Title: Animal Magick

Author: Black_Wingedbird

Rating: PG

Author's Note: Hopefully this will rank right up there with Puppy Love for you guys, 'cuz this is a kickin' idea! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: The Change

'Finally, revenge is mine,' the witch laughed to herself. She closed the secret door behind her, then stepped down onto her dirt floor. This was her underground temple, where all of her magic was done.

She brushed away a strand of frizzy, gray hair as she walked to a crude wooden table, laying out five dolls made from hay. A single torch lit the entire room, although it wasn't very big.

Her name was Witch Haggitha, and she took in a deep breath of the musty air before beginning her ceremony. Her long, tattered black cloak swiped over the table as she motioned with her hands above the dolls. Humming to herself, she grabbed what looked like sand and sprinkled it over the dolls, watching it glitter on the way down. She had big plans in store for her victims, and she double-checked to make sure the lock was tight on the wooden door.

Haggitha reached down into the bag that she laid on the floor beside her, which was now serving as a rubbing post for a large, midnight black cat. "Scat," she hissed, shoving the cat with her foot. The cat ran off, annoyed at its owner.

The witch picked up her bag and smiled to herself. She laid the black velvet bag on the dirty table and took out her fist item as she began chanting something in an ancient, forgotten language. In her long, yellow nails, she held a single strand of blonde, curled hair. With the other hand, she pierced her index finger with a needle and let the blood drip onto one of the dolls. Then she carefully placed the hair on the drop of blood, and moved on to the next doll, repeating the process as she kept up her chanting using different types of hair she pulled from her bag. Lightning started to flash outside, and cool drops of water started leaking through her poorly made roof into strategically positioned pots on the floor. The cat walked over to one of the pots and lapped up the water as it fell.

The witch was unaware of her surroundings as she poured her soul into creating this spell. Her chanting grew louder as the lightning increased its fury, and the thunder threatened to overpower her. When she was finished with the last doll, she raised her hands to the sky and screamed, "May you pay the wrath of breaking my daughter's innocent heart! With this spell, I turn you, Justin Timberlake, into a creature not unlike your greedy, annoying self; the goat! I turn you, Joseph Fatone, into the equally clumsy raccoon! Lance Bass, you will become the quiet, laid back rabbit!" Wind howled and the thunder roared as she continued. "J.C. Chasez, you will become a turtle, wise and quiet like yourself! And Christopher Kirkpatrick, I turn you into the animal that suits you most, the hyper squirrel! Now change to the beasts I have commanded, and be doomed to live these lives until I undo this witchcraft!"

The lightning gave one final strike, scaring the cat so it hid under the table. A magnificent blue light gathered at Haggitha's feet, working its way up her body until it reached her outstretched fingertips. With the last of her energy, she flung the magic into the five dolls, and watched as they burned briefly.

Then she slowly sagged to the floor, listening as the storm outside slowly blew away. She sat on the dirt floor with a contented smile, thinking about her devilishly clever spell. The black cat curled up beside her as she fell into a peaceful sleep, relaxing her old body.

~o0O0o~

"Where did this storm come from?" Justin asked, looking out the hotel window. The wind had suddenly kicked up, and the sky grew very dark before it tore open, drowning the New York natives with cold raindrops.

"I don’t know, but it better knock it off," Chris mumbled as he tossed his rollerblades on the floor.

The guys were all in J.C.'s hotel room, waiting for one of them to come up with an idea. The night before they had a concert, and they had just now gotten all their energy back. Lance and J.C. were watching TV, and Joey, Justin and Chris had been playing Go Fish, until they got too restless.

"Hey, Joey, do you still have your rollerblades?" Chris asked, getting an idea.

"Yeah, I think. Why?"

"Meet me in the hallway. I got an idea," Chris smiled, picking up his rollerblades and going out into the hall.

Joey went to get his skates, leaving Justin alone to laugh at the people getting soaked outside. J.C. and Lance were too involved in the TV show they were watching, and didn’t even realize when Joey joined Chris out in the hall.

"So what's this great idea?" Joey asked, putting on his skates with Chris.

"Not much, I just felt like going for a skate," Chris smiled, not looking at Joey.

"In case you didn’t realize, it's raining outside," Joey remarked.

"I did notice," Chris replied. "That's why were skating inside."

"Oh," Joey said. "Should have known."

"Yup," Chris said, patting Joey on the back as he stood up.

Joey stood up also, and followed Chris as they started down the hall. "Won't we get in trouble or something?" Joey asked.

"We're too popular," Chris replied. "Besides, with all the money we sp-"

Chris was cut off as something suddenly grabbed his throat. An invisible force knocked him down, and he barely realized the same was happening to Joey. Chris gasped for air, feeling an incredible pressure on his whole body. Stars shone brightly in his eyes as he got a vision of an old, gray-haired woman laughing at him. He squirmed around on the floor in a great deal of pain, feeling himself shrinking, getting smaller every time he moved. Finally pain overtook him, and everything went black.

~o0O0o~

"Mom, I'm going out for a walk!"

"You just want to go look for Nsync," the middle aged woman smiled at her daughter.

"Well mom, when the number one boyband is rumored to be in your hotel, you kinda wanna check for yourself," the young girl replied. "I'll be back."

She stepped out in the hall, smiling to herself. 'I hope I don't see them, because I would be such a basket-case,' she thought. 'But it would make everyone back home jealous,' she grinned.

She skipped around the corner, then halted when she saw two dead animals lying in the hallway. Shocked, she remained where she was, half expecting a jerk with a camera to pop out from somewhere. She watched the dead squirrel and raccoon with pity, wondering who could have pulled such an awful prank.

Suddenly the squirrel's tail flicked, and the girl screamed and ran back to her room.

Chris slowly came to, squinting as he opened his eyes. 'What the…' he wondered, looking around. Everything was black and white, and huge. Chris looked down and saw tiny, furry paws that were growing long, pointed nails.

He jumped, clumsily standing on his four new paws. He had also sprouted a bushy tail, and then he realized he had become a squirrel. 'I'm never going skating inside again,' he said to himself, jumping when next to him, a large raccoon stood up too, almost falling over instantly.

"Joey?" Chris asked.

"In the fur," Joey replied. "What just happened? How come I'm a big raccoon? Did you slip me something in my Dr. Pepper? Am I dreaming?"

"I didn't do anything to you, what about me? How'd I get to be a squirrel?" Chris asked.

"Wait a minute, how come we can understand each other?" Joey asked. Their lips weren't moving, but yet they could hear each other talking.

"I don't know, maybe because we're both ANIMALS!" Chris yelled, or tried to, as much as a squirrel could yell.

They surveyed their surroundings, seeing their skates lying on the floor where they fell. The hallway had grown tremendously, making the hall table the size of a large horse. The light was bright, and hurt the small animal's eyes at first. The carpet was short, almost like a welcome mat that made it easy for little toenails to grip.

Joey was considerably larger than Chris was, and his black and brown striped tail hung to the floor. The black rings around his eyes made him look like a bandit. Joey's coon body was pretty fat, for a wild animal. His pointy nose and long whiskers made him a comical appearance, and years of complaining about his large feet finally earned him some smaller, clawed ones.

Chris, on the other hand, still had his tiny feet, that were disproportionate to his large, fluffy tail, which flicked continuously. Chris had long, sensitive whiskers too, but his head was smaller than Joey's. He was all gray, with a nimble, agile body made for jumping in trees.

"Do you think something happened to the others, too?" Joey asked, breaking the heavy silence.

"I don't know, but how are we gonna get in the room to see?" Chris asked, looking up at the towering doorknob.

Behind them, a soft hissing began, and they turned to see a brown and white spotted cat crouched under the hall table, it's ears pinned back as it moved it's tail like a snake.

"Um, that's a problem," Joey said, watching the cat prepare to pounce.

"Nice kitty," Chris said, taking a step towards the cat.

"Chris, cats eat squirrels," Joey announced, backing up clumsily.

"Oh, yeah," Chris replied, stopping.

Suddenly the cat exploded into motion, springing forward with it's claws out and ready to stab a tender woodland animal.

Chris jumped and ran, his tail bobbing as he bounded down the hall. Joey watched as the cat followed on close pursuit, then he too joined the chase, hobbling as fast as his short legs could carry him.

People scattered in shock as he hobbled after the cat and his friend. They stared as the squirrel flew down the hall, a cat on his tail, followed by a hefty raccoon. Joey rounded a corner and nearly ran into the cat, which was sitting and licking his lips as it watched Chris search for a safer place than on top of the cleaning lady's cart.

"Oh please, oh please," Chris chanted, desperately looking for somewhere to jump.

"Hang on Chris, I'll help ya," Joey yelled, trying to think of a way to do so.

"Hurry, this stupid cat is gonna eat me and everyone will laugh that the cool dude from Nsync was eaten by a cat!" Chris pleaded.

"I am not stupid."

"Not, you," Chris replied. "The cat."

"I am not stupid," the voice repeated.

Chris froze and looked at the cat. "You can understand me?"

"Of course, you're an animal, aren't' you?" the cat replied in a snobbish male voice.

"Not really," Joey interrupted, stepping forward. "See, we just got changed into these animal bodies, and we have no idea why."

"Oh, well that explains how you got in here," the cat sighed, sounding relieved. "I thought I was getting old. Then the master would throw me in the street with all those commoners."

The cleaning lady returned, and Chris burrowed under a pile of towels, quickly pulling his tail in. He was pushed a couple of feet down the hall, then the lady started on the next room. Chris popped back out, a corner of the towel still lying on his small head. Joey and the cat were waiting for him. "So you're not going to eat me?" Chris asked hopefully.

"Certainly not! Rodents like you carry all kinds of bacteria and diseases!"

"So what's you're name?" Joey asked, sitting down beside the cat.

"I'm Chester, but the master calls me Toby. You can call me Chester though, and if you ever do call me Toby, I'll throw you to the alley cats."

"That's a deal," Joey said, smiling on the inside.

"Well, I'll be going now, and don't you two get too comfortable. And don't let the master see you, or he'll have my hide," Chester warned, then he daintily bounded down the hall.

"Locals," Chris mumbled, jumped nimbly to the floor.

"Well, how about we check on the others?" Joey asked, getting up.

"Yeah, I wanna see what happened to them," Chris said, hoping something did happen to them. That way they couldn't make fun of him.

The cleaning lady returned to her cart, and glanced down the hall before going back in the room to finish. She froze; telling herself there was no way a raccoon and a squirrel were walking down the hall. 'Of course not,' she thought. 'That's why we have Toby.'

Chapter 2: Reunion

"Jump higher!" Chris encouraged, watching Joey's clumsy body trying to reach the doorknob.

"I…can't…make…I got it!" Joey exclaimed, his paws finally gripping the knob, turning it as he fell to the floor. Chris jumped out of the way, nearly getting flattened by Joey.

The door slowly swung open. Chris and Joey stepped inside cautiously, and Chris hid behind Joey in case one of his friends tried to eat him.

"Hello?" Joey called, taking another slow step.

There was a clip-clop sound and eventually a small goat appeared before them. It was mostly gray, except for a white tail and a white beard. It had wide blue eyes with long eyelashes, and it's body sat on top of long, wobbly legs that ended with hollow sounding black hooves.

"Dear Lord, Justin?" Joey asked, bewildered. Behind him, Chris erupted in an infectious, chattering laughter.

"That's Justin? Oh, man, I'm so sorry!" he laughed, sounding like a chipmunk.

"Don't laugh," Justin bleated, shaking his head and stamping a hoof in embarrassment. As his head shook from side to side, his ears flopped against his horns, making him look like a long-eared dog.

Slowly behind him, a small Box Turtle appeared, dragging its feet as it crawled. Its shell was distinctly marked with yellowish strips and spots. It had long nails at the end of each of its four toes, and a long neck that held a chiseled head with red eyes. "I'm coming Justin…who is it?"

Chris's chattering laughter increased. "J.C.? You're a…"

"Chris? Joey? What did you guys do?" J.C. asked, still moving towards them.

"Us? We didn't do anything! We went skating, and the next minute, a giant cat is trying to eat Chris!" Joey exclaimed.

"Do cats eat rabbits?" A tiny voice asked, preceding a large, chocolate brown rabbit.

"Lance?" Joey asked. He and Chris studied the good-sized rabbit as it hoped over to Justin. His ears long ears flopped as he hopped, and when he came to a stop, he twitched his nose. His long whiskers moved with his nose, and he looked at the others with big, soft brown eyes that were outlined with white spots of fur.

"Well now that we're all here, we can decide how to get out of here," J.C. said.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked, sitting on his big back end. "We don't even know what happened."

