Plush Paradise: The Novel Act 2



Plush Paradise: The Novel Act 2

By shadowlugia249

Author's Note: After a sudden revelation in the previous part, I realized that the final project would be way too big to use all at once. So I broke it up into three parts to stretch out the story a little bit more. Now there are sixteen characters to use in the final project! Enjoy!

Recap of Act 1

A man who made a mistake at the wrong time was suspended without pay for a solid month and was given a serious list of ten projects to accomplish for an artists' conference when he returned. Seemingly swamped and in the middle of his first artist's block, he had almost given up hope of ever accomplishing the feat in time.

But like the givers they are, Plush Paradise owners Karmen Aridos and Vega Firetail created a series of ten living, breathing plushies to help him through his times. At first, he was shocked that they were alive (and found out that one has a very big appetite), but as each new plushie arrived, he began to have new faith in his life and was able to master the courage to begin the assignments.

The plushies that arrived are specially made to make their owner and friend happy and content. The first five plushies in the series were: Seryn the Flammie, Blaziken the Fire-and-Fighting-Type Pokémon, Sidian Silverhawke the silver dragon, a rather timid Miles “Tails” Prower and a Dream Traveler with a heart of gold named Klonoa. Together, they have all given him a life worth living.

But in the middle of an outing with Seryn, he receives a call from his boss telling him that he must now accomplish fifteen assignments before returning a week after the original deadline. Possibly acting before thinking, he accepted the challenge and was determined to prove his boss who the better man was.

But he has no idea that life his life is about to take a very ugly turn that might damage his career permanently...

Intermission 1

Aridos and Vega had gotten the bad news well ahead of Seryn and Lance about the situation with the extra projects and were busy trying to catch up with their order. Their superior had written to them and had sent six new plushies to them to send to Lance. After extensive research, he had hand-picked six new plushies to add to Lance's ever-growing family. These six had all once been great and memorable figures of their time and finally, they would take the form of a set of living, breathing plushies that would further change Lance's life. And although two of the plushies would be the first of their kind to come alive, they would make absolutely sure that everything went according to plan.

The only problem was that a sudden setback in Lance's life would make keeping an eye on them a little more difficult. They had never dealt with anyone outside city limits before, but this setback would force one of them to tail Lance and the others to keep an eye on them.

This was just the start of a series of unfortunate events (no relation) that would test Aridos, Vega and Lance to the very limit of their abilities.

Chapter 7: Paradise Lost

21 days until deadline

I couldn't get the bitter aftertaste of my boss' phone call out of my head as Seryn and I flew back to the apartment. Of course, I was upset that I now had *15* projects to do in just three more weeks, but I was determined to show my boss who was the better man in business. Even though I hadn't started yet, I knew that somehow, some way, I would be able to pull through with this and have my job back and more.

But right now, I just wanted to get back home. I had a funny feeling in my stuffing that something wasn't quite right. I couldn't tell what it was, but I had a feeling that it wasn't something I was going to like. I only had a few minutes left as a Flammie Plushie and I wanted to get as close to home as possible before I changed back. Seryn was following beneath me, ready to catch me if and when I changed back in mid-flight.

Fortunately, I made it back just in time. It was well after midnight when Seryn and I touched down in the parking lot outside the complex. A few seconds after I landed, I felt my body go rigid and freeze up for a moment. Then there was a feeling of air being let out of my body followed by a slight shrinking feeling and before I knew it, I was human once again.

“Looks like we made it just in time,” said Seryn, catching me before I collapsed. “We couldn't have asked for better timing.”

I stumbled to my feet, still reeling from the transformation, and looked up at Seryn. “There's something wrong. I need to get up there without waking anyone up. Come with me.”

Seryn purred and followed me on all fours up the stairs to my apartment, stepping as lightly as a plush could without making any noise.

I wasn't even to the door and my suspicions were confirmed. A large red flyer was taped onto my door. I couldn't see what it said in this light, but I had a feeling that it wasn't anything good. Removing it, I unlocked the door and Seryn and I headed inside.

“What is that, love?” she asked me. “Is that what's been bothering you?”

“I'm not sure yet, but it can't be anything good. I need some light to read it. Go and see if the others are all right.”

Seryn nodded and scooted off to check on Blaziken, Sidian, Tails and Klonoa, who were probably all fast asleep in different rooms. I, on the other hand, had bigger fish to fry. I turned on my kitchen light and read the red flyer to see what the damage was.

Unbelievably, it was an eviction notice! My landlord was actually evicting me! I had until tomorrow night to pack up and leave. I couldn't understand what I had done wrong. I had paid my rent, I had cleaned up and I hadn't done anything wrong that I could think of.

When I read the reason for my eviction, I could have sworn that there had been a mistake. It said, “Concealment and hoarding of illegal exotic creatures and failure to remove from premises.” Huh??? What was that supposed to mean? I didn't have any pets except for my plushie friends.

Wait a minute... they couldn't possibly think that my plushies were pets, did they? I knew for a fact that they had gotten around the area and people seemed to accept the fact that they were walking, talking stuffed animals... but pets??? That didn't click with me. Not once had I ever called nor heard them be called “pets”. They were very intelligent and certainly didn't qualify as “pets” to me. This just didn't make any sense.

What was worse, the other people in the complex had signed a petition to have me and my plush friends removed as soon as possible. There was a second sheet attached to the red flyer that was folded over twice with so many names on it that I couldn't even count them all! What was more, there couldn’t have been this many people in this complex alone. There had to have been outside help as well. I knew that the more names that were on a petition, the more likely it was to be passed.

But the final insult came when I saw whose name was on the very top of the list: Skyle James Kelvin. Of all the...! What was my boss trying to do to me?! He had already set me back with this latest string of projects, but now he had started a petition to have me evicted?! This just wasn't fair! All of this had started over a little destroyed project and now my life was going through hell as punishment! That guy just doesn't know when to give up! Why was he doing this to me?! What could I have ever done (besides that one project) to deserve this?! It was bad enough that I was suspended without pay with the biggest load of assignments in company history, but now he had taken away the two of the three things that I had found comfort in having. Two of these items were my job and my apartment. The only thing I had left were my plushies. This was no longer just a professional dispute; this was now personal. I was going to show him once and for all that he picked the wrong person to mess with. He was going to pay for what he did to my life when I showed up at that conference without a home and with all 15 projects done and prove once and for all that I was better than him.

But wait... something didn't quite click. How did Skyle know about my plushie friends in the first place? I know that he had said over the phone that someone had seen me with my plushie friends in public, but who was that leech? It had to be someone who was trying to suck up to the boss and was jealous of me at the same time. I couldn't figure out who else besides my boss had had a grudge against me strong enough to spy on me.

I flipped back to the petition and scanned through the names. Maybe said traitor could have signed this as well. To my immense relief, not a single one of my co-workers had signed this petition. I knew they would always to protect me. But there was a name on the line underneath Skyle's that had been initialized: R.A.C. (Author's Note: No, it's not “Rent-A-Center”. (*smirk*))

For the life of me, I could not remember who at work had those initials. I recognized the handwriting, but I couldn't put a name or a face to it. I just knew that I had seen that handwriting at Kelvin Printing but that was about it.

I knew that my boss had beaten me in this round. I had to move out by tomorrow night and that was that. Normally, an evicted person would have nowhere to go. But in an incredible stroke of good fortune, I had the ideal place to go.

Before I had moved to Willmar from my parents' house out in the country, they had said to me very clearly, “If something happens that you can't figure out, come back to our house. We'll be glad to take you back in.”

At the time, I didn't think that they would follow through with it, but I knew that my parents would never make promises to me that they couldn't keep. And while most adults who go back to live with their parents had to pay rent, my parents were the kind who couldn't wait to have me home again. They had been rather devastated when I had left home to begin with, but given the circumstances, I was sure they would be more than happy to take me back.

There was just one problem: How was I going to explain my plushies? When I had been growing up, I had told them of the wonderful adventures I had had in my own private world due to my lack of friends. But those friends had been imaginary. these friends were the real deal. How could I explain to them that I was now caring for a quintet of actual, living, breathing, exotic plushies?

“Something bothering you, love?” said Seryn, coming back into the kitchen to check up on me.

I sighed and told Seryn everything that was on my mind. From the eviction notice to the mystery spy for my boss to going back to living with my parents and bringing my plushies along.

When I finished, Seryn was just as understanding as always. “I'm sure your parents will not mind us staying with you. You said that they had more than enough space in their house and I'm sure we'll all find somewhere decent to stay. And since we can create our own food, we won't eat them out of house and home. It'll be just fine.”

I sighed and looked out the window in the living room. The sky was starting to lighten up a little, signaling the approach of dawn. I had been awake for almost 24 whole hours now except for that little stint in Seryn's belly while transforming into a Flammie Plush. But I was anything but tired now. I knew that I had just 12 short hours to pack up and move out before I would be forcibly removed.

Unbelievably, Seryn did not blame herself or me for this problem. “This was outside your control and there was nothing any of us could do about it. You shouldn't beat yourself up for something you couldn't help.”

She was right, of course. This was nothing to get all worked up over. I could still work out of my parents' house and finish my projects before the conference deadline. It would all work out in the end.

“Thanks, Seryn,” I said, taking her paw. “I don't know how I managed to survive without you.”

Seryn smiled and gave my cheek a lick. “It's really nothing. Oh, by the way, I have something for you.” I looked as she held out her other paw, pads up to reveal another plush badge. “Klonoa had this in his hand when I went to go check on him and Sidian. I think he made it for you. Here...” She took the badge and chose her spot on my shirt, pressing it lightly into place just below Tails' badge. The design on it was a circle with a red background and Klonoa's trademark blue cap with its “Pac-Man eating a dot” symbol in the middle.

“My Mana Badge, Blaziken's Flame Badge, Sidian's Dexterity Badge, Tails' Freedom Badge and now, Klonoa's Dreamer Badge. You're on your way to a complete set.”

“I didn't know that they all had specific names,” I said, looking at each of the badges in turn. “That's cool.”

Seryn nodded. “You're halfway there. Just five more to go.”

I sighed at this remark. “I'm not so sure about that. I now have 15 different projects to do. You don't think that I'm going to have 15 plushies, do you?”

Seryn couldn't answer that. She had been wondering the same thing but couldn't decide whether there would be more plushies arriving or if Aridos and Vega had even gotten the message. She doubted that the plushies would continue to arrive once we moved 30 miles out of town. It was all up in the air right now.

“Well... I guess we should wake the others and start packing.”

Seryn nodded. “Yeah. It was nice living here while it lasted. I'll go break it to them. You can start packing up in here. And don't worry; I'll take care of your plush friends.”

I assumed she meant my other plushies, otherwise she would have used the others' names. Wondering how she would be able to pack all of those plushies away, I decided to wait and find out when I had packed up my other belongings. I still hadn't disposed of the boxes all of my other things had come in and had coincidentally kept them in the closet of the spare bedroom. I went to the closet, grabbed as many boxes as I could carry and headed back to the kitchen to grab what I could. I also grabbed a few coolers that I had brought some food in when I first moved in and headed over to clean out my fridge.

I had just finished packing up my food when Klonoa came out to check on me. He seemed to have recovered from his attack on the Nightmare in Sidian's Dream Realm and looked rather refreshed. He said nothing right away and stared at me, as if he could tell what was going on by looking into my eyes.

Apparently, he seemed to catch on because he sighed and shook his head. “It's like that, huh?” I instinctively nodded. “I figured. Seryn wouldn't ask us to pack up unless one of two things were to happen.”

“And what would that be?” I said curiously.

Klonoa crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling absentmindedly. “Either you were abandoning us or something happened that you couldn't help and we have to move out with you. And since you aren't the kind of person to abandon your friends, however unusual, that only leaves the choice that we have to move out.”

“You're really good at that,” I said, rather impressed. “How do you do that?”

Klonoa shrugged. “I can read people's subconscious thoughts just by looking in their eyes. It comes from years of practice as a Dream Traveler.”

I couldn't argue with that, so I nodded and then pointed to my entertainment center. “Would you mind cleaning out my games and videos over there, please?”

Klonoa nodded. “I'd be happy to.” And just like he said, he grabbed a large box and went to go empty my entertainment center of every console, game and DVD I had.

Just then, Tails came into the room. He seemed to be fighting back the urge to go back to sleep and yawned widely as he watched us packing up.

“I don't think this is fair,” he said, his two tails tying themselves into knots. “I was just starting to like this place and now we have to move out? That doesn't seem right.”

I couldn't help but sympathize with the kitsune. “It may seem like it's not fair now, but when I finally finish those projects, I'll have so much money that we can buy a new place just for us. We'll live on our own and I won't have that pathetic excuse for a human being t o answer to.”

Tails sighed and grabbed a box without me telling him to. He then went back to my room and began to dismantle it bit by bit.

Once I had finished with the fridge and freezer, I went to go unpack everything I could from the cupboards and set them aside to carry down later. And when that was over, I went to my computer room to start the tedious process of packing that up.

But when I got there, I had walked in on a kind of feeding frenzy. Seryn, Blaziken and Sidian were all standing around my plush pile and were transferring the stuffed animals into their mouths before swallowing them and taking another for themselves.

“What are you doing?” I said, causing Seryn and Sidian to jump.

When they all turned around, all three of them had acquired very large, round, bulbous bellies full of the tasty plushies. Blaziken looked more out of shape than Sidian did, who wasn't nearly as round as the massive Flammie.

Seryn swallowed the plush she had just put in and spoke. “We're packing up. There's not enough room in your car for all of these wonderful plushies, so we're making room.”

Sidian could read my expression like a book. “Don't worry; we won't digest them. They're just too cute to make into a meal. We're just storing them away for later.”

Judging from the rate their bellies were growing, the plushies were piling up inside of them and weren't being digested like she had said. Besides, they seemed to be enjoying the various flavors like they were in an ice cream shop.

“Okay... just don't lose them. It took me forever to collect all of them.”

They all agreed and returned to their “meals”. I, meanwhile, pulled the computer box out of the closet and began disassembling the desktop to pack away. I would probably never fully understand these creatures, but they were always willing to surprise me with some new ability somehow.

It was nearly noon by the time the six of us packed the last box into my SUV. I had bought it for the space, which was going to come in handy today. I had several boxes of my belongings and five living, breathing plushies to escort home, three of which looked more “pregnant” than I had ever seen them before. It was going to be difficult all five of them in the SUV in their current state, and since Tails still froze up whenever he came near Seryn, we needed to arrange a seating order.

After some intense deliberations, we had it all worked out. Seryn would next to me in the front while Blaziken, Sidian and Klonoa would pile into the back. And since Tails and Klonoa were small enough to squeeze together in one of the seats, they sat on the far left while the “pregnant” Blaziken and Sidian took up the middle and the right seats.

After I turned in my apartment keys and had a few choice words to say to the landlord, I got into the driver's seat and started the car. And after carefully maneuvering out of the cramped parking lot, we were on our way out to the country. Since none of the plushies had any bones to speak of, they did not object to the cramped conditions and took it among themselves to talk about what they were leaving behind.

Seryn was greatly regretting leaving the small kids that came every day to see her at KB Toys. They had all loved her so wonderfully and seemed to be the only people who seemed to naturally know that she was not a person in a costume. They had filled her days with joy that made up for the times that she was not with me and she would miss them greatly.

Blaziken was disappointed that he hadn't been able to take his martial arts students on their promised field trip to Plush Paradise. They had been looking forward to that trip and would be severely disappointed to learn that he had “walked out” on them.

Sidian was going to miss the kids at KB Toys as well. After her experience with Seryn, she had almost been able to sign up to work with her as the mascots. The kids had been so thrilled to see a “real-life” dragon and she already missed their little hairless bodies climbing all over her (Seryn couldn't help but giggle.). They were all so cute and she was one of the few people in their lives that they looked forward to seeing almost every day.

Tails sighed as he recalled his time spent with Blaziken. While they had been out on their own, Blaziken had been able to jumpstart Tails ability to fly with his two tails. He had gotten a little rusty since his last life, but he had been improving greatly and was about to go out on his own when he and Blaziken had had to return home.

Klonoa hadn't been around the city for any length of time to really miss anything. In fact, this was the first time he had gone outside since he had come to life, so he still had some things to learn about life in the human world. Thankfully, he was one of the optimistic ones and was looking forward to living life in the country for a while.

I, on the other hand, was actually looking forward to returning to my parents' farm. I had nearly forgotten how wonderful the sky looked at night and being able to go almost anywhere I wanted without fear of getting lost or held up in traffic. I told the others that my parents were some of the most trustworthy people I had ever known and assured them that they would understand our situation. They had grown up listening to my tales of my own private world. In a way, this was just my dreams come to life.

We continued to talk all the way out to the countryside where my parents' farm resided. We had over 300 acres of land for everyone to exploit and more than enough room to accommodate my plushie friends. I did my best to convince them that we would have fun while we were out here, no matter what it took.

My step-mother was not home when we pulled into the driveway and judging from the lack of vehicles in the garage, my dad was currently in town on some business. I wanted to surprise them for when they returned home, so I pulled the SUV down the driveway and hid it behind our chicken barn where they would not see it. Tails wondered how we were going to carry all of my stuff over that distance to the house, but I had already thought of this.

“When they know it's me and they hear out my story, I'll move the van further up so the legwork is a little less. I just want to surprise them is all.”

They couldn't argue with that, so we all piled out of the van and closed the doors. But before I locked the doors, I realized that Seryn, Blaziken and Sidian were still “expecting”.

“Uh... I think we can leave the plushies in the van. We don't want to startle them when they get home.”

There were a few exchanged looks before the three shrugged and began extracting all 100 plushies from their bloated bellies and piling them in the back seat of the van. Once they were all back to normal, I finally locked the doors and we all started up to the house.

As we walked, Tails and Klonoa seemed to be taking in the sights of our farm for themselves. They were taking deep, collective breaths and were pointing to different buildings, whispering excitedly. They seemed to be a couple of natural country boys and seemed to be looking forward to living here.

“I never knew little kids dug the country life,” I whispered to Seryn. “My parents can't even get my little brother out of the house without him complaining.”

Seryn smiled and shook her head. “To each his own, I guess.”

Blaziken, meanwhile, seemed to have spotted my dad's silage silo on the other side of the barn and marveled at its height. “I could do some serious training on that thing if your dad would let me. What do you say?”

I wasn't sure what to say. I never knew that Blaziken could get so excited over a single, tall structure like the silo at first glance. “We'll see what he says.”

Seryn and Sidian didn't say much but instead took in the vast, empty spaces all around the countryside. I figured that they were thinking about doing some extreme flying in an open space such as this, but I didn't say anything.

We were almost to the door when Seryn spotted one of the many barn cats that we had roaming around here. Beast and plushie locked eyes for a moment before Seryn let out a squeal and ran to grab one. Amazingly, the cat didn't bolt like it normally did when someone approached it. None of us had ever been able to get close to this cat and now, Seryn was stroking it like a teddy bear.

“It's so cute! I just adore cats! They make me feel all warm and furry inside when I hold one!” None of us responded to this obvious statement. Seryn carried the cat over to Sidian, who took the feline furball in her claws. “Did you know that cats are an early evolution of Flammies? The only real differences are that we are magic and have wings. It's said that cats and Flammies can understand each other just perfectly.”

None of us knew this, but we weren't about to spoil Seryn and Sidian's fun. The two draconic plushies took turns handling the cat, who against all reason seemed to be enjoying the treatment. That only further proved that plushies are much more capable than humans ever could be.

I spotted Sidian licking her chops hungrily and intervened. “I wouldn't eat it if I were you. Those claws are the real deal and they could rip your stomachs open with no problem at all.”

Sidian's ears drooped and she set the cat down on the ground, watching it scurry away. She then looked at me out of the corner of her eye and muttered, “Killjoy.”

Ignoring her, I opened the door and the six of us piled inside. The back door was at the halfway point between the basement and the main floor, so we all went into the kitchen to look around. My parents almost never locked the doors and they had never been robbed before, so they had a sense of security way out here.

At first, it looked like my suspicions were correct and that no one was home, but a voice from the basement changed all that.

“Mom?!”

“Oh... crap,” I said, looking at the others. “I forgot it's Saturday. My little brother, Tanner's home from school.”

“He sounds so cute!” said Sidian, starting in the direction of his voice.

“No!” I hissed, pulling her back by the tail. “If he sees you now, he'll freak out! Let me go talk to him and get him warmed up. You guys stay up here and I'll call you down when I'm ready.”

Seryn and Sidian looked disappointed, but they knew better than to disobey me, so they stayed put and allowed me to head back down the stairs to check on my brother.

Tanner Kevin Kane (Yes, we had the same middle name) was actually my half-brother who was born from my dad and stepmom. He was only ten years-old at the moment and was a big video game fanatic. Usually every time I came here, I found him downstairs playing some kind of game on his Playstation 2. His game of choice for today was a classic Playstation version called “MegaMan Legends”, which actually belonged to me, but I was letting him borrow it for a while.

“Tanner?” I called to him, heading down the stairs.

“Lance?” He seemed surprised to see me. “What are you doing here?”

I shrugged. “It's a long story, but if you must know, my landlord kicked me out.”

“Why'd they do that?”

“Like I said, it's a long story. What're you playing there?”

“MegaMan Legends,” he said, returning to his game. “Can you help me beat MegaMan Juno?” He was referring to the boss at the end of the game.

I shook my head. “I told you, you beat him once, you can beat him again on Hard Mode. All you have to do is get more energy in your pack and get the Energy Stream and mix it with your Power Stream and something that increases your Range and Rapid.”

(Author's Note: This is based on a true conflict my brother and I have been dealing with for some time. The terms we are using are actually part of the game.)

“How do I get those?” He was at that age where he had to question almost everything I said.

I shrugged. “I dunno. Go Digging and get some money with your Vacuum Arm. I told you you could handle it and I'm not any better than you at this point.”

It was true. Despite being a master of video games, it had taken me just as if not longer than Tanner had to beat MegaMan Juno on Hard Mode. It just showed how good he was at only ten years-old. In fact, he had even found a special area that I hadn't seen in the countless times that I had played the game. Go figure.

After giving Tanner some pointers on the game, I remembered that my plushie friends were still upstairs waiting for me to give them the signal. Doing some quick thinking, I laid out how I was going to do this.

“Hey, Tanner, remember Tails from Sonic Adventure DX and Adventure 2: Battle?”

“Yeah?”

“What would you say if I actually brought you a stuffed Tails to play with?”

Tanner immediately paused his game, his interest sparked. “You got one? Where is it?”

“It's upstairs.” He dropped the controller and started heading upstairs. Realizing what he could possibly see if he made all the way up there, I called to him. “Wait! Get back down here!”

Tanner paused on the stairs and looked down at me. “Why?”

“Just get down here. I have to tell you something.”

Tanner obliged and came back to stand nest to the chair I was sitting in. “There's something you need to know about this Tails.” Tanner was listening to my every word. “This is no ordinary Tails. This one can actually move and talk on its own.”

Tanner's eyes went wide. “Where'd you get it?”

I sighed. “Let's just say that I won it in a contest. Don't ask me to explain it. The point is that he is alive and can hear and feel everything you do to him, so you need to be careful.”

Tanner seemed to be awestruck. “Can I see him?”

Taking a big chance, I nodded. “Hold on. TAILS!!!” I called up the stairs. “Come down here for a moment!”

Up in the kitchen, Tails heard his cue and gently walked down the stairs to our basement living room. The instant Tanner saw him moving on his own, he was rendered speechless. If the sight of a living, breathing plushies wasn't enough to stun him, the sight of one of his favorite Sonic the Hedgehog characters in real life certainly had its merits.

While Tanner had his back to me, I looked up at Tails and put a finger to my lips, shaking my head and telling him to stay quiet for the time being. Tails nodded and reached the end of the staircase and walked up to Tanner. Their sizes were almost identical to each other and they could actually look straight at each other.

“Tails, this is my brother, Tanner. Tanner, this is my real-life Tails doll.” I made a slashing motion across my throat to tell him not to respond to being called a “doll”. “Say hello, Tails.”

Tails nodded and held out his hand for Tanner to shake it. “Hello, Tanner. My name is Miles, but you can call me Tails. It's nice to meet you.”

At the sound of being called by name by the famous Tails Prower, Tanner happily took his hand and shook it floppy-like like someone of his energy level did.

“You're really Tails? You're so cool! I saw you on Sonic Adventure! Do you have your Tornado with you? You're so soft. Are you really a stuffed animal?!”

Tails looked like he was going to crumple under the weight of Tanner's questions. I managed to step in and save him from answering any of his questions by separating them and saying to Tanner, “Take it easy, Jethro. This Tails isn't like the one from the game. He's just alive, so he doesn't know about anything from the games. Just slow down and let him get a word in edgewise. Besides...” I said, looking up in the direction of the others upstairs. “I've got a whole bunch more of them. Want me to go get them?”

“Yeah! I wanna see 'em! Go get 'em!”

“Okay, you two hold on while I go get the others.” I darted past the two boys and climbed the stairs in a few steps. I quickly reached the kitchen and closed the door behind me.

“Okay, guys. Before we head down to meet Tanner, I need to lay a few strict rules, okay?” They all nodded. “First off: no vore whatsoever! No eating, no swallowing, no tasting, no kissing, nothing, got it? Not even with me unless I tell you to. He is way too young to understand that kind of stuff and he will tell Dad and Carol about this! If that happens, you can kiss your welcome here good-bye. I want nothing to go in or out of your mouths unless you tell me first. My parents don't understand this, either, and will think of you as wild animals and we won't be able to see each other again.”

There was a unanimous agreement as everyone realized that this was different than having just me in their lives. They certainly didn't want to put their relationships with me in danger and become separated from me in my time of need.

“Second, nobody eats until I okay it with my parents. If so much as a pair of underwear turns up missing, Carol will know about it. She's that picky about these things and has certainly spent enough time doing laundry to account for every piece of clothing in this house. If we can get out of the house and head to town, I will buy you something to eat, okay? Otherwise, not even a sock gets swallowed.”

They realized that they wouldn't be able to have as much fun with me in this house as they had been able to have in my apartment. They didn't like it, but they knew they had to listen or things would get real ugly real quick.

“Third, no powers unless we're absolutely alone. Plushies aren't supposed to have powers like the real things and real magic is completely unheard of here. If we ever get some time to ourselves, I will let you use your powers, otherwise, keep a lid on it.”

“Finally, my parents trust me out at night, but let's not push it. They expect me back in bed at around midnight, so until we get a better place, everyone is in bed by midnight, understand?”

Seryn seemed to be the most upset about not being able to fly in the moonlight for very long anymore. She knew that these rules were not only to protect them but to keep us all together. All it would take was one little mishap and we would be out of here in a heartbeat without any other place to go.

“Don't worry; we're only staying here until I can get things cleared with my real mom. She lives on the other side of St. Cloud and would understand you guys a lot better than Dad and Carol would. I promise you that at the earliest possible time, we will head for there where the rules will be a little bit looser.

“How long will it take?” said Blaziken, crossing his arms in frustration.

“I dunno... a week, maybe? I just need some time to contact her and make arrangements. Until then, we live by mine and my parents' rules, got it?” Everyone reluctantly agreed. “Good. Now, everyone come downstairs to meet my little brother.”

And with that, the four remaining plushies followed me down to the basement where Tanner and Tails were busy playing MegaMan Legends.

“Tanner? Can you look over here?”

He paused his game and looked at my friends with wider eyes than he had had when he has seen Tails.

“Tanner, these are my toy plushies, Seryn, Blaziken, Sidian and Klonoa,” I said, pointing to each one in turn. “I got them all from the same place as Tails and they're all alive as well. Would you like to say hi?”

I guess it was the fact that three of them were bigger than me that made Tanner hesitate. I had told him of Flammies, dragons and Blaziken before, but he had never actually seen one in any kind of detailed picture. In fact, the only one he seemed to approach was Klonoa, who was also about his height. I turned to Klonoa and whispered into his ear. “He seems to trust you more. Why don't you play with him and Tails until I can get this sorted out?”

Klonoa nodded and stepped forward to join them in their merriment. Seryn and Sidian looked hurt that they weren't accepted by a young child, but I assured them that he would warm up to them eventually. But for the time being, I escorted them all upstairs and gave them a tour of the house.

When I had given them a thorough walkthrough of their temporary living quarters, the four of us headed downstairs and immediately ran into both Dad and Carol talking in the kitchen. The moment they saw me and the others, they were just like Tanner and were at a complete loss for what to say. I had hoped to introduce them one at a time to each of them in turn, but this wasn't quite what I had in mind.

Before I could explain, Seryn, Blaziken and Sidian suddenly tried to defend me and help them understand why they were alive.

“Don't blame him. We actually chose him,” said Sidian, her hand on my shoulder.

“We've been living with him for two weeks now and he hasn't treated us badly even once,” said Blaziken.

“Please don't kick us out. We don't have anywhere to go and Lance is the only one we have in our lives. We care for him to much to be sent packing,” Seryn explained almost hysterically.

By now, I was so embarrassed that my face now imitated my hair in terms of red. This wasn't exactly how I planned to break it to them and this was coming out all wrong. Out of embarrassment, I raised my hand so that all three of them fell silent at once. They suddenly realized that they had jumped the gun and might have gotten in over their head trying to protect me.

Dad and Carol looked at each other, unsure about what to say. Everything I had ever told them in my live was nothing compared to this. They had never expected stuffed animals to come to life, much less develop feelings for and protect their owner.

Finally, Carol shook her head. “Why don't you go downstairs and we'll talk about this? We'll call you up when we're ready.”

Realizing that all was not lost yet, the four of us filed downstairs to rejoin Tanner, Tails and Klonoa. But I did not stop until we were all in my old basement room and the door was closed and locked. I flopped back down on my bed and stared up at the ceiling, unsure of what to do.

Seryn, Blaziken and Sidian said nothing and stood in a corner, thinking about what they had just done. Seryn tried to make amends by coming over to me and sitting down on the edge of my bed.

“Seryn... please. Not now. I need to think for a moment.”

The poor Flammie retreated back to the corner and continued to watch me in silence. My mind was reeling so fast from what had juts happened that I couldn't think straight.

Sidian seemed to be thinking about what she could do to help me calm down. She was absentmindedly pinching her breast, wondering what could be on my mind. But when she felt a drop of moisture rub off on her fingers, she realized that something was different about her. She quickly gathered the others in a huddle and went into a flurry of questions and concerns. Unfortunately, I didn't hear a word of it.

(Author's Note: This next part is going to get a little suggestive, but given the circumstances, it will probably be all right.)

Sidian finally seemed to understand what was happening to her and was determined to try anything to help her owner out. She carefully inched towards my bed and sat down on the side of it like Seryn had.

“Lance... if it'll help, I can give you something to soothe your mind.”

I sighed and rolled over to look at her. “Sure, whatever.” Right now, I really didn't care what happened.

Sidian smiled weakly and adjusted herself on the bed so she was lying on her side by my side. Soon, we were face-to-face with each other. I was wondering what she had in mind when she took two of her fingers and placed them on my tongue in my open mouth. I was startled as to what she was doing, but then I paused. There was a strange taste on her fingers that I could not identify. It was sweet and powerful and even this tiny bit seemed to fill me with energy and calm me down. It was like some kind of sweet nectar that she had given me to taste for her.

I didn't know it, but as Sidian laid next to me, her body began to change again. Her body was filling out and her arms and hands were changing back to draconic-like feet. Her wings seemed to sprout soft, angelic feathers again and her neck elongated slightly so that she looked much more like a dragon than her previous humanoid form. Pretty soon, she was back in the same quadrupedal form that she had been when Klonoa had accessed her mind. As of yet, we still did not know how she was able to access this form, but our story wasn't over by a long shot, so there would be plenty of time to figure it out.

Sidian was now so large that she was threatening to push me off of my twin-sized but with her massive girth. She looked like a great mother dragon and a strange spicy smell seemed to radiate from her that had never been there before.

Sidian took my head gently in her claws and moved me down the bed so I was in a position facing her underside. From there, I could smell something enticing that I wanted. It was like some kind of pheromone that caused me to become hypnotized by her power.

Pretty soon, I felt my lips close around a soft, cloth-like nub on her belly that, when squeezed, it burst forth with a powerful, delicious liquid that tasted identical to the little taste she had given me earlier. As I continued to pull from her belly, more and more of the milky liquid flooded into my mouth, its powerful sedative powers wiping my mind free of all worries and cares that were bothering me.

In a way, this was very wrong. I had only read about this happening in perverse stories on the Internet. The very thought of a man nursing off of a beast just screamed with perverse ideas. This shouldn't even be happening, plush dragon or not.

But at the same time, it was helping me relax and calm down. I was enjoying this, but not in a perverse way. Sidian and I shared a special connection that was stronger than friends but did not meet the requirements of lovers. She was doing this to help me... to calm me... to protect me. There was nothing wrong with this given the circumstances, so there should have been no reason to think that this was sexual in any way.

Sidian and I shared a special connection that none of us could understand at the moment. It was that same connection that transformed her into a mother dragon again. In a way, that's what we were. She was my dragon mother and I was her child to care for and protect with every fiber of her being.

Soon, I had consumed so much of that wonderful milk that it was impossible for me to stay awake. I soon drifted off to sleep with Sidian wrapping a feathery wing around me to keep me safe and protected from any intruders. But before she, too, nodded off to sleep, Sidian looked over at Seryn and Blaziken with sleepy eyes and smiled. “Let us sleep. My child needs to stay by his mother for now. Let the humans know that he is sleeping and will join them later.”

Seryn and Blaziken, who had remained mystified by Sidian and my actions, simply left my room and tried to make heads or tails of what they had just seen.

Seryn and Blaziken refused to tell Tails and Klonoa what they had just witnessed due to the presence of Lance's little brother. They didn't dare tell his parents what just happened for fear that they would take him from them. They cared too much about him to let them take him away. But at the same time, they had to tell someone. A thing like this could not be ignored, no matter how magical it was. What was more, if his parents happened to see him curled up with the mother dragon, they might get the wrong idea and separate them all permanently.

So to keep his parents in the dark, Seryn and Blaziken would do what Sidian said and tell them that they were lying down for the time being. As long as they stayed away from his room and didn't see what they were doing, everything should remain in the dark to them.

When they got up to the main floor, Lance's parents noticed that he was not with them. “Where's Lance?” wondered Carol, looking past the bizarre plushies. “Wasn't he with you? And wasn't that silver dragon lady with you?”

Trying not to look nervous or at each other, Seryn answered for them. “They're asleep in his room. We've been up since early this morning packing up ever since we got our eviction notice.”

“He was evicted?” wondered Lance's dad, Terry. “What happened?”

Blaziken shook his head and sighed. “Apparently, his boss didn't like Lance hanging around with us in public and submitted a petition to have us all removed from the apartment.” When Terry and Carol looked at each other, he added, “It's really hard to explain without you being there. Now he's catching up on his sleep and Sidian is curled up with him.”

Blaziken immediately bit his tongue. He hadn't meant to say that; it had just come out. But thankfully, they did not question why they were sleeping together or why the rest of them were still up.

“We're just going to go outside for a while and get acquainted with our new home. You don't mind, do you?”

“You aren't going to get dirty, are you? Lance seems to be taking very good care of you,” said Carol.

Blaziken shrugged. “We might, but we're just like a living pile of laundry. All we need is a little detergent-and-water cocktail and we practically clean ourselves. It's nothing we can't handle.”

They couldn't argue with that, so they allowed them to leave quietly. But before they left the house, Seryn called down to Tails and Klonoa. “We're going outside for a while, guys! If you want to join us, you can come along with us!”

Tails was still wary of Seryn, so he did not take up her offer and continued to play MegaMan Legends with Tanner. Klonoa, on the other hand, was completely free and quickly bounded up the steps to join them. And together, the three plushies left the house to explore the farm.

Once they were outside, they were trying to figure out what to do first. Seryn wanted to stretch her wings after being inside something for most of the day, Blaziken needed to flex his leg muscles and Klonoa was curious about the workings of a farm.

“Why don't we split up?” said Seryn. “We'll each do our own thing and then come back here when we're done.”

No one could argue with that, so they all agreed and headed out to do their own thing. Seryn went for a small flight around the countryside, Blaziken made several leaps for the silo and the top of the barn and Klonoa wandered around the various buildings, looking at the chickens, cows and the different cats roaming around the farm. Thankfully, the farm dog, Cassie, respected the plushies enough not to chew on them or jump up on them like she did with her masters. They were able to pet and play with her without getting “attacked” and torn to pieces.

Chapter 8: Ay Yai Yoshi

20 days until deadline

The wonderful plush dragon milk in my stomach did not digest like normal milk. Instead of leaving my stomach and entering my intestines like regular liquid, the milk seemed to seep out through the walls of my stomach and entered directly into my blood stream, filling me with energy and power unlike anything I had ever known before while simultaneously soothing and relaxing my muscles as well. It was a kind of raw power that was leeching into my body but it was too premature to do anything other than calm my nerves. I couldn't explain it, but my mind and body weren't quite ready to accept the full potential of the milk and simply allowed it to calm me down and reenergize me. I didn't know it then, but Sidian's milk would soon play an important part in my life some time down the road. (Author's Note: ...)

The point was that I had never known such a wonderful peace of mind and calmness before I met Sidian. She was such a wonderful plush to have with me and I would never forget her for it. She was, in a way, my guardian angel. Seryn would always be my closest friend, but something about Sidian had a tighter grip on my heart than she did.

I must have slept longer than I had thought because the next thing I knew, the clock next to my bed read 7:20 in the morning. Since my room only had a small warped-glass window underneath the deck outside the living room above it, it was next to impossible to tell the time of day with the door closed. There was enough sunlight in the rest of the basement to tell the time of day, but when my door was closed, only the tiniest crack could get through the bottom. So it was always hard to tell what time it was by looking at the light in my room.

What I could tell, though, was that Sidian was no longer lying next to me on my bed. She had gotten up at some point in the night and had gone over to lie down among her plushie friends in the middle of my room. They were all sleeping peacefully and it just didn't seem right to wake them up.

But everyone has to get up sometime, so I rolled off my bed and squatted down in front of the massive furpile. Poking the mass that I assumed was Klonoa, I whispered gently to them.

“Time to get up, everybody. I'm pretty sure you're all having wonderful dreams, but it's time to wake up now.”

Even though Klonoa was my intended target, it was Seryn that woke up first. I heard her cooing and she yawned and stretched, shaking her body out. Since most of the others were lying on her and she had been the first to rise, the lack of support that they were leaning against was lost and a chain reaction woke all of the others up as well. Blaziken, Sidian, Tails and Klonoa all yawned and stretched as they came to. Unbelievably, Tails had been sprawled out on Seryn's tail for the entire night. And when he got up, he looked up at Seryn with an unexpected look on his face. Even though it was still dark, I could tell that there was no longer any fear of Seryn in his mind. It was like he had overcome the life-threatening encounter he had faced with the Mana Plush and was just as calm as he was with the others.

“Tails, are you feeling all right?” said Klonoa before I did once he saw his lack of fear towards Seryn. “You've never looked at her like that before.”

“I'm not sure,” he said uncertainly. “I just had a dream where everything was explained to me. And then... that was it. I was able to be next to Seryn without getting scared anymore. It was really strange.”

It was like a great weight had been lifted off of everyone's shoulders. Tails had finally gotten over his fear of Seryn and we could all continue on with our lives like normal again. But none of us was more relieved than Seryn the Flammie. She could finally approach Tails without freaking him out anymore. It was a load off of everyone's mind.

But Blaziken didn't sound very well-rested for some reason. “Ohh... I feel like I slept on a rock. I must have slept on something for most of the night.”

The floor had been completely free of any obstruction as far as I could tell. They had all slept in the middle of the rectangular rug in the middle of my room. There shouldn't be any reason why he was complaining.

“Hey... I think that thing's still here. Just a minute...” He felt around with his paws before he closed in on something. “Yep, here it is. It feels like a big boulder, but it's not as heavy. Can one of you get the light?”

Seryn was closest and flicked on the light switch with a talon. All of us were momentarily blinded by the sudden flash of light before we were able to focus on the item in Blaziken's paws.

“What is this?” he said in disbelief. “Sidian, you didn't lay this, did you?”

Sidian looked at the object in his paws and shook her head. “I didn't think plushies could lay eggs.”

“Eggs? Let me see.” I brushed Klonoa and Sidian aside so I could see what Blaziken was holding.

The item in his paws did look like an egg, but there was something distinctly different about it. For one thing, the egg was about two feet tall and was covered in large green spots. It must have been stronger than it looked because Blaziken had been sleeping on it all night.

I took it for a moment and tapped it with my knuckles. It sounded muffled but distinctly hollow. There was something in there, but for some reason, it didn't weigh as much as it looked. All of us were confused as to where the egg had come from. None of us could have laid it and it certainly didn't get here on its own.

But suddenly, I realized what it was.

“I think it's a Yoshi egg.”

“Yoshi?” Tails was not familiar with the name. “What's that?”

Seryn's eyes suddenly glittered. “I've heard of Yoshi. He's that cute little dinosaur from the Super Mario series that's known for his eggs, his appetite and his island.” When all of us looked at her, she shrugged. “What? It was on a page that Lance had had laminated back at the apartment.”

This was true. In my latest Nintendo Power Magazine, I had found a picture and a profile of Yoshi for the up-and-coming Super Smash Bros. Brawl game for the Wii. I had had it laminated at work because it had been the first real picture of Yoshi that I had gotten a hold of without printing it off of the Internet.

“What would a Yoshi egg be doing under our furpile for most of last night?” wondered Klonoa, taking the egg from Blaziken to examine it.

“I dunno,” said Blaziken, placing a paw on his lower back. “But sleeping on that thing really stretched out my seams. I need to go stretch out and get my seams fixed. Does Carol have any sewing materials?”

I thought about this. It had been a while since I had seen the items in question. “Check the computer room on the second floor. She normally keeps it with all of her scrap-booking stuff.”

Blaziken nodded and left the room to seek out the materials to pull his stretched seams back together. Meanwhile, the rest of us were passing the egg around and trying to figure out where it had come from. So far, nothing was turning up.

But then, Seryn had an idea. “I'm not sure, but I think I saw a few Yoshi plushies in Plush Paradise when I went there last. This egg might contain one of those plushies. Maybe it's our new friend.”

I was suspicious of this. “That can't be right. When I picked through the ten of you, Yoshi wasn't in the mix as far as I can remember.”

No one could figure out why Yoshi had been thrown in the ranks. As far as any of us knew, it was supposed to be the cyborg-dragon, Zai that had been next in line closely followed by Krystal, Mewtwo, Shiron and finally, Lugia. Yoshi wasn't even close to on the list. This made us wonder what Aridos and Vega were up to back in Willmar.

Then out of nowhere, Klonoa had an idea. “I think I know. Remember when your boss called and said that you had to do five more projects for the conference?”

“Yeah...” I was listening intently.

“Maybe Aridos and Vega heard about this and they found five more plushies for us to play with. And it just so happens that Yoshi is first on the list.”

Once we thought about it, it made some sort of sense. When this had all started, I had had ten projects to do and I had picked from ten different plushies. Maybe now that I had 15 to do, there were five more plushies that would be adding to our ranks. Yoshi just so happened to be the first on that extended list.

“The only problem is...” said Seryn, giving herself a manual cleaning. “Who are the other four? I don't think I paid enough attention when I was at the shop to know who else he has in mind for us.”

“I guess we'll find out when they arrive,” said Tails, his trademarks tying themselves in knots again.

We were going to continue discussing the topic when a distinct crunch was heard in the room. We all looked at each other, expecting to find out where that sound had come from. But the confused expressions on all our faces said that we were all in the dark. Soon enough, another loud crunch followed by a few faint crackling noises echoed through the room. We soon realized that they were coming from the Yoshi egg that was currently in Sidian's hands.

“Hey, guys...” she said, stating the obvious. “I think it's hatching.”

“Put it down and we'll watch it,” said Seryn, bouncing on her toes.

Sidian set the Yoshi egg in the exact middle of our congregation and we all crouched down to watch it. unlike most eggs, this one remained standing straight up on its point like most Yoshi eggs did in the Mario games. The hard surface had spider-webbed from the top and was starting to break open. It was actually hatching, but we didn't know if the result of the event would produce a real Yoshi or a plush one. All we could do was wait and find out.

A few moments passed and the egg continued to crackle and split until it was so brittle at the top that a small, green hand suddenly punched its way out of the top.

It was small, green and had four medium-length rounded fingers on it. It looked like it was made out of rubber, but the fine stitching and the thin seam all around the edges of the hand told us that it was indeed a plushie. Like Sidian, who was somewhat like a real dragon with her leathery, fabric-like skin, the Yoshi's hand had a slight shine to it in the glare of the light in the room, signaling that it was glossy and/or rubbery in texture.

The hand felt around the outside of the egg for a moment as though it was someone feeling through a window for a door handle. It seemed to realize that it was inside something and carefully withdrew itself back into the egg. The egg then began to shake and rattle in place for a few moments before it stopped and a small, raspberry-like noise was heard.

A full minute passed with no movement whatsoever. The hand did not reemerge and the egg remained motionless. Seryn was growing concerned. It was like the Yoshi inside had given up trying to get out.

“You don't think there's anything wrong with it, do you?”

I was about to answer when two things happened at once. There was a loud, “WHOAAAA!!!” and the egg spun around in place, pieces flying everywhere as the chamber flew apart. It sound like Yoshi did on the original Super Smash Bros. when he was doing one of his Smash Attacks and the result here was pretty much the same. The Yoshi inside had practically exploded out of its egg and flopped onto its back in the middle of our circle.

The Yoshi looked exactly like the real one did in all of those countless Mario games. Unfortunately, we were not blessed with the honor of a different-colored Yoshi. It was just a normal deep-grass-green that made Yoshi so popular. You could see the seams where he was sewn together all around the sides of his body just like the others, but for some reason, Yoshi’s stitching was much finer and less obvious than, say, Blaziken's, Tails' or Klonoa's. In fact, it was about as finely-stitched as Sidian's was, so unless you were looking right at the seams, it was rather difficult to tell that he was a plushie.

I knew that full-grown Yoshis could grow to about five feet from head to boot, but this one was a little big for being fresh out of his egg. When he stood up, he reached about 42 inches, so either we had gotten a petite Yoshi or he was not at full size yet.

Yoshi looked pretty much like he was based on – a dinosaur – but there was something about Yoshi in general that made him look so much more adorable than a normal dinosaur. Most of his body was covered in rich, emerald-green... I wasn't sure whether to call them scales or skin. His hide was rubbery and smooth in nature, but it wasn't coarse enough to call it cloth or scales. His underside was a shining snow-white in color that ran up from under his legs, all the way up his front and up to his puffy cheeks. He also had a pointed tail, but said appendage was a little too short to really do much else but classify him as an animal.

And ever since he had been a valiant steed for Mario to the more “humanoid” version he was today, every Yoshi I had seen so far has had a red and white-lined saddle fused into its back. There were no straps or hinges or staples of any kind; the saddle was just there as an evolutionary leftover so that Yoshi would always have a reminder of his former life. It was like a cap that he always wore on the slight hump in his back and was, is and always would be there to remind people of his glory days in Super Mario World. I doubted that any Yoshi's saddle would ever come off, even if you tried. I knew that they were even born with it, so it was always there.

