regression Stork Game (Part 3 of 3) Completed 5/9/2023

[Panther Cub]

WOOOOOOO! Heyo, readers! I am super-dooper-ice-cream-scooper excited to bring to you this little project. Now, fair warning, this story was inspired by Squid Game, and contains kinda-spoilers. You have been warned. I hope that you enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stork Game

 

 

 

 

by

 

 

 

 

Panther Cub

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Mel sat at the edge of the bunk bed, looking out at all the others.

 

 

 

    What the hell have I gotten myself into?! he wondered.

 

 

 

    He looked down at the sleeve of the teal tracksuit he had woken up in and pushed it up, revealing soft pink fur, a perfect match for the long, bushy tail with the white tip that swished a little behind him. Over his heart, printed in white, was the number 456. Mel's ears twitched as all around him he heard the others murmured softly while some kind of classical music played over some unseen speakers. All of them also had numbers on the chests and backs of their matching track suits. Now and again there'd be whimpers and shrieks, usually from those who had finally come to, but those were becoming more infrequent as very few were still asleep.

 

 

 

    Mel had stayed silent, however, having long since learned that crying about a situation did nothing to actually change it. That was how you survived, and Mel was a survivor. Looking at the fur on his arms, his new paw-hands, and his paw-feet, Mel reflected on how he is... or at least was, before the gas in the strange car had put him and the other 'contestants' asleep; human. Unable to keep from inspecting himself again, Mel felt his new muzzle frown. He had also been a man before waking up, but that, much like his species, was no longer the case.

 

 

 

    With a sigh, Mel climbed over the short railing around his bed, and started down the ladder. Everyone was congregating in the center of the massive light blue room, where towers of the hundreds of bunk beds almost reached the ceiling with the hand-painted clouds and the smiling sun in the very center. No doors or windows of any kind to be seen. Looking around confirmed one of Mel's suspicions. No one was a human, or at least if they were like him, they were no longer human. All around him were more anthropomorphic animal people.

 

 

 

    "Does anyone know what in the hell is goin' on?" asked a light green raccoon man with what Mel pegged as an east texas accent.

 

 

 

    "I-I was told that... uhm..." a light purple lioness spoke up, looking suddenly nervous as she clutched her tail to her chest, looking at it in confusion. "I... signed up to c-compete in some... competition, b-but then I w-woke up here... like this." Many people started relating similar stories.

 

 

 

    "Where are you from?" Mel asked the lioness, wincing at the sound of his voice, which was definitely at a higher pitch and sounding much more feminine.

 

 

 

    "... C-Colorado... I-I was in Boulder when... when I g-got in the van..."

 

 

 

    That struck a chord with Mel, as he had been living in Phoenix when he'd been approached by the odd smiling man in the business suit.

 

 

 

    "I was in Beaumont, Texas," said the raccoon man, crossing his arms and frowning, deep in thought. Other animal people started calling out other states and cities.

 

 

 

    "I live in Toronto," a red panda woman standing to Mel's left suddenly shouted. She was holding her tail like the lioness, and indeed many others were doing the same. Mel had to restrain himself from grabbing at his own new tail... the fact that it was so bushy and looked so fluffy certainly didn't help. Even more countries were named, some people yelling in different languages. Mel figured that they had people from around the world and, based on what those who spoke English said, he was able to confirm that they had all agreed to these sketchy 'games', all after being approached by men or women in suits, asking to play a game.

 

 

 

    "Was anyone here not human before waking up?" Mel asked during a sudden lull, some folks that were bilingual taking it upon themselves to translate his query. Everyone looked around, in silence, no one stepping forward.

 

 

 

    "I-is this some kind of secret government experiment?" the lioness asked, sounding terrified.

 

 

 

    "Maybe it was aliens," a white-furred squirrel man perched on one of the bunk beds shouted. It was then that the far wall that all of the bunk beds were facing, which Mel had at first thought was just a seamless wall, split open straight down the center, the massive panels sliding apart to reveal a very large and wide security shutter, with a digital screen above it. The screen lit up and displayed 600 Players. Mel looked around and spotted a buff-looking cheetah man who seemed just as confused as everyone else, with the number 600 on his jacket.

 

 

 

    Looking around more, Mel couldn't immediately see anyone else with a higher number. His search was prematurely terminated, however, when there was a chime and the music ended, just before the large metal shutter rolled up. Out marched a hundred mew animal people, all wearing bright pink hooded track suits that even had special sleeves to cover their tails, the hoods up wearing ominous black masks, all bulged out for muzzles, or so Mel presumed. What was curious about these masks were how the only semi-distinctive features to them were that they had one of three white shapes on them. A circle, a triangle, and a square.

 

 

 

    Those with triangles had equipped some kind of black rifles with them, but ones that had strange canisters attached at the base of the barrels. A smaller number of circles began setting up tables and pushing in push carts laden down with nondescript gray boxes. These were stacked next to the tables, with the topmost ones opened and their contents neatly stacked on the tables for display. There were individual packets of what appeared to be apple slices, cups of yogurt, and juice boxes. The circles were soon standing on the opposite sides of the tables, facing out at the confused animal people. Standing in front of the tables was a lone square, Mel feeling uneasy as their gaze, while hidden by the mask, swept over them. What really unsettled him and more than a few others, was how they worked in silence, not a word being spoken between any of them.

 

 

 

    "Ladies and gentlemen," a calm male voice said, "I would like to welcome you all. Each and every one of you will participate in six games over the course of six days. After the sixth day, the winners will receive a substantial cash prize. But please, first enjoy a light breakfast, and then we can beg--"

 

 

 

    "Hold on a second!" The red panda girl from earlier shouted, the crowd around her parting a little. She had her hand-paws on her hips and her tail was bushed out, clearly in anger. "How the hell are we supposed to believe you? You abducted all of us, put us to sleep with some kind of gas, took the clothing and belongings we were wearing, dressed us up in these tracksuits, and took us to wherever! And now, we're being told we'll get paid if we play some games?!" Mel nodded in silent agreement while a few others were more vocal.

 

 

 

    "It was unfortunate, but those measures needed to be taken to ensure confidentiality. When the games have concluded, everything shall be returned to you all."

 

 

 

    "Why are you freaks wearing those masks?" the cheetah man called out. His voice was deep and how he spoke suggested a Boston accent to Mel.

 

 

 

    "The faces and personal information about our staff is not to be disclosed to any and all participants, to ensure fairness and confidentiality for the games." We hope that you understand.

 

 

 

    "You can make all the excuses you want, but the fact remains that were were kidnapped!" The red panda stepped forward, her hands now clenched into fists at her sides. Mel looked around and spotted some other red panda, some with different colored fur, and briefly wondered if there was anything significant, like similar personalities, with people who were turned into the same species. Considering how a few of the other red pandas looked to be hiding more towards the center of the group and others seemed just dazed and confused, it seemed inconclusive to Mel. He'd try to gauge other members of his new species, but he still didn't know what he was.

 

 

 

    "Also, why the hell are we all animals now?!" This was roared by a black-furred lion, who looked just as buff as the cheetah, if not moreso.

 

 

 

    "For why you have all transformed, not only species but in some cases even sex, that is because you are no longer on Earth," Square explained.

 

 

 

    Mel overheard the white squirrel loudly whisper to a nearby mouse "I knew it!"

 

 

 

    "Or rather, you are no longer on the Earth that you are familiar with. Sixty eight years ago, an advanced civilization of anthropomorphic animal people, of varying species, discovered our world from another dimension, one where life on Earth evolved drastically differently. After observing us for two decades, they made contact with numerous world governments. They are the ones who have set up these games, and every year, a lucky group of humans is selected to be brought to their world to compete. When humans enter this new dimension, our bodies undergo drastic changes, transforming us into one of the many different species of this world, and yes, even sex can be altered in the process. It is currently not understood how or why this happens, just that it does."

 

 

 

    The silence was practically deafening.

 

 

 

    "Why in the hell would these... advanced animal people do this?" An eagle woman stepped out from a huddled mass to stand next to the red panda.

 

 

 

    "The motivations for these games cannot be disclosed at this time, however, I can assure you that they only have your best interests at heart."

 

 

 

    "Our b-best..." the red panda's tail bushed out again as she looked practically apoplectic. "WHAT KIND OF NONSENSE IS THAT?!"

 

 

 

    "Player 277, Ariel Masters, age: 31 years. Former director of accounting at Red Leaf Investments. Embezzled money from her clients' accounts and subsequently invested it in derivatives that subsequently failed." Square said simply, pulling out a remote from their pocket and pressing a button. The lights dimmed and the electronic screen was now playing a video. It showed a blonde woman with green eyes wearing a charcoal gray skirt suit looking disheveled and sweating, playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with whomever had the camera on them. They kept losing, only to receive a pat to her head and an assurance from a woman's voice that they can play double or nothing, eventually winning and being given the million dollars. Mel watched with rapt attention, that being what happened with him down in the subway, with the only exception being a game of Blackjack. Looking over at the red panda, whose name he now knew to be Ariel, her tail was now being hugged to her chest as she whimpered a little, looking shocked at the video of her human self on the screen.

 

 

 

    "Current losses, six million, five hundred and thirty three thousand, nine hundred and sixty two dollars." Square pressed another button, and Mel saw a large man on the screen. He was buff and had olive skin, large brown eyes, and a shaved head. He was wearing a white muscle shirt throwing horseshoes and punching a brick wall every time he missed. "Alexander Adams, age 26, number 390, two million in debt."

 

 

 

    Another press of a button on the remote, and another person appeared on the screen, playing some simple game and eventually winning one million dollars, only to have their debts called out. Those not speaking English who were called out had the pleasure of the square translating for them in their languages after he listed the same info about them as those that were up before.

 

 

 

    "Mel Nakamura, number 456, age 31, four million, thirty eight thousand and ninety nine dollars in debt." Mel froze, looking up and feeling the eyes of the square on him, feeling his tail tuck itself as video feed of himself came up. His blazer was torn and his nose bleeding, hair slicked back but mussed up. Like Ariel, Mel was playing Rock, Paper, Scissors, tears of frustration in his eyes with each loss, agreeing time and again to the double or nothing option. He remembered how the older woman kept smiling at him sadly and giving him words of comfort and encouraged him to keep trying, saying that he was so close.

 

 

 

    "Every last one of you is on the brink of complete financial ruin. You all have debts that realistically you shall never be able to pay off, many having taken loans from far less than legal sources at that." Mel thought he detected a tinge of... sadness? But he wasn't sure, square kept their voice even and composed. "When our organization approached you all, you did not trust us. But, you agreed to play a game with us and, when you did, you were rewarded with the promised money. After that, all of you trusted us, hence why you called and volunteered to play our games. Now is your last chance to choose. Will you go back to living your old, sad little lives, destined for tragic, short ends? Or, will you choose to seize this opportunity, for many, a last opportunity, that we are offering you here?"

 

 

 

    The players were all silent, aside from some murmuring and shuffling of feet. "How much do we get if we win?" Mel called out, those around him moving aside, with many turning to look at him. Square just pressed another button, and above was the sounds of moving machinery. Everyone turned to see the smiling sun split open as a clear plastic, giant piggy bank descended, a clear pipe connected to its back.

 

 

 

    "After every game, the prize money will be deposited into the piggy bank. The amount to be won shall be disclosed after the conclusion of the first game. If anyone here does not wish to play, please speak now."

 

 

 

    No one said anything. After a few minutes of silence, everyone was directed to stand in single file lines facing the tables, to sign a contract as well as collect the offered breakfasts. Mel felt like he was in a dream, a strange and otherworldly dream, which considering where they supposedly were, made the sensation rather fitting. When Mel got to the table before him, he wasn't surprised to see that the contract was a player consent form. What surprised him was that there were only three sentences written on it, followed by a line for him to sign his name.

 

 

 

    Clause 1: A player is not allowed to stop playing.

 

 

 

    Clause 2: A player who refuses to play shall be eliminated.

 

 

 

    Clause 3: The games shall end if the majority of players agree.

 

 

 

    "That's it?" Mel asked the circle in front of him. They just stood there staring back at him behind the grating of their mask that, even up close, completely obscured their face. Getting no answer, Mel sighed and used the offered pen to sign his name. He then accepted the food and the juice box and left the line, making his way over to one of the bunk beds and sitting down on the short railing, feeling hungry. Once everyone had signed and been given their food, the circles packed up the empty boxes and collapsed the tables, wheeling them all away while the triangles continued to watch. Mel used his apple slices to dip into the yogurt since no spoons had been given. The juice box, which only had the circle, triangle, and square symbols on it in lieu of any kind of branding, had been apple grape juice.

 

 

 

    It wasn't long after Mel had finished this odd breakfast when classical music started playing on the hidden speakers again, but this time with a little something extra.

 

 

 

    "Attention players," a cheerful feminine voice said over the speakers, "please follow the staff to the first game." Once more, Mel found himself and his fellow 'contestants' lining up single file to follow the circles out through the shutters and into some light pastel plastic halls. This opened up into a strange series of staircases, looking to Mel very similar to a real life version of the MC Escher painting, Relativity. Except all the staircases were made of plastic, and everything was painted in loud primary colors. The line was split up into multiple groups, each following one of the circles, all going in different directions. Mel felt even more disoriented by the time they all, simultaneously, came out into a large light pink room, and were led to a line of turnstiles separated by partitions with screens on them. The single file lines were led to the turnstiles and, walking through and making the bars click, the woman's voice from earlier chimed in.

 

 

 

    "Please face the screens and smile!" Most of the players chose not to smile as their pictures were taken, shown to them on the screens. Mel thought that trying to make a good impression on... whomever would be watching might be a good idea, and so tried to smile, feeling like their muzzle broke out into more of a grimace as their picture was taken. Getting a good look at himself, Mel was surprised.

 

 

 

    So I'm a... pink... fox? A... vixen, I think, Mel thought as he examined his picture. In addition to pink fur, he had white on his muzzle that ran down his neck and possibly all the way to his stomach, though Mel was unsure as of yet. He was amazed to find that his brown eyes were now red, and he let out a huff of irritation seeing a patch of white fur on his left cheek that was in the shape of a white broken heart. Well now that just seems intentional.

 

 

 

    Soon, their groups were led to a set of three gates with bright sunlight nearly blinding everyone. The green painted gates swung open on well-oiled hinges, and everyone filed out. It was a strange sight, looking out at this football-sized area. Enclosing the entire arena were four sky blue walls. Looking up, Mel could see birds flying overhead in a cloudless blue sky, and just below them, lining the tops of the walls were open black squares. Looking back down, the ground was all sand, with a line in red painted onto the sand a few feet in front of them. All the way to the far side of the arena was some kind of plastic-looking tree with a... very unsettling statue made to look like a little wolf boy wearing a white shirt and red short-alls, all behind another red line painted in the sand. On either side of it were two of the triangle-faced staff members, and they only came up to the statue's knees. Mel heard others talking about how creepy the statue was, but were silenced when it started to move. It slowly spun around, clearly on some kind of rotating platform. It raised its arms and grasped the trunk of the plastic tree that it was now facing.

 

 

 

    "The first game to be played is a childhood classic... Red Light, Green Light! Players will be allowed to move forward when the robot calls out Green Light! When it shouts Red Light, stop moving. Players that are caught moving during Red Light shall be eliminated. Those that cross the finish line without being eliminated within the five minute play time shall pass and move on to the next game. Those who do not make it across the finish line in the allotted time shall also be eliminated. I shall now repeat the rules."

 

 

 

    "This is a joke," Mel's ears twitched as he looked over at the speaker. It was a skinny blue dragon man. It was hard for Mel to be certain, but he got the impression he was in his early twenties. "Fifty bucks to whoever makes it to the finish line first," the blue dragon said with a smirk.

 

 

 

    Mel shook his head to clear it. Many of the others were lining up at the red line painted on the sand. He was away to the left, keeping his distance from his fellow players, watching the giant robot at the far end of the field. When a childish voice happily called out, Green Light, Mel stayed put to wait and watch. While there was a clock ticking down, there was nothing in the rule about any kind of extra reward for finishing first. Just about everyone else started quickly making their way across the sand.

 

 

 

    "Red light," the voice called and the head of the robot rotated quickly to stare out behind it. Mel froze and, squinting, could barely make out the pupils of the mechanical eyes darting around for a bit. They then stopped, and the head turned back around.

 

 

 

    "Green light."

 

 

 

    Mel started walking, his instincts in the back of his head screaming at him to run back to the gates. But he remembered that any player who refuses to play is eliminated, and he needed the money. Watching the robot, in the split-second before it rotated, he saw the head twitch a little, and so froze. The head whipped around and said "Red light." Again, everyone was perfectly still. When it turned back around and was green light again, they all slowly resumed. The blue dragon looked behind himself and saw others power walking, so he started to jog to maintain his lead, letting out a laugh. He realized his mistake when the head whipped back around and he froze. Unfortunately, he was too slow, and the eyes spotted him.

 

 

 

    POP!

 

 

 

    Everyone flinched, and watched as the dragon boy slumped and fell over.

 

 

 

    "Green light!"

 

 

 

    Those nearest to him moved slower than before, shuffling closer to him. Mel's ears twitched as he felt a chill run up his spine.

 

 

 

    Did he just get... shot? he wondered to himself. That's when he heard the voice of the red panda girl that was looking down at the dragon.

 

 

 

    "There's some kind of... tranquilizer dart in him," she said, her voice faint but still enough for Mel's ears to hone in on.

 

 

 

    "Red light!" More than a few of the former humans were still too focused on the fallen fellow contestant to be ready.

 

 

 

POP. POP. POP. POP.

 

 

 

    An eagle, the tigress, the older mouse, and the squirrel girl each went down, with only a sudden shriek from the squirrel, who was soon on her side, unconscious. A racoon woman screamed, and many of the fellow players joined suit and started to make a mad dash for the gates they had entered from. Mel stood still, watching as the robot's eyes started darting from person to person, sometimes crossing, other times going walleyed, it all looked so unsettling. There were now a series of rapid pops going on and, turning only his eyes upwards, following where his pointed ears were swiveled. Mel needed only a second to realize that the black rectangles lining the top of the enclosure now had long black barrels poking out, jerking in different directions, before letting out a pop, and repositioning.