"Did you guys see this old witch lady during the change?" J.C. asked, resting his heavy shell on the floor.

"Yeah," Chris said as he poked his head up from behind Joey's thick tail.

"I think it's got something to do with her," J.C. said. "I bet if we find her, we can get back to normal."

"We don't even know who she is, how are we going to find her?" Justin asked, lowering his horned head to be even with the others.

"Really fast," J.C. replied.

Chapter 3: Stepping Out

Justin poked his head out of the hotel room and looked down both ends of the hall. "It's clear," he whispered to the others.

"Okay, let's go," J.C. said, starting out in the hallway. Justin quickly passed him, with Chris riding on his back. Behind him, Joey hobbled down the hall Justin's heels, and behind him Lance hopped along. Slowly but surely, J.C. followed, going as fast as his scaly legs could carry him.

"Chris, don't dig your claws in my back," Justin whispered as he swung his head around to bump Chris.

"I'm not trying to," Chris replied, flicking his tail.

"You know, being a raccoon really sucks," Joey panted as his tail thumped on the floor.

"I don't have any complaints," Lance said, hopping silently on his soft, padded feet.

"Try being a turtle," J.C. mumbled, getting farther behind. "I got this big old shell to lug around, and I need a manicure."

Suddenly a tiny brown mouse ran out in front of Justin, causing him to stop suddenly and sending Chris sliding off his side, landing in a ball of fluff. "What was that for?" Chris asked, uncurling his tail.

The mouse looked at them with wide eyes, then squeaked, "Run!"

"Get back here you rodent!" A strong man's voice yelled, bringing a tall man in a suit around the corner. In his hand, he held a large carving knife. He froze when he saw the miscellaneous herd of animals in the hallway. "A goat-? What is going on here?" he yelled, scaring all the animals.

The mouse darted in a hole, forgotten. It then turned to watch the action.

"Let's get out of here!" Justin yelled, turning around in the hallway. Once again Chris found himself almost getting trampled as he bounded after Justin. Joey and Lance found themselves following the bouncing tail down the hall, and J.C. kept up a painfully slow, steady pace after the others.

The man ran after them, yelling for security as he ran. He chased the animals down the hall and into the stair well. Justin galloped down the stairs, surprising himself as he managed to stay upright. His fury friends ran after him, Chris jumping from step to step while Joey and Lance took two at a time.

J.C. watched the man chase the others down the stairs. "Forget that," he said, making his way to the elevator.

~o0O0o~

Justin rounded the corner, his hooves threatening to slide out from under him. He screeched to a halt, his horns stopping inches away from a security guard's stomach. Justin backed up, and he felt the others slam into his back legs. Justin was forced to sit down, and heard a tiny squeak as his back end went down. He scrambled to get up again, and Chris ran out from underneath him, darting under the security guard. Joey and Lance followed, and Justin took a deep breath as he backed up. Then with full speed, he charged into the guard, knocking him out of the way.

Together they ran to the door. To the side, the elevator dinged as the doors opened. A woman stepped out, then immediately backed out of the way of the fleeing animals. J.C. crawled out from behind her, joining the others for a second before falling behind again.

The clatter of hooves and paws echoed in the hall, then quieted as the guys burst out onto the busy New York Street. Justin looked around, and so far no one had noticed them. "Which way?" he asked, stamping a hoof.

J.C. drug his shell past them, falling down the stairs. "Follow me!" he yelled.

Suddenly the security guard came up behind them, waving his arms. "Get back here you mangy animal!" he yelled.

The guys took off; the herd of them clattering down the stairs. The guard ran after them for a few feet, but quickly got tired and gave up. "And don’t come back!" he called after them.

Chapter 4: Getting it Together

"Is it safe to stop now?" Joey panted, dragging his tail as he tried to keep up with Justin and Chris.

"Yeah," Lance said. "We gotta wait for J.C. anyway."

They all stopped and turned, waiting for J.C. to drag himself to them. "Let's get out of the street first, he said, going into an alley. The others followed and they stopped to get their breath.

"Man, I'm beat," Joey said, rolling on his side. His side heaved as he panted, his fur making him extremely hot.

"My feet hurt," Lance complained, stretching out on the cool pavement. His hind legs stretched out behind him, and his short white tail relaxed and lay between his hind legs.

"Wimps," Chris squeaked, sitting down and flicking his tail.

"You two have it the easiest," J.C. said, resting his heavy shell on the ground. "You were made to run."

Justin smiled somewhat through his beard. "I kinda like being a goat."

J.C. ignored his perfect chance to tease Justin. "We gotta think of what to do next."

"Yeah, like where are we going?" Chris asked.

"We're going to find the witch that did this," J.C. said, looking at Chris with his red eyes.

"That won't be too hard," Joey said sarcastically.

"We also need to get something Justin can pull me on," J.C. said. "I'll just slow everyone down if we have to run away again."

"Me and Chris will look," Justin volunteered, flicking his ears back and forth.

"Okay, you guys do that while we rest a minute," Lance agreed.

J.C. watched as Justin started towards the street, with Chris bounding very snake-like at his side. "And don't get caught!" J.C. called after them.

~o0O0o~

"So what are we looking for?" Chris asked, jumping to keep up with Justin's big strides.

"A board or something," Justin replied, looking all around with his goat eyes that were on the side of his head.

They earned weird looks from people as they walked down the street. Justin looked in every alley they passed, and then jumped when he felt Chris's sharp toenails dig into his back.

"What are you doing?" Justin bleated, shaking his head.

"I need a lift," Chris replied, making his way to the spot between Justin's shoulders.

"Well don't prick me so much. I still have feelings," Justin mumbled.

"Sorry," Chris said, flicking his bushy tail.

They went into the next alley, and saw some thrown away street signs. "These are perfect," Justin announced, stopping in front of them.

"Go ahead and get them then," Chris said, not moving.

Justin stretched his long neck down and took the sign in his mouth. Then he yanked it backwards, pulling it free from the pile. Chris turned around on Justin's shorthaired back and navigated Justin the whole way back to the alley where the others were.

"That's great," J.C. smiled when he saw the giant stop sign.

"Better be," Justin said, dropping the sign in front of J.C. "I don't know what was worse, the metal taste, or that rodent's claws."

Chris blinked his big black eyes innocently and flicked his tail.

Joey suddenly drew everyone's attention as he tipped over the trashcan he had been hanging on. "I got it!" he exclaimed, holding up a long piece old twine with his long, black, clawed fingers.

"Good," J.C. said. "Now just loop it around Justin's neck and tie the ends to the sign."

Joey ran to Justin, the twine held tightly in his skinny fingers. He did as J.C. had instructed, and J.C. slowly crawled onto the makeshift wagon. "Now mush," J.C. teased.

Justin rolled his blue eyes as he put his weight into going forward. J.C. wasn't that heavy, but the sensation of something around his neck was strange and new.

Lance laughed from where he was crouched in the corner. "I can't believe this. What did we do to deserve this?"

"That's what were going to find out," J.C. said.

The guys had been traveling for the past three hours, all the time being the but of people's jokes. They were getting hungry, but not sure what to eat. Soon, they pulled off into an empty alley.

"So what do squirrels eat?" Chris asked, feeling his stomach jump into his throat with hunger.

"Nuts and stuff," Lance replied. "We all eat lettuce and berries and stuff. Joey is the only one of us that eats meat."

"Haha! I rule and you don't! I rule and you don't!" Joey sang, hopping around them and then over to some trashcans. With a mighty jump, he sprang up and grabbed onto the side of the trashcan. His weight caused him to fall back, pulling the trashcan with him. It crashed to the ground loudly, and Joey looked at it with triumph. "I got the hang of this," he grinned, his pointy nose and black eyes glistening in the sun.

The others went to see what they could scrounge up, and Joey worked on the next trashcan.

"This is so sick," Lance mumbled, getting his ears dirty as he rooted around in the mixture of old foods.

"But we're animals, and animals don't care," Joey said, tipping the next can.

Justin bent his front legs and stuck his head in the first trash can. He pulled out a half-eaten loaf of French bread, with Chris firmly biting the other end.

"It's mine!" Chris said, sort of growling as he jerked on the bread.

"Not now," Justin argued, tossing his head and sending Chris flying.

Chris landed against something soft, and he figured it was just his tail and stood up again. "I'm glad I got such a fluffy tail, otherwise you could have just killed me," he said, watching the others try to find something to eat.

Justin looked behind him, finding that eyes on the side of his head looked funny, but saved him from moving his head a lot. Then he saw a large, black Rottweiler standing in the shadows behind his small friend; it's teeth glistening in the sun.

"Chris!"

Chapter 5: A New Friend

"What?" Chris asked, pouting.

A low growling from behind him told him what Justin was about to say.

"Dog!"

Chris turned to see a huge dog stalking him from the shadows. "Nice doggy," Chris stuttered, backing up.

The dog continued growling, and a long string of slobber plopped to the ground as it took a step. Chris took off, spurring the dog into a gallop. Chris past the others and out onto the street. The dog followed, passing three other perfectly good meals.

Lance and Joey jumped in the trashcan as the dog ran by, and J.C. pulled himself in his shell. Justin backed up and lowered his head, prepared to charge the dog if necessary. It was almost as big as Justin, and could have easily taken out the small goat. But now it was intent on killing a certain squirrel.

Chris bounded down the sidewalk, looking like a living streamer as his tail floated in the air behind him. The slobbering Rottweiler ran after him, gaining on the small animal. People screamed and jumped out of the way as the predator and prey ran past them.

Chris suddenly ran out in the street, not looking before he leapt into traffic. Cars screeched to a halt as the ball of fur jumped onto the hood of the first car, then jumped on the windshield and over the car, landing on the hood of the car behind it.

The Rottweiler tried to follow, but found himself caught in the jumble of cars, lost and confused. There was too much burnt rubber smell for him to locate his prey anyway, so he concentrated on getting out of the street.

Chris flew over the cars, working his way back to the others. His tail acted as the perfect sail, enabling him to glide from car to car. Finally he found the others, who were dragging themselves out of the garbage cans.

He jumped down to the street and ran over to them. "Are you guys okay?" he asked.

"We're fine, what about you? I though you just became road kill," J.C. said, walking over to Chris.

"Me? Never," Chris said, blinking his bright eyes happily.

"We shouldn't stay here," Lance said, shaking an old, limp piece of lettuce off his head. "The dog will come back when he gets himself together."

"Let's move then," Justin said, flicking his tail and stamping a foot.

J.C. crawled onto his sled and they started moving, going in the opposite way from where the dog was last. The police began arriving as they walked down the street, but no one noticed the train of animals making their way away from the accident.

It was starting to get dark, and they began looking for somewhere to spend the night. Shadows smothered the streets, trying to cover up anyone who was out. Seeing in a black and white world was confusing at first, but they discovered they had excellent night vision and could still see anything that moved.

They came to a large, run-down apartment building and decided to see if there was someplace to spend the night. Joey jumped up and opened the door with his nimble raccoon fingers. They cautiously entered the cool lobby, making sure there were no large dogs residing there.

Once the coast was clear, they found a warm spot under the stairs. The floor was covered in sawdust, making an excellent bed for all of them. J.C. got off of his sled and selected a spot in the corner as his bed. "You guys go check this place out. Maybe you can find some food or something," J.C. sighed, resting his shell on the floor.

"What about you?" Lance asked.

"You think I can make it up all those stairs?" J.C. asked, looking up the stairs.

"Oh, right," Lance sighed, his ears drooping on the floor.

"Okay, we'll be back!" Chris said cheerfully. "Come on troops!"

They left J.C. hidden under the stairs and trudged up the stairs. Their nails clattered on the old wooden floor as they walked, and to their surprise, an old lady opened the door to one of the apartments on their left. "Is that you, kitty?" she asked, squinting in the dark hallway.

The guys froze, not sure what to do. If she realized what they were, she might freak out and call animal control. But if they played their cards right, they could maybe get some food out of it.

Joey stepped forward, rubbing himself on her legs as he wove in and out of them like a cat.

"Good kitty," she said, bending down to pet Joey. "Do you want some warm milk and some of that Fancy Feast?"

Joey's ears pricked up, and the others watched him closely. Joey did his best 'Raccoon imitating a cat' sound, and produced something like a meow.

The old woman reached down and picked up Joey, stumbling at first. "My you’ve gotten heavy," she noted, petting his head. She started to close the door and the others ran in before it latched shut.

She heard the clicking of hooves, but without her glasses, she couldn't see a foot in front of her face. She slowly made her way to the kitchen, holding out a hand to guide herself along the wall. As she turned to go in the kitchen, she bumped Joey's head on the wall. "Oh, I'm sorry kitty. Let me get you some food to take away the pain."