His feet were some of the most powerful ones that I had ever known. They were deadly both by themselves and when he was in the air and executed his patented Hip Drop. Those legs really packed a punch if you didn't keep an eye on them. When he had first debuted back in Super Mario World, Yoshi's boots had been a rich cherry-red. But over time, the color had faded to the pale, leathery-brown that they were today. What was more, this model had a set of brown, leathery soles on the bottoms, which resembled the picture I had of him in the up-and-coming Super Smash Bros. Brawl. What a co-inky-dink, huh?

Like before, Yoshi also had a pair of medium-length humanoid arms and hands, albeit a tad shorter and smaller. They each had three balloon-like fingers and a fourth thumb just like Seryn did in terms of numbers. But unlike any of us, there were only four fingers on each one and he neither wore gloves, had any kind of talons or claws or had pads on his hands, which told us that he was not like any of the rest of us. They were simple hands that made him just as capable as everyone else, with the exception of Blaziken, who only had three digits without opposable thumbs.

Yoshi's head and face are what made him so cute and adorable since the glory days. His puffy white cheeks could stretch to amazing sizes depending on what was unlucky enough to get tagged by that long, sticky, tapered, rope-like tongue of his. It was hard to tell just from looking at him that Yoshi had such a long and deadly appendage stored away in that mouth of his. But above his mouth was a large, round, bulbous nose that nowadays looked like it was an orb that was glued to his face. But if you looked at him just right, you could see the point where it attached to his face. And like most animals, two small, round nostrils were in the front of said nose. It was said that this amazing nose could smell things hidden to the naked eye. (Author's Note: Don't believe me? You use it more than enough times in “Yoshi's Story” for the Nintendo 64.)

On the back of his head were three red, rounded “spikes” that would not have looked out of place on a real dinosaur. These ones were rather dull and round, but they were what gave him his dinosaur-like look. Finally, Yoshi's eyes were on the top of his head, but not like in a cartoon. His “eyelids” wrapped around from the back of his head and covered them enough to give him a casual “depressed” look, although Yoshi was anything but according to his personality. And although his eyes were normally black, this Yoshi had a thin outline of two gray-blue irises. I guess it was what separated him from the cartoons where most characters had just regular black pupils and/or irises.

While we had been examining the little Yoshi, said dinosaur had rolled onto his feet and was looking at each of us in turn, trying to figure out where he was and who these strange plushies were. He seemed to know that he was also a plushie, but that didn't stop him from walking to each of us in turn and rubbing his head on our legs and/or knees. When he took his turn with me, I noticed that his skin was rather smooth and rubbery, but it wasn't moist or spongy like a dolphin's melon. It was actually like a balloon in texture with a definite bounce to it, but underneath it was a soft, cotton-filled center that made it more “plush-like” than normal rubber.

The Yoshi finished its examination of us and sat down in the middle of our circle, apparently bored. We weren't quite sure what to say to it while it sat there. We didn't even know if it could speak normal English or just say “Yoshi” like the rest of its kind.

Finally, Seryn broke the silence. “Hi, little guy,” she said sweetly, holding her paw out to pet the Yoshi. “Can you understand us?”

The Yoshi paused for a moment, making us wonder if it really could. But then, it nodded happily and said in a “Yoshi-esque” voice. “Yep!”

Now we were getting somewhere. At least it could understand us and could speak English as well. We just needed to figure out its name and gender.

“Can you tell us your name?” said Sidian, tickling the Yoshi underneath his chin. “And are you a boy or a girl?”

The Yoshi looked up at the dragon for a minute with an indecisive look on its face. It seemed to be thinking that Sidian was curious and crazy at the same time.

“I'm Yoshi! I'm a boy Yoshi! Call me Yoshi!”

At least that was one problem solved. We had a male Green Yoshi and his name, ironically, was Yoshi. We now had a new friend, even though none of us expected it.

Yoshi seemed to be curious as to who was standing around him. “Who're you guys?” he said, turning to each of them in turn.

Since he was looking at Seryn at the moment, she went first. “My name is Seryn. I am a Flammie Plush.”

Yoshi nodded and smiled. “You're pretty, Miss Seryn. You feel so soft and warm just like an angel.” He said this while rubbing his head against her furry knee again. Seryn actually blushed heavily and her body heat increased slightly.

“Gee... I'm touched.”

Yoshi then turned past Blaziken's spot since he hadn't yet returned and faced Sidian, who took that as her cue.

“My name is Sidian Silverhawke. I'm an Anthro Dragon and...” She hesitated, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I wondered what was bothering her, but she shook her head and muttered, “Never mind.” None of them seemed to be bothered by this and let it be. I, on the other hand, wasn't so sure.

Meanwhile, the little Yoshi turned to the two-tailed Tails, who nodded. “I'm Tails the fox! I'm from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.”

Yoshi nodded. “Nice to meet you, Tails.”

When Klonoa took his turn, he took a little more dramatic introduction. He stood up, threw his ring in the air, caught it and assumed the pose that he took in Klonoa 2 when he did accomplished something important. “Call me Klonoa the Dream Traveler. I have no idea what I am, but you can just call me “a Klonoa”, anyway.”

Finally, Yoshi completed the circle and turned to face me, allowing me to finish the formalities. “I guess you can call me your new owner, Lance Kane, but just call me Lance. There's one more of us upstairs that you can call by the name Blaziken.”

Yoshi was glad to know everyone that he would be spending his new plushie life with all of us and seemed anxious to start living life to its fullest.

But the mood in the room changed when Blaziken opened the door and returned, looking grave and annoyed.

“What's up, Blaze?” I asked him simply.

Blaze sighed and went over to sit down on the bed. “Your boss just called again.”

That could never be a good sign. “What did he want this time?”

Blaziken shook his head and “cracked” his neck by jerking it from side to side. We could all hear the distinct cracks even though his neck was completely stuffed.

“He wants another project done by the time the conference rolls around. That brings you to a grand total of sixteen.”

Before I could get angry, Seryn and Sidian read me like a book and quickly spread their wings before pressing their bodies against mine and covering me up like a big stuffed blanket. They seemed to be draining the anger from my body before it hit my mind and calmed me down almost immediately. Their warm, furry and fuzzy bodies calmed my nerves and allowed me to go on without so much as raising my voice.

When they separated, I sighed and turned to each of them. “Thanks, ladies.” Seryn and Sidian nodded. “No problem.”

I sighed and went to go sit on my bed next to Blaziken. “Who does he think he is to keep piling on projects to my already busy life? It's bad enough that he swamped me in the first place and then had me evicted. Now he wants to make sure I never complete the projects I already have in time for the conference. I just wish that he would get his ego under control and get it through his head that I am not a miracle worker.”

Because of my connection with them, every one of my plushie friends could feel my annoyance, even Yoshi, who had just been reanimated. But out of all of them, Seryn and Sidian seemed to understand it the fullest. They turned to each other and whispered in each other's ear, apparently coming up with a plan.

“What are you ladies up to?” said Klonoa before I could.

Seryn and Sidian separated, looking smug. “We're going to go jumpstart your boss' ego and see if we can't get him to get the point across.”

I suddenly looked nervous. “You can't! If he sees you and figures out that you belong to me, he'll fire me for sure!”

Seryn simply held a talon to her muzzle. “Just don't you worry your little crimson head about that. Once we're through with him, he won't be bothering you anymore until the conference. Come along, sis. Let's go be naughty.”

I didn't like the sound of that at all. Before any of us could stop them, Seryn and Sidian had left my bedroom and were on a one-way course for wherever my boss stayed on the weekends, which I guessed was still at work. He tended to suck up to his clients at every possible chance, even during the weekend to keep his ego at its highest possible inflation point, so he was most likely to be at the office right about now.

We gave them a minute's head start before the rest of the guys left my room to let me get dressed. But when I looked at the “outdated” pieces of clothing that did not match my new look, I realized that I was out of luck to get clothes by conventional means, so I had to use some unconventional means to get what I wanted.

“Blaze! Could you come help me get dressed?!” There was a moment's pause and then the door opened and the tallest current plushie walked in.

“I was wondering when I would get another chance to dress you again. When it comes to fashion sense, the girls can't match me by a mile. Here, let me take those.”

He scraped the five badges that I had gotten from everyone so far off of my shirt like they were pieces of flaking paint and collected them in his paw. He then tilted his head back and tipped them down his throat, swallowing them whole.

“Hey! You guys went through a lot of trouble to make those for me!”

Blaziken simply grinned and shook his head. “Don't worry; I'm not going to digest them. I'm just mixing them in with your new attire so they'll all be in place when I make you a new wardrobe. Now hold still.”

I stood as still as I could while Blaziken took his place at the other end of the room. The two of us faced each other as Blaze's wrists flared up once again. Taking a deep breath, he let fly a modified version of Overheat that engulfed me without setting anything else on fire. My silver cloak, cape, pants and boots instantly vaporized and I was surrounded by a warm, stuffy feeling. Soon enough, new clothes started to form on my body exactly where the old ones had been. I could feel them being woven over my skin like a sewing machine on steroids. Soon, I had a brand-spanking-new set of clothes with all five badges back in their proper places on my chest.

Blaziken's choice of clothes for me was the same make and model as my old ones, but these ones were very distinctive. They looked like I had really been set on fire and the flames had been frozen in the fabric. They were nice, soft and warm like always and I had a shining new cape around my neck complete with a pair of “flaming” leather boots where my old ones had been.

Once I had had some time to examine my new threads, I looked at Blaziken and smiled. “Very creative. I should let you pick my clothes out more often.”

Blaziken shrugged. “But that wouldn't be fair to Tails or any of the others who haven't had a chance to dress you. I just did the honors 'cause you called for me, but you should let the others have a shot as well.”

Storing that in the back of my mind, I flaunted my new threads for a moment before joining the others in the basement living room. Since the girls were gone, it was me and four other males today. But since none of them could actually “fly” like they could, our options were somewhat limited.

“So, what do you want to do while the others are out?” wondered Tails, his two tails dancing happily.

“How about we check out the rest of your farm?” suggested Klonoa. “I've rather taken a liking to this place and I want to take it all in before we leave for your mother's.”

That reminded me; I still needed to set that up. “Thanks for reminding me. I need to make a call to my mom while she's still at home. You guys go do whatever and I'll join you when I'm ready.”

The group shared their obvious disappointment. Tails and Klonoa had obviously been looking forward to giving me a tour of the farm, but some things had to come first before fun. Yoshi, on the other hand, was looking forward to looking at the outside world for the first time since his old life, but I had a feeling that I knew what he was thinking.

“Yoshi, keep that tongue in your mouth. My dad would have a fit if any of his animals turned up inside Yoshi eggs. I told the others and I'll tell you as well – absolutely no vore or else!” Yoshi's mood fell. “I'm sorry, but that's one of the rules here. Don't worry; when I'm done on the phone, I'll join the rest of you and give you a walkthrough of the place.”

Since their owner's word was law (Author's Note: ...at the moment...), they had to obey and follow my rules until we found a better place to live. So with Blaziken leading the way, they all headed up the stairs and filed out of the house to enjoy the outside world while I went to go call my mom and make arrangements for us to move in with her while I could still catch her. Dad, Carol and Tanner had all just left for church and wouldn't be back for another hours, so I had the house all to “myself” for the time being.

I had absolutely no idea what the mischievous Flammie and dragon were up to with my boss...

The scheming duo were en route to Lance's office at that very moment. They had both come up with an ingenious way of deflating his boss's ego enough that Lance could actually work without him butting in anymore. They were going to use some of their plushie and/or feminine charm to get the point across to him so that he would be occupied enough to leave their owner alone for the next 20 days.

So when thy arrived at the office to find that it was locked but a window on a higher floor was wide open, they knew their hunch was correct. He was still in his office doing what he does best and making life hell for whoever was unlucky enough to cross him.

Since flying up there would be too much of an obvious solution, they decided to head up the normal way to get to the boss. Sidian had very capable talons and a few twists inside the lock were enough to pull it open. She then repeated the technique with the second lock and they were soon in the lobby.

Since they were light and stuffed, their cotton-stuffed feet made little to no noise on the tile floor. It was completely dark and unoccupied at the moment, but they continued on to the elevators like plushies on a mission.

They had never been here before, but they knew plenty about Lance's being that enabled them to head for exactly the right floor without getting lost. Once they got to the right floor, they crept through the floor to the office that had the only source of light in the entire building. Lance's boss was busy with someone on the phone, but they didn't need to worry about him calling for backup.

Standing on the other side of the door so that they wouldn't see him, Seryn and Sidian waited patiently for him to get off the phone. Once he had put down the receiver, they made their move. It was too much of a chance to try and seduce him like Lance had allowed them to, so they were going to have to move like lightning to get this right.

Knocking on the door, they listened for a response.

“Yes?” said Mr. Kelvin from the other side.

“Janitor,” said Seryn.

“Janitor?” he seemed confused as to why one was here, but he shrugged and said, “Come in.”

Seryn and Sidian counted down from three on their digits before Seryn took a deep breath and opened the door. The instant she saw Mr. Kelvin sitting at his desk, she let fly a “powerful”, pink Flammie Beam right at the man's bald dome. He didn't even have time to react as the beam hit him square on the head and he keeled over in his chair, unconscious.

“Well, that went well,” said Sidian, tagging Seryn's with her tail. “Now let's do this right.”

Seryn sighed and looked like she had eaten something bitter. “Do I have to? I can only imagine what a person like him must taste like.”

Sidian sighed and nodded. “You know what would happen if I do it, and I'm saving that for Lance, so you're the only one who can do it.”

Seryn sighed. “All right. Let's get this over with.”

The pair moved to the desk and withdrew the unconscious man from his seat. Seryn then swallowed hard before she opened up and stuffed Mr. Kelvin inside her. She had him inside her belly faster than she ever took with Lance mainly because his vile, bitter, foul taste. She almost threw him up on the spot when she touched her tongue to his body and improvised by pinching her muzzle to cancel out the taste as best as she could.

Once he was safely tucked away, she was free to let Sidian know what she thought. “I don't think I've ever met a man who doesn't shower, covers his body with cologne, aftershave and bad leather as that man! He tasted absolutely vile! He was so bad that I might have to eat one of you guys just to get the taste out of my mouth. I won't be sorry when I get him out of there. Ohh, he was just B.A.D.!”

Sidian patted her on the back for taking one for the team. “It's okay. Just do your thing and then you can spit him up and we'll teach him a lesson.”

Seryn continued to spit as she rubbed her belly and bounced on her pads a few times to do whatever she was doing to him in her belly. When she felt satisfied that he had gotten a good soaking, she turned to Sidian and nodded.

“Here goes.” She then opened her maw wide and gave one enormous heave, throwing him up right onto the floor.

But this time, Mr. Skyle Kelvin was wrapped in a seamless, white-silk cocoon that covered every square inch of his body. He was unharmed inside but obviously still unconscious. He would remain sleeping in that cocoon until the spell Seryn had used on him finally wore off. But for now, they had something special planned for him.

Still gagging on the man's vile taste, Seryn helped Sidian lift the cocoon and carry it out of the office, across the floor, into the elevator, out of the elevator, across the lobby and out of the doors. They had something special planned for this arrogant, egotistic man and they were going to make sure that he remembered this when he finally woke up.

There was an open manhole in the middle of the road a few feet away from the building that they had just come out of. The workers on said manhole had not yet arrived to tend to it, meaning that they had all the time in the world. Slightly regretting their plan, Sidian climbed down the ladder and waited for Seryn to toss the cocoon down to her. Once they were both in the sewer, they carried the cocoon down a few hallways before ultimately tossing him into the vile, tainted water. The currents would carry him further and further away from here until he finally washed up in the local waste treatment plant. But by the time they found out what was in it, Seryn and Sidian would have a few days’ head start and they would be able to continue on with their lives. When he finally woke up in the hospital several more days later, he would have no memory of what had happened and by then, he would be all over the news and media as the man who was attacked, bound, kidnapped and swamped, to say the least. It would serve him right for all of the trouble he had caused their owner and it should keep him out of their fur for the time being; at least long enough to let Lance finish the sixteen assignments he now had to do.

But before they headed back, Seryn and Sidian stopped by an automatic car wash spot to “have some fun” and get the smell of the sewers out of their skin. You could only imagine the people's expressions when a pair of large, living plushies entered the car wash in the middle of their service and soaked themselves in the colorful, fragrant soap before going through the brush washers and dancing merrily in the water before stepping under the blow-dryers and getting dry like a pair of happy dogs. Since Seryn had the fur out of the two of them, she ended up looking like some mutated furball with her fur and most of her feathers standing on end. But a quick shake and a few brushes of her paw later and she was nice and clean with an even softer fur coat again. And even though the soap they had soaked in earlier had smelled strongly of citrus and fruit, Seryn's own creamy-vanilla scent would always be there. It was just the way she was, but Sidian now smelled like a million bucks. They were just glad that the family who had watched their little dance hadn't asked for was or else their skin and/or fur might have ended up all clumped, clotted and messy again.

Now feeling much cleaner and happier, Seryn and Sidian waved to the family they had “mooched” off of and took flight back to Lance's farm in the countryside. All the family could do was watch in awe as the strange creatures disappeared from their lives forever. The kids were ecstatic but the mother and father were wishing that they had had a camera on them during this whole event. No one was ever going to believe this, but at least they had a story to share amongst themselves now.

Finally setting the phone back on the hook, I smiled and sighed at what I had learned. That was my mother for you. She was almost always willing to listen to whatever was on my mind. And even though she and I shared the same “stubborn-ness” and “annoying” traits, we always got along and she was more than happy to take me and my six plushie friends in until after the conference. The only hitch was that her husband and my “unnamed” stepfather (Author's Note: That means he doesn't exactly label him as his stepfather in public.) might not be as willing to see them as she was. But Mom had said that she would explain the situation to him and help him understand the situation. Dean and I had always been on each other's case over the years, but we finally seemed to have come to an unofficial settlement. As long as we didn't give each other a reason to get on each other's nerves, we would get along just fine and no one would bother each other. Besides, he always had a thing for women and girls and I was sure that Seryn and Sidian would be just what he needed to keep him happy. Don't get me wrong; he loved my mom very much, but they were known to flirt with other people of their opposite genders. You'd be surprised how well they get along despite this and I haven't witnessed them fighting once since I had met Dean.

Since Mom's house had been recently renovated and since my sisters had moved out to go onto college, there were more than enough rooms in the house now to accommodate my plushie friends. But I highly doubted that they would be willing to spend their nights away from me or each other. We all made each other feel so comfortable despite being of mixed genders, and since there was nothing for us to be ashamed of, we all enjoyed sleeping in each other's company. We all loved the feeling of soft, cushiony, plushie skin and/or fur on each other and we looked forward to curling up every night with each other. It just made us feel more comfortable and secure with each other.

Mom had told me to give it another day before I headed over to her house. She still had to make the necessary arrangements for us to move in, and since I had told her that our family would be growing much more before the conference, she needed to make room for all of my friends. Food wasn't going to be a problem. Mom and Dean both worked at a shirt printing company and took home mess-ups and promo shirts on a regular basis, so there would be more than enough food for all of the plushies. The only worry would be room once all sixteen of them arrived, so we needed to make room to get them all to fit in the house.

Now that I had a date and arrangements worked out, I could go tell the others about my plans. I headed out of the house and started walking in no particular direction to start looking for Blaziken, Tails, Klonoa and Yoshi. I knew that the middle two had gone off to explore the pastures for a while, but I had been inside for over an hour, so I wasn't quite sure where they were now.

But I could see for sure that one of them – possibly Blaziken – was sitting on the roof of the chicken barn on the side facing out into the field. I didn't doubt for a second how he had gotten up there; I was just wondering why he was up there. He seemed to be talking with someone next to him as they looked out into the field. I wondered why they would be up there when there was a series of trees blocking the view of the field several dozen yards away.

Regardless, I walked over to the side of the chicken barn and called up to whoever was up there. “Hey! Blaziken! Are you up there?!”

There was a pause followed by a few muffled footsteps and the unmistakable head of Blaziken leaned over the side down at me. “Hey, Lance! Is everything all set?”

“Yep. Mom is getting everything ready for us, so I guess we can head out the first thing in the morning. Is there anyone else up there with you?”

Blaziken nodded. “Yoshi is, but there's something you need to see. Hold on and I'll come get you.”

I waited right were I was as Blaziken turned to Yoshi behind him and muttered, “Just wait. I'll be right back.” He then swung his hips around and dropped the 20 or so feet to the ground, landing neatly on his feet before opening his arms to grab me. “Going up?”

“Nowhere but,” I said, walking over to hold onto the plushie's soft body. His grip was firm and I suddenly realized that this was the first real time that I had been in this position. But since the height was only 20 feet, I wasn't worried.

However, Blaziken was not one to use his talents lightly. With a flex of his legs, he leaped well over 100 feet into the air with me holding on for dear life before coming and landing neatly on the roof below. I then collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. Flying with Seryn was one thing – she stayed at one level at a constant pace – but that had felt like I had gone on the Power Tower at Valleyfair at a much faster speed. I didn't doubt that we had hit a good nine or ten stories before coming down without as much of a scratch.

“What?” said Blaziken politely. “Too fast?”

I looked at him like he was mad, but I knew that he was proud of his abilities and was just showing me a taste of what he could do.

“Next time... warn me before you do that. I nearly had a heart-attack from that.”

Blaziken smiled smugly and turned his head to look at me out of the corner of his eye. “You weren't complaining when you and I had swapped bodies when we first met.”

“It's one thing to do it yourself,” I “argued” back. “It's another thing when you have no control over it.”

Blaziken knew that he had hit a nerve, but the fact that we were friends prevented him from bragging about it. It had just been a small treat he had given me; I just wasn't expecting it is all. No harm, no foul.

I got back to my feet and looked down the length of the semi-flat roof at Yoshi, who was sitting patiently a few yards away, watching Blaziken and I argue. I noticed immediately that there was something different about him. True, he hadn't changed colors like he could in Super Mario Sunshine, but he had changed size just as much. The green dino had gone from 42 inches to about 60 in just over an hour. His height was now five solid feet instead the three-and-a-half feet he had been when he had hatched, outgrowing Tails by a foot and matching Klonoa exactly. Regardless, I knew exactly what had caused him to grow like this in just an hour – magic. The very reason that my plushie friends were alive was because of magic. It was what gave them all of their powers, abilities and traits. Their bodies may be “mortal”, but their minds, souls and powers were there due to the very existence of magic. And the fact that there were still eight more even more magical plushies to arrive meant that my life was about to get even more magical.

Smiling, Blaziken and I went to go sit next to Yoshi, who was humming casually and looking out in no particular direction. “So... what's up, Yoshi? Have you been keeping that appetite of yours under control?”

Yoshi nodded. “Yes, Lance. I haven't touched any of the animals at all. I just wish that I can have something to eat. My tummy is rather empty.”

I automatically looked at Blaziken, who seemed to be reading my mind. He cleared his throat a few times before starting to hack and cough semi-violently. Yoshi looked concerned, but I held my arm out to keep him at bay. Blaziken was whipping up a meal for him, which given the circumstances, it wouldn't be anything pretty or worthwhile to wear. A large lump appeared in his throat as the fabric started to push its way out of his stomach. He threw back his head and gave one more heave and spat a large, black bath towel out, which he caught in his arms and then looked at Yoshi with a grin.

“Breakfast is served.”

Yoshi looked relieved as he got to his feet and stuck out his tongue to yank the towel out of his paws. The movement was quick and sudden and if you blinked, you might have missed it. Yoshi slurped up the towel and swallowed it whole, sitting back down and patting his belly, which had been slightly distended from the size of the large meal, but not for long.

“That's really gross, you know,” I said playfully. “If my parents saw you do that, they would have lost their lunch. Just promise that you won't do that while they're around.”

They both nodded and said, “We promise.” Blaziken also added, “Speaking of which, here they come.”

He pointed with a claw out at the driveway where Carol's red Taurus was just coming into before it rolled into the open garage door and shut off. I had been wondering what was taking them so long, but they had never been one to keep people in the dark as to their whereabouts, so it was nothing to worry about.

Like almost always, Tanner was the first one out of the garage and headed towards the back door. But just to be nice, I waved and called to him. “Hey, Tanner! Check this out!”

Tanner stopped and turned, trying to figure out where I was calling from. He then noticed me on the roof with Blaziken and Yoshi and headed in my direction.

“Hey, Lance! How'd you get up there?”

I looked at Blaziken, wondering if I should tell him, but Blaziken didn't seem to mind. Nodding, I called back to him, “Blaziken carried me up here. Want to go for a ride?”

Like the eager beaver he was, he smiled and yelled, “Yeah!”

Before we went down to get him, I took Blaziken aside and held a hushed conversation with him. “Be very gentle with him and don't jump any higher than you have to. Tanner is very young and doesn't take kindly to rides even at Valleyfair.”

Blaziken nodded and he jumped down to pick him up. I heard Blaziken talking to Tanner as he gently wrapped his arms around his small waist. “Hold on, Tanner. No matter how high we go, I will not drop you. Lance trusts me too much for me to let him down, so get ready.”

Tanner looked apprehensive for a moment before Blaziken crouched down and it was my turn to look anxious. I held up two fingers in a pinch-like position to tell him not to overdo it. He nodded and jumped.

Thankfully, he jumped just high enough to land on his feet on the edge of the roof and released Tanner, who looked nervous and ran to my side.

“It's okay, Tanner. I told him to be careful and he did. How did that feel?” My expectations weren't very high.

“It was okay,” he muttered. He had obviously never been on that kind of ride before and was having mixed feelings about it.

On a hunch, I decided to let Tanner see just how far and high Blaziken could jump just for the heck of it.

“Wanna see how far he can jump on his own?”

Since he would not be riding with, Tanner was more enthusiastic about it. “Okay.”

I turned to Blaziken and pointed to the top of the barn about 100 feet away. “Think you can get up there in a single bound?”

Blaziken held up his paws, taking an angle shot like people taking a picture would normally do. “Yeah, I think I can make that. I'll need a running start, though.”

“Do whatever you need to. We'll watch from here.” I then gestured to Tanner to stay put while Blaziken did his thing.

Blaziken walked up the steep part of the roof to get his bearings for a moment before heading back down to the shallow part again. Getting ready, his wrist flames ignited and he started running. The steep part of the roof proved no obstacle at all for him and at the very peak, he gave a tremendous leap, jumping high and far into the air. I couldn't even compare the air he had had gotten from that jump. All I knew was that he easily cleared the barn at just the halfway point. He kept going but he was starting to come down a little shy of the rooftop...

...or so I thought. Blaze had built up enough speed to keep going and landed and stuck it neatly on the top of the barn over 200 feet away. That was something because the barn roof itself was a good 150-175 feet above the ground. Blaziken felt proud enough of his feat to pose, rear back his head and let fly a blast of Overheat to let the world know his accomplishment. Tanner was surprised that Blaziken had made it and was even more amazed that a plush could breathe fire.

Blaziken finished his victory pose and turned around to wave at us. “Hey! What do you think of that?! Can I jump or what?!”

Yoshi, Tanner and I all applauded his efforts. The sound from Yoshi's rubber-like hands shifted Tanner's attention to the plush that he had not yet seen or met.

“Who is that?” he wondered. He had seen Yoshi on numerous occasions, but he had never gotten into any of the Mario games that I let him play, so his memory of him was a little rusty.

“That, my dear brother, is my new friend, Yoshi. He's from the Super Mario games. You've probably played with him a lot in Super Smash Bros.”

Tanner thought for a moment and then seemed to remember. In both Super Smash Bros. games for the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube, Tanner had almost always chosen Yoshi as a character. He was his favorite character in the Mario series, so I wondered why he didn't recognize him right away.

“Yoshi, why don't you come over here and introduce yourself?” He seemed hesitant, so I walked over to him and whispered in his ear. “Whatever you do, keep that tongue in your mouth.” Yoshi nodded and allowed me t walk him over to Tanner.

“It's nice to meet you, Tanner,” he said politely, extending his hand. “You can call me Yoshi.”

The look in Tanner's eye when he heard Yoshi speak was that of instant recognition. He held out his own hand and shook his hand floppily like he always did and said, “I play as you all the time in Melee.” (Author's Note: Super Smash Bros. Melee.) “You're my favorite character and you're really cool! Do you really come in all those different colors?”

Yoshi looked at me uncertainly and I nodded just enough for him to understand while keeping Tanner in the dark. “Yes. There's a whole bunch of different colors of me.” Going a step further, he added, “I also come in white and black, but that's in a different game.”

“What game?” Tanner was always one to ask all of the obvious questions.

Yoshi didn't have a clue, but I was able to cover for him. “You haven't played it, but the White and Black Yoshis appeared in Yoshi's Story for the 64.” (Author's Note: My family's nickname for the Nintendo 64.)

Tanner still looked lost, but he seemed to get the point and dropped the subject. He suddenly became interested in Yoshi's saddle. “Can I ride him like Mario?”

Yoshi looked at me for answers, of which I was not sure. I wondered if he would even allow it, but I improvised and said, “I don't think he'd mind. You're clearly smaller than him, so I think he can handle it. What do you say, Yoshi?”

Yoshi seemed indifferent but agreed to give Tanner a ride as long as he didn't jump around too much. He spun around and beckoned him to climb on. I lifted Tanner neatly onto Yoshi's back and examined my work. This Yoshi had evolved a little so that it was a little awkward for someone to ride him, but it was in his “blood” and he was more than eager to please.

“Hold on, Tanner. I'm gonna jump down to the ground and then I'll take you for a little trot around the farm.”

Tanner nodded and Yoshi bounded from the roof on a straight course for the ground and landed neatly on his feet before trotting off with Tanner on his saddle.

“They grow up so fast, don't they?”

I looked to the side and saw that Blaziken had returned. He had clearly jumped all the way back here but had landed as gentle as a kitten in a tree due to his plush composition.

“They do, actually. I can remember when I was a kid and was that carefree in life.”

“You must've been so cute back then.”

The two of us spun around. That statement had come from behind us and belonged to none other than Seryn the Flammie Plush. She and Sidian had just returned and were standing side-by-side with each other with big fat grins on their muzzles.

“We sure are in a good mood today,” said Blaziken, folding his arms. “Is there something you'd like to tell us?”

Seryn and Sidian actually chose to remain silent as they stepped forward and embraced their favorite person. Seryn wrapped her arms around me and gave me a furry hug and Sidian hooked a wing around Blaziken and cuddled him closely.

“Girls... is there something you're not telling me?” I said suspiciously. “What did you do to my boss?”

Seryn and I separated for a moment before she gave me a small furry perk on the cheek. “Let's just say that he won't be bothering anybody for a few days.”

“Yeah, he's currently... indisposed,” added Sidian. I didn't like the satisfaction she put into that word.

They obviously weren't talking, so there was nothing I could do. Plushies had every right to keep secrets as humans did, so I had to acknowledge that right and drop the subject.

I also noticed something different about Seryn. Taking a small sniff, I noticed that the creamy-vanilla smell that came off of her fur was somewhat stronger and more pleasant. What was more, her fur looked much glossier and smoother than it had when they had left earlier that day. Both she and Sidian seemed to have cleaned themselves and the latter was looking much more radiant and shiny as if she had shed her “skin”.

“You two look and smell so nice,” I said, burying my face in Seryn's rugged chest, much to her enjoyment. “Did you two wash yourselves?”

Seryn patted the back of my head as she and Sidian exchanged smirks. “We made a pit stop at a car wash in Willmar before we came back. Can you tell?”

Blaziken seemed to be enjoying the smell of the fruity soap that Seryn and Sidian had been covered in and was mimicking me by pressing his back against her (*ahem*) chest and taking long, pleasurable whiffs.

“We can, actually. That must have been quite a cleaning you two had. Where did you go?”

“I bet I know,” I said before they could. “There's only one place in the entire county that uses soap like this. It's the Sinclair gas station and car wash on the edge of town, isn't it?”

Seryn purred and continued to stroke me. “That's right, love. We wanted to smell pretty for you boys for when we got back.”

“Speaking of which,” said Sidian curiously. “Did you set it up with your mom for us to come live with her?”

I finally separated from Seryn's much softer body (if that was even possible) and nodded. “She said we can move in first thing in the morning. We'll spend one more night here and then we'll head for her house tomorrow.”

“Good thing for us, the rules won't be as strict as they are here,” said Blaziken, also breaking free of his “captor”. “The only ones who don't know yet are Tails and Klonoa. As for them, we haven't seen them in some time.”

“Oh, I'm sure they're on their way back,” said Sidian. “While we were flying, we saw the two of them walking in this direction through the pasture. They'll be back in a few minutes.”

“Oh... Well, that's good,” I said, rather relieved. “I was wondering what happened to them.”

Now that we knew what was going to happen over the next 24 hours, I decided to bend one of my own rules and ask Seryn something.

“Hey, Seryn?”

“Hmm?” The Flammie looked curious as always.

“Since we have time to kill, do you want to go for a flight...?”

“Sure, I don't mind. As long as it's okay with you.”

But I hadn't finished my proposal. “...as Flammies?”

Seryn stopped dead in her tracks. Had she heard right? Was she being asked to be converted? She hadn't expected this, but if her owner wanted to, she didn't see any reason why she shouldn't grant him his request.

“Sure. I bet we could work something out. You sure your parents won't mind?” She looked over at the house where Dad and Carol had disappeared into some time ago.

I followed her gaze and nodded. “I'm sure. They've trusted me enough to go live on my own. I'm sure that they won't mind me disappearing for a few more hours.”

Seryn seemed indecisive. Was it really worth the risk? What if my parents saw me as a Flammie Plush and asked questions? It seemed rather risky.

Reading her mind, I was able to reassure her. “It's okay. We'll fly until the conversion wears off and then we'll come right back. They won't even miss us or ask questions.”

This seemed to click with Seryn and she nodded and trilled happily. “All right, we'll do it. Blaziken? Sidian? Can you cover for us while we're gone?”

The two of them looked at each other for a moment and then nodded. “Don't worry about it. We'll take care of everything.”

“Hey! You're not leaving without us!”

That was Tails' voice, but we weren't sure where it had come from. We looked around the roof for a moment before Klonoa called out, “Down here!”

We looked off in the direction of the field and saw Tails and Klonoa standing on the ground on the opposite end of the chicken barn. Heading down there, Seryn and I spotted the two plushies who were waving to us.

“I wanna go flying, too!” said Tails, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. “Why should you guys get all the fun?”

“Yeah, and you can't leave me out of the deal!” added Klonoa.

Seryn and I looked nervously at each other. We had really hoped to go for a private flight with each other. We hadn't counted on company.

“I think they want to go off on their own,” said Sidian, joining us at the other end of the roof. “But we’ll take you if you want.”

Tails and Klonoa were just like two little kids who were as curious as they were mischievous. But they seemed to get the point that Seryn and I wanted some time to ourselves and agreed to go with Blaziken and Sidian.

“Thanks, guys,” I said to the pair. “We owe you one.”

Blaziken nodded. “You two just go enjoy yourselves. We'll take care of the others.”

Now that we had a date, Seryn hooked her arms around my waist and took off for a more private area where we could get started properly. Blaziken, Sidian, Tails and Klonoa all watched as we flew off before returning to their own flight dates.

Seryn carried me out to our farm's modified levy where we would have all the privacy in the world and set me down before the two of us separated. The two of us looked at each other for a moment before we nodded and Seryn leaned towards me with her fangs gleaming. I had endured this once already, so I was prepared for what she was going to do to me. But the feeling of having a Flammie Plushie plunge its fangs into your neck wasn't any more enjoyable, along with the fact that she was injecting a powerful liquid into my system before she had to allow me to “incubate” before I was ready.

I could feel hot, burning “venom” entering my bloodstream, numbing up my senses and causing the muscles in my legs to give out in a matter of seconds. Seryn managed to catch me before I hit the ground and held me up to her eye level. I smiled weakly as I felt my consciousness slipping from my grasp.

“Do it... my love... I'm ready.”

Seryn nodded and opened her mouth wide before stuffing me inside and down her throat to allow me to “incubate” in her warm, soft belly before I became a Flammie Plushie for the second time.

It wasn't even 30 minutes later when I woke up with the same strange feeling all over my body as I had felt the last time we had done this. I knew that my body had been converted to a Flammie Plush form for the second time, but I was still trying to get used to the feeling. My muscles and skin felt much softer than normal and felt MUCH warmer in here than ever before because of my new fur-and-feather coat.

Once I had regained control of my modified body, I poked Seryn's stomach with my paws and stretched out a little to let her know that I was awake. When she answered, she was just as astonished as I was that the conversion had happened so fast.

“You're all ready already?” she said, playing with a pun a little. “I didn't know that I could work that fast.”

“I guess it's because there's probably still some of that liquid in my system from the last time we did this and it just happened a lot quicker this time.”

“Maybe, so let's see how you turned out this time.”

“This time? Won't I be the same as last time?”

“Not exactly. I decided to mold you into a form I had read about in one of your online stories.”

I was surprised at her admission. “You were on my computer?!”

Seryn purred and patted her belly. “Yes, but that was way back when we first met. I have to say that some of those stories are rather close to our real situations.”

I was surprised that Seryn had had the knowledge and ability to use my computer once upon a time and was even more impressed that she had been able to understand all of those stories that I had read and downloaded. As for what she had turned me into, I was a little nervous as to what she had in mind.

“Okay, love. Get ready to come out!”

Seryn's stomach started to push as she opened her mouth and regurgitate me. I held my paws forward and prepared to be expelled from her system. I was both anxious and excited to see what form of Flammie she had turned me into. So when light hit me full in the face and I was thrown clean up onto the ground, I managed to collect myself and take a look at my new form.

At first, I thought there had been a mistake, but a quick recollection of my stories told me that Seryn knew what she was doing. My fur was such a deep, dark, midnight-black that it was blacker than a moonless midnight in winter. There wasn't even a single varying shade in the massive floes of black all over me. My pads and talons were even black, but my plates were distinct, shining-silver. The feathers on my wings were black as well, which made me look like little more than a shadow in the light. If I had been able to look in a mirror, though, I would have seen that my eyes were still the same dazzling, baby-blue, starry orbs that Seryn had – a sure sign that I was of the Light.

I also noticed that something else was odd about me. I used my tongue to check out my fangs and noticed something odd. I had the normal single fang on the left side of my muzzle, but on the right were two, giving me a grand total of three. I looked at Seryn, who smiled.

“I got this form from a story that I read called “Flammie and Glory 3: Furred and Feathered”. Is it too much?”

I wanted to say yes, but for some reason, I couldn't. Seryn had obviously done a great deal of work in perfecting my new form, however short it may have seemed, so I didn't want to be a killjoy.

“It's strange, but it's just fine. I could actually get used to this. What do you say we go for that flight now?”

Seryn trilled happily and jumped into my arms, planting her furry muzzle against mine and locking the two of us into a plushie kiss. I was taken aback by the sudden movement but decided to enjoy this regardless. The last time Seryn and I had done this properly, we had exchanged souls and bodies. But now that we were of the same species and makeup, it was much more enjoyable and felt so much better. We remained in our liplock for about ten seconds before we separated and – to my amazement – Seryn blushed.

“I'm sorry. I should have asked first.”

I shook my head and purred as I patted her shoulder. “It's okay. Our relationship is as solid as steel, so there's nothing to be ashamed of. Now, let’s go flying!”

Seryn nodded and closed her eyes, holding my paw and beckoning me to do the same. I did so and the two of us began to grow and expand back to our real Flammie size. This time, Seryn was helping me to do this, but the next time, I would have to do this on my own.

Once we were at full size, Seryn opened her eyes and batted me on the muzzle with her much larger paw. “Tag! You're it!” She was in the air in a split-second, flying as fast as she could to get away before I recovered and caught her.

Reeling a little from her sudden movement, I watched her pause in mid-air some distance away from me as if daring me to catch her. Smiling mischievously, I took flight as well and flew after her in an airborne version of Plushie Tag.

It was well past nine when I felt my body start to give out. We were miles away from the farm and I knew I wouldn't make it back in time.

“Seryn! My time's up! Give me a paw here!”

Seryn quickly flew under me and opened her maw wide again, allowing me to drop almost directly down her throat. I had shrunk back to my human size when the conversion had worn off and given her size, I was able to neatly slide down her throat and drop into her massive silky stomach. While I was in there, the heat from her body was able to cancel out the uncomfortable feeling of changing back to my human form. I was able to relax in here and drift off to sleep while she flew back home to bring me to bed.

As she did so, she shrunk back down to her proper size and landed just behind the chicken barn where she could throw me back up and carry me into the house. We had had a lot of fun as Flammie Plushies and we needed every bit of sleep we could get. Hopefully, Dad and Carol wouldn't notice as Seryn carried my sleeping body into the house, down the stairs and into my room where Blaziken, Sidian, Tails, Klonoa and Yoshi were all curled up in the middle of my floor, waiting for us to complete their furpile.

Seryn set me gently down on a blanket they had placed in the middle of the carpet and curled me up before they all laid themselves over me, lending me their warmth and allowing me to remain in the Dream World in peace.

19 days until deadline

I slept as comfortably and as peacefully as I ever had since I had first brought Seryn home. If I could have been any more comfortable, I might never have woken up at all. I would have been forever lost under a massive pile of furry plushies. They really cared for me and would do anything to protect me, and this massive furpile only proved their loyalty to me. I knew that we were all equals in the same family, but I was just glad that there were so many creatures in the world that cared for me. And I wasn't even halfway there yet. I still had ten more plushies to get before this was all over. Oh... boy...

Everyone felt me stir underneath them and ages of listening to my heartbeat and breathing under their bodies told them when I was sleeping and when I was awake. They also woke up and began to peel themselves off of me until I was able to move on my own again. They were all there – Seryn the Flammie, Blaziken the Pokémon, Sidian the dragon, Tails the fox, Klonoa and Yoshi the dinosaur. They were all pleased to have me as a part of their lives and would do absolutely anything to protect me from harm.

“Good morning, Lance,” crooned Sidian, wrapping her tail around my ankle. “Did you sleep well?”

Shaking off her tail, I smiled and stood up. “When have I not slept like a kitten under all of you? It's like sleeping on a soft, fluffy cloud that generates its own heat and can talk back to you.”

They were glad that they had lived up to my expectations. That was the main reason that they lived with me; keep me happy and comfortable and protect me from harm.

“So...” I said, clapping my hands together. “Who gets to dress me today?” There was a sudden uproar from all of the plushies. This seemed to be their favorite part of the day and wanted me to pick one of them to do the honors.

“I wanna do it!” whined Seryn.

“You always get to do it!” complained Tails, jumping up and down. “I never get to dress him!”

“I should do it!” piped up Klonoa, his ears flapping wildly. “I've got great fashion sense!”

“No offense, but he needs the best one to dress him,” said Blaziken rather proudly. “If you remember, it was I that gave him this wardrobe!”

“Oh, please, please, please let me do it!” whined Sidian, her wings nearly knocking over everyone next to her. “I'm the alpha dragon here! I wanna do it!”

The only one who didn't seem to be that obsessed with trying to please me was Yoshi. He had politely raised his hand and was waiting patiently for me to pick someone.

“Sorry, guys, but I gotta go with Yoshi. Tail and Klonoa, I know you haven't had a chance yet, but Yoshi is being very patient and I have to reward him for that.”

There was a collective groan from the rest of them, but they knew better than to argue. They had the rest of my life to spend with me and were sure that they would each have another chance to dress me. Besides, Yoshi was the latest newcomer and deserved a chance.

Yoshi, on the other hand, looked slightly startled at being picked out of all of the others. He didn't seem to have expected this, but he sucked it up and got ready to do his thing.

“You five will need to clear out for now,” I said, shooing them out the door. “An artist needs his privacy, so please wait outside.”

There were some swapped looks among the other five as they filed out of my room and waited patiently in the basement living room for Yoshi to do his thing. I closed the door behind them and turned to the green dino.

“So, Yoshi, how do you want to do this?”

Yoshi looked up and down my current attire for a moment before nodding and speaking. “I guess I need your old clothes so I can mix them up a little. You'll need to take those badges off, though.”

I tried to, but they had been applied by the plushies and were neatly stitched into the fabric. Yoshi noticed this and shook his head.

“Here. Lemme do it.”

Even though he didn't have any fingernails and his fingers were rounded and balloon-like, he was able to scrape the five badges off of my shirt and collect them in his hand. He then handed them to me, which I set on my table before stripping down to my boxers. I then handed each article of clothing to Yoshi, who stuck out his long, sticky, rope-like tongue to slurp each of them up and swallow them whole. He didn't make any eggs until he had swallowed the last bit, which was my cape.

If you blinked, you would have missed it. Yoshi bent over and there was a loud pop and a large, green-spotted egg dropped out of his non-existent backside just like he did in his countless games.

“Is that it?” I said, walking over to the egg and picking it up. “I didn't know you could do that.”

Yoshi turned around and examined his work. “I can, just like I used to, plushie or not.”

I was also surprised at the make-up of the egg itself. While the egg Yoshi had arrived in had been completely solid, this one was soft and fabric-like just like Blaziken, Tails and Klonoa's body textures. It was even seamless, which presented a problem.

“How am I supposed to get this thing open?”

Yoshi blinked. He hadn't counted on this. But right away, he had an idea. “Let me eat it again but I won't swallow it. The shell should dissolve in my mouth.”

I couldn't think of anything better to do, so I held the egg in my hands while Yoshi lined up his shot. With another lash of his tongue, he slurped up the egg and his cheeks bulged out for a moment. He “swished” it around in his mouth like mouthwash before opening it again and extending his tongue again and dropped my new clothes onto my outstretched arms.

Retracting his tongue again, he smiled and nodded. “That should do it. What do you think?”

Despite being swallowed, digested, encased and eaten again, my clothes were just as dry as when they had gone in but were completely clean like they had gone through the wash. What was more, he had given me a new kind of color for my clothes, but not quite what I expected. They were a rich, deep, emerald-green that seemed to have a kind of natural luster and sheen to it that was significantly different and shinier than Yoshi's natural coloring. It would be like I was wearing a shirt of liquid emerald.

My pants, though, were slightly different. They had the same emerald coloring on the fronts and outsides, but on the insides, there was a distinct snowy-white coloring that matched Yoshi's white underside exactly. Now that I looked at it again, I noticed that my shirt was along the same design with the emerald tops and sides and white fronts and undersides. My boots were also different in color and were a matching leathery-brown shade and thickness and my cape outdid them all.

My cape had been colored the same red as Yoshi's spikes and saddle and there was even a logo on it as I unfolded it to put it on. Instead of a Yoshi Egg-like logo, there was crimson-colored “hazard-esque” symbol on the back. It reminded my of a Hazard sign, but it also looked like the symbol from that movie “28 Days Later”. Huh.

To top it all off, a small object dropped to the floor as I unfolded everything to put them on. Bending over, I picked up what I assumed was my sixth Plushie Badge. Sure enough, it took the shape of a tilted, green-spotted Yoshi egg.

I turned to Yoshi and held it out. “Is this yours?”