 

 

 

    Automatic turrets?! What the hell kind of game is this?! Mel bit down on his rising panic, remembering to keep a cool head. Slowly, the screams and pleading voices and the banging fists against the locked gates tapered off as the last of those identified as having moved while that damn robot was looking were shot with whatever was in those darts. A few seconds of silence, and one last POP as a skinny bear was trying to crawl behind an unconscious cat received a dart to his posterior; and the robot was soon swiveling its head back to face the tree.

 

 

 

    "Green light!"

 

 

 

    Forcing himself to move, Mel began quickly trudging forward, risking a look back to see bodies lying everywhere, but also so many other players still standing, also moving forward.

 

 

 

    "Red light!" Mel froze, and kept from flinching when there were another three Pops. The clock above was ticking away, it being less than two minutes, and he was only a third of the way across. Mel swished his tail, suddenly realizing he was going to have to make sure to exert control over his new appendage as well lest it move during a red light, and began to pick up the pace at the next green light.

 

 

 

    Another red light, and another pop. That was the pattern as the contestants made their way across the sand. Sometimes there would be two, three, or even five. Mel was nearing where the blue dragon lay, and stood stock still as he looked down at them. The guy, if he even was that before coming here, now seemed... smaller. Like his tracksuit was three sizes too big for him. Mel was unsure of just what he was seeing, before a sudden Green Light, spurred him back into moving. The red panda girl from before was the first to make it across, with the skunk man not too far behind her to trip during the sudden red light. He was darted, serving as a reminder to those still standing not to get complacent. Mel was three fourths of the way across when, during a Red Light, he had a good view of the digital clock. He had less than twenty seconds remaining.

 

 

 

    The head snapped back, and he started sprinting forwards, stopping after a beat, just feeling that the head was about to whip around again. He was correct, and winced a little from a volley of Pops. Apparently he wasn't the only one who realized that time was running out. The head turned back around at the ten second mark, and Mel was sprinting again. He huffed from the sudden exertion, watching the clock. Five, four, three, two, one... He leapt across the white finish line just before the head of the robot snapped back. Sitting up, he watched what looked like fifteen more players freeze, looking terrified. A loud buzzer sounded, followed by a quick succession of Pops, all fifteen going down in the blink of an eye.

 

 

 

    It was a quiet trudge back to the room with the bunk beads. Entering, Mel noticed that there were definitely fewer beds than there'd been before. He felt his tail dragging on the ground behind him as he walked over to one and took a seat. His ears twitched and he heard sobbing. Looking over, he saw a gray bunny man curled up and crying on one of the beds. Looking back towards the door they had just come through, Mel wanted to bolt and run right through it. But the staff were standing in a row in front of it, staring out at them. All of them triangles, all of them holding those strange rifles. Two in the center stepped forward and parted to let a square face through. Mel had no way of knowing if it was the same one from before.

 

 

 

    "I offer you a heartfelt congratulations for successfully making it through the first game. Now to announce the results." Above the square, the screen displayed the number 600. It then started counting down, sounding like the kind of music you heard when a slot machine was spinning. Mel watched in growing horror as it clicked for his mind that it was subtracting the number of players who were... eliminated. It finally stopped at 311. 289 people had been shot with those... darts and eliminated. Mel felt like the apples and yogurt were going to come back up any second now.

 

 

 

    "Out of 600 players, 289 were eliminated." The square staff member said it so damn casually.

 

 

 

    "PLEASE," the bunny man Mel had seen crying screamed and ran forward, dropping to his knees. He held his hands clasped in front of him. "I... I HAVE A FAMILY! I SWEAR, I'LL PAY BACK WHAT I OWE, JUST PLEASE, LET ME GO! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Like a dam breaking, other men and women did the same, pleading with the square staff.

 

 

 

    "Everyone, please calm down. No one is going to harm anyone here."

 

 

 

    "Then what happened to the people who were shot with those darts? Were those tranquilizers? Do you have any idea how easy it is to accidentally kill someone with one of those?!" Ariel roared, brushing past the bunny man.

 

 

 

    "Those were not tranquilizers. Now that the first game has concluded, I am allowed to disclose more of the purpose of this game." With that, everyone fell silent. The square face pulled out the remote and pressed a button. The screen changed from the current number of players, to a large white room. Mel and the others watched as the unconscious eliminated players were wheeled in on stretchers, with masked doctors and nursing staff tending to them. They were removing clothes and the darts and transferring the sleeping players to hospital beds, multiple strange machines and devices being used. Mel noticed that all of the eliminated players seemed... smaller, and it sparked the memory of when he looked over the dragon boy on the field.

 

 

 

    "On this world, Kyun, there exists a genetic disorder, known as Tumok. It is harmless to adults, but unfortunately fatal to young children. In recent years, the number of carriers for this defective gene have increased, and the worldwide population for the natives of this world, the Kin, have begun to face a serious population decline. Numerous cures have been attempted, with little to no promising results. One such attempt at a cure, which is actually a serum that can cure most other ailments, has a unique effect on transformed humans. When a human is brought to Kyun and undergoes the transformation and is given the serum, their entire body undergoes a rapid rejuvenation. Effectively causing their physical age to regress, often to the age of very early childhood. What's more, former humans, and especially regressed former humans, have no trace of this gene, and neither do their offspring, even when their offspring comes from a parent who is a native with the gene."

 

 

 

    Mel felt like he was going to hurl again. This was like some crazy sci-fi story. "So, each year, six hundred lucky players are chosen from around the world to compete in these games, effectively known as the Stork Games. Those that are eliminated are given the serum, taken for immediate medical checkups and observation by regression-specialized pediatricians, bathed, and with clean bills of health, adopted out to loving families to start their new lives as members of the Kin. Any regressed individuals who have medical conditions that the serum was not able to immediately cure are kept for a little longer as the Kin's other advanced medical procedures are used to cure the little tykes who, when ready, are sent to their new homes."

 

 

 

    "But..." the bunny man said, slowly getting up, "why the... games, why not just... ask for volunteers? And why start regressing people?! Why not just take willing adult immigrants to... uh... breed with?"

 

 

 

    "I am not at liberty to discuss the full reason as to why. But please know that the eliminated players are alive and healthier than ever, and will be starting new lives. There will be no memory loss for them, so in many ways, it's more like an extended vacation back into childhood."

 

 

 

    "Lucky?! VACATION?!" Ariel screeched. "You're making us compete for money, and if we lose, we lose all of our freedoms and become someones' babies?!"

 

 

 

    "This is fraud," a panda man said, brushing Mel aside and adjusting his glasses. "This is kidnapping and fraud!"

 

 

 

    "You can't do this to us! I won't play this damn game," the gray bunny yelled, others yelling similar sentiments.

 

 

 

    "Clause 2 of the contract that you all signed," the square face said, his calm voice cutting through all the others, silencing them, "states that any player that refuses to play will be eliminated." The tension in the air was palpable.

 

 

 

    "Clause 3," Ariel chimed in, "if the majority of players wish to end the game..."

 

 

 

    Square face stared at her for a moment, before finishing for the smug-looking red panda. "Then the games shall be terminated. ... Alright then, we shall put it to a vote."

 

 

 

    Wordlessly, two circles came out carrying a large podium with two buttons on it. One was green with a white circle on it, the other red with a white x on it. Two more circles came forward and shooed people aside, carrying a series of flat long pieces of white plastic sheeting a foot wide in length. They began snapping the pieces together, soon forming a long white line, dividing the room in half. Every player was directed to the right side of the line, with instructions from square that they will be called up numerically to cast their vote one at a time, and move over to the left side after they have voted.

 

 

 

    "But first," square said, pressing a button on the remote, "if you will direct your attention to the piggy bank up above." The sound effects from slot machines when a jackpot is hit began blaring out of the speakers, as bundles of US dollars started dropping into the clear plastic pig. The screen above the door lit up and began showing a series of numbers following a dollar sign, rapidly getting larger and larger. The number finally stopped at $28,900,000,000 when the last few bundles of cash landed in the piggy bank. It was almost halfway full.

 

 

 

    "With each player that is eliminated, their potential share of the grand prize is added to the total that will go to the winners of the games. Each player's share of the prize is one hundred million dollars. The maximum amount to be won is sixty billion dollars. Now, with that out of the way, please cast your vote. Starting with player 001."

 

 

 

    Mel's breath caught in his throat as the older-looking weasel shuffled up to the podium. The human-turned vixen was looking at the money hanging right above his head. All the answers to his problems and then some, right there. Then he remembered what happened to the people that lost and, as sick as it made him inside, he began weighing the pros and cons. Or he started to when a sudden elbow jabbed him in his ribs, right below his... breasts. Mel turned to see Ariel looking him in the eye.

 

 

 

    "It's not worth it," she said, her tone brooking no argument.

 

 

 

    "Sp-speak for yourself," an otter woman said, sniffling. "I-if I go back home now... I-I'm as good as dead. A-at least here, I h-have a chance t-to change my life... or t-to start over. Th-that's b-better than any d-deal b-back on Earth." There were others nodding along to that. Mel looked over at the screen and saw that it was now a scoreboard, with thirteen votes so far to end the game, and ten to continue it. In the end, it was closer, way too close, as far as Mel was concerned. One hundred and fifty five votes to keep playing, and one hundred and fifty five to leave. And there was only one vote left to be cast. Number 600, the buff cheetah. He looked up at the board, and then over to everyone else who already voted.

 

 

 

    "Listen up, pansies. You might be happy with ending up with someone wiping your asses for you, but I'm not. I'd be happier if this was some kind of death game." With that, he punched the red button.

 

 

 

    "We would like to thank you for your time," Square said, he and the other staff members quickly exiting, the shutter door slamming shut right behind them.

 

 

 

    "Wait, so do we get to go home?" the bunny man shouted. Just then, clouds of a white gas began to spray up from the floors and out of the walls and ceiling. People started coughing and screaming in a panic, but soon, they all started falling over. Mel was holding his breath, his lungs starting to ache after a while, as he looked up at the piggy bank. His eyes watering and his lungs screaming for relief, he gave in and inhaled, his world very quickly growing dark.

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

    "--ake up!"

 

 

 

    Mel felt groggy as he opened his eyes, only to be met with darkness. He was confused, as he felt the sun beating down on him. It took him a second, after realizing his hands and feet were bound in what felt like rope, he'd been blindfolded.

 

 

 

    "Huh?" he slurred out, reaching up and pushing his blindfold up. He was sitting on a dirt road, wearing just his boxers... and he was human again! And a man! Looking over, he saw a blonde woman, one who looked oddly familiar, in just her white bra and panties, like him, her hands and feet were bound in rope.

 

 

 

    "Are ya with me, Mel?" The woman asked, annoyed. It took Mel a second before his mind sparked the memory of the video.

 

 

 

    "W-wait, you're Ariel?" he asked, confused. She rolled her green eyes and nodded.

 

 

 

    "Yes, Dummy," she said. "Now, as much fun as it would be to roll half naked on the asphalt near these fragments of broken bottles to get to the pocket knife I see there laying on your clothes, since you are closer, could you be a dear and grab it so we can cut our ropes?"

 

 

 

    Mel was a little confused and looked around. He and Ariel were on the side of the road. Judging by the rocky scrub land, with a small gas station nearby. He started to feel a sense of familiarity, as the gas station, Roy's as the sign read, was one he knew from being just outside his home town. Looking over, and seeing several large and small shards of broken glass, a neatly folded pile of his clothes and shoes, with a blue-handle pocket knife resting on his shoes. He reached over and grabbed it, being careful to avoid getting cut on any of the glass. He was quick to cut the ropes binding his wrist and ankles before carefully doing the same for Ariel, noticing a similar pile of clothes next to her. He blushed and looked away, quickly slipping on his jeans and sandals.

 

 

 

    "So," Ariel said, once she had her red skirt and black tank top on, taking a moment to bunch her hair up into a ponytail with a scrunchie, "I take it that we're not far from Phoenix?"

 

 

 

    "Uh, it's a two hour drive," Mel said, pulling on his green t-shirt. He looked over at Ariel, who was busy tying the laces for her sneakers.

 

 

 

    "Damn. Do you have a phone on you?"

 

 

 

    "Yeah... but this is a dead zone. But there's a landline over at Roy's there. They'll let you use it," Mel said. Ariel nodded at that, and the two started walking towards it.

 

 

 

    "Hey, so how'd you know we were relatively near Phoenix? I thought they picked you up in Toronto?" Mel asked.

 

 

 

    "I said I was from Toronto. I didn't say that that's where I was when I got picked up for that... craziness."

 

 

 

    "So then, where were you?"

 

 

 

    "Phoenix," Ariel said with a sigh. "I'd actually... left Toronto... because of problems at... work..."

 

 

 

    "... Oh," Mel said, remembering what the square face had said about the embezzlement, and decided not to pursue it further. Before making it to the gas station, the two agreed that it was unlikely that any organization with the money to take them... wherever they were, whether or not they were telling the truth about interdimensional travel, was probably powerful enough to make people drawing attention to it disappear, so it would be best to keep the events that happened to them to themselves. Well, that, and because anyone they did tell would probably think that they were insane.

 

 

 

    Mel thought again about all the money that had been in the giant piggy bank, and about the folks he owed money too. He was already close to being homeless, but he knew that if he didn't give up, he could find a way out. Feeling in his pocket, he found a little yellow card, just like the one he'd been given that brought him into this world of craziness. A circle, a triangle, and a square was on one side. On the other, instead of a phone number, were the words "Return to the pickup spot from before, one week from today, if you wish to resume playing." Mel flicked the card into the trash can just before entering Roy's. He may be desperate, but he wasn't that desperate. He caught Ariel tossing an identical card in as well, following behind him.

 

 

 

    Sometimes, you just gotta take what life has to throw at you, no matter what it is, Mel thought to himself.

 

 

 

 

 

One week later...

 

 

 

 

 

    Mel sighed as he sat on the familiar bunk bed, listening to the classical music playing. Looking around, everyone seemed much more... lively, at least significantly less subdued. It took all of three days before Teddy the loan shark he had borrowed from to find the friend's house he was staying at and to break in. He had dragged Mel into the bathroom and started holding him under the water of the filled bathtub, really impressing on him the importance of paying off his debt. And the next time he found Mel, if he didn't have the money, he was going to have to actually hurt him, his words. Mel scanned the other players, and caught sight of a familiar red panda girl. She and Mel locked eyes, before both looking away in shame.

 

 

 

    Looking up at the display above the metal shutters. It read 293 Players Remaining. Out of everyone who had left, only 18 hadn't returned at the end of the week. Looking up at the piggy bank, he saw that it was now past the halfway mark, with their shares added to it. Mel began sipping from his juice box, this one with apple juice in it, having finished the bag of banana chips and graham crackers first. Flanking the open doorway were two triangles, with a square face entering.

 

 

 

    "Welcome back, contestants," Square-Face said in his calm and even voice to the subdued crowd before him. There was no begging or harsh words coming forth today.

 

 

 

    "Follow the staff before you to where the next game shall be played."

 

 

 

    They players followed in a single file line back out into the maze of twists and turns and stairs, giving Mel a twinge of nostalgia for the play structures he would crawl around in when he was younger. Considering what this place was for, he supposed that that was intentional. The classical music being piped in seemed to somehow oddly fit. As they walked, he tried to keep track of all the different doors and halls they went through, but it was all a jumbled maze. How the circle-faces or any of the other "staff" managed to not get lost was beyond the lanky pink vixen.

 

 

 

    Soon, they were all led out into an open area about as big as a baseball field. Scattered about was playground equipment, but all scaled up to be massive, and perhaps to make the players feel small? There was soft green carpet everywhere to serve as the 'grass'. Walking up to one of the slides made Mel feel like a toddler standing next to it. Past a few more slides were some seesaws. Turning his head, Mel saw a swingset next to a sandbox and a colorful jungle gym, with what appeared to be a climbing net. Loud colors were the norm for the different pieces of equipment. And once again surrounding them were massive walls, painted to blend in with the clear blue sky visible thanks to the open ceiling.

 

 

 

    "Today's game will be... Bomb-Tag! Players will find the watches affixed to their wrists glowing a bright green. When round one begins, several players' watches change from green to red, indicating that they have been designated as being 'it'. When a player is it, the red face of their watch will countdown. When the countdown reaches zero, the players with red watches shall be eliminated. However, if a player with a red watch tags a green player, the tagged player is now 'it' instead and has until the end of the continued countdown to tag a green player. When the countdown is transferred from one player to another, the clock does not reset. I will now repeat the rules."

 

 

 

    As the cheery feminine voice read out the rules again, Mel, like many others, inspected the plastic watch that was more or less shackled to his wrist. The digital face of the clock has an animation of a green smiley face winking at him, with the words reading 'It's Playtime!' above it. A quick look around showed that everyone's watches were glowing green. It was then that Mel realized something, the voice had said Round One.

 

 

 

    "Okay... so this is a game where we gotta try and avoid pretty much everyone, unless you're it," Mel said to himself under his breath, already climbing up the ladder to the slide nearest him. A high vantage point could be helpful, and seeing others scramble up the other slides, with others yet rushing towards the jungle gym, Mel knew he wasn't the only one to come to that conclusion.

 

 

 

    "Round one will begin in ten, nine, eight," the voice on the speakers counted down. Mel checked to make sure his velcro laces were tight, and took a second to tuck his t-shirt into his pants, shrugging off his coat and letting it drop. Give someone one less thing to try and maybe grab in a chase.

 

 

 

    "Five... four... three... two... one... begin!"