The others smirked as they walked behind her, stepping in unison to avoid being heard.

The woman placed Joey on the counter and looked in the refrigerator. He looked at the long drop to the floor and backed up a tad. She pulled out a half-gallon of milk and a can of cat food. She then clumsily poured the milk in a pot, then stuck it in the microwave and started it.

The others sat in the doorway, watching in silence. "Your dear old mummy Rosy can't see as well as she used to," she said to Joey. Then she emptied the can of food on a plate and set it in front of Joey.

The guys felt sorry for her. She could barely see, and she obviously lived here alone. They wondered how she could live here safely. Anytime a kid from the street could walk in, shoot her, and rob her small apartment.

Joey looked at the cat food, uncertain. He sniffed it, then looked to the others. With his sharp hearing, he could hear Chris's stomach rumbling from four feet away. "You want it, come get it," Joey said, really only making a purring sound.

Chris hopped up on the counter as Rosy smiled; "It's good, isn't it?" Then she turned to look at Joey and saw a small gray kitten eating the food. "And who have we here?" she asked, squinting at Chris. "Is this your baby?" she asked Joey as she gently picked up Chris.

"Help me!" Chris said to Joey.

"Just go along with it," Joey replied.

Rosy gently stroked Chris and smiled. "You are so sweet. My little granddaughter would love you."

"No, I don't think so," Chris said, beginning to squirm.

Then the buzzer went off for the microwave, and Rosy put the squirrel back on the table. "Here's your milk," she smiled, placing the bowl in front of Joey and Chris.

Then she took a seat at the small kitchen table, waiting for one of her 'cats' to come and cuddle with her. Justin's big heart finally got the best of him and he walked over to her, placing his head in her lap.

"Oh, what have we here?" she asked, startled. She began to pet his head, feeling his horns. "A goat? In my apartment?"

The others prepared to run, fearing she might call the police.

"Well, you've come to the right place," she smiled warmly. "Make yourself at home."

~o0O0o~

An hour later, the guys headed downstairs to get J.C. When he saw them, he huffed, "Well, its about time."

"We found a place to sleep," Joey said, trying to pull the stop sign to Justin.

"Where?" J.C. asked skeptically.

"With a nice old lady," Chris squeaked.

"Upstairs?"

"Yeah, that's why we're gonna help you get up there. It’s warmer than down here anyway," Justin said, lowering his head as Joey stood on his hind legs and put the rope around Justin's head.

"Why not?" J.C. sighed, crawling on his makeshift sled.

Together, the guys pushed and pulled J.C. up the stairs and back the hallway to the Rosy's apartment. She had left the door cracked for them to come and go as they pleased, and Justin simply nudged the door open with his soft, pink nose.

Rosy heard the sound of hooves and called, "Is that you Billie?"

Justin bleated in response to his new name, and walked over to her.

"That's a good boy," she smiled. "Now you go shut the door for me."

Justin obediently walked over door and pushed it shut. The apartment was warm and cozy, and J.C. could immediately tell why the guys liked it here. Rosy had clumsily thrown some towels and old shirts in a pile on the floor for the guys. It was right beside her only space heater, and J.C. could tell this woman had a heart so innocent that could get you killed in today's world. She had also set out plates of salad for Lance and Justin, and milk and more cat food for Joey and Chris. Lance hopped over to a plate and began nibbling on some lettuce as Chris and Joey picked out spots amongst the towels. J.C. joined Lance and began eating.

Justin placed his head on Rosy's lap again, and she began petting him. It wasn't long before she was telling them all stories from when she was younger. Justin's skinny legs soon got tired, and he sat on the floor, leaning against her easy chair. Rosy talked on, intriguing them all with her lively stories.

Before long, Rosy found herself buried under a raccoon, a squirrel, a rabbit, a turtle, and the head of a blue eyed goat.

Chapter 6: Blessid Protectors

Joey's ears twitched as he picked up a sound outside. He slowly woke up, looking around in the darkness of Rosy's warm apartment. There were whispers outside, and they didn’t sound familiar. He listened harder, then heard a scratching at the door.

He stood up, losing his warm place on Rosy's lap. "Guys," he whispered.

Joey saw the glimmer of white reflection in Chris's eyes as the squirrel blinked. "What is it?" he asked.

"I think there's someone trying to break in," Joey said, not bothering to whisper any more.

Chris stood up too, stretching out the kinks his small body had gathered from his curled sleeping position. He accidentally dug his nails into one of Lance's long ears, waking the rabbit.

"Ow!" he yelped, jumping up and waking Justin and J.C.

"Sorry," Chris said absently as he listened to the intruders.

The door creaked open slowly, and a flashlight penetrated the dark apartment. A foot followed, then a body dressed in black. Behind him was another man in black. The guys jumped at the sound of a gun being cocked.

"What do we do?" Chris asked, squeaking.

The two intruders shone the flashlight around the apartment in search of the noise.

"Get them"! Justin yelled, running towards the men just as their light landed on the cluster of animals.

They all took off, charging the two men. Justin plowed into the man with the gun before he could fire it. The gun clattered to the floor, and Justin knocked the air out of the mad with his horns.

Chris jumped onto the face of the first man, digging his needle-sharp toenails into the man's face as Joey jumped on the man also, knocking him to the floor.

Rosy woke at the sound of the men's startled screams, and she turned on a lamp. "What's gong on?" she asked, seeing nothing but struggling blurs.

"Let's get out of here!" one of the men yelled, pulling himself out from underneath Justin.

The other quickly followed, and Chris dropped to the floor in the doorway. The guys watched with triumph as the two men ran screaming down the hallway, never to return.

"Billie? Kitty?" Rosy called, confused.

The guys trotted back to her, Justin closing the door on his way. She nervously patted J.C.'s shell, looking around blankly. "I'm going to call the eye doctor first thing in the morning," she muttered to herself.

The guys jumped back on her lap, resuming their warm spots that were so reassuring to Rosy. She sighed, still not understanding what just happened, but sensing that she was safe now.

Then she snuggled down in her easy chair, slowly drifting off with her new friends.

~o0O0o~

Joey found himself running down a long, never ending hallway. Behind him, an old, witch-like woman chased him, throwing flames from her palms. She cackled as he ran on, out of breath. She gained on him, her head growing to an impossible size. Soon it was the only thing Joey could see when he glanced back at her.

She screamed, "You will pay the price for breaking my daughter's young heart like all the others! All she wanted was for you to sign her poster, but you were too busy!"

Joey didn't quite understand, but he didn't want to stop to ask questions.

"For me to turn you back into humans, you must make my daughter truly happy!" The witch laughed an evil laugh, then disappeared into smoke.

Joey woke with a jump, as did the others. They were still piled on Rosy's lap, but they were all panting from the strange dream they each had. "You guys had the same dream, didn’t you?" Joey asked.

"I think so," Lance replied.

"What does it mean?" Justin asked.

"We'll figure it out tomorrow," J.C. yawned. "Let's just try to get all the sleep we can."

The others mimicked his yawn, silently agreeing. Soon they were sleeping restlessly.

Chapter 7: The Capture

The guys woke up to the smell of fresh, hot pancakes. Their small animal tummies growled in anticipation, and they practically ran into the kitchen. Rosy was waiting for them; plates lined up along the counter. She was wearing a warm smile that radiated her love. "Good morning little ones," she smiled, seeing the five forms sitting in the doorway. "I made you a big breakfast for your big trip today, although I wish you'd stay," she sighed, setting the plates on the floor in front of them.

"How'd she know we were leaving today?" Lance asked as he hopped to his plate.

"She probably just assumed it because we're 'strays'," J.C. replied.

"Who really cares?" Joey said, digging in. "I hope we run into her again, when we're back to human form," he added, to show the others he wasn't ungrateful.

They ate in silence as Rosy made herself busy around the kitchen. Joey watched as she began washing the dishes, and couldn't keep himself from the instinct that told him to wash his food. He grabbed a pancake and jumped on the counter beside her, then dunked his pancake in the warm water. "Kitty, what are you doing?" Rosy asked, watching him. "Only raccoons wash their food like that, you silly cat."

Joey ate the soggy pancake, satisfied. He didn't want to be a raccoon, let alone have their instincts too. He looked to the others and saw Justin mooching a pancake from Chris. He would hate to leave, but he hated being a raccoon more. They had to get back to normal.

After breakfast, the guys decided it was time to get going. They had gathered around Rosy for a teary goodbye, and they promised to come see her when they were human again. She understood that they were going, and packed a little picnic basket of salad and fresh water for them. She hugged each of them goodbye, and soon they were on their way.

Justin carried the basket in his teeth as he pulled J.C. on the stop sign sled. They slowly made their way down the stairs and back out onto the New York Streets. As they walked to their unknown destination, they discussed the meaning of their identical dream.

"I think we need to find the witch," J.C. said confidently.

"Good idea, but any thoughts on how we find her?" Lance replied.

"No. We probably wait for another dream or something," J.C. replied, less confident.

"What did she mean we broke her daughter's heart?" Joey asked as he shuffled along.

"Who knows? She is probably some whacked out, protective mother of some girl that didn't get to meet us or something."

"Like every other girl," Justin added, bobbing his head as he walked.

"Yeah. Only this 'witch' held a grudge," J.C. said.

"This is like something from a movie," Chris interrupted. "I mean, the whole idea of us getting turned into animals is way out there."

"Well, it happened," Lance said.

They walked in silence for a little while longer. "If you guys could pick which animal you wanted to be, what would you pick?" Chris asked.

Conversations with Chris were unpredictable and took sudden turns. You could only run along beside them and jump on as they flew around a corner. "What?" J.C. asked, caught off guard.

"What animal would you want to be, if you could pick?" Chris repeated.

"Not a turtle," J.C. replied.

"I'd be a Boa Constrictor," Lance said.

"I'd be a dog," Justin said.

"I have no idea," Joey added.

"I don’t really mind being a squirrel," Chris said. "It's kind of fun."

The others looked at Chris as he happily flicked his tail, then jumped on Justin's back. "What?" he asked, looking back at them. "I'm just making light of the situation," he said innocently.

They continued walking in silence for a few more minutes. "Hey, isn't that the hotel we started from?" Lance asked, stopping suddenly. He looked across the street as he sat on his hind legs and sniffed the air.

"No, no, no, please don't tell me we went in one big circle…" J.C. groaned.

"Hey J.C., we went in one big circle," Chris chattered happily.

"Well, lets not stand here whining, let's get going," Justin said, turning around.

"There they are!" a voice yelled.

The guys looked in the direction of the yell and saw two animal control officers running for them.

"Uh oh," Joey said.

"Run!" Lance yelled, spurring the guys into a run.

The officers ran after them, nooses in hand. They chased the guys around a corner and into a dead end alley. "We got you now," one of them grinned, advancing on the guys.

"Hey Ted, why does that goat have a stop sign tied around it’s neck?" one the officers asked.

"I don’t know Bill, just get it before it runs away!"

Justin backed up along with the others. He just barley missed stepping on J.C., which would have been fatal for the turtle. Chris remained planted on his back, his toenails digging into Justin's back. Chris could have gotten away, but that was one thought that never crossed his mind.

They tried to hide behind each other as the animal control officers got closer, extending their poles that had a rope tied to the end, specifically designed for catching animals. Some people had gathered at the alley's entranceway, watching the capture of the wild animals that ransacked an expensive hotel.

Suddenly the men lunged for the guys, catching Justin and Joey in their nooses. The guys struggled against the hard rope around their necks, but it only got tighter. Justin bucked and tried to back up but found himself against the wall. Joey was easily pulled out of the alley and drug across the street to the animal control truck. After Ted placed Joey in the back, he headed back to help Bill with Justin.

Justin surprised himself with his strength, and kept up his tugging against the officers. Chris clung to his back, not wanting to become separated. Then Lance hopped in front of Justin and said, "Just let him take you. It'll be a lot easier, and no one will get hurt."

Justin stopped thrashing around and allowed himself to be taken to the truck with Joey. Bill carried Lance, although he had no intention of leaving his friends. Soon they were all piled in the cold, dark truck and heading towards New York City's animal shelter.

Chapter 8: Jail Mates

The guys were led down the damp, narrow animal shelter hallway by a rope around their necks. It smelled terrible, and all the other dogs and cats were looking at them with hatred. Their tails were down and they dragged their feet as they were split up and put into separate runs.

Justin was put in one by himself, and Joey and Chris in another, then J.C. and Lance in the last one. Ted and Bill bid them each a cruel goodbye and left the newcomers to the other dogs.

