This choice: Eugene: Cat, Judy: Dog, Lindsey: Bird, Peter: Fish • Go Back...Chapter #9Eugene: Cat, Judy: Dog, Lindsey: Bird, Peter: Fish by: Mr.Domino   With the girls having already called dibs on their animals, Peter and Eugene gave each other a look, the two boys shrugging with indifference as they selected their tokens: Eugene went with the blue cat (his preferred animal but allergies for both himself and his mom prevented them from ever having a one) and Peter pocketed the green fish.
"Glub glub" He said jokingly, making a fish-face at Judy and went in for a kiss, who groaned dramatically and pushed his handsome face away.
"INPUT PLAYER ORDER. PRESS ENTER TO BEGIN GAME" The game ordered, the tiny screen and red bulbs blinking in an almost impatient manner.
"We all good?" Eugene asked, receiving three nods in agreement, "Okay, just a second..." Eugene's fingers poked carefully across the tiny keyboard as he entered in the information, and with a mighty flourish, pressed enter.
He barely had time to yell as color drained from his vision and everything went black.
_
The smell was the first thing that indicated that Eugene was conscious again, a barrage of...everything assaulting his nose, as he flailed around wildly as he suddenly became HYPER-aware of his body and the immediate surroundings. His eyes snapped open and he let out a low groan at the brightness, flicking his tail in annoyance as-
Wait. What tail!?
Eugene let out a yowl as he turned to see a long black tail rising out of his horizontally aligned back, swishing this way and that, twitching and wiggling.
'Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no' He chittered to himself, looking at the rest of his elongated body and suddenly aware he was standing on all fours. There was a movement nearby and he whipped his head towards it...And there, in a pane of holed plastic was the dull reflection of the face of a black cat, pointy ears, wide green eyes and whiskers.
'I'M A CAT!' He wailed, and his tiny fanged mouth opened as a long, deep growl escaped from his throat. Then something BIG passed by the plastic, and Eugene scrambled backwards, flopping over himself in terror as the massive face of an older woman looked in on him, concern in her eyes. Her overly-lipsticked mouth was saying something...But it was all garbled to Eugene. He got the distinct impression that the woman was talking to him...But maybe since he was now an animal, he couldn't understand? That was a common misconception that many pet owners often did, assuming their pets could understand them when in reality it was nothing but gibberish. At best most pets could put together a handful of words associated with actions and positive reinforcement, but there was no real possible way to overcome the language barrier.
'Wait, how...How do I know that? I've never owned a pet!' Eugene said, looking around the small cage in confusion. But before he could get any sort of answer, the cage door was opening and a huge hand was curling in, fingers the size of logs grabbing hold of him and beginning to pull him out. As he struggled, he caught a glance at five...wait, NINE horizontal stripes on his left front leg, radiating up from his...paw.
'Wait WAIT WAIT!' Eugene cried out in a pitiful meow, and he flexed his claws as he struggled to find purchase on anything...But out he came into a MUCH louder, brighter world. The giant woman man-handled his furry body and tucked him securely in her arms, stroking and cooing strange words at him as Eugene was transported from the small, noisy holding area in what was either the back room of a pet store, or possibly a animal shelter...And just as quickly deposited him into a larger room that was filled with seven other cats and a hoard of toys, cat trees, litter boxes and food and water bowls. Beyond a huge glass wall were dozens other humans, some with children, some young students like himself, a couple of old folks. And all of them were staring at him.
Another cat, an attractive orange and white tabby sidled up next to him and sat on all fours, whisking a tail around his shaking legs as it leaned it's head in for a nuzzle.
"Hey, Eugene" A familiar, but decidedly FEMALE voice said softly, and Eugene turned his head towards the other cats, ears laying back against his streamlined head.
"YOU! You're...You're the girl from the store! How-why-what...who" Eugene babbled, and he was distinctly aware that the people on the other side of the wall were pointing at the two of them and talking excitedly among each other.
"That's me! Before you flip out, let me explain what is happening. You're indeed inside the video game! Pretty cool, huh? And you're a cat so that's, like, extra cool!" The girl-cat playfully batted at Eugene, who leaned away.
"Oh, don't be so dramatic. It's easy! Like SUPER easy, easier than the other games you could have chosen! Right now you're in..." The tabby paused her chattering for a moment and looked around at the ceiling in thought, "Let's just call this the tutorial, okay? All you gotta do right now is get adopted to get out into the main take world"
"What!? No! Change me-" Eugene began yowling, but then a thought crossed his mind, "W-wait, where are my friends!?"
"Oh don't worry, I'm giving them the same spiel right now. Lindsey is on the other side of the store in the bird section, Judy is in the dog section, and Peter is in one of the fish tanks. You get bonus points if you can all get adopted together but..." The orange tabby gave the cat equivalent of a smirk and turned away, brushing her long, floofy tail across Eugene's face, sending his new extra sensors in his whiskers sparking off.
"How...How do we out? How do we change back!?" Eugene attempted to press the very strange and probably magical (or possibly technological) entity for more information, but she let out a chuckle that sounded like a very loud purr.
"You know they say about curiosity and cats, sweetheart. I don't do spoilers, but here's tip: Try not to be the last one here by closing time. And when or if you get out of here, you'll know the game objectives when you hear them. Complete those and you rejoin the human race." And with that the human qualities of the cat disappeared, and the orange tabby scampered off, darting towards one of the many bowls of food on the other side of the cat filled area.
'Hey WAIT' Eugene called out, but there was something in him that said whoever the girl was...Or WHATEVER she was, was gone and nothing but a cat remained.
Eugene looked up at the wall of humans, which had turned their gazes towards other, more active and 'cute' cats roaming the area.
"Fuck"  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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