 

 

 

    Mel looked down at his watch in horror as he saw the face on it instantly turn red, the winking smiley face turning into a smiley face on a red bomb. The timer on his watch was ticking down from two minutes. Looking up at a digital clock, it was ticking down the same amount of time. He heard shrieks and yells as the overgrown playground erupted into chaos. Breathing heavily, Mel slid down the slide and started sprinting towards the swingset, seeing a large group of people there. Others with red watches were already tagging people, their watches turning green while their victims' turned red, only for most to be immediately tagged back or by someone else who was red.

 

 

 

    Mel ran around the throng and did a drive-by tagging of an otter girl who had her back to him, not once slowing or breaking stride, as he continued to run past. He sighed a little with his watch back to green, until he was practically bowled over by a jackrabbit guy who apparently was 'it'. Mel growled, his tail fluffing up in frustration, but wasted no time in getting up and running around. Folks with green watches ran from him, and Mel was already starting to feel a little tired. Just then, a crocodile man stumbled and fell and, Mel seeing that his watch was green, sprinted to the guy. He ran and leaned down a little to clap the crocodile on the shoulder while they were trying to scramble back to their feet. Mel jumped back a bit to avoid their lunge to tag him back, and ran.

 

 

 

    Mel kept going at a jog, constantly looking around and doing his best to stay out in a corner of the room. Whenever he saw anyone approaching him, he would jog away, be they green or red; as a larger number of greens were more enticing for the reds. Mel only stopped when he looked up at the clock and saw it was ticking down from five, four, three, two, one... Mel's ears winced from a sudden loud buzzer that made everyone freeze. Then, almost simultaneously, everyone with red watches started crying out, the jackrabbit from earlier saying something stung him under his watch. All of the 'eliminated' players soon collapsed, a wolf woman slumping over and sliding down one of the slides.

 

 

 

    "Round one is complete! Congratulations to all the winning players. Please wait while the staff collects the eliminated players." The door at the far end opened and out marched dozens of the 'staff' in their pink hooded jumpsuits. As Mel observed them, he noticed a bit of a pattern. The ones with the white circle masks were doing all the grunt work, gently gathering up the unconscious and shrinking players in their arms, and collecting any clothing that may have fallen off of them, as some seemed to be shrinking faster than others. The ones with the triangles were carrying the automated dart guns, and looked to Mel like they knew how to use them. The square-faced-masked ones were in the minority, and seemed to be directing the other types.

 

 

 

    "So there's a hierarchy," Mel wheezed out, doubled over and resting. With the last of the regressing players carried out, the triangle masks followed the square masks back out the door, two guards flanking either side of it to presumably keep an eye on the non-eliminated players until the other staff left, to which the guards followed suit, the large metal door shutting again. Mel thought about those eliminated players, and what they had learned yesterday. In the end, all of the eliminated ones would be sent to the awaiting families, to start their new lives over, whether they wanted to or not.

 

 

 

    "Round two of three shall begin in ten, nine, eight," Mel groaned, already feeling tired, but not wanting to end up back in diapers. He took a deep breath and looked down at his watch.

 

 

 

    "Three, two, one, begin!" Mel waited to see if his watch would turn red again, and breathed a momentary sigh of relief that it didn't. Looking around, already those with red watches were chasing and tagging the greens. He was currently far away from everybody, and so continued to rest, looking all around him to make sure no one was sneaking up on him, willing the clock to count down faster. A couple of times, someone with a red watch would drift over near him, and Mel would run away, trying to lead them to clusters of people. Taking the bait, Mel was able to jog back and separate himself from the rest. Overall, for him, round two was largely uneventful, and he breathed easier when the clock reached zero.

 

 

 

    There was the buzzer, followed by some more cries of outrage as some of those with red watches tried, desperately, to claw them off, all to no avail. Soon, it was time for the 'staff' to come and collect the next batch of soon-to-be toddlers. Mel noticed, as they were being collected, that there seemed to be fewer reds than in the last round. Looking around, it started to make sense. The first game ended with the number of players being practically cut in half. Overall, if Mel has to estimate, then in the previous round of this terrifying tag, there were about thirty people with red watches to the remaining two hundred. Counting the fallen ones now, there were only twenty. If this kept up, then if there was a third round, there would only be ten. And unless they wanted to cut that number to five, Mel had a suspicion that three rounds was all that there would be of this game. Sure enough, the 'staff' quietly exited the play area with the door shutting behind them.

 

 

 

    "Three, two, one, begin!"

 

 

 

    "Dammit," Mel swore, his watch now red, the face of the digital bomb smiling up at him, as if to mock him and the situation he now found himself in. Mel started to jog around, starting to chase a wolf guy who spotted him instantly and sprinted. Mel was feeling exhausted, and everyone was running around in pure desperation. He tried chasing a bat, but then a bear with a red watch tackled them and sprinted full tilt off with their watch now green, the now angry and fearful bat hot on their trail. Spying a opossum woman, Mel ran in their direction, but the opossum must've been some kind of track star, as they easily out-paced the winded vixen.

 

 

 

    Mel checked his watch, a whine escaping his throat. He was now down to less than a minute, or he'd be getting a one-way trip to baby-town. Feeling a surge of adrenaline, he rushed towards the jungle gym, which was being defended by a group of greens that seemed to have banded together, having taken off their shoes to beat back any reds with. Mel was spotted and kept having their paws smacked away by shoes whenever he got too close. With an OOF, Mel was shoved through a small opening in the structure. Mel looked and saw Ariel, and that she had herself a red watch. His own read that they had less than twenty seconds.

 

 

 

    It was then that Mel saw the red panda jump up and tag a tigress in the stomach through the bars. The tigress shrieked and at first, tried to read for the red panda. Seeing me, she growled, before tagging a badger next to her. He tagged her back, and then she tagged a raccoon. This quickly devolved into panicked and frantic tagging and, seeing a breakdown in the defenses, nearby red charged. Mel grabbed Ariel's tail and, seeing her watch change to red, he jumped out through one of the holes, sprinting. The swings passed Mel by in a blur, facing the digital clock and seeing it counting down from ten. Mel risked a quick look behind him and paled beneath his fur. There was a cheetah man slowly gaining on him, his watch bright red. Mel pumped his legs harder, his breathing becoming more and more ragged as he pushed himself past his limits. He could hear the cheetah huffing and puffing behind him, and felt the air from a swipe of his paws just barely miss the big bushy appendage that Mel had right behind him.

 

 

 

    BUZZ!!!

 

 

 

    Mel stopped at the sound of the buzzer, before being knocked forward, the cheetah man on top of him.

 

 

 

    "YOU STUPID BITCH! I ALMOST HAD YOU!" Mel felt terrified, it occurred to him that this muscular cheetah man was much larger and clearly stranger than Mel was. And, in the back of his mind, Mel remembered that he was now a girl, and felt an all new terror flood through his veins. He also felt something flood his crotch as the cheetah yelled out and flashed his claws, slashing at his own arm to try and get the watch off, only to collapse and start snoring, his prone form pinning Mel underneath him.

 

 

 

    "Congratulations to the winners! Two games down, and only four more to go," the cheery female voice on the speaker praised them, and Mel even heard some cheers. Mel felt his ragged breaths getting shorter and shorter, and let out a high pitched scream when a pair of paws gripped him under his arms. Looking up, Mel was face to face with Ariel, who was dragging him out from under the cheetah.

 

 

 

    "I'm sorry," Mel whispered.

 

 

 

    "Don't worry about it, there were plenty more there to tag," Ariel said simply, finally managing to pull Mel away. Mel looked down at the wet spot on their pants and let out another whine. With Ariel helping him to his feet, Mel shivered and hugged himself, suddenly being handed something teal. It was his jacket, with the number 456 on it to confirm it.

 

 

 

    "I figured you could use it," Ariel said as a number of 'staff' headed towards them. Even after some shrinking, it still took three of the larger circle-faces to lift up the cheetah and walk him towards the door, with a pair of triangles following behind. Mel's ears twitched after hearing one of the triangles saying something about how the cheetah boy's new parents will have to be informed about his aggressive behavior.

 

 

 

    "Please come with me." The voice suddenly to Mel's left made him and Ariel both jump in surprise. They turned to see a square-face with two triangles flanking them, looking right at Mel. "You've suffered a shock, and will need to be seen by a doctor." The triangles remained silent while the square spoke.

 

 

 

    "I-I'm fine," Mel said, his tail tucking itself between his legs, drawing unfortunate attention to the large wet patch on his pants.

 

 

 

    "This is non-negotiable," the square said, his voice completely calm and composed, speaking like he was talking about the weather. Mel wanted to argue, but seeing the triangles, the enforcers, there, he just gulped and nodded.

 

 

 

    "O-okay," Mel looked back at Ariel who stepped forward, grabbing one of Mel's paws in one of hers.

 

 

 

    "I'm coming with," the red panda stated, in the same tone of voice at the square. The aforementioned staff member cocked his head, seemingly thinking it over, before nodding.

 

 

 

    "Alright then," with the square leading, and the triangles behind them, Mel and Ariel continued to hold hands as they walked in the direction of the door. The other players were being herded there by other staff, many looking dazed, others ready to collapse. It was a few more turns before Mel and Ariel, still holding hands, entered a familiar white room. All around them masked doctors and nurses, who were all wearing black masks with squares on them, were attending to the latest batches of regressed contestants. Some were groggily waking up and crying, or trying to fight, most already now regressed to the single digits.

 

 

 

    "Okay, let's get you two girls checked out and cleaned up," a female nurse in white scrubs said in a cheery voice, walking up to the two. Mel was soon sitting on the crinkly paper lining an exam table, as a machine with a green grid-like light ran itself up and down, scanning his body. The pink vixen felt exposed, despite being fully clothed, trying not to focus on the wet patch on his pants. The machine finished with a beep, and the nurse tapped on a tablet.

 

 

 

    "Okay, cutie," she said, making Mel wince, "so far, aside from some light bruising, and a couple serious bruised ribs, you are a healthy, pretty girl, who I think is going to make a loving couple very happy in the near future. Now we have a cream that will take care of those nasty booboos in a matter of seconds. So let's get you all fixed up and in some fresh clothes."

 

 

 

    Mel bit his tongue, choosing not to correct her about being a girl... granted, in this dimension he was one, but still. He felt Ariel squeeze his paw, and he smiled at her in appreciation, not sure why she was here with him, but choosing to accept the comfort. Reluctantly, Mel removed his clothes behind a curtain, with the nurse applying the cream. Mel heard another nurse instructing Ariel to sit on a fresh sheet of paper and let Mr. Scanner take a look at her. He somehow could tell she was rolling her eyes as she complied. Mel was given a tub of, much to his embarrassment, baby wipes to clean the pee off his fur.

 

 

 

    With a sigh, and getting more acquainted with his new body than he had wanted, he did clean himself. Though, when he received a clean track suit and shirt, the undergarments made him pause. First, a sports bra, which he supposed was better despite his breasts being more on the small side. It was the other undergarment that made him pause. It was pink, and thicker than the panties he had woken up in. There were multicolored butterflies on it, sides that looked like they could tear open, and it crinkled. Mel was holding a pair of training pants, and they were exactly his size.

 

 

 

    Mel poked his head around the curtain to see Ariel being led to another one, with a fresh stack of clothes being handed to her as well. And folded right on top, was a matching pair of training pants to the one Mel had in his hands. Mel looked over to the triangle guards, who were armed, and gulped. Instead of voicing his concerns, he bit his tongue, and stepped into the embarrassing garment. Getting dressed with a tail proved to be a new experience for Mel, but found that, for the training pants and the track suit pants, there was adjustable velcro. Stepping out from behind the curtain, Ariel approached him. He could barely make out a blush beneath her fur, and felt that others could see his own. They held each others' paw-hands, and allowed themselves to be led back to the others, knowing that they had four more long and hard days coming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there's the end of part one! There will be three parts total, and I have NO idea if they'll be just as long! See you guys at the next installment!

[BabySofia]

Looking forward to the rest!

[Panther Cub]

On 4/7/2023 at 9:46 PM, BabySofia said:

Looking forward to the rest!

Can't wait to write and post the rest!

[Panther Cub]

WOOOOO! This part of the story is even larger! But, after writing for literally almost an entire day, I managed to finish it! I have NEVER written a chapter or anysuch this long, EVER! I really hope that you all like it, I was actually surprised with how many people enjoyed the previous part! I was worried that this premise would be a bit too dark for many folks... and then I remembered that one of my stories involves a serial killer in another dimension so, yeah, this seems pretty tame compared to that, now that I think of it. Dangit, I'm rambling. Uh, please consider leaving a comment or review, and stay tuned for the conclusion to this three-parter story of mine to be coming... sometime in the future!

 

Stork Game (Part 2 of 3)

 

by

 

Panther Cub

Mel lay on his bunk bed, hugging his tail. He looked at the sports bottle laying right next to him, the cap looking a little bit like a baby bottle. Shifting a little, he winced as the faintest of crinkles reminded him of what he was now wearing for underwear. The pink vixen sighed and rolled over, suddenly face to face with a familiar red panda. After returning with Ariel from their detour to the medical facility, the two fuzzy girls decided to sleep on a set of bunk beds outside the main towering clusters of them, picking one that only had two beds. Mel had claimed the top bunk.


"Hey," he said.


"Hey," Ariel said back, looking awkward. She looked around at the other players, some of which had formed little groups for survival. Over at the other side of the room was the black lion, whom both Mel and Ariel had inadvertently overheard claim to be in the mafia. He had around him a small following of others who seemed to all be looking around, eyeing the others with smirks.


"Uhm... can I sleep in the top bunk next to you tonight?" Mel snapped his attention back to Ariel, the red panda looking down at her shoes while she clutched her tail to her chest. "I'm a little scared, and I think something's gunna happen tonight."


Mel nodded and scooted over, still feeling a tad guilty for tagging and abandoning her in the last game, when she'd helped him. Ariel smiled and scrambled up onto the bunk, having to wriggle and also faintly crinkle over the railing that Mel swore was a little higher than it had been before the game of tag, holding her water bottle and something else. It was a plush pink bunny with a red bow tied around its neck.


"Where'd you get that?" Mel asked, confused.


"One of the toy chests," Ariel said, pointing over near the door to the room. Some of the other players were rooting around in them, a few even taking and hugging the other plush toys inside. Mel figured that people would take whatever comfort they could get at a time like this. He was still distracted by what one of the square faces had announced, shortly after he and Mel had been brought back.


The first was an announcement that if a player had an accident, whether they were awake or asleep, then they would get a strike and be required to wear training pants for the rest of the games. If they had a second accident, then they would get a second and final strike and be required to wear diapers. The second announcement had been that a few amenities were being provided as a reward for making it through two days. Those amenities had been the toy chests, all filled with plushes and soft toys, as well as some extra snacks and the bottles of water, citing that hydration was important. Everyone had been given one, but more than few people were wary of drinking from them, murmurs of the special regression serum stuff inside being the general census. That didn't stop some, like Mel, who had reasoned that if they were going to have their food and drinks drugged, they'd already have been so far, and it's not like starving or dehydrating oneself was going to be anything other than a hindrance in the upcoming games.


"Do you think we could..." Ariel started to say, before holding up her bunny and mumbling into its soft side.


"Huh?"


Ariel rolled her eyes. "Do you think we could form a team? Y'know, just us? I don't trust anyone else here."


"Why would you trust me?" Mel asked, legitimately curious.


Ariel shrugged at that. "I dunno... you've been okay so far, and others are starting to form groups... and things are just gunna get harder."


Mel mulled this over, letting out a sigh, feeling the alien sensation of his ears splaying flat on his head while his tail thumped on the bed as it wagged. Mel frowned and crossed his arms while Ariel giggled.


"No need to pout," she said, reaching over and making her bunny dance on Mel's chest. "You're a canine, and it's cute that your tail wags when you're happy. Mine just seems to curl up a little when I get scared, and a lot when I'm frustrated."


"I am not pouting," Mel said simply with an annoyed huff. He tried to ignore the dancing bunny plush, but soon his muzzle cracked a smile, and he let out a girlish giggle. It was then that the lights dimmed, signaling it was bedtime. With a sight, Mel and Ariel got under the sheets and huddled close.


"I think that the lion guy, Christopher, and his friends are gunna try something," Ariel whispered.


"Yeah... I think it would be best if we slept in shifts."


Settling in, Mel took the first shift and waited, trying to subtly look around and scan the room. He found that, after his eyes adjusted, he could actually see even though it was dark. Everything had kind of a gray haze to it, but he could still see nonetheless. Like over where Christopher's bed was, he could see the lion and his new friends all quietly getting up. Mel nudged Ariel, who was still wide awake.


"What is it?" she asked.


"They're up to something," Mel said, watching. He relayed to Ariel, in a whisper, how the six members of the gang split up into groups of two. In addition to the lion, there was a wolf woman, an owl man, two mice, and a snow white cat girl. Mel was suddenly struck with a realization. "I think they're all species that have night vision too."


"That can't be a coincidence," Ariel whispered back, cursing the fact that she was a red panda.


"No... I don't think it was." Mel watched as the pairs moved along the beds, staring at the occupants. The ones who seemed to be heavily asleep, they removed the blankets from and started to... pour water from the bottles onto their laps? Mel was confused by this, watching and seeing Christopher, a smug grin on his muzzle, doing the same to some gray bunny guy. Suddenly, when the owl started doing it to some badger lady, the badger sat bolt upright and, blearily, started screaming.


"SOMEONE JUST POURED SOMETHING IN MY LAP!" That woke up the others, and the two mice started splashing their bottles into the crotches of some other players. This started a chain reaction of players trying to retaliate, and accidentally wetting other peoples' crotches, to some scuffling and fighting, to those without night vision flailing and running around in the dark, tripping, and slinging water everywhere. There were shouts and yells, and the lights overhead flashed on briefly but flickered and went dark.


This happened again and again, and Mel and Ariel quickly scrambled out of bed. They ran in the dark, Ariel being led by Mel, both armed with their water bottles. They bumped into Christopher and the white cat with him and Mel, acting quickly, yanking himself and Ariel out of the way of a splash of water from them. Ariel ripped the cap off her bottle and, when the lights flickered back on she whipped her bottle towards the two, wetting both of their crotches simultaneously.