Yoshi nodded and then shook his head. “Yes and no. Yes, I created it. No, it's not mine. It's yours now. I figured that I should add my Curiosity Badge to your collection. What do you think?”

“I like it. It's pretty much you in a nutshell.”

I now had six out of sixteen badges in my collection. I had Seryn's Mana Badge, Blaziken's Flame Badge, Sidian's Dexterity Badge, Tails' Freedom Badge, Klonoa's Dreamer Badge and now Yoshi's Curiosity Badge to add to my growing collection. I could only imagine the other ten before this was all over and done with and wondered what might possibly happen when I have them all. It might be something important or it might just be an unusual fashion statement. I'll have to wait and find out.

Once I had gotten fully dressed, I allowed Yoshi to place all six badges back on the front of my shirt. I had to admit, I kind of looked like a human Yoshi in this getup. It was odd, but I liked it and it had come from a friend, so I wasn't complaining.

Once Yoshi and I left my room, the rest of my plushie friends could get a good look at it. They seemed to like Yoshi's originality and Sidian seemed interested in the symbol on my cape.

“It's rather unique, Yoshi. I don't know how you came up with it, but I think it suits Lance perfectly.”

Yoshi simply smiled nervously and blushed deeply.

And after some admiration of my new Curiosity Badge, I was able to get a word in edgewise and spread out my admirers.

“Dad's in the field, Carol's at work and Tanner's at school. What do you say we leave as well and head for my mom's house?”

There was a roar of approval from the plushies and they all followed me up the stairs and into the kitchen. I grabbed myself a couple packages of Pop-Tarts that Carol kept in the corner cupboard and wrote my family a quick note to say where we were going:

“Thanks for helping us. Headed to Mom's this morning. More space. No offense. See you soon. Lance and Company.”

I then stuck the note on the mobile island in the middle of the kitchen and then said to the others, “Shall we?”

They all nodded and followed me outside towards the spot where I had left my SUV two days ago. Since there were now six of them, Tails and Yoshi had to sit on Blaziken's and Sidian's laps while Klonoa got his own seat in the back. I was wondering how we were going to work this out when I got all sixteen plushies in the end, but for now, we just had to deal with what we had and improvise until we could figure this out.

“Why can't Sidian and I fly to your mom's house?” wondered Seryn as she buckled up. “We could make a lot more room in here.”

“I know that, but you haven't been to my mom's part of the state. Even for someone like you, you'd have a hard time finding it if you didn't already know where it was.”

Seryn and Sidian's deer-like ears all flattened out but not because of anger. They were disappointed that they couldn't help out and make room in the van for the others, but they soon realized that this was only temporary and would be able to fly the next time.

And with that, I pulled us out of the driveway and headed in the opposite direction of where we had arrived. Almost immediately, Tails became suspicious.

“Why are we going this way?”

“Dad and Carol's house is pretty much at the halfway point between Willmar and St. Cloud. The right road leads to Willmar quicker while this road takes us through Sterns County and towards St. Cloud. And since my mom lives just outside St. Cloud, this is the fastest way.”

No one could argue with that, so they all remained silent and looked out of all the different windows at the areas we were going through to get to St. Cloud. They seemed to like the fact that we were heading through more open country and passed through smaller towns on our way to our destination. They were also interested in the concept of a “freeway” when Seryn pointed it out. But since taking the freeway wasn't necessary to get to St. Cloud, there was some assorted disappointment when we didn't take it.

Blaziken seemed the most curious when we passed through Cold Spring, which was well-known for its massive granite quarry. Even though he would never see the inside of it, he still talked about how deep it must be and all the different rocky ledges he could jump around.

When we finally reached a smaller part of St. Cloud known as Waite Park, the reactions of all of them were that of impression.

“It's so big!” said Tails, turning on Blaziken's lap to look out the window. “Willmar doesn't look anything like this.”

I knew he didn't mean to compare St. Cloud to Willmar and that his impression was simply that of curiosity. Sidian, though, wrinkled her nose at the nearly-invisible smell of the city wafting through the air vents.

“I don't like the smell of this place. Willmar was so peaceful and innocent despite being a city. People minded their own business and went about their days without much incident. But this place is the complete opposite. People are so impatient, there's the smell of motor oil in the air and there's just too many places to get lost in here.”

I smirked and looked back at her while we were at a red light. “Then be glad that this is only a part of the main city. St. Cloud and all of its suburbs are easily three times the size of Willmar. When we get to the outskirts, you can breathe a little easier. I like Willmar, too, but don't tell that to anyone here or you might get your face punched in.”

We all knew that it was a metaphor and that if anyone tried to punch any of my friends' faces in, they would simply bounce back and be as good as new. But it was just a joke, so we were all good sports about it.

Given the rather light traffic flowing through the city at this time of day, it was amazingly easy to make our way through St. Cloud to get to the outskirts near St. Augusta where Mom and Dean's printing shop was housed. I was thinking about stopping by there to let them know that I was in the area, but something told me to keep driving and meet up with them later.

However, the fact that it was a shirt-printing building did not escape Sidian's notice.

“Do you think they can do custom jobs for us and maybe let us have some of their leftover paint to drink?”

I was the only one who found this odd. But not wanting to sound rude, I answered it as best I could. “I don't think you'd fit on any of the presses and you'd get stuck in the oven before you even got into it. I can probably talk to them about the paint; they throw away an entire drum of mixed colors every week...” (The plushies seemed interested in this “free meal”.) “...but don't get your hopes up. I'll see what I can do and we'll go from there.”

Now that they had the possibility of a free meal in mind, the plushies remained silent for the rest of the trip, possibly thinking about the medley of colors that they would be able to sample if I could convince Mom's boss to let them have it. They never turned down a free meal and since none of them had gotten a decent meal in the past two days, they were really looking forward to a morning brunch when we got to the house.

Chapter 9: Digi-Modified

19 days until deadline

Plushie #7 – 9 remain

The rest of the trip through the back woods to my mom's house was pretty uneventful. We traveled along the back road through two more small towns called Clearwater and Clear Lake before we reached the path to the house. The plushies seemed to like these back country areas even better than they had back at the farm. And even though Mom didn't have even close to as much land as Dad and Carol did, they didn't seem to mind at all.

So when we pulled into a hidden driveway behind some trees at the end of a potato field, there was an anxious air in the van. I pulled neatly into the driveway and parked just outside the recently-renovated garage.

“We're here!” I said happily. “Everybody out!” And with that, we all piled out of the SUV and got a look at our new home for the time being.

But before we could, a large Chocolate Lab came bounding out of the garage and started jumping all over me.

“Otis! Down! DOWN!!!” I yelled at the dog, trying to get him away from me. A second, gentler Chocolate lab came walking down to investigate the newcomers. “Hey, Ellie. OTIS, DOWN!!!” I continued to push the hyperactive dog away from me. “Don't let Otis get a hold of you,” I said to my friends. “He loves to chew and he probably won't let go of you once he gets ya.”

Seryn and Sidian noticed how hard I was struggling to keep the bounding dog under control. They whispered to each other about what to do and seemed to come to a conclusion.

“Stand back, Lance,” said Seryn, holding onto Sidian's hand with her paw. “We’ll calm him down.”

I blinked. “You'd better not hurt him. These dogs mean the world to Dean and he'd flip out on me again if something happened to them while I was with them. And that's the last thing I need in a time like this.”

“Don't worry,” said Sidian, spreading her wings along with Seryn's. “We're just going to calm him down. We're not gonna hurt him one bit.”

The rest of us took one giant step back as one as Seryn and Sidian collected their breaths. Before Otis or Ellie could react, they had both expelled a pair of powerful Flammie and Dragonbreaths. A blast of blue smoke flew from Seryn's mouth while a green one was expelled from Sidian's. The two breaths met in mid-air, merged into a spiral of blue and green and slammed into Otis, who yelped and whined. I held my breath as the dragons did their thing before they closed their muzzles and the breath attacks disappeared.

At first, I thought they had paralyzed him since he wasn't moving. But then, Otis looked up at me and casually walked up to me and rubbed against my side like his sister, Ellie. I couldn't believe it. He wasn't the least bit hyper anymore. It was like all of his endless energy and enthusiasm had been quenched and he could go on with his life without going nuts again.

I smiled at the plushies as they released each other's paws and furled their wings again. “You girls will never cease to amaze me. Well done.” The rest of them applauded their efforts and Seryn and Sidian bowed neatly.

Now that we had calmed down the welcome wagon, we could finally see the new house we would be occupying for the next few weeks. At one time, it had been a 100% log cabin with orange-dyed logs, rafters, walls, banisters and whatnot. But over the past couple of years, Mom and Dead had been slowly renovating it. Even though it wasn't quite done, it was easily double its old size and they had done their best to keep the log cabin-like theme. They had expanded their basement, which was supposed to have a room for me at one time but was just used as extra storage right now, they had put in an entire new garage, added onto the parameter of the house, adding an extra room where my sisters had once stayed in on the second floor, a new bedroom for Mom and Dean (they had originally just slept in the open loft on the second floor), an extension to the entryway kitchen and even added a breakfast bar in the kitchen that we could get to from just about any angle. The only part of it that was left to work on was the extensions in the basement, but they weren't in any hurry to get it done. They were able to cover up the hole in the wall that led to the extension so air couldn't get in through it as easily and use the rest of the basement just like they always had.

“So, guys... what do you think?”

No one knew quite what to say. They had never seen such a magnificent house in any of their lives. Even Dad and Carol's house wasn't nearly as attractive as this one was (I never told them that, so keep it hush-hush, whatever you do).

“I like it,” said Klonoa, breaking the silence. “It looks cool.”

“Is that it?” I said, playfully insulted. “Wait until you see the inside. But first... let's get you guys something to eat before we move in. This way.” I beckoned the others to follow me down the steps to the basement extension. I had a surprise for them, but to view it properly, I needed to go through the back way to show it properly.

Mom and Dean hadn't yet installed lights in the extension, so we were stumbling around in the dark for a moment. But finally, I found the blanket that separated the extension from the main basement.

“Are you ready for this?” I said, placing a hand on the sheet. “Just remember to limit yourselves so you have something to eat for later.”

They all nodded, telling me that they were ready. With that, I pulled the blanket down and smiled when I saw their expressions.

Mom and Dean's basement was so covered in clothes of all shapes and sizes that it was nearly impossible to see the floor. There were also a number of shelves with spare clothes almost wall-to-wall. There were way too many shirts, pants and whatnot for Mom and Dean to wear even in a month without washing them. The sheer sight of so much fabric in the basement was almost too much for all of my friends.

I spared them the trouble of speaking. “Mom says that everything has to go, so... have fun... but don't eat anything that's on the shelves or any of the expensive pieces. I trust you'll know what to and not to eat, right? Enjoy.”

I stepped aside as all six living plushies swarmed through the opening and went at the clothes on the floor like kids in a candy factory. They were so overwhelmed by the amount of clothing that they weren't sure where to start. Seryn and Sidian went one way while Blaziken started sifting through the clothes on the floor, smelling for the tastiest bits. Tails and Klonoa made a game of who could find their most favorite piece and then see what they could trade for such a piece. Yoshi, meanwhile, had simply gone to a pile and started slurping up one piece after another until his hunger was satisfied.

I watched the plushies “clean house” from the stairs for a moment, wondering just how much fun they were actually having. I then left them to their own devices and headed upstairs to get myself reacquainted with the house.

I automatically made for my own room, which despite these extensive renovations was the least changed out of all of them. True, a divot in the wall had been pushed forward to make room for a new hallway, but to me, this room would always be mine. It was way too small to have our nightly furpile, but to me, it was my home away from home.

I was about to flop down on the bed when I spotted a large orange envelope that appeared to have come in the mail. It was one of those kinds that have built-in bubble wrap to cushion the package, which was not unusual to appear at my mom's house.

But when I looked at the address, I realized that it was addressed to me! What's more, it was from Plush Paradise! But this package was way too small to be my next plushie, so why would they be sending me a cushioned package in the mail?

Deciding to find out, I pulled back the tape and opened the package to see what was inside it. Against my expectations, a small, unmarked, Mini-DVD case slid neatly into my hand. It was one of those small DVDs that people made for small projects and movies. Strangely enough, the only markings on the disc were the words “Plushie #7 Installation Disc”.

This was very unusual. Yoshi's egg had been one thing, but I didn't know that I had to install a plushie. Apparently, I needed to put this in my computer somehow, but I didn't know how I would get the plushie into real life.

The disc wasn't that different, either. I had used my fair share of Mini-DVDs during my lifetime, but I had never used one to install a friend. This was one of the most unusual ways to get a plushie that I had ever seen, but if Aridos and Vega thought that it would work, then I had to go along with them.

Wondering what kind of possible plushie I would be getting, I headed out the main doors to my SUV to grab my laptop computer. The others were still having their brunch, so I let them be and went to sift through my belongings to grab my laptop. Once I had located said laptop, I headed back inside to plug it in and “install” my new friend.

By the time I had gotten back inside, I noticed that Seryn was already up on the main floor, looking around her new home. Out of all of them, I was surprised that Seryn had finished eating first. After all, with her appetite, it was almost like throwing pebbles down a deep well – it took nearly forever to fill it.

“Are you full now, love?” I told her as she looked around the living room. When she turned around, the sight of her slightly distended belly confirmed my suspicions.

“Yep. I ate like a queen down there. The others are still down there, but they're all done eating. They're just looking around and talking among themselves. In fact, I think Sidian is upstairs watching TV on that mammoth screen of your mom's.” Now that I listened closely, she was right. I heard the TV on up in the loft, which meant that someone was watching it. “What do you have your laptop for?”

I realized that the notebook was still in my arms and I explained what I had gotten in the mail from Plush Paradise. When I produced the tiny disc, Seryn cooed and tilted her head curiously.

“That's strange. I've never known a plushie that you had to install on your computer before. I guess we'll soon find out, won't we?”

I shrugged. “I guess so. I'm going to my room to plug it in, in case you guys are wondering where I went.”

Seryn nodded and resumed her exploration of the house. Sidian was busy watching TV up in the loft and the other four were still downstairs minding their own business.

It was easy to plug in my computer and get it up and running once I was situated in my room. Once it was all loaded up, I inserted the mini-DVD into my drive and closed it to wait for further instructions. Soon enough, a single, small window appeared in the center of my screen that read, “Would you like to install Plushie #7: Renamon?”

Renamon. Now that brought back memories. Back when I was in my middle-school grades, I used to watch Digimon and almost never missed a single episode for the first two seasons. But when the third season rolled around, I was just too busy to watch them all and I didn't like to watch any anime unless I could watch it from start to finish. Even so, Renamon was one of the more unusual Digimon I had ever seen thus far. Even though she once said that Digimon don't have a gender, I was more than certain that she had female qualities.

Now, several years later, not only did I download and watch all four seasons of Digimon from start to finish, but I was going to have my very own Digimon plushie to call my own. And it couldn't have been a better choice than Renamon. True, I was disappointed that it wasn't Flamedramon or ExVeemon from Season 2, but Renamon would be suitable enough for me. After all, I could use another “lady” in my life.

I clicked “yes” on the window and it went straight to an installation window like I was installing a program. The bar began to fill up with the names of different “files” flashing above it. The files included “Personality”, “Voice”, “Abilities” and the like instead of those little “meaningless” files that most programs used.

When the bar was full, the window said, “Congratulations! You have installed Plushie #7: Renamon! Now stand back and prepare for upload in 10... 9... 8...” Uh-oh. I had a bad feeling that this wasn't over. So I slid off my bed so I could give it some room. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be your average file upload.

Once the timer hit zero, the screen suddenly went out. It looked like my computer had crashed, but I wasn't quite sure about that. Just then, Seryn popped into the room to check on me.

“How's it coming, Lance?” she said, sticking her head and paw in the door.

Before I could answer, there was an explosion of light from the screen that looked like a supernova had just gone off. The force of the impact was enough to blow me into the wall and push Seryn out of the room. She managed to get back inside, but the “wind” coming from my monitor made it difficult to move considering her size.

Meanwhile, there was an array of lights coming from the monitor that looked like a copier scanning a document. They seemed to be tracing something, but it was hard to tell in this bright light. However, it was soon easy to see that the lights were tracing a green-wire frame with black inside the wires that stood about seven feet tall and resembled that of the Renamon I had come to know.

The lights traced Renamon's frame all the way to the ground and held it there for a moment before a second layer started to cover the wireframe. I could see that her “fur” was starting to appear, but there was a significant difference to this one. I could see the seams around its sides that held the plushie together just like everyone else so far. Renamon's details seemed to flow over her wireframe body and I soon realized that she was in a kind of serene pose. Her eyes were even closed as she continued to upload into the real world.

Finally, the last of her green-wire frame was covered and the light and wind coming from the monitor died down, leaving a simple window on my desktop that read, “Thank you for installing Plushie #7: Renamon! Have fun and enjoy!” There was a small yellow smiley face and then the window vanished and the CD drive was ejected from my computer.

Renamon held her serene pose for a few seconds before she finally started “breathing” and she stumbled backwards, tripping over the side of the bed and landing with a soft flump on top of the sheets.

“Renamon!” I cried, running over to help her. Seryn came along to help the new plushie get her bearings.

Renamon moaned slightly and then opened her eyes to get a look at the two who were caring for her. Even though they were narrow and beady, they still showed all of the intelligence and fierceness that she contained.

“Ohh... what happened?” Her voice matched the TV show version exactly. “Where am I? How did I get out of the shop?”

Seryn was better at breaking things to people than I was, so she lifted the plushie's head up with her paw and smiled sweetly. “You might be suffering a little lag from being downloaded and then uploaded again. I can assure you that you are in safe hands now. Welcome to our new world.”

Renamon looked from Seryn to me and looked me up and down. “So... you must be Lance?”

I nodded. “I am. It's nice to meet you.”

She smiled. It wasn't very much, but it was a smile nonetheless. “You can call me Renamon. I'm a Digimon Plushie and the seventh in the Plush Paradise series.”

I smiled back. “Welcome to the real world, Renamon. Would you like to meet the rest of my plushie friends?”

Renamon nodded. “Yes. I would like that.”

And with that, the two of us helped her to her feet and she was able to follow us out into the living room. She then waited while Seryn and I went to fetch the other plushies to bring them to welcome the latest addition to our family.

“Hey, guys!” I called down the stairs at the conversing plushies. “We got another one! Come up and meet her!”

There was a small stampede as Blaziken, Tails, Klonoa and Yoshi all ran towards the stairs at the same time and tried to be the first one up to meet their new friend. I actually had to jump out of the way so they didn't bowl me over. Once they were all upstairs and Seryn had brought Sidian downstairs, we all gathered around Renamon to see who our new friend was.

In a way, Renamon was kind of a hybrid of a fox and a mouse, but only her head resembled a mouse in terms of shape. The rest of her was clearly fox-like. Most of her body was covered in short, soft, yellow fur while her front, the tip of her tail, the tips of her ears and the fur from her ankles downward was a bright snow-white color. She also had a kind of “collar” of fluffy white fur around her neck and each of the three digits on her paws were also white. There was also a set of three “tails” of fur on her shoulders that seemed to add that extra-special touch to her appearance.

Like everyone else, Renamon was a biped, but unlike Seryn and Sidian, she would always remain a biped no matter what position she took. She also had three short, nubby, black claws on her footpaws and thick black pads under them just like Seryn did. And for some reason, there were a pair of “spirit” symbols emblazoned on the fronts of her thighs. They looked like two balls of black light spinning in a Yin-Yang-type symbol.

Speaking of that, Renamon almost always wore a pair of long, purple, silken sleeves over her arms like a pair of arm gauntlets that allowed the digits on her forepaws to move freely. There was also a pair of real Yin-Yang symbols woven into the places where her wrists were.

Renamon had such a long, thick, bushy, furry tail that I could tell that Tails was somewhat jealous of its size. It was about double the thickness of what one of his was, but the fact that he had two of them pretty much evened it out. Like I said before, her head was mouse-like in shape with a small, pointed black nose on the tip. There was also a black symbol under each of her pale-green eyes whose purpose I never found out. And at the top/back of her head were two pointed “ears” that did not look like they could pick up sound. But since she was a Digimon, not everything about her needed to make sense.

Renamon turned to everyone in turn and shook their hands, paws or claws and received an introduction from each of them in turn. She seemed surprised that all of them were living plushies as well, but she would soon learn that this wasn't over by a long shot.

“It's nice to meet you all,” she said in her kind yet dark voice. “You can call me Renamon. I originate from the third season of the Digimon TV show and have been seen on numerous games and the like.”

“Miss Renamon...” said Yoshi in an uncertain voice. He paused as if trying to find a way out of the question he was about to ask. Finding none, he continued. “Since you're a Digimon, can you Digivolve?”

He got quite a number of looks from the others, but now that I thought about it, that was a very good question. Could Renamon Digivolve?

Sadly, she shook her head. “Maybe in the world of Digimon, I could. But here, what you see is what you get. I'm sorry.”

Yoshi seemed slightly disappointed, but he soon got over it. However, Tails had a question to ask himself. “How did you know about Digimon and Digivolving? You haven't been around as long as the rest of us have.”

Yoshi shrugged. “Maybe not, but I know everything about Lance just like you do, so I simply asked about something he knew before anyone else could.”

No one could argue with that, so Klonoa presented another more obvious question. “What are we gonna do now? Lance's mom isn't supposed to be back until later and I'm full from eating all of those clothes and I'm bored, too.”

Renamon seemed to have an idea, though. “I may not be able to Digivolve, but that doesn't mean that I can't let you guys see what it's like to be a Digimon.”

We all looked at her. “How can you do that?” Blaziken said in amazement. “We could only do that to Lance.”

Renamon folded her arms and bowed her head. “It's simple. I have the ability to download my data into any number of you so that you can all become Digimon like me, if only for a short time. And which Digimon you become all depends on how you are built.”

No one understood the logic and none of us were certain if she was telling the truth. Seeing that she was in a room of disbelievers, Renamon walked over to Klonoa and knelt down in front of him. She leaned in closer, lifted his right ear and whispered into it. Once she pulled away, Klonoa suddenly went rigid and his eyes became even narrower.

“What did you say to him?” said Blaziken, his wrist flames flaring up. But Renamon merely held out a paw to tell him to wait.

Klonoa was suddenly engulfed in a white aura that seemed to remove him from the room completely. The white light then seemed to grow taller and much bore robust. It seemed to be taking on a form I had seen before, but I couldn't remember what it was. Finally, the light turned a bright, light-green and seemed to die out. When the light was gone, we were all looking at a very different Klonoa.

In fact, it wasn't Klonoa at all. It was the unmistakable form of Gargomon – another third-season Digimon and the evolved form of the cute and cuddly Terriermon. (Author's Note: To avoid drawing this out, I'm not going to describe their changed forms in detail. Just look for them in a Digimon database somewhere to see what they look like.) The only part of him that seemed to resemble him the most was his long, floppy ears. The rest of him was rather different, down to the twin gatling guns grafted into his arms.

Finally, “Gargomon” opened his eyes and looked around. He seemed to have no memory of his transformation, but he seemed to understand what happened to him. However, that didn't stop him from examining the hardware on his arms with obvious satisfaction.

“Whoa! These things could really do some damage. I'll have to be careful where I point them.” Not only was his body changed, but his voice had changed to match Gargomon's as well.

Renamon looked pleased with her work, but she still had one more thing to say. “Have you noticed that you're no longer a plushie? You'll have to be careful because you can feel pain like a real Digimon now.”

Gargomon looked all over his body and seemed both shocked an impressed that the skin he was looking at was no longer made out of fabric. He actually chuckled to himself and looked at Renamon. “Is there anything you can’t do, Renamon?”

Renamon simply shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. I'd suggest you go enjoy it, because you only have three hours to start out with in that form.”

Gargomon seemed to realize this and headed for the front door. But Tails seemed to realize that he no longer had any fingers to work the handle and he ran to get the door for him. Once it was open, Gargomon gave his friend a pat on the head and headed outside.

“Thanks, Tails.”

But before he disappeared, I called to him. “Don't shoot anybody or anything important! I have to pay for any damages, you know!” It wasn't clear if Gargomon heard me or not, so I just had to hope that he knew better than to push his luck with those massive “guns” of his.

After seeing what Renamon did to Klonoa, everyone else suddenly became interested in becoming a “real” Digimon. Renamon seemed more than happy to please and went to each one of them in turn to transform them.

First, Tails became the Legendary Warrior of Ice from the fourth season, Kumamon. He seemed just as happy to be in that form and was soon out the door in a flash, anxious to try out his new ice abilities.

But before Renamon proceeded to the others, she hesitated before shaking her head. “We're going to need a little more room for the rest of you. Why don't we head outside?”

No one could argue with that, so we all piled out into the front lawn so Renamon could give us all a proper transformation. She then went to Yoshi and did her thing. To my amazement, Yoshi's size grew to an amazing degree so that he was easily three times the size of Seryn. And when the light surrounding him turned red, I wasn't quite as surprised as I should have been to see the impressive form of Tyrannomon standing over us. It matched his persona, but his size might have been a little questionable.

“Tyrannomon” looked down at us, making the rest of us except Renamon back up. We all hoped that he wasn't planning on turning us into his lunch. Thankfully, he sauntered off down the back road, looking for some fun.

After breathing a collective sigh, I turned to Renamon. “A little big, ain't he? I hope he doesn't get hurt. There's a town not even five miles from here.”

Renamon merely smirked lightly. “He'll be fine. He's just out looking for a good time. If Klonoa and Tails can get along in the wilderness, then Yoshi will as well.” I wasn't so sure, but if Renamon believed so, then I had to trust her.

Moving onto Blaziken, Renamon took a moment to admire his tall, strong physique. Sidian shot her a jealous glance and she resumed her work. To my amazement, Blaziken grew to twice his size and the light surrounding him turned blue with a few flashes of red. Against all odds, I crossed my fingers, hoping it was who I thought it was. And when he was reshaped, I chuckled proudly to myself.

Blaziken had become one of my favorite second season Digimon – the Fire of Courage himself – Flamedramon! I had always liked a lot of Veemon's evolutions and Flamedramon was up there in the top three. Realizing that I would be spending the next three hours with a Digimon that I had always dreamed of seeing, I immediately went over to stand next to Flamedramon, who looked down at me and smiled from behind his mask.

“It looks like I win this time, ladies,” he said in an exact match to the TV Flamedramon's voice.

Seryn and Sidian didn't seem bothered by me picking “Blaziken” as my partner today one bit. They had both had their fun with me before and Blaziken hadn't gotten to spend as much time with me as he wanted. After all, they weren't going anywhere anytime soon, so they let this one slide.

But before Flamedramon and I left to go have our own fun, we stuck around to see what kind of Digimon Seryn and Sidian were going to become. When Renamon went to whisper in Sidian's ear, the light that surrounded her turned a kind of blackish-brown. And when it cleared, I was looking into the fierce and powerful form of Cyberdramon – a Digimon that Ryo from the third season had teamed with but had barely been able to control. Now I wondered if that would be true with this Cyberdramon as well. Even though Cyberdramon's eyes were covered by a kind of mask and he always had a kind of scowl on his face, he seemed to recognize me and walked over to Seryn to await her transformation.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I watched as Renamon approached Seryn. The giant Flammie had to bend down to allow her to whisper in her ear, so it was a little awkward to see. And when Seryn's body grew out to twice her normal size and her coloring turned orange, I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who she was going to become.

Amazingly, it wasn't Greymon like I had first thought, but it was right in the same family. She had actually become the only Mega out of all of us, the almighty WarGreymon. Seeing that much hardware on TV was one thing, but seeing it for real seemed to outdo TV's best efforts. I had never seen such a powerful and dominant Digimon before, which was a good thing since the only one that could match WarGreymon in terms of power was his dark counterpart BlackWarGreymon. And I was just happy that she hadn't become him.

But even though he looked like a good piece of machinery, I was still sticking with Flamedramon. I liked him more than WarGreymon anyway (no offense, though) and this was a rare opportunity to experience.

“We'll see you in a few hours,” said “Seryn”, once again matching the real WarGreymon's voice to a “T”. “We're just going to get a lay of the land.”

“And don't worry,” said Cyberdramon in his fierce, beady voice. “We won't blow anything up. We're just gonna look around and be back before you know it.”

And with that, Cyberdramon leaped onto WarGreymon's shoulder and the two of them flew off in search of adventure for the next three hours.

“Okay, Alex,” said Renamon, turning to me. “It's your turn.”

I froze. Could she really do that? I mean, the plushies were one thing, but could she turn real people into Digimon just like that?

Panicking slightly, I shook my head. “Not this time. I want to spend some proper time with Flamedramon before I go out on my own.”

Renamon looked like she had been robbed of a great opportunity, but she nodded anyway and said, “If that's your wish, then that's fine with me. Maybe next time.”

Feeling a sense of slight relief, I turned to the transformed Blaziken and looked up at him. “Shall we head out now?”

Flamedramon nodded and wrapped his arms around me so that he was holding onto my waist. “If you want it, you got it.”

And before I knew it, he had leaped clean into the air with me holding on for dear life but at the same time enjoying everything that happened from then on. Flamedramon was so cool and he sounded so brave! This was another one of my dreams come true and I couldn't wait until my next plushie arrived and we could do this all over again.

If 30 stories was Blaziken's best jump, then Flamedramon's jumps were almost 50 in terms of height. As soon as his feet left the ground, I would get the feeling that I was really flying, which was close enough when compared to flying on Seryn's back. We stayed in the air for so long that it seemed to take forever for us to come down. I wasn't complaining, though. This felt great! The feeling of the cool wind rushing past my face combined with the warm feeling of Flamedramon's bod heat gave me a hot/cold sensation that was rather enjoyable. I was enjoying myself so much that I didn't even care where we were going. And before I knew it, Flamedramon had cleared the town of Becker in less than three jumps.

As we continued to “fly”, I noticed someone up ahead that seemed familiar. We were approaching fast, but soon enough, I was able to see the tiny, white form of Tails, aka “Kumamon” skiing along a set of icy slopes that he would create with his Crystal Freeze and Blizzard Blaster attacks. He seemed to be enjoying himself by skiing over the ice floes that he created. And judging from some of the fancy ice formations tat he had already created, he fancied doing stylish jumps and loop-de-loops in mid-air. He was moving pretty fast for such a little guy as well, which told me that he seemed to already know how his Digimon body worked.

“Heeeeey! Kumamon! Over here!”

Kumamon heard me and created a steep drift in front of him to slow down and get a better look at where we were. Apparently, he hadn't expected to see me or Flamedramon around here and dismounted from his skis to go to meet us when we finally came down out of the sky.

“Hey, Lance. I wasn't expecting to see you here. Who'd Renamon turn into this big hothead?”

I chuckled as Flamedramon finally released me and let me drop to the ground. “One guess.”

Kumamon looked Flamedramon up and down for a moment before smiling. “Blaziken, right?”

Flamedramon nodded. “That's me, alright. Isn't this a coincidence? Fire and Ice meeting up with each other?”

“Yeah, it is. I wasn't expecting that at all.”

“So what have you been doing so far?” I asked Kumamon, looking at all of the ice floes he had created, which were melting rather quickly.

Kumamon shrugged. “I've been taking up skiing. It's not as difficult as I thought it would be, so it's really a lot of fun. I wanna try snowboarding next and then go from there.” He looked up at Flamedramon for a moment. “Hey, Lance? Haven't you ever wondered what Flamedramon looks like without his armor?”

Now that he mentioned it, I had always wondered what was under all of that armor. I had an idea, but since he was never seen without his armor, the picture in my mind was a little fuzzy.

“What do you say, Blaze? Would you mind taking the armor off?”

Flamedramon hadn't expected this. “Are you sure? It might not come off, you know.”

Kumamon and I nodded. “Go ahead,” he said. “We won't mind.”

The real Flamedramon had never been asked this before, but this one didn't seem to be bothered by a request to remove his armor, so he nodded and said, “I'll do it.”

And with that, he started by using his long, sharp claws to undo the clasps that held them onto his paws. He had to stick one of his claws in-between his arm and mitt, but he soon managed to detach it and slide it off. Underneath the mitt was a rather strange-looking four-fingered hand, except that there was a short yet sharp white claw attached to each of his nails just like Veemon did. He was then able to slide three of his fingers into the gap between his other arm and mitt. Once it was off, he handed his mitts to me and Kumamon to look at. Now that I could look at it properly for the first time, I saw that there were four holes halfway into the mitt that he could slide his claws into to use his sword-like claws.

He then reached down and fiddled with the straps under his footcaps until those, too, disconnected to reveal three large, sharp talons that looked slightly draconic in way. After those, he undid the straps connecting his kneepads to his first set of joints. There was nothing special under those except that we could see his twin joints much better now.

Flamedramon then reached behind him and fiddled with the small turtleneck that had the Crest of Courage on the back. Somehow, he was able to pull it off without tearing the fabric, leaving it completely intact and undamaged in his paw.

Kumamon and I looked at each other and shook our heads. We had no idea how he had done that, but we decided not to ask him. Some things were better left unexplained.

And then it was time for the moment of truth. Flamedramon reached up and placed his paws on both sides of his spiked mask. It didn't look like anything was holding it on, but as he began to push, it was obvious that it wasn't coming off without a fight. He struggled for a few second before the sound of skin peeling met our ears and the mask finally gave way.

Flamedramon's true face looked much kinder than he did with his mask on. True, his blazing-red eyes were unchanged, but they looked so much kinder and gentler than they did with his mask on. He also had a similar V-shaped yellow mark on his forehead compared to the one that had been on his mask. For some reason, this Flamedramon looked much gentler and kind-hearted than he did when his armor was on. I guess it was because of the flame patterns on his armor made him gave him much more confidence and made him much more intimidating than he did without it.

(Author's Note: For those of you who don't know, I used this form of “Armorless Flamedramon” in my Ruki Mood stories. But in them, his name was “Vee” and the mark on his forehead was a “Golden Power” (aka “Triforce”) symbol. Just food for thought.)

Flamedramon looked like he had accomplished a great task by finally removing his armor, but now that it was off, he seemed to feel exposed or embarrassed. He then took the pieces from Kumamon and I and began to put them on again.

“Can you guys keep a secret? I'd rather not let the others see me like this. Even though I'm not a real Digimon, I think it would damage Flamedramon's reputation if anyone saw me like this.”

Kumamon and I exchanged glances before we ran two fingers or digits over our mouths, signaling that we wouldn't say a word. This seemed to get some of Flamedramon's confidence back as he finally placed the mask back on his face, which made a sound like it was fusing with his skin.

“Thank you. Now, shall we be on our way? We've still got another two hours until we change back, so I think we should make the most of it.”

Kumamon smiled and pulled out his Blizzard Blaster. “You guys go ahead. I wanna try snowboarding now. I'll meet you back at the house in a couple of hours.”

And with that, he took off, creating new slopes to travel along and soon disappearing from sight. Flamedramon then wrapped his arms around my waist again and we were soon leaping away into the air on our way through the countryside and enjoying our last couple of hours on our own.

Two hours later, all seven of us were touching down back in my mom's front yard. We had all had a great time being with and/or being Digimon and couldn't wait to do it again. The freedoms we had had were almost as great as the freedoms we had had as plushies. And being flesh-and-blood was something that the others had never had a chance to experience before, so they took extra pride in the fact that Renamon could change them back almost anytime they wanted.

Speaking of Renamon, we were all surprised to learn that she hadn't gone anywhere when we had all split up. She had simply remained on the porch, staring out into the horizon and thinking about her new life as a plushie. I assumed that she was thinking about her life before she had become a plushie and what she might come to expect as a part of our family now. But it confused me to learn that she had spent the last three hours standing in one spot doing nothing. None of the rest of us could stay still for even close to that long, so it kind of startled me that she could do that.

But then again, Renamon was a master of the shadows and seemed to have a lot of patience when she was dealing with others. Add that with her calm, cool and collected atmosphere and I guess that standing still for three hours must come naturally to her.

As soon as we all got in the house, I turned to look at the clock and was shocked to realize that it was 5:45! Mom and Dean were going to be home any minute! I had been having so much fun that I had completely forgotten about how I was going to introduce my plushie friends to them. That and the fact that the basement was looking a little emptier than usual made me start to panic slightly. Thankfully, Seryn wrapped me in her arms and the combination of her soft, flowing fur and her natural vanilla fragrance seemed to calm me down.

“Thanks, love. I needed that.”

“No problem,” purred Seryn, giving my cheek a lick.

Now that I had her reassurance, I paced the floor a few times, trying to figure out what to do. Mom and Dean would be home shortly and I still had to introduce them to all seven of my plushies. I just needed to figure out a way that there wouldn't be any surprises when they saw them all.

Finally, I though I had it. Turning to my friends, I told them the plan.

“Okay, guys. Since it's going to get too tedious to introduce you all to them one by one, I'm going to have you all wait in the basement and I'll tell you all when it's okay for you to come up. That way, they can see you all at once and know that I'm not trying to pull something on them.”

“Do you want us to wait in our plushie modes?” said Blaziken, raising his paw.

I shook my head. “Not this time. I think that once they see all of you at once, it'll be easier for them to accept you. That way, when the rest of them arrive, I can introduce them one at a time without much trouble.”

They all nodded in unison to show that they understood and then all gathered around me to give me one of the biggest furpiles I had had to date. Under the weight of all those soft, furry, plushie bodies, I realized that they would be with me through whatever life threw at me. Through thick and thin, they would never leave my side. And if the day came when my boss would finally fire me, they would all be there for me to help me get back on my feet. They all cared for me and I loved them all with all my heart. I had to be the luckiest guy in the world to have them, and I wasn't even halfway through all of them yet.

Just then, Seryn's, Sidian's, Tails' and Renamon's ears all perked up. Since they were the ones with the most sensitive hearing, they were the first to know what was going on.

“Lance,” said Seryn, getting up off the top of the furpile. “I think they're home. We just heard their car pull in the driveway.”

Realizing this, I did whatever I could to crawl out from under them. At the same time, they were all trying to separate themselves from each other so that all seven furry bodies were standing around me again.

“Okay, everyone. Get down in the basement. I'll tell you when to come up.” They started to head down, but I suddenly had an idea. “Wait, Seryn! You stay up here. I want them to get an idea of what they're going to see.”

Seryn seemed honored that out of all seven of them, I had chosen my very first plushie to help me set the atmosphere for our big meeting. She separated from the rest of them and I pointed to the couch where she should sit down to prepare for when Mom and Dean finally cleared Otis and Ellie and got in the house.

They were all finally downstairs and I managed to sit down on the couch next to Seryn when I heard the door unlock and Mom and Dean's voices scolding the dogs could be heard. Seryn tried to pull me onto her furry lap so she could give me a tongue cleaning, but I shook my head and whispered, “Not now.”

Finally, Mom and Dean saw me and the fist words out of Mom's mouth were, “Hi, Bomber! You made it!” She had been calling me that since I was born and she was the only one who called me that. Since I was very close to her, I didn't mind it one bit.

“Hi, Mom! How was work?”

“Busy,” she said, taking her coat off and hanging it on the rack. “Very busy.”

Seryn whispered in my ear, “Can I say hi?” I didn't see the harm in it, so I whispered a confirmation back to her. She purred happily and waved a massive paw at the pair. “Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Kane!”

I suddenly realized that I had never told the plushies that Mom had remarried and that their last names were different. Feeling slightly embarrassed, I braced for the inevitable.

But when Mom saw Seryn sitting next to me, she immediately fell in love with her. “It's actually Wall now. Lance, is this one of your friends?”

Seryn answered before I did. “One of seven, actually.” I elbowed her in her stuffing and whispered. “Wait your turn!”

Dean finally cleared the front door and noticed Seryn. Immediately, a big fat grin stretched across his face. “Is that one of 'em? She's a real cutie!”

Seryn trilled and blushed happily. The sound coming from her throat seemed to catch their attention. “Don't worry; she always does that. It's rather soothing, actually.”

Mom walked over to the couch and stood over Seryn, apparently looking her over. Seryn seemed rather embarrassed for some reason but soon got over it. She then held out her massive paw for her to shake it. Mom's hand was barely half of her paw, but she shook it anyway and said, “You're so soft. Did Lance give you a name?”

Seryn nodded. “He sure did. He calls me “Seryn”. That's spelled S-E-R-Y-N. And you must be Brenda.”

Mom was surprised that she knew her name, but I quickly explained this. “She knows anything and everything about me, so she knows stuff I didn't even know I knew.”

Dean also came over to shake Seryn's paw. “So you're the famous Seryn. Lance said that you do a lot of things that he's never seen before.”

Seryn smiled and chirped proudly. “That's true. Whenever I get the chance, I can't help but make a meal out of him.”

I gulped as Mom and Dead looked at me. I had hoped that I would be the one to tell them about our little vore adventures. But realizing she had jumped the gun again, I had to explain.

“She's eaten you before?” said Dean more curiously than disgust.

I nodded. “Lots of times. It's called “vore” and only the plushies have been able to do it to me. All they do is open wide and swallow me whole. It's strange because you wouldn't think that they had a stomach, but since they're magic, they can do some pretty amazing things. I actually lost count of how many times Seryn has eaten me.”

“So how do you get back out?” said Mom impressively. “And why don't you smell like you've been eaten alive?”

I rolled my eyes before answering. That was Mom for you; she always stated the obvious. “Because a plushie's insides are more like getting wrapped in a giant silk cocoon. It's completely dry and it smells like the inside of a fresh load of laundry and it's rather comfortable inside as well. As for how I get out, that's easy. All they have to do is regurgitate me back up and I'm good to go for the rest of the day.”

Mom and Dean were unsure what to say, but Seryn had one more thing to say. “The first few days we spent together, he would actually sleep in my belly instead of lying in his stiff bed.” I prayed that she didn't say that she forced me to do it. So I was relieved when she turned and winked at me. Whew!

“So is there anything else that you can do that a stuffed animal can't do?” said Mom.

Seryn beamed. “I can fly, I can breathe special soothing flames and I can make myself waterproof if I ever go into the water. And the best way to get me clean is to let me swig a couple capfuls of laundry detergent and I'll be as good as new.” Thankfully, she left the ability to turn me into a Flammie Plush out of her list. “All in all, I'm the perfect friend, pet and comfort object and Lance just loves me!” She showed it by wrapping her arm around my shoulder and pulling me close to her furry body. She was just so comfortable and warm and I loved her too much to object.

Mom and Dean seemed impressed. They had not only heard what a plushie like her could do to her and for me, but the affection she was showing me and me vice versa showed them that I had found my true soul mate in life.

Then Mom asked a very obvious question. “Where are the rest of you? Lance said that there were five more of you that he brought with.”

Seryn smirked. “Six, actually. We just got another new arrival today. They're all downstairs waiting for Lance's cue.”

“Well, then bring 'em up!” said Dean, looking hopeful. “I can't wait to see 'em!”

Now that I had broken the ice, I got up and walked over to the staircase leading downstairs. “Okay, guys! You can come up now!”

I heard a combined reply of approval and they all started coming up the stairs to join me and Seryn in the living room. Mom and Dean's expressions grew more and more impressed as each one cleared the stairs and went to go line up in chronological order. In that order, it went: Blaziken, Sidian, Tails, Klonoa, Yoshi and Renamon. Seryn soon joined the ranks and took her spot on the end next to Blaziken.

Mom and Dean's expressions were that of pure amazement. The fact that all seven of them could move on their own and that they were all mine seemed to render them speechless. They had never seen so many giant plushies in one place before, much less having them all move of their own accord and line up in a neat line. The shapes, sizes and colors that they came in seemed to impress them even more.

Since they had all lined up neatly without being asked, I decided to introduce them all in order. Moving over to Seryn, I gestured to her and began the introductions.

“Mom... Dean... I'd like you to meet the first seven of my wonderful plushie friends. You already know my first one, Seryn the Flammie.”

Seryn smiled, spread all four of her wings and bowed. “I've been with Lance since the very beginning. He actually chose me out of everyone else.”

I then moved down the row. “This is one of my favorite Pokémon, the fiery Blaziken.”

Blaziken bowed as well, igniting his wrist flames for a moment, which startled them slightly. “It's a pleasure to meet you. I was the one who gave Lance his new wardrobe.”

Once Blaziken's wrists were extinguished, I moved on. “This is the lovely silver dragoness and jewel of my eye, Sidian Silverhawke.”

Sidian spread her wings and bowed as well. “Pleased to meet you. I've been taking special care of Lance since we first met.”

Moving on, I introduced the smallest and one of the cutest of the pack. “Meet Miles “Tails” Prower. He was actually scared of Seryn when we first met, but he's found the courage to be a part of the group.”

Tails posed with his arm and paw on his two dancing tails. “It's a long story, but I've gotten over it, so it's nice to finally meet you both.”

Shifting on down the line, I presented the strangest of the bunch. “This is Klonoa the Dream Traveler. I have no idea what species he is, but he's pretty cuddly when he wants to be.”

Klonoa flipped his ring into the air and caught it before posing triumphantly. “If you ever have any nightmares while you're asleep, be sure to let me know. I'll have you dreaming happy thoughts in no time.”

Mom and Dean weren't quite sure how to respond to this as I moved onto the next one. “Meet the adorable Yoshi. This is just one of his many colors, but unfortunately, we haven't figured out how to get those colors yet.”

Yoshi spun in place and posed with two of his rubbery digits. “It's nice to be here. I tend to eat a lot, but I promise I won't eat you out of house and home.”

I could tell that they were relieved to hear that as I reached the last of my current plushies. “And last but not least, our newest comer, the lovely Renamon. I actually had to install her on my computer before we could meet properly.”

Renamon simply bowed her head and closed her eyes for a moment before speaking in her dark and mysterious voice. “It's an honor to meet you. I can assure you that while I'm around, Lance will not come to harm.

Now that they were all introduced, I turned the other way and introduced them to my parents. “My furry friends, this is my biological mom and her husband, Dean Wall.”

They all repeated their poses and said all at once, “Pleased to meet you!”

Introductions made, Mom and Dean split up and went to check each one of them out. Dean showed special interest in Sidian and Mom seemed to like Renamon's mysterious atmosphere.

“I've never known a woman to walk around in the buff before,” said Dean almost jealously. “Do you do this often?”

Sidian smiled pleasantly. “Not always. Sometimes I have some clothes on. I just feel more at ease like this.”

Mom was digging Renamon's silken sleeves and was running a hand up and down one of them. Renamon didn't mind at all and she had closed her eyes to enjoy the feeling.

“These are really neat. Who do you have make them for you?”

Renamon merely shrugged. “These came with me. I just keep them soft and shimmery whenever I can.”

Once they had acknowledged all of my plushie friends, they turned to me to tell me what they thought.

“They're all very nice, Lance,” said Mom, giving me a small hug. “I'm just worried that we won't have enough room for all of them.”

I shook my head, smiling. “Don't worry, Mom. They're plushies. They actually like sleeping on the floor with me buried under all of them. We do it almost every night.”

“They're really cool.” said Dean, chancing a glance backwards at Sidian. “Maybe you can let us borrow one of them so we can talk about each other sometime.”

