Meanwhile, Benji was at home and began to notice more changes in the world around him. Not only were people in his hometown changing, but even famous people he recognized as humans previously have been replaced with anthros and it had seemingly become normal to everyone else.
Benji scratched his head in confusion as he clicked through the internet. "Blimey, what's goin' on 'ere?" he muttered to himself as he saw another famous celebrity, whose photos were replaced with that of them as an anthropomorphic doberman, another was now a Siamese cat. It was like the world had been turned upside down overnight. Benji couldn't shake off the unsettling feeling in his gut as he continued to browse the internet for more answers. He scrolled through news articles, social media posts, and online forums, but nothing provided a clear explanation for the sudden emergence of these anthros in his world
He tried to make sense of it all, but it just didn't add up. It wasn't just the celebrities either - he then checked his social media accounts, only to see that his friend list now had various anthros sprinkled in throughout now, leaving him in shock. "What's happenin' to this world?"
Benji walked down into the family's living room where he'd be met by his mum once again. "Something still wrong, love?" She'd ask,
"Even more is wrong, mum, There's more people changin'." Benji would answer, as his ears twitched nervously atop his head.
"Is this another one of your superstitions, Benji?" His sister, Lucy walked in.
"Lucy, I swear on me nan's grave this is not superstition!" Benji cried out. “It wasn’t like this before, and I remember it being that way!” He trudged back up the stairs in defeat, his mum and sisters were no use to him once again. Whatever Asher did to their minds, it was very powerful indeed, and he felt helpless in the face of it. He walked upstairs to the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. In his mind he had always felt like he had been a cockney badger, the memories seemed all too real for him to say otherwise, but he knew there weren't so many anthros before. The stress and confusion were starting to show on his face, and he noticed that even the products in his bathroom had changed.
The soap was now specifically formulated for coarse fur like what badgers have, and he saw something called "Mynx Demusker" in place of what people usually just called deodorant. It was like the world had been tailored to suit the needs of anthros like him, and Benji couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't right.
He needed answers, and he knew just who might have an idea: his boyfriend, Masaru. He had witnessed Masaru change that couple into tigers before his very eyes. Hell, he even mistook him for an old friend from school at first. Benji decided to send him a message about all these changes he had been noticing and why they were happening. After a short while, Masaru, the Tanuki, responded to him.
"I overheard my parents talking about an old world they used to live in. It became far too dangerous for them to stay there any longer, so they came here. I could never imagine Japan as a bad place, my memories there are rather peaceful. I don't remember it too well, though."
Things were beginning to make a little more sense for the badger. Apparently, the anthros came from some parallel universe, and now it seemed like they were taking over this world. He still needed to ask why Masaru turned those two people into tigers.
"I changed those two because I was scared and didn't know what to do, and changing them was my way of protecting myself. I hope you can forgive me," he typed on the screen.
"No, no, don't worry about that, mate. I'm not mad at you for changing those two at all. I found them both pretty hot to be honest," Benji replied. "How did you do it?"
"My parents gave me a book on transformations and how to do them. It's all in Japanese and everything. To be honest, it was my first time transforming anyone. The basic thing is to have focus and go from there," Masaru answered.
"Talk to you later, Masaru," Benji responded before closing the laptop, wondering what he should do next...