"What they get you guys for, being too nice?" a big, white German shepherd asked gruffly as he paced in his run from across the hall.

"Naw, I bet it was worse than that," another dog taunted. "They probably all ran away from their nice, warm homes thinking they weren't loved."

The guys didn't answer, making the other dogs mad. "Why don't you answer us, you too good or something?" the German shepherd asked, growling.

"We didn't run away," Chris answered, his tiny voice echoing. "We're not even animals."

The other dogs erupted in laughter. "Not really animals, that's a good one," the German shepherd laughed. "You hear that Rocky? They think they're human!"

A scruffy, black mongrel eyed the guys as they shivered in the concrete runs. "I bet," he huffed.

"Look, why don't you leave us alone?" J.C. asked, making his way to the front of the run. "We didn't do anything to you."

"Just being here is bad enough," the shepherd replied.

"Spitz, be nice," a female voice called, breaking up the dog's laughter.

"Keep out of it, Jasmine," the shepherd growled, looking at the little brown Dachshund that corrected him.

"They mean you no harm," she insisted. Jasmine was in the run beside J.C. and Lance, and she sniffed them through the chain link fence that separated the runs. "My name is Jasmine," she said politely. "Don’t listen to Spitz. He's full of himself."

"Glad to meet you Jasmine," Lance replied, hopping over to her. His ears were pinned down as he let her sniff him, being that they were two natural enemies meeting.

"I'm Lance, and this is J.C. Over there is Chris, the squirrel, Justin the goat, and Joey the raccoon."

"Nice to meet you all," she said, wagging her tail. "So what's the real reason you're here?"

"We got caught for kinda wrecking a hotel," Lance said. At least he was telling part of the truth.

"That's a new one," Jasmine replied.

"Yeah, it is for us too," J.C. said.

They were interrupted when Bill walked towards Jasmine's run, leash in hand. All the animals froze as he opened her run and reached past her, pulling out a small brown mix breed.

"What's happening?" Lance asked Jasmine as Bill put the leash on the dog and dragged it towards two big doors, opposite where they came in.

"It's her time," Jasmine said sadly, watching man and dog disappear.

An eerie silence fell over them. Chris huddled next to Joey and even Justin backed in a corner of his run. A few minutes later, Bill came back, swinging the leash at his side.

Jasmine curled up in a corner and tried to sleep as the guys each tried to figure out a way to escape.

Chapter 9: Escape!

The next morning, the guys had a plan. At mealtime, Ted would feed them one run at a time. He would open the door, then turn and get the bowls of food from his cart, then turn back and set the bowls down. They decided the Joey and Chris should be the ones to escape first, because Joey's hands were closest to those of a human and he could unlock the other runs. All they had to do was move fast.

It was breakfast time, and they all waited patiently for Ted to work his way down the row of runs. Many of the dogs whined impatiently, but each of the guys waited calmly at the front of their runs.

Ted reached Lance and J.C.'s run, and he left the gate open as he got the food ready. Lance looked at J.C., and they both looked at Ted with annoyance. Ted stopped humming and looked at the rabbit and turtle. "You five are the strangest group of animals I have ever seen come through here," he laughed, setting the food bowls down and shutting the gate.

"You're not too normal yourself," J.C. replied, making Jasmine laugh.

"He tries," she said, finishing her bowl.

Ted opened Joey and Chris's gate then turned, getting the food. They looked at each other quickly before they charged, running between Ted's legs. The other dogs began barking wildly, and Ted fell backwards out of shock. Once he got himself standing again, he took off after the escaping animals. Joey turned down a hallway and waited as Chris bounded past, with Ted right on his heels. Then Joey followed them as Chris led them down another hallway and into Ted's office. Luckily, the heat of the summer forced Ted to leave the window open, providing Chris with an escape route. As soon as Ted followed Chris into his office, Joey threw himself against the door, and locked it as soon as it shut. Chris jumped on Ted's desk and took a mighty leap out the window. Joey headed back to the others as Chris got his bearings and ran to the back of the animal shelter where the runs extended outside. He skillfully scaled the chain link fence and landed in Jasmine's run.

Just as Chris got back inside, Joey came hobbling down the hallway. The dogs were still barking, pleading for Joey to let them out too. Joey ignored them, heading straight for J.C. and Lance. He unlocked their run; then ran to Justin and set him free too.

Chris tried climbing Jasmine's fence to get out. But when he got to the top, he found that the fence went into the roof, totally enclosing the run. He sighed, and with a flick of his tail he climbed back down, waiting for Joey to set him free also.

But Joey didn't realize Chris was trapped. The guys started to leave when Chris yelled. They kept going, not hearing Chris's tiny voice over all the barking dogs. "Guys!" Chris yelled, throwing himself against the gate. That just upset the dogs further, mainly the ones who didn't get to eat yet.

Chris watched sadly as the others left him, wishing there were something he could do. Suddenly he had an idea. He turned to run outside and climb the fence outside, where he could meet the guys outside.

As he made a mad dash to the doggy door, Jasmine stepped in front of him, blocking his way. "Jasmine, what are you doing?" Chris yelled, trying to get around her.

She bared her teeth and raised her hackles, refusing to move. "You're not going anywhere," she growled. "If they're not going to let everyone out, then we'll just make them come back and do it right. You're staying right here, they wont go far without you."

"Jasmine, come on! You gotta let me go!" Chris pleaded.

"No!" she barked, advancing on him. Spitz watched with pride as Jasmine held the squirrel back. "Get him!" he yelled, barking loudly.

Jasmine looked at Spitz, then back at Chris. "You know, I was bred to hunt rodents like you."

"You won't kill me," Chris said, a touch of hope in his voice.

The other dogs barked with excitement, urging Jasmine to kill the small, gray squirrel.

Jasmine backed Chris into a corner. He watched a long string of slobber fall to the floor. 'She's not that much bigger than me,' Chris thought, sizing her up. 'But look at those teeth. All I got is a tail.'

Jasmine gave in, lunging for Chris.

She just missed him as he jumped on the gate behind him, then quickly climbed up to the ceiling. Jasmine barked below him, trying to climb the fence herself. Spitz barked with anticipation and Jasmine actually began climbing the fence, slowly and carefully making her way up to Chris, who was trembling at the top. Chris closed his eyes and began to pray. 'Please God, don’t let me die as a squirrel. I swear, I'll stop making fun of people, and I'll see my mother more, and-"

Chris felt a sudden, hard shake on the fence and his heart pounded as he clung tight to the chain link. 'God, I'm dead,' he thought, preparing to get his head bit off by a hungry Dachshund.

But nothing happened. He finally looked down, and gasped at what he saw. Jasmine lay on the floor, not moving. He looked around and realized all the dogs had stopped barking. On the other side of the gate was Justin, who was looking at Chris proudly. The others were standing behind him, waiting for Chris to come down.

"What did you do?" Chris asked as he scurried down the gate.

"I used these horns and knocked her off," Justin announced proudly as Joey unlocked the gate.

Chris scurried out, then jumped on Justin. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he chattered, hugging Justin. Justin could feel the squirrel's heart pounding and laughed. "You're welcome. You didn't think we would leave you here, did you?"

Joey shut the gate and turned to the others. "You guys ready to go now?"

"Yeah, let's go," Justin said his eyes bright with happiness.

Jasmine slowly came too, and looked out just in time to see the unusual group disappear through the doors. She looked at Spitz, who glared at her. "Stupid female," he growled.

Chapter 10: New Pets

"We made it!" Joey exclaimed as they trotted down the highway. Cars zipped past, some of them honking at the wandering animals. Since they lost the sled, Justin figured out how to carry J.C. in his mouth. It was uncomfortable, but Justin put up it with out complaining.

"I feel bad for those dogs," Lance said, his voice barely audible over the cars.

"We couldn't have freed them all," J.C. yelled. "They would have eaten us for sure. They even could have killed Justin."

"But still-" Lance replied. Then he was cut off as a truck screeched to a halt in front of them. It pulled off to the side of the road, the taillights glowing. Then the hazard lights began blinking as a man got out. A little girl followed him, and they approached the guys with smiling faces.

The guys came to a halt, eyeing the strangers wearily. "What do we do?" Justin asked as the man and girl walked towards them.

"Whatever you do, don't run," Joey said as a car sped by.

"Hey there little guys," the man started, holding out his hand. "What are you guys doing out here on this busy highway by yourselves?"

The guys backed up slowly, not trusting him.

"It's okay, little guys," the man said, backing up. He didn't want to scare them further, or a passing car could hit them.

The little girl stepped up to Lance, who stood still. He pinned his ears against his head as she reached out to pet him, her hair blowing as a car whizzed past. "Daddy, can we keep them?" she asked, continuing to pet Lance.

"I don't know sweetie, I'd like to get them off this highway though," he replied, watching the cars nervously.

"I think it's safe to go with them," Joey said, looking at the others.

"Let's go then," J.C. sighed.

Lance made a small hop towards the girl, and she picked him up, holding him close to her. The man sensed the animals were willing to go with them and opened the tailgate of the truck. He looked at the animals and motioned for them to come to him.

They obeyed, still being very cautious. The man bent down and gently lifted Joey into the back of the truck, then Chris. He gently took J.C. from Justin's mouth and helped Justin into the back. Then he closed the tailgate and told the animals to stay away from the edge. Then he, J.C., Lance and the little girl got in the cab.

With a soft lurch, they pulled back into traffic. The guys wondered where they were headed now.

~o0O0o~

After a very windy ride home, the man let the guys out of the back of the truck. "Molly, why don’t you put the animals in the backyard while I figure out what exactly to do with them," the man said, watching his daughter lead the goat out of the garage.

"Okay daddy," she smiled, talking to the animals. She still held Lance as she walked, and she looked like she had no intent on letting the rabbit go.

The guys followed her to the fenced in back yard, which had plenty of green grass and open space. There was a large wooden jungle gym in the corner, complete with a tire swing and monkey bars.

Molly stopped at the gate as the guys went in. "You guys be good," she said, closing the gate after them. "And play nice with Pebbles."

"Who's Pebbles?" Joey asked, looking around.

On the concrete pad outside the sliding glass back door sat a large water bowl and some blankets. Out in the middle of the yard lay a huge bone.

Chris ran over to it and saw that it had been gnawed on. "Whatever it is, it's big," he called to the others. The teeth marks were huge, and slobber was shinning in the sun.

With a flick of his fluffy tail, Chris was bounding back to the others. Justin looked around with the others. None of them could smell anything, and suddenly they seemed very vulnerable in the huge yard. The birds stopped singing, and everything became eerily quiet.

"I don’t see it…" Joey said, backing into Justin.

"Me neither," Justin replied, moving in front of his friends and putting his head down slightly.

Suddenly a huge black and white figure exploded out from under a bench by the back door. The guys stood frozen in shock as the figure grew bigger with every step in their direction. Its huge tongue was as big as Chris was as it hung out the side of its mouth, flopping in the breeze. It's long fur moved like wheat blowing in a field as it ran across the yard. Huge, plate sized feet pounded the ground as it ran, and the guys could hear it's heavy breath from where they stood.

Suddenly they scattered, instinct taking over. Chris leapt onto the six-foot wooden fence and ran along it to the jungle gym as Joey ran on the ground beside him, his tail actually leaving the ground. Justin went the opposite way, back towards the gate.

While Chris and Joey made it to the highest part of the jungle gym, Justin found himself cornered by the gate, and an animal bigger than he was closing in fast.

Chapter 11: Friends in all the Right Places

"Please don't kill me…" Justin begged, closing his eyes.

The next thing he felt was a massive tongue sweeping over him excitedly. Justin opened his eyes slowly, finding the enormous black and white dog licking him happily. It's tail wagged back and forth furiously, creating a gentle breeze on the hot summer day. The long fur was brushed until it was silky, and it shone healthily in the sun. The dog was three feet tall, from the ground to its back. Its head was as big as a good-sized dictionary, with feet that were easily the size of dinner plates. In all, it was the size of a small pony.

"Are you Pebbles?" Justin asked weakly, trying to move away from the huge animal.

"That's my name!" the big dog replied happily. "Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Justin, and over there having a heart attack on the monkey bars is Joey and Chris." Justin said, looking as his friends as they watched with concern.

"They shouldn't be afraid of me," Pebbles said, seeing Joey and Chris. "I won't hurt them."

"Hey guys," Justin called. "It's safe to come down! He won't kill you!"

"Are you sure?" Chris yelled back.

"I don't eat little animals for the fun of it," Pebbles said, sitting down. He was panting terribly, hot from his short run.

Slowly, Joey and Chris came down and joined Pebbles and Justin.