Sidian got quite a number of funny looks from the other plushies. It seemed that Dean had a thing for the lovely dragoness. She tried not to blush, but she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

“Maybe. But they like to stick with me a lot of the time.” Sidian breathed a sigh of relief when I said this. I could tell that the only men she wanted in her personal life were me and Blaziken if she could help it.

Now that they knew that they would be sharing the house with a collection of giant, living, breathing plushies, Mom and Dean were able to go back to what they had planned to do before they had walked in the door. Mom had to go out and feed the horse and Dean, who had nothing to do at the moment, switched on the TV and went straight to the History Channel.

Turning to my friends, I said, “Okay, everyone. You may resume your duties.”

Five of the seven plushie split up and went to various parts of the house or went outside to enjoy themselves, but Seryn and Sidian stayed with me to spend some more quality time with me. I could tell that Sidian had something on her mind because she leaned over and whispered sweet somethings in my ear.

“I think it's time for my baby to come back with his mother.”

The instant she said this, I felt my brain zone out a little. Ever since Sidian had accidentally swallowed me back in the department shop, she and I had had some kind of connection with each other that made her the dominant female at times. I would quickly become seduced by her when she was in one of these moods and would do almost anything she said. It wouldn't be until the near-end of my adventure that I would finally understand what the true connection between us was.

I lost the feeling in my legs for a moment before Seryn caught me in her arms. Sidian, whose eyes had narrowed and become more reptilian during one of her mood swings, simply growled and smiled, showing a number of pointed plastic teeth.

“Bring him to me, Seryn. The big boy needs to be with his mother.”

Sidian then headed up the stairs to the loft and entered the spare room that I used whenever my sisters weren't here with Seryn carrying me in her arms close behind her. She then turned and locked the double doors behind her and then closed the blinds over the glass windows.

Seryn, meanwhile, had set me down on the mattress on the floor and then stepped aside while Sidian approached. The dragon then stood in the middle of the room while I watched her drop to all fours and transform into her true dragon form. The angelic feathers on her wings returned, her breasts receded back into her chest, silver plating appeared all down her front, the fingers on her hands thickened and shortened out to become more draconic and her blue loincloth dropped to the floor; she wouldn't need it in this form.

I watched in awe as the massive dragon turned to me and smiled, her reptilian eyes sparkling pleasurably. She then climbed onto the mattress and walked over to my side before she kneaded the mattress with her paws and curled up next to me, hooking a wing around my side and pulled me closer to her like a mother dragon embracing its dragonlet. The sounds of deep purring coming from her chest were almost hypnotic as she directed me to the area of her where fresh dragon milk was waiting to be drunk. It a way, this was a perverse yet erotic moment, but Sidian would never do anything to violate her or my body in any way. Besides, plushies didn't have areas to be ashamed of that either of us knew about. And even though that didn't explain where this heavenly-tasting milk came from, most magic didn't need an explanation. The important thing was that we were both happy and nothing was ever going to tear us apart.

Seryn watched from the sidelines as the dragon allowed the human to suckle from her. She had grown used to this and was rather proud that Lance and Sidian had developed a relationship together. In fact, she wasn't the least bit jealous that Sidian was nursing and protecting him from harm. She barely even knew what jealousy was. All that mattered to her was that her human was happy. And as long as he was happy, she was happy. She knew that plushies were not supposed to get jealous of their owners. It was her goal in life to make sure that her owner was 100% satisfied with his plushie friends, no matter which one showed him more attention.

Once Lance had had enough dragon milk, she decided that she should go over and curl up next to him and keep him comfortable between her and Sidian. But when she approached the bed, Sidian looked up at her and snarled at her, warning her to back off, which she did. She had forgotten that in this state, Sidian was wilder in nature than she was as an anthromorph, so she would have to wait until she reverted back to normal to approach him safely. Even plushie dragons grew protective of their “young” and would do anything to protect them from intruders. And although this situation was a little odd, she had to respect Sidian's wishes and stay back until the heat of the moment passed. So she decided to head outside to go for a short flight while Sidian cooled off.

The sun was fading and the moon was already out, but she didn't mind. As a Flammie Plushie, she didn't mind whether it was scorching out or if it was in sub-zero temperatures. To her, the air felt just the same and she was more than happy to go on a flight despite the temperature on any given day.

So without any preference as to the temperature or the time of day, Seryn spread her four wings and took to the air, bound for wherever she felt she wanted to go.

18 days until deadline

I woke after yet another wonderful night sleeping with my plushies... or plushie. The only one in the room besides me was Sidian, who had reverted back to her anthro form. Seryn and the others were nowhere to be found. I guessed that they must have slept somewhere else in the house, so I rolled off the mattress without waking Sidian and left the bedroom. The house was rather quiet. Mom and Dean must have already left for work, so I pretty much had the whole house to myself and the plushies.

I found Tails and Yoshi snoring lightly on the couches in the living room. Klonoa was curled up on the floor, fast asleep. After browsing the house a bit more, I found Blaziken sleeping in the bed in my old room. And after some more searching, I found Seryn curled up on top of a pile of clothes in the basement, a large sleep bubble coming from her muzzle.

The only one not accounted for was Renamon, who seemed to have disappeared completely. She wasn't in the basement or in Mom and Dean's room. It wasn't until I went outside that I saw her sitting on top of the garage roof, staring out into the horizon.

“Hey, Renamon!” I called up to her.

The plushie looked down at me, which signaled that she was awake. She bowed her head at me and then got up. Before I could even blink, she had disappeared in a flash and reappeared back on the ground in front of me.

“Good morning, Lance,” she said politely. “Did you sleep well last night?”

I stretched my arms out and nodded. “Yep. Sidian can really work wonders on me. I don't know how she does it, but she really knows how to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.”

Renamon nodded and walked around behind me. “You know, I never showed you what it was like to be a Digimon. It's still early. What do you say we give it a try now?”

I knew that there was no excuse this time. Renamon wanted to go through with this and nothing I could say was going to stop her this time around.

“Okay. Let's get it over with.”

Renamon chuckled darkly. “I think you'll soon be resenting that statement when I'm through with you. Now just hold still.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as she leaned over me and whispered one word in my ear: “Digivolve.”

Just then, I felt extremely lightheaded that it was amazing that I didn't float up into the sky. I could feel my body numbing up and my mind went blank for a moment. All the while, I was surrounded by a white aura similar to the ones the others had endured yesterday. My body went completely numb and became consumed by the light.

The light and my body then began to grow to a much larger size. If I was paying attention, I would have noticed that I had gone from six feet to a little over fifteen. Also, the white light that had surrounded me had mixed with a shade of blue and my body began to reform.

I suddenly felt much stronger than I did before. Not only that, but I felt a great power welling up inside me as if I had suddenly become muscle-bound in an instant. I didn't know where this strength came from, but I was liking it a lot! When my body finally started to reshape, I had a feeling that I knew which Digimon I was going to become.

So it wasn't as big a surprise when I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands. There were only three large claws on each one, but the presence of the blue color prompted me to look all around my body. Thick, muscular limbs... a long, flexible, blue tail, a pair of medium-sized white wings... I was the Digimon of my dreams! I was ExVeemon!

I looked down at Renamon, who looked rather tiny when compared to my new size. She simply looked up at me, an indecisive look on her face.

“This is really neat!” I said in an exact match to the real ExVeemon's voice. “I could do some serious damage like this!”

Renamon looked up at me and sighed. “That's what I'm worried about. You're half the size of the garage and your strength was a little too much.”

“What are you complaining about?” I said, turning around. “This is great! I’ve never felt like this before!”

But I still didn't know how strong I was. As I turned, my tail knocked over a cement mixer that had been sitting around the house. And judging from the dent that I put into the side of the barrel, I didn't realize how big or strong I had become.

“Oops,” I said, bending over to pick the mixer back up. My tail came within inches of putting out a window, which alarmed Renamon.

“Maybe I'd better give you a slightly “lesser form”. You won't be as tall and you'll have some human attributes, but it's the best I can do.”

At the rate I was going, I was going to damage something very important soon, so I realized that I had no choice. “Do whatever you have to before I hurt someone.”

Renamon nodded and then leaped onto my shoulder in a single bound. She then leaned over my right ear and whispered the word, “Anthromorph”.

I felt my body start to become dangerously light again as the white light surrounded me again. This time, I felt myself shrinking down to a more manageable size. The changes were faster and I didn't even black out that time. When it was all over, I was looking at a modified version of my ExVeemon form.

Like she had said, Renamon had turned me into a kind of anthro version of ExVeemon. Instead of fifteen feet, she had brought me down to a little over seven. The muscles on my chest and arms were like a biker's in size and thickness. My hands had changed from a set of three fingers to four, which was still a slight variation of what I was used to. The two spikes on both sets of my knuckles were still there, but they looked a little bit sharper than before. My legs were also long, lean and trim like before and I was now standing on digitigrade feet with three large draconic talons on each one. My tail had also thinned out and seemed similar to Sidian's in smoothness and thickness. I had also gained a pair of red Spandex shorts that kind of left a little to the imagination. My wings, though, were much larger and fuller than before. And the final touch was the short silver spike sticking out of the top of my muzzle, which made me seem much fiercer than just my red eyes could do by themselves. The X/V-style mark on my chest was also still there, which made me wonder if I could still use my Vee Laser in this form.

“So now what do you think?” said Renamon, smiling smugly as she wrapped a silk-sleeved arm around mine.

I moved around a little to get the feel for my new form. It was different, but it wasn't anything I couldn't get used to.

“This isn't half-bad. It's certainly much more capable than my other form. Thank you, Renamon.”

Renamon chuckled and we started walking arm in arm. “You're very welcome. Now what do you say that we go have some fun while the effect lasts? I want to have you to myself for a few hours before we head back.”

I couldn't find any reason not to, so the two of us started walking, soon disappearing from the yard in a flash so quick that I was sure Renamon had had something to do with it.

When Sidian awoke an hour after Lance had left with Renamon, she was disappointed that he had left without waking her. She had cared for and protected him for most of the evening and had even offered him some of her dragon milk as a comforter. She knew that after all they'd been through, he'd never walk out on any of them, but it saddened her slightly to know that he had left without waking her.

Regardless, she rolled off the bed and left the room to check on the others. She found the other plushies in the same place as they had been when Lance had checked on them, but this time, Seryn was not in her makeshift nest in the basement. It took a while, but Sidian eventually found her outside on the roof of the garage where Renamon had been sitting earlier. She seemed to be looking out into the sky in the same direction that the other plushie had been earlier as well.

Deciding to join her, Sidian flapped her wings and flew up to sit next to the Flammie, who simply smiled and hooked her tail around hers.

“Whatcha doin?” said Sidian, looking in the same direction as Seryn.

Seryn shrugged. “Just thinkin' about life so far.”

“What about it?”

Seryn sighed and leaned back on her wings so that she was looking almost straight into the sky. “I was wondering if there was something that any of us could do to repay Lance for everything that he's done for us so far.”

“Haven't we done so already?” Sidian said, leaning back as well.

“We have, but it just doesn't seem... enough. It's like we're only giving him a taste of what it's like to be with us, but for some reason, our best efforts aren't quite enough. It's like we could do so much better, but we haven't figured out what it is yet. In fact, you're the only one who has come close to that kind of repayment.”

Sidian blushed and ran a talon over her chest rather embarrassingly. “I know, but sometimes I can't help it. Ever since I accidentally ate him that day in the clothing store, my mood swings have been a little on and off every so often. To be honest, I can't turn into my true dragon form unless I'm in one of those moods.”

Seryn rolled her head to one side, purring. “Really? Maybe I could help you with that?”

Sidian blinked. “How would you do that?”

“I dunno. I just have a feeling that I can help you change into your true form without putting you into one of your moods. Besides, when you and Lance are together, we never get to have any fun with him until you've changed back.”

“Really? I didn't know that.”

Seryn nodded. “It's true. I tried to curl up next to the two of you yesterday, but you had pretty much claimed him as your own and wouldn't let me anywhere near him.”

Sidian blushed even darker at this thought. “I'm sorry. I can't really control myself when I'm in my true form.”

Seryn smiled politely. “That's why I want to help you change without setting you off. And since Lance is going to be gone for the next couple hours, why don't we try it now?”

Sidian beamed. “You would do that for me?”

Seryn smiled in return. “What are “sisters” for? I'd do anything for any of us if it meant making Lance happier.”

Sidian closed her eyes for a moment and then sat up. “Okay, Seryn, you're on. Make an animal out of me!”

Seryn sat up as well and patted her belly. “First thing's first, I need to figure out what allows you to transform. Climb in.”

Sidian blinked. “You... you wanna eat me? Isn't a plushie eating another plushie a little dangerous?”

Shaking her head, Seryn purred proudly. “Not at all. I had Lance in my belly when he was a Flammie Plushie and he wasn't harmed in any way. I know it's a little different with you, but you'll be fine. Besides, if you feel uncomfortable, I'll let you out and we can try again later, okay?”

The dragoness wasn't quite sure, but she knew that Seryn wouldn't trick her just to make a meal out of her. And if she was as true to her word as she said she was, then she had nothing to worry about.

“Okay. Make a meal out of me.”

Seryn smiled, licked her chops, opened her mouth wide and began to devour the plushie dragon. She tasted a little different than Lance did because she was made of fabric, but she was still tasty nonetheless. Sidian had to fold her wings at her sides so Seryn could swallow those as well, but she soon slid down with little trouble at all. And as soon as she slurped up the dragoness' tail like a wet noodle, Sidian was nice and comfortable inside the massive Flammie's belly.

“You know...” said Sidian, shifting around a little and making Seryn giggle from being tickled. “It's not so bad in here. Now I know why Lance likes being eaten by you so much; it's soft, warm and comfortable inside a plushie's belly no matter who you are. We'll have to tell the others about this.”

Seryn laughed in a melodic trill. “You naughty girl. You've been thinking crazy thoughts, haven't you? No, I think we'll keep this between us until we're good and ready. I don't think the others would take to being eaten as willingly as you did. Now hold on while I figure you out.”

Sidian curled up in a ball in Seryn's stomach while Seryn began to “absorb” the dragoness' being and mind. She wasn't draining them from her; this was just her version of mind-reading that involved someone to be inside her rather than outside. It took a few minutes, but she soon had Sidian's conscious mind “downloaded” into her memory bank. Like Lance, she now knew everything that made Sidian tick and knew just what it was that turned her into a true dragon plushie.

Looking down at her bloated belly, Seryn patted her massive bulge and purred to the captive dragon, “Okay, Sidian. Time to come out.”

But a growl from the dragon translated to the words, “Don't wanna!”

Seryn sighed and shook her head. Lance had never refused to come out before, so Sidian was going to need some persuasion.

“Sorry, love, but if you want to get some training to turn into your true form, you'll need to come out of there.”

But Sidian wasn't coming quietly. “I'm not coming out until Lance comes in here with me and there's nothing you can do to make me!”

Sidian sighed and lied down on her back. She couldn't force Sidian to come out, even though it was her body. But Sidian seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. It seemed that the only thing that was going to get her out of there was if Lance came in there with her and was able to talk her out of it. So for the time being, she would have to deal with the stubborn dragoness sitting inside her until Lance got back.

Seryn took the time to have a little catnap on the roof. She would stoke her internal furnace to calm Sidian down and put her to sleep until Lance and Renamon came back so she didn't have to argue with her.

Spending three hours as an Anthro ExVeemon was something that I had never dreamed of before. I didn't have the size of a true ExVeemon, but I was just as strong and capable as the real one would be. These sweet muscles looked like a professional wrestler's in comparison, but they weren't blown out of proportions like I had seen on Fur Affinity. Add that to the wings, spiked knuckles, horned muzzle and tail that came with the rest of the body and I was surely a sight to behold. I felt much more capable than ever before and the place Renamon and I had chosen to go allowed me to show off just how pumped I was.

Renamon had teleported us to a junkyard somewhere in the area. I had never seen this place before, but it was the perfect place for me to try out my new ExVee powers. Renamon would watch from a few cars away as I dug my claws underneath another one and lifted it into the air with rather little effort. This was just like working out at the gym, but I was clearly superhuman in strength and power.

I would then throw the car into the air and then spring after it before I did one of several moves to completely destroy it. I would either give it a roundhouse kick, a crack with my tail, a slashing motion with my horn or I would seize it with just my knuckles and rip it apart, showering the area with metal and glass.

Renamon would applaud my efforts and would jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by the flying debris. She would never be able to muster this kind of destruction due to her soft, plushie body. But since she had turned me into a real lean, mean, muscle machine, she was able to get her entertainment for the day by watching me destroy these junkers. And whenever I took a breather, she would come up behind me and massage my body and muscles with her soft, stuffed paws and would occasionally remove one of her purple-satin sleeves and buff out the “scratches” in my perfect physique.

Strangely enough, no one was in the area to stop us. We had the entire junkyard to ourselves to break stuff as we pleased. What was even more, when I eventually changed back into a human, we would be long gone and no one would be able to tie me to the destruction. It was the perfect crime since there were no cameras or guard dogs on duty. The only calling card that we left was a Vee Laser mark cut into the ground before we left.

Finally, like all good things, it had to come to an end. The transformation from Digimon to human was just like the original one with a flash and a shift of my body back to its original form. When that finally came, Renamon actually walked up to me, bent over and gave me a small, furry perk on the cheek before she picked me up in her arms and teleported us out of the area. I felt so lucky to have that kind of support on my side. My plushies were without a doubt the best things that had ever happened to me. And the knowledge that they could show their affection back to me only added to my pride.

When we reappeared back in the front yard, I immediately saw that one of them was on the roof of the garage, lying down and apparently sleeping. Judging from the white glare that was bouncing off its body, I assumed that it was Seryn. Renamon helped me one more time by carrying me onto the rood before leaping back down and heading inside.

Sure enough, it was the pure-white-furred-and-feathered form of Seryn the Flammie Plushie. She was snoring lightly, apparently napping, but there was something different about her. Her belly was greatly distended as though she had swallowed something or someone rather recently. I had never been on this side of her when her belly was full, so the sight of the massive bulge alarmed me a little. She had obviously eaten someone, but since the horse was still in its pen, Mom and Dean were at work and the dogs had gone with them, it had to be one of my plushie friends. This worried me a little. Eating a human was one thing, but a plushie eating a plushie was almost unheard of. I hoped that she knew what she was doing when she swallowed whoever was in there and that one of my friends wasn't dissolving inside her.

Deciding to find out, I sat down next to the snoozing Flammie and rubbed her bloated belly lightly, feeling her stretched armor plating under my hand. Seryn purred in her sleep and eventually opened her eyes. Seeing me, she smiled and then yawned widely while stretching out and then speaking to me.

“Good morning, Lance. Did you have fun with Renamon?”

I blinked. “I did, but how did you know it was Renamon?”

Seryn shrugged, her smile never flickering. “I guess I just know these things.”

I had to admit that her intuition was pretty good at times, but I was more worried about the plushie she had inside her. “Who did you eat now? I thought it was just for you and me.”

Seryn looked at her bloated dome and sighed. “I was going to teach Sidian how to become a true dragon at any time, but in order to do so, I had to eat her and lock onto her subconscious. But once she went in, she didn't want to come out until you came home and came in there with her.”

I was barely hanging onto this. “Sidian wants we in there with her? Won't that kill you?”

Seryn trilled and chuckled. “No. It takes a lot more than a full stomach to kill me. I'll have the biggest belly in history, but it won't be enough to hurt me. Besides, I just remembered that you and Blaziken once went in together.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was true. Back when it had been just me, Seryn and Blaziken, Seryn had eaten us both and had spent the night with both of us in her belly. If she could handle both a human and a plushie in her belly at once one time, then she could do it again.

“Okay, love. Let me in and I'll see what I can do to get her out of there. I've never known anyone to enjoy plushie vore as much as us, but I guess Sidian takes the cake.”

“Speaking of cake, that's what Sidian pretty much tasted like when she went in. Humans may be my main course, but plushies are like my sweets of choice apart from certain articles of clothing.”

I sighed and shook my head. “You're crazy, Seryn. Don't let anyone else tell you any different. Now open up.”

It took a moment for her to swing herself onto her tail and then get to her feet due to her massive belly, but she finally managed to stand upright and then begin her umpteenth consumption of her favorite human. By now, the process of being eaten alive was second nature to me, but it still tickled me as I slid down her throat and it still disturbed me when Seryn slurped up my feet with that eraser-like tongue of hers.

Unlike the last time I had had a friend in Seryn's belly, I was dumped right into the same chamber as Sidian so that I was on top of her, waking her almost instantly. It was still dark enough in here that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, but Sidian seemed to know it was me and she wrapped her arms around my waist before giving my face a manual cleaning.

“You made it, Lance!” she said in-between licks. “Did you have fun with Renamon?”

Finally managing to get her tongue back in her mouth, I wiped the plushie saliva on my face onto the walls of Seryn's belly and then answered her. “I did, actually. Being a Digimon was so much cooler than I thought it would be. And since my form was that of an Anthro ExVeemon, it was like a dream come true.”

“A bigger dream than me?” said Sidian, mock pouting.

I shook my head. “It was just one of my dreams. Nothing will ever change the dreams I'm already living with you guys.”

Sidian gave my face another lick and said, “That's good. I wouldn't want anything to take my little Lance away from me.”

“Speaking of which, I think you've overstayed your welcome in here. Seryn just wanted to eat you so she could help you become a true dragon again. Why do you like it so much in here?”

Sidian sounded slightly offended. “Don't you like it in here? Seryn's told me that you done mind coming in here whenever she's hungry for love.”

“I do, but I always know when to call it a day. Besides, it's rather difficult for Seryn to walk around with one person in her belly, let alone two.”

Sidian sighed and I could feel her planting a fuzzy kiss on my lips. “Okay, love. I'll come out. I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome any longer than I have to. Besides...” she added, slipping her tongue into my mouth this time. She ran the eraser-like appendage around my mouth before pulling it back and finishing her sentence. “I want to take you flying as soon as I can.” She then kneaded the sides of Seryn's stomach with her knuckles. “Okay, Seryn! Cough us up! I'm ready to come out now!”

There was a trill of pleasure coming from Seryn's voice box and I felt the walls of her stomach start to contract. I could feel the muscles of her throat and stomach tugging on me and before too long, I was on my way back up her throat. A few seconds later, I was expelled from her maw right onto the shingled roof, completely dry and smelling just as fresh as all the other times I did this.

Seryn stroked my back with her paw before she repeated the motions to cough Sidian up. She seemed to be swallowing deep in her throat before she gave a deep snort and the lump in her belly that was Sidian started to move up her throat. When Sidian's head appeared in her mouth, I could tell that she was going to miss the warmth of the Flammie's belly even more than I did. Pretty soon, she joined me on the roof, completely coughed up. And since her leathery-cloth-like body was more absorbent than mine, the smell of clean linen laundry detergent was much more obvious on her. It smelled much better than the actual detergent, but it was still very strong.

Her nostrils flaring, Sidian blushed as she shifted to her hands and knees. “I smell good, but I think I smell a little too good.”

I shrugged and did likewise. “It'll wear off in time. It's just one of the benefits of being eaten alive by a plushie.”

“Come to think of it, you did taste rather good coming up,” said Seryn, licking her muzzle to get every bit of flavor onto her tongue. “We'll have to do this again sometime.”

“Oh, that reminds me. I found this while I was in there.” Sidian opened her mouth, stuck her hand own her throat a little ways and pulled out a rather crumpled-looking envelope.

Seryn looked amazed. “Oh! I forgot that I even had that inside me. Thanks for finding it, Sidian!”

“What is it?” I said, taking the envelope from her.

“You know, I don't know. Aridos gave it to me back when it was just you, me, Blaziken, Sidian and Tails, but he didn't tell me what was inside. He said to give it to you when Tails finally got over his fear of me, but I guess I forgot all about it.”

“Let's seek, then.” I pulled open the flap to reveal a thick wad of what appeared to be...

“Tickets,” said Sidian, looking over my shoulder. “What are they for?”

Seryn shrugged. I pulled one out and noticed that they were on two different packs of five. The tickets were rather colorful and I could make out the following:

Fur Affinity Convention – Admit One – $75

Tuesday, (date withheld) @ 1:00 PM to Thursday, (not telling) @ 10:30 PM

Present at Gate – Good for All Events

(Address withheld)

Minneapolis, MN (Zip Code withheld)

I handed one of the reams of tickets to Sidian, who looked them over and then handed them to Seryn. All the while, I was thinking about what these were for. As a regular to Fur , I had heard all about these conventions over the Internet. Unfortunately, none of them were ever held in an area that I could get to in time because of work or it was too far away. That and the fact that I didn't have enough artwork on the site to even bother going to them in the first place. The price was also an issue, so I could never afford to go to one before.

But now, all of the best case scenarios were coming into play. The convention was in Minneapolis this year, I had... ten free tickets supplied to me by Aridos and Vega, I didn't have a job at the moment and I had submitted enough pictures of my plushie friends to consider giving it a try.

Speaking of which, I hadn't checked my account since I had submitted those pictures of my plushies back when it was only five of us. There was no telling how many replies I had gotten from the other members about those photos and I had no idea how many people would recognize my plushies when I showed up.

Of course I was planning on taking them! They had willingly posed for my camera to take those pictures in the first place. There was no telling how much attention they would get at a convention of this type and caliber! They would be instant celebrities just from the number of poses they had used in all those pictures. Add that to the fact that there were three more of them with me than when I had submitted them in the first place and they would be immortal in their fans' eyes (given the fact that they already were).

But wait... there were only eight of us and there were ten tickets. Who were the other two for? I doubted that they were for Mom and Dean; they had never gotten into that kind of artwork. Did this mean that there were two more plushies out there for me to get before I went to the convention.

Realizing something, I looked back at the date. Today was the Tuesday of the date on the tickets, which meant that it started in a few hours! If I had any hope of attending, I needed to get on the road immediately!

“Well, girls,” I said, putting the tickets back in the envelope. “Looks like we've got something to do for the next three days. If we want to make it, we'd better get going ASAP.”

Seryn and Sidian looked at each other and beamed. They were finally going to be with people who actually understood who and what they really were. They were going to be celebrities for the next few days and I could tell all of this just by the expressions on their faces.

Seryn looked pleased. “Then let's go tell the others.”

Sidian nodded in agreement. “I can't wait. We'd better get on the road.”

And with that, I went to Seryn and she wrapped her arms around me while she and Sidian both fluttered down to the ground and we all headed in the house.

When I got inside, I saw that the others were up and Blaziken was talking on the phone with someone. The instant he saw me, he said to the person, “Oh, wait, he just walked in. Yeah... Okay, I'll put him on.” He then walked over and held the phone out for me. “It's Vega. He wants to talk to you about the convention.”

They already knew? Word really traveled fast around here. I took the phone and motioned for Seryn and Sidian to give me some space. “Hello?”

“Lance! It's Vega. How are you doing this morning?” I recognized that vulpine's voice anywhere.

“Oh, just having some fun with Renamon, getting eaten alive by Seryn again and finally getting those tickets to the Fur Affinity Convention.”

“You got them? That's good. I was wondering if Seryn would remember in time. Are you planning on going?”

“Yep. In fact...” I looked around to see that everyone was moving around the house, packing a trio of suitcases with clothes and my personal effects in one of them. “We're getting ready as we speak.”

“I had a feeling that you would take the opportunity to go to this kind of convention. It'll be a break from your artist's block, which I assume is still in full swing?”

I sighed. “Yep. I can't even pick up a pencil nowadays. At this rate, I'll be sunk before the conference even comes.”

“Don't worry. When everything comes together, you'll surprised even yourself. Don't give up hope just yet.”

I should have asked him what that meant, but I decided not to. Vega knew what he was talking about and he has never disappointed me yet.

“Hey, Vega?”

“Yes?”

“I have a question about those tickets.”

“Okay...”

“Why'd you send me ten of them? There's only eight of us. Who else is supposed to come with?”

“Oh, that. Your next two plushies kind of got shipped out to the wrong place by mistake, so now, they're on the road, trying to hitchhike to your house.”

“What happened to them?”

“Our Air Mail system kind of had a glitch in it, but we didn't realize it until it was too late. We were planning on sending them to you tomorrow, but a priority came up and our Air Mail blew a fuse at the wrong time, so you'll have to find the next two plushies while you're on the road.”

“Aren't you worried that they'll get kidnapped? And why did you send me two of them? I thought it was just one every two days or so.”

“Because they were a priority and that they seem to get along well together. They're like brothers with each other and one of them is able to keep the other out of serious trouble. As for getting kidnapped, I doubt that they will. They're very talented in the art of Plushie Magic and can certainly handle things by themselves.”

“So if they can use magic, why didn't they teleport here instead of try to hitchhike?”

“Teleportation isn't something that can be accomplished by simple magic. One either knows how to do it naturally or they don't. And since neither of them know how to teleport, they're sort of out of luck there.”

I suppose that made sense. “Okay. Is there anything that I should look out for to spot them?”

“The last I heard, they were using a magical neon sign that said “Kane and Company” on it. And since you're the only one around here that has that last name and would be willing to pick up someone like them, they knew just what to do to draw your attention.”

“Okay. Just one more question.”

“Ask away.”

“Who are these two new plushies anyway?”

Vega paused, hesitating in his response. “I'd love to tell you, but I have strict orders from my superior not to tell you anything else besides the fact that they are magic users. Sorry, but orders are orders.”

“Okay. I'll keep an eye out for them.”

“Getting back to the convention, I'm pretty sure that the fans will be going nuts at the first sight of them. Don't worry if any of you get separated for any length of time. Even if you leave the area, they know you well enough to find you again. Besides, you should let them have some fun while they have the chance. And if anyone asks you if they're yours, please don't tell them where you got them. We need to keep a low profile around here. If they ask, just tell them that they're yours and you got them from a friend. Just don't tell them who, no matter what, okay?”

I nodded. “I'll do that. So, are you two going to be there?”

“As much as we'd love to, we can't. Aridos and I attend a different kind of convention, so don't worry if you don't see us. But every once in a while, one of us might pop in to check on you. It just won't be where or when you'll see us. The only way we'll show ourselves to you is if something really bad happens.”

“Bad?” I didn't like the sound of that. “What do you mean by that?”

“Don't worry about it. The chances of anything bad happening to you or any of your plushies are rather remote. Just enjoy yourself and we'll talk to you after the convention.”

“Okay. I'll do that.”

“I gotta go now. Aridos is calling for me, so I gotta get back to work. Talk to you later! Bye!”

“You, too! Bye!”

The two of us then hung up the phone on our ends and I was able to return to my busy plushies.

“So what did he say?” said Tails, sitting on the clothes to push them down a little more.

“It seems that we're getting two new friends on the way to the convention.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing at the sound of this and looked at me.

“Who's it gonna be?” wondered Yoshi, talking with his cheeks stuffed with clothes.

“Be polite, Yoshi,” said Blaziken, shaking his head.

“He didn't say, but apparently, the two of them got sent to the wrong location and they're trying to hitchhike to our house or the convention. We have to keep a lookout for a neon magical sign that says, “L. Kane and Company.” Other than that, I don't know.”

There were a few exchanged looks around the room before they all returned to packing. Soon all three suitcases were packed and one of them was labeled as mine and Blaziken and Renamon picked up the bags to head out.

“Shall we head out?” said Blaziken, walking past me.

“Just hold on,” I said, remembering something. “I need to write Mom and Dean a note so they know where we went.”

And with that, the plushies piled out of the house and headed to my SUV to choose their seats. I took a page from a notebook and wrote down in pencil: “Mom and Dean... Went to Fur Con in the cities. Took plushies with. Be back Thursday night. Expect two more. Hugs... Lance.”

I then stuck it next to the phone and started to head out the door. But I was met halfway out by Renamon, who had returned to get something.

“What's up, Renamon?”

Renamon held out her paw, palm up and uncurled her digits. In her paw was another Plushie Badge. It was circular in shape and had the same spirals that were on her thighs stitched into the fabric.

“I almost forgot to give you this. We were talking about badges and I realized that I didn't give you mine yet. Here...” She held out the badge for me to take. “It's the Stealth Badge. I'm sure that it'll look nice on your shirt with the rest of them.”

I took the Stealth Badge and held it up for a moment. This was number seven. According to Seryn, that meant that there were nine more to go until something special was going to happen.

“Thanks, Renamon. Can you help me put it on?”

Renamon nodded and took the badge back before holding it up to her muzzle and giving the back a small lick. She then pressed it into place on my shirt just below Yoshi's Curiosity Badge.

That made a set of seven badges in this order: Seryn's Mana Badge, Blaziken's Flame Badge, Sidian's Dexterity Badge, Tails' Freedom Badge, Klonoa's Dreamer Badge, Yoshi's Curiosity Badge and now, Renamon's Stealth Badge. I was almost halfway there. My adventure wasn't even close to finished yet and I couldn't wait until I had all sixteen badges at my disposal. I couldn't help but think what possible surprise my plushie had for me when the set was finally complete. All I could do was go on with my life and hope that it was something that would make my life meaningful apart from my plushies.

Chapter 10: Nu Moogle Mayhem

Plushies #8 and #9 – 7 remain

18 days until deadline

We were on the road by 11:15 on the button, headed for the Fur Affinity Convention in the Twin Cities. We were all packed into the SUV but were still comfortable enough to carry on some friendly banter as we headed to the convention. As always, Seryn the Flammie sat in the front next to me, Tails was Sitting on Blaziken's lap on the right in the back, and Yoshi was sitting by himself in the middle. With the addition of Renamon, Klonoa had had to move onto the Digimon's lap on the left side of the rear seat. I knew that before too long, I would need to get a bigger car if I hoped to cram all of my plushie friends into one area. But for now, we were happy with what we had to work with and we weren't complaining.

On the way to the cities, Renamon and I were entertaining the others with a detailed story of my first few hours as a Digimon. They seemed surprised that Renamon had been able to alter my form to a more “compact” version of what it had started out as, but when Renamon mentioned that since I was flesh-and-blood to start with, it was easier to manipulate my body into a more compatible form. They also seemed interested in our adventures at the junkyard. The fact that their owner was able to rip cars apart with barely any effort at all seemed to interest the plushies into what they could have done while in their digital forms.

After come discussion, Seryn and Sidian decided to tell the congregation what Sidian was trying to do by training herself to become a true dragon of her own free will. Tails and Klonoa even asked her if – in the event that she finally mastered it – that they be allowed to ride on her back for a while if they got the chance. Sidian was never one to deny little kids the honor of her presence (she had been a success as a toy store mascot, after all), so she agreed to let them be first on her back after my turn.

They were also impressed that Seryn's belly was able to stretch out enough to hold two people inside her without her exploding. At first, most of them didn't believe it, but when Blaziken said that he had had a similar experience, the belief level went up significantly. But then Tails, Klonoa and Yoshi all started asking Seryn if she could eat them. Seryn didn't confirm or deny their requests other than to say, “We'll see what I'm craving later.”

We were almost to Big Lake when Seryn suddenly pointed into the sky and said, “Lance! There it is!”

We all looked in the direction she was pointing and soon saw a large neon display of lights hovering in the air that read, “L. Kane and Co.” And judging from the colorful arrow pointing straight down, my next two plushies were waiting in the area for me to pick them up.

As we got closer, the sign started to disappear and we were soon able to see two small figures waiting in the park for me to get there. I put my hazard lights on and pulled to the side in front of one of the figures, who waved a large metal rod with a large spiked ball in the air towards us.

Seryn rolled down the window and said to the creature, “Hey, stranger. Going our way?”

I couldn't see who it was, but I could tell that he was making fun of Seryn's joke. “Ha ha ha, very funny. Are you Lance Kane and Company?”

Seryn nodded. “That's us. You goin' somewhere?”

“Wherever you're going, we're going, too.”

““We”? I only see one of you.”

The creature looked behind it and let out a groan. “Oh, great. The little squirt's run off again. Say, you guys wouldn't mind helping me look for him, would you?”

Seryn looked over at me. I actually didn't mind. We were a few minutes ahead of schedule and I was willing to do anything for a plushie friend. I nodded to Seryn, who relayed it to the plushie. “Okay. Just give us a moment to get out.” She then looked at me and smiled. “Park it, Lance. We've got a plushie to find.”

I pulled ahead and turned into the park parking lot and we all piled out of the car to see who this new friend was.

I expected someone tall, but strangely enough, the new plushie's total height was only about four feet, matching Tails and Klonoa in height. But one look at the creature told me exactly who this was.

Smiling, I held out my hand to the creature for him to shake it. “Hello. I'm Lance Kane and you must be...?”

The creature nodded. “Babus Swain the Nu Mou Plushie, at your service.”

“Babus'“ hand was small and only had four fingers, but each one was tipped with a short yet sharp claw. I hadn't seen this character in person since I had sold my “Final Fantasy Tactics Advance” GameBoy Advance Game some time ago, but I recognized him anywhere.

Babus was one of what was called a “Nu Mou” in the game (That's new moo (no pun intended).). His entire species was a calm, gentle, peace-loving species that was rather talented in the magical department in FFTA. At first glance, one would think that a Nu Mou was a kind of lop-eared rabbit, but they actually weren't anything like them. The reason for this was because they all had a pair of long, heavy, drooping ears with what looked like large pierced holes in the middle of them. And while most Nu Mou wore a pair of weighted earrings in the game, Babus was slightly different and only wore a single golden hoop in his left ear.

Most Nu Mou also wore hats and had some kind of thick yet wispy gray hair underneath, but Babus wore nothing of the sort and the top of his head was as bare as most of the rest of his smoky-gray body. I could see the fine stitching all around the outside of his body, telling me that this plushie looked more like what a plushie should look like. Something about the way he looked told me that even a normal Nu Mou could be recreated as a normal, cheap plushie and be sold in most toy stores. And while most Nu Mou had a short, rounded, dog-like muzzle on their faces, Babus' muzzle was in the form of a small, round, oversized-grape-shaped nose that sat on the tip of his face like a cute little button. His eyes were permanently drooping, but his watery-blue irises were full of intelligence and they had a kind of magical spark about them.

Any Nu Mou's neck was non-existent and Babus wasn't any different. Their bodies were also usually mostly covered by thick, heavy robes of some design. Babus' were covered in blue on the front, but the rest of his robe was white or gray-colored. What was strange about Nu Mou was that their feet were almost non-existent in appearance, but they seemed to have no problem walking whenever they wanted to get somewhere. However, Babus' were a little bit more distinctive and could be seen in two boots just visible under his lord's robe. They looked puny, but there was obviously more to Nu Mou than one could visibly see. And since Babus had clearly hiked all this way, they obviously served him rather well.

Babus' tail was almost slug-like in the way that it trailed out the back of his robes, but it wasn't slimy at all. In fact, it was covered in what appeared to be orange fur, which was typical of Nu Mou, and trailed about eighteen inches out of his backside. To be honest, when being described, the FFTA Player's Guide used the word “dog-like” to describe a Nu Mou, and I had to agree with that much better than “rabbit-like”.

All in all, Babus was a very odd yet very intelligent creature. And the fact that I was going to have a Nu Mou Plushie to call my very own and whichever plush he had lost track of made me feel rather special. Nu Mou weren't very well-known in the Final Fantasy world, so the fact that one of them would be living with me and the rest of my friends seemed to make our congregation seemed extra special in a way.

(Author's Note: Sound familiar? I used Babus Swain as a “Pure One” in my Ruki Mood series.)

“So, Babus,” I said once I had finished examining our latest addition. “Who exactly are we looking for?”

Babus looked around as if expecting to see the missing plushie, but finding nothing, he shook his head. “He and I are good friends, but he has a tendency of disappearing sometimes. His name is Montblanc the Moogle.”

A Moogle. That was kind of up in the air. I had never liked the basic kind of Moogle that most Final Fantasy games use. They simply looked like white teddy bears with a red pompom on them and little bat-like wings, but if he was with Babus, then it was a decent chance that it was the kind of Moogle that appeared only in FFTA. They were much cuter and looked much better than the original Moogles.

“Hey, Babus!” called Blaziken, walking towards us. “Look what I found!”

He was holding a squirming mass of tan plushie fur under his arm as though he was carrying a tiny child old-school style. However, the fur wasn't going quietly.

“Lemme go, kupo! I was playing Hide-'n-Seek with Babus! You ruined my good hiding spot, kupo! Wait'll I get outta here! I'm gonna kupo you so badly!”

Blaziken, however, did not see the plushie as much of a threat. It was barely half his size and seemed to present no trouble at all. He simply plucked the furball out from under his arm with his paw and set it down in front of Babus.

“I believe this belongs to you two.”

Babus looked up at Blaziken and nodded. “Thank you. Go get the others. I'd like to introduce you.” He then turned to the plushie he had brought to him. “Montblanc, where have you been? I told you to stay by the playground until Lance got here.”

The furball called “Montblanc” was yet another familiar character from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. He was a Moogle, but this model of Moogle was what I had hoped he would be.

Montblanc was easily the shortest out of my nine plushies. At only three-and-a-half feet, he was clearly very easy to lose track of. But six inches of his tiny frame were his long, pointed ears. Unlike Babus' ears, Montblanc's stood straight up and slightly backward and were tipped with frayed brown fur. He also had a small mane of pale-golden hair in-between said ears that I had never noticed before. You could see the stitches running along his seams all down his ears, which disappeared under his tiny green jacket. His “fur”, I noticed, was a kind of cross between fleshy-pink and tan while most Moogles in FFTA had some kind of dirty-white fur. Two long, pointed whiskers grew from each side of his face, on which there was a little brown nose and a pair of adorable, machine-stitched, brown eyes.

I noticed that Montblanc's long, thin wings were orange along with the spiked pompom that dangled from a long black antenna behind his head. That description just reeked of inconsistencies. Normal Moogles had red wings and a red pompom, which dangled in front of their faces instead of the back. But that was what made Montblanc so unique. He also had a pair of tan shorts which went down to the top of his tiny brown booties. He also had a tiny fingernail-like claw on the tip of each of his four-fingered paws.

All in all, he was absolutely adorable, but given the racket he was making when Blaziken had a hold of him, he was much more trouble than he appeared. I knew that in FFTA, Montblanc was Marche's partner throughout the entire game, but this Montblanc raised the question if he would be as well-behaved or as helpful as the one in the game.

(Author's Note: Montblanc was also used in my Ruki Mood stories, but he didn't appear until the second area in the second story and has yet to appear in the third one. Keep a lookout!)

And when Montblanc spoke, it was it a small yet energetic voice that had a slight repetition in it that was common among Moogles of any kind. “I was playing Hide-'n-Seek in the lake, kupo, until that big lummox came in after me and pulled me out of the water, kupo.” See what I mean?

Babus put two fingers and a thumb to his forehead, closed his eyes and shook his head. “Oy vey, Montblanc. I told you that Lance would be here in a few minutes. Now he's even further behind schedule.” He then looked up at me. “Oh, I forgot to introduce you. Lance Kane, this is Montblanc the Moogle. Montblanc...” He turned to him. “This is our new owner, Lance.”

Montblanc's mood quickly passed and he suddenly beamed up at me. “You’re Lance Kane, kupo?! You're even cooler than I thought you'd be! It's so cool to meet you, kupo!”

And as a way of showing his affection, he sprang high into the air and landed on my chest to give me a fuzzy hug. I was taken aback at how high he had just jumped, but I hugged him as well before I plucked him from my chest.

“It's nice to meet you, too, Montblanc. Welcome to my family.”

“Family?” “kupoed” Montblanc. “There's more of you?”

Babus chuckled obviously. “Actually, there are more of US. That “lummox” you were yelling at was one of Lance's many plushies that arrived before us.”

“Oh...” Montblanc's cheeks went deep-red. “I didn't know, kupo.”

I couldn't help but smile at the cute little Moogle Plushie. He was just like his video game counterpart – cute, young and innocent. “Just wait until Seryn and Sidian see you. They'll be over the moon at how cute you are.”

If possible, Montblanc blushed even deeper. “That's pretty much how we Moogles are, kupo; we're so cute, cuddly and kupo that people just want to eat us up.”

I chanced a glance at Babus, smiling. “Somehow, I don't think that's beyond the realm of possibility for those two. Just be careful that you aren't too cute or they you eat you up. They've already done it to me, so I know what it feels like.”

Montblanc gulped. “Y-You have?”

I nodded. “Several times. You'd be a little more than a mouthful for them. So you'd better not act up or I might have to give them a reason to eat you.”

The look on the Moogle's face was priceless. I seemed to have gotten his attention and had harmlessly scared him enough that he wouldn't act up while he was in my care. It was just some harmless fun and both Babus and I knew it. We were just massing with his head, and had no intention of force-feeding him to Seryn and Sidian.

Speaking of which, Blaziken had located all of the other plushies and they were all heading this way. Montblanc looked nervous as the two largest ladies walked down the park to meet us, and if plushies could sweat, he would be drenched by now.

Coincidentally, Seryn and Sidian were the first ones to see Montblanc and the looks on their faces were that of pure giddiness.

“Ooh, he's just so cute, isn't he, Sidian?!” said the Flammie, running up to get a better look at the Moogle.

“He's just so adorable, Seryn! I just wanna eat 'im up!”

I hadn't expected them to actually say that, so I was a little startled when Montblanc started wailing, “Waaaa!!! Don't eat me, kupopo! I'm just fur and fluff! I promise I'll be good! Just don't eat poor Montblanc, kupo! Waaaa!!!”

Seryn and Sidian looked taken aback and guilty that they had scared the poor thing. At first, they tried backing up, but then they looked directly at me as if they knew I had filled his head with those thoughts.

“Lance...?” said Seryn, crossing her arms and tapping her footpaw impatiently. “What have you been telling him?”

“Yeah. We'd never eat a poor thing like him without a good reason,” said Sidian, her tail tying itself in a knot.

It was my turn to blush. “I kind of told him what you'd do to him if he acted up,” I reluctantly admitted. “I didn't mean to scare him; I just wanted to warn him about what the rules are in my house.”

Klonoa tsked me and stepped forward to comfort the trembling Moogle. “Shame on you, Lance. He's too young and small to understand a joke like that.” He then picked up the Moogle and wrapped him in one of his ears. “It's okay, little guy. Lance was just kidding. No one's going to eat you while I'm around.”

Montblanc sniffled a little and then seemed to recover enough to forgive me. “Okay, kupo. I didn't mean to cry. It's just that the rest of you are so...” He gulped and rolled out of Klonoa's ear's grip. “...big, kupo.”

Yoshi and Tails seemed to understand the little guy's concerns. Tails picked up the Moogle while Yoshi tickled him behind the ears with his tongue. Thankfully, Montblanc didn't get the impression that he was tasting him, which I doubted he was trying to do.

“Just stay with us, Montblanc,” said Tails, tickling him under his chin. “And we'll all be the best of friends. We're all friends here, so no one is going to get eaten without a good reason.”

Montblanc actually purred a little before Tails set him back on the ground and went to check out the last of the plushies – Renamon. The tall Digimon looked down at the tiny Moogle and actually cracked a small smile. She then bent down and picked him up before setting him on her shoulder. Montblanc seemed to like her out of all of them and bounced on her shoulder like a little kid.

I bent over and whispered to Babus, who lifted his ear slightly to listen. “I never knew that the Plushie Montblanc was so... young.”

