Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Fox Tales ❯ Transfurmation, Part II ( Chapter 10 )

Fox Tales

 

Chapter 10

“Transfurmation, Part II”

 

Author's Note: First of all, if you are one of the original readers of this story, and you've stumbled upon again after all these years, then I am sincerely and utterly sorry. I have disappointed not only myself, but you as well. It's not that I didn't care about you. It's just that the passion that I had for writing this story three years ago faded. I knew for the longest time that I still had more of this story to tell, but for whatever reason or excuse, I just didn't get to it. Plus, while I left off on a cliffhanger, it was not the kind of cliffhanger that you can end a story on. I have now made a new commitment to this story, and I hope you're willing to enjoy the ride with me…again. You'll probably need a refresher; so, go ahead and read all of the previous chapters.

 

I let `Fox Tales' die once before. I will not let it die again.

 

Sincerely yours, the Author.

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As soon as that final word came out of his mouth, Todd was enveloped in light. Although he was unable to see what was going on, he could feel the changes that were happening to his body. He felt something wanting to come out of his lower back, and sure enough, poking through the top of his jeans was an orange fox tail. Then, he felt pain in his ears as they changed form. His ears were moving, and even though the bottoms stayed where they were, the tops stretched up the sides of the head. Then they re-formed to become bigger and triangular in shape, each covered with small orange fur except for a black top. (A/N: You know, like a fox's)

 

When these changes were done, the light went away, and Todd took only a split-second to evaluate them. It was all the time he could afford because another thud came as the monster drew even closer, now near the corner of the building. The noise Todd heard when it came to his ears was never louder than now, nor was it any clearer than now. He could hear subtleties in that thud he never could hear before. And although his nose didn't change shape, he could now smell the beast with more sensitivity than before. Todd turned the corner to face his opponent. It again tried with the right hand to smash Todd into the pavement, but he jumped backwards out of the way, several feet high into the air. Oh, my God! This is amazing, he thought. He was both surprised at what was going on and yet he felt comfortable, like he had done this before, which is why he easily landed on his feet.

 

Of course, he still had no idea how to defeat the beast, just how to get away from it. He then heard Satoru say, Jump at him. And Todd did so, almost instinctively. Todd somehow felt he knew exactly what he was doing, partly because he was letting Satoru, on some level, control his body. At the top of his leap, he was at the monster's eye level. Todd cocked back his right arm, and his fist glowed light blue. He then punched the monster between its eyes, at the top of the nose. This caused the monster to reel back a couple of steps as Todd came back to the ground. After the monster regained its balance, it opened its mouth and a yellow laser beam shot out at Todd. Adrenaline took over and Todd extended his arms and stuck out his hands. When the laser came to his hands, it was diffused by an invisible shield. Afterwards, Todd started to run toward the brick building on his right, then ran up and along the wall. When he got high enough, he pushed off, and kicked the monster in the side of the head with his glowing left foot. This time, the monster fell backwards, towards its right side. Despite how big it was, it managed to not hit any of the apartment complexes on the other side of the street.

 

As Todd landed back on the street, which was now broken into hundreds of pieces, he was breathing heavily. Even though the moves were simple and looked easy, his inexperience meant that they needed a lot of energy to execute, and were taking a great toll on his body. However, the job was not done. His enemy lay fifty feet in front of him, diagonally on its back. Todd extended his arms, put his wrists together, and closed his eyes to concentrate. He didn't know what he was doing, yet he knew how to do it. An orange ball of light was forming right in front his hands, about the size of a basketball. Todd suddenly opened his eyes and immediately, a beam shot out of the ball, which hit and enveloped the beast, even after the beam stopped. After a couple of seconds, the beast exploded into a million little pieces, without leaving a carcass or any carnage. Todd dropped his arms and started panting in relief, as his tail receded and his ears returned to normal. He then heard a person from the top of the building above him slowly clapping his hands. Todd then looked up at him in frustration.

 

“Well done, Mr. Reinhardt. Well done,” Eric said. “You've passed my test.”

“Test? What test?” Todd yelled as he walked on to the sidewalk. Eric did not respond.

“Who the hell are you? What do you want?”

“I just wanted to see you in action, Mr. Reinhardt.”

“What are you talking about? How do you know me?”

“You'll find out soon enough, Mr. Reinhardt, because we will meet again.”

Todd looked him with anger in his face.

“And now, Mr. Reinhardt, time to return to normal.”

“Normal?” Todd whispered.

