Dan, not about to let Kat use him like this, reacted on instinct. He punched Kat and then kicked her with his powerful legs, sending her flying to the ground unconscious.
Taking a deep breath, Dan was in disbelief at what he'd done. He did it because it seemed like the right thing to do. He didn't think about why he wanted to do it, he just did it.
Dan knew that unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life as a kangaroo, he had to get help. He thought kangaroos were cool but he also knew that there was a diffrence between liking them and being one for the rest of his life!
Getting a black shirt so he could show he used to be human, Dan put it on and managed to make his way to the front door. He didn't like the confined space of where he was anyway.
When he got outside, he felt immense relief. He hopped as best as he could, landing on his front lawn among the sweet smelling grass. It made him hungry. He wondered if it would be all right if he stopped for just a minute.
Shaking his head, Dan fought the urge off. He knew this was just the kangaroo body thinking. He also knew that unless he found a way to change back, he'd eventually be so used to being this way that he'd be unable to think in any other way.
Hoping down the street, Dan was amazed at the speed he could achieve. He heard people making comments as he hoped past them. A part of him wondered why they didn't call out his name or ask him why he was a kangaroo. He had that human smelling thing on, certainly, from his point of view that was enough!
Then, he realized his folly. These people would be looking for a human! They didn't know magic existed. From their point of view, he was just an escaped pet or from the zoo!
Things were clicking in Dan's mind as he stopped in front his friend Gordon's house. The grass looked so delicious and smelt wonderful.
Unfortunately for Dan, kangaroo senses were different then human senses. If his mind had been a computer, his memories of the people in his life a database of sorts with information on how people looked, sounded, smelled, behaved and all sorts of other information, the information would be different to him now. His mind now alloted more space to sound and scent, the tables for those entires in the database were larger.
While he knew this area, he almost might as well had been on another planet. Dan was thankful that was his mind was still human enough that he could recognise the area by how it looked.
However, that database had much more room for how the area smelt and the sounds that were around it. Dan felt overwhelmed by the new information he was reciving in terms of scent. He had no idea what he'd been missing out on as a human and wondered how animals with stronger scences of smell dealt with everything being so stinky. Of course, Dan also realised that in a lot of cases, they probably coulden't see as well, so the information they had access to wasen't a lot more or less, it was just diffrent.
When Gordon came out, Dan had a similar problem. He hoped over to and clicked at him. Yes, Gordon looked the same, or at least looked the same as best as Dan could gather with his kangaroo eyes. However, Dan's scent was a lot diffrent.
"Whoa boy. I don't know where you came from but stay calm," his friend said.
Dan grunted. It was bad enough that he needed to concentrate to learn the meaning of the words! Knowing his friend didn't recognize him was even worse! Dan felt an instinct telling him that he needed more information to identify his friend, Dan hoped closer and began to smell him.
"Who, what are you doing? Why does a kangaroo have as shirt on?"
Dan lifted up Gordon's shirt. The scent of the Gordon's aftershave as well as the soap, shampoo and deodorant he'd used in recent days was clear. Dan fought back the kangaroo instinct to see these as foreign scents. If anything though, they made Dan upset. If Kat had managed to get him into that enclosure, he'd never have access to those things again.
Gordon took a few steps back. Dan took his shirt off and handed it to Gordon. From his point of view, Gordon would recognize his scent on it.
"Yeah, it's a shirt. I don't get why you were wearing it, but what do you want me to do with it?"
Dan was getting upset. He knew he'd been thinking like a kangaroo again! He stamped his right foot and grunted.
"Maybe I should just call animal control," Gordon said.
Dan shook his head. He held out his right hand and motioned with his left hand as though he were trying to write on the hand. He needed to let Gordon know who he was before the kangaroo instinct and mindset overwhelmed him. However, Dan was fighting a losing battle. He'd barricaded himself behind a steel door. However, the kangaroo was banging at the door. It was getting louder, denting it with every kick and punch.
"This is crazy. First you're wearing a shirt and now you want me to get you something to write with?"
Dan nodded.
Gordon ran back into the house and returned with a pen and pad. Dan found himself wanting to forget this situation and worry and to just hop and enjoy it. He fought back the urge as Gordon handed him the pen and paper.