Babus smiled smugly and shook his head. “Moogles are very innocent and vulnerable when they're not causing mischief or tinkering with machinery. Just take special care not to scare him too much. He might not look it, but he's like a six-year-old in an adult's world, so be careful around him. He's very smart, though, so don't forget what he can do when he's working on his magic.”

I nodded and then stood back up to look at the other plushies. “Okay, everyone. Let's get back in the car and get back on the road.” Everyone agreed and we all headed back to the SUV to continue heading to the Fur Affinity Convention.

But when we all got back to the car, I saw that there was a note stuck to the driver's side window. On a hunch, I told everyone to hold on while I checked it out. It was written on thick, yellowed parchment and in old-fashioned ink written in loose, spidery handwriting. I plucked it off the window and read it to myself.

Dear Mr. Kane,

Greetings from Plush Paradise! It has come to my attention that you have found Plushies #8 and #9. By now, you must be running out of room for all of them to find comfortable seating in your humble SUV. Vega and I expected this and have taken the liberty of “enhancing” your driving experience. While you were meeting with Babus and Montblanc, we happened to stop by and did a little tinkering with your vehicle. And in doing so, we have increased its abilities tenfold. We installed a DVD player, custom seating for each of the plushies you have and the ones that have yet to arrive and have even increased your gas mileage to about 30 miles per gallon.

And while it may not look it on the outside, you'll be able to tell the moment you open the doors. It's like a small theater in there now that you can now escort all seventeen (Author's Note: ...) of your plushies inside from now on. Just think of it as a little customer appreciation from Karmen Aridos and Vega Firetail of Plush Paradise.

We hope you enjoy the convention.

Yours,

Karmen Aridos

I had to think this over for a moment. In the few minutes that we had been away from my SUV, Aridos and/or Vega had somehow tailed us and had monkeyed with my car. I don't know how they pulled it off without anyone seeing them, but come to think of it, with the addition of Babus and Montblanc, I WAS going to have trouble finding room for them.

This made me even more anxious to see what they had done to my baby. They said they had increased the gas mileage as well, so that was always a bonus, but I wanted to see just how much damage was done to the only vehicle that I had ever owned.

“Wait a minute, guys. Aridos and/or Vega monkeyed with our ride. Let me take a look inside.” They waited patiently as I unlocked the door and opened it to look inside.

At first, I thought I was seeing things. There was no way that this could be real! But as I climbed inside, I realized that this was the real deal. Aridos and/or Vega had transformed the inside of my SUV into what appeared to be the inside of a luxurious motor home! It was clearly five times bigger than what it looked like outside. This was just too weird!

“Come in, everybody! They really outdid themselves this time!”

Exchanging curious glances, Seryn opened the passenger's side door while Renamon and Blaziken opened the back doors. The look of amazement on everyone's faces was that of pure awe. The inside of the SUV had been transformed into that of a small house, making it look ten times bigger inside than it was outside.

They hadn't skimped on anything, either. The ceiling was more than 20 feet tall, the floor was lined with tan carpeting, there were a set of more than 15 various-sized seats scattered around the interior, most of them labeled with the name of a plushie that I had already acquired. There was even room for the ones that had a tail of any kind (which was pretty much everyone except Montblanc.) with various-sized holes for their extra appendages to extend fully. There was even extra room around Seryn and Sidian's seats where their wings could furl or unfurl without making them feel uncomfortable in any way.

Not only that, but there was a personalized area for each seat. Seryn's seat – which was still in the shotgun area – had a customized air-conditioning system that would keep her fur and feathers nice and airy at any time. There was a heated seat and leather grips on the armrests for Blaziken to keep his core temperature up and work out at the same time. Sidian's seat looked more like a large nest made of clothing scraps that was further back than the rest of them. I didn't doubt that it was for when she was in her true dragon form and she wanted me to be with her. Tail's area contained a personalized video game system with a control pad that could sort out any controller for any system that he wanted. Klonoa's was a little different with a kind of dome over his head that had some electrodes attached to it. I had a feeling that this was how he could access the Dream World at any time he wanted from there.

Yoshi's area was simple with the exception of what appeared to be a tray with a dial on it in front of him. From the looks of it, it seemed to be a personalized food device that could get him any kind of clothing for him to eat at any time. Renamon's seat was much higher up than the rest of them, but there was a similar tray in front of her with what appeared to be a deck of cards at her side. I was pretty sure that this was her own Digimon Trading Card Game set-up where she could play Digimon TCG with a computer or anyone who wanted to take the seat across from her. Finally, Babus and Montblanc's area was near the wall with a set of spell books and what appeared to be a large black cauldron in front of them. This must be their own personal potion-prepping area.

Everything was so amazing that it's really hard to describe in words without you being here. In all, this interior would have cost hundreds of millions of dollars to customize, and even the best experts couldn't cram all of this in the simple white SUV that could be seen from the outside. It just showed how powerful and experienced Aridos and Vega were at magic and concealment.

“Hey, Lance!” said Seryn, from the back of the area. “There's a door back here! Come and check it out!”

I walked down to meet her and tried to open the door. But strangely enough, it was locked and there was no keyhole in the door. The door wouldn't budge even a millimeter no matter how hard we tried to push it open. It was like it was a stone wall that would not give an inch.

“What's with this door?” I said, trying fruitlessly to push it open.

“Check this out, love.” Seryn pointed to the door itself. I stood back and looked at what she was indicating.

A series of various-shaped holes was arranged in a large circle all around the outside of the door. Strangely enough, it reawakened an old memory that had been locked away in my mind.

“Seryn... I've seen this door before...”

“You have?” She sounded interested.

“Yeah... It was in a dream I had back at the apartment. These symbols...” I indicated the molded holes all around the circle. “Indicate all sixteen of my plushies and their Plushie Badges. But I've only got seven of them right now, so I can't finish it.”

“What do you think is on the other side?” said Babus, coming to investigate.

I shook my head. “I don't know, but I need all sixteen badges if I hope to find out.”

“Is that all?” kupoed Montblanc. “Well, then you can have my badge and be that much closer!”

But before Montblanc could reach me with the badge in his outstretched paw, Babus cut him off with the butt end of his mace. “Sorry, Montblanc, but he hasn't earned ours yet. We can't give them to him until he proves the qualities we possess.” He then turned to me and shook his head. “Sorry, Lance, but we have our orders from Aridos and Vega. I hope you understand.”

As much as I wanted their badges to help complete the circle, I knew that they wouldn't do much more than fill their proper slots at this point. The best thing I could do was wait until all sixteen of my plushies arrived and I acquired all of their badges. This door would just have to wait.

“No problem, Babus. I can wait.”

Montblanc seemed disappointed that he had gone to all the trouble to create a Plushie Badge for me, but he ate his work like a cracker anyway, destroying all traces of it until a later date.

“Well, now that we've all see our new wheels,” I told the congregation that had gathered in the back. “Shall we head out? I still have to figure out how to drive this beast.”

No one could think of anything else to do, so they all took their respective seats while I headed to the front to the driver's seat and prepared to drive this magical behemoth the rest of the way to the convention.

Strangely enough, MY seat felt just like it did in my original SUV. All the controls, dials and gadgets were all in the same areas as they had been and I was able to feel right at home in here. Strangely enough, the rearview mirror did not reflect the back of the magical room. Instead, it showed what was actually behind my SUV even if it hadn't been altered. I could also see out of Seryn's passenger-side window rather easily and the window on my side rolled down to reveal the same height and level as though nothing had changed. And whenever I needed to back up, every time I would shift into reverse, the windshield up front would change to reveal behind the vehicle just like some of those new SUVs with cameras behind them. It didn't feel like I was driving a motor home at all but felt just like what it should feel like.

Silently thanking Aridos and Vega for their ingenuity, I started the magical vehicle and pulled out of parking lot before heading towards the Fur Affinity Convention. All the while, the others were taking in the wonders of their own personalized areas. Seryn was taking a nap with the air blowing over her fur at full blast, Blaziken was exercising his grip and strength with the handles on his armrests, Sidian was also taking a nap, lying in her shredded-cloth nest, Tails was busy playing a Gamecube game with his many consoles, Klonoa's eyes were closed and he was unresponsive, apparently zoned out into the Dream World, Yoshi was sampling various kinds of clothing to find his favorite, Renamon was sorting through her deck to see what kind of Digimon Cards she had to work with and Babus and Montblanc were reading through various books, trying to find out which potion to make first.

Seeing them all so happy and peaceful made me feel just as well. And even though I still had to keep my eyes on the road, I hoped that I would be able to join them when we stopped and experience this vehicle's true potential for myself. Not bad for 30 miles a gallon...

(Author's Note: I have never been to a convention of any kind before, so I'm going to wing it here. I don't want to hear that I didn't include anything that was at a normal Fur Affinity convention!)

An hour later, we were all piling out of the magical SUV as though we had simply packed each other in the “tiny” vehicle after I had found a parking spot in a free parking garage. (Author's Note: Jealous? As far as I can tell, only Minnesota has a parking garage where you can park for free. Go Vikings! (*smirk*)) We all headed into the Convention Center to check out the Fur Affinity Convention for the first time. I hadn't been here since I had gone to a (*not telling*) convention with Carol a few years ago. She and I always liked that kind of thing and we had learned a lot of things about (*what?*) that helped us in the long run.

And now, a few years later, I was once again heading into this building with nine people that could finally feel “normal” without being judged. When the man at the ticket counter saw how many people already had pre-paid tickets, you could see the amazement on his face. He had obviously never seen this many people or furry creatures come in at the same time. Judging from his expression, he obviously didn't work here, so it was a little awkward when he had to wrap admission wristbands around the nine various-sized wrists to let us through. It was kind of comical to see him try to put a wristband on Seryn or Montblanc. Seryn's was so large and Montblanc's was so tiny that he had to adjust it so much that the only way to keep them on was to staple the ends together. The notches in the bands weren't made for creatures so large or so small, so the only way to keep them on was to staple the ends together in Seryn's case or staple numerous layers of plastic together in Montblanc's case.

Finally, we were all handed our ticket stubs and we were admitted into the building.

The convention center was packed! And it was only 1:30! thousands of artists and fans were scattered around the area, talking or showing off artwork to one another. Some of them were discussing trades while others were submitting commissions. There were computers every so often for some to show off their digital files while others were giving demonstrations for hand-drawn works. I could even make out a few people in fursuits scattered around the area. I knew that there was a Fursuit section on Fur Affinity, so that didn't really surprise me. What surprised me was we were already halfway across the floor and no one had said anything about my plushie friends.

The area was split into two areas divided by a tall, thick barrier that could be lowered from the halfway point in the ceiling to split up a conference. I could see the words “Adult Section” hanging on a banner across the barrier, which prompted me to turn to my friends.

“Listen up, plushies. Whatever you do, do not cross this barrier! There are all kinds of sick artists over there that would take advantage of you in a heartbeat. All of you are to stay in the “Tame” section no matter what, comprendé?”

They all looked among each other before all turning back to me and saying as one, “Yo comprendo!”

I nodded in return. “Okay then. You guys can split up and have a look around. Just don't cross this barrier or I will have to tell Aridos and Vega about this.”

But before they could, a curious artist walked up to our congregation and spoke to Seryn. “Excuse me, but you look a lot like the costumed people from the pictures that are all the rage on the site.” Seryn looked over at me and I nodded, telling her that she could reply.

I had no idea the impact that that simple nod created.

Seryn turned back to the man and nodded as well. “That's us, but we're the real deal. No costumes here, right, gang?”

They all replied in a way that the artist's face suddenly went white. At first, I thought it was fear, but then he took off running and screaming at the top of his voice, “THEY'RE HERE!!! THEY'RE HERE!!! shadowlugia249's PLUSHIES ARE HERE IN THE BUILDING!!! THEY'RE REALLY ALIVE AND THEY'RE ALL HERE!!!”

The casual chatter died down as the teen continued to run through the crowd, telling everyone about what he had seen. Suddenly, thousands of pairs of eyes were cast on our entire congregation near the barrier, unsure whether what they were seeing was real.

On a hunch, Renamon moved ever so slightly to grab my arm and pull me into the middle of the furry group, whispering. “Get in here. This is going to get hairy.” Pretty soon, I was surrounded by a shield of my plushie friends where I would be unable to get trampled by what happened next.

As soon as I was nestled in the center of them, the crowd suddenly went nuts. Practically every artist in the Tame section was pushing, shoving or shouting to get a peek at the plushies that had started an Internet revolution. Cameras flashed and popped in every direction as the people who were closest tried to get a decent picture of one or more of them.

Since they had never been in a crowd with this many people who wanted to see them before, every one of my plushies were scared and frightened of what the crowd could do to them or more importantly, me. They all grouped around me to protect their owner and Montblanc had to be lifted onto Renamon's shoulders to avoid getting trampled as well.

All the while, numerous questions were flying around the room from the various artists

“Are you really a living plushie?!”

“How can you move on your own?!”

“Will you sign my picture?!”

“Can I have a picture with you?!”

“Who was that person in the picture with you?!”

The stress of the questions and the situation seemed to be causing extra stress between Sidian and Blaziken, who were standing next to each other. They couldn't handle all of these questions and were starting to show signs that they were going to snap. I tried to get to them to stop them, but I was too mashed in the middle of all of them to stop them from doing the inevitable.

Before I could stop them, Sidian had reared back her head and let fly a savage roar that echoed all around the room while Blaziken's wrists had ignited and he also flung back his head to let loose a powerful Overheat attack straight at the ceiling. None of them meant any harm and Blaziken's Overheat did not set flame to anything, but they had gotten their desired effect. The people in the crowd screamed and all of them dropped down to the floor as though they were under fire or were being robbed.

To make their point even clearer, Sidian spoke in a savage bellow that was not like her. “THAT'S ENOUGH!!! THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF ALL OF YOU!!!”

Blaziken was suddenly engulfed with a huge flaming aura as he called out to the crowd, “We are not something to be gawked at or treated like celebrities! We're here to have a good time! If any of you want to talk to us, then you will do it like you would with any normal person!”

By now, the entire room had fallen quiet and even the people in the adult section had fallen silent. Sidian and Blaziken had yelled so loudly yet so clearly that almost no one didn’t understand what they were trying to say. They had all come to the convention to have fun and they weren't going to be harassed like celebrities with the paparazzi.

But out of all of the people who had hit the floor, only one of them had stood back up to face the “hostile” group. In fact, he was clapping politely at what he had just seen. He was clad in an orange-and-black-tie-dyed T-shirt and orange pants. There was a badge on his chest and a lot of people seemed to know who this was from the whispers that were coming from around the room.

All of my plushies turned to look at this man as he started making his way over to them. I couldn't get a better look at him because there was too much fur in-between us, but I could tell that he was coming closer.

On his way over, he grabbed a microphone that was connected to the main speakers. As he approached, he spoke into the mike as though he was congratulating us.

“Amazing! Purely and simply amazing! It seems that the rumors about you bunch are true. You really are the plushies that we've all heard so much about. What's even more, there are even more or you than what was first posted. I'm sure that your owner has been taking very good care of you. By the way, where is he?”

My friends looked amongst themselves before they split up to show me in the exact center of them. I was surprised at this sudden movement, but Seryn placed her paw on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “We'll protect you, Lance. Just say the word and we'll take you out of here.”

I shook my head lightly and whispered, “Just wait.” back to her.

The man finally reached the head of the crowd, he walked forward through the plushies, all the while, they kept their eyes on him, ready to protect me if anything were to happen.

He finally stopped in front of me and spoke into the mike. “You look a lot like the person posing in the pictures with your plushies. So you must be shadowlugia249, am I right?”

I wasn't sure how to respond to this, but I figured that since he seemed to understand who my friends were, it wouldn't hurt to answer him. “Yes, sir. My name is Lance Kane, but I go by the handle “shadowlugia249”. And these fine people...” I indicated them. “Are my nine living, breathing plushies.”

The man seemed to recognize Seryn, Blaziken and Sidian, but he didn't seem to know who the other six were. “That's strange. In the pictures, there were only three of them. The two lovely ladies over here...” He indicated Seryn and Sidian. “...and Mr. Macho over there. Where did you get these other six?”

I realized that Vega had made a strict statement not to say where they had come from. So I improvised and said, “Just a friend who builds them as a hobby.”

He seemed suspicious, but he did not pursue the topic. “They aren't going to hurt anyone, are they?”

I shook my head. “Only if they're trying to protect me. But otherwise, they're completely harmless.”

The man nodded and turned back to the crowd, who were all still on the floor. “It's okay, people. They won't hurt you, so you can get up.”

There were a number of relieved sighs and comments and everyone slowly got to their feet. The man then turned back to me and continued the interview.

“I suppose I should let you know that just these three...” He indicated them. “...and all those photos that you uploaded have created an uproar, not only on Fur Affinity but also over most of the Internet. There's a lot of rumors flying around that the photos were doctored, but no one could get a hold of you to confirm them.”

“Well, I've kind of been busy since then. I can assure you that these plushies are the real deal, no strings attached.”

“I see. Would you care to introduce them to us?”

I didn't see why not. “Sure. This is my very first plushie and my closest friend, Seryn the Flammie.” I went over to her and the man offered the mike to her. She blushed, unsure as to what to say.

“Go ahead,” I said, nudging her in her fluffy side. “Tell her about what we do.”

Seryn gulped and decided to chance it. “I'm pretty much the leader of the bunch. Lance and I have done so many things together. He's even allowed me to swallow him from time to time.”

There were a number of curious questions floating around the crowd. A fair number of them wrote about and drew vore from time to time, but they had never expected it to be real before.

“That's very interesting. Would you care to show us how you do that sometime today or tomorrow?”

A nod from me rekindled some of Seryn's confidence. “That's no problem at all. I'd be happy to eat him again for you all.”

There were a number of happy cheers from the vore-lovers around the room. A lot of them had waited a long time to see actual vore, and now it was a dream come true.

“Moving on, this impressive fighter looks just like a Blaziken from Pokémon.”

Blaziken actually chuckled and spoke into the microphone. “That's my name, actually.”

A number of laughs broke out as the man blushed a little. “Okay... And the lovely silvery dragoness here with the impressive voice is...?”

Sidian spread her wings impressively and said simply, “Sidian Silverhawke.”

The introductions continued with the rest of them. One by one, my plushies introduced themselves to the crowd. No one seemed to recognize Klonoa or Babus, though, since there wasn't any artwork of them on the site to begin with. Once they were all made, I decided to make a gamble for the benefit of our well-being.

“For the rest of the day, my friends will be spread out throughout the Tame section for people to take pictures with or draw if they choose. Consider it a treat from me.” They looked at me for a moment but then figured that they would not be abused while they were here or else I would take them somewhere safe until they felt well enough to come back.

So the ten of us split up into groups. Blaziken and Sidian went off in one direction to show off some of their special powers, Tails and Klonoa went to pose for some of the younger people, Yoshi went off on his own to tend to the Mario-lovers, Renamon went to an area for Digimon enthusiasts and Babus and Renamon went to those who dabbled in Final Fantasy. Most of them had never seen a Moogle like Montblanc before and they were curious to learn about Nu Mou firsthand, so they would be right at home with them.

Seryn and I, however, went into a different room to hold true to my promise to show them a little vore to those who wanted to see it. We took the stage standing hand-in-paw while a crowd gathered for the main event. We were going to show them some real vore for the first time in their lives. Strangely enough, Seryn didn't feel embarrassed at all. She was in a place where people would understand what she was going to do and she could do it without being judged.

Once there were enough people for a proper crowd, Seryn and I took the stage. At first, Seryn prepared the crowd by showing off her ability to create her own clothes from nothing. She acted like a supermodel by making different types of clothing appear on her furry body and posing before she simply ripped them off and then ate them without a second opinion. After each of these acts, the people would politely applaud before we moved onto the next one.

After four or so such presentations, we were about to move onto the main event when a curious fan raised her hand and asked a simple question: “Can you fly?”

Seryn had never been asked to fly for someone before, but I didn't see why she shouldn't be able to. I even told her to do what she did the very first time that we went out for a flight. So she spread each of her four wings and began to collect energy like she had back during her first full moon, causing her to grow to an amazing size. Not only that, but her fur became much brighter and her form was that much more beautiful. People were snapping away with their cameras or trying to film the amazing transformation as she went from seven feet tall with three feet of tail to well over 20 feet tall and seven feet of tail.

Then as an added bonus, she scooped me up with her enormous paw and settled me on her back. The arena was large enough that she wouldn't be able to fly far, but she could fly long enough with me on her back to impress the crowd.

What she did was so amazing that I can barely describe it in words. She stole the hearts of almost everyone in the room with her amazing display. And the sparkling lights that danced off of her wings seemed to light up the place as though the moon was shining right in the room.

When we were done, Seryn was about to change back to her original size when I suddenly had an idea. Before I slid off her back, I whispered in her ear what I had in mind. She actually liked it and whispered back to me, “You never cease to amaze, do you, love?”

She then shrunk back to her original size and we were almost ready to begin the vore part of our presentation. But before we began, I had a small warning to give to everyone.

“Keep in mind that Seryn will only be doing this to me. She will not be doing favors after this, so as her owner, I am going to keep her safe. It's just that she trusts me with her life, but it's a different story with other people. I apologize for this.”

There were a number of disappointing groans from the fans who had wanted to experience getting a feeling of vore for themselves. But they knew that rules were rules, so they soon got over it.

“But before I volunteer to get eaten alive, Seryn will be doing something special for me. When I come back out, you will be more than amazed of what she can do. Seryn, if you would please...”

Seryn nodded and stepped behind me before licking her chops and then lowering her head. But instead of eating me, she plunged her fangs into my neck like a vampire. Like before I could feel the special liquid entering my system. This was the chemical that would turn me into a living, breathing Flammie Plushie after I had had some time to incubate inside the warmth and comfort of Seryn's belly. It would take some time, so I informed everyone that they may take pictures and/or feel her belly while I was inside.

The moment Seryn had bitten me, there had been a collective gasp from the crowd. However, not one drop of blood flowed from the wound and she removed her muzzle from me, completely bone-dry.

“Seryn and I have done this numerous times prior to this, so you have nothing to worry about. She has just injected me with a special fluid, the effect of which will be revealed shortly.”

There was a polite round of applause again as Seryn and I stood with a short distance between us. For a moment, there was utter silence before I said to everyone, “And now, the main event – live vore! Make a meal out of me, Seryn!”

Seryn nodded and chirped happily, “With pleasure.” And just like countless people had written about and drawn out, Seryn's mouth opened super-wide before she closed them on my body. There was a gasp of horror as she pulled me clean off the floor. To add to the drama, I flailed a little, even though by now, Seryn had yet to inflict even a scratch on me.

Cameras flashed and people were chattering away as Seryn continued to swallow me bit by bit. None of them had ever expected to see actual live vore for themselves. A few of them even had video cameras playing as they watched this impossible event. Seryn seemed to be enjoying the attention and drew out my “suffering” for as long as possible.

Finally, she swallowed my boots whole with a slurp of her eraser-like tongued dropping me clean into her stomach, which was now rather distended. There were a number of curious reactions from the sight of her current state. Her belly was large, but some of the people who did vore realized that it wasn't as large as they had originally thought. In fact, it looked like she was a little rounder than a pregnant woman would be, but not by much. A lot of them continued to take pictures while others took notes and others started drawing sketches of what they were seeing.

One of the people asked the obvious question, which I barely heard with the distance and the thickness of the padding around me. “Is he still alive? I mean, it's not vore unless he's alive, right?”

Seryn purred a little and I felt her patting her round belly above me. “He's very much alive. Tell them, love.”

I was starting to lose feeling in my body from the chemical working through my body, but I managed to shout out, “I'm all right. I'm a-a-all right! It's dark in here, but it's very warm and comfortable, though!”

Seryn knew that I was fading fast, but she needed to give me time for the chemical to change my body, so she bought time by stepping carefully down from the stage and said, “Who wants to give my tummy a rub?”

Just then, I finally lost consciousness. It was fortunate that I had, because the number of pats and rubs I was getting from the crowd would have made it rather uncomfortable for the first time in here.

I was out for about fifteen minutes this time – about half of what it took me to change last time – before Seryn informed that group that I was awake and my big surprise was ready to be revealed. There was a roar of approval from the crowd as Seryn carried me back up to the stage and got ready to cough up a brand-new Flammie Plushie.

Seryn raised her paws for silence and then began the rather dramatic procedure of expelling me out of her system. I felt the familiar feeling of her fluctuating stomach as I began to head back up her throat. She opened her mouth wide and spat me clean out of her system like a snake regurgitating its meal. I came out completely dry and safe, but this time, I was now in the form of a second Flammie Plushie. I noticed that she had changed my fur coloring into a shadowy-violet shade with crimson hair and feathers, blue pads and talons and two fangs sticking out of the top of each side of my muzzle. I reminded myself of the first “evil” Flammie waaay back in the very first Secret of Mana known as the “Mana Beast”. And although I wasn't evil in the slightest, I sure looked intimidating.

As soon as I touched down, I spread all four of my wings and let out a shrill note to make a point to everyone around me. The resulting applause was nearly enough to take the roof off the room. They were so impressed with our presentation that they all wanted to take a picture or a memory of what they had seen home with them. And to show that I was not just in a costume, I stepped down into the crowd and allowed them to get a feel for themselves. They were so excited to see a creature like me that I even posed with a few of them to get pictures taken. I even signed a few pieces of paper by licking my sticking my paw in my mouth before pulling it out, evenly coated in ink without any way of knowing how I did that and then slapped a few pawprints and then used my talons to sketch my signature for them. Seryn even repeated the procedure without even knowing how she did it, either, and sighed people's shirts, sketches or simply a piece of paper for all of our loving fans.

Finally, we managed to get a break and get out of the room to meet with the rest of our plushie friends so we could be the ones looking around the convention for once. But while the others were looking around, Seryn and I decided to head outside and fly around the city together since we were already Flammie Plushies. There was no sense in wasting what little time we had together like this indoors. This was only the third time that I had become a demi-plushie, and the novelty of it hadn't yet worn off, so I wasn't going to pass by an opportunity like this.

As soon as we got back into the parking garage, Seryn and I headed to the roof and then took flight. We were enjoying ourselves so much that we barely spoke to each other from the feeling of the wind on our fur. We had done this before, but it was just so enjoyable to be able to do this by ourselves.

Seryn and I soared over the Twin Cities, well above the highest skyscraper, enjoying the feeling of the wind under our wings. It was really something to fly by yourself up here with nothing holding you up or keeping you restrained. The fact that we could move anywhere at anytime made this even more enjoyable. We were truly lords of the skies.

Then from out of nowhere, Seryn flew up to me and locked her front paws with mine in a vicegrip and pulled me into a vertical climb straight above the cities.

“Seryn, what...?”

Seryn simply gave my face a lick and smiled at me. Whispering in my ear, she said just four words: “Do you trust me?”

I then realized what she was doing. I had heard about draconic creatures pulling off this move before, but I never expected it to happen to me. I smiled back at her and purred happily.

“With my life, love. Wherever you go, I go. Fly me to the moon!”

Seryn chuckled. “To the moon it is, then!”

And with that, she increased her speed with me holding on as we climbed higher and higher. The altitudes we were reaching were way beyond anything any mortal creature could survive. Frost was forming in our fur and feathers, but still we climbed to the heavens. If we had been mortal creatures, the lack of pressure and oxygen would have killed us, but since we did not breathe like mortal creatures and our skin allowed the pressure difference to flow through us, we were not affected. In fact, by this time, we had closed our eyes, putting our complete faith in each other to keep climbing until the time was just right. We were going to be the first creatures to do this and share the experience with all of our friends. If only Sidian could see us now; she would give the stuffing in her body to feel this for herself!

Finally, Seryn and I stopped climbing. The frost on our fur and wings was weighing us down too much to keep continuing further. And once we broke even, we opened our eyes to look at what we had done the impossible to see.

An infinite space of stars stretched across what little sky there was left. Even though it was daytime down on earth, the night sky shone brightly with millions and millions of stars winking down at us. They seemed happy that we were the first ones to see them like this as they sparkled and twinkled all around us. Not even the most cloudless night sky in my parents' farm could compare to this. There was no blue to drown out the infinite expanse of stars that were now shining above us, opening up a new perspective that only the best of the best telescopes could see.

“They're... beautiful...” I said, smiling at Seryn and looking into her eyes. “They remind me of your eyes. All of those stars glimmer in those endless pools inside your head.”

Seryn smiled and gave my face a lick, but I couldn't feel it as well due to the ice on my face. “And your eyes are like two glowing stars with all the power and beauty of fire glowing inside them.”

I knew that she was talking about my changed eyes in my Flammie form, but I knew that she meant every word of it. Here we were in an impossible situation and it was here that we each realized how much we loved each other. And as the stars were our witnesses, the two of us locked lips in a furry kiss as we turned upside-down, folded our wings and began to drop down towards the earth. As we fell, a shooting star streaked over us, sealing our pact once and for all. We had been cosmically united in marriage that no force on earth could tear apart. Forget the vows and the oaths. The legal and personal issues meant nothing. We did not need a priest or a ring. There was nothing about this union that was traditional in any way. As the stars were our witnesses, we had been cosmically joined together in a marriage that defied all common logic. We did not care that we were of different species or even of different substances. The fact that we loved each other and had shown it in the wake of the stars and in the presence of God himself, we would never be separated for as long as we lived. And although I would soon change back to a human, our love would be just as strong as it ever was. We were one spiritual body now and not even the most powerful of judges or priests could tear the bond that we now shared apart.

We remained locked together by our muzzles as we plummeted towards the earth. We were not going fast enough to tear our bodies apart from the friction, but we were going fast enough that we appeared like a sparkling shooting star that many would look up and see in the night sky in other parts of the world.

We continued to fall, finally breaking our liplock and then looking down at the approaching earth. Since our eyes were machine-made, we were able to keep them open against the fierce winds blowing past us. As the surface approached, Seryn looked at me with a serene look on her face.

“Are you ready, my love? Do you trust me?”

I smiled and continued to hold onto her paws with my life. “As long as the stars are shining, I will never lose my trust in you. Whenever you're ready, let us separate this one cosmic body for the first time.”

The city was coming up fast, but we didn't separate until the absolute last second. We were barely 100 feet above the streets of Minneapolis when we finally released each other and flew off in different directions and down different streets. We then turned at the next pair of intersections and came around to meet each other again. This time, we flew side-by-side straight back to the parking garage outside the convention center to begin our newly-united existence anew.

The instant I touched down on the roof, I felt my strength give out. Seryn quickly caught me and helped hold onto me while my body started to change back into its human form and consistency. As the fur receded into my body and my eyes went from deep, red, starry globes back into round, simple, brown irises with a small black pupil in the centers, I never looked away from my new mate.

No, we were not husband and wife like you would expect. We had been united in a cosmic way and we deserved the best name that could be given to us in that way. The only word that was even close to what we were now was “mates”. Criticize us all you want, but that's what we were, no questions asked.

With the fur and the feathers, my strength was going with it. This human body was so weak and frail and since I had been in little to no gravity for who-knows-how-long, I was feeling the effects of vertigo. Seryn, however, wasn't going to leave me hanging. She scooped me up in her arms and planted a furry kiss on my forehead before breathing a gentle, blue Flammie Breath on my face.

As I drifted off to sleep, Seryn crooned in my ear, “Sleep tight, my new mate. When you awaken, we will begin our new life with all-new meaning.” Those were the last words I heard before I was gently escorted back to the Dream World for some much-needed comfort.

As her new mate fell asleep in her arms, Seryn felt that it would be inappropriate to carry him back to the convention in her belly. So she simply held him close to her stuffed heart and carried him down two levels of the garage to Lance's SUV. She had a feeling that he would sleep just fine in there while she went to go fetch the others.

Working the handle open with her tail, she entered the magically-enhanced vehicle to find that all of their customized seats had become customized beds. Seryn's was easily the largest and softest of them all, but the others were not far behind. Blaziken's bed consisted of a cotton-lined nest with a built-in heater for his warm body. Sidian's nest was pretty much unchanged, so there was no surprise there. Tails' bed simply looked like a twin-sized bed that any human child would sleep in as well as Klonoa's, which was slightly wider to accommodate his large, dangling ears. Yoshi's looked like a nest as well being comprised of scraps of clothing around a central area. Renamon's was built into the wall and had a small door to keep out the sunlight. She was a creature of stealth and secrecy, so it only made sense that she had a small, dark area to sleep in. Babus and Montblanc had a bunk-bed with the smaller bed, being the Moogle's on the top and the larger bed, being Babus' on the bottom.

Seryn smiled and carried him to her impressive mattress and noticed that there was a curtain around the bed. Chuckling to herself, she set him down on the soft mass and tucked him in before kissing him good night and then whispering to him.

“Good night, my love. I'll be back with the others before you know it.”

And with that, she left the SUV, pausing at the door to look back at him and then heading back to the convention to collect the others.

It took about an hour for her to locate all eight of them and tell them to head back to the car for some shuteye. Their fans were disappointed to see them go, but they knew that they would be back in the morning. It was late and they all needed to get their sleep so that they would be ready for the next day.

So with Seryn leading, they all headed back to the car and after checking out their custom-made beds, they all turned in for the night. However, Babus and Montblanc decided to do a little catching up with their potion making, so they sealed off their area with a black barrier to keep out the sounds and keep the light to a minimum while they tinkered into the night with a potion Montblanc was eager to try.

Babus and Montblanc seemed to work like robots when they were busy because when Seryn woke up in the middle of the night, she saw that the barrier was still up and they were tinkering away with their potion.

Just then, the barrier was lowered as Babus stepped out into the main room, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“You keep working on that. I need to get some fresh air.”

“Kupo!” chirped Montblanc as he continued mixing ingredients.

Babus then opened the side door and stepped out into the deserted garage to get some air. Seryn suddenly couldn't sleep and got up out of bed to go join him. Lance was sleeping peacefully and she figured that a little fresh air wouldn't hurt her, either.

Babus was walking up to the garage roof where he would be able to look over the city without his height disadvantage being a problem. Seryn gave him a few minutes head start and then followed him. When she got up there, she found Babus sitting on the hood of a car looking over the city. Seryn sighed and went up to stand next to him.

Babus noticed her and engaged the Flammie in conversation. “Can't sleep, Seryn?”

Seryn cooed and shook her head. “No. After the excitement of today, I still feel all energetic inside.”

“You and me both. Montblanc and I don't have an ounce of sleep in us, so we were working on a special potion well into the night.”

“What could be so special about it that you'd still be up at 3:00 in the morning?”

Babus sighed. “Strangely enough, it's a potion that's supposed to turn plushies into real-life creatures. But we can't seem to get it right for some reason.”

Seryn blinked. “I think you'd better tell Lance about that before you finish it.”

“Why's that?”

“Because life as a plushie is so much more beneficial than a life as a flesh-and-blood creature.”

Babus looked at her. “Explain, please.”

Seryn shook her head. “You've been alive for how long now?”

Babus did the math in his head. “A little over 18 hours.”

Seryn nodded. “And have you ever though about what we plushies can do that normal creatures can't?”

“You know... I never did. Why is that?”

“Well, the rest of us have been alive for days and some of us, weeks, and we love our lives the way we are. Plushies can survive underwater or at high altitudes because they don't need to breathe, per se. Our bodies can heal themselves faster than a real creature's. And above all, we're all immortal. Try comparing that to a real creature.”

Babus thought about it for a moment before giving his response. “You know, you're right. I never thought about it that way before. I guess I should pull the plug on that potion before we finish it.”

“I think you should leave the real magical miracles to Aridos and Vega. They've done this way more often than you have.”

Babus shrugged. “I guess so. I guess it's just in my blood.”

Seryn smirked and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “What blood?”

The two of them broke out laughing, enjoying the plushie joke. Life was good for them and it wasn't over by a long shot.

“By the way, Seryn, what were you and Lance doing earlier today? We heard that you made an impression in your presentation, but then you disappeared and no one could find you or Lance.”

Seryn was about to answer when the sounds of the city were broken by a massive BOOOOOOM!!! that sounded so close that They could feel the ground rumbling beneath them.

“What was that?!” Seryn said once the rumbling had passed. “I think I'm a little deaf now.”

“What?!” yelled Babus, shaking his ears out. Since his were much larger, his hearing had been affected much more than Seryn's had.

Seryn knew that he couldn't hear her, so she blew a small pair of puffs of blue Flammie Breath. The two wisps floated in the air before working their way into Babus' ears, restoring his hearing.

“Thanks, Seryn. But...” He looked over his shoulder. “That was no ordinary explosion. I'm surprised that the garage is still standing from that much force.”

“I don't think that was an ordinary explosion. It sounded...”

“...magical...” Babus finished for her.

The two of them looked at each other, both reaching the same conclusion: “Montblanc.”

Seryn immediately picked Babus up, tucked him under her arm and headed back down two levels to where Lance's SUV was still standing. But even in the near-complete darkness, they could smell something very foul and rancid that shouldn't have been there. Add that to the plumes of colored smoke wafting through the doors and windows and something very wrong had happened inside.

“That doesn't look good,” said Seryn, coughing a little from the smell of the burnt potion.

“Knowing Montblanc...” said Babus, tugging at his armlets to get ready for whatever was inside. “...he probably mixed two highly-volatile ingredients and messed the whole batch up. I just hope that the damage to the others isn't irreversible.

They had a moment to get ready for what lay beyond the door to the unknown and then opened the door to the SUV and headed inside. There was no way that any of the plushies or Lance could have slept through that explosion, but Babus was just worried what the potion had done to them when it had exploded. The inside was completely black and a smell of burning fur hung in the air.

“Is everyone okay in here?” said Babus, holding his robe over his nose and looking around.

“You know...” said a voice that sounded like Sidian's. “I've slept through some loud things, kupo, but I've never slept through something that loud, kupopo.”

Since Seryn didn't have a nose, per se, she didn't need to cover her muzzle to keep the noxious fumes out of her system. And since she could choose when and/or where to breathe, she was not at risk of inhaling any thing deadly.

“Lance, baby, are you still breathing in there?”

“I think so, kupo. It's kind of hard to tell in this smoke, but I've been through worse days than this, kupo.”

“Can someone turn on the lights?” kupoed Blaziken. “I can't see a thing in here!”

Seryn's ears were echoing with the word “kupo” as she searched for a light switch. Why was everyone saying it when Montblanc was the only one who was the Moogle in here?

Once the lights were on, the smoke went with it, but the interior was still full of black soon from the explosion. But what Seryn and Babus saw around the area both made sense of what Seryn had heard and alarmed Babus enough for his eyes to fly wide open.

Just from a quick glance around, Seryn counted one... two... three... four... five... six... seven... eight Moogles scattered all around the room! And since the only Moogle that had been in here to start with was Montblanc, the fact that there were eight of them seemed to defy logic. With the exception of Montblanc, they were looking at group of Moogle septuplets. They had all been Moogled by the explosion!

But there was a distinct difference between all of them that made some sense on who was who. Everyone's pompoms and wings were all different colors, but the shock of what the others saw when they realized that they were all Moogles was evident.

A Moogle with a white pompom spoke in Lance's exact voice. “KUPO!!! What happened to me, kupo?! AAUGH!!! Why am I saying “kupo”, kupo! Aw, screw it, kupo!” He then shut his mouth and refused to say anything.”

“And why is Lance a real Moogle while the rest of us are plushies, kupo?” said a Moogle with a red pompom that sounded a lot like Blaziken.

“I think whatever happened, kupopo, didn't affect our chemical makeup,” kupoed a Moogle with a silver pompom, obviously sounding like Sidian.

“Waaah!!! I've been Moogled, kupo!” complained one with a yellow pompom, obviously Tails. “What happened to all of us?! Now I don't even have a tail, kupo!”

“I'm a pipsqueak!” kupoed one with a black pompom, which sounded a lot like Klonoa. “I'm even smaller than normal, kupo! Now I have to wear my ring like a belt instead of holding it!”

“You think you have it rough, kupo,” said one with a green pompom – Yoshi. “Try growing fur when you never had a single hair on you, kupopo!”

“This is very embarrassing,” kupoed the last one with a purple one, matching Renamon's voice to a “T”. “I'm at a serious size disadvantage here, kupo. And a speech impediment doesn't help, either.”

Montblanc was the only one who hadn't said anything. He had had to listen to all of their putdowns of being a Moogle, but he hadn't said a word. He was torn between disappointment of hearing all the “bad” things of being a Moogle and the embarrassment that he had caused the entire group to be Moogled. Babus noticed the only True Moogle with his arms crossed and his face in a pouting position and walked across the room to comfort him.

“I'm guessing this was all an accident, Montblanc,” he said gently. “But you need to understand that they're all new to this.”

But Montblanc seemed upset about something else. He scoffed and looked up at Babus with the first frown that he had ever seen on his face. “I screwed up, kupo, but why did they have to turn into Moogles? I'm supposed to be the only Moogle in the group, but if they're all Moogles, kupo, then where's my originality? I'm just another average plushie now.”

Babus sighed and sat down next to the pouting plushie. “It's okay, Montblanc. We'll fix this soon enough and then you'll be back to being the only Moogle in the group.”

Montblanc knew that he meant every word of it and smiled slightly, getting over his mood. “Kupo! Is suppose we'd better get going on the cure, huh?”

Lance looked over at Seryn rather embarrassingly. “Now how am I supposed to be your mate, Seryn? You're five times bigger than me!”

Seryn smiled pitifully and sat down next to him. “It's okay, love. We'll get this ironed out in a while. In the meantime, would you...” She whispered something in his ear. Apparently, he liked what she had in mind and nodded. “Kupo! (Oy...) Make me a mini meal, love!” Seryn then plucked Lance up by the back of his tunic, opened her mouth and gently lowered him inside, swallowing him whole and then slurping up his pompom like a meatball on a noodle.

But she had no idea what she had just started. The black pompom Moogle which was Klonoa looked over at the massive Flammie and his whiskers twitched curiously. “You know, in this form, that doesn't seem like a bad idea, kupopo. I've always wanted to be eaten alive, but I never got the chance to try it out. Can you eat me, too, Seryn?” He walked up to her, much to her surprise.

Seryn had never been put in this situation before, but then again, her “meals” had never been this high in number and/or this small in size. Smiling, she nodded to Klonoa.

“Okay, love. In you go!” She then scooped him up and let him slide down her silken throat to join Lance in her belly. She then turned to the other Moogled plushies and said, “Anyone else?”

The remaining Moogles except for Montblanc seemed to be considering this rare treat before they all gathered around Seryn, bouncing up and down to be eaten.

“Eat me, Flammie!” kupoed Blaziken,

“I didn't get enough last time, kupo!” said Sidian, flapping her wings happily.

“Lance and Klonoa shouldn't get all the kupo fun,” barked Tails.

“I wanna see what it's like to be at the wrong end of a side dish, kupopo!” whined Yoshi.

“Maybe this won't be so bad, kupo, but I want to see for myself,” said Renamon politely raising her arms.

Seryn chuckled. “Well just look at all you little dinners just wanting to get in your mama's belly! I think I can make room for you all. One at a time, though.”

So one by one, she began to devour each of the Moogled plushies, savoring their unique flavors with satisfaction before moving onto the next one. Most of them cheered and/or squealed as they moved down her throat and collected in her belly along with Lance and Klonoa. It was like literally having butterflies in her stomach from all the wriggling around that they were doing inside her. She was being tickled so badly by all of them moving around that she was on her back, laughing, kicking her legs and fighting back tears that were welling up in her eyes.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha! Quit moving in there! You're – (squeal) – tickling me! It's too much – ha-ha-ha – to bear! I-I think I'm gonna be sick!”

She hadn't counted on all of these wings and whiskers tickling her so much from the inside. And while she looked much fuller than Lance did on his own, she wasn't as bloated as she was when two of them were inside her. Her stomach was moving around with all of the Moogles climbing all over each other, trying to get comfortable. She felt that she was going to laugh herself to death when the tickling feeling finally settled down enough that she could sit up and wipe the tears from her eyes.

“They're obviously having a lot of fun in there,” she said, still smiling from laughter. “I never knew how much that many plushies inside of me tickled before.”

Babus chuckled and came over to speak to the Moogles in her bloated belly. “Okay, guys, you be good in there while we try to find a way to change you back! We don't want Seryn laughing herself to death out here!”

“Okey-dokey, kupo!” came a muffled voice that sounded like Tails.

“We'll be good!” said Yoshi.

“We'll go to sleep and be good little babies!” came Klonoa's kupoed voice.

“Don't you worry about us, kupo!” said Sidian.

“We'll be quiet, kupopo!” said Blaziken. “Now let's get some sleep!”

Lance, and Renamon were already asleep and preparing for a brand-new day in their plushie adventure. They might not be able to return to the convention like this, but at least they would all be comfortable inside their “mother's” belly for the rest of the night.

Chapter 11: On and Eon

Plushies #10a and #10b – 6 remain

17 days until deadline

Aridos was just waking up when he heard Vega on the phone with someone. He was taking notes on a notepad on the other end of the room and was checking with different ingredients around the lab.

“...I don't think that anything we've got can change them all back anytime soon. I'll have to check with Aridos when he wakes up. Maybe he knows something that I don't.” He paused, listening to the person on the other end. “I'm sorry, but not even your books will have anything to change them back in an untimely manner. You'll have to tell the others when they wake up that we're strapped for answers over here.”

“Who're you talkin' to?” said Aridos, rolling out of bed and walking over to Vega.

Vega asked the person on the other end to hold on before he put a paw over the speaker and said, “It seems that Lance and his friends had a little mishap with one of Babus and Montblanc's potions and everyone but Seryn and them were turned into Moogles in some way or another. We're trying to figure out a way to change them back, but the only way that I can do it is during the next full moon. And that isn't for another two weeks.”

Aridos looked over Vega's notes for a moment before he had an idea. “Keep 'em talking. I've got something that might work.”

Vega returned to the phone while Aridos headed out to the main shop to check and see if any of Lance's remaining plushies could help. He had lined them all up on a shelf and scanned over them to see if he could make an exception and send one ahead for now.

Strangely enough, the next two plushies in the series seemed to have just the powers he needed to help them. And what was even stranger was that they both came in a “compact” form similar to Yoshi and Renamon when he had sent them out. Ain't that a co-inky-dink?

Aridos plucked the small item off the shelf and carried it back to the back room. This small item contained not one, but two plushies for Lance's ever-growing family. But for some reason, his superior had labeled them as just one item. It must have been because they were so close to each other that they were almost one entire being, but he couldn't quite be sure about that.

But unfortunately, he could only send it by Air Mail straight back to Lance's mother's house. The only reason Babus and Montblanc had gotten sent elsewhere was because there had been a glitch in the system that had sent them 20 miles in the wrong direction. He would have to tell Lance that they would be waiting for him when he got back. He highly doubted that they would stay at the convention due to their “conditions”.

Taking the phone from Vega, Aridos spoke to the caller, which sounded like Babus' voice. “Babus? Are you there?”

“Yes, sir,” said Babus on the other end. “Is there something that you can do for the others? They can't stay as Moogles forever, but I don't think that the potion will wear off like most of them do.”