"YOU'RE GUNNA REGRET THAT, DUMB BITCH!" Christopher roared, sending chills down Ariel and Mel's spines. The pair, still holding paws, ran and dove through some bunk beds, pushing through fighting crowds. The lion tried to follow, but a gecko jumped on his back, dumping water down the back of his track pants. Christopher let out another roar and punched the gecko in the face, losing track of where the girls went. With an angry huff, he tore some more bottles from the hands of others, and continued on his mission, regardless. Mel and Ariel had evaded everyone else and tucked themselves into a corner of the room. Mel was keeping watch while Ariel squirmed, her training pants rustling faintly.


"You gotta stay still," Mel whispered, not looking at his red panda partner in these games. "You're rustling."


"I-I can't help it," Ariel quietly complained, "I really hafta pee!"


Mel turned to look at the unfortunate Ariel who, with a whimper, slowly stopped squirming. Mel heard a faint hiss and realized that Ariel no longer needed a bathroom.


"Oh, geeze," Mel said, blushing and feeling Ariel's embarrassment. He squeezed her paw and didn't object when she grabbed his bushy tail to hug and quietly cry into. Mel gulped and, looking around at everyone, sighed. He felt a building pressure in his own bladder and, thinking it over, he made a decision. He focused for a bit, it taking more effort than he realized to just let go, but soon a flood of warmth was spreading in his own pull-up. Still crouched, Mel choked back a whine.


"Wh-what's wrong?" Ariel asked, a bit more composed, but still sniffing.


"Uhm... I just wet," was Mel's reply, feeling the burning blush on his cheeks beneath his fur. He wondered if the effect caused his broken-heart-shaped patch of white fur to turn pink too? He jumped a little as Ariel's arms pulled him back into a hug.


"I'm s-sorry," she said.


"M-me too," Mel whimpered back. The fighting continued and, just when Mel was going to suggest they move and find a new spot, the lights cut on, and the door to the room rolled up. In rushed dozens of triangles, all holding those weird guns. Silently, they subdued everyone, and had all the players, including Mel and Ariel, stand up against the wall, giving them all pat downs.


"This one's in wet training pants," said the triangle after pulling down Mel's pants and exposing his sodden padding. The butterflies had faded on the pink and white undergarment. Looking over at Ariel, the same was happening to her, her head hung in shame, and her own padding now lacking the disappear when wet indicators. "Okay. Two wet training pants confirmed here, so two strike twos." The other triangles were now checking, much to the indignity of the others, their own wet crotches, and not paying any heed to the ones crying out that it was just water. They just announced when a player had a strike one. Mel took some satisfaction that Christopher was given a strike as well, though saw the black lion glaring at him and Ariel.


"Alright, everyone," eyes and ears turned towards the voice. It sounded a little different to Mel, looking over and seeing a square face. What's more, this square seemed a little shorter, and maybe more... feminine? The voice was clearly being changed somehow, possibly by the mask, and definitely sounded deeper. But still, that was clearly a woman speaking. "We have a number of you in wet pants that need sorting out. As you'll recall earlier, you were informed that with a strike one, you will be required to wear training pants for the rest of the game. And those of you with strike twos," the square face turned to look at mel and Ariel when saying this, bringing the attention of many others to them as well, "shall be diapered." Mel's ears twitched as he heard some snickers, and saw Christopher grinning at them. He bit back a growl, trying to remain composed, despite the sudden bushing out of his tail.


In came several circle medical staff, now wearing white jumpsuits, but the same faceless masks, all bringing in curtains on rods with legs to stand them up on, and one was wheeling in a cart with a padded top over near Mel and Ariel. A curtained divider was set up to partially hide the two as Mel was silently guided to sit on the padded surface. Mel winced from the squish he felt, and then was gently pushed onto his back. A whimper escaped his muzzle as his pants were pulled off. His shirt was pushed up a little and the nurse attending to him gently rubbed his belly. Mel wanted to yell at her to just hurry up... but the sensation felt so good and spread a wave of calm over the pink vixen. Mel realized, just when the easy-tear sides of his training pants were torn open, that his left leg had been twitching.


Through a gap in the curtains, he could see other players now standing in lines, many tucked tails and hanging heads, as well as very angry players standing in line. Those that walked around the curtain were back there for a few moments, before walking back out around, wearing just a white t-shirt with their numbers on it, and blue or pink pull-ups on. Many tried to tug the bottoms of their shirts down to cover the childish garments, to no avail. Some foxes and wolves tried to use their tails to cover them up, but everyone still knew. Mel felt some sense of satisfaction at seeing the big strong Christohper wearing a bright blue pull-up. The big angry kitty looked like he wanted to slug someone, but was clearly wary of the triangles with their guns.


Mel jumped from the cold wipes, and blushed as his legs were lifted. The nurse was gentle, but thorough, both with the wiping and with the liberal dusting of baby powder on Mel's bottom. The moment Mel had been dreading came all too soon, as reaching under the table with her free hand, the nurse pulled and fluffed out a much thicker pink and white object. Mel was shocked to see, with it partially unfolded, that on the butt was his number, 456. He whined as it was slid under his bottom, which was then set gently down on its crinkly surface. The front of his now diaper area was dusted with the sweet smelling powder, and the front of the diaper was brought up. As the wings with the tapes were pulled and taped into place on the landing zone, Mel looked down and saw a red heart on the front of his new underwear.


Grumbling, Mel was turned over so that his tail could be threaded through the hole in the back, which was also taped securely around the base of his tail. He felt plastic similar to the pink leg gathers of his new diaper, and sighed. Rolled back over, the front of his diaper was lovingly patted, and he took that as a sign to hop off. Doing so, Mel found his legs pushed a bit apart due to the thick bulkiness now resting snugly between them. He looked away as it was Ariel's turn, taking note that she was hugging the bunny plush from earlier still, not having been aware she'd kept it while they were running and hiding in the dark. There was a scuffle that drew Mel's attention. Looking through the gap, he saw a tigress getting out of line, punching at a circle face that was trying to coax her back.


"N-no!" She screamed. "I'm playing these stupid, sick games, fine! But I will NOT wear training pants or a diaper!"


There was a loud POP, and everyone's eyes turned to the source. One of the triangles had his gun on his shoulder, pointing at the shocked tigress, who now had a dart sticking out of her bottom. She quickly yanked it out, but it was too late.


"Wait, wait, waaaaait," she said, starting to sway and slur her speech. "I'm sowwy, I'll weaw da pull-ups. I'll be good." She sank to the floor and started to snore almost instantly. Three circles calmly walked over and together picked her up to carry out of the room. Above the door, Mel watched as the current player count went from 233, to 232. A quick jackpot sound effect started to play overhead and more money was added to the piggy bank. When it was finished, the square face stepped forward.


"Players who have been given a strike WILL wear training pants, or they effectively forfeit the games." She turned to look in Mel's direction, somehow the vixen knew that the woman behind the mask was making direct eye contact with him. "And players with a second strike WILL wear diapers, for the same reason. Are we understood?" Mel felt himself nervously nodding, and when the square face turned to look at others, no one voiced any complaint. With Ariel finished being changed, the two rad-faced anthro girls were escorted around the divider and led to their bunk beds by the nurse. The nurse let them get into the same bed, and even tucked them both in. After everyone was also in bed, and the staff exited save for some triangles now on a designated "guard duty", the lights were turned off, plunging all but those with night vision into total darkness. Mel and Ariel hugged each other close, both squirming to try and get comfortable with what felt like pillows between their legs, and soon drifted off into a dreamless slumber.


The next morning was largely uneventful. There was an even more subdued attitude from the majority of the players, many looking and eyeing the triangles and their dart guns with caution. Fully aware that at any time, should they step out of line, then they too will be forfeiting the game, the money, and their adulthood. Silently, everyone accepted their breakfasts of oatmeal and juice boxes. Mel was a little annoyed that he and Ariel were required to wear bibs with their numbers on them, but stayed silent and ate their breakfast, their diapers on display. While almost everyone else was essentially in the same boat, the few that had avoided getting their pants wet snickered nonetheless, and even a few of those in training pants seemed to take pride in the fact that they weren't back in diapers.


With breakfast over, the players were organized into six lines, with circles handing out folded pairs of new tracksuit pants. Mel was grateful to be able to cover his diaper, though the bulge of it still showed on him and Ariel. The two held hands, with Mel in front, as the lines were all walked out of the room and into the odd massive halls. Led up stairs and down stairs, down spiral staircases and even across a rope bridge over a ball pit. Almost like some kind of play structure at an arcade or something. The six groups were led to a large dais with a square face standing in the center next to a podium, and a set of wide windows overlooking a new room behind them. Everyone silently walked up to the windows, gazing out on a colorful structure that appeared to be nothing but hallways and a large circular space with a pink structure in the center.


It took Mel a moment to figure out what they were looking out on. A massive labyrinth that Mel could only roughly estimate as being a mile in diameter. The walls were all different loud primary colors, and every inch of them seemed to be made of a smooth-looking plastic. As Mel and the others watched, there was a loud buzzer, and all of the walls started moving, some even rotating. When they all settled back down, the maze looked completely different. Off in the center was a light pink tower that rose up from the floor and was connected to the ceiling.


"This whole facility... it must be massive," Ariel said just barely loud enough for Mel to hear.


"And very well-funded," Mel said, his tail swishing a little in amazement, the faint crinkle causing the pink vixen to blush.


"Today's game will be The Maze!" There was that cheerful announcer lady. Mel still couldn't tell if it was a real person or some kind of computer voice. They just sounded too chipper considering what was happening. "Each player shall be taken to their own entrance to the maze, and given either a Sun Key, or a Moon Key. The goal of each player is to make it to the tower in the center of the maze. The tower has a door with two locks on it, a Sun Lock and a Moon Lock. In order for the door to be opened, a player must use both a Sun Key and a Moon Key, and only one player may enter the doorway at a time. After a player has entered, the door will shut and relock itself, awaiting the next player with the two keys to unlock it. Players will have thirty minutes to navigate the maze, acquire the second key, make it to the tower and unlock the door. Those who do not make it inside the tower within the allotted time will be eliminated. I shall now repeat the rules."


Mel's eyes widened and he immediately steered Ariel away from the others.


"What is it?" the confused red panda asked.


Mel looked around to see if anyone was listening and, satisfied that everyone else was distracted, he explained.


"I figured out the purpose of this game, Ariel," he said in an urgent whisper.


"What do you mean?"


"We're each being given one of the two keys needed to unlock the door to the exit to the maze, and only one person can enter it when it's been unlocked before it shuts! That means that in order to get both keys... we need to take them from someone who has the opposite key to whatever one we're given. Ariel, this game is made to eliminate at least half of the remaining players!"


Now it was Ariel's turn to have her eyes widen in surprise.


"Oh... damn. And that means... that we gotta fight each other for our keys!"


"Yeah... and based on what happened last night, I wouldn't put it past some players to not just stop at getting both keys, but instead to try and take more," Mel continued, looking over to the lion, who was looking around with and leaning down to start whispering to his crew.


"They don't even have to worry about collecting full sets," Ariel said after a moment. "Someone taking five extra Moon Keys means that a guaranteed five more players won't be able to escape the maze and get eliminated, and thus five less to have to deal with in the remaining games."


Mel's ears twitched at the sound of some chuckling. He looked over and saw on the other side of the platform was Christopher with a smirk on his muzzle, talking with his gang. His lackeys also seemed enthusiastic about whatever hush-hush plan they were hatching. Mel frowned, figuring that he had an idea as to what. The black lion looked over to Mel, and gave him a wink and a wave.


"I'm pretty sure our friends from last night have come to a similar conclusion," Mel whispered to Ariel. The red panda nodded, hugging her bushy tail. The door opened and in walked two circles carrying a yellow and black striped box. They set it down on the podium next to the square face, before flanking them.


"You will be taken to your starting points one by one. After receiving your keys, you will have thirty minutes to secure the second key and reach the tower. The order in which you will all be led to your starting points shall be determined randomly," the square face said, reaching a hand into the box and pulling out a yellow ball with the number 055 on it.


"Player fifty-five, please follow our staff member."


A nervous-looking gray bunny man stepped out of the crown, flinching a little as a circle took his paw in their own black gloved one, and was led away down one of the 'mystery doors', his being the pink one, that slid open on its own to let them past, and silently slid back closed.


"Player one-hundred-twenty-three." Mel's attention was snapped back to the square face as a sullen beaver woman walked towards another circle. Mel wasn't sure where that one came from, but watched as they went through a lime green door. And so it went, square face pulling out yellow ball after yellow ball, calling out the numbers, each corresponding player being led out by the paw/claw/talon through the loudly-colored doors. Each time, Mel couldn't see where the replacement circles were coming from.


"Player four-hundred fifty-six." Mel flinched, his ears laying flat again and his tail tucking itself between his legs. Ariel gave his paw a reassuring squeeze, and the two smiled, before letting go. Mel frowned as the same paw was taken by another new circle... or maybe it was one of the previous ones after they had already finished escorting a player. While different body shapes were kinda discernable, the pink jumpsuits were successful in suppressing any real kind of individuality of the staff. Mel wondered if that was to help quell any possible rebellious thoughts regarding this whole practice, but couldn't be sure.


He was led through a lemon yellow door, looking back after walking through it to catch Ariel's eyes one last time, before the door slid shut again. Mel sighed, being led through the plastic-looking hall. Each wall panel was a different color. Looking down, Mel saw that the floor was painted to look like colorful puzzle pieces with the alphabet on it. Walking further, he found what he guessed to be characters from other languages. They passed through intersections and took lefts and rights that had Mel wondering if they'd already entered the labyrinth.


Then they came to a plastic-looking portcullis. It raised up with a cranking sound and, as Mel looked closer at it, he became aware that it was metal, painted to look like plastic. The hand let go of Mel's paw and gave a soft pat to his thickly padded behind. Mel let out an involuntary growl, his hackles raising and the fur on his tail bristling, but the circle face just stood there, silent. The subtle reminder of the new waddle to his gait irritated him, making his tail swish. After Mel had cleared the gate, it quickly rolled back down with a loud clang.


Looking around, Mel saw that he was alone in the starting area. Considering how big this maze was, it wasn't crazy to think that each player was getting their own individual starting spot. It was semi-circular, with the portcullis behind him, and a large square wall made to look like a baby block with a big yellow star in the center. Walking up to the wall, and finding a seam running down the center, he figured it was a door to the maze. Reaching up with his paws, he found that the top of the door was at least twice his current height, by his estimation. He still wasn't sure how tall he was after changing species and gender, but when human, and a man, he was easily over six feet.


There was a hiss that made him jump, and Mel whirled around to see a bright red plastic pedestal rise up in the center of his starting area. At the top was a box matching the baby block theme. Each side had a colorful letter or number on it. Without a sound, the box split open on hidden hinges, showing a red velvet interior, on which lay a bright gold key, almost as long as Mel's forearm. It had large square teeth, like out of a cartoon. At the other end was an intricately-carved flower, at the center of which was a glowing yellow circle surrounded by glowing yellow triangles.


"So I've got a Sun Key, which means... I need to take someone's Moon Key... and not let anyone take mine... joy," he said, trying to pocket the key, except the pockets on the track suit were far too shallow. Looking it over, Mel saw a gold chain attached to the end of the key and slipped it on like a necklace, tucking it under his shirt. It felt odd, resting between his breasts, bringing them back to his attention. Mel pushed them aside as he began stretching. No matter what, this game was going to involve a LOT of running, of that, Mel was most certain. It took a while, with Mel focusing on keeping his sense of dread in check, finding the combination of his inner turmoil juxtaposed with the happy atmosphere of this whole facility more than a little jarring, before there was a sign of when this would all start.


"Attention players," said the cheery feminine voice that Mel decided had to be some kind of machine talking, as it was just too peppy. "The game is about to start! In ten, nine, eight..."


Mel took a deep breath, and then another, getting ready to volt, literally, right out the gate. He listened to the voice countdown, tensing himself, not knowing what, if anything else, this maze was going to throw his way, hoping Ariel can make it through. It's nice to have a friend after going so long without anyone hardly acknowledging him.


"Three, two, one! Have fun!" The big baby block door split and swung open inward. Mel started jogging down the path before him. Seeing a fork, he took a left, and then another. He remembered the old strategy he had heard somewhere about always following the left walls, as that would eventually lead to the exit. Coming to another crossroad, the pink vixen stopped and shook his head.


"Oh crap," Mel said under his breath, "this stupid maze can change." With a goran, Mel looked at the three possible routes in front of him, and took a right. He barely took stock of all the different loud and primary colors he was passing by, trying to keep a steady pace with his jog and not tire himself out. Turning a corner, Mel froze, face to face with a green dragon man. He was holding a sun key and, thinking quickly, Mel pulled his own one out from his shirt.


"We both got the same kind of key," Mel said, hoping that this guy wouldn't try to take it anyway. He wanted to avoid getting in any fights in this maze if he could help it. Injuries will just make it, as well as the games to come after even harder to deal with.


"Okay," the dragon said, and sprinted past Mel without another word, taking a right. Mel thought about following, but quickly dismissed that idea. Unless it was Ariel, he couldn't trust anyone else. Continuing on he ran, taking another two lefts and then a right, when there was a sudden loud buzzer. At first, he was worried that time had run out already, but then he learned the real meaning behind that buzzer. The walls began to shift and spin. With all the walls shifting, Mel caught a glimpse of the tower and, gulping, he started running towards it. He dodged and dove though walls sliding closed, barely missing his tail. He ran through some slowly rotating wall panels, feeling like he was making great time, before it started to end. The walls around him settled and fit back together.


"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Mel quipped to no one as he continued his path. he jogged through an intersection, opting to go down the center path, when he felt a force slam into his side, knocking the wind out of him as he and the gray mass that had collided with him tumbled to the floor. Gasping, Mel saw the gray bunny man, 055, sitting on top of him, lifting up his shirt.


