Chris could scarcely hold back his scream when he saw that egg come out of John, who was now nothing but a hen, just as the witch promised. When the witch finally took the egg he could hold his scream no longer. But it wasn't a human scream, which made him do it even louder. It was a donkey's bray, and not the first he'd made here in this witch's house. His ears were pinned back tight, and his snout wouldn't seem to make the human sounds he wanted. He'd promise the witch anything as part of a deal to stop this, but his voice, tongue, and mouth just wouldn't form the sentences to make her offer. His only value to her now was as livestock.
Fur had spread down all over his torso by now; his arms were covered, and he could feel it starting to grow on his legs. The witch laughed at Chris still opening his mouth and flapping his tongue around, but to Chris, this was no laughing matter. An unexpected spasm where his tailbone used to be made him give up his attempts to talk and simply bray again. Damon mooed and Chris clucked in response. Even before the fur had reached that area, he'd felt his trousers getting tighter in the back, and he had a decent enough idea what was coming. That didn't make it any more bearable when the fabric ripped and a length of flesh and fur tumbled out. It didn't look exactly like Damon's when Chris looked back at it. The feelings he got when it moved again sent a shiver through his being. Here he was, in a room with two friends who were already animals, and now he was waving around the tail of some lowly beast of burden.
Chris's hands tensed up in front of him. "Please stop!" he tried to say. -- HAAAW-HEE-HAW-HEE-HAW!!!
He tried to flex his hands as much as possible, desperate to stave off what was happening. But the witch had spoken: he was going to be donkey, and soon his tail and ears were much easier to flail around than a finger or a thumb. The hands had fused into single-toed appendages before long, and he was left to watch helplessly as his two remaining fingernails nail expanded into tall equine hoofs.
* So much for grabbing some loot. I'll never grab anything again! *
At last, Chris's feet had followed suit, and he was left wobbling around on a donkey's hind legs until he could no longer sustain the effort. A loud clopping noise shook the room when what used to be his hands hit the floor. But as weak as he felt with no way to hold things, Chris soon realized he was actually getting much stronger. His body was bulking out; his clothes were ripping like Damon's had. But his strength wouldn't be for impressing ladies at the gym. It would be for carrying people and cargo like the mode of transportation he was.
"Well, it looks like that's that!" said the witch. "Come on out to the back yard, everyone. It shouldn't be long until I find a buyer. You're probably all a bit hungry after that big change!" She knew the cow and the donkey's instincts were probably kicking in and they were probably getting antsy to eat grass. Her three new animals placidly followed her out of the house they'd meant to rob, though the chicken was a little slower and more distracted. She found some feed for the chicken while the cow and donkey started to graze.