuckled and put an arm around Ashley's shoulders. Exulting in their triumph as it were.
"You sure this stuff's gonna work, Ethan?" Ashley asked, almost shaking with excitement.
"Yeah, but don't be getting so excited thinking you'll see one of em go full Pleasure Island right in front of you immediately," Ethan said with a shrug, "It'll take two weeks or so for these things to kick in. And after that, we get our pick of the ladies - whose boyfriends are gonna be having a permanent stay at the wildlife sanctuary."
"Wow...I'm pretty excited." Ashley commented.
"You're pretty excited? I can't wait to have Becky Lin just choking on my cock! Haha, can you imagine it?" Ethan grinned licentiously, the very thought already turning him on quite a bit. Not to mention the thought of what he was gonna do to the jocks. For whatever reason, putting em through that kind of a transformation was also pretty thrilling.
"Dude, why do you want me to imagine you having sex?" Ashley asked.
"Cuz that's what guy friends do, I think," Ethan stated confidently, "You---what do you want one of those girls to do?"
"I---uhh, I uhhh...I wanna fuck her pussy?" Ashley said with a shrug.
"You got no imagination. Missionary with the lights off," Ethan said derisively, "May have been the way things were done for thousands of years, but trust me there's way more you can do - a lot more fun to be had."
"Sure thing, Ethan...sure thing." Ashley contemplated that, eagerly thinking about the way things would be after two weeks. He did however have just one complaint about Ethan, and that formed something of a nervous sense he got. His sister Lisa was one of the more popular girls, and Ashley knew from experience that Ethan had the hots for her. A relationship Ashley did not like the idea of. Especially if Lisa's boyfriend was gonna be relegated to the stables in two weeks. He considered if Ethan was gonna go for it...
------------------------
By the time the jocks returned to the locker room for their energy drinks after their practice, Clive the Waterboy had become curious about what kind of prank it might be. Not knowing of the kinds of super science that were at Ethan's fingertips, the former athlete unwittingly exposed himself to the genetic agent when he sipped at an energy drink bottle - one that had in fact been treated with the clydesdale stallion genetic agent.
Sure, his exposure was lighter than what the jocks' was going to be - but it was still enough to change him. If on a much, much slower time table.
He detected nothing from the drink, and just shrugged and figured it must be something ridiculous or long term. Maybe something that only had meaning to Ethan---eww, fuck, Clive thought, did Ethan put his cum or something in there? Considering Ethan's libido, and his profane sense of humor, Clive wouldn't put it past him. But it was a little late now. And besides. They kicked him off of the team. Clive self-assuredly chuckled as he saw the team coming for their drinks.
Even if he drank that nerd's protein pump, it'd be more of his old colleagues who did so! At least that was what Clive thought.
First was Marcus Brant, a well-coiffed jock with platinum blond hair and an utterly WASPish upbringing - rich parents, a transplant from the east coast, protestant and oh so white. He was the smiling, some would say smirking face of the team. Though he wasn't exactly a bully himself, he had a habit of turning and looking away when his fellow teammates bullied those weaker than them. His features were slightly pale, his eyes bright blue, and his body rippled with well-earned muscle crafted largely inside a gym - hence his pale countenance - though that was starting to improve due to a lot of football. The handsome latter day nobleman of course ended up with Lion gene serum - he would be a king of the pride indeed come the end of two weeks.
Kaleb Deshawn was the powerfully built, African American lineman, muscled and handsome, his hair cut to a buzz cut. He was intelligent, capable on the field, and eager to join his teammates in revelry. There were rumors (despite how hard Kaleb worked to quash them) that the strongest linebacker - even as he had a girlfriend - pined after Marcus Brant particularly hard. Whether he was bisexual or fully gay but both closeted and capable of making an exception for his girlfriend Lilah, the rumors didn't go away. He ended up with the gene serum that would leave him a Shire Stallion by the end of the two weeks.
Gabe Brandson the offensive lineman was the one that came up whenever the discussion of "jock bully" was brought up. The powerfully muscled though more unnaturally so Gabe made up for the ribbing he got early in life for his ginger hair by being as mean and nasty as he could be. His hair was something of a sore spot for Gabe even now - not helped by the steroids he injected week by week. His temperament was remarkably an uneven one. So perhaps it was natural that the angry and unstable Gabe would end up with a transformation into nature's most understated monster - a hippopotamus.
Then there was Dylan Cai, Asian on his dad's side, white on his mother's side, and eager to please Gabe above. His dark hair was cut into a fauxhawk, almond colored eyes usually behind some sunglasses. His issue was his musculature - being the fullback, he was supposed to be flexible. But he was well aware his muscles seemed lacking in comparison to his friends - a sore spot indeed. Nothing could set Dylan off into a tirade quite like insinuating he wasn't buff. And correspondingly, nobody in the jocks enjoyed swaggering around like Dylan - an effort it seemed to offset his ego. His relationship with Gabe - some daring souls alleged - was far more than that of a bully and his underling. Some alleged Dylan occasionally "helped out" Gabe sexually whenever the redhead got too frustrated. His transformation was due to be into a grey wolf.
While there were others that might be focused on later, these are our players for now.
As Marcus gulped down his energy drink, not even noticing a thing, he commented, "Quite a good showing today guys, I think we've got these drills down pat." Marcus took off his upper body football gear - and his shirt in the process. He wiped off some sweat from his forehead, "Coach may be on our asses about this...issue outside the field, but on the field our game is top notch."
Kaleb tried to make it less obvious that he was totally ogling Marcus, feeling grateful that the preppy made a habit after even practice to just peel off his shirt and gear and laze about with his chest and glorious tight abdomen on display. Not that Kaleb would ever make an open, obvious move in and around his bros. He needed to wait until he and Marcus had some...alone time. "Yeah man, you're...you're really an amazing leader out there. Total master of your craft." He then took a nice long drink of his energy drink.
"Thank you, thank you," Marcus chuckled.
"Don't suck his dick too hard, dude," Gabe chuckled as he drank his own down, "I swear, man..."
"Ah fuck you, Gabe, you're just salty that Marcus gets to be leader." Kaleb retorted.
"Nah, I know I'm not really QB material. I just like to stir the pot!" Gabe chuckled, and Dylan and he fistbumped as they took their swigs of energy drink. Not even knowing what was going on.
Clive just watched and listened in. Smugly assured of these guys eventually realizing something was in their water. Not even knowing that his own "doom" as it were had been sewn by the same people he so eagerly allowed in the room. Who knows how long it'll be until these guys notice anything was up at all...