"I'm s-sorry, but I n-need a Sun Key!" The bunny grabbed at the key and started yanking on it. Mel whined as the chain, despite the fur, began to bite into his neck. Feeling his panic rise not only from his key being grabbed, but also by this guy laying on top of him, bringing back a flashback of the cheetah, Mel reacted on pure instinct. His knee shot up and collided with the bunny's crotch. The gray bunny let out a loud OOOOF, now the one with the air knocked out of his lungs. He curled up in a ball, and Mel pushed him off. Remembering what he'd said, Mel saw a silver chain around his tackler's neck, and grabbed it, pulling out a large silver key that looked similar to his Sun Key, except on the flower at the head was a blow glowing crescent moon shape.


"N-nooooooo!" The bunny wheezed, and tried to get up, reaching out to snatch at the key, but Mel backed away and started running at a full sprint around the corner. He wasn't certain where he was going, but he didn't care at that moment. His heart pounding and his breathing rapid, Mel just ran, not caring about stamina. He yelped as he passed others, having to juke left to avoid a bear lady trying to grab her, and clock a light blue lizard in the jaw, sending the guy sprawling. Mel slowed to a stop to catch his breath, and to slip the Moon Key on over his neck where it clanked a little with the Sun Key.


"G-great," Mel huffed, "n-now when I run, these two can announce to everyone with a brain that I've got two keys." Thinking about it some more, Mel sighed and slipped the Moon Key back off his neck, instead choosing to run with it in his paw. The buzzer sounded again, and the walls started to shift. Looking around, Mel saw that he was closer to the tower, but also caught a glimpse of the overhead clock, he now had less than fifteen minutes remaining. Running through and around the moving panels, Mel caught glimpses of other players doing the same, including Christopher.


He spotted some others fighting in between the walls to take each others' keys, seeing a lynx girl, whose hair was colored bright yellow and a light purple, spin-kick a familiar wolf in the chest while gripping his gold key. The chain around his neck broke as he toppled over, and the triumphant leapt through two wall panels just before they snapped shut. The wolf, whom Mel recognized as being one of Christopher's gang, whimper-wheezed and lumbered towards another opening nearby to follow her, but wasn't fast enough, getting cut off by the panels also shutting.


Mel kept sprinting through the gaps, yelping and elbowing someone in the face when they grabbed his tail, making them let go. Mel only looked back briefly to see that it was Christopher, the black-furred lion holding his bloody nose and growling at the pink vixen. Mel slipped between some more spaces and though three spinning walls in a row, before the walls all settled again in a new configuration. Mel's heart skipped a beat when looking up, seeing the pink tower now closer than before, visible over the top of the wall.


Keeping the tower to his left, Mel started quickly moving through the maze, only choosing paths that took him closer to the tower. Unfortunately, he hit a few dead-ends and had to double back a couple of times. But the tower was steadily getting larger. Mel stopped when he heard some clinking, however. It sounded very familiar, and Mel deduced that it was the sound of someone with more than one key. And the clinking was getting louder. Mel gripped the silver key like a club, ready to swing and bolt if the person tried anything, only to see a sudden flash of orange and white in addition to the teal.


"Ariel?" Mel gasped, startling the red panda girl, whose tail bushed out and who took a fighting stance. Ariel relaxed seeing it was Mel, and smiled.


"Oh good, you're here too," she said, sounding a little out of breath. Getting a closer look at her, Mel saw some scratches on her cheek, her right sleeve was torn and her exposed fur underneath was a bit matted and bloody. Her right eye was also swollen, suggesting she'd been in a bit of a nasty scrape.


"Holy crap, what happened?!" Mel asked, letting out a growl.


"Those two brown mice that've been doing what Christopher's been telling them set up an ambush. They had, like, four Moon Keys and three Sun Keys between them. They tried to tackle me and take mine, so I had to fight them off, and one of them bit me!" She said this, sounding incredulous and holding up her injured forearm, making Mel wince. "So I bit him back and clawed at the other one. They tripped over themselves, so I just kept punching and kicking them and took all their keys and ran off. When I met someone else on my way here, I'd just ask them what key they needed, and give it to them. Now I've got one of each for myself! What about you?"


"Uh... I g-got tackled by p-player 55, and he tried to take mine... and I kneed him in the crotch and took his instead..." Mel's earls splayed flat as he said this, showing Mel both his keys.


"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry!" Ariel wrapped her arms around Mel, making him flinch a little. He sniffled and hugged back, suddenly realizing that his diaper was feeling a bit clammy.


"...I th-think I w-wet myself when it happened," Mel whispered, not remembering it happening, but figuring that that must've been when it happened, and he was too focused on fighting for his key and getting to the tower to notice until now. He noticed Ariel's tail start to tuck itself and her own ears laid flat too.


"Y-yeah... I think the same happened to me," she said, the two blushing about their predicament.


"C'mon!" Mel said, his eyes going wide as he grabbed Ariel's paw. "We can worry about this after we get to the tower!"


With that they ran, taking lefts and rights together. They two had to threaten a hyena girl who was running with no keys and looking desperate. Seeing the two ready to go, and Ariel with signs of having fought and won already, she cursed and stomped off to maybe find someone weaker to try to steal from. Mel saw the clock was nearing the last five minutes, and after pointing this out, the two picked up the pace a bit, nearing the tower. At the five minute mark, the buzzer sounded, and Mel's tail began to wag excitedly.


"No matter what, we run straight to the tower, okay?"


"Okay!" Ariel sounded tired, but excited to almost be through this game. The walls started to shift and they started running through the opening panels, only for Mel to take a swift punch to the gut. The wind knocked out of him for the second time, he looked up to see Christopher standing there, hoisting Ariel up by her throat easily, despite her struggling and clawing at him. She was gasping for air as Mel stood up on shaky legs and tried to charge at him. Christopher smirked and backhanded the vixen, sending Mel sprawling.


"Thought I'd forget you two?" Christopher snarled, grabbing the keys around Ariel's neck with his free paw and ripping them off. Without looking, he tossed them through some closing panels. He then pulled Ariel's face close to his and smirked. "I bet you thought it was really funny, splashing my crotch with water like that. You coulda both stayed off my radar if you'd just not fought back and let us splash you instead, especially for the fat load of good it did the both of you." With that, he grabbed Ariel's track suit pants and with a yank, tore them off, exposing Ariel's slightly yellowed and sagging diaper, and tossing the pants over a nearby wall.

Quote

Edit

Share

 

 

 

24 seconds ago#4

"Aww, what a cute little diaper, piddle-pants. Looks like you really needed it. Good thing I threw away your keys, 'cause now you can stop pretending to be a big girl." As Christopher gloated, Mel got back up, gripping his Moon Key tightly. With a growl and yip, he swung the heavy metal at Christopher's kneecap, hearing a loud crunch. The lion howled and dropped Ariel, who had grabbed the two keys around her captor's neck, and pulled them both up and off his head.


When he lunged for her, she slammed both keys into the side of his face, sending him crashing down near Mel. With unfocused eyes, he swiped his claws at Mel, only hooking onto and shredding Mel's track pants off. Mel slammed his Moon Key down onto the lion's head with another yip, knocking him out. Mel looked down at his and Ariel's exposed padding. The cute unicorn on the front of Ariel's and the red broken heart on the front of his, He momentarily felt shame, especially since his seemed to be sagging even more than hers, the tapes straining a little but still snugly holding the garment into place around his waist.


Holding paws, they ran through a few spinning panels and sliding walls, but they soon stopped as the new formation settled into place. However, it looked like they might be just one wall away. Wordlessly, they waddle-ran along the wall until, finally, they came out into a large, rainbow-colored, circular area surrounding the tower. Looking around, Mel spotted the clock and saw that they were at 1:42, and counting down. They came to the base of the tower, which upon closer inspection, has a sort of medieval castle theme, and walked around to the door, which was painted to look like a drawbridge with a portcullis, one lock on either side of it.


The one on the left had the glowing yellow sun symbol, and the one on the right had the glowing blue moon symbol. Taking a step back, Mel silently let Ariel go first, who, with tear stained cheeks, smiled gratefully. Ariel slotted the silver key into its corresponding lock and turned, hearing a loud click and a chime like a bell. The same happened when she inserted and turned the gold key in its lock. The two locks started rotating and, with a click, disappeared inside the holes they were poking out of. The portcullis quickly raised, and Ariel ran inside. Looking at her hugging her tail, Mel saw that there really was only space enough for one person inside this tower. The portcullis slammed shut and, with a beep, the platform Ariel was standing on shot up suddenly.


Mel looked through the grating to see a new circular platform slot into place a few seconds later, and the locks re-emerged from the holes on either side of the gate. Mel whipped around to make sure no one was sneaking up on him, and quickly inserted and turned both keys, simultaneously. Like with Ariel, there was a bell chime, and the gate rose. Not even waiting for it to fully raise, the pink vixen darted inside. When the gate slammed back down, Mel saw a couple more people coming through another opening, heading towards the tower. There was the beep again, and up he was shot. Mel started to hyperventilate a little, focusing on calming himself down. The game was over, he was safe, and Ariel was too... but that didn't solve his soggy bottom problem. Still, at least he and his friend were moving on.


Back in the maze, Christopher's head was throbbing. He rubbed the spot where he'd been hit, and growled a little. He then realized that someone was talking to him.


"B-boss? Are you okay?"


Looking to the source of the headache-worsening voice, he saw one of the two brown mice that he got to follow his lead yesterday. Derek or Jerry or something.


"Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon, we gotta get to the tower," Christopher was a little unsteady on his feet, but Derek or Jerry or whatever his name was, put the lion's arm around his shoulder, and started to lead the limping lion through the maze. The buzzer sounded, and the walls all began to shift and, giving the two a quick shot to the center of the maze, they headed to the tower.


"Oh wow, the last minute too," the mouse said with a relieved sigh. "Luke and I had set up an ambush like you told us, but then we got beat up... by like six or seven guys, I think all those big crocodile guys. And they took all the keys and ours. I had to chase down and tackle some bunny that had two on him, and me and Luke got separated."


"So you've got both keys on you?" Christopher asked as they neared the portcullis, the timer reaching 40 seconds.


"Yup, lucky I found you, huh boss?" The mouse smiled up proudly at the lion.


"Yeah... real lucky," Christopher said with a warm smile and let go of Jerry or Derek and, casual as could be, punched the smaller anthro in the head, knocking him out. He took the keys from his former lackey, and quickly unlocked the gate, just barely fitting inside. He smiled after the beep, the platform he was on rocketing upwards. Looking through some of the passing windows, he spotted a red bird of some kind running to the tower, a key in either talon hand. he was amused to see his subordinate get up and try to take them, only to get kicked aside and for the bird to enter the tower, just before there was a loud buzzer. He looked to the clock to see it had reached zero.


Elsewhere in the facility, Mel once more found himself and Ariel in the soft white room. This time however, it wasn't just them and the sleeping eliminated players, who were now slowly being brought in from the maze. There were quite a few contestants with injuries that needed looking after. The medical staff cooed at them all, the same as Mel and Ariel, as they went about treating their "boo-boos". Mel watched as Ariel, who was now shirtless, was having a bright green gel spread on her arm wound. It was wrapped in a cloth bandage that was sealed in place.


"Okay, cutie," the nurse said in a concerned but still cheerful voice. "Just leave this here bandage alone and it should fall off tonight after bedtime while you sleep." She booped Ariel's nose, making the sullen red panda roll her eyes, before letting out a sudden sneeze. "Now, we'll put a special bandage over that eye, and on some more bruises, and you should be all set. Well, after a diaper change." Neither Ariel nor Mel were happy about sitting there in just shirts and their used diapers, but they didn't have much of a choice.


Looking out at the others, Mel saw that other nursing staff were removing the oddly wet pants of other players. Some were getting their first strikes, many more were getting their second. Mel took some comfort in knowing that he and Ariel would no longer be the only ones walking around in diapers. Stripped down to just her diaper, a few more bandages with a blue gel spread on them were stuck to spots on Ariel's body, including one over her eye and around her neck, Ariel was then gently pushed onto her back, the tapes of her diaper ripped open. Mel looked away, only to catch sight of a familiar-looking lynx, the one he'd seen fighting the wolf, having her bottom wiped while she hid her face in her white paws. Looking down, Mel could see his own diaper looking back up at him.


"And all clean! Who's a fresh smelling cutie, is it you? I think it is!" Mel sighed when he heard the nurse cooing and talking to Ariel in baby babble. He turned to look when he heard giggling, and saw the nurse tickling Ariel's tummy. The red panda squirmed and squealed, to soon be scooped up in the nurse's arms and cradled, being rocked back and forth a bit to help her calm back down. "Your new mommy and daddy are just going to adore you, yes they are!" The nurse bounced the dazed-looking Ariel in her arms once, before sitting her back down next to Mel, and tugging a teal shirt over her head, the number 277 in white on the back. Ariel looked at the shirt, now hugging her tail, and looking expectantly at the nurse for the corresponding bottoms. Instead, the nurse, whom Mel realized was much stronger than she looked, picked him up under his arms to lay him down on the examination table next.


"No need to fret, pretty girl," she cooed to him, running the green light of the scanner over his body. "Some light bruising and a mild ankle sprain. We'll have you all fixed up and right as rain." Mel looked at Ariel, who sat and sulked that apparently her diaper was to stay on display. Looking at the others being put into some kind of padding, now being dressed in matching teal shirts, that was their new norm moving forward. Mel didn't resist as his tracksuit jacket and white shirt were pulled off, though the sports bra that came next he'd forgotten he was even wearing. Bandages with the blue gel, apparently for bruises and sprains as Mel deduced, with the green gel being reserved for cuts and open wounds, were stuck on his ankle, jaw, his knee, and even the tip of his tail, that he only now realized had been throbbing from where it'd been tightly grabbed.


Next up was his own diaper change, that he tried to tune out. The wipes made that a little hard, and the baby powder made him sneeze, and the nurse coo at him too. Soon he was all taped up and had a 456 shirt pulled over his head. It barely came to the waistband of his diaper, which now had a purple heart on the front. Looking over at Ariel's, he saw another unicorn. Ariel saw him looking and blushed, covering it with her tail. Mel was certain, but these felt a little thicker than the one he'd been changed out of, before he'd flooded it.


If Mel had thought that he was going to get out of this without being mollycoddled like Ariel, he was sorely mistaken. His tummy was tickled, as were the pads of his feet, and he was rocked as well, assured that he was such a sweet little angel and going to grow up to be such a beauty, and how his new parents would always view him as their precious little princess. A couple of bounces later, and he was sat next to Ariel. Just then, in walked someone that made Mel's hackles rise. Christopher limped in, assisted by some circles. He looked at Mel and Ariel and snarled, his nose still very bloody, now with a small lump on his head.


"Over here, little guy," a male nurse said, whom the black lion easily towered over by a foot. Christopher looked like he wanted to say something, but spotting a nearby triangle with his hand resting on his dart gun, instead snapped his mouth shut. He glared at Mel and Ariel before being led to an examination table, where his pants were quickly removed to reveal a wet blue pull-up. Whatever design that had been on the front had faded. His glare worsened after he'd been informed that he'd received his second strike.


It took a little while, but soon everyone was treated and just as the first of the shrinking eliminated players were starting to wake up and fuss in their new smaller bodies, Mel and Ariel and the still active players were led out. Through the hall and even into the big room, Ariel and Mel held hands. Feeling that he was walking with a more distinct waddle than before, Mel just sighed. He took in the room, and it had definitely undergone some changes. There were now six changing tables near the door, fully stocked based on the look of the shelves underneath. There were more toy boxes and even some playpens, only knee height as far as Mel could tell, scattered about, with all sorts of soft toys and plush friends scattered around. The biggest change were the beds. Gone were the last towers of bunk beds, instead there were just beds with rails.... and cribs, complete with overhead mobiles. And Mel had a sneaking suspicion about who was going to be sleeping where.


"After such a busy day," said a square face that made Mel and a few others jump, "some supervised playtime is in order. When your play hour is up, it will be lunchtime, to precede naptime. After which there will be another play hour, then your dinner, followed by bathtime, an hour of free time, and finally bedtime. But first, the current player count."


All of their eyes were directed to the screen above. The number 232 quickly started counting down. Mel watched in growing unease. It approached the halfway mark at 116 and continued before stopping at... 101.


"Of the two-hundred and thirty-two remaining players, one-hundred and thirty-one were eliminated, and are soon to be ready for their new lives and families. Congratulations on making it this far."


The pink vixen felt sick at how close of a call that was, and how the three games ahead will probably be even closer calls. Mel then wondered about the sudden focus on schedules, but wrote it off as just another part of the juvenile craziness the players were to be subjected to. Mel and Ariel waddled off to be alone. Looking back over his shoulder, Mel saw Christopher start stalking after them, only to be stopped by three triangles. Apparently he was under tighter scrutiny, or so Mel concluded. The pink vixen saw the yellow and light purple-haired lynx being picked up and set down in a playpen by a circle, a big blush on her face. The front of her diaper had a spaceship on it.


Mel and Ariel were soon also surprised by being picked up and set down in another playpen. Ariel quickly spotted her bunny plush from before and scooped it up into her arms, hugging it while leaning against Mel. The two were sitting with their legs splayed out, their diapers making sitting cross-legged a little bit of a challenge. With some loud crinkling, Mel got comfortable, being handed a plush teddy bear by a passing circle. Mel took it and leaned against Ariel, the two zoning out and dozing a little. When lunchtime rolled around, the circles went about, passing out sippy-cups of juice and packets of those juvenile gold-shrimp crackers to players in training pants.