Dan concentrated as best as he could. It was humiliating and terrifying for him that he had as much trouble remembering the alphabet as a todler might. This made Dan much more sympathetic to those with mental illneses as he know knew how frightening it was.
With a lot of effort, Dan managed to write his name on the pad before pointing to himself.
"This is impossible. A kangaroo can't write. Come on, you must be someone's pet and they trained you!"
Dan shook his head. He coulden't believe this! He wrote on the pad once again, this time writing Gordon's name. It bothered Dan that such a simple accomplishment was now the equivalent of his human self discovering the secret to cold fusion.
"What? No way, how could you. But if You're Dan, no you can't be. Dan is not a kangaroo. Last time I checked, Dan cannot become a kangaroo at will. No one can. Humans cannot turn into animals, it's impossible," Gordon said.
Dan grunted, he hated it when people refereed to him in the third person. He shook his head and realised that he had no other choice but to reveal a secret Gordon had. Dan knew that Gordon loved Leopards. Gordon had once confessed to Dan that a part of him wished he was a Leopard, a snow leopard to be specific. It was a fantasy that Dad agreed not to tell Gordon in exchange for Dan telling Gordon a deep secret of his own. Dan's ironic secret was that he wished he had the ability to shape shift into a kangaroo.
With a lot of effort, Dan wrote the expression Snow Leopard on the paper, pointed to Gordon and then wrote Shape Shift and pointed to himself.
"But, how could. No one knew that! You can shift back can you?" Gordon asked.
Dan shook his head. For him, this was as though he'd ended up stranded in a place he only wanted to visit.
"But how is this possible?" Gordon asked.
Dan managed to use the pen to write Kat's name on the pad.
"Kat did this to you?"
Dan nodded.
"How could Kat turn you into a kangaroo? Why would she do that?"
The grass on Gordon's lawn was looking more appealing by the second. Dan was finding it hard to concentrate. He coulden't resit it anymore. He leaned over and began to much on the grass. It tasted sweet.
"Dan, what are you doing?"
Dan looked up as he finished a mouthful. When he'd finished, he felt like an idiot for giving into his instinct.
"Come on, we have to get you help. Maybe there's someone that knows how to reverse this sort of thing. Seriously though, are you sure you don't want to stay that way? You won't have to go to school or get a job now. That must be nice," Gordon said.
Dan coulden't believe Gordon would say that. Then he realized something. There were things he could get away with as a roo. For one, he wasen't wearing any clothes and no one was complaining. However, Dan also realized that there was a crowd gathering. He didn't like the idea of people questioning his presence.
"Hey Dan, maybe we should get inside," Gordon said.
An older woman, one that Dan recognized as Mrs Halen approached him and Gordon. Dan knew that Mrs Halen woulden't accept the truth about him. "Where did the kangaroo come from? Did it escape from the zoo? Did you kidnap it? You can't take that animal inside! I should call the police!"
"You woulden't believe me if I told you," Gordon said.
Dan felt bad. He was beginning to wonder if it would have been better to just stay with Kat and let her send him away. At least that way, he'd simply disappear but no one else would get into trouble. He'd even have female kangaroos to be with. While it wasen't exactly the type of date Dan wanted, at least it was some kind of companionship.
"What do you mean?" Mrs Halen asked.
"It's a long story," Gordon said.
This time a younger girl stepped forward. She petted Dan's head. Dan enjoyed the sensation. As with Gordon, Dan could smell the scent of the shampoo the girl had used as well as the scents from her home on her clothes. There was also the scent of food on her, possibly from something she'd spilled while eating.
"Where'd he come from? Did you take him from the zoo?" the girl asked.
Dan was growing more upset by the second. He was finding the words the two were speaking difficult to understand. The girl was asking him questions, he knew that much. However, he coulden't seem to focus on an answer, and even if he could speak, he wasen't sure he'd be able to say much to her.
Gordon and Mrs Halen continued to argue, Dan knowing the words were not pleasant by the tone of their voices. Having had enough, he knew that he had to get back home. He coulden't let Gordon end up destroyed by this, even if it meant he'd be a stupid animal for the rest of his life. Sighing, Dan hoped away from the group and back toward his house.