"Man, you are huge!" Joey exclaimed.

"I'm a Newfoundland," Pebbles panted. "I weigh 150 pounds. Great for saving lives, both in water and snow, yadda yadda," he panted, moving to the shade.

"And they named you Pebbles?" Joey laughed. "Kinda ironic."

"I've never heard of a raccoon named Joey," Pebbles replied.

"That's because we're not really animals," Chris interrupted. "We got turned into animals by some witch lady with a grudge."

"That's a first," Pebbles laughed, taking a drink and slopping half of the water out of the bowl.

"Yeah, it was for us too," Justin replied.

"Well, you came to the right house," Pebbles said. "Mr. Cnysn and his daughter are really nice. They'll take care of you guys."

"We're not planning on staying long," Justin said, laying down in the shade beside Pebbles. The other two joined him, and they looked around the yard in silence.

"Well, you'll like it while you're here." Pebbles sighed, resting his head on the cool concrete.

~o0O0o~

"Look at them, lying there together. Aren't they sweet?" Molly asked, watching the animals lying outside on the concrete patio.

"I'm glad they like each other," Mr. Cnysn smiled, looking through the classifieds. Surely if some lost a goat, rabbit or turtle, they would be looking for it. So why were there no lost ads for any of the animals in his backyard?

"Daddy, look at Cocoa, doesn't he look lovely?" Molly smiled, holding up the large brown rabbit.

J.C and Mr. Cnysn laughed. Lance was sporting a frilly pink dress, complete with a matching hat and dress shoes. "Yes Molly, he is very charming," Mr. Cnysn smiled. "But don't name him yet, we have to try and find his home first."

Lance tried to contain himself. If it was possible for a rabbit to look mad, Lance was outraged. 'This is so humiliating,' he thought, glaring at J.C. as his so-called friend laughed at him.

"I always knew you were a cross-dresser," J.C. laughed, safe in his spot on Mr. Cnysn's lap.

"Shut up, and don't say a thing about this to-"

Lance was interrupted by the other's laughter, was could be heard through the glass door. Luckily, Molly decided to take him to her room for a tea party, so he didn't have to be victimized by their teasing.

As the guys calmed down outside, J.C. turned his attention to the TV that was showing the noontime news.

"We have a breaking story in the music world today," A woman reporter started.

"Hey, that's out hotel…" J.C. said to himself.

"It has been reported that the five, talented young men widely known as pop group Nsync, are missing. After missing several interviews and a TV appearance, the police investigated the group's hotel rooms and found them deserted, with a possible sign of struggle. Teams of FBI agents are out looking for the quintet, along with the local police. Meanwhile, this is good news for rival group, The Backstreet Boys, as they are finally number one in the pop charts, and scheduled to be on MTV's TRL tomorrow. We'll keep you posted on the story, and now back to you guys at the station."

J.C. couldn't believe it. 'The FBI is looking for us? I didn't know we were that important,' he thought. 'And the Backstreet Boys are number one? What's up with that?'

Chapter 12: Getting Comfy

"Okay boys, dinner time! Come and get it!"

Mr. Cnysn set the four bowls of food down along the backdoor. On the right was the biggest bowl, which Pebbles was already eating out of hungrily. Next were three equal sized bowls for Justin, Chris, and Joey. Justin trotted over to his bowl and peered in.

His bowl was filled with lettuce and corn, while Chris's bowl had peanuts and walnuts, and Joey's bowl had bread scraps and tuna fish.

"I hope you guys like this stuff, I'm afraid I'm not positive on what you animals eat," Mr. Cnysn said, watching Chris grab a walnut and run to the monkey bars to eat it.

He watched as they all ate happily and then went back inside. "Molly, bring Cocoa down here so he can eat," he yelled, hoping Molly would hear him from in her bedroom.

A door opened in response, followed by the sound of her coming down the stairs. Molly appeared at the bottom of the stairs; Lance tucked under her left arm. "What does Cocoa eat?" she asked.

"Lettuce, mostly," Mr. Cnysn replied, pulling a bowl out from the refrigerator.

"Oh. Does he like tea?"

"Probably not," he laughed, setting the bowl on the floor. Molly set Lance on the floor and he clumsily hopped to the bowl, tripping over his dress. J.C. was already munching on some vegetables in a corner, and he buried his head in the food so Lance wouldn't hear him laughing.

"Molly, would you go make sure Pebbles and his friends have plenty of clean water outside? It's awfully hot for them out there."

"Sure daddy," Molly replied before going outside. Pebbles greeted her at the doorway, licking her hands and chin, which he could easily reach. In fact, Molly could ride Pebbles if she wanted. Molly lovingly pushed him away and bent down to get the water bowl.

Pebbles came over and tried to take a drink, just out of spite. He pushed the bowl out of her hands with his strong neck, and the water splashed all over her feet. "Pebbles!" Molly yelled, getting annoyed.

Molly bent down to pick up the bowl and was surprised to find Joey holding the bowl up for her. "Well thank you," Molly smiled, taking the plastic bowl from Joey tiny black hands.

Joey attempted a smile and sat back on his haunches. Chris came up behind him, watching Molly carefully. "Hey there," Molly smiled, holding out her hand for Chris.

"Molly, don't!"

Molly turned around, pulling her hand back. "Why not?" she asked, looking at her dad.

"Because you don't know where he's been," Mr. Cnysn said, pulling Molly away from the harmless squirrel.

Chris backed up sadly, not understanding what the danger was. Joey laughed, then took cover behind Justin, hiding from Chris's icy stare.

"But daddy, its just a little squirrel!" Molly complained, going back inside. Her dad picked up the bowl and cast the animals' one last glance. They were staring right back at him, each of them sitting in the grass. Even his own dog looked betrayed.

"What?" he asked defensively. Then he went back inside.

Molly was busy playing with Lance and J.C., making them kiss. "I love you Cocoa," Molly said playfully, pushing J.C. in Lance's face. "Daddy, what are we going to do with them?"

"I don't know," Mr. Cnysn said quietly, watching the three wild animals outside. They moved with almost human qualities, like looking at each other in the eyes for minutes at a time. Animals never looked each other in the eyes like that. It was almost like they were talking. 'Weird,' he thought, continuing his observations.

Chapter 13: Back to the Streets

"We gotta get out of here," Chris said.

"You're just mad because you got rabies," Joey teased.

"I do not have rabies," Chris replied calmly. "I just think we should be getting on our way."

"Where are you going?" Pebbles asked, trotting over.

"We're trying to get back to normal," Justin said, nibbling on some grass.

"Is that good?" Joey asked, watching Justin with disgust.

"You get used to it," Justin replied.

"Anyway," Chris replied, rolling his eyes. "Are there any groups of dogs we should look out for when we break out of here?"

Pebbles thought. "Um, I don't think so, but I never get out much. You're really leaving tonight?"

"Yeah, the sooner the better," Chris said, motioning to Justin.

~o0O0o~

"We have to get out of here," J.C. mumbled, trying to wriggle out of Molly's grasp.

"I kinda like it here," Lance said, admiring his new blue sparkled dress.

"Lance, snap out of it," J.C. said, looking around the miniature teacup that was shoved in his face.

"More tea please," Lance smiled, twitching his nose.

The teacup was then placed over his nose momentarily, then set down on the little wooden table they were sitting at. "It's time to paint those pretty fingernails of yours," Molly said, opening her small bottle of rose red nail polish. She grabbed one of Lance's front feet and began painting it. "You look so lovely Cocoa," she smiled.

"Thank you," Lance replied, going slightly cross-eyed.

"Lance, knock if off man!" J.C. yelled. He was already forming an escape plan before Molly started to paint his toenails.

~o0O0o~

Night had fallen, and outside it was growing cool. Pebbles lay curled up on his rags, while Joey and Chris snuggled up against Justin's side in the grass. It was just dark enough so that the only thing you could see were outlines of objects. Crickets had hoped out of the grass and begun playing their nighttime songs, and fireflies glittered in the night. The light from inside the house shone through the door, attracting bugs and acting as a flashlight for the animals.

Molly had let Lance and J.C. outside earlier so the animals could go to the bathroom, and that's when they had formed an escape route. The next time Molly would let them out would be right before bed, and they had planned on escaping through a hole Pebbles had dug years ago that went under the fence. Until then, they decided to get some rest.

A movement at the end of the yard caught Joey's attention, and he perked up his ears as he strained to listen to it. The others were still sleeping, unaware of the visitor.

Night in a black and white world doesn’t get very dark, especially if you're a raccoon. But even with his enhanced vision, Joey still couldn't make out exactly what was walking around out there. He pulled himself out of his warm spot against Justin and trotted through the yard. The figure jumped behind a small lilac bush, and Joey lost sight of it.

He stopped, listening hard. After not hearing anything, he continued over to the bush. He slowed down, not knowing what to expect. Very carefully, he peered around the bush…

…And was sprayed in the face and chest by a black and white animal about his size. Joey jumped back, scared to death. He watched as the other animal then ran out from behind the bush, a striped tail floating after it.

It was then that Joey realized that something reeked. He checked under all of his feet, then looked around. 'What died?' he asked himself, not seeing the cause of the awful smell. "Oh well," he sighed, then headed back to the others. Only his greenish-glowing eyes could be seen as the rest of his body blended into the night.

He hobbled back to his warm spot on Justin and curled up, trying to ignore all the stubborn night creatures that refused to sleep when everyone else did. He snuggled down into Justin's soft fur, trying to go to sleep.

Chris's nose twitched. Then he sneezed. Then he woke up. "What the heck is that smell?" he asked, opening his black eyes.

Joey looked at him, the house light reflecting off each of their eyes. "What?" he asked.

"Oh, man, you reek!" Chris groaned, moving away from Joey. "What did you do, roll in it or something?"

"No, I didn't do anything," Joey defended.

The jingling of Pebble's dog tags announced that he was awake too. His silhouette looked at them, ears raised. "What is that smell?" he asked.

Justin awoke too, and immediately got up, knocking Chris and Joey off his stomach. "Who got sprayed by a skunk?" he asked, eyeing Joey and Chris.

"Not me!" Chris exclaimed, moving away from Joey again.

Joey looked so guilty; the others could sense it through the dark. "I'm sorry," he squeaked.

Justin and Chris headed to the patio with Pebbles. "You stay out here," Justin ordered, glaring at Joey.

"Guys! But it's cold!" Joey whined, watching them go.

"You should have thought of that before you pissed off a skunk," Justin replied, gently resting his bones on the concrete.

"But…guys…"

"Go to sleep!" Justin said sternly.

Joey pouted, and stuck his tongue out at Justin. Then he curled up in a tight ball, wrapping his tail around himself. And he sighed, slowly drifting off into a stink-radiating sleep.

~o0O0o~

"Hey guys, wake- what the hell is that smell?"

J.C. and Lance wrinkled their sensitive noses in disgust as they approached Justin, Chris and Joey, who were all sound asleep.

Chris woke up first, seeing Lance hopping towards him and J.C. trailing behind. "Is it time to go already?" he asked, not getting out of his warm ball of fur.

"Already? It's 10:30!" J.C. replied.

"I thought Molly was going to let you out before she went to bed. Why so late?" Chris asked, blinking. He could swear Lance was wearing a dress.

"No school tomorrow," Lance replied.

Chris blinked again. "Don't laugh or anything, but are you wearing a dress?" Chris asked.

To his surprise, Lance didn't laugh. "Yes. What about it?"

"Nothing."

"Good."

"Hey guys," Justin said, waking up. "Are we leaving now?"

"Yeah," Chris replied. Then he looked at Lance. "And the sooner the better."

"What reeks out here?" J.C. interrupted, looking around.

"That would be Joey meeting a skunk," Justin laughed, looking at Joey, who had fallen asleep against the fence.

"You mean we gotta smell this the whole way?" J.C. groaned, dropping his shell on the ground in disgust.

It was dark now, and the guys couldn't see past the light coming from the patio light. It had gotten considerably cooler, sending tiny shivers through the guys periodically. All was silent except for the distant rumble of cars searching for some fun. Even the crickets had given up their uncoordinated harmonies, leaving the night somewhat eerie.

The slight jingle of dog tags sounded as Pebbles' head raised to look at the guys. "So this is it?" he asked, sounding a little sad.

"I'm afraid so," Justin replied, sensing Pebbles' hurt.

"Well, I hope you guys get to where ever you're going safely," Pebbles said, standing up. He shook, ringing the dog tags and flapping his thick lips against his gums. Then his tail wagged as he trotted over to say goodbye.

"Oh my gosh, that is a big dog," Lance said, backing up.