Mel was disappointed, but not too surprised, to find he and Ariel, as well as all the other diapered players, were given large baby bottles of juice as well as the crackers. Mel tried to unscrew the cap, but it wouldn't budge. Looking over at a golden alligator trying to twist off the lid to his sippy-cup in vain, it looked like they were all no longer being trusted with their drinks. Looking over at Ariel who was hungrily munching on the crackers, Mel felt his tummy rumble and quickly started eating pawfuls from his own packet.


Ariel was the first of the two to start nursing her bottle. She looked awkward doing it, and seemed to struggle a little in trying to get the juice to come out at first. Mel, wanting to refuse to drink from his, but all the running and the dry crackers quickly wore down his resolve. He popped the nipple into his mouth and, like Ariel at first, struggled to get more than a squirt here and there to come out. Soon, the two had found a rhythm and were getting steady streams of apple juice to wash down their cheesy shrimp-shaped crackers with.


Exhaustion overtaking not only them, but every player so soon after lunch, Mel didn't struggle when a circle scooped him and Ariel up out of the playpen, instead clinging to his teddy bear as Ariel was still cuddling her bunny. Their diapers were checked before they were tucked into the same crib. With the mobile slowly spinning overhead and playing a lullaby, both Mel and Ariel were soon fast asleep. The same thing happened with all the other players, everyone in diapers safely tucked into their cribs, with Cristopher fighting sleep and being gently, despite his sluggish struggles, swaddled in a bright red blankie, a pacifier popped into his muzzle. The players in training pants were tucked into the beds with rails, and those that still had on adult undies were also tucked in to beds with rails, a couple of them noticing that there was plastic sheeting underneath the sheets, but too tired to fight it.


Naptime came and went, and Mel awoke feeling... better. His bruised areas were still sore under the bandages, but he just felt... happier, excited even. He smiled up at the plush multi-colored stars of his and Ariel's mobile, making him feel safe and secure. Ariel was snuggled up next to him, and he felt his tail wag under the blankie. He also started to feel a slight cramp in his lower tummy. Thinking nothing of it, the pain quickly subsided, and was followed by a feeling of relief, as well as a warmth spreading across the front of his diaper. He had no idea there was a binky in his mouth that he was happily sucking on. Ariel woke up in a similar state, also unaware of the paci that was bobbing in her muzzle.


Mel was picked up with an excited squeal by a circle, who tickled the happy pink vixen's sides. Mell giggled, not paying attention as his diaper was checked. He whined a little as he realized he dropped his teddy, but he was sure the circles would get it for him. Ariel dropped her bunny, and the two were carried out of the room. After going down the hall on their right, they passed by what Mel recognized as the room with the potties in it, and instead came out to another room. There were lots of bathtubs, with circles scrubbing players in warm soapy water.


Mel was laid on a changing table, his diaper removed, and his nose finally smelled something stinky. His brain started to feel foggy, and slowly the excitement faded, just as his bottom was finished being wiped. He whimpered, still sucking his binky, as his shirt was removed, and his naked self was carried over to an empty tub and set inside. Looking around, he saw that he and the other players there were still as big as the grown-ups... he meant the circles. He blushed and whined as the circle that carried him began to gently scrub his fur, adding in some kind of sweet-smelling shampoo. Ariel was quick to join him in the tub, the two mortified at the treatment, but going along with it. During their bath, more players were carried in, or led in by the paw. Their diapers and training pants were all wet and messy, and all were soon being bathed in yet more tubs.


With the water drained and a soggy Mel and Ariel thoroughly rinsed off, the two were then dried with big fluffy towels and some industrial-sized hair-dryers. This caused the both of them to look like a couple of fluffballs. Soon, it was back to the changing table for fresh diapers for the two of them. Mel was at least happy to see that they were getting another set of teal shirts to cover up their chests with, but when his was pulled over his head, he found that the bottom of the shirt ended in two longer flaps. Mel was confused, until the circle seeing to him pulled the flaps together and snapped them into place. Looking in a nearby mirror, Mel huffed, now wearing a teal legless onesie with 456 on the chest and the back. Ariel was similarly dressed, and the two were carried back out.


If either had thought the infantile humiliation was to end there, they were sorely mistaken, as after more playtime in the playpens, dinner was served in high chairs for everyone, even the scant few now in pull-ups. No one had gone to bed and stayed dry and clean in this room. Everyone was wearing legless or even full body onesies. The food was some kind of pureed mush that was spoon fed to them by a circle, with bibs all around, and a bottle of some white creamy stuff. Mel wanted to object... but the mush didn't taste bad by any means, and the bottle tasted like a vanilla milkshake. Mel and Ariel were a little placated, after being burped, when they were set down in a playpen with some others and given their plush friends back, but still.


Halfway through the games and gone was any adult treatment for them. At bedtime, soft music was played over the speakers, and everyone started to feel tired again. Mel, his mind foggy with sleep, felt like writing an angry review about the service here, but was soon snuggled up to Ariel again, off to dreamland, feeling safe in their crib. Up above, a section of wall near the ceiling raised showing a two-way mirror, behind which were several well-dressed animal people, looking down on the sleeping players.


"So how much did you lose on number fifty-five?" A jaguar in a fancy suit sipping from a glass of champagne asked a sour-faced cheetah woman.


"Two million bucks!" she said, downing her glass in a single gulp, the others laughed.


"Well, I think four-fifty-six could go the distance," a deer said calmly, walking up and looking down at the crib where his current bet was sleeping cuddled up next to the red panda.


"We shall have to wait and see," a large bull responded, looking down with semi-disinterest. "Though, it would be more fun if another night where they were allowed to fight and sabotage each other would be more amusing. My friend said this was a rather brutal experience."


"Yes, it can be," said a figure wearing all black and a black humanoid face mask, their voice altered by a transmogrifier. "However, this is more than just a game. This test is very vital for our people."


"That might be the case for your people." A silver dragon with a southern accent laughed, snagging an hors d'oeuvre to toss in his maw, taking a second afterwards to look down at his clawed hand and smile. "But for us earthlings of privilege, your 'sponsors', if you will, we expect a certain amount of competitive spirit to be cultivated. Especially when we come in person to watch. What we've been watching so far has been a rip-roaring good time, but with the players being treated so... gently now, while a bit amusing at how embarrassed they are, is a bit of a lull in the fun. I certainly hope that you've got something bigger and better up your sleeves if we're to be compelled to keep this nice little deal of ours goin'."


"I must agree," a weasel with an English accent said, grabbing a tiny sandwich from a tray being held by a passing circle. "While it's certainly a generous thing, to just take the unwanted excess off our world's hands instead of demanding those of a more important pedigree, part of the allure is the sporting nature of it all."


"Gentlemen and ladies, I assure you, just as the friends who brought you to us have promised, the games are far from over. And each of you, our valued VIP's, are guaranteed a very fun time. The players still need time to heal up and be back in top shape for tomorrow's game, both physically and mentally." That brought some cheers from the affluent earthlings, who began discussing amongst themselves and placing new wagers on the players below. The figure in the black mask looked off to a hall just out of sight of the VIP's, and saw several triangle subordinates at the ready with their dart guns. Checking their phone, the figure looked back up to the triangles and shook their head. Not yet for this latest batch of VIP's.


 

* * *

After a morning of being woken up in a crib, and blushing as all the memories of what happened after the previous game came rushing back, Mel and Ariel both found themselves hugging their stuffies, drinking their breakfast bottles. Looking over, Mel could see Christopher on a changing table, both hands on his own bottle. The vixen wasn't sure what was in it, just that it was white and creamy and tasted sweet, and was pretty filling. He sighed as he looked at his legless onesie, which was holding his fresh diaper tighter to his bottom and waist than just walking around in a t-shirt did. The material was much softer than the tracksuits they'd been made to wear so far. And, he hated admitting this, they were certainly cuter.


Mel looked at Ariel when he thought this, the diaper and onesie looking positively adorable on the adult red panda. Her hugging a stuffed bunny and her tail while nursing a bottle only served to enhance the cuteness. Looking down in his own arms and seeing he was doing the same with his teddy and tail... made him come to a similar conclusion about himself. Near the door, flanked by triangles, the square face of the day watched silently as all of the players were changed and fed, and many burped. When that was complete, they pressed a remote, and in filed more circles to begin the process of herding the players to their next game.


Waddling in one of the four lines the remaining players had been divided into, Mel held his teddy, Mr. Cash, in one paw, and Ariel's in the other. Her free paw was dedicated to cuddling Miss Flopsy-Woppington, as she had introduced her shortly after their awakening. When asked why she was naming the plushy, Ariel had been frank with Mel.


"They're going to keep treating us like babies for the rest of the game," she had said with a pointed look, "and realistically, there's a pretty good chance that we're gunna be treated this way a whole lot longer afterwards. So... I don't think that there's any harm in trying to have some of whatever fun we're capable of having right now."


Mel found that he couldn't really argue with her on that, or at least he couldn't think of a counterargument that would have been productive. Last night had proved just how easily they all could be reduced to compliant, mostly happy overgrown toddlers, probably with something in the food or drinks or both. But since they didn't shrink, that meant that they hadn't used their serum. Whatever these 'Kin' were, they were very clearly in charge here, and all the players were along for the ride.


Mel was brought out of his morose thoughts at the same time that they were all brought out into a new large room. Once again, this room was the size of a football field, with much larger puzzle-piece multi-colored tiles for the floor. The walls were covered in hand and paw and talon prints of differing colors. There were scribble figures and doodles all over the walls. There were numerous pink plastic tables and chairs, the kind from children's playsets, but made larger for the much bigger children about to use them. There were fake trees, fake bushes... and four large canopies set up as large tents. In front of each tent was a signpost, each one with a different odd symbol on it. The yellow tent's sign just had a yellow crayon on it. The blue tent's sign was of a blue pencil. The red one's sign was a red marker. And the purple tent had a paintbrush with a glob of purple paint on its sign.


"You have one minute to pick a symbol. When you have picked your symbol, you must stand under the tent of the symbol you have picked. You may not change your mind and pick a different symbol. Failure to pick a symbol before the time is up means elimination. Begin now." The square face looked at their watch as they spoke, and pressed a button on their remote. A digital clock on the far wall showed 1:00, and immediately started to tick down. A few of the other players just ran to the nearest tents, while others, like Mel and Ariel, stood back and considered things.


"Those symbols are not random," Mel said, to which Ariel nodded, chewing on her lip.


"They all have to do with drawing or coloring," said Ariel.


"Right... maybe they want us to draw on the walls? Kids do that, right?"


"I think so," the red panda said, hugging her bunny tighter, "but I can't draw to save my life, and in this place, that could very well be the case. Or at least my adulthood."


"Maybe... maybe each team has to make... some kind of arts and crafts mural?" Mel offered, looking at the clock tick down and starting to fidget.


"I-if it's arts and crafts then... maybe the pencil would be easiest?" Ariel wondered.


"Or the most detailed. Maybe it'll be about coverage for the painters?" Mel felt so confused, but time was ticking down. They had to make a decision and fast.


"Ok, let's pick a different symbol, and see if we can help each other out? Two types of drawing utensils to work with are definitely better than one!"


"... Screw it. OK! I got paint!" Mel said, letting go of Ariel and rushing to the purple tent.


"I got pencil!" Ariel jogged to the blue tent. In the last ten seconds, the holdouts made their decisions... or just picked randomly and ran, and soon, everyone was under one of the different tents. It looked like there was a largely even number of players divided up amongst the tents, with the fewest being in the purple tent with Mel.


"Good morning, you cute little tykes," came the chipper feminine voice, that Mel secretly hoped belonged to a person who was soon to be struck by lightning. "Today's game shall be... Color by Numbers!" As the voice said this, circle faces began handing out cylindrical canisters, carrying them in boxes marked with one of the four symbols. Mel quickly unscrewed the cap to his cylinder and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, and a set of paints. He looked inside for any brushes, but found none. A pit began to form in his stomach as he looked to the other tents, and saw other players pulling out boxes of crayons, colored pencils, and sets of markers.


"Each player is to fill in the colors for the designs given to them. You may not trade with, help, or be helped by any other players. You must fill in all the numbered spaces before the time runs out. Players who fail to fill in all of the spaces on their designs will be eliminated. Players who color outside the lines will also be eliminated. You may pick whatever color you'd like for each number. But once you designate a color for a number, you may not use that color for any other number, nor can you use any other color for that number. Players who do so shall also be eliminated. I shall now repeat the rules."


The rules were repeated as Mel looked around at the others in his tent, and no one was provided any brushes. It was when he looked at the back of the sign in front of their tent, that Mel's heart dropped at the sight of just one word. Fingerpainting. Mel caught Ariel's eye, who looked at him sadly. The vixen found that he was glad he'd brought his stuffed friend with him, he certainly needed a hug. With the rules finished being repeated, the timer on the clock started counting down.


They had an hour to get to work on their projects. Walking away from the others, Mel unfolded his design, hoping it's be one with a lot of wide spaces that allowed room for error. Nope. The sheet of paper that was half as big as he was contained a design of a butterfly resting on the petals of a rose. A few large areas, but a LOT of tiny intricate ones. Ariel's was a contrast to his, a few small detailed spaces, perfect for colored pencils, and a lot of wider spaces to color in, that would be much easier to get with paint. Hers was of a princess castle in the clouds with a rainbow waterfall. The two looked at one another and simultaneously voiced what the other was thinking.


"Crap!"


Ten minutes in and the two were laying under the equally fake shade of the fake tree, as lights everywhere in the room eliminated most shadows. They were both laying on their tummies, slowly working on their designs. For his butterfly pic, Mel had red, pink, orange, yellow, white, green, teal, sky blue, deep blue, purple, and black in little cups, each the size of little cups of creamer you could get at the average diner. 11 colors total to work with. However, after carefully scanning the page, the highest number seemed to be 11. So he started with his pinky and dipping it in red, and starting to color all the spaces with a number one in them. He looked over at Ariel's picture, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated, focusing on the numbers with the most spaces.


"I..." Mel's ears twitched and he looked off to his right. The white bunny woman was shaking, blue paint on her right paw. Looking down, Dante saw she had a similar picture to his, though her butterfly was sitting on a tricycle. And there was a drop of blue that had crossed a few lines.


"I-it wasn't m-my fault," she said, looking up, her eyes pleading with the faceless triangle who was monitoring her. Without a word, the triangle pulled out a handheld dart gun, pointed it at her, and pulled the trigger. There was a POP, and everyone flinched. The bunny fell over, her quiet sobs becoming snores. Nearby, a hyena man froze, as he realized that when he jumped from the sudden POP, his green colored pencil had crossed from the number five space, into a nearby six space. He grabbed another pencil to try and cover it up. POP! And he slumped over. Soon, there were another four pops in a row, and then another, and then another. Everyone froze and waited, and finally, with one last POP, all was silent.


Forcing his paws to be steady, Mel continued to color in the number ones on his paper. Ignoring the clock, Mel worked, trying to not tense up and jump from each random POP that would go off, sometimes nearby. A few begged, some even screamed, but most just quietly cried and looked the triangles in where they imagined their eyes to be.


As Mel worked, he hissed, as the claw of the pinky he was using to color with the red paint extended a little, and came very close to accidentally going over into a three space. Mel froze, and slowly calmed down. Then, looking at the dull little claw, he suddenly realized he had a more fine point tool to utilize, one for each finger. He started picking up the pace, using his pinky claw to trace the insides of all the one spaces and used it to color in the smallest of them, and then would use the finer part of the pinky to smear a little dollop of red paint around the rest of the space.


On the same hand, his right, Mel then extended and dipped the claw of his ring finger into the blue, and started to do the same. He started tuning out the POPs that would go off, getting lost in his own little world of coloring, just him, his paints, and his picture. He was unaware as eyes, mostly fellow fingerpainters, turned towards him and, most of them realizing they had their own claws, and copying what he was doing.


Ariel watched Mel, having first felt sorry for him, but now found that she wished she had chosen paint with him. Three of her twelve colored pencil tips broke, and there was no pencil sharpener in the canister or even attached to the pencil box. Looking at her own semi-retractable claws, Ariel wished there was some way they could help her. Then, an idea sparked for the red panda girl. Taking her index finger claw, she started whittling on her broken green pencil tip. Sure enough, it took a couple tries, but she managed to sharpen it. She quickly did the same with her other broken pencils, and got back to work. A badger woman with crayons watched the red panda and in turn, copied her, to make her purple crayon more pointy and able to use in smaller spaces. The lynx with the blonde and light purple hair saw the badger and, looking at the clock, whittled on the brush part of her marker to make a finer point too.


Mel was in the home stretch, just three large sections of the butterfly's wings with the number eleven. That's when Mel had a sudden realization. There were eleven numbers and paints, but he only had ten fingers, and all of them were currently wet with ten different colors. He very briefly considered using a toe, but dismissed that as being too clumsy. The least amount of paint on any of his fingers was the color white on his right thumb and claw. Not sure of what else to do, and hoping that this paint was non-toxic, Mel stuck his thumb in his mouth, beginning to suck on it.


Mel found, despite there being five minutes left on the clock, sucking the bland-tasting paint off his thumb to be a calming act. In fact, he noticed that he was sucking in a similar rhythm to when he was sucking on his bottle this morning, and the pacifier from last night. Not tasting the vaguely chalky substance anymore, he pulled his thumb out and wiped it on his onesie. He quickly inspected his thumb and saw no trace of white on it, and so dipped it in the unused purple. He carefully traced the insides of the spaces like he'd been doing, and used the side of his thumb to color in the rest. Looking at the pretty butterfly on the green rose with the white stem, Mel couldn't find any more empty spaces. Looking up, Mel realized that a triangle was scrutinizing his work. They then looked him in the eyes, and nodded.


"Number four-hundred and fifty-six has passed," the chipper voice on the speakers announced. Getting up, he carefully grabbed his picture by the corner and carried it with him, setting it on a table in the purple tent, before being led out. Ariel was next, followed by a trickle, and then a flood of others. With less than a minute to go, many rushed, and more than a few made mistakes in doing so. There were again a series of POPs that caused others to make mistakes as well. Finally, there was a happy chime.


