Out weighed two to one by his bulk and out numbered by his kind it seemed the better part of valer to stand up.
"Excuse....ME..Sir!" I said as the big man gave a grumpy look like a three year old kid enjoying a pants full of his crap! The bar tender gave me a small grin and the faces of a dozen biker's look very much like wolves viewing diner.
"What a whimpy coward!" said the big bloak.
"NO Sir, not a coward! In fact a man showing one larger man respect! It would seem to me that is what you expect from others but don't offer any in return! I chided him back.
Laughter from the dozen or so bikers as they went back to their drinks and ignored the bloak.
The bar tender shook his head as if I just stepped on a rattlesnake.
The Bloak stood up, "So you want to make trouble!"
"Not really, just think that a man wishing the world to see him as a man needs to show his intelligence by being gracious' rather than acting like a bull with a turd caught sideways." I replied as the bartender laughed and went about his business.
"So you think I'm stupid?" said the big and dumb bloak.
"You don't get it do you? You act tough and stomp in here and demand from me respect, right? (He nods a yes) Then what should I respect, bulk, muscle, a gruff voice, and ugly attitude, no I'm not impressed!
You don't know me, do you? You never saw me before, right? (Again he shakes his big dumb head a no) Then you might want to take a swing at a unknown man who happens to be an Army Major with twenty three years of teaching self defense to the troops, right?" I asked.
A glint of stupidity came over his face and I expected a left backhand to strike out at any second. He turned and let fly his left handed swing as I ducked and served him a jab to his kidney. A groan as he doubled over and dropped to his knees.
I stood up and stretched out a hand to help him up as out of the corner of my right eye saw another in coming fist. A quick turn to my right offered a biker an elbow to his jaw. A spin on my heels and I served him a trained knuckle sandwich to the left side of his head.
Applause from the crowd of bikers broke the short war into a pair of moaning bikers. The bartened ran around his bar and tried to move the big bloak to his bar stool. The other biker lay dazed face down on the sawdust covered floor.
My attention was toward the bloak moaning his situation when a hand grabbed at my ankle. A quick view to the floor saw the biker ready to start anew the fight. A killing knife sparkled in the reddish light and I used my heel of a army boot to it's better use with a swift kick to a forehead. The knife went flying across the floor as the biker took a needed nap.
"Hey there mister kickass I want to buy you a drink!" spouted what I thought was a half drunk biker.
Motioning the services of the bartender he ordered us both a double whisky. I walked to the bar and before drinking turned to check on the waring parties and their relative positions. A turn to my drink saw the drunk biker smile and lifting his glass we klinked as we toasted the other.
The whisky had a bitter taste and in one stroke I realized it was going to be trouble. Setting the glass down I excused myself to the men's room and a well needed relief.
As the major fool hit the washroom his head was spinning and sight became blurry. A splash of cold water only made me feel weaker as then the door opened. In stepped the biker who bought me this trouble.
"You best sit down, or soon you will fall down, brother!" said the biker.
I leaned against the wall and bucked myself up as if wondering what he was talking about.
The biker stepped right into my face. "You don't know me like I don't want to know you! A man of you status coming in here is out of place, you should have known better, Major! The whisky was good but yours got even better. I tip of powder from my ring here is going to make the Major wish he'd stayed in bed today. Feeling the stuff aren't you, Major?" chidded the biker.
I fact I could not seem to move either hand or foot. Like I was rooted to that spot the feeling of being at his mercy made me angry at myself.
"You can't fight the stuff, just let it take you into it's grasp! As you muscles feel weak now they will perk up to a stout strength before the day is over. In fact there Major you have joined a troop of only a few special forces. I met this woman in my travels, she was what most would call a hag. She was one ugly bitch of a woman living alone in a wild bit of country. Wyoming, yup that's where the bitch made her home. Why Phil and Jughead went right into her house and thought to drag her sorry ass outside for a beating. Well she showed them who was ready for who! I heard two grown men scream and run from the house holding hands over their face. I saw the hag standing in her doorway and yell to them to come back when they felt the need. I ran after Jughead as he was a better friend than Phil. He was kneeling down near a tree. His hands covered a face that as I wrenched his fingers back saw what no man could describe. Jughead's face had been splattered with some liquid. His eyes were bugged wide as if in pain. A fat old nose now turned up as nostrils flared with every breath. His lips and mouth merged into a muzzel. Hair sprouted from that round fat face as his chin narrowed. The man's hand's were shaking as he tried to tear off his shirt and scrambled to unbuckle his belt."
I was listening, but felt my weakness growing as knees began to bend.
"Yup Major, Jughead looked up at me with pain in his face and as I looked into the face his eyes changed from brown to square yellow pupils. I jumped back having never seen such as this before. Jughead groaned and doubled over holding his groin with both hands. Poisoned, the hag poisoned him with what she tossed into his face! I turned to walk back to the Hag's house when a hand grabbed my ankle. A moan from Jughead as he turned his head and looked up at me. A jolt of pain hit him at that moment and his fingernail dug into my flesh. You feel a little strange, Major?"
I did indeed, hands were shaking as now gut pains welled up in and about my stomac and chest. A sharp pain hit and I too went down to my knees.
"Don't fight it Major, Jughead tried better than any man could but it took him as it will take you. I screamed as he dug into the skin on my ankle. Yanking my foot away the trickle of blood showed in my sock. A look to Jughead as he looked up at me gave me a bit of horror as my friend's face and head was very much that of a black hairy goat. I watched as he gripped his eyes shut when horn buds sprouted two horns from the top of his forehead. I saw fingers merging into black nubs. His shirt was torn in half and he was sprouting black thick hairs over his back and shoulders. The moaning and screaming he issued now toned down to soft almost bleating of some animal in pain.
Suddenly his left leg jutted out straight. The other did likewise and began to shake. He reached his arms down to touch his pants but the buttons flew off. I watched in horror as my friend grew a sheath ajoined his belly. A man's balls swelled to baseball size and hung in a hairy sack. Fingers changed to cloven hooves as his arms became forelegs. His neck cracked as it lengthened. Ears sprouted long floppy and hairy. A last almost human scream trailed off into the bleat of a goat. Shaking legs stopped their movements and I reached down to pull off the jeans which Jughead the goat was not going to need. A scream from off in the woods suggested Phil was going through something simular of Jughead's change. It must have been an hour as I watched a friend change from man to male goat. He lay quiet as if out of pain. A quick scramble and he stood up on all fours and began to walk in circles looking over his new self. I reached to pet my friends head only to catch a nip from his front teeth. I never did know after that if Jughead was angry for me wishing to pet him or the animal was all he was, mind and body. How you doing Major, you ears are spouting some hairs!"