“Don't worry about it,” said Aridos, looking at the item in his other hand. “I'll be sending something back to Lance's mother's house via Air Mail by the time you get back.”

“Get back?” Babus didn't like the sound of that. “Can't you send it to us directly?”

Aridos sighed and shook his head. “Not this time. I can only send things through Air Mail directly to Lance's current home. The only reason why you and Montblanc were sent a different way was because...”

“There was a glitch,” finished Babus. “I figured as much. We'll just have to find a way to get us home without Lance driving.”

“You'll have to do that, I'm afraid. Don't worry, though; when you get back, the plushies I'm sending will be able to cure everyone after you release them. Be careful, though. Once they have used their healing powers once, it will take some time for them to get the strength to do it again.”

“We'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Aridos. I'll go tell Seryn and the others.”

And with that, they both hung up and we about their jobs of sending or receiving the item that would cure Lance and the Moogled plushies. Aridos would give them a couple hours' head start before he sent the item. There was no point in sending it ahead of schedule when they wouldn't be home until later. In the meantime, he decided to do a little research on the pair of plushies that he was sending them. It was odd that there would be two of them in this small item but they would only count as one.

Babus hadn't been using an actual cell phone to call Plush Paradise but had enhanced the spiked ball on his mace to pick up wireless signals just like a cell phone would normally do. He could then intercept some of those radio waves and talk to Aridos and Vega through the orb kind of like a crystal ball could contact the dead. True, he wasn't that experienced with his magic, but he was learning quickly and this little piece of magic wasn't too difficult to learn how to use.

He finally hung up and broke the spell that kept his mace connected to the wireless world before heading over to Seryn's bed where the bloated Flammie lied still sleeping with all seven Moogled Moogles inside of her and crouching down next to her. He figured that it would be too much hassle to try and explain everything to them when they woke up, so he took a shortcut and placed a spike on his mace to his temple for a moment. After a few seconds, he withdrew the mace, but this time, there was a silvery strand of what appeared to be solid light trailing from it. He then wrapped said light around his mace, watching it absorb it and glow a bright silver color. After that, he placed the ball of the mace on Seryn's forehead and muttered a few indistinguishable words to himself. The light then siphoned off the mace and entered Seryn's plushie skull.

His job done, he went to go lie on his bottom bunk, listening to Montblanc purring in his sleep in the bunk above him. When Seryn woke up, she and everyone else would know what Aridos had told him about being able to change back with the help of the two new plushies waiting for them when they got home. Now the only trouble was finding some way to drive all the way back home without Lance at the helm. It was still early, so he decided to catch a few winks before the others woke up. He had been up all night and he was rather beat after the events that had played out.

He had barely drifted off to sleep when Seryn was awoken by one of the Moogles in her belly rolled over, tickling her tummy with one of their whiskers. She was smiling as she opened her eyes and rubbed her bloated belly with satisfaction, feeling the Moogles snoozing inside her. She had never felt so full and satisfied before, which was saying something since her belly had been more extended than this before. The fact that she had been able to cram six Moogled plushies and a Moogled human inside her made her feel satisfied and happy that she was giving her “kids” a warm, soft place to sleep.

Seryn rolled her head to one side and saw that Babus had finally gotten some time to go to sleep as well. She automatically knew what he had “told” her and the others about the plushies that could turn them all back to their old forms. She wasn't witness to the event, but she didn't doubt that Babus had found a way to tell them all the situation in their sleep. Now the only problem was being able to drive the magically-enhanced SUV the 60 miles back to Lance's house with her kids snoozing away inside her belly.

On a hunch, Seryn rolled carefully onto all fours, her bloated belly sagging only a few inches from the carpeted floor. She then crawled on all fours to each of the plushies' beds and carefully extracted the corresponding one out of her stomach and set them down in their correct spots. Amazingly, she didn't wake any of the ones she had already expelled or the ones still snoozing inside her.

Saving the best for last, Seryn finally pushed herself onto all fours, her distended belly now barely distinguishable with only one Moogle still sleeping inside her and went over to her spot before expelling Lance out onto her cotton-lined bed. He was sleeping just as soundly as before and she was able to give him a furry kiss on the forehead before sliding into the driver's seat and turning on the SUV. She had never driven before, but she had seen Lance do it a number of times, and since she knew everything about him, she felt confident that they would make it home in one piece.

Carefully pulling out of the parking garage, she drove down two levels before getting back into the main streets of the city. Driving was easier than she thought, but she didn't count her plushies before they awoke as she carefully maneuvered through the Twin Cities before getting on the freeway and heading back to Lance's house. She was careful to obey the laws of the road. Technically, she didn't have a driver's license and any officer pulling over a living, breathing Flammie Plushie would be immediately suspicious of her actions.

Thankfully, she was able to drive all the way back home and pull into the driveway without anyone awakening or without her getting into an accident. She also noticed that Brenda and Dean had already left for work, taking the dogs with them like always. At least she wouldn't have to tell Brenda why her son or most of his friends were now three-foot furballs.

Once she shut off the SUV, she carefully slid back into her bed and curled up next to her Moogled mate. lending him her warmth and taking a small catnap before the others woke up. She was just going to rest her eyes after the excitement last night. When Lance woke up, he would figure everything out and life would go on, hopefully without incident.

I must have been even more tired than I had first thought after that explosion because the next thing I knew, I was outside Seryn's belly once again and was curled up in her modified “nest” with the Flammie curled up next to me. I was still a Moogle along with most of the other plushies, but I was glad that Seryn was curled up with me like the true friend that she was.

But I was rather well-rested now and decided to get up and find some way to get us home. I slid out of Seryn's grasp and climbed up on the dashboard. But what I saw seemed to be all but impossible.

We were back at Mom and Dean's house! But... how could that be? I know I wasn't the one behind the wheel, and since the others were too small to reach the steering wheel and the pedals at the same time, there was only one other person who could have driven us all the way home.

Looking at Seryn, I was surprised to learn that she had gotten behind the wheel and had gotten us all the way home without any of us waking up. I knew she was smart, but I never knew that she would find some way to drive. It just didn't seam feasible!

Then again, she did know everything about me, including how to drive a car, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that she actually mimicked me behind the wheel and was able to drive us home without getting pulled over or getting into an accident. Go figure.

Now that I had gotten that out of my system, I hopped back down on top of Seryn and pushed on her side with my tiny paws, crooning in her ear to get her to wake up.

“Seryn.... time to wake up, kupo.”

Seryn mumbled a few things I couldn't make up and then pawed at the place where she thought I was. Finding nothing, she seemed to realize that I wasn't there and opened her eyes. At first, she looked worried that I wasn't there, but I pushed on her again and then hopped back down in front of her.

“Good morning, kupo! You know, you will never cease to amaze me, Seryn. You actually got behind the wheel and drove the 60 miles out of the city and all the way home without waking us up, kupo?”

Seryn smiled and nodded sideways as she wrapped her massive paw around my tiny frame. “You bet your pompom, love. I just took what I knew about you and went from there. Pretty good for a first-timer, eh?”

I nodded and buried my muzzle in her plated chest. “Not too bad at all, kupo. The others don't even suspect a thing. They'll all wake up without any memory of me behind the wheel.”

“That was you driving us home, kupo?” said another voice from behind us. Turning around, we saw a Moogle with a purple pompom lying on its back and kicking its legs, looking up at the ceiling. “You certainly had me fooled.”

“You were awake this whole time, Renamon?” said Seryn, looking impressed.

“Not the whole time, kupo, but long enough.” She finally sat up and shook her furry head. “I just hope that we meet the next two plushies soon, kupopo, because this “kupo” thing is kind of getting on my nerves, kupo.” She sighed at that last word and went to the side door before hopping up to grab the handle and then swinging out with the open door before heading outside.

“I guess I'd better go see if Aridos sent anything while we were gone,” I kupoed, following after her. “I'll see you in a bit.

Seryn nodded and went about the task of waking everyone else up and explaining the situation.

Meanwhile, I found that life at this height was something I never expected to have to deal with before. I wondered just how on earth Montblanc or even Tails and Klonoa could deal with life at this height. I guess they could manage, but I would probably never get used to this.

In the meantime, I followed Renamon over to the front door and hopped up the stairs while she opened the door for me. We then headed inside and began looking for the next two plushies in my series.

I had been hoping that the plushies would already be here, but there was absolutely no one else in the house other than the two of us. I had no idea where to look for them, either. Every step in the house presented its own challenge and it took much longer to get to a different level than it should have. Renamon seemed to have no trouble hopping up each step, but since I didn't jump very high, I had to climb over the edge of each step to get anywhere.

It wasn't until we decided to search my old room that we came up with something. On top of my bed was a small box with the label, “Lance Kane and Co. From Plush Paradise” stamped on the front of it.”

“Well, at least we found it, kupo,” said Renamon, rolling her eyes at her speech impediment. “Now we need to gut up there.”

“How about you lift me up on your shoulders?” I kupoed. “I can climb up from there and then come back down with the box, kupo.”

Renamon couldn't come up with a better idea, so she allowed me to climb on top of her and push me as high as she could for me to climb on the bed. It was just enough to scrabble over the edge to get to the box. I picked the box up in both paws and then held onto it as I slid back down onto the floor, stumbling slightly after touching back down again.

“I got it, kupo. Now let's see what's inside.”

Thankfully, there was no tape on the box. All I had to do was pull the flap open and withdraw a large object wrapped in tissue paper. Once I unwrapped the paper, we were able to see just what Aridos and Vega had sent us this time.

At first, I thought it was a crystal ball, but the lights that were flowing inside it seemed to suggest it was something much more than that. It looked like a combination of water boiling and light dancing. It was like we were looking into some kind of spiritual globe of some kind that seemed to dance and flicker on its own. It seemed... almost spiritual in a way; like a star from another world. In fact, the only things that I had ever seen with this much beauty and grace were the endless depths of Seryn's star-like eyes.

“What is it, kupo?” said Renamon in awe. “It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before.”

For some reason, I felt that I had seen this globe before. Not in real life, of course, but it seemed to trigger something in my memory. I had to think a while before it finally came to me.

“I know what this is, kupo. This is a Soul Dew from the Pokémon Heroes movie. It's said to contain the soul of a Pokémon that died to save a city called Altomare, kupopo.”

“You mean our next plushies are Pokémon?” kupoed Renamon curiously.

I looked at her with my eyebrow raised. “Is that a problem?”

Renamon shook her head. “Not at all, kupopo. I just wasn't expecting another Pokémon besides Blaziken is all.”

I knew she meant it, but I turned to look back at the Soul Dew. In the movie, it contained the soul of only one Pokémon. Could this one contain the spirits of both of the Pokémon that this belonged to? I wasn't so sure. But for right now, I decided to put it back in its box and take it back out to the car so Seryn could see it. I had a feeling that she was going to just fall in love with something this pretty.

It took a while, but we were soon able to get back to the SUV and make enough racket for someone to open the door for us. We then climbed back up into the magically-enhanced vehicle to find everyone else up and ready for the day. Their beds were all back to their original personalized seats that had been there when we had first gotten here. I also noticed that the back wall had been pushed back a little ways to make room for an elevated nest similar to Sidian's with a set of carpeted stairs leading up to it. Whoever was joining us next obviously liked to be at a higher altitude. And the fact that it was a nest suggested that they were draconic or bird-like in some way.

“So did you find it, kupo?” said Tails, looking at the box in my arms. “Who is it this time?”

“Just give them a minute to tell us,” said Babus, glancing in Tails' direction. “I bet it wasn't easy carrying that from there to here.”

“Kupo! Tell them to hurry up! I can't wait any longer!” whined Montblanc from his seat while reading another spellbook.

“Yeah, It's been a while since we met anyone new, so hurry up, kupopo!” argued Blaziken.

Seryn cuffed the Moogled Pokémon on the back of his head and said, “You plushies are too impatient to change back. Give them time to at least show us who it is.”

“That's easy for you to say!” kupoed Yoshi, bouncing up and down on his tiny toes. “You weren't Moogled like the rest of us, kupo!”

Finally getting across the room to Seryn, I sat down and prepared the others for the unveiling. “I already know that it's a Pokémon, which is good news for you, Blaziken...” Blaziken smiled and spun around on his heel, happy to have someone from his franchise as our next friend. “...but as to who it is, I'm still not quite sure, kupo. Let's just wait and find out.” And with that, I opened the flap of the box and pulled out the Soul Dew.

Immediately, there was a collected breath of pure awe. They had never seen something as beautiful and amazing that came close to Seryn's eyes before, but this certainly took the cake. Everyone was silent as I passed the Soul Dew around. As it touched each of my friends' paws, the spiritual water display started to spin faster and sparkled even brighter. It seemed to be reacting to everyone's touch as it was passed around, becoming more and more amazing. And by the time it reached Seryn's paws, the water inside was spinning so fast that it looked like it was a small shining star inside a glass ball.

Before she handed it back to me, Seryn rolled the Soul Dew around in her paws and looked on in awe at the shining star. “It's really amazing. I've never seen anything so beautiful or unique before, and I've seen a lot of things in both my lives. I hope it's well-taken care of, Lance.”

And with that, she passed the shining Soul Dew back to me. But just as her paws released the glass ball and entered mine, there was a massive whomp!!! as the Soul Dew exploded, spraying glass everywhere, which for some reason did not cut anyone or anything. We all gasped at the sudden explosion, but that was nothing to what happened next.

The instant the Soul Dew exploded, two colored balls of red and blue light started flying in rapid 360-degree circles around the room as though they were a kind of paranormal light top. They flew to each of us in turn and paused in front of us for a moment before moving onto the next. They repeated the same order that we had passed the Soul Dew around to before coming to rest in the center of the room and coming to a stop. We were all watching in disbelief as the lights finally separated and their brightness intensified enough for us all to try to block out the light.

The red ball of light began to shape itself into something that seemed somewhat familiar to me, but the intensity of it was so bright that I could barely see it. The blue light was doing the same thing and I was surprised that none of us were going blind. And when the balls of light had taken their new forms, they flared up extra intensely before finally going out. And in the wake of the lights were the two newest additions to our plushie family.

The strange and bizarre forms of the twin Eon Pokémon, Latios and Latias were hovering a couple of feet above the floor in a daze, obviously still stunned by the intensity of their own light. I could tell immediately that they were plushies from the telltale stitching that ran along the outside of their bodies. It went behind their heads, down their necks, around their bodies, arms and “legs” and around the outsides of their wings before meeting in the back like most of the rest of my plushie friends.

Latios and Latias were brother and sister Pokémon and almost never went anywhere without the other. Latios was the blue one and the older brother of the pair (at least in the movie). His body was rounded at the base and was covered in deep-blue fabric that met with the jagged white parts of him at the seams. His wings were simply two stiff, “bony” growths out of his back, but he didn't need them to fly since he contained an ability called “Levitate”, which allowed him to float naturally whenever he wanted to. His back “legs” weren't really legs at all but looked like jagged blue “fins” in place of where his legs would be. He also had a pair of thin arms with broad pads/forearms and three sharp claws on the ends of said pads. He could fold these pads against his body whenever he was flying at high speeds to reduce drag while in the air.

On his torso was an upside-down red triangle that was like his insignia. And at the end of a smooth, white, medium-length neck was a pointed head with a pair of white “ears sticking out of the back of his head. His face was the same blue as his body with the exception of a white circular patch in-between his fierce yet gentle red eyes.

His red sister, Latias, was built much similar to her blue brother, but there were a couple of slight differences in her appearance. The bases of her wings were slightly larger/rounder than her brother's and her “leg-fins” were a little narrower and sharper than Latios'. She also had a mark on her chest, but hers was a right side-up blue triangle instead of Latios' upside-down blue one. The white patch on her head was a little differently-shaped than Latios', but her fiery-orange eyes gave her expression a much calmer, gentler and more at-ease-type personality. Other than those, Latias was pretty much a carbon copy of her brother.

Finally managing to see straight, Latios and Latias turned in mid air to look over their new friends. They were making a number of cooing, purring, trilling and shrilling noises that seemed to be their form of communication. Unfortunately, they were unable to speak regular English, which made us wonder how we would be able to understand them.

Despite the number of Moogles in the room, Latios seemed to know that I was the leader of the bunch and drifted over to me. He then started a kind of speech comprised of various trilling and purring sounds.

I had no idea what he was saying, and I had to let him know. “I'm really sorry, Latios, but we can't understand what you're saying, kupo.”

“He's saying that their names are Latios and Latias of Altomare and they're pleased to meet the famous Lance Kane, kupo.”

Remarkably, the one who had understood them was none other than Blaziken. We all turned to look at him, causing him to blanch a little.

“You can understand them, kupo?” said Klonoa in awe.

Blaziken shrugged. “I can understand him, but for some reason, I can't understand her, kupo,” he said, pointing to Latias. “Don't ask me why, but I just can't.”

“That's funny, kupo,” said Sidian, chiming in. “I can understand her, but I can't understand him. Isn't that a co-inky-dink, love?”

The former Pokémon and dragon looked at each other like they were seeing each other for the first time. No one understood the connection, but apparently there was much more that they could do for each other than anyone had ever known before.

Latios cooed a little under her breath, but Sidian picked up every word. “That's not funny, girl!”

“What'd she say?” said Renamon, forgetting to kupo.

Sidian blushed heavily and looked away from the smiling Latias. “She said that Blaziken and I were made for each other just like Lance and Seryn, kupopo.”

Blaziken, however, wasn't bothered by this statement. “It's okay, kupo. We don't have to rush things like they did. We can take our time.”

“Hey!” said both Seryn and me at the same time, blushing as well. “Manners (kupo)!”

The fact that we were saying the same thing at the same time only further proved how deep my relationship with Seryn had become. We were thinking on the same level now, which was slightly scary for the two of us. We never figured that we had become this close this fast after our “wedding”. Freaky.

Montblanc decided to pipe up. “Can you two find a way to turn everyone back to normal, kupo? I wanna be the only Moogle in the group again.”

Latios turned around and looked at the only the Moogle Plushie before purring and nodding. There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone when we realized that they could change us back. But Latios continued to shrill out something that made Blaziken sigh.

“What'd he say, kupo?” said Klonoa.

“He said that once they cure us, kupo, they won't be able to work any miracles for another few days. They'll be too magically drained to do anything like this for a while.”

Other than changing us back to our real forms, we couldn't think of anything else in need of a miracle, so we all agreed on Latios' conditions and showed our interest in changing back.

Latias spoke up and fluttered around the room, apparently telling us to do something. Sidian translated it for everyone. “Everyone needs to stand in a line in the order that we arrived with Lance in behind Renamon. They'll then fire energy through us kind of like a battery and then change us all back to normal.”

“You heard the lady!” said Babus, stepping back. Everyone who's been Moogled line up for a miracle!”

We all did in the order than everyone arrived with the exception of Seryn, Babus and Montblanc. It went Blaziken, Sidian, Tails, Klonoa, Yoshi, Renamon and finally, me. The two Lati then took their positions at either end of the lineup so that Latias was in front of Blaziken and Latios was behind me.

At first, they were going to go ahead and begin the “miracle”, but Latios hesitated for a moment, looking over at his sister, chirping worriedly.

“Translation, Blaziken?” said Renamon, folding her arms. “What's bothering him?”

Blaziken apparently didn't like what he heard. “He's worried that their polarity isn't lined up correctly. It's probably nothing, but he's just being careful.”

This made us wonder if they knew how to do this correctly, but then they both smiled and our concerns were dropped. Latias then gave us one final warning before they lowered their heads to get ready.

“Nobody move or this might not work, kupo,” translated Sidian, holding her breath. “Hold on and stay still! Here we go!”

We all stood as still as we could as Seryn, Babus and Montblanc watched on in curiosity. Down at Blaziken's end, Latias began collecting an orb of red light in her paws while at my end, Latios was getting ready to absorb it in a similar blue orb. Once it was fully charged, Latias shrilled and fired a beam of red light straight through Blaziken's body, through the others and exiting out through me and into Latios' blue orb. But the light that was coming out of me looked like it was made of black light. It wasn't evil, but it was like all of the negative energy was being siphoned out of our bodies through Latias' orb and entering Latios' orb before disappearing.

Just then, all seven of us seemed to explode into a row of blinding lights similar to the colors on our pompoms and wings. In order, they were: red, silver, yellow, black, green, purple and white. We all felt our bodies starting to return to normal. It was strange, but we were feeling no pain as all seven of our bodies grew out and were restored to their normal sizes and shapes.

When the lights finally went out, we were all looking at our old bodies again: The fierce, fiery fighter that was Blaziken, the beautiful yet powerful and majestic dragon that was Sidian, the cute, innocent and intelligent two-tailed fox that was Tails, the curious and unusual creature that was Klonoa, the happy-go-lucky green dinosaur that was Yoshi, the strange and mysterious Digimon that was Renamon and the firm and determined human that was their leader, Lance Kane. We were all back to normal.

We were going to celebrate, but before we could, the lights connecting Latias and Latios together dissipated and they both collapsed on the floor. Since Blaziken and I were closest to them, the two of us knelt down and tried to revive them.

“They look really worn out,” said Seryn, coming to investigate Latias. “I think they need a good long rest before they'll be good to go again.”

“It looks that way,” said Blaziken as he and Sidian lifted Latias onto their shoulders and carried her out of the SUV. Meanwhile, Seryn and I tended to Latios and with Renamon's help, we were able to carry him out as well and bring him into the house.

On the way, Seryn turned to look at me. When she did, she seemed curious about something she saw. “Are you feeling all right, Lance?”

I blinked and looked back at her. “I'm fine. Never better. Why?”

Seryn looked into my eyes but then shook her head and continued to carry Latios inside. “Nothing. It's... It's nothing. Forget it.”

I should have been suspicious of this statement, but if she didn't think it was worth worrying about, then everything was just fine. However, no one else seemed to notice that my eyes had changed color after the transformation...

We carried Latias and Latios up into my sisters' old room and set them down on the pair of mattresses on the floor for them to sleep and recover. After they were safely tucked away in bed, we closed the door and went back downstairs to talk about what to do.

“I'm feeling a little hungry,” I told the group. “You guys want anything to eat?”

Amazingly, I didn't get one nod out of any of them, including Yoshi. “We're good. That transformation seemed to give us enough energy to go on for a while.”

“Oh... okay. Well, you guys go do what you want and I'll join you when I'm ready.”

They all nodded this time and split up. Seryn went with Sidian outside to practice what I assumed to be Sidian's free will transformation into her true form. Blaziken also went outside to get a little bit of training in. Tails and Klonoa went to my room to play my sisters' Gamecube in a Super Smash Bros. Melee Tournament. Yoshi curled up on the couch and turned on the TV on the main floor. Renamon disappeared before I could get to her and her location and activities were currently unknown (Boy, that fox could move!). Babus and Montblanc went up to the loft and switched on the TV up there to watch Spike for a while.

Since I was the only one who hadn't moved, I took the hint and went to the kitchen to make myself some breakfast. I decided to put together a pair of bagels with peanut butter and strawberry jelly while pouring myself a bowl of cereal and having a tall glass of milk to go with all of it. I realized how little I had been eating since the first of the twelve plushies arrived in my life. Transforming and getting eaten alive had automatically refueled my energy so many times that I had almost forgotten what food tasted like, so I took my time for once and savored everything that I was eating and wondered when the next time I would eat actual food would be.

While I was looking through the paper at the breakfast bar, I heard some muffled footsteps coming down the stairs. I assumed that it was Babus and Montblanc, so it was no surprise when then came around the corner and stepped up to me.

“What's up, guys?”

Babus was too short to climb onto the tall stools, but Montblanc had no trouble climbing onto the seat. “After everything we put you guys through, kupo, we wanted to make it up to you with these.” Both he and Babus held out one or two paws to reveal a pair of Plushie Badges. They obviously felt that I deserved them this time.

“Are you sure about this?” I said, stating the obvious. “Last time, I didn't even get to see Montblanc's badge before he had to take it back.”

Babus and Montblanc looked at each other for a moment and then held their paws out even more as if begging me to take them. “Last time was different,” said Babus. “You certainly earned them this time. You should feel lucky that we're giving you them both at the same time. I doubt that's happened before.”

Come to think of it, the last time I had gotten more than one Plushie Badge at a time was when Tails started the whole this and Seryn, Blaziken and Sidian all practically pleaded for me to take them.

“You're right. This is the first time that two of you gave me badges that I earned at one time without tripping all over yourselves. Lemme see them.”

Since Babus had arrived first, I took his badge and held it up to look at it. It was another four-point diamond-shaped badge with what appeared to be a miniature version of his three-pointed mace on it.

“Lemme guess,” I said, looking down at Babus. “The “Fierce Badge”?”

Babus smiled and shook his head. “Not quite. Mine is the Patience Badge, of which you showed a lot of by dealing with your Moogled form. Allow me.” He took the badge back and gave it a quick lick with a tongue that was the same color as his smoky-gray skin. He then handed it back to me and I placed it next to Renamon's Stealth Badge.

Now it was Montblanc's turn. The badge he gave me was a different shape altogether. It had a pair of what I assumed to be orange Moogle wings on the sides of a shield-shaped badge with a silver wrench on the actual shield. It was certainly the oddest of all the badges I had earned so far, but I accepted it the same way nonetheless.

“It's the Mischief Badge, kupo! Kind of reminds you of someone, don't it?”

I chuckled and rubbed my hand through Montblanc's hair, messing it up even more and causing the Moogle to chirp happily. He then offered to apply the “adhesive” to my badge before I placed it next to Babus' Patience Badge.

That made nine badges altogether: the white slashed-star-shaped badge that was Seryn's Mana Badge, the red, diamond-shaped, three-and-one-taloned footprint badge that was Blaziken's Flame Badge, the silver, circular, pentagram-marked badge that was Sidian's Dexterity Badge, the white-and-gold, diamond-shaped, two-tails-marked badge that was Tails' Freedom Badge, the circular, cap-marked, Namco-esque-marked badge that was Klonoa's Dreamer Badge, the green, spotted, egg-shaped badge that was Yoshi's Curiosity Badge, the Yin-Yang-shaped badge that was Renamon's Stealth Badge and now, the circular, mace-marked badge that was Babus' Patience Badge and the winged-shield-shaped, wrench-marked badge that was Montblanc's Mischief Badge. (Whew! What a mouthful! I hope I don't have to that for a while!)

“Thanks, guys,” I said, patting the both of them on their heads, making them blush. “Just seven more to go.”

Their missions accomplished, the two of them headed back up the stairs to resume watching Spike on TV. I finished my food and soon got up to put my dishes in the dishwasher.

But before I could get there, I suddenly stopped dead. From out of nowhere, it felt like someone had just taken a sledgehammer to my chest without knocking me over. I was having trouble breathing and I was feeling light-headed. Not only that, but it felt like someone was carving something into my chest with a knife! I dropped my dishes and held a hand to my chest, groaning and dropping down to one knee. I was way too young to be having heart trouble, but it felt like someone was carving out my insides. And to make matters worse, the pain in my chest was – if anything – getting worse. It was like a thousand white-hot knives were burning something into my chest, stealing the oxygen from my lungs and weighing me down heavily.

For a moment, the pain subsided enough for me to yell out, “Help! Someone! Something's.... happening... to me!” Since Yoshi, Babus and Montblanc were the only ones in the immediate area that could hear me, they all came running, Babus nearly tumbling down the stairs due to his heavy robe and short legs.

“Lance?” said Yoshi, trying to help me to my feet. “What's going on?”

I tried to answer, but the pain returned double what it was before. I could only scream out in agony as it felt like my insides were being carved with a chainsaw. I finally managed to say the words, “Something.... chest...” before the agony hit my mind like a ton of bricks and I keeled over on the floor, unconscious and barely breathing.

“Out of the way! OUT OF THE WAY!” said Babus, skidding into the kitchen as Yoshi moved aside. He reached over Lance's fallen form and leaned an ear over his back, listening intently.

He didn't like what he heard because he handed his mace to Yoshi and did his best to flip Lance over. “There's something going on in there, but I'm not sure. He needs to get some air before he goes into shock. Montblanc, help me!”

The tiny Moogle went to Lance's side and did his best to help Babus flip him over. And ignoring what he would have said about his cloak, Babus grabbed two pawfuls of his shirt and ripped it clean open, badges flying everywhere as the plushies' magical adhesives failed. He was trying to open up Lance's chest to get him more air, but what he found made him blanch and step backwards in shock.

“Oh... my...” He wasn't sure what to make of what he ad uncovered. Lance's chest was covered in blood from the unseen force carving into his chest. It wasn't bad enough that his heart was pumping blood out through an artery, but his chest was absolutely covered in blood.

But that wasn't what had alarmed him. Underneath all the blood was a series of scratches arranged into a pattern that both shocked and confused him. It was like some kind of spiritual force had marked him with some kind of demonic symbol.

Getting over his shock, he turned to Yoshi and Montblanc and spoke to them very seriously. “Montblanc, you go get the girls. Yoshi, help me get him into his room. Move!”

Montblanc was too scared to kupo, and he ran outside as fast as he could to find Seryn, Sidian and Renamon before it was too late. Yoshi helped Babus by carrying Lance on his saddle into the room where Tails and Klonoa were still playing.

The two of them heard the door open and were shocked to see Lance in this state. “What happened to him?” said Klonoa, worriedly.

“I don't know,” said Babus, escorting Yoshi into the room. “He just collapsed and the next thing I knew, he was like this, complaining about something on his chest. Help me get him onto the bed. Tails, find some clean towels and bring 'em here!”

Tails bolted from the room in search of clean towels while Klonoa helped lift the fallen human onto the bed without causing him too much pain. He was unconscious, but they still had to be careful.

A few seconds later, the front door slammed open, quickly followed by a loud sorrowful wail and a cry from the owner, “LANCE!!! I'M COMING, LANCE!!! I'M COMING, BABY!!!”

“Incoming,” said Klonoa, getting as far away from the door as he could. The others soon caught on as the door to the bedroom slammed open and the massive furry Flammie form of Seryn came running in to protect her mate. And when she saw how much blood was on him, she let loose a cry that tugged on every heartstring of everyone in the immediate area.

“Lance! What happened to you?! What is all this?! Please talk to me!”

For once, the one who had calmed them all down at one time or another needed calming down, but no one was sure how to approach the berserk behemoth. The only ones in the area were Klonoa, Yoshi and Babus and they were barely HALF her size.

But Babus had an ace up his sleeve. He muttered a few words under his breath and then slammed the staff end of his mace on the floor. Several bolts of blue lightning flew from the spikes at the top and struck Seryn' numbing up her nerves and calming her down substantially. The massive Flammie finally got her head on straight and then looked at Babus with a relieved look.

“Thanks, Babus. I needed that.”

Babus nodded. “My pleasure, my dear.”

Seryn took a few deep breaths (even though it was just out of habit of her type) and finally asked a calm question. “What happened to him?”

Babus told him what he had heard and what Lance had said before he had passed out from the pain. Seryn was holding onto every word, but none of them made any sense.

“I just don't get it,” said Babus when he had finished. “He was just fine a minute before we left him. We gave him our badges and then left him and he was as healthy as he always was. But he took about six steps and then this happened. It just doesn't make any sense.”

Seryn wasn't so sure about that. There had been something about him that had kind of had a foreboding feeling about it. It was like it had been a warning to what was happening to him now.

“A turnip for your thoughts, Seryn?” said Klonoa curiously.

Seryn didn't immediately acknowledge him but when she realized that he was talking to her, she snapped out of it. “Huh? What?”

Klonoa blinked. “You were thinking. And I offered a turnip for your thoughts if you wouldn't mind.”

“Turnips?” kupoed Montblanc, returning with Sidian but not Renamon. “Yuck! Whatever gave you that idea, Klonoa?”

“What? I just figured “a penny for your thoughts” was too old-fashioned.”

“That's enough, you two,” said Babus, speaking up. “Tails, where's Renamon?”

Montblanc shrugged. “I couldn't find her, kupo. She's not around here.”

“Well, find her. She may know more about this than we do.”

Montblanc wasn't going anywhere until he heard what was on Seryn's mind, and he folded his arms and sat down on the spot until she explained things.

Realizing this, Babus sighed and turned to Seryn. “Well, Seryn? Would you like to tell us your thoughts without the turnip?”

(Author's Note: This statement came from the wonderful world of Rolf of “Ed, Edd 'n Eddy”. What people will say these days...)

Seryn finally seemed to catch on and leaned over Lance to open one of his eyes with two of her digits. Since he was unconscious, he wouldn't be able to see or feel it.

“Look at his eyes. I noticed that they were a fierce red shade instead of his normal brown.” They each took turns looking at Lance's fire-red eyes in amazement. They didn't look bloodshot but instead looked like they were natural in every way. “These don't seem normal. They're his, but there's something about them that troubles me for some reason.”

“That is strange,” said Babus, climbing down from the bed. “Which leads me to believe that this all started after Latias and Latios returned all of you to normal. Blaziken said that Latios was worried about the polarity or something, so I think that this has something to do with that.”

“But we can't talk to them until they wake up,” said Sidian, sighing and shaking her head. “And by then, it might be too late.”

While they figured out what to do, Seryn was suddenly interested in the blood smeared all over Lance's torso. It seemed to be covering something up, but she couldn't be sure. On a hunch, she began to dab at the blood with her bare paw, absorbing his blood like a wet sponge. She would be able to clean it later. For now, she just wanted to see what had caused this much blood to form in the first place. What she uncovered was stunning.

“Uh... Babus? I think you should see this.”

She helped lift the Nu Mou onto the bed so he could see what was under all of Lance's blood. His eyes went wide under their drooping lids as he surveyed the damage.

The scratches that had formed on Lance's chest took the shape of a large “V” across his torso with two diagonal lines at the base of the “V” that made it look like an “X” and a “V” at the same time. It looked like an insignia of some kind the way that the bottom two handles of the “X” were slightly detached from the “V”. By now, the scratches had sealed over, forming a series of white scars over most of his chest, but the shape of the mark both alarmed and confused him.

Babus placed a paw on Lance's now dry chest, but he wasn't able to touch the skin. The intensity of the power radiating from the mark was too much for the magic-sensitive plushie to get close to. It just showed that there was something powerful but not necessarily evil at work here.

Shaking his head, he gave his analysis. “I can't touch it, but I know that some kind of powerful force has inhabited Lance's body, transforming him from the inside out. I doubt that even Latias or Latios could stop this from occurring. I'm afraid that he will never be the same again.”

“NOOOO!!!” wailed Seryn, flopping down over her mate. “I can't lose him! We were supposed to be mates! He can't die! Not now! It's just not fair!”

Babus was alarmed at Seryn's allegations and did his best to repair them. “You misunderstand me, Seryn. I never said that he would die. I just said that he's going to have a different form that we'll have to get used to. I'm sorry, but there's nothing that any of us can do for him.”

“Don't say that!” barked Seryn. “I swore that I was going to protect him and I'm going to protect him from being taken from me. Even if I have to swallow him and never let him out, I will not lose him!”

The other plushies realized that Seryn's bond with Lance was so great that she was behaving like Sidian when she was in one of her moods and would not let anyone take him from her. They didn't doubt that she knew that he would never be the same again, but she was as determined as ever to stay by his side until the very end.

Nodding to the other plushies, Babus whispered, “Let's leave them.” Catching on, they all filed out of the room. leaving Seryn crying over Lance's unconscious form like a grieving mother. Tails was just about to reenter the room with the towels he had gathered when Babus walked past him, saying, “She needs some time alone with him. We'd best come back when they're ready.”

Tails' expression drooped and he turned around to head into the living room with the others to await the outcome of Lance's condition. Soon, Blaziken was informed of the incident, but Renamon was still nowhere to be found. She had just vanished and had gone wherever she went by herself these days.

Meanwhile, Seryn remained at Lance's side as he slept on. She could sense that his body was changing, even though she couldn't see from this point of view. He was changing into something that would forever label him as an outcast in society, but despite that, he would always be her mate. As the stars were their witnesses, she promised that no matter what happened to him, she would always love him and stay by his side until the very end.

Seryn glanced over at her blood-soaked paw for a moment. She realized that Lance was still mortal and could still bleed like any person should. As much as she loved him, she just wished that she could remove the cares of his human life from his shoulders. Even though it was still far too early for that plan to be put into action, she knew that once he transformed for good, he would still be a flesh-and-blood creature.

So on a whim, she decided to make his last few moments as a human as comfortable as she could, come hell or high water. She was going to give him a nice place to sleep so that the two of them were as close together as they could get without completely absorbing him. She gently slid her paws under his body and lifted him up so he was level with her face. Sniffing, she gave him a small furry kiss on his forehead before she opened wide and swallowed him whole yet again.

Once he was safely tucked away, she climbed on the bed and lied on her back, holding her bloated belly and resting her head on the pillow. She was so tired after this whole ordeal that she just wanted to sleep. Lance was in a safe place now and she would protect him for as long as she could in this life.

But she had no idea that Lance had moved through her system in a different direction this time. The changes that were going through his body had caused him to enter a different part of her body that would bring them closer together than ever before.

I was dreaming. I was once again in front of the door that had kept me out since the very beginning. This was beginning to frustrate me since I had nowhere near enough badges to open it. But still, it stood before me like some ever-looming demon.

As I stood before the door, I saw that eight of the symbols on the door had lit up, even though there were nine badges in their slots. It looked like the first eight badges were reacting with the door and it was going to open up after all.

And sure enough, a crack appeared down the middle of the door and it began to swing inwards. I could hardly believe it! It was finally opening! I was finally going to get some questions answered!

But for some reason, the doors only opened partway before they stopped, a bright white light shining through it. I didn't understand; what was going on? Wasn't it going to open? I was spared the trouble of figuring that out when I heard a firm, otherworldly voice speaking through the crack in the doors.

“LANCE KANE... YOU HAVE COME.”

“Who... who are you?” I said cautiously. “What's going on?”

“MY NAME IS STRATO INCENDUS. I AM THE SPIRIT OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. I AM THE ONE WHO KEEPS THE FORCES OF THE WORLD IN BALANCE. I GUESS YOU COULD CALL ME KARMEN ARIDOS AND VEGA FIRETAIL'S SUPERIOR.”

(Author's Note: After all this time, Aridos and Vega's superior has a name! But...)

“But why can't I see you?” I said, trying to see through the crack.

“YOU ARE NOT QUITE THERE YET. I WILL ONLY REVEAL MYSELF TO YOU AND ONLY YOU WHEN YOU HAVE COLLECTED ALL SIXTEEN PLUSHIE BADGES AND THE SEAL ON THE DOOR IS BROKEN.”

“But why are you talking to me now? And... what's going on?”

“YOU HAVE COME A LONG WAY SINCE YOU FIRST BEGAN YOUR QUEST, LANCE. YOU HAVE ENCOUNTERED MANY HARDSHIPS AND HAVE MADE MANY FRIENDS ALONG THE WAY.

“BUT YOUR QUEST IS NOT OVER YET. YOU STILL HAVE SEVEN MORE BADGES TO ACQUIRE BEFORE YOU WILL BE REWARDED WITH YOUR ULTIMATE PRIZE.”

“I don't... understand.”

“FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR, I HAVE DECIDED TO AWARD YOUR EFFORTS BY GIVING YOU A NEW FORM THAT YOU MAY CALL YOUR OWN FOR AS LONG AS THE SUN IS SHINING IN THE DAY.”

“Say what?”

“YOU MIGHT CALL IT ONE OF YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE. I AM GIVING YOU A NEW FORM THAT YOU MAY USE FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY.”

“You mean... I'm not going to be human anymore.”

“YOU MISUNDERSTAND ME. YOU WILL STILL BE HUMAN, BUT ONLY AT NIGHT. CONSIDER IT A BONUS FOR ALL YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH SO FAR.”

“But I can't be human only at night! I've still got to give my presentation at work and I'll be labeled as a freak in the world until the sun goes down.”

Strato Incendus paused, thinking about this.

“YOU HAVE A POINT. I THINK I HAVE A SOLUTION. HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS.”

I did so and a small orb of black light appeared in front of the doors. It then drifted over to my outstretched hands and intensified a little before I was able to see the finished product. It was an orb of what appeared to be black gemstone on a golden chain. The orb had an image of a white moon burned into the front of it, indicating that it had something to do with the night.

“THIS IS A DUSK STONE. WHENEVER YOU WEAR THIS DURING THE DAY, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CHANGE BACK TO YOUR HUMAN FORM. BUT THE SECOND YOU REMOVE IT FROM AROUND YOUR NECK, THE MAGIC WILL WEAR OFF AND YOU WILL REVERT TO YOUR TRANSFORMED STATE. AS LONG AS THE SUN IS SHINING, IT WILL KEEP YOU IN YOUR HUMAN FORM.”

“And what happens when the sun goes down?” I wondered.

“IT ONLY WORKS DURING THE DAY. WHEN THE NIGHT COMES, YOU WILL STILL BE HUMAN REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU WEAR IT OR NOT.”

It was a pretty handy device to have. Now I didn't need to worry about appearing different during the day as long as I wore this Dusk Stone.

But then a question popped into my head. “Isn't there a “Dawn Stone” as well?”

“THERE IS, BUT I WILL NOT GIVE IT TO YOU UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN. AND BY THEN, THE SITUATION WILL BE MUCH DIFFERENT.”

I hadn't expected this, so I pocketed the Dusk Stone for the time being. “Thank you. But just what form am I going to turn into anyway?”

“YOU WILL FIND THAT OUT IN A MOMENT. FOR NOW, I SUGGEST THAT YOU DO NOT TELL ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS WHAT WE DISCUSSED THAN YOU HAVE TO. I'D RATHER REMAIN UNDISCLOSED.”

I nodded. “Will do.”

“GOOD. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, LANCE KANE...”

And with that, the stone doors slammed shut again and I had a few moments to figure out what had just happened before a sudden pain in my chest short-circuited my dream and I was brought back into the real world.

My body was burning up as though someone had lit an ember under my skin. I was curled up in a soft, dark place, which led me to believe that Seryn had eaten me again. But there was something much different about this particular chamber. I was surrounded by a kind of latex-smelling liquid and the walls of the chamber were firm and rubbery. It was like I was...

Oh... no... It couldn't be! I had read a number of strange and twisted furry stories in my life, but I had never thought that it would actually happen to me! This was so wrong, but I was living what I had dreaded since I had been eaten by Sidian.

I was inside Seryn's womb! That fact alone was an impossibility in itself. I didn't know she had swallowed me like that, but somehow, this was all real. I was inside a plushie's womb!

But strangely enough, I wasn't connected to anything like what happened when a regular human was pregnant. I wasn't connected to a cord of any kind, but the fact that I could breathe made my head spin with confusion. I also knew that Flammies gave birth in a rather odd way altogether. Wondering if that was the case this time, I tried to move around to see what was going on.

But for some reason, my body didn't feel the way it should. I felt much stronger and much more powerful than I did before. Not only that, but my skin was much tougher and thicker than before. I could also feel a number of things that didn't belong to me at all. Let's see... wings... tail... nope, those weren't mine. I was no longer human.

But for some reason, I didn't feel like a Flammie. I only had two wings and I couldn't find any fur on my body like a Flammie had. And since my body was arranged in a different composition than a Flammie, I doubted that I was even a Flammie at all. But if I wasn't a Flammie, than what was I? I knew that Strato Incendus had said that I would have a different form, but I couldn't tell which one I had in this light and space.

On a hunch, I tried to kick at the chamber to get Seryn's attention. If I really WAS in her womb, then she would feel it and I would be that much closer to getting out of here.

“Seryn!” I yelled, realizing that this voice was not my own (but it sounded familiar... somehow). “Seryn, wake up! Get me out of here!”

Seryn felt Lance kicking inside her and immediately woke up. Looking at her bloated gut, she rubbed it and spoke to it. “Lance? Are you okay in there?”

To her horror, he sounded much more muffled than before. “No! I'm not in your stomach! I'm inside...” Seryn gasped when she heard where he was. “You gotta get me out of here!”

Memories of when Lance had been inside Sidian's womb came flooding back to her. She realized that his transformation had somehow messed with her system, making her truly and obviously pregnant. She had to get him out, but she knew that he had been in there for too long to escape being bound to her forever. Even though this wasn't a bad thing, given the circumstances, she knew that she had to get him out before he blacked out again.

Sliding off the bed, she waddled to the door and cracked it open. It was too embarrassing to have everyone witness her giving birth, so she called for the only one who had ever been put in this situation.

“Sidian! Get in here! Hurry!”

The plushies all wondered why she would call for only Sidian, but they stayed put while the dragon went to go answer Seryn's call.

“What's going on?” she asked simply.

Seryn was almost hysterical as she explained the situation to her. Sidian's eyes went wide as she heard every word.

“How long has he been in there?”

“I don't know! He just woke up and started yelling for me to get him out!”

“Okay, Seryn. Hold still. I'm going to get him out for you.”

Seryn held stone-still as Sidian approached with her talons bared. But before she could slit her open, Seryn began to cough and gag violently. Sidian realized that it was too late to get Lance out this way anymore. Seryn was going to give birth to the transformed human and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Seryn leaned over as though she had been punched in the stomach and continued to retch and gag. She felt like she was going to be sick, but nothing was coming up. She knew that this was how Flammies went into labor before they gave birth, plushie or not. And if the legends were true, this was going to get worse before it got better. She tried to heave Lance out of her, but her birth chamber was still attached to her body, however little. She had to disconnect the “artery” that held it in place before she could cough it up, but it was slow in coming.

Finally, with one massive heave, she felt the chamber detach from her insides and began to work its way up her system. The chamber was massive and she knew that she would be significantly lighter than before, but still, she pushed as the massive lump in her belly proceeded up her front. Her throat swelled out as the end of a purple, rubbery, liquid-filled sac appeared in her mouth. She gagged on it and then continued to push. Soon, more and more of the chamber was pushed out as Lance was dumped into the end that was already outside. Finally, she gave it one more enormous heave and the end of the birth chamber spilled onto the floor, shortly followed by a long, thick, rubbery “artery” that had been attached to her insides. She then collapsed onto her side, totally winded and exhausted.

The pulsating chamber looked like she had expelled a massive live tumor. It was coated in slime for some reason and was filled with liquid and the now-unconscious Lance. Sidian tended to Seryn for a moment before trying to cut it open with her talons, which were much sharper than Seryn's. Unfortunately, the material would not part way and it seemed that Lance was trapped inside.

Then in a burst of energy that had come from absolutely nowhere, Seryn sat up and lashed out with her paw, tearing the birth chamber wide open and causing the contents to spill onto the floor. Sidian held a paw to her nose at the ungodly stench that had come with the chamber rupturing. It didn't smell like anything any plushie could ever produce, which after all that had happened so far made Sidian doubt if Seryn was a plushie anymore.

Lance's transformed form was not a Flammie at all but was instead the modified Anthro ExVeemon form that he had borrowed during his time with Renamon. Sidian had never thought that he would turn into that, but there must have been something higher at work here considering all that had happened so far.

Executing extreme strength, Sidian lifted the slimy, unconscious form of the Anthro Digimon onto her shoulders and then set him on the bed so that he was lying on his back. She would worry about him later when he recovered. She then went back to Seryn, who was so exhausted that she was panting heavily and barely staying awake.

“Seryn? Are you okay?”