"And that's the end of the game. All players who have yet to finish their pictures are now eliminated! Thanks for playing!" the female voice said. Fifteen other players sat there, staring with wide and fearful eyes at the triangles who were lining up, now holding dart gun rifles. As the players who completed the game were escorted back through the halls, they heard a series of screams and rapid-fire POPs. No one said a word, all looking down at their feet as they trudged forward.


Day four has come and gone. Getting back to the room, they watched the player count start counting down again. Of the 101 who were left after game three, fifty six had been eliminated. The counter stopped when it reached 45. Mel saw this, hugged Mr. Cash to his chest, smiled at Ariel, and then started waddling towards the nearest changing table. He needed a fresh diaper.








 

BOO-YAH! That is... a LOT of words! I am so surprised I was able to get so many out in one day. It wasn't the entire piece, but still, like 3/4s of it I wrote in just one day! Anyways, I hope you liked it!

[BabySofia]

We've moved down to coloring... what's next? 🙂

You're probably the only person I know who writes furry stuff that I get interested in to read. Looking forward to what you're bringing in next. Speaking of the DD tale from above, time to update that one! 😉

[Panther Cub]

4 hours ago, BabySofia said:

We've moved down to coloring... what's next? 🙂

You're probably the only person I know who writes furry stuff that I get interested in to read. Looking forward to what you're bringing in next. Speaking of the DD tale from above, time to update that one! 😉

That was to be a cuter version of the Honeycomb Game from the show. As for what's next... you'll just have to find out!

Awwww! I'm glad to know that you like my stuff even with furries in it!

And I will!

[Panther Cub]

YAY! It's finally done and here! The final installment of Stork Game, finished and ready for reading! I feel so happy to have finished it, finally! I hope you all enjoy it! (And please consider leaving a comment or review!)






Stork Game (Part 3 of 3)


By


Panther Cub






Mel looked unamused with his arms crossed, glaring at the circle who was sitting across from him. The pink vixen was safely buckled into a high chair, which was white with pink trim, and had a large baby bib tied around his neck. The circle, who apparently while not allowed to talk, was allowed to make 'Chugga-Chugga' noises with a 'Woo-Woo' as they brought the spoonful of orange mush closer to Mel's lips. Looking to his left, Mel saw Ariel, who seemed to be enjoying this as much as he was, reluctantly accepted a spoonful of yellow mush. From the face she made, Mel was certain the baby food she was being fed was not particularly good. Knowing that this was going to be the only breakfast any of them were likely to receive, Mel sighed, and opened wide so that the train could pass through the tunnel.

Mel's face scrunched up a bit as the taste of the mashed carrots hit his tongue. He swallowed the mush, receiving a pat on the head. And now it seemed his mouth was now an air hanger that needed to be open for a proper landing to take place. Looking around between spoonfuls, Mel saw down the numerous rows of high chairs that had been set up while everyone slept. Upon waking up and getting their diapers changed, it was time for breakfast. Some tried to fight it, with one donkey man kicking a circle in the chest. With a loud POP, he slumped over, and was taken away. The triangle who had shot him with the dart gun said nothing. Just like that all the players had been reminded of their position. The players were not the ones in charge here.

    Mel grimaced as he swallowed another mouthful, grateful to see that the jar was finally empty, for which he received a rather demeaning pat on the head for being good. The jar had been much larger than a regular-sized jar of baby food. The label just had a circle, triangle, and a square on it, and was otherwise unmarked. If he had to bet, he'd say it was three times as big as a normal jar. Mel was then handed a baby bottle, a liter's worth, of some kind of red juice. Mel tried to unscrew the cap, not surprised to find that it wouldn't budge. That was just how things went here, not that that stopped Mel and others from trying. His shoulder sagging a little in defeat, he lifted it up and popped the nipple into his mouth and began to suck. As the taste of what he believed to be cherry juice hit his lips, Mel started to giggle, dribbling a little of the juice down his chin and onto his bib. He glared at the circle who had given his feet a quick tickle. Mel couldn't be certain, but he believed that the face behind the mask was smiling.

    Mel looked around again, taking into account just how drastically different everything was compared to the first day they had all woken up here. There were now many cartoon characters, some Mel recognized, others that were completely foreign to him, on all the walls. The beds, now all converted into giant cribs, were spaced out evenly in neat little rows. Since there were so many fewer than the cramped towers of bunk beds, there was room for the play mats with toy chests and the playpens nearby, with plenty of changing tables at the ready, some presently in use. And now that the donkey guy is gone, the number of players is down to 44.

    To his right, Mel saw the lynx from before, the one with the blonde and light purple-colored hair, sucking on her own bottle, looking defiantly as she did so. Mel then froze as he looked around again, suddenly realizing something. On the right hand side of all the rows were pink and white highchairs, with blue and white ones on the left. Looking closer, the pink vixen could see that everyone in the blue ones were all clearly male, but all the ones in the pink were clearly female. Looking down at his breasts, Mel sighed, and then continued to nurse his half-full bottle.

    It wasn't much longer before Mel was finished, the circle who had fed him taking the empty bottle away and giving him a few gentle pats on the back.

    "There's no need for tha--BEEEEEEEEELCH!" Mel blushed as his paws shot to his muzzle. He heard some snickers from some nearby highchairs, but otherwise no one said anything. Ariel did smile at him though, which made him feel a little better. Other players were also burped, many evidently needing it. With their faces cleaned with damp washcloths and their diapers checked, some needing to be changed again even though they already had been after waking up, the players were soon assembled into four groups of eleven, and taken through the complex maze of stairs and hallways. It was a much shorter trip than before, with all four groups coming out into a wide open white area. Compared to the soft pastels and primary colors they'd been subjected to, the sudden bright monochromatic room was a tad jarring.

    Stepping into the center was a square, who pressed a button on a little remote. The wall behind them slowly slid down revealing a little alcove with 44 faceless mannequins, all with heads shaped to include muzzles and pointed ears resting on top, each with bright pink vests on. The vests were all numbered from 1 to 44, in big bold black numbers. Ariel stepped up to Mel's right and took his paw in her own, giving it a squeeze.

    "Welcome, players," said the monotone voice of the square addressing them, with a semicircle of triangles and their automatic dart guns standing at the ready behind them. blocking off the way they had come. "Before you are a series of vests, which as you can all see, are numbered. You will have one minute to select and put on one of these vests. The numbers represent the order in which you will go in the game, so choose wisely."

    A digital clock on the left wall blinked to life and began counting down. Mel and Ariel were jostled to the side as there was a stampede of players running to the vests. It was a good twenty players who were all going for the numbers in the middle.

    "The obvious strategy," Mel's ears twitched as he heard a feminine voice, one with an English accent to it, came from his left. He and Ariel turned to regard the lynx, who stood there with her arms crossed, a serious expression on her face.

    "What do you mean?" Mel asked.

    "Since we don't know what the next game is, but that the numbered vests determine the order we go in, being one of the first is sure to be more dangerous. And since every game so far has been timed..." she trailed off, but Mel and Ariel both understood. Those in last place would have to wait for everyone else to go, all the while the clock will surely be ticking down, a marked disadvantage. Realizing the situation, Mel and Ariel shared a look, and bolted, with the lynx right beside them. By the time they had gotten there, a lot of the mannequins in the middle were stripped of their vests. Christopher was holding onto part of a vest with both paws while a jackal man was desperately tugging on the other end. The much larger black lion let out a roar that caused the jackal, and many others, to flinch away. With a flash of his sharp teeth in a smug grin, Christopher gave one last great yank, sending the jackal sprawling onto the floor, and stalked off triumphantly putting on the vest which had the number 22 on it.

    Up above, watching through the one way glass mirror that made up the windows of the observation room. The VIP's had all changed and were now wearing soft cushiony robes, draping themselves across expensive plush lounge chairs and couches, enjoying the frenzy below.

    "I told y'all," the silver dragon cheered, raising up his filled champagne flute, "Number Five was going ta just take that damn vest! If anyone's got the guts and the stones ta make it through and win, it'll be him!" His robe was a forest green, covering a bit of a pot belly trying to poke out from inside. "Those mafioso's can be slick as snot when they wanna be."

    "According to his bio, the closest he's ever been to being a member of any criminal organization," the deer said, his robe a deep maroon, "is owing money to a loan shark. He is nothing more than an amateur shoplifter who was caught eight times, and decided to take out a loan to place a large bet on a horse he believed was guaranteed to win. Spoiler alert... it didn't." He was holding up between his thumb and index fingers a miniature, triangle-shaped sandwich that appeared to have a gold-colored slice of some kind of vegetable between the slices of bread and examining it. "Oh my, whatever these are, they are truly delectable."

    "Still, why are there so many crowding around the middle like that?" the cheetah woman, who was enjoying the pedicure she was getting on her new claws from a circle. She was nursing a glass of whiskey in her gold and silver robe.

    "Animal instinct," the English weasel chimed in with a chuckle. He was wearing a red silk smoking jacket, taking puffs from a cigar, watching eagerly from his cushioned seat. "More safety for those at the center of the pack. Though, I must confess, I cannot fathom what sort of game must come next to require our dear players to have to go in turns."

    "On that note," the figure in black said as they approached the window, a circle wheeling in a table with a white sheet covering it. "I have here a clue about the next game." With a nod to the circle, the subordinate wordlessly removed the sheet. The VIP's stared, some looking confused. But the bull, in his navy blue robe, was smirking.

    "Oh, this is gunna be fun."

    Back in the white room, Mel looked at the remaining two vests. In the throng he'd tried jumping into the center of, the pink vixen now found himself standing there in the dead center of the line of mannequins. The one to his far right was wearing a vest with a 01 on it. And the one to the left had a number 44 on it. His choices were... first, or last. Mel turned to look at the others, spying Christopher looking at him and waving. Mel flipped him off and sought out Ariel. There she was, a 40 on the vest she was wearing. Next to her was the lynx, who had on a 29 vest. Ariel looked at him sadly, and Mel sighed, starting to weigh his options.

    "Okay... so if I'm first... that means I have a better chance of being first to finish this game," Mel said aloud, looking at the clock, which had twenty seconds left on it. "If I'm last... then that means there's a better chance for time running out for me. And I'll have to probably move faster to try and avoid that, making my chances of screwing up greater. Whereas with the number one position... I can possibly go as slow as I want and be cautious." Mel started walking towards the number one vest, when he stopped, now looking more unsure. Mel jumped a little when a paw gently tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see a nervous and fidgety white-furred squirrel woman. She was standing there, looking down at her feet.

    "P-please," she said, her voice a whisper, "please... can I be number one?"

    "H-huh?" Mel asked, confused.

    "A-all my life," she said, sniffling, "I've done what I was told. I always listened and done what everyone else wanted me to do. B-but today... I w-want to make a decision for myself." Now she looked into Mel's eyes, her own hardened with resolve. "Please... let me be number one, just once in my life."

    Mel, his shoulders sagging, nodded and turned to walk to the 44 vest. He noticed that he had more of a waddle now, and looked down at the teal legless onesie he was wearing. He couldn't tell for certain, but he was confident that his diaper bulge was a little thicker and droopier now. Not a full wetting, but definitely soggy. He grabbed his vest and quickly slipped it on, just as the squirrel did for hers. Looking at the clock, he saw that they had had five seconds left, and chastised himself for losing track of the time like that. Remembering how crucial it was to watch the clocks, Mel waddled back over to Ariel. Something about being dressed as a big baby in a group of similarly dressed individuals took some of the sting out of the embarrassment.

    They were ushered through a large opening that appeared in the far right wall. Behind them, the viewing glass panels closed, and a faint grinding noise could be heard as the VIP room shifted and started sliding along the tracks hidden in the walls and ceiling, following the players out and into the next room. It was a massive chamber that was dimly lit. The lights kicked on, making the players blink. The walls were all yellow and red-striped. Below the platform the players were standing on was red linoleum flooring, that was maybe ten or twenty feet down. Off on either side were some stages, with animatronic animal people playing in a band, moving with jerky motions. Elsewhere, Mel could see multicolored tube slides, arcade games with their flashing lights and whistles, make out the smell of pizza, and in the center of the floor was an olympic-sized ball pit.

    Stretching from the platform to an identical one all the way across the room, were two bridges running parallel to one another. These bridges were made up of different colored squares held up by two sets of rails, with the colors of the squares on one matching the corresponding squares on the other. There were gaps in between the squares, meaning that moving across one bridge would mean jumping from square to square. It was also a short hop to the other bridge. Just behind him, the wall panel that served as the door to the previous room slid closed.

    "Attention players," came the cheery voice that made Mel really want to punch whomever it belonged to in the throat for having the audacity to be so bright and chipper in light of what was going on. "Welcome to game five! Wacky Stepping Stones! The stepping stones before you are one of two types of squares. One is solid and will support up to two players at once. The other... is a trap door that when stepped on by just one person will drop open, causing the player standing on it to fall into the ballpit below. All players who fall into the ballpit are eliminated. For this game, you will have to guess which of the next two squares before you is the solid square, and which is the trapdoor, and only step on those across the 44 pairs of squares in order to cross over to the other platform and safely complete this game.  I will now repeat the rules."

    Mel felt sick as he looked around the room. That was when he noticed something. On the right-hand stage, standing in the center, was an animatronic pink bear. What made this one stand out from all the others, was that it was holding a microphone... and the jerky movement of its mouth matched the chipper voice on the speaker explaining the rules again. Mel then looked up to see the white squirrel woman shaking like a leaf, turning to look at the square.

    "Th-then that m-means th-that the numbers o-on our vests..."

    "Are the order in which you will cross the bridge," the square face said, matter of factly. The squirrel turned to look at the other players, seeing Mel. When the vixen looked into her eyes now, he couldn't see the resolve from before. All that was there was a dull panic. She turned to look back at the twin bridges, her arms hanging limply at her sides.

    "For this game, you shall have 25 minutes to make it across to the other platform. The time will begin at the sound of the buzzer."

    Back in the VIP room, the cheetah woman sat there with her arms crossed, looking very unhappy. "Can't believe that the next player I put my money on wound up going first," she took a swig of her whiskey. "Damn moronic peasant!"

    "How much did you put on that one?" the deer asked, sipping his own drink.

    "Two freakin' million! I thought I could make up for the disaster that was my last bet."

    Just then, a loud buzzer began to blare, and the squirrel woman jumped back. She froze as she stood there, looking at all the blue squares immediately before her. She took a deep breath, and began muttering to herself. The clock had started ticking down, and the other players began looking at it and shuffling nervously.

    "Hey, hurry up and go already," the jackal from before, now wearing a number 16 vest, called out. She ignored him and continued to mutter. In between others yelling, Mel's ears twitched as he picked out what sounded like equations coming from the woman. Just then, Christopher stormed by and loomed over the woman.

    "If you don't hurry up and  jump. I'm going to pick for you by pushing you onto one," he growled out.


    "I am... or was, a physics professor, you dumb ape," the squirrel practically hissed with venom in her voice. "And I also am a statistician, so I'm going over the odds for each square across."

    Chrisopher scoffed and leaned down close, speaking in a soft but menacing voice. "If you were any damn good at statistics you would have made bank at any casino, now MOVE!"

    She flinched as he yelled, but nodded. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the edge of the platform. She crouched and leapt onto the square on the right. She froze and appeared to be holding her breath. When nothing happened, she turned and gave the rest of the players, including Mel, a cautiously optimistic smile. The next pair of squares were red and, taking a deep breath again, she leapt across the bridge to the red square on the left. She then kept the momentum going, leaping across rapidly, practically running across the bridges. The other players and the VIP's watched in amazement as she soon had made it all the way across, practically collapsing on the platform, physically and emotionally spent. Some of the other players started to cheer, the mood amongst them lightening a bit. Up in the observation room, the cheetah woman was standing up, cheering.

    "I never stopped believing in her, that beautiful low-class genius!" The other VIP's had a good laugh at that.

    Back in the game room, the lynx woman scratched her chin. "Wait... was anyone keeping track of which ones she leapt on?" At that, the relief that the players had been feeling immediately vanished. "Thought not," she said with a sigh.

    "It doesn't matter, just hurry up and start going!" Christopher growled, pushing a green crocodile man with a number 2 vest forward. He jumped to the right blue square, and then paused. He turned to look back at the group.

    "Uh... which one was it again?" he asked.

    "It was the left... I think," a yellow bunny man said. There was murmuring as many seemed unsure, and those who moments before had felt they knew for certain which it was, now were no longer sounding so certain.

    "For crying out loud, it was the right!" Christopher yelled.

    "O-oh... okay... you sure?"

    "Yes, now move it! Time's running out!"

    "Alright..." the crocodile jumped onto the right platform, the red square immediately collapsing from his weight and swinging down. He screamed as he fell into the ball pit. Popping back up, there was a POP, and a dart hit him in the shoulder. "NO!" He yanked it out, but was soon out like a light, a circle coming and collecting him.

Christohpher looked at everyone else and smirked. "I guess I forgot."

    Tentatively, player three, a gray wolf hopped onto the right square, and then to the single remaining red one. The next pair were green, and after taking a moment to look at the clock, he hopped onto the left square. It too was a trapdoor and down to the ball pit he plummeted with a yelp. A POP coming afterwards. As the VIP's watched, the players slowly started to make their way across the bridges. Player four, a falcon woman with red, brown, and white feathers, fared a bit better. They guessed correctly on the fourth pair, and the fifth. However, on the sixth pair, they jumped onto the left square to find that it was a trapdoor that dropped them to their soon-to-be second childhood. The single digits went fast, with number seven, another wolf, forgetting which squares had been safe, and picking incorrectly. The only saving grace for the players who have yet to go being that the false tiles, once stepped on, did not reset, revealing at least part of the safe path.