"He won't hurt you," Chris said.

"I don’t hurt other animals," Pebbles said, straining to see Lance and J.C. in the dim light.

"Well that's good," Lance replied, not sure what else to say.

"I hope I see you guys again," Pebbles said as they headed to the hole at the end of the yard. "I promise we'll come back to see you," Justin said as Chris scampered over to Joey.

"Hey, rotting corpse boy, wake up!" Chris yelled, lifting Joey's big ringed tail with his small paw.

Joey slowly opened his eyes after he became aware of the cool night air on his face. "What do you want?" he asked, trying to go back to sleep.

"It's time to go," Chris chattered happily.

"So? I thought you guys didn't like me because I smell funny," Joey replied.

"We were just playin' with ya," Chris said, trying to apologize with out saying he was sorry.

"Really?"

"Positive. We would never say that to hurt your feelings," Chris said, flicking his tail.

"Well…"

"Come on, let's go before they know we're gone-"

"Cocoa! Come on boy!" Mr. Cnysn called, leaning out the backdoor.

"Too late," Joey mumbled, getting up.

~o0O0o~

The five guys ran to the hole that led out of the back yard. All the guys wriggled out under the fence, and it was then that they realized Justin wouldn’t fit.

“What do we do?” Lance asked.

“You guys go around to the front gate,” Pebbles said, taking off back in the direction they came.

Joey grabbed J.C. and awkwardly ran with his other three legs. They ran through the dark, tripping over various sticks and vines. They could make out Pebbles and Justin’s form running alongside the fence beside them. Pebbles thundered down the yard and stopped at the gate. Mr. Cnysn kept yelling, not realizing the animals were outside the fence. Pebbles jumped on the fence, shaking it with his weight. Then he nosed the lock up, and the gate swung open freely. “Go!” he barked to Justin, who didn’t hesitate.

“Thank you!” Justin replied as he ran past Pebbles. “We’ll be back!”

The others arrived just as Justin escaped. Justin took J.C. from Joey, carrying the turtle in his mouth. Together they ran off, towards the street. They could hear Mr. Cnysn behind them, hollering but not chasing them. As they rounded the corner of the house, they heard the clicking of the gate shutting.

They ran out onto the street, their breaths showing in the cool air that was lit from the streetlights. Hooves and claws scraped the pavement, and once sleeping fireflies scattered to get out of the way of the oncoming herd. Thankfully no cars were out in the neighborhood at this time of night, or the group of animals running down the middle of the street would have caused a small list of casualties.

They followed the noise of cars on the highway and found their way back into the city. They were all panting hard, and Justin had started drooling on J.C.

"Okay, put me down!" J.C. yelled, thoroughly disgusted at the slime running down his beautifully marked shell.

Justin accidentally dropped him, exhausted. "Sorry," he said breathlessly.

"Can we look for somewhere to sleep now?" Joey asked.

A car whizzed past them, blowing their fur. The streetlights turned night into day, but it was still freezing cold out on the streets. "Sure," J.C. said. "Let’s go."

The animals trotted down the street, trying to keep themselves warm until they found a safe place to sleep. They each tried to stay in front of Joey so they wouldn't suffocate in his stench. Chris had to jump on Justin's back to get away from Joey, and J.C. gave into having Justin drool on him so he wouldn't be stuck behind the clumsy raccoon.

"Over there," Lance pointed out, hopping to an abandoned-looking warehouse.

The others followed, and they entered the musty building cautiously. "Hello?" Justin called, his words transforming into a goat's bleat to the human ear.

There was no reply, except for the steady, far off dripping of water. "Cool," Chris shivered. "It's ours!"

"Just be careful," J.C. warned as they spread out in search of a comfy corner to sleep in.

"Why?" Justin asked, sniffing at a pile of old clothes.

Suddenly the pile jumped up, revealing an old man in a tattered coat and long beard. "What are you animals doing in here?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Justin jumped back, tucking his tail between his legs. The man smelled as bad as Joey did; only a skunk hadn't sprayed only the man recently. His hair was thin and frizzy, and there were smudges of dirt all over him, indicating he was probably homeless.

"Man, this is some good, stuff," he smiled, sitting back down. He played with a bag of white powder before passing out.

The guys were still frozen to their spots. "What do we do now?" Joey asked.

"Pick a spot away from him," J.C. replied.

Chapter 14: Be Wary of Strangers

The five misfit animals had fallen asleep in a corner furthest away from the homeless junkie. Justin lay on his stomach, with his legs underneath him, with Chris snuggled in between Justin and Joey. Lance lay behind Joey, and J.C. slept inside his shell at Justin's head.

Joey's stench was almost unbearable; both from the closeness of them and the body heat from all the animals was intensifying Joey's smell. It was going to be very ripe in the morning, but they were thankful they weren't going to have to stay.

Meanwhile, the homeless man was holding a grudge. "You worthless animals, you all should be shot-" he stopped, giving himself an idea. "No, I can't do that," he decided. "That would be wasting bullets."

He glared at the oblivious animals. His restless fingers found his plastic bag of speed, and he played with it for a minute before getting an idea. Quickly but quietly, he got up and headed out side to the nearest dumpster he could find.

~o0O0o~

Chris's sensitive nose twitched as it absorbed a sweet, fishy smell. He lifted his tiny gray head from its nest on top of his tail and blinked his small black eyes to adjust them. He had a warm spot curled next to Joey and Justin's warm belly, which moved, rhythmically as he breathed.

The others remained in their peaceful sleep as Chris watched the old homeless man bustle about, sprinkling various things in a frying pan that must have held a fish. Black smoke was billowing out, and the man had to hold a worn rag over his nose as he worked. Chris's tiny belly rumbled, calling food to it. Chris sighed, then flicked his tail as his body obeyed his stomach and he left his warm nest among the others.

Slowly, he made his way over to the old man. The man looked up and saw the fluffy gray squirrel approaching. "Hey there you little rat, are ya hungry?" He turned around and began looking for something that would hold the dark liquid that was simmering around the fish. Chris nimbly climbed the stand that was supporting the pan above the fire and sniffed at the funny, sweet smell.

The man searched around behind him, tripping over a now empty bottle of antifreeze. He turned back to Chris who was dangling off the stand, trying to reach the fish. Then he kicked the empty bottle out of sight and found an old wooden spoon that would work nicely for his purposes. He grabbed it and quickly turned back to the curious squirrel, smiling mischievously. "Here you go rat," he said gruffly, spooning up some liquid.

He held it down to Chris, who sniffed it cautiously from his perch on the crudely made cooking stand. It smelled sweet and fishy, and his stomach called for it. Unable to resist his grumbling stomach, Chris started lapping it from the spoon, his tiny tongue scraping against the wood. In the background, he heard the others begin to wake up. They coughed at Joey's unbearable stench and quickly scattered, leaving Joey by himself.

"Good morning beasts," the man said, taking the now clean spoon away from Chris. He scooped up more of the broth and held it out to them.

"I smell fish," Joey said excitedly as he joined the others. They gathered around the old man, trying to see what he was cooking.

Lance hopped over to Chris and asked, "What's he making?"

"Fish," Chris replied, jumping down.

"I want some!" Joey said, pushing in between the rabbit and squirrel. His huge ringed tail dragged on the floor as he stood on his hind legs and grabbed the edge of the pan, peering in.

"You want some of that?" the man asked, pushing Joey down. "You gotta share with your friends." He used the spoon to pick up the rather small fish, then placed it on the floor. "Go ahead, dig in," he smiled, stepping back.

Joey lunged for the fish, his stomach taking over. "Wait!" Lance said, taking a small hop towards Joey.

Joey glared at Lance through his bandit-marked fur. "What?" he asked impatiently.

"Something's not right," he replied, sniffing the fish. His long whiskers brushed up against the steaming fish as his small pink nose took in the smells.

"We don't eat fish anyway," Justin said, stamping his hoof on the cold concrete floor.

"Well I do!" Joey replied, licking his lips and making his black nose glisten.

J.C. looked at the old man who was waiting for them to eat the fish. He looked behind the man, trying to figure out what was making the old man laugh so evilly. Then his pea-sized red eyes spotted an empty bottle of antifreeze that had been shoved in a corner. He wished he could see in color, so he could tell if the broth the fish had been cooking in was green or not. He knew antifreeze smelled and tasted sweet, and it was extremely dangerous. "Guys," he said, not taking any chances. "He cooked it in antifreeze!"

The others stopped their fighting and looked at him. "You sure?" Justin asked, swiveling his ears.

"No, but I wouldn't put it past him," J.C. replied, taking a step towards the door.

The man watched as the animals began to turn away from the fish, getting disappointed. "You mangy animals, get back here and eat it!" the man yelled. He picked up a dented tin cup that was lying at his feet. He threw it at the departing animals, making them scatter and run to the door. "Go on, get out of here!" he yelled, watching them run out the door. "I hope you all get run over by a semi!"

~o0O0o~

The guys ran out on the street, anxious to get away from the delusional old man. "Man, that guy was creepy," Justin mumbled, talking through J.C.'s shell that he carried in his mouth.

"Yeah, I guess Joey kinda owes us one," J.C. said, his voice shaking as Justin bounced him.

"Oh great J.C.," Joey said sarcastically as he trailed along behind everyone. "I owe you my soul. How can I ever repay you?"

"Just stay back there until that smell wears off," J.C. replied, watching cars and people go by.

Lance hopped along beside Chris, his soft feet thumping on the sidewalk. He noticed the squirrel's tail was dragging, and Chris wasn't his usual talkative self.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked, his long soft ears flopping as he jumped.

"I don’t feel so good," Chris replied. Justin swung his head around to look at Chris, and J.C. saw the condition of the tree-dweller.

"What happened?" J.C. asked before a passerby ran into Justin's turned head, causing him to look forward again.

"Can antifreeze kill?" Chris asked, feeling a burning sensation in his stomach.

"You ate it?" Lance asked.

"I didn't know that's what it was," Chris said, his mouth beginning to water.

Lance hopped faster, getting alongside Justin. "He ate the antifreeze," Lance announced. "Turn down there," J.C. said to Justin, extending a rough skinned foot in the direction of an alley.

Justin ran ahead, bouncing J.C. uncomfortably in his mouth. They turned off the sidewalk, stopping in the alley. Joey trotted in after them, followed by a staggering Chris. "Guys, I think I'm gonna be sick," Chris said softly, his sides beginning to heave. The others backed away, turning as their friend proceeded to throw up most of the green antifreeze on the sidewalk. A long strand of drool hung from his mouth as he sat down. "Guys, I'm not gonna die, am I? Because no one would even know what happened. This isn't how I want to die."

"You're not gonna die," J.C. said, hopefully. "You just puked up most of the antifreeze," he said, glancing at the puddle at Chris's feet. "None of us are gonna die, because we're gonna find that witch and make her turn us back."

"Okay, good," Chris replied, going cross-eyed before he fainted.

"Is he dead?" Joey asked as Lance hopped over to the unmoving ball of fur.

"No, he's still there," Lance replied, seeing the squirrel's sides move as he breathed.

"Throw him on my back," Justin said, nudging Joey with his hoof. "Then we can keep moving."

Joey grumbled but obeyed. He hobbled over to Chris, then dragged him back to Justin by his soft tail. Joey stood as tall as he could and placed Chris over Justin's rump. "Can we go now?" he asked. "I'm hungry."

"We're all hungry," Lance said, getting upwind of Joey. They watched a large truck roll by, with the words, 'Erica's Catering' painted on the side. They looked at each other briefly then took off after the truck.

Chapter 15: Sweet Revenge

They chased the food truck to a familiar place; Times Square. It pulled up in front of the TRL building, and stopped. Cooks began to unload from the back of the truck, and the guys started drooling as they watched platter after platters of good-smelling food go by.

"They must be having someone special on the show today," Justin sighed.

"It's not us," Lance replied.

They were standing about twenty feet away from the truck, and cars passed them constantly. Luckily, it was too early for the usual crowd to be gathering, so no one was bothering them as they stood and drooled over all the food that was being carried inside.

The delicious smell roused Chris, who had been hanging limply over Justin's back. His tail flicked, tickling Justin's back and making him give a small kick. "Am I dead?" Chris asked, pulling himself vertical with Justin's spine.

"No, not yet," Justin said, begging to drool on J.C.

After a few minutes of staring longingly at the truck, Joey asked, "Well what are we waiting for?"

"We can't just barge over there and steal food-" J.C. started, then he found himself moving forwards with the others in their mad dash to the truck. "Well, if you guys insist," he mumbled, bouncing terribly in Justin's mouth.

