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A Curious Coin Conundrum
Setting: Right outside Babylon Gardens, near the end of the Temple Crashers 2 Arc(s).
It hadn’t been a particularly good day.
Lockely trudged down the sidewalk, pulling his jacket tight against the breeze as the wind tousled his dark blonde hair. He’d gone for a walk near the forest as he had many times prior. It always helped clear his head, especially when he was feeling down. And buddy, was he feeling down. He’d been having issues with his creative endeavors lately. He was completely unhappy with his art, he felt his writing was amateur hour fanfic, and it didn’t help that what little energy he had to improve it was being drained by a tedious day job. Truth be told, he was just being hard on himself. Things weren’t so bad, but they were bad enough that it warranted a walk. And so, he walked.
The walk from his apartment in River Ridge down to the forest was a bit of a hike, but it did take him by his favorite coffee shop. He had a religious fanaticism with the place, stopping in nearly every time he was anywhere nearby. Today was no exception, as he sipped a peppermint mocha to warm his soul. Overall, it was a good route, a little out of the way but it did bring him near his buddy Jack’s place in Babylon Gardens. He took another sip of his mocha as a weird sense of unease prompted him to pause. It was quiet. Like, super quiet. Lockely glanced from his spot on the sidewalk, looking for signs of life, but he found none. No birds chirping, no woodland critters trudging through the underbrush, nothing.
“That’s really weird…” he thought, “I don’t like that. I’ve heard that animals clear out or hunker down right before natural disasters, maybe I should head b--?”
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud rumble coming from within the forest as the ground slightly shook. “That’s… not good.” The rumble intensified before a distant crash could be heard echoing off the trees, only to be responded to with that same uneasy silence. A sharp wind caught him by surprise, tearing his scarf off and tangling it within some nearby trees. He turned to go gather it when something coursing through the air glimmered in the sunlight.
*Tink, clink... tink*
His attention was drawn down to the ground. A small golden coin had landed onto the sidewalk and bounced, resting near his feet. He raised a brow and knelt down to get a closer look, reaching out with his free hand to gather it off the concrete. Pinching it between his index finger and thumb, the man shined brought it up to look at it closer, shifting it in the light to better make out the various details. It was interesting. Old. Definitely not current mint.
“I should show this t-”
The world suddenly shifted, his perspective shifted, and Lockely found himself floating in the air momentarily before gravity reasserted dominance. His hands suddenly empty as both his coffee and the coin crashed to the ground. A moment later, he followed, landing roughly on his behind, and more importantly, the fluffy new appendage that made its home there. “Ow! Dangit!”
Hold on, that’s not right.
He scrambled to his feet, suddenly able to feel the grit of the sidewalk under his toes. What had happened to his shoes? He looked down. No-- instead of his favorite chucks, he was greeted with... paws? He had paws! They were covered in a dark espresso colored fur with three digits each. He stumbled backwards before catching himself. Was he hallucinating? This couldn’t be real. He shook his head and went to rub his eyes, nearly knocking his glasses off his face when another intrusion made itself known. A muzzle, a perfectly boopable snoot, was suddenly perfectly in his view.
As were his not quite hands.
Shaking, he glanced back down at his new hand paws, he’d lost a digit on each, and now aside from being covered in fur like the rest of him, were tipped with small retractable claws. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, counting down from ten. Nine. Eight. Seven...
On Six he screamed bloody murder.
“What the ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!”
“Keep it down out there!” came a voice from across the street, rudely interrupting his existential crisis.
“S-sorry!!!” He called back.
“Okay. Don’t scream. Don’t panic. There’s a perfectly rational explanation for this.”
Lockely ran his hands through his hair, suddenly discovering his brand new tall, pointed ears. They’d been moving on their own, catching different sounds. The wind blew once more, and a chill ran through his fur. He instinctively went to pull his jacket tight, finally discovering that his clothing had all but disappeared, the lone exception being his glasses. His eyes darted around, catching a glance that his scarf still there, stuck in the tree. Was it higher than it was before…? God, had he shrunk? What even was he? He patted himself down, taking stock of his now russet and dark brown fur. A quick look behind at his fluffy, yellow tipped, still sore tail solved the mystery.