 

Eric snapped his fingers, and suddenly he was gone. Not only that, the street was repaired. People were walking and talking on the sidewalks. Cars were driving back and forth. And no one else seemed to notice that anything was different, like it was a normal night in downtown. Todd just stood in the middle of the sidewalk with his mouth opened, questioning everything he had just experienced. After being bumped in the right arm by a stranger, Todd snapped out his daze. He was too tired to walk all the way back home, so he stuck out his right thumb and yelled, “Taxi!” as one turned the corner. The cab stopped, and Todd opened the back door. He got in, closed the door, and told the driver to take him home.

 

After enjoying a well deserved, good night's sleep, Todd's father picked him up so he could go see Akane in the hospital. She was staying two states away, which gave the two of them a lot of time to catch up with each other. Todd and his father had a good relationship. In fact, he had a good relationship with both of his parents, even though they divorced several years ago. Neither of his parents had any hard feelings towards the other. Todd talked about how he was wrapping up school. His father debriefed Todd on Akane's status. Miraculously, everyone survived the accident, but Akane and another friend were in serious but stable condition. The worst injury anybody else got was a broken bone or two.

“Well…I guess it maybe gives us something to hope for,” Todd said.

“I guess so too,” Dad said. He glanced over at Todd and noticed something strange.

 

“Where did you get those cuts?” he asked.

“What cuts?” Todd said, worried as he pulled down the car's vanity mirror. His nervous heart was about to explode.

“There are a couple of tiny cuts on your cheeks. Did you get hit by something?”

“No! I, uh…uh…cut myself shaving.”

“But you've got some stubble.”

“Yeah, uh…it was the other day.”

“Okay,” Dad said.

Todd breathed a huge sigh of relief, but not big enough to give his father any reason to think he was lying.

 

After a long 10-hour drive that included a nap and a couple of license plate games, Todd and his father finally arrived at the hospital. After they each got a visitor pass at the front desk, Dad lead Todd to Akane's hospital room. Mom was there, sitting in a chair, waiting. She seemed to be at peace somehow, but she certainly wasn't her usual cheerful self. Sitting by your daughter for a few hours with no significant changes can mellow a person out. She turned her head to the left, to see who was coming. When she saw Todd, she quietly leaped out of her chair, and went over to hug him. Todd did not resist one bit. This moment in his life was bigger that his ego.

“I'm so glad to see you,” she whispered.

“Good to see you too,” Todd said.

Mom paused, then let go of Todd but still held on to him. She had a bit of a disgusted look on her face.

“Todd, you smell terrible,” she said quietly. Todd looked a little embarrassed. “As soon as we get back to your father's house, you are taking a shower.” She then turned to look at her ex-husband. “How was the trip?” she asked as she went to hug him.

“It was fine. No problems whatsoever.”

“Well, that's good to hear. The first piece of good news I've heard in a while,” she said turning her head to Akane.

 

Akane just lay there, sound asleep as the machines that surrounded her bed kept her alive.

“She's not in a coma, is she?” Todd said quietly.

“Oh, no, no, no. She's just sleeping.” Mom said. “Well, let's go to your father's house, clean up, and have some dinner. The hospital will call us if anything happens.”

“Okay then,” Dad said.

As they turned to leave the room, Todd looked at Akane's face. She looked fragile, but at the same time, she also looked like she was still fighting for her life. Mom called his attention from the elevator.

“Hang in there, Akane,” Todd whispered. Then he turned to follow his parents.

 

The drive back to Dad's house was quiet the entire way. When they pulled into the garage. Mom reminded Todd to take his shower. He then asked where it was, and was given directions. After entering the bathroom, he closed the door, took off his clothes, moved the shower curtain, and started the water, spending a quick moment trying to figure out how it worked. He thoroughly cleaned his body with shampoo and a bar of soap, all the while trying to contain his emotions. When he got out of the shower, he grabbed a towel from the rack on the opposite wall. He turned his head to take a look at himself in the mirror, and started to dry off his hair. But then he suddenly stopped because he noticed something different. He removed the towel, and took another look at himself. Whatever it was, it was on his back, so he needed some help. He opened a medicine cabinet door a bit, bouncing one mirror off another.

 

And there it was. On his lower back, just above his butt crack, there was a brown symbol. It was a fox tail, about the size of a quarter, and it almost looked like it had been tattooed on. Oh my God! Where the hell did that come from? he thought with shock and bewilderment on his face.

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