They skidded to a stop in front of the open back door of the white truck. Joey jumped in the back, Chris following. "Hey!" Joey's voice echoed. "There's nothing here!"

"What do you mean?" Lance asked, sitting on his hind legs as he tried to see in.

"I mean there's no food in here! They must have took it all inside!"

"Well, I guess that's that," J.C. said, sighing.

Joey and Chris looked at each other in the darkness of the back of the truck. Their eyes sparkled as they read each other's minds. "If the foods in there," Chris started.

"We should go in there too!" Joey finished.

Without another word, they leaped from the back of the truck and took off for the door, leaving the others scrambling to catch up.

~o0O0o~

"God Joey, this would be so much easier if you didn't smell like a public restroom," Justin muttered as they crept along the inside of the huge MTV building. They attracted a lot of attention as the wandered the halls looking for food, but in a building run by MTV employees, anything goes. Outside, people had started gathering, anxiously awaiting airtime. Inside, people were too busy doing last minute tasks to get rid of the small animal herd.

"I can't help it," Joey whispered, although no humans could understand the raccoon's clicks anyway. "We're getting there, aren't we?"

"I don't know, it's been forever since I've been in this building," Justin replied.

"Well me and Chris were here last, so move and let us go first," Joey said, barging in front of Justin and nearly tripping the long-legged goat.

They walked along a little further, passing an open window on their way to some stairs. Outside they heard screaming, and they decided to see what all the fuss was about. The window was too high for anyone but Justin to see out of, so Chris perched uncomfortably on Justin's horned head while Joey sat on Justin's back.

They peered outside, groaning at the sight that awaited them. There were hundreds of girls outside, all of them holding posters that announced their marriage proposal to a Backstreet Boy. "Dear Lord, the world has gone mad!" Chris exclaimed.

"This makes me sick," Joey said, watching the girls continue to gather.

"I know. The Backdoor Boys are only number one because we're supposedly 'missing'," J.C. said.

"This sucks," Lance said from his spot on the floor.

"Well, we are in the building," Joey hinted. "I say we do something about this."

"Can we eat first?" Justin asked.

~o0O0o~

After eating their fill from the buffet, the five former pop singers headed up to check out the set of Total Request Live, and greet the guests. Carson Daily already had he show under way, with the help of the Backstreet Boys. The almost all girl audience was pumped and screaming their heads off, calling the disgruntled animals from two floors below the actual set.

"This is gonna be good!" Justin laughed as the elevator doors opened.

"I know! We should win a medal or something," Joey replied as they started for the set.

"But no one is gonna know it was us," J.C. said as Justin bounced him down the hall.

Lance hopped at Justin's side, while Chris and Joey ambled along behind. They had planned a revenge for a long time, but they never thought they would be getting even in animal form. It had been a secret goal of theirs to make the Backstreet Boys look like fools on national TV, and this was their chance.

They reached the door at the end of the hallway and saw a sign on it that said 'Recording'. In reality, it glowed red, but the colorblind animals it looked like a normal sign.

"Okay J.C., hold on," Justin said, bowing his head.

J.C. pulled his leathery skinned head inside his protective shell in preparation. Justin pointed his horns at the door then charged, plowing into the door with enough force to take it off it's hinges and allow them access. The guys bolted through the crowd, running straight for the Backstreet Boys and Carson Daily, the host. Joey's stench followed him thickly, gagging everything he passed. Justin was first, and nailed and unsuspecting Howie in the side, taking the Puerto Rican heartthrob down. Chris took a flying leap, the kind squirrels are good at, and latched himself to AJ's face, who tripped over the scrambling Howie. Joey attacked the pant leg of Kevin, ripping off a chunk of the bottom as Kevin tried to run from the crazed animals. Carson had dropped the microphone and was on his way out the door, leaving the singers to battle it out.

The audience was screaming and running now, but the cameras were still rolling as Lance proceeded to urinate on the pile of disoriented Boys. Justin had begun eating the shirt right off of Brian's back, and J.C. crawled to a safe corner to watch the fun. Nick blindly grabbed the microphone and attempted to hit Joey, who was sitting on the blonde's face and swinging his furry tail. AJ grabbed Chris by the tail, but the limber squirrel pulled himself up and attacked AJ's wrist.

Kevin pulled himself out of the tangle of arms and legs, than began helping his cousin, shoving the blue-eyed goat away. Nearly Brian's entire shirt had been eaten or chewed and was now just a collar and an arm. Nick finally decked the hardheaded raccoon in the head, knocking the reeking animal off his face. AJ slung the flesh-eating squirrel from his wrist then joined the others on their mad dash to the door. Nsync gave chase, hot on the heels of the battered pop group. Cameras followed the mad chase as the presumably 'rabid' animals chased the Backstreet Boys through the doorway and through the building. The chaos had spread through the building like a good rumor, and soon no one was sitting still. The chase continued to past the buffet, where the Boys quickly grabbed handfuls of food and hurled it back to their assailants as they ran for the front doors. Justin used J.C.'s shell to shield him from the thrown finger sandwiches and vegetables. His black hooves pounded down the hall after the rest of the guys scrambling to catch up.

They skidded around a corner, slamming into the wall on their way. The Backstreet Boys had made it out on the sidewalk and into the mass of girls that had been waiting for them. Nsync stopped in the doorway, panting as they watched the Backstreet Boys met their fate and were engulfed in the crowd of teenyboppers. "Guess we showed them!" Joey huffed, catching his breath.

"That's the last we'll be seeing of them for a long time," Justin mumbled through J.C.'s shell.

Chapter 16: An Understanding

The five animals walked down the sidewalk with their heads down. The rush from earlier had worn off, and they were getting hungry again. They had been walking through New York all day and hadn't found one clue as to how they could be changed back to normal. They walked by a parked car and heard the radio blaring inside. The news came on, and they listened as the DJ said, "The search for teen sensation Nsync continues, police still have no leads as to what happened. Meanwhile, a group of animals including a raccoon, a goat, a turtle, a rabbit, and a squirrel invaded MTV's building on Times Square and proceeded to attack the Backstreet Boys. The Boys are okay, although the assault of fans hurt them more than the wild animals."

"Losers," Joey huffed as they continued walking.

"That was pretty good," Justin laughed.

"I wish we had been rabid," Chris added.

"If we had been rabid, we would be dead right now," J.C. said as his legs dangled out of Justin's mouth.

"Maybe that would be better than being stuck as animals," Chris replied. The effects of the anti-freeze were still making him ill, and he had become irritable.

Justin was about to say something, but a young girl accidentally bumped into him. "Watch it," he bleated.

"Sorry," she replied as they kept walking.

"Jeeze, people have no respect for poor, homeless animals," Justin said sarcastically.

They walked a little farther, looking at the ground. Suddenly, all their heads jerked up and they looked at each other in amazement.

"She understood us!" Lance exclaimed.

"We gotta find her!" J.C. said, but Justin had already turned around and was in hot pursuit.

~o0O0o~

The guys spotted the girl as she stepped into an awaiting cab a couple yards away. "Wait!" Joey yelled as he padded down the sidewalk towards her.

The girl shut the door behind her, not hearing the animals thundering down the cement. The cab put on the turn signal, then pulled out into traffic, passing the group of animals as they screeched to a halt.

"Come back!" J.C. called, but it was no use. The cab continued it's slow pace through the crowded rush hour traffic.

The guys stood still, their tails drooping as they watched the girl drive away. Joey sat down, his hind legs resting straight out. Then he turned around to look at the others. "Well what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's follow her."

"Through that?" Lance asked, looking at all the cars. He raised his head slightly so his long soft ears no longer rested on the hot cement.

"Well, if she's our only way to get back into our human bodies, then yeah, we follow her through rush hour," Joey replied.

"I'm with Joey," Chris squeaked, flicking his tail to scare away a fly. "Being a squirrel sucks. I'm the littlest."

"Chris, you always were the littlest," J.C. said as Justin started walking again.

"Hey guys," Justin started as they began following the slow moving cab, "I can honestly say that I have the biggest package!"

~o0O0o~

"How much further do we have to follow her?" Chris whined. "I can't keep up!"

"Then why don't you get on my back and I'll carry you?" Justin asked, sighing as a long string of drool slid past J.C.'s shell and plopped to the ground.

"That is sick," Lance said as he hopped along.

"Thorry," Justin muttered. "My mouth ith getting tired." Justin flinched as he felt Chris's sharp toenails dig into his back. "Watch it," he said, bucking a little.

Justin's rear hooves caught a middle-aged woman behind him in the shins. "Ow! Stupid goat!" she yelled, then started cursing as she rubbed her throbbing legs.

"Yeah, thame to you," Justin mumbled as the others snickered.

"There she goes!" Joey said, spotting the cab as it turned off the main street.

"I'm not crossing that traffic," Lance said. "I'll become road kill for sure."

"We have to," J.C. said. "If we all stick close together, we should make it. The cars are going slow anyway."

"Yeah, until they see a nice fat furry animal to run down," Lance replied.

"Justin, I command you to cross the street," J.C. ordered.

"Make me, turtle boy," Justin shot back. Justin suddenly felt a sharp pain on his ear.

"Do it, goat child, or I won't let go," Chris said through a mouthful of Justin's ear.

"Okay, okay!" Justin bleated, shaking his head. He stopped and faced the busy street, taking a deep breath before setting a shiny black hoof onto the road. Immediately a car screeched to halt, making Justin jump out into the road. Joey and Lance scrambled to stay with him, but the long legged goat awkwardly dashed through the cars, weaving in and out of the lanes with urgency.

Chris dug his sharp nails into Justin's back to stay on the jumping goat as it dodged oncoming cars. J.C. drew himself inside of his shell, afraid to watch as car after car slammed on the brakes to avoid a head on collision with the parade of animals. Lance hopped along behind, his ears dragging the ground as he ducked. Joey hobbled beside Lance, his tail nearly getting run over several times.

Justin finally reached the other side, pulling himself onto the curb quickly. His fur was wet with sweat, and every muscle in his shoulders stood out on the sunny day. Lance hopped on the sidewalk next, getting run into by Joey. The guys stood panting on the sidewalk and looked at each other. "Well that was a fun idea, let's do it again sometime and see HOW MANY TIMES IT TAKES TO GET US KILLED!" Chris yelled, standing on top of Justin's head and using his tail for a balance.

"Chris, calm down buddy!" Joey said, sitting down. "Jeeze, you're even worse as a squirrel," he mumbled.

"Guys, there she goes," Lance said, perking his ears up as the girl got out of the cab and walked to an apartment building.

"Let's follow her," J.C. said, extending his head out of his shell and blinking in the bright sunlight.

Justin started walking down the sidewalk, his hooves clip-clopping as they struck the concrete. People were too busy to notice them and they were able to reach the apartments with out a problem. They looked longingly up at the many floors, wondering where the girl had gone.

"'How do we get in?" Joey asked, trying to reach for the door handle.

"You are suppose to be good at opening doors," Justin said. "You figure something out."

Joey jumped, reaching his tiny black paw up towards the doorknob. His fingers brushed the bottom, giving him hope as he fell back to the ground. He tried again harder, and caught the knob with both hands.

Joey dangled there for a minute, trying to figure out his next move when Justin decided to help and lifted Joey up with his horned head. "Thanks," Joey said, turning the knob and jumping back down.

"Don't mention it," Justin replied. "And I mean it."

The five animals cautiously walked in to the air-conditioned apartments. The lobby was empty and quiet, except for the sound of Justin's hooves on the floor.

"Where do we go now?" Chris asked, hopping down off Justin's back.

"Who are you looking for?" A voice asked.

The guys turned and searched the shadows until they found the still form of a jet-black cat crouching behind the door.

"Who are you?" Justin asked as the littler animals hid behind his legs.

"I’m the house cat, when they can find me," the cat replied, swishing it's tail lazily. "They call me all different things, but I prefer Ebony."

"Well we're really the group Nsync, but we've been transformed into animals," Justin replied, waiting for Ebony to laugh.

"So Haggitha's at it again, huh?" Ebony replied. She blinked her glowing green eyes, then proceeded to lick her forepaw.

"Haggitha? Who's that?" J.C. asked, creeping out from behind Justin.

"That's Becky's mom," Ebony replied. "She's a witch."

"How do you know?" Joey asked.

"Because the New Kids on the Block came through in the same predicament," the cat replied. "Didn't you ever wonder what happened to them?"

"Are you serious?" Justin asked.

"No I'm lying," Ebony said sarcastically as she stretched. "Of course I'm telling the truth. That witch has been doing this for decades."

"Well how do we find her?" J.C. asked.

"Follow Becky. She's going home tomorrow for the weekend."