A fox.
He was a fox.
Why was he a fox?
What had he done to cause him to turn into a… the coin!
It’s golden glimmer shimmered from the sidewalk, as if taunting him. Maybe if he picked it back up he might--- nope, not turning back.
“Okay. Okay. O-kay… Not okay, nope. Not okay at all.”
The new fox breathed in deep once more, successfully attempting the counting exercise a second time. He had to get his priorities in order. “Ooookay. First things first. If I’m not going insane, I’m having the weirdest day ever. A piece of currency has turned me into a woodland creature, all my belongings are gone, and I’m on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.” He unsuccessfully attempted to place his hands into pockets that no longer existed several times before it stuck, and he groaned in frustration.
He turned to the tree, determined to at least gather what little he had left. The wind had carried the scarf a good six feet off the ground. Ten minutes ago, he’d have been able to jump and retrieve it, but now it looked like he was climbing. Unsurprisingly, his new claws made short work of the tree, and soon the fox wrapped his scarf around his neck and headed for the long trek home. Longer, because his legs were much shorter. The universe, however, was in a ‘kicking him while he’s down’ mood today, and he got not two steps forward before a police car rolled up the road. To make matters worse, the officer rolled down the window and began to look towards his direction. Panicking, he dove into the underbrush near the sidewalk, watching as the man surveyed the sidewalk.
“Great, just great. What does he want, he can’t be looking for me, right?” he muttered quietly. “There’s no way I’m getting back home like this.” He glanced down at his paws, flexing his new claws in and out of their sheaths. “A dog or a cat, maybe, but a fox?” He turned and looked deeper into the forest, pondering his options.
“What am I going to do now? Honestly, who’s going to believe me that I’m… me? If my phone hadn’t vanished, I could call an Uber and attempt to convince them to take me home, but noooo.” Subconsciously, he kept an ear pointed towards the police car listening for any activity. Satisfied he’d chased the wildlife off the street, the officer switched back into gear and drove off. Lockely sighed and flopped to the ground, sitting cross-legged whilst rubbing his temple.
“Okay, so, what are my options?” He ran his other paw through his head fur, “One: I can try to make it home through the city, though that would be a one way trip to the zoo if I got caught. Two: I can live here in the forest and eat pine cones or something. Or Three: I can go find a puddle to bury my face in and drown.”
Lockely huffed and crossed his arms, his tail flomping behind him angrily, “This all sucks.”
The wind picked up once more, carrying a branch from the underbrush he was currently hiding in directly into his face.
*THWACK*
The universe wasn’t dealing with pouty foxes today.
“Ow!” He rubbed his face in defiance where he’d been hit, before arguing with seemingly no one but Mother Nature herself, “No. I’m going to sit here and just die. That seems like the best option.”
*THWACK*
The wind carried the branch into him again, from the opposite side.
“How dare you.” He smugly closed his eyes and looked away from it. A ornery branch was not going to beat him.
*TH- THWACK*
He was hit from both sides now.
“Fine! Fine! I’ll go somewhere else. Keep your stupid bush! Ugh!”
He pushed himself up and crawled out, directly in front of the sign for Babylon Gardens. An idea immediately formulated in his head. “I wonder if Jack is home... I bet he and I can research this coin thing together.” The fox smiled as he started to cut down back through the woods towards the neighborhood, “If anyone would believe me, it’s him.” Once more, he looked at the coin in his palm, “I just have to make sure he keeps his hands off of this thing! Unless...” His new tail began to swish mischievously as other thoughts popped into his mind.
“A mystery is more fun when we both have a stake in it…”
Back in the forest, a pair of red eyes blinked into existence and watched the vulpine depart through the forest. Something hummed a little tune, and then the eyes vanished once more.
To Be Continued...
EDIT:
PART ONE AS A COMIC BY P-AEI!!! AH!!