Seryn smiled weakly as Sidian helped her to her feet. “He's... mine... he's my child... he's my mate.... and my child... we're finally... one being... and one entity... please.... let me hold him... let me touch him... I must... hold my... my child... my mate... my love...”

Sidian knew that Seryn was fading fast. With a massive effort, she lifted the massive Flammie onto the bed and placed her next to Lance so that she was looking at his face. The look on Seryn's weakened face when she saw her child was that of pure serenity. At long last, Lance and her were of the same flesh and blood and their connection would last forevermore.

With a last effort, Seryn placed her free paw on Lance's side and smiled, saying just three words: “I love you...” before she finally went into a deep and well-deserved sleep.

Sidian wasn't quite sure what to make of what had just happened. She had just watched a plushie give birth to the human that had taken care of her since the very beginning, which made little to now sense at all. That fact prompted her to run her paw over Seryn's body, looking for some way to tell if she was still a plushie. She was feeling for any kind of fabric or stitching that would suggest that she was synthetic in any way.

There were none.

This meant that Seryn had somehow become so attached to Lance that the fabric in her system had been turned into real flesh, blood and bone. She was now a real Flammie in every single way. She was no longer of the magical world like the rest of them were but was now as real as the earth was blue. This amazed Sidian so much that she backed out of the room, gently closing the door behind her and walking over to the other plushies, who had been listening to everything that had happened behind closed doors.

“So... how are they?” said Montblanc in utter shock.

“They're... They're...” Sidian didn't know how to put everything that had happened into one word. The experience of a plushie turning into a real creature and then giving birth had all but left her speechless. There were a million things she wanted to tell them about what she had seen, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Instead, she said just two words that told volumes. “They're... fine.”

And as though she had just told them everything with her own mouth, the plushies understood everything. Not one of them asked a question or voiced a query about the situation. They understood what had happened and they didn't need to discuss a word of it until Seryn and Lance woke up.

I had blacked out the entire time Seryn had been giving birth to me. There was not much else that needed to be explained to me. I already knew that I had become an Anthro ExVeemon and that Seryn had become a real, flesh-and-blood Flammie. And the fact that I had been reborn via Seryn made me feel even more at ease. Our dreams had finally come true. We were more than just mates now; we were mother and child. And even though my Mom still created me, Seryn had brought herself up to her level by giving birth to me again. Her blood now flowed in my veins and we were of the same entity now. Even though we were not the same species at the moment, the fact that Seryn and I were mother and son made that seem irrelevant.

But even after all that had happened, we decided not to tell Mom, Dad, Dean or Carol about any of it. This was beyond personal and could never be revealed to them, no matter what. If they even got wind of what we had gone through, we would be taken away from each other and we would never see each other again. As much as we wanted to tell them, we knew that not even my birth mother would understand what I had gone through to get to where I was today.

It was almost 6:00 PM when I finally opened my eyes to look at my new mother. She was sleeping so peacefully by my side that I all but forgot about the trouble we had gone through to be with each other. I reached with a four-fingered hand to stroke her now-bona fide Flammie fur. It felt significantly different than it had when she had been a plushie, but I still recognized its soft, airy texture. It had a feel of authenticity now that she was real, but I knew that she would always feel the same about her fur.

I was so tired that I was barely able to keep my eyes open. I was looking through the same fiery-red eyes that Renamon had loaned me during my first time as Anthro ExVeemon. I would just have to get used to my new powerful form now that it was mine forever. It would take some time, but I would learn to accept my new form and treat it with the same respect as I had with my human body.

Speaking of human, the moment that the clock hit 6:00 PM on the nose, I suddenly felt my body shifting in power and build as a black light surrounded me, engulfing me and reducing my body back to my old human one. I was back in the same bloody and ripped clothes that I had been in when I had gone into Seryn's birth chamber, so I had a little redecorating to do before I would be proper again.

Shortly after I reverted back to normal, Seryn's eyes opened and she purred as she stroked me gently with her paw. “I see you're back to normal, my love. I guess that means you get to join me for my first moonlit feeding.”

“Moonlit...?” I paused before I remembered that Flammies absorbed moonlight every night in the stories to keep their energy up. “Yeah... I guess we're going for a ride tonight.”

Seryn nodded and slowly sat up, stretching out her new muscles and cracking her neck with a few dull crunch sounds. “I'm gonna have to get used to having flesh in my body now, but I'll be able to figure it out in time.”

“Yeah, and I guess you can't eat me anymore,” I said disappointedly.

Seryn turned to look at me. “I never said that. I might not have much use for my stomach anymore, but I never said that I couldn't use it to keep you locked up inside for a while.”

I blinked at this. “But you can digest me now! I wouldn't last ten minutes in there!”

Seryn chuckled and lied back down to wrap her paw around me again. “You're forgetting the first rule of all vore, love: It's perfectly harmless as long as the eaten and the eater are alive. You'd only be digested if you were already dead going in. Even so, my stomach can't digest meat like others can. I live off of moonlight now, remember?”

I guess she had a point. It was perfectly safe now. With that, I rolled over to get out of bed, but I realized that I was lying on something sharp and metallic. Getting off the bed, I saw that the offending object was the long, metal zipper that Seryn had eaten back after my little... “situation” with Sidian. She must have spat it up when she became a real Flammie.

“I was wondering where that went,” said Seryn, picking up the zipper. “I guess I can't hold onto it any longer. You'll have to ask the others to hold it for you.” She put the zipper in my hands and I pocketed it for the moment.

“Shall we go see the others?” I asked her simply.”

Seryn purred and rolled out of bed to join me. “I'm right behind you.”

As soon as we left the room, all of the plushies turned to face we and there were a number of relieved looks when they say that we were still alive and well.

“You guys had us worried for a while!” said Blaziken, moving aside for Seryn and I to sit down.

“We thought you'd never come out of there!” Sidian said leaning forward in anticipation of a story.

“What happened in there?” wondered Tails. “We didn't see a thing.”

“And how did Seryn turn into a real Flammie?” Klonoa said curiously.

“Tell us, please!” whined Yoshi.

“Okay, okay!” I said, managing to call them down. “First thing's first, where are Mom and Dean?”

“They came home about two hours ago,” explained Renamon, who had mysteriously returned while we were out. “We told them that you weren't feeling well and they got ready to go to a street dance.”

“We managed to keep them out of your room while they were here, but Brenda wasn't happy about it,” said Babus, who was grooming his ears and fur with a lint brush he had found.

“They almost saw you in your new form, kupo!” said Montblanc in amazement. “We're just lucky that they didn't.”

“Yeah, I doubt I could explain that if they saw me,” I said, sighing and leaning into Seryn's side. After a quick glance around, I noticed that there were two plushies still missing. “Say, haven't Latias and Latios recovered yet?”

A few of them turned to look up in the direction of the loft. “It's strange,” said Blaziken, gnawing on his claws. “They haven't been up since this morning.”

“I hope they're okay,” said Sidian, twiddling her thumbs. “They haven't moved at all since we brought them up there.”

“I heard a rumor that Pokémon like them need a full 24 hours to recover after working a miracle like that,” I added, remembering something. “I think they'll be just fine in the morning.”

We sat in silence, wondering if that was true. I was sure it was, but I had been wrong before, so we weren't fully satisfied with this.

“By the way,” said Klonoa, picking up one of his ears to look at something. “Aridos called again while you were out.”

“What did he say?” chirped Seryn.

Klonoa read something that was written on the white part of his right ear. “He wasn't specific, but he said for you and Lance to meet Vega at this address before you're done flying tonight.”

He showed me the address he had written on his ear in pen and I was surprised to see that it was the address for the recreation center just a few miles from the house in Becker.

“How does he expect me to get inside there at that time of night?” I wondered. “It'll be locked tight.”

Seryn offered an explanation. “It's Aridos and Vega, honey. I'm sure they'll find some way to get us inside.”

Of course, they hadn't said they would be in the building, but given the circumstances, I didn't doubt that they would by outside at that time of night.

“We can stop there,” I told Seryn. “Becker is only a few miles from here and the rec center is right on the edge of town. I doubt that you'll need all night to get the moonlight, right, hun?”

Seryn smiled and purred as she rubbed my side with her paw. “No. At the very most, I'll need about 30 minutes, so it shouldn't be much trouble.”

“You're gonna need some new clothes, though,” said Blaziken, pointing to my torn shirt. “It's a little nippy out there for humans.”

I looked down at my shirt and realized that I hadn't offered any of them to dress me lately. “Good point. Tails and Klonoa? Would you like to do the honors of picking out my wardrobe this time? I know you didn't get a chance last time.”

Tails and Klonoa looked more than happy to have finally been picked to make me new clothes for once. Since I had picked Yoshi way back when I was still at the farm, they had been waiting for a chance to flaunt their wardrobe-making abilities.

“You won't mind a little blood, will you?” I asked as I stripped down for them to “dispose” of my old clothing.

“Not at all,” said Klonoa.

I split my clothing up two ways for them to get the same shares. Tails got my tattered, bloody shirt and my black pants while Klonoa got to feast on my cape and boots. They seemed to enjoy the taste of them, blood or no blood, but when Tails suddenly choked on something, I was wondering if I had made a good decision.

Fortunately, he only spat up the metal zipper I had pocketed earlier. “Sorry. I forgot it was in there. Does anyone want to hold onto this?”

Amazingly, only Blaziken and Renamon raised their paws, despite the fact that it was Sidian's zipper.

“Sorry, Blaze,” I said, handing the zipper to Renamon, who lowered it down her gullet like someone eating a worm. “Ladies first.” Fortunately, Blaziken was a good sport and we were able to continue on without incident.

“Give us a moment,” said Tails, licking the dried blood flecks off of his fingers. “We need to get our mood going.”

All eyes were on Tails and Klonoa as they closed their eyes and pictured what they wanted to make for me. Since they were both smaller than me, we were curious on how they were going to create my new wardrobe. Finally, they both stepped on either side of me and took one of my hands in one of their gloved paws like I was holding onto a pair of little kids. I felt the hairs all over my body stand up as something started to materialize over my bare skin. For the first time, I could feel exactly what they felt when they were making clothes for themselves. The texture and consistency of my skin turned from soft, pink flesh to soft, plush-like skin as though the clothes they were summoning were seeping straight through my pores. For my shirt and pants, a set of matching blue clothes seemed to be forming from my skin. They reminded the others a lot of Klonoa's wardrobe but much larger. It was amazing that both Tails and Klonoa were deciding on the same style of clothes despite the fact that one wore clothes and the other didn't.

It took a few minutes, but soon, the fabric seemed to peel from my body like someone peeling back a layer of dead skin and soon enough, they were separate from the rest of my body once again. Finally, Tails and Klonoa released my hands and stepped back to examine their work.

“What do you think?” said Klonoa, crossing his fingers in hope of a positive response.

Once I had gotten over the tingling feeling of having my skin turn to cloth and back again, I looked over my new wardrobe. It looked like a cross between what little clothes Tails wore and the rest of the clothes that Klonoa wore. There was no cape this time, but Tails had formed a pair of neat, round, red-and-white-colored shoes that looked like his but scaled up to match my feet. He had also lent me a pair of his thick, white gloves with a slight deviation from his appearance. While Tails' gloves were bare, the backs of mine had a kind of modified Plushie Badge on them. They looked exactly like the Freedom Badge he had given me with the two gold and white-tipped tails in the middle of a diamond, but these emblems were not “official” Plushie Badges. They were simply there for looks.

Klonoa had also given me a pair of what appeared to be blue pants, but they were too short to be pants and too long to be shorts. They were about in the middle that would keep me warm nonetheless. He had also given me a blue shirt with a loose collar that matched his with a long, metal zipper running up the middle. I also noticed that there was a strange skin-tight black suit underneath the main shirt that went down to my wrists, to my ankles and up my neck kind of like a wetsuit or a second skin. It was actually pretty snug and cozy, which led me to believe that it was there to keep me warm in the degrading autumn months. It was also slightly furry in texture, which made it seem like Klonoa's fur as a second layer/skin.

And on my head was a matching model of Klonoa's trademark Namco cap, except that mine had the brim facing forward instead of backwards like his was. And on one side of the cap was Klonoa's “Pac-Man-eating-dot” symbol and on the other side was Tails' insignia of the two tails inside a diamond. Come to think of it, a second look at my gloves showed that the hand Tails had been holding had his insignia on the back while the other hand had Klonoa's symbol on it. The same thing was true with the symbols on my cap with the insignias being on their owners' respective sides.

“I look just like you two!” I said, smiling and posing a few times. “You two can certainly agree on things that don't clash with each other. Bravo! I applaud your efforts.”

I clapped my gloved hands, which was shortly followed by a round of applause from the other plushies, congratulating Tails and Klonoa for a job well done. The two of them looked around at their supporters and blushed, which meant that they were enjoying the attention.

Once the applause died away, I looked at my clothes and again and something clicked. “You know, after everything I've been dressed in so far by you guys... maybe you can help me in my presentation at the conference when I go back to work by being models for me.”

There was utter silence at this request before Tails perked up. “Are you serious? You want US to come to the conference with you?”

Even though Seryn wasn't a plushie anymore, she was still impressed with my offer. “Lance... that would mean the world to us if we could help you keep your job.”

Blaziken's wrists ignited as he got all fired up. “Just leave it to us! We'll make you the best damn clothes you've ever seen! Your boss will never doubt you again after we’re done with him!”

Sidian was more honored than fired up. “I can show off my voluptuous body in style for the first time! I'll have thousands of fans lining up for me to sign their shirts!”

Tails and Klonoa were so excited that they joined paws and started dancing around in an ecstatic circle. “We're gonna be famous! We're gonna be famous! We're gonna be famous! We're gonna be famous!”

Yoshi looked pleased just to be allowed to be in the same room as me. “I can't wait! I've got a ton of designs to try and show! This is gonna be so cool!”

But since Renamon, Babus and Montblanc had yet to contribute to my wardrobe, their feelings were indecisive. “I've never modeled for anyone before, much less create a new type of clothing. Do you think it would work?” Renamon ran her paws over her purple-satin sleeves, thinking about what she was getting into.

“I'm not sure I could work in a clothing line,” said Babus uncertainly. “I mean, I've only ever worn this one robe day in and day out in both my lives.”

“Kupopo,” chirped Montblanc. “I'm only good enough to make baby clothes, kupo. I don't think I'd be any good.”

I wasn't going to allow that kind of talk from the ones who had forever changed my life so many times. “Don't talk like that! All you need is some practice. I'll give you guys a chance to make your own clothes for me and then you can go from there. You just wait and see! Renamon, you'll be the envy of women everywhere with your soft, silken design.” Renamon actually cracked a small smile at this thought as she pondered the future. “Babus, you could design for royalty if you really wanted to. Just look at your Lord's Robe!” Babus looked down at his heavy robe indecisively. “If you can make that, you can do anything! And Montblanc... just because you're small, it doesn't mean that's a bad thing. Look at how cute you are!” Montblanc pulled his ears over his face in an attempt to hide his blushing form. “Kids from every corner of the nation would wear things that you made! Mothers everywhere would want their kids to look as cute as you do!”

I then turned to them in general. “All of you need to think about your strengths and yours styles and exploit them! Just one of you by yourselves can't start a new trend, but all of you together can revolutionize the fashion industry. Just think of how all of you have helped me so far. If you can do that at my conference, then my boss won't know what hit him!”

Everyone seemed moved by my little pep talk, but one statement from Seryn brought my mood crashing down in flames. “Lance, honey, your boss only said to make sixteen new logos. He never said anything about clothing trends.”

I was so thunderstruck by what she said that I thought I was going to cry. As much as it had hurt me, it was true. I had been only given the task of creating sixteen logos instead of an entire new line of clothing.

Seryn seemed to realize what she had said and gasped and put a paw to her mouth. “Oh! I'm so sorry, Lance! I'm really sorry I said that!”

I was too depressed to accept her apology. It looked like I was going to go into a mid-life crisis when Sidian rekindled my enthusiasm. “Maybe we can incorporate our own logos into our clothing designs and we can go above and beyond the call of duty?”

She had a good point. My boss had never said which logo had to go on which clothing type. Maybe they could help me out after all. “You would do that for me?”

They all nodded and Blaziken offered an encouraging metaphor. “You scratch our backs, we'll scratch yours. We're with you until the end and nothing will take us away from you! Right, gang?”

There was a positive roar of “Right! Plushies rule!” from everyone in return. Just seeing them all on my side made me feel better about myself. I was going to do this and no one was going to stop me!

Just then, the phone rang, which Seryn went to go answer. But one look at the Caller ID told her that it was bad news on the other end.

“It's your boss, Lance. He must have gotten free faster than we thought.”

“Free? What are you talking about?” I was immediately suspicious of her. But then something clicked and I rounded on Sidian. “Did you girls screw my boss last week and didn't tell me?”

Seryn knew she had said more than she should have and both she and Sidian knew that they were in trouble. Regardless of my feelings towards them, I stepped forward to answer the phone.

But at the last moment, Seryn held her paw in front of my hand and said, “Let me handle this. He's gonna be steaming.”

I stared at her harder than I ever had before but stood down. Seryn and Sidian knew they were in for a royal chewing when Seryn got off the phone. Seryn sighed and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

At first, all was calm. Mr. Kelvin asked whether or not I was there. Thankfully, Seryn answered, “He's indisposed at the moment.” There was a pause before he started yelling so loud that we could hear every word he spoke.

“You're one of those (expletives) that attacked me! I know your voice anywhere! You kidnapped me and dumped me in that sewer and left me for dead! When I woke up, it was a week later! Wait'll I get a hold of you! I'll have you and your friend arrested on assault, you (expletives)!”

This continued for a few minutes, each word taking their toll on Seryn. As he continued to rant, I could see that she was getting closer and closer to tears. I knew that she had made a bad choice, but even she didn't deserve this. Finally deciding to step in, I took the phone from her while she ran off, wailing and crying loudly. I motioned to Sidian to follow her into my room and then took over the line.

“Excuse me, Mr. Kelvin?”

He finally realized that the person he wanted was on the line and adjusted his tone. “Well, it's about time, Kane! I was just talking with that (expletive) freak of yours! I know you had something to do with this! I was up all night washing the sewage out of my clothes!”

Feeling offended, I decided to take Seryn and Sidian's side in this dispute.

“Listen up, you poor excuse for a human being. If you ever talk about or to my wife like that again, I won't stop until you've been prosecuted for abuse and assault. You have no proof that they were even in the building when you got your sorry ass kidnapped, so don't pick on them because they don't kiss ass like you do on a daily basis!”

Mr. Kelvin seemed shocked, but he recovered quickly. “You've got a lot of nerve talking to me like that, Mr. Kane! If it weren't for that conference coming up in the next ten days, I'd fire your ass so fast that you'd need to sell your car to buy gas money!”

I wanted to continue arguing, but something about what he had just said made me shift gears. “Ten days?! I thought I had sixteen days left until the conference!”

“Well, that was before you punk-ass (expletives) kidnapped me and left me to rot in that sewer! You now have ten days after tomorrow until the conference! And I don't want any excuses this time or I'll throw you out on the street faster than you can blink!”

This was absolute injustice! I had six plushies left to get and now there were only ten days left until the conference! I wouldn't be able to get a plushie every two days with a deadline like that!

But despite the new deadline, I was still determined to show my boss that I was not intimidated. “Fine! I'll see you in ten days, Your Lardness! And when I come up with the best damn presentation you've ever seen, you'll regret ever threatening me or my friends! Good-bye!” And with that, I slammed the phone down on the receiver, seething with rage.

My plushies were in utter shock. None of them, including Blaziken and Sidian, had ever seen me get this upset before for any reason. They knew that my boss had made this extremely personal by threatening Seryn and Sidian, but they never knew I would lose my cool like this. They looked on with scared expressions on their faces, unsure whether it was safe to approach me.

But as I stood there, Sidian dared to do what the others were too afraid to do. She stepped forward and carefully wrapped her arms around my waist, covering me with her wings like a large shell. The feel of her artificial leathery skin calmed me down somewhat and the feel of her hot breath on my cheek seemed to relax my muscles and calm my nerves. Sidian also gave my cheek a little manual cleaning, returning my mood to normal.

“Thanks, Sidian,” I told her as she removed herself from me. “I needed that.”

Sidian nodded and I turned to the other plushies to give the bad news. “Looks like we've been screwed again. I have just ten days to get my projects done, starting tomorrow. And since there's only six of you left to come, we're going to be on a tight schedule for a while. So if I start to show any stress, you are welcome to try and calm me down.”

The plushies nodded, telling me that they understood the situation. I then turned to my room where Sidian had run off to, crying.

“Sidian, will you come with me? I need to speak with the two of you alone.”

Sidian hoped that my temper, which was on thin ice as it was, didn't flare up again when I asked them about what had happened with my boss. She quietly followed me to my room where I closed the door and sat down on the bed next to the weeping Flammie.

“Seryn?” I said, running my hand down her back. “I'm here for you. Would you like to talk about what happened last week?”

Seryn stopped crying, but she was still sniffling as she looked up from the pillow at me. “I-I'm really sorry that your boss yelled at you. This was all mine and Sidian's fault. *hic* After he upped the number of projects to sixteen, we *sniff* thought we'd go and teach him a lesson. We didn't hurt-*sniff*-hurt him. We just stunned him, wrapped him up in a *whine* cloth cocoon and then *gulp* tossed him in a sewer. We thought he didn't see us and he'd learn his lesson a-bout picking on you, but I s-see that it backfired on us.”

Her face started tearing again and she returned to the pillow to weep over her mistake. I turned to Sidian and looked very seriously at her. “Is this true, Sidian?”

Sidian nodded. “Seryn didn't even like the way he tasted anyway. I knew she'd rather digest you than eat him again considering how disgusting he was.”

Now that I had the whole story, I gave my judgment. “What you two did was wrong; there's no getting around that. You didn't tell me where you were going or what you were doing and I should be upset at you...” Seryn whined, bracing herself. “...but I'm not. He got a taste of what's coming to him and I'm glad that you two had the guts and the stomach to put him in his place. Even I know that he had no right to call you what he did. Despite what you did, no one deserves to be called those names by anyone. I'm actually very proud of you, Seryn, for not blowing up at him.” Seryn finally looked up from her pillow, her radiant blue eyes looking curiously at me. “Skyle Kelvin is a fat, lazy, good-for-nothing brownnose that doesn't deserve to have me working for him. Nothing he can say will ever make me forgive him for berating you like that, but won't it be worth it when I show up at the conference with all sixteen of my wonderful friends and put on a show that will shut him up for good?”

Seryn hiccupped and blinked at me. “You're not mad?”

I smiled and tickled her under the chin, listening to her purr comfortably. “Not at all. You girls actually did what I could never do, and I thank you for it. Besides, when all is said and done and I have a mob of new clients lining up for my signature, I'll have a plan to put “Mr.” Kelvin in his place once and for all.”

Sidian's ears perked up. “What is it? Tell us!”

But I smiled and placed a finger over her muzzled, winking. “Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. I'll show you when this is all over, okay?”

Sidian knew that she wasn't getting another word out of me, so she sighed and placed her hand on Seryn's back. “So, how about it, Seryn? I think you an Lance had better go out for your moonlit flight. Your fur is starting to get coarse from the lack of moonlight.”

Seryn looked at her back and ran a paw over it, appearing just as surprised as I was that her fur was not as soft as before. Its natural radiance was going out and her fur was starting to look and feel like a well-used stuffed animal.

“I guess I'd better,” she said, rolling onto her front before shifting her weight onto her feet. “How about it, love? Shall we head out?”

I was glad to see that she was back to her old, cheery, smiling self. “All right, let's go have some fun!”

Now that we were back on positive terms with each other, Sidian stepped out of the room and gave the others the double thumbs-up. There was a collective sigh from the others and Seryn and I headed to the back door and headed outside. Before we left, Seryn beamed at the others and said, “We'll be back!”

Once we were out in the front yard, Seryn looked up at the moon in the sky, closed her eyes and smiled. “The moon feels so good tonight. It's unlike any energy I've ever felt before. Not even the finest clothing can compare to this!”

I was glad that she was happy. This would be a first time for me as well. It would be the first time that I had ridden with an actual bona fide-y Flammie in the moonlight. It would be a pleasant experience for the both of us.

But as I stepped forward to climb on her back, I stopped to witness an incredible sight. Bathed in nourishing moonlight, Seryn's fur had regained its natural softness and luster. Not only that, but she was growing! Within a few seconds, she was double what she used to be... triple... quadruple! She was now over 50 feet from head to tail, which trailed onto the ground behind her! In fact, a third of her entire length was her furry, plated tail!

On her hind legs, she towered over me and was even a few feet taller than my mom's house! She had also shifted her arms and legs into what was obviously a quadrupedal stance, but she could also stand on her hind legs like a bear could. Her four feathery wings were now colossal in comparison to her body! I didn't doubt that the length between the tip of one of her wings to the other was no less than 80 feet! Also, her lower pair of wings had grown out a little to appear the same size as her upper ones.

The gargantuan Flammie looked down at me and smiled, letting out a shrill of happiness at her new form. “Come with me, Lance,” she said in a much more powerful but still similar voice. “Let us fly in the moonlight together for the first time in this new life!”

I nodded and stepped forward. She was truly a sight to behold in the natural moonlight. I was going to enjoy myself on this special night. In fact, I later found out that tonight was All Hallow's Eve – the day before Halloween. The magic of this special night is what had turned Seryn into what she was tonight. When I got back, I was going to tell the others that we were all going out for a night on the town tomorrow night. A True Flammie and eleven wonderful plushies would not look out of place in the night on this one special day.

Seryn leaned over and carefully scooped me up with her paw. She now weighed almost a ton, so she had to be careful not to crush me under her weight. Once she had me in her paw, she transferred me to her back just below her neck and allowed me to settle in on top of her. Her neck was so large that I couldn't straddle it with my legs like I would with a horse, so I had to lie on my front and hold onto her neck fur so I wouldn't slide off.

Then with a trill of delight, Seryn took flight, pumping all four of her massive wings as one and gaining height quickly, soon clearing the trees around Mom and Dean's house and achieving flight. We were off into the night as a Flammie and her “Tamer”. We were going to spend this magical night with each other as much as we could before we had to go to the rec center in Becker to talk to Aridos and Vega.

Meanwhile, down below, all but two of my plushies came piling outside to watch as Seryn and I flew off. They had watched her transformation from inside, but they all wanted to witness her taking flight into the night. The sight of the colossal furred-and-feathered creature was priceless on all of their faces as we disappeared into horizon. They would remember this for the rest of their immortal lives as the most angelic figure they had ever seen. But that would never compare to what I was experiencing on the massive Flammie's back.

It was like riding some kind of giant furry airship around the world. Seryn's mass was so large that it was almost impossible for me to fall off. Her fur had become so soft from the moonlight she was absorbing that it was like I was riding on the worlds largest, fluffiest cloud. And the way she soared through the air by flapping her four huge wings as one was indescribable. She flew with such precision and grace that it was almost impossible to feel the wind flowing over her fur and feathers.

I could have gone on to describe every little detail I was feeling, but before I could, Seryn suddenly bucked, tossing me into the air and then rolling over to catch me with her massive paws before rolling back over and flying with me hanging underneath her just like Keldy had felt in Dawn of Mana.

At first, I was shocked by her movement, but the fact that she would never let anything happen to me made me feel better about the sudden change in her flight plan. She was able to fly with enough experience to rival the best fighter jet pilot. She had done this not only in this life, but in her old life countless years ago when Flammies were among the most powerful creatures on the planet.

As we flew on, Seryn suddenly ducked her head under and looked at me with those radiant baby-blue eyes. Smiling, she said in a gentle yet powerful voice, “Do you trust me?”

She had never given me a reason not to, so I nodded and said, “With my life.”

She trilled and then tossed me high into the air so I was in freefall mode. She then flew straight up and opened her mouth to its normal width due to her size. The falling human and the climbing Flammie met in mid-air as I slid casually down her throat, sliding on the now-moist passage like a crazy water slide until I came to rest somewhere deep in her now damp, dark, soft stomach.

I moved around a little as Seryn leveled herself off again before speaking, “Are you ready for this, my love? I am going to show you something that you will never ever forget, no matter how you choose your path in life.”

Wondering if she could even hear me with such a massive body, I called back to her, “Do it! I'm ready for anything!”

As I said this, from out of nowhere, what felt like a long, moist tentacle reached out from the walls of Seryn's stomach and attached itself to the back of my skull. I was taken aback by the sudden attack, but soon, that became irrelevant. The tentacle fused with my skin and I lost the feeling in my body for a moment before blacking out and then coming back to my senses with a different perspective.

I was now attached to Seryn's mind and I was seeing and feeling exactly what she was experiencing now. I could feel every muscle she was using and my vision had increased tenfold. I was practically inside Seryn's head.

“Do you like it, Lance?” she said, using her... our mouth to speak. “Is it not the most amazing thing you have ever experienced?”

Taking control of our head for a moment, I looked around at our body before looking down at all of the lights in the city of St. Cloud below us. Everything was so vivid and clear and I felt so powerful and capable that it reminded me of the few precious minutes I had spent with Seryn way back when I had first met her. But this time, we were truly one body and mind but two souls that were as close as we had ever been before.

“It's... It's amazing!” I said, using our mouth to speak this time. “This makes our last soul exchange seem like nothing when compared to this. How can you possibly land when you're enjoying yourself so much?”

From within our mind, I felt Seryn comfort me. “I must rest and spend some time with my friends, but if you want, we can do this every night and the world will be at our control.”

That was a pretty strong statement, but even Seryn knew that I couldn't spend every night with her. I had a life to deal with and I had to rest as well. “Maybe not every night, but I'll try to do what I can with you.”

Seryn felt satisfied that I had accepted her proposal, even on modified terms. She sent a wave of mental satisfaction to me and told me something very important.

“I love you, Lance. Nothing will ever change that.”

I smiled and continued flying. “I love you, too. I'm so glad that you and the others came into my life. I can't possibly imagine life without any of you again.”

Seryn cooed and slowly started to separate our two minds so I was being brought back to my own body. As much as she wanted me to stay with her, we had an appointment to get to and we needed to be two separate beings again if we planned to make it. Soon, I was back in my own mind and body and the tentacle that had pulled me out of it disconnected from my head and withdrew itself back into her stomach lining. Seryn then let me spend a few more minutes in her stomach while she found a decent place to land and extract me.

About ten minutes later, Seryn touched down less than a quarter-mile from the rec center in the park so she would not attract attention to herself. And before she extracted me, she released the energy that had turned her into a giant and soon returned to her old size, now sporting an old-fashioned pregnant belly again. She then took in a few breaths and then coughed me up.

This time, I was covered in thick slime from her stomach, but Seryn soon cleaned me up by rubbing her furry body against mine, drying me off and making me sparkling clean again. She then cleaned the slime off of her by grooming herself just like a cat would. I remembered her comment about cats from back when we had first arrived at my old farm.

“Cats are an early evolution of Flammies. The only real differences are that we are magic and have wings. It's said that cats and Flammies can understand each other perfectly.”

Now that I thought about it, they did seem to come from the same evolutionary path. I guess it was because I had been around a Flammie longer than anyone, so I could see the family resemblance.

Seryn and I decided to walk the rest of the way to the rec center. It wasn't that far and we wanted to enjoy the pleasure of each other's company before we met up with Aridos and Vega. We didn't say much, but we walked side-by-side with hand-in-paw, just gazing up at the stars and walking along the road, basking in this beautiful All Hallow's Eve night.

By the time we got to the rec center, we were surprised to see that the lights in the pool area were on but the rest of the building was pitch-black. I didn't know Aridos or Vega swam this late at night, but we headed up to the front door and pulled it open. Surprisingly, it was locked when I tried to open it, but when Seryn tried it, the same door swung open as if it had been unlocked the entire time.

“They must have been expecting me,” she offered as her only explanation.

As we entered the main area, we were surprised to see a series of blue-flame candles hovering in the form of a path between the entrance and the pool area. This must have been arranged by Aridos and Vega for us to follow. And as we cleared each set, another pair would light up further down the path for us to follow while the previous ones went out. It was strange, but we soon reached the pool area without setting off any alarms that might have been in the building.

The pool area of the Becker Recreation center was not like most other pools one would expect to find in something like a YMCA. The pool was anything but uniform in shape and depth depending on the area. The ladders around the pool were stationed at odd intervals, so if you went up in one area, you would have to walk around different parts of the pool to get to another ladder or another part. It's kind of hard to describe unless you were actually there to see it.

There was also a kind of “dining” area near the door where we came in that allowed parents to watch their children from the same room as them in case something went wrong or if someone wanted to take a rest without heading all the way back into the locker rooms, which were on the opposite end of the room.

And at one of the tables was none other than the aged old man, Karmen Aridos, and the anthropomorphic fox-man, Vega Firetail. They were watching the pool from the rest area while sipping a pair of smoking goblets filled with unknown blue liquid.

Vega was sitting so that he was facing us and waved to us from the table, calling out, “Lance! Seryn! You made it! Come over here and have a seat!”

Seryn and I looked at each other for a moment before walking over and sitting down in plastic chairs around the table. There were holes in the back of them so that Vega and Seryn could let their tails trail down without sitting on them like most other chairs.

“I take it you got our message,” said Aridos, sliding a goblet of the unknown blue liquid in front of me and Seryn. Seryn immediately started sipping from the straw they had put into it, but I wasn't sure if it was safe for me to drink. It wasn't hot, but it was smoking enough to make it look like it was a potion of some kind.

“Yeah,” I said, looking through the glass at the strange liquid. “Klonoa wrote it down on his ear and read it to us when we got up.”

Vega chuckled and sipped from his drink again. “That sounds like Klonoa; always putting those ears of his to good use.” He looked at me over his glass. “It's not poison, you know. Even you could drink it. Just be careful of the...”

Suddenly, Seryn started wailing and shivering as her whole body seemed to have been overcome by seizures. I was suddenly concerned for her as her fur and feathers stood on end. It looked like she was in pain, but soon, she shook herself out and let out a trill of delight.

“WHOO!!! That was cold, but it sure is delicious! What do you call this, Vega?”

Vega chuckled. “I call it “Suicune's Chill”. I got the recipe from one of the Legendary Dogs by the name of Suicune back when I was on my own.”

I blinked and looked at the smoking drink. “What's in it?”

Aridos took a sip from his drink but did not react the same way that Seryn had. “It's a mix of vanilla ice cream, blue-raspberry flavoring, Sierra Mist soda, a secret, special icy juice that only the makers of this drink are supposed to know, three spoonfuls of sour crystals and just a ice-cube's worth of dry ice, which cools it off and gives it this nice, smoky look. It's guaranteed to lower first-timers' body temperature by two degrees or your money back.”

“Sounds like liquid nitrogen in terms of iciness,” I said, looking over the drink.

“Go on, Lance! Try it!” whined Seryn, taking another pull from her drink. “Once the initial kick wears off, it's actually very tasty.”

I had a feeling that a two-degree drop in my body temperature wasn't very healthy, but if Seryn and Aridos could handle it, then I was game for it. I took a chance and gave a good draw from the drink, sampling the taste in my mouth. I was about to give my analysis when the drink's bite hit me like a ton of bricks!

Holy... God! That was cold! I lost all feeling in my fingers and toes and I could have sworn that I was going into hypothermia! I was too cold to shiver and I could basically see my own breath as I tried to warm myself up. I had never had a magical drink before, but this one certainly packed a punch!

Just when it looked like I was going to pass out from the cold, my body immediately warmed back up and I could taste the drink's full flavor in my mouth.

“Say... this isn't bad at all! It's fruity, tart, sweet and sour all at the same time with just a fair amount of chill in it. I salute your bartending skills, Mr. Firetail!” I saluted him like a soldier would and continued to drink from the drink. Thankfully, the cold feeling did not return and I was able to enjoy it much more.

Vega simply shrugged. “I'm not one to brag, but I was the one who added the dry ice. That way, it never gets warm no matter how hot it gets. It's got a harmony of flavors, plus it's non-alcoholic, so everyone can enjoy this.”

“Has it ever seriously hurt anyone?” said Seryn curiously.

Vega shook his head. “Not to my knowledge, but Suicune herself can make it so cold that some have passed out before it wore off. But no one's died, if that's what you mean. The other Legendary Dogs can create another batch of drinks known as “Entei's Fury” – which is a hot but not spicy drink that raises your body temperature by one degree for a while – and “Raikou's Jolt” – which is an incredibly tart, tangy and sour orange drink that is supposed to paralyze you for a full five seconds for first-timers.”

“Wow,” I said, amazed. “These “Legendary Dogs” must really know how to make effective drinks without killing someone.”

Vega drained his drink and then tapped his glass on the rim a couple of times, which refilled almost immediately. “I got the recipes personally from Suicune, Entei and Raikou a few years ago at the Elemental Fair when it was hosted in Scotland. I just added a thing or two to make them look more realistic when I started making them for myself and Aridos back in the good old U.S. of A.”

“What goes in the other two?” Seryn said, sipping her Suicune's Chill slowly to let the flavor slowly was over her.

Aridos looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “I know he put a piece of cinnamon candy in Entei's Fury to set it on fire, but I can't remember what goes in the other...”

“A lemon sour ball in Raikou's Jolt makes it look like it's being electrocuted,” said Vega, finishing for him. “They're all my special additions after researching the drinks. They somehow react with that special juice that goes in each one and brings out their full potential.” He sipped his drink, thoughtfully. “But even I can't beat a glass created by the Legendary Dogs themselves. They were the ones who created them in the first place and only they can bring out the drinks' true flavors.”

“I dunno,” I said, finishing mine before I realized it. “It's pretty good from what I can tell.” I suddenly realized that it was empty. “Say, you wouldn't mind topping me off, would you?”

Vega nodded and tapped the rim of the glass with one finger a few times and it quickly refilled from the few drops that were left just like it had with his.

“I can't stop drinking these,” said Seryn, also having her glass refilled. “They're like moonlight, only sweeter and you can taste them.”

“Thankfully, none of them have any alcohol in them, there's no carbs in them and the special juices reduce the number of calories in them substantially, so they'd be all the rage if the general public found out about them.”

“The perfect beverage!” said Seryn and me together, clinking our glasses together.

(Author's Note: These drinks made their debut in a three-part story that I never finished called “Conflict of Interest”. The events that they discussed were pretty close, except that Vega wasn't an active character back then.”

Now that we were done talking about drinks, I set mine aside and spoke to Aridos and Vega. “So, what did you call us here for?”

They were about to answer when a pair of small, furry figures walked up to Vega, completely soaked with pool water. “Vega?” said a silver-furred one. “Miles and I are going to go to the gym now.”

Seryn and I were suddenly struck with deja vü. There was not one but two different-colored Tails standing in front of us. One of them looked a lot like the Tails Plushie we had grown to love, but there was something different about this one. Instead of white-tipped ears, this one had black fur on the tips of his ears! He wore the same kind of gloves and shoes as Tails, but we could tell that this Tails was as real as Seryn was.

The other Tails looked just like him, except that he was a mix of sterling-silver and gray where he was golden-yellow and black.

The two Tails looked noticed us and then looked at Vega. “Are they...?” said the silver one.

Vega nodded. “Yep. These are our latest customers, Lance Kane and Seryn.”

The golden Tails suddenly looked back down at the pool where there were two more furry creatures swimming peacefully.

“She's got the same name, but they're different colors,” he said curiously.

Seryn and I looked at each other, wondering what was going on. Vega, however, simply shooed the Tails away.

“Go on. I'll come talk to you in a moment.”

As they left, he turned to us and gave us an explanation. “They look like him, but they're not. They're two of my first customers when I was working alone in Anthro Anthology. They're names are Miles and Rye. They're my kids.”

This seemed to make sense. Miles was the Tails look-alike and had obviously been connected to Rye as Seryn was to me. Rye must have once been human and had been transformed by Miles and/or Vega into what he was now. It was strange, but it was the only thing that made sense.

“I suppose I'd better let you meet the others.” Vega turned to the pool and let out a shrill, sharp whistle. The creatures in the pool heard him and were out of the pool in a flurry of water, fur and... feathers?” The two of them landed on the side of the pool and headed up to the rest area.

This time, there was an obvious difference between these two. They were both Flammies, but these ones were a rich creamy-yellow shade instead of my Seryn's pure-white. But while one of them was tall and humanoid in nature, the other one looked more like a Pomeranian dog in terms of size when compared to its partner. It also walked on all fours, but its size is what alarmed us the most. It was so small that the humanoid Flammie could pick it up like a small dog and swallow it whole like Seryn had been able to when we were all Moogled.

“Lance and Seryn, meet my previous Flammie clients, Skyle the Pygmy Flammie and Seryn the Anthro Flammie.”

Man and beast and beast and man-beast all looked at each other impressively. Seryn was amazed that there were other Flammies like her out in the world; she had just never expected to see anyone other than her.

Anthro Seryn was just like my Seryn, except that her frame was a little slimmer and slightly more humanoid than mine was. Her face, her wings and her tail were all the same scale and shape as my Seryn's, but her body, arms, legs and her paws were all human-like. True, she was still covered in fur and feathers, but her hands had five padded, taloned digits on them and her feet were digitigrade with four digits on them. She also sported a pair of rich, round breasts that were covered by her orange armor plating. Weird.

But when Anthro Seryn spoke, it was in the same tone, pitch and volume as her True Flammie counterpart. “So this is the one you've been telling me all about?”

Vega nodded. “The very ones. I guess you could call Seryn “B” here your parallel counterpart.”

Seryn “B” blushed at this statement. She had obviously never been called “parallel” before. However, Anthro Seryn held her paw-hand forward and offered it to True Seryn. “It's nice to meet you, miss Seryn. I take it that this is your Tamer?” she said, looking at me with those brilliant baby-blue eyes of hers.

True Seryn nodded. “Tamer, mate and son all in one. We're just that close.”

Finally, the Pygmy Flammie piped up from under Anthro Seryn's arm. “Hey! What about me!” It sounded distinctly male.

Anthro Seryn looked at the Flammie under her arm and smiled. She then let him climb on her furry shoulder and he let out a trill of happiness like an obedient cat. “Lance and Seryn, meet my Tamer, mate and pet, Skyle Kelvin.”

“Nice ta meet ya!” trilled Skyle, climbing up on his owner's wing.

True Seryn didn't know what to say, so I filled in for her. “Why is he so small? I've never known full-sized Flammies to BE so small.”

Vega answered this. “There was a glitch when Anthro Seryn turned him into a Flammie, making him a pocket version of what he was supposed to be. The reason he's not an Anthro Flammie is because I didn't have the resources after making a charm for Rio to turn him into one.

“But he's not complaining. In fact, shortly after he was transformed, he started shrinking instead of growing until he was only a foot long. That's how he got the name “Pygmy” Flammie. Besides, isn't he cute this way?”

Skyle the Pygmy Flammie was hanging off of Anthro Seryn's wing like a small kitten and soon slid back onto her shoulder when she held her wing up at an angle so that he lost his grip and slid down the bone to her shoulder.

“He's just a pawful nowadays. He thinks that because he's so small that he gets to go and do whatever and wherever he wants.”

“Have you ever tried eating him to teach him a lesson?” said True Seryn, looking at me in a mock hungry look. “That's what I do to Lance when he’s been a bad boy.”

Anthro Seryn didn't seem to have thought of that before. “You can eat him? But... won't that hurt him?”

Vega chuckled and answered for us. “I guess I never told you about animal vore before. I can tell you all about it later, but it would work a lot easier with you two than it does with True Seryn and Lance because he's so small.”

The idea of being eaten alive seemed to send Skyle into a fit of chirps and purrs. “Yeah! Eat me, Seryn! I wanna be eaten! EAT ME!!!”

Finally getting “fed up” with the squirrelly pygmy, Anthro Seryn plucked the twittering Flammie off her shoulder and chucked him across the railing and back into the pool where he splashed down and went back to swimming. Skyle was so hyper that he actually trilled all the way through the air before landing with a splash in the pool and swimming away.

Turning back to us, she sighed and shook her head. “Sometimes he's just a hopeless cause and I don't know what to do with him.”

True Seryn simply smiled. “Don't worry; once he spends a few hours in your belly, he'll calm down enough for you to get a hold on his enthusiasm. I've done it to Lance numerous times and he's always come up in a better mood,” she added, wrapping her tail around my leg affectionately.

“I'll have to learn how to do that,” said Anthro Seryn. “But for now, I'd better get down there before he gets stuck in the filter again.”

“Okay. Nice meeting you,” I said as she got up. Anthro Seryn showed her affection for me by blowing a puff of blue Flammie breath that when it hit me in the face, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“She seems nice,” said True Seryn once Anthro Seryn was back in the pool.

“Isn't she?” said Vega, returning to his Suicune's Chill. “She and Skyle met just a day before Miles and Rio did and they've been close to me ever since. Kind of reminds me of those Synthetic friends of yours, huh, Aridos?”

Aridos shrugged. “If you mean the Latexed Lugia and the Synthetic Flammies, then yes.”

“Wow,” said Seryn impressively. “Flammies are much more common than I thought they were.”

“Of course. You're not the first Flammie we've brought back to life, and I doubt that you'll be the last.”

With that out of the way, Vega reached into the collar of his battle suit and pulled out a piece of yellowed parchment. “Getting back to business, I've got something from our superior about a place where you and your friends can move until after your conference.”

Seryn and I were listening intently. “I didn't know we were moving so soon,” she said, interested.

Aridos nodded. “It's not very big, but it's got a nice view of the lake near Willmar and I'm sure you and your friends will make room.”

Hearing this, I looked at Seryn with a smile on my face. “I've always wanted to live by a lake.” Turning to Vega, I added, “So when can we move in?”

Vega looked over the document for a date. “You can move in first thing in the morning. Here's the address.” He pulled another piece of paper out of his suit and handed it to me. It showed a picture of a small cabin with a view overlooking a patio with a lake at the end of a wooden stairway below it. As I looked at the picture, I was that the view was moving on its own so I could get a view of every square inch of the place.

“It doesn't look so bad,” said Seryn, taking the picture. “At least we'll have some neighbors.”

I wasn't expecting neighbors, but Vega spoke up to reassure me. “These cabins are only used in the summer for people who are on vacation. I can assure you that you'll be the only ones in the area for the next ten days.”

That made me realize something. “How am I supposed to get my remaining six plushies in the next ten days? That's not even one ever two days.”

Aridos took a long pull from his drink and then set it aside. “We'll work something out. In fact, one of them will be waiting for you when you get there. He goes by the name “Aquos” and is a rather intelligent creature. You might think he's strange at first, but he is a plushie and will be a nice addition to your collection.”

I folded the paper and put in a pocket that Klonoa had installed in my jacket. “Thanks a bunch. We'll be moving out first thing in the morning.”

Aridos nodded and then got up from his chair to go check on Miles and Rio. Vega also got up and gave them one more piece of encouragement. “You're going to be great at your conference, Lance. When all sixteen of your plushies arrive, you'll be more than ready to show your boss who's the better man. And after that...” he looked around to see if anyone was listening. “...you can show him the true extent of your ExVee powers.”

