Hours pass as the sun dips below the horizon, casting long shadows across the cursed farm. The once-powerful Cyber Space Warriors—now fat, helpless pigs—lie in the muck beside the enchanted trough, bloated and exhausted. They had tried to fight it, but the magical hunger kept them gorging on the slop until their bellies were swollen and their movements sluggish.
Suddenly, a ripple of energy courses through the air, and the dark magic surrounding them begins to wane. Slowly, the spell breaks, and their bodies start to shift once more. Their pig forms shrink, the fat retreating back into toned muscle, hooves stretching and reshaping into hands and feet. Snouts recede, ears return to normal, and their human faces re-emerge.
With a groan, Alex pushes himself up, his breath heavy as he realizes he’s human again. "W-we’re back..." he mutters, looking around.
Carl wipes mud from his face, blinking in confusion. "I thought we'd be stuck as pigs forever… I guess that spell was only temporary. But where'd that creepy farmer go?"
Luke, ever practical, sits up and glances down at his body. "Well, at least we’re back to normal... mostly."
It takes them a moment to realize they are completely naked, covered in mud, and lying in the middle of the foul farmyard. Their armor and clothing have been taken by their enemy, and they scramble to cover themselves as best they can.
“We need to get out of here,” Alex says urgently, trying to brush off the worst of the grime. But as he stands, something feels… off. He catches himself with a snort, feeling a strange compulsion to dig at the ground with his fingers. He clenches his fists, fighting it off, but the urge lingers.
Carl gets to his feet and tries to shake the mud from his hair but can’t help but snuffle at the ground, his nose twitching involuntarily. "Why… why do I feel like I still wanna root around like a pig?"
Luke, now standing, is the first to notice that the behavior isn’t going away. He starts to say something, but instead, a loud, guttural grunt escapes his throat. His eyes widen in horror. "Guys… I think something’s still wrong with us."
Before they can process what’s happening, a beam of light appears from the sky, and in a flash, Zardak teleports them away from the cursed farm.
The boys materialize in the familiar surroundings of their home base, but as they land, they immediately drop to their knees, their hands digging into the floor as if they were still pigs searching for food.
Zardak’s glowing form appears before them, concerned. “Warriors! What has happened to you?”
Alex tries to respond, but his words come out garbled as he lets out a series of snorts, his head dipping to the ground. He fights it with all his might but can’t stop himself from grunting and rooting at the base’s metallic floor.
Carl, wiping his muddy face on his forearm, struggles to sit up but instead falls to all fours. His fingers scrape against the ground as if compelled to dig, and his stomach growls with a bizarre, lingering hunger for the slop they had been fed.
Luke, attempting to maintain some control, bites his lip to hold back a grunt, but the twitching of his nose betrays him. "Zardak… we can't… stop…" He gasps, but a loud snort escapes. "It's like… we're still pigs!"
Zardak’s voice is laced with concern as he scans the boys with a beam of light. “The spell that transformed you into animals seems to have left lingering effects. Your bodies may be human again, but your minds are still under its influence.”
Carl lets out a loud oink, unable to stop himself as he digs through the floor with his fingers. “I… I can’t stop! Why do I still feel like a pig?”
Zardak watches, his energy form flickering in thought. “The curse of Farmer Grimroot is powerful. Even though you have reverted to your human forms, the transformation has left a psychological imprint on you. You are all experiencing an uncontrollable urge to behave like hungry hogs.”
Alex, covered in mud and trying to stand on his legs, grunts again as his body hunches over. “You’ve gotta fix this, Zardak. We can’t go on like this!”
Zardak nods, focusing his energy. “I will do what I can. But it will take time to reverse the full effects of this curse. Until then, you must fight these urges. Stay strong, warriors.”
Despite Zardak’s encouraging words, the boys continue to act more like animals. Carl snuffles along the ground, his face flushed in embarrassment as he lets out a few uncontrollable oinks. Alex, though fighting the urge, occasionally drops to his hands and knees, his nose twitching as he struggles not to grunt. Luke holds his head, trying to concentrate, but every few moments, he finds himself kicking at the floor with his feet, as if pawing the ground like a pig.
“We’re Cyber Space Warriors,” Alex mutters between snorts, his face determined but full of frustration. “We’ll fight this… somehow.”
But as they continue to grunt, oink, and root around, it’s clear that this battle might be one of their toughest yet.