"Thanks," Justin smiled, dying to be back in his human body.

"No problem. And good luck to you," Ebony replied, then she slid through the shadows and ran up the stairs.

Justin bent his head down and looked between his legs. "You can come out now," he said to Chris and Joey.

"I wasn't scared," Joey huffed as he shuffled out into the lobby.

"Well my past with cats isn’t too good," Chris said. "I don't want to die in this body."

"We're not going to die," J.C. said. "We're going to find that witch and make her turn us back.

"I hope so," Lance said. "I hope she doesn't live too far away."

"Let's wait down here for Becky to come back," J.C. said. "Then we can follow her."

The guys all agreed and picked out a dark corner to hide in. "No matter what," Justin said, "We gotta stick together. I'm not leaving any of you behind."

"I'll second that," Chris replied.

"We'll get through this," J.C. sighed, setting his shell down on the floor.

Chapter 17: The Light at the End

Joey was content. He was warm, having a wonderful dream of being human again, and his subconscious knew his friends were curled up at his sides. His ears flicked as he listened to movement in the lobby, then felt Chris snuggle against him even more. 'Okay, now it's too hot,' Joey thought. He tried to lie on his side, but a pointed horn stopped him. Joey yawned and opened his eyes, blinking to get accustomed to the light.

"Guys, wake up!" Joey yelled, scrambling to get out of the pile of bodies.

"What?" Lance asked, shaking his head to get his long ears out of his face.

"There she goes!" Joey replied, pointing Becky out to the others.

Justin hoisted himself up on his long skinny legs and picked up J.C. in his mouth.

"Let's go!" Chris said, taking off after the girl with the others in hot pursuit.

The guys ran after the girl and followed her out onto the street. She was unaware of the misfit group of animals behind her until Justin bleated, "Wait!"

Becky stopped and turned around, causing the animals to slide to a stop in front of her. "Where did all of you come from?" she asked herself out loud.

"What did she stop for?" Joey asked the others. "Because I heard you yell wait," Becky replied.

"You can understand us?" J.C. asked.

"Yeah, I don't know why, but I can. Why are you following me?"

"We need your mother," Lance said, sitting on his haunches.

"Why?"

"Because she turned us into animals!" Chris chattered.

"Oh no, not again. Who are you really?" Becky asked.

"We're Nsync," Joey replied.

"Oh my God, really?" Becky smiled.

"Yeah, really. We're altho really dying to be back in human form, tho if you don't mind…" Justin said through J.C.'s shell.

"Oh right, I suppose we can talk once we're on the pl- uh-oh," she stopped.

"Uh-oh what?" Chris asked. "Don't tell me we're stuck like this forever!"

"No, it's just that I was on my way to the airport, but I doubt they'll let a goat and a raccoon onboard."

"Well thcrew them," Justin shot back.

"Now how are we going to find the witch?" Lance sighed.

"Don't worry, I'll just return the tickets and get train tickets or something," Becky said. "Now let's start walking, since I don't think you will all fit into a cab either."

Chapter18: One More Run In

"So if your mother is a witch, are you one too?" Chris asked.

"No, I don't have any of the powers she has. If I did, I would turn you guys back right now," Becky replied. They had successfully gotten train tickets for a train that allowed 'livestock', but Becky would have to make sure the animals were properly restrained, and she would have to sit with the other passengers. They had an hour to kill before the train left, and Becky led the guys to a hardware store so she could pick out various size cages.

"This is so humiliating," Justin grumbled as they stopped outside. "As if it wasn't bad enough that we're walking around naked, now we have to be penned up like regular animals!"

"Well, for the time being, you are regular animals, so don't take it personally," Becky said as she pushed open the door. "Now you guys wait here while I go buy this stuff. And you are going to pay me back when I get you changed back."

"Yes master," Joey teased. They watched Becky go in the store and disappear down the 'Livestock Care' isle. "Is it just me, or is she kinda hot?" he asked.

"I knew that was coming," Lance laughed.

"It's just because the only thing that would date you now is covered in fur and eats out of trash cans," Chris teased.

"Ain't nothing wrong with that," Joey smiled, showing his sharp teeth.

"Looks like we're finally reaching the other end of the tunnel," J.C. interrupted, placing himself next to Joey's huge tail.

"And what a long and twisted tunnel it was," Joey agreed.

"I think I'm gonna miss this body," Chris said, cleaning his tail with his small paws.

"Why?" Joey asked. "I hate raccoons. They're so clumsy."

"No, that's just you," Chris replied. "I actually though it was an improvement."

"Haha, well you're not any funny in a squirrel body," Joey shot back.

"No, but seriously, being a squirrel isn't that bad. I'm cute, quick, and fast."

"Then try being a turtle," J.C. said.

"I wonder why the witch picked the animals she did," Lance asked. "I mean, do I remind you guys of a rabbit?"

"Yeah," Justin said. "You're quiet, cuddly, and little girls want you."

"Thanks," Lance said sarcastically. "Well at least I'm not a goat."

"What's wrong with a goat?" Justin asked.

"Nothing," J.C. said. "It fits you pretty good, I think."

"Really? Why?"

"You have those big blue eyes, an annoying bleat, and you get noticed everywhere you go," Joey said.

"And I'm a turtle because I'm serious, slow and like to sleep?" J.C. asked.

"Exactly," Chris beamed, blinking his oil-drop eyes.

"Okay guys, I'm back," Becky said, interrupting them. "Miss me?"

"Joey did," Justin said, nudging the raccoon with his hoof.

"Well, here's your supplies. We better see if they're the right size while we're still here." She unloaded the cart one by one, starting with a shoe box size Tupperware tub. "This is for the turtle," she said, picking up J.C. "It just occurred to me, I don't know who's who here."

"You're holding J.C.," Justin said. "I'm Justin, the rabbit is Lance, the raccoon is Joey, and the squirrel is Chris."

"Well at least mother matched you to suitable animals," Becky replied, setting J.C. down in the box. She then pulled out three small vari-kennels, setting them down in front of Chris, Lance and Joey.

The guys looked at the crates in disgust. "Those aren't for us," Joey said sarcastically.

"I'm afraid so guys," Becky replied, bending down. She gently nudged Lance and he hopped inside, then turned around. "Do you have enough room?" she asked.

"I guess," Lance mumbled, feeling even smaller.

Joey slowly walked forward and stepped in his crate. "This really sucks," he complained. His crate was larger than the other two, and it fit him perfectly. The darkness made his face invisible except for the sparkle in his eyes.

"Good," Becky replied. "Now Chris, you try out yours."

Becky reached out to grab the squirrel, but Chris ducked out of the way at the last minute. "You are not getting me in there!" he squeaked, darting out of the way as Becky tried to catch him again.

"Chris, you have to," Becky said, chasing the gray ball of energy down the street.

"No!" Chris yelled back, scrambling to stay ahead of Becky in the crowded street.

Suddenly Chris ran into something hard and that smelled like cologne. A hand reached down and picked him up by the scruff of his neck, raising him off the ground until he was eye level with…

"AJ?!" Chris yelped, feeling totally helpless as he dangled in front of the Backstreet Boy's annoyed face.

"Well well, what do we have here?" AJ grinned menacingly. "Looks like the little rodent that ruined our show the other day. Where's your little friends now?"

Becky ran up to AJ with a worried look on her face. "Please don't hurt him, it was my fault," she said, trying to catch her breath.

"Who are you?" AJ replied.

Nick steeped up beside AJ and said, "So you're responsible for this squirrel?"

Becky thought for a second, waiting for a response from the petrified Chris. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Do you know how much trouble he caused us today?" AJ asked.

"I'm sorry for whatever he did, he just got out of my hands for a second-"

"Where are the other flea-ridden animals he was with?" Nick asked.

"What animals?" Becky covered, trying not to smile when she saw Chris's tail curled up between his hind legs.

"Oh, I believe there was a goat, a raccoon, a rabbit and some kind of lizard or something," AJ replied, still glaring at Chris relentlessly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Becky said. "Now can I please have my squirrel back?"

Nick and AJ looked at each other. "I don't know," Nick said. "I'm sure the other guys would like to have a rematch with this little furball."

"You can't have him," Becky said stubbornly. "He's mine."

Chris's heart was racing, pushing his little chest in and out with stunning speed. But Becky's courage was boosting his, and quick as lightening; he twisted around, biting AJ on the hand.

"Ow! God damn squirrel!" AJ yelled, throwing Chris to the ground. He inspected his bleeding hand as Chris scampered through the crowd and back to the others.

"Stay away from my squirrel," Becky warned, then she turned to follow Chris.

Chapter 19: All Aboard!

"Well I hoped you learned your lesson," Becky said, shaking her head as she wrapped Chris's tiny paw.

"I was doing fine until that ugly excuse for a human threw me," Chris replied. "He didn't have to throw me that hard."

They were on the train, and Becky was preparing them for the long ride to Pennsylvania. The little animals were in their crates already, and Becky had bought Justin a pony-sized halter with matching lead. He was securely tied beside a chocolate brown cow and white ranch horse. Becky continued wrapping Chris's paw to help ease the pain from his sprained paw. When she was done, she gently placed him in his crate and shut the door. "Now you guys be good, okay?"

"I'm hungry," Joey whined.

"Me too," the others chimed in.

"Fine, I'll get you all something to eat. You do look a little thin," Becky replied, getting up and heading for the door.

"I want a steak," Chris called after her.

"I bet," she laughed, heading back into the train station.

Justin looked at the soft-eyed cow next to him. "Hi," he said.

The cow turned her large head to him. "Hello," she replied softly.

"What's your name?" Justin asked.

"I don't have one," she replied. "I’m just a milk cow."

"Everyone has to have a name," Lance said from the darkness of his crate.

The cow shuffled her feet in the hay. "What should my name be?" she asked, blinking her large eyes at Justin.

"Something sweet," Justin replied. "How about Daisy?"

"That's a good cow name," she replied. "I like it. Thank you."

"Your welcome," Justin said, turning away for a second.

"What's your name?" Daisy asked.

"My name's Justin," Justin replied. "These are my friends, Chris, Lance, J.C., and Joey."

Daisy swung her head around to view all the crates. "Nice to meet all of you," she greeted.

Then Justin looked up to the muscular horse. "How about you? What's your name?"

"I'm Magick," the horse replied.

"Nice to meet both of you," Justin replied. There was an awkward moment of silence before Becky returned, carrying boxes of food. "Okay guys, dinner is served," she smiled, sitting in the middle of the circle of animals. She took the lid off of J.C.'s box and put in a handful of salad.

"Thank you," he replied, the drug himself to the lettuce and began slowly chewing on it.

Becky smiled then opened Lance's crate and emptied a bag of carrots in front of him. "It's a good thing I like carrots," Lance sighed, but nuzzled her hand in appreciation.

Becky shut the crate before moving on to Joey. "I figured raccoons eat whatever they can find, so I got you some apples and a hot dog."

"That'll do," Joey replied, eagerly taking the offered food. "Thanks."

"Sure," Becky replied, shutting his cage door. Then she came to Chris and emptied a bag of mixed nuts into his crate. "I know squirrels love nuts," she smiled.

"No one better make any smart remarks," Chris warned as he grabbed a walnut.

"Don't worry, that's too easy," J.C. said.

Becky got up and stood in front of Justin. "I have no idea what goats eat," she said. "But I hear you're not too picky, so I got you some bread, lettuce and apples."

"Sounds fine to me," Justin said. "Thanks."

Becky saw the horse and cow watching her longingly. "I didn't forget you two," she smiled. She walked over to them and emptied to boxes of salad in front of them "There you go," she said.

Daisy mooed in response, then began nibbling the lettuce. "Well," Becky sighed, "It's about time for the train to start. You guys need anything else?"

"Uh, I do," Joey said quietly.

"What?"

"I have this strong urge to wash my food, and its really bothering me," he said. "Can I have a bowl of water or something?"

"I guess," Becky sighed. "I'll be back."

The other animals looked at Joey as Becky left again. "What?" he asked.

Chapter 20: A Nice Ride Home

The guys ate their food and were lulled to sleep by the gentle rocking of the train as it ran over the tracks. They had a peaceful sleep during the four-hour trip that took them to a small town in the heart of Pennsylvania. When the train finally screeched to a halt, the guys woke up rested and full of energy. A railroad worker opened the door to the boxcar and placed a ramp at the edge. A gruff looking farmer walked up and untied Daisy and Magick; them led them down the ramp.

"Goodbye!" Daisy called behind her.

"Bye!" the guys echoed.

Becky came up the ramp next and grabbed J.C.'s box. "You guys have a nice trip?"

"It was dandy,"