I had a feeling that if I did that, I would be fired faster than I could blink, but if Vega believed that I could do it without incident, then I had to trust him. I was going to change back to my ExVeemon form in just a few hours, so I had to get ready for my inevitable transformation.

Seryn and I then said our good-byes and left the rec center to head back to the house, thinking about what we had heard and learned. Things weren't over yet; not by a long shot, so we had some time to think about what life was going to bring to our family before this was all over. I just hoped that we could deal with any challenges when they arrived.

Chapter 12: A Greater Porpoise

Plushie #11 – 5 remain

10 days until deadline

Everyone was asleep by the time we returned home, so Seryn and I retired to my old room and curled up under the covers together to get some shuteye. This time, Seryn's body was giving off its own natural body heat under all that fur, so it was like sleeping with a furry electric blanket curled up around you. Seryn's body heat had increased since she had been a plushie, making her even more cuddly and comfortable to sleep next to. I felt grateful that I had this living, breathing, fuzzy blanket to cuddle up to every night. Back when I was living by myself, I would spend a good hour or to trying to get comfortable and get to sleep. How did I ever survive without her or my other friends to keep me comfortable before now?

I was still asleep when the clock struck 6:00 AM, but my Dream Realm felt the effects of my transformation by shorting out for a moment before returning as though nothing had happened. When I woke up later, I would be back to my Anthro ExVeemon form until either I wore my Dusk Stone or until the clock hit 6:00 PM on the nose tonight.

I didn't wake up until about two hours later out of habit long before this had all begun. Seryn was already up, leaving me in the bed to figure out where she had gone. As I lied there, my body rebooting, I noticed that I had that same muzzle that I had had back when Renamon and I had had our little fun in the early morning hours. Yawning and stretching out my limbs, I flipped back the covers and rolled onto the side of the bed to look at my new form.

(Author's Note: I know I already described Lance's Anthro ExVeemon form earlier, but I'm going to do it again since he now has to deal with this form for most of the day.)

I had to admit, when Strato Incendus had given me this form, he certainly didn't skimp on any of the details. I had grown from six feet even to almost eight feet-tall and was now covered in thick, leathery, draconic, blue skin with a coat of white running from my muzzle down to underneath my red Speedo tights. (Nice touch, though.) The front of my white torso had a strange silver mark all down the front of my muscular chest that looked like a “V” with two detached handles at the base of it that made it look kind of like an “X” at the same time. I guess that was one of the reasons that he got his name, “EX-Veemon”, and that was why some artists online spelled it “X-Vmon” or even “X-Veemon”. Strange, isn't it?

And I could see why ExVeemon was such a popular character in the “Muscle” category on Fur Affinity – these impressive guns would attract almost any woman looking for a hot man. I noticed that MY version's muscles were impressive but not blown out of proportion like some artist I had seen draw him. They kind of reminded me of TNA superstar Scott Steiner, but not quite so large in the biceps department (*blush*).

And just like last time, the number of fingers on my hands was at four, which was less than my human ones at five but more than the real ExVeemon's at three. They each had a short, sharp, white claw on their tips and there were a pair of sharp, bony claws between my knuckles that kind of looked like a pair of built-in brass knuckles. These new “claws” would take some would take some getting used to with the different features that they contained, but I figured that I would be able to master them in time. They were mine, after all.

I also noticed that I had a fresh tattoo in black ink on my left shoulder that hadn't been there before. It looked like a cross between Seryn's insignia and what I assumed was Strato Incendus' insignia. There was a definitive star shape to it, but the points were detached and hovering around a circle with three diagonal claw marks in the middle of it. I guess it was a way of telling that I “belonged” to Seryn and Strato Incendus. Weird.

My long, blue legs were lean and muscular with some of the blue veins nearly popping out of my skin in places. I also had a pair of three-clawed digitigrade feet to get used to. As a human, I had always been plantigrade. How digitigrade creatures managed to walk on the balls of their feet 24/7, I might never know, but I had to learn quickly or I'd be tripping all over myself before too long.

I also had this nice, thick, muscular tail to call my own. It was long and uniform and I found that I could flex it and snap it just by wiggling my tailbone, but I found that if I left it alone, it remained in place in a kind of horizontal position instead of being limp like some creatures I had seen (*coughcoughVegacough*). And to add even more wonder to my powerful body, I had a pair of full, thick, white, draconic wings to call my own. They weren't as small as the real ExVeemon's, but they weren't as large as Sidian's. They were somewhere in-between and only had two long bones holding the webbing in place instead of Sidian's four. They weren't as distinguishable as hers, either, but they looked impressive enough to get me places. I know that despite their size, the real ExVeemon could still fly rather expertly. I would have to try them out sometime in the future.

Finally, my muzzle was fuller than Sidian's narrow, pointed one and had a sharp, silver spike sticking out of the tip of it. I felt that I could do some damage with it with training, but I had to be careful not to hurt anybody I didn't want to. (Author's Note: ...) And to top it all off, I had a remaining trait from Veemon's old form with the pair of long, thick “ears” growing behind my head. Unlike Babus', they didn't droop and were bent at one point to make them appear a little crooked.

All in all, I was a pretty impressive creature, all the way up to my fierce red eyes. I had a feeling that I was going to like being an Anthro Digimon of draconic descent. I had always wanted to be a dragon and now part of that dream had come true.

But there were two disadvantages to being this tall and strong. One: I couldn't put too much pressure on anything I touched in case I crushed it or broke it. And Two: most doors only went up to seven feet, so I would have to duck down if I wanted to avoid hitting my face on the top of the frame. I would also have to keep my wings folded in if I wanted to avoid catching them on the sides of the door.

For some reason, I decided that it would be too much trouble to try and move around Mom's house in this form, so I ducked down under the bed and fished out the Dusk Stone on a chain that Strato Incendus had given me. I was going to wear it so I could get back to my smaller human form so I could move around a little easier until we got outside.

Draping it around my neck, the instant it was settled on my warm skin, the black stone started glowing a radiant black with the moon symbol flaring a bright white and before I knew it, I was back to six-foot Human Lance Kane in an instant.

“Well, that went well,” I said to myself, opening the door and heading out into the living room to check on the others.

Strangely enough, I walked in on Seryn in the kitchen, handling a pan on the stove and frying up breakfast for me.

“Hi, Lance!” she said, waving to me. “How do you like your eggs?”

“Uh...” I was surprised at this act of generosity. “Hard, I guess.”

“Okey-dokey. Hard eggs coming right up! You just go sit down there and I'll have these ready before you know it!”

I blinked and headed around the corner to sit down at the breakfast bar that Mom and Dean had installed during their extensive remodeling. I sat there for a moment before something came floating up to me and nearly shoving me off my seat with its head. A familiar trill followed by a red flash on its head told me who this was.

“Hello, Latias,” I said, smiling and stroking her behind her “ears”. “Looks like you and Latios finally woke up, eh?”

Latias trilled and continued to push against me, smiling and rubbing her head against me.

“It looks like she wants to play with you,” said Seryn, smiling as she looked in our direction. “And I don't have to be Sidian to tell that.”

At the thought of being understood, Latias continued to brush her head against me. “I gotta eat first, Latias. We can play later. By the way, have you seen Latios?”

Latios chirped and looked out the window.

“She says that he's outside on the roof talking with Blaziken.”

I looked at Seryn. “Since when can you understand her?”

Seryn broke the eggs with a poke of her talon and shrugged. “I dunno. I guess when I became a True Flammie, I became able to understand any creature.”

“Wow.” That was all I could say.

Latias didn't leave but instead, she fluttered around the bar and opened the fridge. She couldn't fly over it without hitting the pots and pans that Mom and Dean hung from a rack near the ceiling, so she had to do it the old-fashioned way. She purred as she looked around the shelves for the milk. Using her “frail” arms, she took the milk out of the fridge and fetched a glass before closing it with one of her wings. She then unscrewed the cap and carefully poured me a glass of milk before returning the jug to the fridge and then handing the glass to me.

Surprised at how capable she was, I stroked Latias between the ears when she returned to my side. “You're really something else, you know that?”

Latias just trilled happily.

“I think she's got a crush on you, Lance,” said Seryn almost jealously.

I blinked and looked into Latias' eyes. “Do you really have a crush on me, girl?” Latias blushed and cooed embarrassingly. Laughing at her reaction, I patted her on the crest on her head and told her what I thought. “It's okay, Latias. I don't mind. In fact, I think every one of my female plushies has a crush on me in some way.”

“I heard that!” came a jealous Renamon's voice.” I looked up and saw Renamon hanging upside-down from one of the logs in the rafters.

“Ay, Renamon,” I said, shaking my head. “Have you been there this whole time?”

“Yes. And I don't think your claim of me having a crush on you is really accurate.”

Seryn scoffed. “You're just too proud to admit it, Renamon.”

It was Renamon's turn to blush as she swung herself back up and then leaped down to land on her feet a few feet away from my chair. “Maybe I am, but that's just how things work.” Then with a swift movement, she disappeared from sight, leaving me, Seryn and Latias in the kitchen.

“Don't worry about her, love,” said Seryn flipping my eggs with a spatula. “She's not quite so confident when you're in your ExVeemon form.”

I sighed and took a drink from the milk Latias had poured for me. I guess I would never understand women, plushie or otherwise.

Finally finishing the eggs, Seryn slid them onto a plate and slid the plate over to me. “Here you go. The best eggs in the world.”

At first, I thought that it was a wild claim, but close examination of the eggs made me reconsider. Seryn had cooked the eggs rather thoroughly so that the yolks were evenly distributed over the whites. And while most eggs I ate this way had a fair amount of crispy whites that cooked too much, I could not see that in this occasion. They looked almost like the fake eggs that you found in kids' play sets, but these ones had been broken. She had also managed to keep the grease to a minimum so that they were soft and fluffy. And when I ate them, I was convinced that they were the best eggs in the world. They were exploding with flavor and the yolks and the whites had been cooked enough so that they were nice and airy but still able to retain their shape.

“These are good, Seryn!” I said in amazement. “I've never known eggs to have this much flavor!”

Seryn smiled and started cleaning up. “I live to please, Lance. I live to please.”

Once I had finished my eggs and finished my milk, Seryn took my plate and glass and placed them in the dishwasher. I then hopped down from my chair with Latias following after me as I sought out the others.

“Let me know when you want to go, love!” Seryn called from the kitchen. “I'll fetch the others and we'll be ready in a flash!”

“Will do,” I said back to her and went back to locating the other plushies.

Tails and Klonoa were up in my sisters' old room, playing with the Gamecube that they had removed from my room while we were gone with Montblanc watching them curiously. The first two were too busy to see us come in, but Montblanc noticed us as I opened the door and waved to me.

“Good morning, Lance, kupo!” he chirped, hopping down from the chair. “Did you sleep well?”

“When have I not?” I said as Latias rubbed her head against me for me to pet her again.

It took Tails and Klonoa a moment for them to finish their race on Mario Kart: Double Dash before they called it even and turned the game off. Tails then stood up and turned to face me.

“I heard that you and Seryn saw a pair of me's while you were out yesterday. Is that true?”

Wondering how on earth he could have known that so quickly, I nodded. “Yep. One of them was sterling-silver and the other one looked just like you except with black-tipped ears.”

Tails smiled. “Cool.”

Klonoa was rummaging in his pockets for something, which he produced as he stood up as well. “I think these belong to you.” He presented the stack of Plushie Badges that had fallen off of my shirt when Babus had torn it open yesterday.

“Thanks, Klonoa,” I said, taking the badges. “I was wondering what happened to all of them.”

Latias immediately swooped in and offered to put the badges back on the black “second skin” that Klonoa had created for me yesterday. As she did so, I asked Montblanc where Babus was.

“You know, kupo, I haven't seen him at all today. He's probably in the car reading another one of those books that came with our spot.”

I chuckled as Latias applied Yoshi's Curiosity Badge. “That sounds like Babus, alright. Always with a book in his hand.”

“I heard that we're moving again,” said Klonoa, grabbing his ring off the top of the TV. “Where to this time?”

I realized what he was talking about and pulled out the flier from my jacket pocket. “Aridos and Vega said we're going to live on a lake and that another plushie is waiting for us there.”

“Lemme see that,” said Tails, taking the flier from Klonoa.

“It sounds like a kupo place,” Montblanc chirped curiously. “I've never lived on a lake before.”

Latias finished applying Montblanc's Mischief Badge and nudged her head against me. I sighed and gave her what she wanted. “You're hopeless, you know that? I just can't keep you happy for long, can I?” Latias wasn't complaining as I stroked her behind the ears once again. “Have you guys seen any of the others?”

“I think they're all outside except for Seryn and Renamon,” said Klonoa, thinking for a moment. “Blaziken and Latios are on the roof, Sidian's out flying and Yoshi's lounging in the front yard.” He ticked them off on his fingers. “Oh... and Babus is in the car.”

Now that I knew where everyone was, I decided to start rounding them up to head out for our new cabin. “What do you say that we get moving? I want to get away from St. Cloud before the rush.”

No one could think of anything better to do, so they all got up and followed me out of the room to where Seryn was waiting on the main floor with the three suitcases we had come with, packed once again.

“Ready, love?” she said, zipping the last suitcase shut. “I've got enough clothes here to keep everyone fed until the conference is over.”

“That's just what I wanted to hear. Shall we head out?”

Seryn nodded and she, Latias and I all grabbed a suitcase before heading out the door. But just before I closed the door, I remembered to leave a note behind for Mom and Dean.

“Don't worry about it. I already wrote one for you.”

I looked at Seryn. “What did you write?”

The Flammie shrugged. “I just told them that we got a new place to live for a while and that they shouldn't worry about you and you love Brenda very much.”

I sighed and ran my hand over her fur. “What would I do without you, Seryn?”

Once we were outside and had hauled the suitcases to the car, I yelled up to the roof where Blaziken, Yoshi and Latios were talking amongst themselves. “Guys! We're heading out! You'd better get down here if you don't wanna get left behind!”

They seemed to hear me and all waved back before Yoshi climbed on Latios' back and Blaziken and him all descended to the ground. Then from out of nowhere, Renamon reappeared and was ready to go.

“Where have you been, kupo?” said Montblanc, climbing into the magically-enhanced SUV.

Renamon shrugged. “Just around.”

It was no use arguing with her, so we all packed up and climbed inside to get on the road. Sure enough, Babus was in his seat, reading yet another book on magic as we all piled in. Soon, Blaziken, Yoshi and Latios all climbed in as well and took their seats.

“Is everyone accounted for?” I said, climbing into the driver's seat. “Let's see... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight-and-a-half... nine...” I finished, counting Latias and Latios as one. “Weren't there ten of you?”

Technically, there were ten of us, but since Latias and Latios both counted as one entire plushie, that meant that we were short one. Everyone looked around for the missing plushie before Blaziken realized who wasn't here.

“I think Sidian's still out flying.”

“No, I'm not!” said a familiar voice, opening the door and climbing inside. “I'm here! Don't leave without me!” Sure enough, Sidian Silverhawke had returned, nearly out of breath as she climbed into the main area.

“Where have you been, kupo?” said Montblanc again.

Sidian was too tired to answer him and simply bared her fangs at the Moogle and growled. “Don't you worry about that. I was just out flying is all.”

Montblanc gulped and cowered in his seat as Sidian headed to the back and lied down in her nest-seat.

“We sure are grumpy today,” said Seryn, looking over her shoulder at the exhausted dragon.

Sidian looked up and scowled at her. “You try flying five miles in a minute to catch the bus and see how you feel! I need to rest for a while.” She then flopped back and curled up in her plushie nest to catch her breath.

I was surprised that Sidian had heard me from over five miles away, but dragons had always had exceptional hearing and skills while in the air.

“Everyone here? Yes? Good. On we go!”

And with that, I started the car and pulled out of the driveway, heading back towards Willmar to our new temporary home for the next ten days. And once again, the room was abuzz with the sound of chatting plushies. Blaziken and Latios were talking in Pokémon about their lives, Sidian was fast asleep in her nest, Tails and Klonoa had jumped seats to continue the game they had started in the house, Yoshi was snoozing as well with a large sleep bubble coming out of his nose (oy...), Renamon and Montblanc were engaged in a Digimon TCG duel, Babus was immersed in his book and Latias and Seryn were talking in Flammie and Pokémon about something that I could not understand. All the while, I was concentrating on the road as we headed back to Willmar for our new temporary dwelling for the next ten days. I hoped that after the conference, we would be able to settle down in one place once and for all and start our lives anew.

It was well over two hours before I managed to locate the cabin on Lake George where we would be able to continue on with our lives. I noticed immediately that there were other cabins next to us, but just like Vega had said, there wasn't a single person for miles. We were all alone here. And even though the cabin didn't look very big at all, I knew that we would be able to make it work.

Once I parked the SUV, we all piled out once again and headed around to the porch and the deck in front of the cabin. It seemed like a rather quaint and peaceful place to stay for a while, so we all headed inside to make ourselves at home.

There were two bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen on the opposite side as the living room. There was also a TV, a VCR/DVD player and a few movies for us to get started with.

It might not have looked like enough room for “nine” plushies, a Flammie and a human to live peacefully, but there was also a hammock out in the trees near the deck that Renamon quickly claimed as her own. Latias and Latios quickly claimed the roof, which was under a number of large, shady trees, which left me, Seryn and seven other plushies to make do with what we had. Sidian quickly claimed a reclining chair in the living room, Blaziken called dibs on the couch and Babus and Montblanc decided to curl up next to each other on the living room rug. That left Tails, Klonoa and Yoshi to share a king-sized bed in one of the bedrooms while Seryn and I slept in q queen-sized one in the other bedroom.

Now that everyone had claimed their territory, we all headed outside to discuss what we were going to do for the rest of the day.

“Willmar's not far from here,” said Sidian, looking over the field on the other side of the road. “Maybe Seryn and I could head back there and visit our old jobs at the mall for the time being.”

“I'm going, too!” said Blaziken, inviting himself. “I'm sure that the students at the dojo will be more than happy to see me.”

“We're going, too!” said Tails and Klonoa at once.

“I'm going for a romp in the fields around here,” suggested Yoshi. “I wanna see if there are any animals around here that I can talk to.”

“I'm going out,” said Renamon, not caring to elaborate on that.

“Montblanc and I will be right here in the cabin,” said Babus simply.

Latias and Latios both piped up, which Seryn translated as, ““We're going for a swim in the lake.””

Now that everyone knew where they were going, we all agreed to meet back here tonight when we were all done and then we would get some sleep for the time being.

Once everyone had split up, I was left all alone in front of the cabin. I was the only one who didn't have anything to do, so I decided to head down to the dock I had seen below the cliff and get some fresh air as Anthro ExVeemon. I walked down the stairs on the opposite end of the deck and soon touched down on a little beach at the base of the small cliff before stepping onto a long wooden dock. It went out a fair distance onto the water and there was a wooden bench built into the end of it.

Once I was certain that I was all alone, I slid the Dusk stone from around my neck and placed it on the bench on the dock. I quickly reverted back to my ExVeemon form and did a few stretching exercises to loosen my muscles up.

“Oh... yeah!” I said once my exercises were complete. “That feels much better! I could grow to like this lake air and maybe go for a swim if I wanted to.”

“Well, then you're welcome to climb right in whenever you want.”

I paused and looked back at the beach. I was certain that I had heard someone, but it didn't sound like anyone I knew. As I did so, I heard it again.

“No, not over there.” I slowly turned around. “Warmer... warmer...” I looked straight out into the lake and the voice seemed to be amused. “You're on fire! You can't get any hotter!”

I scratched my head, unsure of what I was hearing.

Finally, the voice spoke up. “You're rather slow for a transformed human. Down here.” I looked down and soon crouched down at the end of the dock to look at the person that was “mocking” me.”

Sticking out of the water was what I assumed to be the head of a dolphin. But this was a fresh water lake! We weren't anywhere near the ocean. I also noticed that it wasn't quite as dolphin-like as I expected. It had a round, beak-like muzzle that was a little bigger than most bottlenose dolphins. Its skull was also pointed backwards so it appeared to be like an extension of its head.

And then I noticed its coloring. The dolphin's face was a kind of fleshy-pink with a mix of peach thrown in. Its eyes were not at the side of its head like I had thought and its black pupils were surrounded by blue-gray irises. And the point of its skull was a rich, supple, sapphire-blue skin.

There was no doubt about it; this was not your ordinary dolphin. And when it spoke, it only proved it further.

“So you're the one that they call Lance Kane? Funny. I expected you to be a little more... how you say... “human” than this.”

When it spoke, it was in a calm and gentle voice, but at the same time, there was something “other-worldly” about it. It was like it was speaking with its normal voice, but there was also a kind of aquatic distortion with it that made it sound like it was speaking either with a spirit attached to it or from underwater. It was also male, which suggested that it was just as intelligent as human, if not more so.

“I'm actually in my Anthro Digimon form,” I said as I crouched on the end of the dock. “I can show you my human form if you want.”

The dolphin head nodded. “I suppose it would help me to understand you.” It seemed to be mocking me, but at the same time, it was just as polite as most people I had met. It was like it knew it was superior to humans but at the same time, it maintained a proper tone so as not to offend anyone.

Regardless, I grabbed the Dusk Stone from the bench and slipped it over my head, turning me back into my human form with a flash of black light.

“That better?” I said once I was back in my old body.

The dolphin nodded. “Yes. I recognize you now. Aridos and Vega told me all about you, but they never said that there were two sides to your personality.”

“This is nothing,” I said, crouching down on the edge of the dock again. “You should see what else I've been turned into since this all started.”

“I'm sure that I've got a pretty good idea.” It paused before a hand reached up out of the water and placed itself on the dolphin's forehead. “I apologize. I've been so caught up with my origins that I didn't even introduce myself.”

Now realizing that I was dealing with something humanoid, I prepared myself for the dolphin to reveal itself. But before it did that, its head and its hand both disappeared underwater, causing me to lean dangerously close to the edge. Then with an impressive WHOOSH!!!, it leaped clean out of the water and touched down on the dock behind me, turning slightly so that it was looking at me out of the corner of its eye.

I had never seen such a bizarre dolphin in my entire life. In fact, I had never seen a dolphin stand on land on two legs before. And sure enough, this dolphin was as humanoid as it was going to get. It stood on two legs that wore a pair of leathery, blue boots with a set of pink gems set near the tops of them. They were like some kind of battle boots that seemed to fit the dolphin's personality somehow.

Its legs – which were an oddity all their own – were lean and muscular like mine when I was ExVeemon and were covered in a mix of the same sapphire-blue skin as the top of its head and the same fleshy-peach skin on the inside of its thighs. The same flesh-like color was all over its front like a kind of undercoating. The rest of its body on the sides and back of its torso was covered in similar sapphire-blue skin. I also noticed that there were three large, round, pink gems set into its chest, one above the other so that it looked like it was wearing fine jewelry somehow.

Strangely enough, the dolphin didn't have a tail to speak of, which was strange for even an anthro one. I noticed, though, that it had kind of dorsal fin on its forearms like a pair of miniature blades. This was saying something since it didn't have one of those on its back, either. It also had a pair of five-fingered, humanoid hands that were covered in the same sapphire-blue skin as most of the rest of its body. But strangely enough, its thumbs looked like they had been dipped in the fleshy-pink skin that covered its chest and “underside”. Finally, I noticed that it didn't even have a blowhole on the back of its head. It didn't have any nostrils on its muzzle-like beak, either, which made me wonder how it was able to breathe.

But when I noticed a very faint stitching line all down its side, I realized that this was Plushie Number Eleven. You'd have to look directly at the seams to notice that they were there. The rest of its body was covered in thick, rubbery, balloon-like skin not unlike a real dolphin, which I could tell just by looking at it.

“You're.... really neat...” I said, unable to find any other words to describe it.

“Why, thank you,” said the dolphin, turning around. “I guess that's a compliment.” It then tilted its head back slightly and pointed to itself with its mismatched thumb. “Allow me to introduce myself. I'm what you call a highly-evolved Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin Plushie...” it then looked down at me. “But you can call me...”

“Aquos?” I finished for him.

The Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin Plushie looked impressed. “That's right. How did you know that?”

I shrugged. “Aridos and Vega gave me the heads-up on who I was going to meet as my next plushie. I just put two and two together and figured that you were nicknamed “Aquos”.”

“Aquos” looked impressed. “Very good. I see that you're able to stay up-to-date with your surroundings.”

I blinked. “You're making fun of me, aren't you?”

Aquos chuckled kind of like a dolphin chirping. “In a way. I have a tendency to do that when I'm talking to humans and I apologize.”

I sighed and shook my head. “It's okay. Just don't push it.”

Aquos nodded. “I'll keep that in mind.”

I looked from Aquos to the lake and back at him. “I was wondering: if you're a dolphin, don't you have to keep your skin moist?”

Aquos smiled as he shook his head. “Maybe others of my type would, but since I'm a Neo-Spacian and a plushie, that's not the case. I can stay out of the water for as long I want without suffering ill effects. Even if I wasn't a plushie, I could still stay above water. You'd be surprised what evolution can do for you in time.”

Now that we had gotten the formalities out of the way, Aquos asked me a rather curious question.

“Have any of your plushies ever gone swimming?”

I hesitated. That was a good question. “I... don't think so. We've always managed to stay on dry land for the most part.”

Aquos smiled. “Then they don't know what they've been missing. I happened to have a special shortcut to a special swimming spot down there.” He pointed to the bottom of the lake about 100 yards away. “If you want tomorrow, I can take you all for a swim and show you what you've been missing.”

That sounded like a good idea, but there was just one drawback to it. “But Seryn and I can't breathe underwater anymore.”

Aquos seemed to have been expecting this. “Don't worry about that. I can take care of that when the time comes.”

Since he was a magical plushie, I didn't doubt that he could. “Okay, but it'll have to wait until we're all here. Almost everyone is out somewhere right now.”

Aquos grinned. “Don't worry about it. But for right now, would you like to have a sample of what I can do?”

I looked at him and weighed my options. “Sure. I've got time. Show me what you can do.”

Aquos chirped proudly and stepped up to me. I noticed for the first time that he was a full two feet taller than me, but it didn't seem to surprise me this time since

Seryn, Blaziken, Sidian and Renamon were all taller than me when I was in my human form. If I could handle a set of giant plushies by now, I could certainly handle another one taller than me.

Aquos seemed curious that his size wasn't bothering me. “You don't seem to be bothered that an eight-foot anthro dolphin is standing in front of you.”

I shrugged as I looked up to the impressive plushie. “It's nothing I can't handle by now. Besides, you saw how tall I was as an Anthro ExVeemon; size doesn't bother me anymore.”

Aquos shrugged. “Fine with me. Now hold still.” He held one of his mismatched thumbs up to his beak and blew on it slightly, causing it to glow the same blue as the rest of his hand for a moment. He then knelt down so we were on the same eye level and then plunged said thumb directly into my throat. It was like WWE Superstar Umaga's Samoan Spike but with far less force behind it.

However, the effect was pretty much the same. I suddenly felt like I was choking and put my hands to my throat, trying to catch my breath. But for some reason, air was failing to get into my system. It felt like my insides were becoming liquefied, cutting off the oxygen flow to my brain and causing me to black out for a few moments.

When I woke up, I felt a little woozy from Aquos' “attack”. It felt like I had just jumped from a plane at 20,000 feet and tried to land on a pinhead – a rather dizzying feat. Not only that, but my skin felt a little dry and it felt like I was being baked under the sun, even though it wasn't very hot.

“Oh...” I moaned. “What happened to me? Why do I feel so dry?”

“That's because you've been lying on the sand for an hour,” said a familiar voice. “I've been trying to wake you up this whole time.”

I rolled my head to one side and saw Aquos crouching over me. “Aquos? What... what happened? I don't feel well.”

Aquos sighed and dug his hand under my head to lift me up. “That's because you've been breathing into sand for a while. You need to get in the water before you dry up completely. Here, let me help you.”

He was able to lift me onto my feet and let me lean up against him as he carried me into the water. I was still a little dazed since my blowhole had been on the sand for a while, so it felt good to be breathing fresh air again. And as soon as the water touched my rubbery skin, I felt instant satisfaction in those areas as though my body was being rehydrated from the outside.

Soon, the water was up to my neck, but against all odds, Aquos carried me a little further so that I was completely submerged. The water against my face and head was like taking a dip into a bath of pure, refreshing coolness. I could finally focus and see straight again as the breath I had taken before going under delivered life-giving oxygen to my brain.

Now for the first time, I could figure out what Aquos had done to me. The two of us separated and I looked down at my body. But for some reason, I didn't freak out. I guess it was the fact that I had already changed forms so many times already that allowed me to calmly look at my latest one.

I had the long, thick and muscular form of an anthro orca. Most of my back and rear body parts were covered by a deep, jet-black that was exactly the same shade as a real orca's. The rest of me was a snow-white in a similar fashion. Everything from the white spots above my eyes to my pale underside to the underside of my large, thick, flat tail and to the insides of my thighs was a matching white. Everything else was a deeper black than I would have though possible. From my round, bulbous nose to the pointed dorsal fin sticking out of my back to my unusual three-fingered hands and to my five-toed feet was as black as it could get.

I also noticed that my nose had sealed over with rubbery skin, but I didn't lose its function one bit. Instead, it just operated the blowhole on the back of my neck, which was currently sealed over since I had taken a breath and was holding it underwater. It would also take some getting used to to operate just three long, thick fingers on each of my hands, but I didn't doubt that I could handle it.

“Is this what you had in mind?” I said to Aquos in an eerily similar voice to his but a little deeper.

Aquos nodded. “It is indeed. I had a feeling that you liked orcas and I thought you'd enjoy this rather well.”

I didn't even have to ask how he knew that. Like the rest of my plushies, he already knew everything about me from being programmed with my life data before I met him.

“It's a little... different, I can give you that. I've never been able to open my eyes underwater before, so this is a little different for me.”

Aquos looked out into the depths of the lake and smiled. “If you think this is amazing, I've got something a little more amazing for you. Watch this.” He then gently removed the Dusk Stone from around my neck, removing the power it had been retaining inside me. I felt the power suddenly flare up inside me, changing my body back into my Digimon form. Only this time, there was a definite difference to it.

I was back in my Anthro ExVeemon form, but there were a number of key differences. For one, my blue skin was now the same jet-black as my orca form had been. Also, my wings had changed shape from large draconic ones to wide, elegant, black-boned fins as though I was now some kind of sea dragon. Even stranger, my four-clawed paws now had a kind of thin, black webbing in-between my digits, making them look like flippers. The same thing had happened to my footpaws as they had elongated a little and the talons had melted into long, webbed flippers. The final change was to my tail, which had gained a pair of flukes on the end of it like an aquatic dragon.

“Whoa...” I said in my ExVeemon voice. “This is really something now.”

“Do you like it?” said Aquos, looking curious.

“I do, actually. What do you say we go for a little swim before this wears off?”

Aquos chuckled and nodded. “I don't see why not. I could use some practice before everyone else gets here.”

Since Aquos had installed a set of gills on the sides of my neck with this form, I didn't need to worry about going back to the surface for air. Besides, there was a lot of ground to cover before I changed back to a human tonight. I had time to kill and I was sure that the others were having fun on this special Halloween day.

In fact, Seryn, Blaziken, Sidian, Tails and Klonoa had just landed in front of the mall where the first three had all gotten jobs with the staff there. Tails and Klonoa slid off of Seryn's back while Blaziken hopped off of Sidian's (the distance had been a little much even for him) and they all looked up at the front doors.

“I think I'd fancy seeing the looks on those darling kids' faces when they see that we're back,” said Seryn, smiling smugly.

“Yeah. I can't get enough of their cute little mugs,” said Sidian, smiling in pleasure.

“I'm just wondering what the students in the dojo will say when they see me return for one day only,” said Blaziken, cracking his neck from side to side.

“What about you, Tails?” said Klonoa curiously. “What do you want to do?”

Tails looked through the glass doors and thought about it. “I don't suppose they have a Gamestop in there, do they?”

Seryn turned to him. “As a matter of fact, its right around the corner once we get in there.”

“That's for us! Come on, “K”.” Tails grabbed his friend's paw and the two of them entered the mall, making a beeline for the video game store.

“Oy, kids...” said Blaziken, putting a paw to his forehead and shaking his head. “I just don't get them sometimes.”

“Well, we'd better stop yakking and get in there before we forget it,” said Sidian.

And with that, all three of them entered the mall and split up at the first intersection. Seryn and Sidian went right while Blaziken took a left in the direction Tails and Klonoa had gone.

There were a number of people lined up in front of KB Toys, making quite a racket about something. Add that to the kids' casual conversations and/or pleas for toys and it was a rather cacophony.

“Wonder what's up,” said Seryn, trailing her tail in a zigzag as they walked.

“Maybe this has something to do with it.” Sidian had spotted a sign a ways away from the clamoring humans. “Hmm... “Get your exclusive Seryn and Sidian plushies this Halloween!” Huh. I guess Aridos and Vega actually pulled through with their deal.”

“And from the looks of it, people want more of us than the store can give,” added Seryn, stopping a ways from the raving mob. “What do you say we give them what they want?”

Sidian smiled mischievously and wrapped her tail around Seryn's. “I couldn't think of a better solution.” They stepped closer to the line and then called out, “Attention ladies and gentleman! The Synthetic Sisters have arrived!”

The people in the line suddenly turned around and saw to their surprise that the legendary “Synthetic Sisters” had returned. The kids were in utter shock that their favorite furries had returned from out of nowhere. Even the store manager, who was trying to tend to the massive mob, was completely speechless when he saw his two best mascots standing just a few yards away from his store.

“That's them!” cried an ecstatic little boy. “That's Seryn and Sidian! They're back!”

There was a roar of praise as all of them suddenly started cheering and applauding. It was a little different than the stampede that Seryn and Sidian had expected, but they appreciated the welcome nonetheless. At least they weren't being trampled. Like celebrities on the red carpet, they casually walked around the group to the front of the store and stood in front of the rack that had been holding their limited edition plushies. The children suddenly went crazy while trying to get their parents to get further up the line and meet the living legends.

“Relax, everyone! We'll be here until closing time! There's more than enough of us to go around!”

Their former manager was completely shocked as he stepped up to the ladies to tell them his feelings. “I thought you two moved away! Business has been just crazy with people who wanted to see you again! Where did you come from?”

Seryn brought the man closer to her with a pull of her wings and rubbed his bald dome with her paw. “We actually moved back just this morning. We'll be seeing a lot more of each other now, but this time, it'll be on our time, okay?”

The man was in pure heaven as he felt Seryn's insanely soft fur on his face and bare head. “Okay... I can live with that. But... can you help me out tonight? I don't have enough plushies for everyone, so I'm kind of in a jam.”

Sidian chuckled as a small girl and her mother in the front of the line stepped up to her. “Anything for the children. We'll be here all night, so we'd be glad to help you out.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much! I'll do whatever it takes to reward you for this!” He stepped away briefly but then turned around and whispered in Seryn's ear. “By the way, I still don't know how you make those costumes look and feel so real, but I've given up bothering to ask.”

Seryn simply smiled and gave the man a lick on the cheek. “Just think of it as magic, dear. We're just a couple of special, magical beings that would do anything for others.”

The man looked like all his dreams had come true with that little lick. He sighed happily and stepped away to let the ladies do their thing, returning only once with a couple of chairs for them to sit one while they satisfied the masses.

For the first time since they moved away, Seryn and Sidian felt like their true calling – next to keeping Lance happy – had finally returned. They could only imagine what Blaziken and the others were doing.

Blaziken, meanwhile, was standing in front of the glass window of the dojo, looking shocked. It seemed that while he had been absent, his job had been replaced by another magical plushie that was just as capable as he was in the field of martial arts. And to make matters worse, it was a female! A tall, bizarre, lithe, blue vixen was performing a series of moves that only Blaziken was capable of pulling off at the moment. He felt betrayed that he had been replaced so quickly and even more insulted that it was another plushie that had done so.

So far, no one had noticed him, but that soon ended when a move performed by the vixen caused her to look briefly out the window in his direction. There was a brief visual exchange between the two and Blaziken felt something tickle his mind for a moment. But once the vixen had finished her routine, she seemed to excuse herself and left the room to check on Blaziken. Fortunately, he was far enough back in a corner that the students wouldn't notice him, but the vixen could see him very clearly. And since class was still in session, none of the students could look out the window far enough to see him.

The unusual blue vixen stepped forward and looked at Blaziken squarely in the eye. It seemed that she could sense his betrayal for being replaced, but she simply shook her head at him.

“I'm sorry that you feel that way. To be honest, this is only my first day and I know how much the students were expecting you instead of me. But to be honest, Aridos and Vega had me done a little early. And I was bored, so they gave me something to do until it was my turn to join you and Lance.”

Blaziken's expression went from insult to curiosity at the sound of Lance's name. “How do you know Lance?”

The vixen looked puzzled. “How wouldn’t I? I'm one of the plushies in his order. I'm just out and about a little early before I was scheduled to arrive.” She then held up her left paw to reveal a large machine-stitched number “13” on it. “I'm Number 13, but I can't tell you my name yet. You must be...”

Blaziken didn't have a number attached to him anymore, but he still remembered when he had first arrived. “My name and number are Blaziken and Two. I'm sorry I was jealous of you. I didn't know you were part of Lance's order.”

The vixen smiled and shook her head. “It's okay. I was just finding something to do while I waited for my turn in the order. The students have certainly learned a lot from you in the short time you were here.”

Blaziken blinked. “How can you tell?”

The vixen shrugged. “I'm a master of martial arts myself, so I can tell when someone's been professionally trained. And from the looks of it, everyone seemed to have learned a lot from you.”

He looked over at the window for a moment. “Say... you wouldn't mind if I popped back in for old time's sake, would you?”

She didn't seem to mind at all. “Not at all. In fact, I think they'd be thrilled to see you again. Wait here while I introduce you.”

She suddenly leaned forward and planted a quick, fury kiss on his cheek before tapping his beak with a finger and then heading back inside. Blaziken's mind was reeling with what had just happened. Was she coming onto him? Or was it just a perk of affection? He already knew that one woman had her heart set on him, but how could he handle two? It just didn't seem to be feasible.

He waited a minute or two before he felt another touch in his mind, shortly followed by the words, Come on in. This suggested that the vixen might be psychic, but he couldn't be sure yet. Taking up his cue, he pushed open the door and stepped through into the main dojo.

Unlike with Seryn and Sidian, these children were more mature and showed amazing restraint to go up and welcome him back, but they applauded and cheered for him nonetheless as he took his place in front of the two masters.

“Welcome back, Blaziken,” said the first master. “We weren't expecting you to return, so this is a surprise.”

“The lovely vixen here just started today, but she's pretty much the only person who could rival you in strength,” said the second one, bowing to him.

“I know Blaziken rather well,” said the blue vixen, stepping up to him and placing her paw on his shoulder. “We are in the same series of plushies. I'm sure that everyone met our owner, Mr. Lance Kane, a couple weeks back, yes?”

There was an air of familiarity at the mention of Lance's name. One of the students, who had been known to just blurt out what was on his mind, called out, “He's the one that Master Blaziken set on fire, right?”

Everyone else was too used to this to bother him, but Blaziken still gave him a warning look before answering. “He is indeed. In fact, we've been through a lot since I left you. I want to tell you about it, but...” He glanced over at the two masters, who nodded.

“Go ahead. We'd all like to hear what you've been up to. We can end class early so you can tell us.”

When one of the masters nodded to the students, they all got up off their knees and went to sit around Blaziken to hear his story. Blaziken was a little startled by the sudden rush of attention, but he regained himself and began to tell them everything that had happened with him and Lance since they had left.

Meanwhile, Tails and Klonoa were on a roll inside the local Gamestop as they held a kind of miniature competition with the demo games that were on display. Like with Seryn and Sidian, they were drawing a crowd while challenging people young and mature alike to a showdown on the Wii. But try as they might, no human person could beat them. They were just too good and always wiped the floor with their competition. Soon, there was a line of people trailing out the front of the store with people who wanted a shot to beat the local “champions”.

Tails and Klonoa kept it interesting by taking turns facing different people at Mario Party 8. It was both their first time playing the Wii, but even the best veterans couldn't seen to shut them down. And they changed mini-games almost every time, so there was always a little variety, but no one seemed to be able to figure out how they knew exactly what to do and beat them anyway.

In fact, people were so shocked that they couldn't beat a pair of kid plushies that the sales of the Wii games and systems suddenly skyrocketed with people who wanted to prove that they could handle it. And when Tails tired of the Wii and went to try out the Playstation 3, it was the same story all over again. No one could ever beat him and the sales for Playstation 3 systems and games went through the roof with people with something to prove.

They were so good that at one point, a woman dressed in a heavy black veil approached them and pulled them aside with the promise of important news. She was fully clad in a thick veil, which covered a majority of her body, but Tails and Klonoa knew immediately that this was not a human woman.

“Why did you have to take us away? We were on a roll there!” whined Tails.

“I'm aware of that, but I have something to give you.” She had a deep, powerful but rather melodic feminine voice. “You two know someone by the name of Lance Kane, correct?”

Klonoa's ears twitched at the sound of his owner's name. “We know him. Why do you ask?”

The woman dug into her pockets and pulled out two fist-sized orbs and placed them into each of their hands. The one she gave to Tails was a sharp, rich, toxic-green color while the one in Klonoa's paw was a deep, dark violet color. They both appeared to be made out of glass, which explained why they cloud see partially through them.

“What are these?” said Tails, looking his over.

The woman knelt down to look at the two square in the eyes with her sapphire-blue ones. “These are special spheres that contain special plushies that will awaken at different times. I can't tell you anything more, but when they awaken, they'll be able to get along just fine with the rest of you.”

Tails looked concerned as he held his sphere in his paw. “I don't know if Aridos and Vega are going to like this. There's already going to be sixteen of us. What would they say when that number increases again?”

“They'll find out soon enough. Just make sure that nothing happens to them before they awaken.”

Klonoa sighed and put his sphere in his pocket. “Okay... we'll have to trust you on this. But... just who are you?”

The woman looked around to see if they were being spied on. When she was sure that they weren't, she peeled away the veil from her face to reveal a very real draconic muzzle similar to Sidian's but obviously black.

“My name is Ebony Dagger. I run a magical medical clinic somewhere in the state. That's all you need to know. I may not be as popular as Aridos and Vega, but soon, everyone in the magical community will know me.”

Tails and Klonoa looked apprehensive as “Ebony” replaced her veil and stood up. They were worried that this strange dragon was going to cause a problem in the world, but to their astonishment, she simply patted them both on the head and gave them some reassuring words.

“I'm not evil, but I'm very specific in who I entrust my works to. You two and Lance should consider yourselves lucky that I chose you out of everyone else. Who knows? Maybe you'll see me in the news something in the future. Well, I'll see you later.”

She turned around and walked away, rounding the corner before the two gave chase. But when they did, they saw that she was long gone. She had vanished without a trace and there was no way to know if she was really who she said she was. They could only hope that she was completely honest and that the orbs in their pockets were really plushies and not bombs.

Too concerned to play any more games, they took off down the hallway to go find Seryn and Sidian and tell them what had happened. Things had just gotten even stranger for the plushie family and when the spheres awakened, it was only going to get weirder.

Aquos and I ran into Latias and Latios deep in the lake after about an hour of swimming. The two Eon Pokémon seemed curious of the new form that Aquos had given me. They both hovered around me and checked me out from every possible angle before trilling and giving me a playful tap on the muzzle with their paws. They seemed to like my new form and could tell that their true owner was inside this strange and bizarre form.

“They seem friendly,” said Aquos as they spun around me and toyed with different parts of me.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to swat them away from me. “They're just full of trouble and everyone knows it.”

They finally settled with Latios pushing me backwards onto Latias' back before she took off with me holding on for dear life.

“Latias! Slow down! I can't hold on much longer!”

But that was the least of my worries. At that moment, the clock struck 6:00 PM on the dot and both my Digimon form and my aquatic form were wearing off at the same time. I found that I was running out of air and realized that Latias was getting me to safety before I drowned. It seemed that Aquos didn't know his own strength and was completely unaware that my time as an Anthro ExVeemon was running out.

But we were still a long ways from the surface and my oxygen supply was gone. I tried to remain conscious, but it was no use. Just a few dozen feet from the surface, I blacked out and fell away from Latias' back.

The next thing I knew, I was lying in my bedroom with all “eleven” of my plushies standing around the bed (Seryn, of course, was curled up in bed with me.). They all seemed relieved that I had woken up and Seryn's relief was the most obvious. She wrapped her paws around me and pulled me into a tight bear hug.

“Seryn... gak... I'm... unh... fine!”

But like the loving mate that she was, Seryn would not let me go. “I was so worried about you for so long! I never actually thought that you would almost drown on me!”

“Seryn, give him some air!” said Blaziken as he and Sidian separated the two of us. “He's still human, you know!”

Seryn whined but finally released me before sighing. “I know, but I care so much about him.”

“We all do,” said Klonoa, sitting on the side of the bed with Tails. “But you have to realize that he's still a soft, fleshie human right now. It's past 6:00, so he's not a Digimon anymore.”

“Are you sure you're okay, Lance?” said Renamon point-blank.

I managed to catch my breath and sit up on the bed. “I'm pretty sure. I guess I should have gotten to the surface earlier.”

“This is my fault,” said Aquos, shaking his head. “I didn't pay attention to the time and nearly killed you because of my mistake.”

I chuckled weakly and looked at him. “It's okay, Aquos. You aren't the first plushie to nearly kill me and I doubt you'll be the last. Just forget about it.”

Now that he was sure that I was okay, Aquos looked out the window at the area around the lake. “I guess it's a little late for me to take the rest of you swimming. How would tomorrow sound?”

The plushies discussed in amongst themselves before all agreeing on the same thing. “That would work,” said Seryn, speaking for all of them. “It's well past midnight and we all need our sleep. We'll go out once we've all had a good-night's sleep, okay?”

Aquos nodded. “I guess that would work.”

Seryn then turned to everyone else. “Okay, everyone! You heard it! Time to turn in! See you in the morning!”

Everyone agreed and piled out of the room to their predetermined sleeping areas. Aquos, of course, would be sleeping in the lake. Soon, the only ones left in the bedroom were Seryn and me.

“You gave us quite a scare there, my love,” she said, pulling me close to her and wrapping her massive arm over my chest. “Promise me that you won't almost die anytime soon?”

I knew that once Seryn had claimed her human like this, it was impossible to escape. But for once, I would be sleeping outside her belly for our first night in the cabin. So I did my best to make myself comfortable as I slid under the covers.

“I promise, love, but I can't guarantee it. There are still five more plushies left to meet, so I'm pretty sure that our adventures are not yet over.”

Seryn simply purred and pulled me close against her furry chest. “We'll see about that. But for now, you are mine and you are not going anywhere until morning. So I suggest you get some sleep or we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way.” And with a lick to her chops, I knew exactly what she was thinking.

“All right. Good-night, Seryn.”

And with that, I curled up next to her and soon fell asleep with her keeping me comfortably warm next to her. I had had a long day, but I was barely over two-thirds of the way through my adventures. When the morning came, I could only imagine what strange and unusual encounters I would endure before this was all over.

End of Part 2

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