John was 30 with blonde hair and blue eyes.
He and Maria had known eachother for a long time, and he had finally proposed to her.
They'd been engaged for some time.
Before they could get married, Maria had to go overseas on an archeological expedition in Greece.
John remembered the day she left to get on the plane.
"Please be careful over there." he said "I don't want to lose you."
"Don't worry, John." she replied, putting her left hand on his right shoulder "I promise I'll be back. You'll see. We'll get married when I'm done
with this job, and it will be the happiest wedding anyone has seen. I love you John."
"And I love you, Maria." he replied.
The two then hugged and kissed eachother on the lips, then she got on the plan and flew off - it was the last time he saw her, or spoke with
her.
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Now, six months later, John was one of the soldiers trying to preserve mankind from a virus, with those infected serving the very same woman
he had pledged to marry.
He couldn't believe Maria, HIS Maria, was capable of doing all this to the world.
He blamed the virus, for he believed she must be acting under it's influence - otherwise she would never do something like this, so he thought.
Queen Maria still loved John, and she still wanted to marry him. She gave orders to all her loyal subjects not to infect him, but to bring him to
her so that she could infect him herself, so he was safe - for now anyway.
Today, he was on patrol through the now ruined city.
With him was Rene, a 27-year-old black woman with her hair tied back in a ponytail.
She had been recently assigned to be his new partner after the virus had claimed his last one, so she was more than a bit nervous.
"We haven't seen any of the goat-freaks all day." Rene said as they walked in an alleyway "I tell you John, I've got a bad feeling in the back of my
neck about this. They're up to something - I just know it!"
"Just keep your cool, Rene." John told her "As long as we stay level-headed about this, we're fine."
As soon as they got to the end of the alleyway, a satyr jumped out at them.
He had green eyes, and thick, red hair covering his whole body except for his face. He had a small goatee. He was about 27.
"Hey there, good lookn'." he said to Rene "I'm Greg. Do you have a name to go with that beautiful body of yours?"
"It's Rene," she replied, pulling out her gun and pointing it at Greg "and you'd better remember it, 'cause if you make one wrong move, it'll be
the last thing you ever know!"
"Cool your jets, beautiful." Greg said, smiling "I'm here for him." he pointed at John "Her Majesty, Queen Maria gave us orders to bring you to
her if we found you, which I just did, and don't worry about ME transforming you - she's reserved that pleasure for herself. You coming?"
"He's not going anywhere with you!" Rene spat at Greg.
"Yes, I'm coming." John replied.
"What?" exclaimed Rene "Why John? You're one of our best!"
"This could be my chance to see her." John said to her "If I could talk some sense into her, she'd call this whole thing off, and we could win
this!"
"No," Rene said "I won't let you go with him."
"Actually," Greg said, smiling cleverly "you're going to help me take him there."
"Why would I do that?" Rene asked.
"Did you feel a small prick in the back of your neck a minuet or two ago?" Greg asked.
"Yes." she replied "Why?"
"When you two were walking," Greg replied, smiling "I was hiding, and I shot a dart into the back of your neck filled with the virus."
Rene felt the back of her neck, and pulled out the now-empty dart."OH CRAP!!!" she exclaimed, as her nose became a black goat's nose, her
lips became black, and her upper lip split down the middle.
She then tried to shoot herself, but her gun became a set of panpipes with a shoulder strap. Her ears then popped into goat ears with black
hair to match the hair on her head, and freckles appeared on her face.
"Sorry beautiful," Greg said to her, as goat horns erupted from her forehead and curled back around her ears "but I can't have you wasting
yourself like that. I hope you understand."
She then turned toward John.
"Listen to me John." she said as her hair grew past her waist "You don't have to do this. Just run - NOW!!"
"I'm sorry Rene," John said as her fingernails became hard and black "but if there's even the slightest chance that I can get through to her, I
must take it. Afterall, I still love her. I always have, and I always will."
"Aww, that's sweet." Rene said as her pupils became rectangle-shaped "Her Majesty is very fortunate to have a man who loves her so much. I
just wish I had a man like that."
"Maybe I can grant that wish." Greg said slyly. He took her by the hand, hugged her, and kissed her passionately on her lips. This sped up the
process, and caused her to burst out of her clothes.
She was now a full satyress, with thick black hair covering all but her face, stopping at the top of her neck.
John followed them to a helicopter.
Greg got in the driver's seat, Rene sat next to him, and John sat in the back.
"I'm sorry you got dragged into this, Rene." John said to her.
"Don't be." she said smiling "Now I've got me a man of my own, and he's soo strong!"
"Would you mind not distracting me while I'm piloting, beautiful?" Greg asked with a nervous smile.
"Sorry cutie." Rene replied smiling "I promise I'll be a good girl - for the rest of the fight anyway. Hee-hee!"
They flew all the way to Athens, Greece, where Queen Maria's place was. It was very big and ornate obviously constructed by experts.
They landed at the top.
They got out, and went inside the throne room on top of the building.
The whole way there, Greg and Rene couldn't stop flirting with eachother, holding hands, and kissing eachother.
When they got there, it was a huge room with pleasing fragrances, and soft carpets couches and pillows, and lying on the largest couch at the
end of the room, in a seductive pose, was Queen Maria herself. She was wearing gold hoop earrings, gold bracelets on her arms, a gold
necklace, and a leafy laurel on top of her head. As she laid there, eating grapes (and the seed with the branches too) from a large basket of
fruit, she looked up at John, and smiled wide, playfully wagging her little goat tail.
"Thank you, Greg." Maria said "You've done well. Now please, leave so that the two us can be alone together."
"As you wish, your Majesty." With that, Rene could no longer contain herself - she jumped on Greg's back, and the two raced out of the room,
and down to one of the unoccupied lower rooms were they could get to "know" eachother better. Rene could be heard giggling all the way.
"Come here, my lover." Maria said, smiling and playfully motioning with her finger.
John sat on the left side, while Maria was on his left, lying on her front, and looking up at him.
"So you've finally given up, have you?" she asked playfully.
"I haven't given up on saving humanity, or you." he bravely replied.
"Hee-hee! Save ME?" she asked with a look of mirth on her face.
"I know that you are under the control of the virus, and that it's making you do all this." he told her "The Maria I know would never act like this."
"Eee-hee-hee! I guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did!" she said, grinning like a little girl.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Silly John." she replied, smiling and batting her eyelashes at him "This is what I wanted from the beginning. Mankind is so corrupt and cruel. It
was on a path of self-destrution. When I heard the stories about the vase containing the ancient magic to repopulate the satyr race, I jumped at
the chance. It was said that the first person to open it would become the ruler, and so I have. I was scared at first, but knowing what would
follow gave me the courage to smile again. However, in spite of all I've gained, I still lack one thing - a husband to rule beside me as the new
satyr king. We will have many children, as will all our kind. I told you we'd get married and have the happiest wedding anyone's ever seen. This
is exactly what I had in mind right from the start!"
"If the virus keeps spreading," John said "humans as a species will become extinct, and nothing will be left to remember of it. I came to speak
with you, hoping you'd listen to reason and stop this before it's too late. Please Maria."
"What's wrong?" she asked with a pouty look on her face "I thought you loved me."
"I do," he replied "and that's why I can't let you do this. Please. It's not fair to the humans that are left if they don't want it."
Maria thought about it for a few minuets, and then gave John her answer.
Smiling, she said ...