    Mel was starting to panic as he looked at the clock, seeing that they were down to seventeen minutes, and only now was number 13, an orange gecko, hopping onto the first tile. There was now a slow-moving line of players going across the bridge. Mel gulped and looked at Ariel. She seemed just as nervous as he felt, and the growing anxiety from the other players was palpable. This was reflected by the ones waiting to go hurrying up. And now players were jumping onto platforms that were already occupied. Now again there's another scream as someone picked wrong and fell off, with another loud POP coming from one of the animatronics. While thankful that he had not been the first one to go, Mel could do nothing else but start pacing back and forth. At the fifteen minute mark, those in the twenties had started hopping onto the bridges.

    Christopher wasted no time in jumping on when it was his turn. He bumped into the player in ahead of him, sending the rat woman tumbling into the open space right in front of her. Other players looked at him with wide eyes. The big black lion just shrugged with a smirk.

    "Oops," was all he said, before looking at the two players now ahead of him. "If you guys don't want me helping move you along, then let's speed this process up! We're at thirteen minutes dammit!" His words, while cruel, rang true, and the players started to hop along faster, albeit a bit more recklessly. One fox man jumped to a safe square, but stumbled and fell off over the side. While he safely landed in the ballpit, the loud POP followed by his sudden yet brief cry of shock was still unnerving. As Mel and Ariel watched while hugging their tails, more people were making it past the halfway part, but now the only person left from the single digit vests was the squirrel woman sitting on the opposite platform. She was curled up a little, receiving a gentle headpat from the one of the two triangles flanking the big wooden door on that platform.

    "Wish me luck," the mysterious lynx said to the two of them, hopping onto the bridge, immediately followed by a tiger with a number 30 on his vest. When the clock was down to eleven minutes, the thirties were almost all on the bridge by this point. Ariel took Mel's paw in hers and gave it a squeeze.

    "Good luck, Ariel," Mel said.

    "See you on the other side," the red panda replied with a forced smile. She waddled to the edge, and leapt to the square. While a little relieved that he would soon be going, that didn't make the fear from the game itself abate. Mel had never been afraid of heights, but this was enough to give anyone acrophobia. Soon, 41, 42, and 43 were jumping on. Mel walked up to the ledge, and froze, staring wide-eyed at the two squares in front of him. Mel wracked his brain, trying to remember which one was the safe square, but he couldn't!

    "It's the one on the right!" Mel looked up, seeing Ariel smiling back at him. "Right!" Some players were looking back, but most were focusing on the next two who simultaneously fell into the ballpit. Mel smiled back and nodded, hopping onto the right blue square. From there he jumped onto the red one, and then the green. He was focusing on the players ahead, trying to mentally track who was standing safely on what. The first of the players in the twenties, a jackrabbit man, hopped onto the platform, sinking to his knees and crying with relief. More players were making it across, but then another from near the end went screaming over the side. Looking ahead, Mel saw Christopher smirking, standing on one of the last three squares. He had his usual smirk on his face. Looking at the clock, which was down to eight minutes and twelve seconds, he put his hands on his hips.

    "The way I see it," he called out, loud enough to be heard, "is that this right here is the perfect opportunity for us all to... thin the herd, so to speak." Everyone looked shocked at the black lion, who just chuckled. "We have about eight minutes left, and there's still quite a few of us. The way I see it, the more players who make it across means the more players we have to all compete with for the money. And if a lot of players all end up winning together... well, that means all that money is going to be divided up all the more between us. I, for one, don't really like sharing."

    "You can't be serious," the lynx girl called out, looking nervous.

    "Oh but I am, little girl," Christopher snarled. "Now, you could all try to bum rush me, which will probably work. But I guarantee you all that I will be taking some folks down with me. And what's more, I'll end up eating up some more of our precious fucking time doing it. Or... we can all start pushing some folks off the edge and make things easier for all the rest of us later on. And before anyone wants to continue arguing, the clock is literally ticking. I suggest you all make your decision soon."

Mel felt his heart beat for a second, and then another. Just when he was about to feel a little relieved, the cat woman sharing the safe square with him whipped around and grabbed him by the arm. She attempted to swing the surprised vixen around and make him fall off. Mel dug his foot claws in and out of reflex pushed her away. The woman shrieked and pinwheeled her arms a bit, but it was no good. Down she went, screaming. More screams soon joined her as others were shoving and punching each other. Mel saw Ariel bite down on the hand of a bear man who was trying to pick her up. She dropped down on the square and swept his legs out from under him. With the wind knocked out of him, she pushed, and over the edge he went. Mel watched as the red dragon that was now in-between him and Ariel leapt onto her square and started pushing. Without thinking, Mel ran and jumped, legs out, landing a full-body kick to the side of the dragon's ribs. He screamed and fell to the ballpit, while Ariel hugged Mel.

    "Thanks for the save," she said, her voice hoarse. It was now that Mel realized that she was crying.

    "Anytime." Mel had to clear his own throat, feeling it choke up a little.

    They silently watched the chaos unfold. A couple of skunks, one guy and one gal, tried to leap onto Christopher. He easily dodged the guy, who went careening over the side, and casually backhanded the woman off. More were going over, some even accidentally hopping onto previously established unsafe squares, not paying attention as their main focus was on getting away from someone trying to push them off, some even with their pursuers unintentionally following them straight down to the ballpit. All the while, there were POPs, the automated targeting identifying non-darted individuals in the ballpit and firing on them. Cristopher had started grappling with the lynx, who was getting in some good body shots when she got her arms free, and she even managed to knee him in between his legs. She leapt off the square he was on to the last two safe ones between her and the other platform, making it across.

    Getting up, he saw a few more making their way to him and, feeling he'd at least gotten a few more to go over, he managed to weakly hop to the next square. With how fast the players were moving across, the fighting and the clock ticking down to three minutes, three players, a wolf, a horse, and a deer doe, found themselves standing on the square Christopher had been occupying. While still very sore and wheezing a little, he got ready for another fight, when he and the other three froze from the sudden loud crack. There was a second one, and the square ale three were standing on split apart, the trio falling into the ballpit. The lion looked on in shock, before beginning to bark out a harsh laugh.

    "So that's why they specified two players!" He wiped his eyes as he carefully jumped to the next square, and then onto the platform. Now there was a very large gap in the bridge. The fighting quickly died down as the players looked on in horror. A hyena guy gulped and backed up a bit. He got a running start and leapt. His chest slammed into the purple wooden square, and he let out an audible OOF! Scrabbling a bit, he managed to pull himself up and, with shaky legs, hopped the last square to safety.

    The movement forward had slowed a bit as everyone left was forced to try and run and jump across. a couple made it, barely, but most never came close, or couldn't get a grip and fell. The otter man before Mel and Ariel tried to walk across the metal beam, holding both arms out for balance. But he lost his footing and fell to his diapered future. Now Mel and Ariel were the last, with less than a minute on the clock. Slowly go forward on the skinny metal beam, or try to quickly jump across.

    "I don't suppose you were in gymnastics as a kid," Mel asked, only half-joking.

    "Uh... no... but, on my old school's playground there was a balance beam... I'm gunna try it." Mel thought for a moment and looked at the gap. It was amazing anyone, let alone a few people, could actually make that. Looking at the beam... he gulped again. Ariel went first, both arms out for balance, with Mel right behind her. They ignored the clock as they went, but were not going slowly. Ariel inhaled sharply and wobbled a bit at the halfway point. She steadied herself, while Mel was internally screaming, feeling that he was barely managing any kind of balance. Try as he might, he couldn't help but look at the colorful pit of balls below him. Ariel hopped onto the square, letting out a held breath.

    "C'mon, Mel, you can do it!"

    "Yeah! You got this, Mel!" At the sound of another voice, Mel looked to see the lynx smiling and waving him over. "You can do it!" Now some of the other players were calling out encouragement, while Christopher rolled his eyes and snorted. Mel smiled a bit, feeling a little less nervous, and joined Ariel on the safe square, where she gave him a quick hug.

    "OI! AVE THAT FOR WHEN YOU AIN'T ON THE CLOCK! NOW MOVE IT!" The lynx yelled this, seeing that they only had fifteen seconds left. Mel and Ariel, holding hands, jumped together to the last square, and then finally to the platform, with three seconds left on the clock. When the clock hit zero, there was another loud buzzer, and like that, the few remaining trapdoors sprung open, and all the safe squares became detached from one side or the other, essentially becoming new trap doors that swung open as well.

    "Congratulations, pleyers, on completing the fifth game! You should all be proud." Mel looked and watched the pink animatronic bear say this, giving him a jerky wave. He shuddered, and got in line with Ariel and the lynx, as the door opened and some circles and a square met with them. They were herded all together, and led out of the game room, the lights inside of which began to dim.

    "Now that was one hell of a game," the bull VIP said, snacking on some fancy finger foods he couldn't remember the name of, and just knew were very expensive.

    "I'll say. Although it was regrettable that my bet had to go and just fall off the side like that," the weasel said.

    "Well, ya gotta know how to pick 'em," the female cheetah replied, downing another glass of whiskey. "I own twelve horses, all of 'em champions, and ya just gotta be able to see that winnin' spirit in 'em. Same goes for people, well, people when they've been given a little direction."

    "Agreed," the deer said. The figure in black looked at their phone, before turning to a team of triangles standing out of sight of the VIP's. The black masked individual gave them a nod, and waved a dismissive gloved paw to the circles in the room. The circles all simultaneously got up and silently exited. There were some murmurs from the VIP's as they saw this.

    "Where are they goin'?" asked the silver dragon, looking at the black cloaked figure.

    "Their job here in the VIP observation lounge has come to an end," said the deadpan and transmogrified voice from behind the black mask. In walked two dozen of the triangles, all armed with their dart guns. They quickly encircled the VIP's, leveling the barrels at them.

    "What the hell do y'all think yer doin'?!" the silver dragon growled, looking nervously for an exit, finding them all cut off.

    "We're your sponsors in this whole exchange program!" the weasel yelled, being roughly pushed back by a triangle. The one in charge simply watched from where they sat, their posture and movements radiating pure tranquility.

    "Yes, and we genuinely appreciate your contributions and future contributions to our cause, which your companies and estates will continue to do so now that we've finished taking them from you."

    "Wh-what?! That's impossible!" The cheetah hurled her empty shot glass to a triangle, who promptly shot her with a dart. She hissed before soon falling unconscious.

    "Our technology is more advanced than your own. Once we'd had time to study yours, it was rather simple for us to begin hacking. What's more, ownership of your companies and properties has already been transferred to our own agents, Kin who, since we take on human forms when we enter your world, put all of the money and resources you've all had at your disposal to much better use than any of you have ever done in your entire lives."

    "Wh-when the others find out--" the bull stammered, only to be cut off.

    "The only 'others' are our operatives who have infiltrated high society on Earth, with the sole purpose of bringing in more of the wealthy elite who fit our criteria for... removal. Well, and we have some others in place making sure no country just goes and starts firing off nukes all willy-nilly. Admittedly our intervention on that front has been rather minimal since the end of the Cold War, but still. Do not worry, you are being given the same gift that all the players who've been eliminated have. A fresh start. Once more, we here at our organization just cannot thank you enough for your contribution."

    "FUCK YOU!!!" The silver dragon bellowed, before the triangles opened fire. In a matter of seconds, all of the VIP's were darted and napping on the floor, some already beginning to shrink. In returned the circles who, in addition to gathering up the new charges, also started to clean up the spilled drinks and food. The black mask tapped on their phone a confirmation to the others, before pressing a button on the side of their chair when the last person had left. Alone, they watched as the room shifted and moved on its tracks, coming to rest in the player housing area, now missing some more cribs. They watched the players who in turn were now looking at the screen above the doorway they had just entered through. It started ticking down from 44, coming to rest at 11. Through the speakers, the black mask heard the slot machine jackpot sound effect play as more money poured into the piggy bank.

    "Rest well, little ones," they said, the transmogrified voice taking on a much more gentle tone. "Tomorrow is the final game as well as the final test."

Down in the nursery, the remaining 11 players were being attended to. Some were now sporting green and blue bandages wrapped on them, all of them being led to the changing tables. Mel looked over as his bottom was being powdered. Over on his right was Ariel who was in the midst of a giggle fit brought on by the circle changing her tickling her tummy. Mel also let out a titter as his feet were tickled too. Looking past Ariel, he could see Christopher, who looked grumpy with his arms crossed, his legs held up by the circle attending to him, while said circle was wiping his bottom.

    Mel looked away and could see the lynx girl on a nearby changing table, hiding her blushing face in her white paws while a clean diaper was taped on around her waist. Hers had a chibi tiger sniper on the front. Looking down at his own diaper being taped on, Mel saw his was decorated with many different colored hearts with pink leg gathers and landing strip, the word 'Princess' spelled out in pink calligraphy on the front. Mel huffed and hugged Mr. Cash, his teddy bear, close to his chest. With a belly rub, the teal onesies were snapped back shut and Mel was picked up off the table. He was carried over to a single large playpen, now the only playpen left in the room, and deposited inside. He blushed when his padded bottom was gently patted, and was thankful that Ariel was deposited right next to him. Soon, all the others were in the playpen. Mel saw Christopher scoot over to one corner and sit there, sucking on a blue pacifier. He saw that the lynx was nearby playing with some kind of red plush platypus and a set of rainbow stacking rings.

    "If it weren't for how big everyone is, I'd say we'd look like a bunch of babies," Mel said in a quiet voice to Ariel, who was busy setting up a plastic tea set and some plushies.

    "This part isn't so bad, Melly," Ariel said, taking a seat on her padded posterior across from him, smiling at him expectantly. "I used to love having tea parties when I was little."

    Mel frowned and blushed. "W-well, I was a boy, and I'll be turning back into a guy when we go back home." He looked back to see the red panda giving him the wide puppy dog eyes. He sighed and relented. "Okay... it's not like we've got anything better to do."

    "Uhm..." Mel and Ariel looked over to see the lynx girl blushing and hugging her plush, looking nervous. "C-can I join?" She sounded so much different from how she acted during the game.

    "Sure!" Ariel said, giggling excitedly. "I'm Ariel!"

    "I'm Annie... but my friends call me Star." The lynx smiled behind her plush friend, looking like a big kitten.

    "Well, Star, welcome to our tea party! This is my baby sister, Melly!"

    "Hey! I'm notta baby, you are!" Mel pouted, blushing a little, his tail wagging behind him despite his efforts to make it stop. The girls giggled. All three were surprised when a circle leaned over the railing of the playpen to deposit some cookies on a plate onto their table, and then set down three bottles of milk. Mel was slowly drawn into the game, giving Mr. Cash a very posh voice with lots of harrumphs. Elsewhere in the playpen, the jackal man from earlier and the white squirrel girl were stacking blocks together and laughing. Others were playing with armgos, assembling strange colorful little towns, and others still were cuddling plush toys. From his corner, Christopher surveyed the rest of the players, smirking to himself. He zeroed in on the trio playing tea party and shook his head.

    "All the rest of the competition is just a bunch of babies... I've got this in the bag," he muttered to himself, happily taking the offered bottle from a circle and suckling on it. When the circle started to rub his tummy as he drank, he started to purr and slid down onto his back, smiling blissfully around the nipple.



* * *



    Mel smiled around his binky as he stared up at the mobile above him, plush stars no longer turning like they were at bedtime after their bath. He suckled on his binky as he snuggled under the blankie with Ariel, who was just now yawning and rubbing her eyes. She had a yellow binky in her muzzle, and the two were wearing soft fleece teal footie jammies with their player numbers on the back. Mel rolled over a little, frowning a bit from the squishiness of his diaper. When the circles entered to begin gathering up the other players, there was no resistance from anyone as they were carried to the awaiting changing tables. Breakfast today was just a bottle of some kind of formula. Mel accepted it, not hating the creamy milky substance, but felt it was a bit bland.

    Mel noticed something different about this diaper change. All of the diapers were blue and pink for boys and girls respectively, Mel being taped into a pink one. He noticed that the plastic leg gathers seemed a bit snugger than previous diapers. And his, as well as everyone else's diaper designs were all nautical-themed. Raising a questioning eyebrow, she looked over to Ariel who was sporting one of her own as she guzzled down her formula. Being stood up on the floor, Mel realized something else. They weren't being snapped into fresh onesies. Instead, Mel, along with the other girls, were being snapped into one-piece teal bathing suits, with ruffled skirts around their waists, and their numbers in white on the back. The boys were having teal swim trunks pulled up and the drawstrings tied nice and snug over diapers that Mel quickly guessed to be swim diapers.

    "I think we're going swimming for the last game," Star piped in, waddling over to stand by Mel and Ariel. The circles then finished things by slipping inflated blue and pink water wings onto their arms. Mel's headfur was ruffled by the circle who took his empty bottle, and patted him on the back. Mel blushed as his body burped yet again, but felt better when the others had to deal with the same, this time Christopher letting out the loud belch, dribbling some white liquid down his chin, which an attending circle wiped up with a baby wipe. Christopher growled and batted the circle's paws away, only to be booped on his nose.

    "Players," said the monotone voice of the square overseeing them today. They had their paws clasped behind their back, flanked on either side by triangles as the circles exited. "On behalf of all of us here at our organization, as well as the entirety of the Kin, I would like to extend to you our gratitude and appreciation for sticking it out and coming this far. Each one of you should be proud, for you have fought and persevered where so many have faltered. Today is the final day, for the final game, between you eleven. We wish you all the best of luck."

    The players said nothing, some, like Christopher, outright glaring at the square. Mel felt a little taken aback by that little speech. It was hard to determine for certain, but something in the square's monotone voice suggested that they... actually believed in what they were saying. Mel bit back a growl, feeling Ariel squeeze his paw. They were soon being herded out the door by the triangles, to take one last trip down and up and through the crazy, plastic, colorful stars that went every which way. Coming out into a brightly lit room, Mel and the others looked out onto a pool. It was the size of a small lake.

    The walls were painted with beach scenery, dotted with starfish. Above, on the ceiling, there was an intricate mural of an octopus with a few seahorses abound. Ringing the pool were a series of white lifeguard towers, where sat triangle-faces, looking down on the pool. Floating on the center of the water was some kind of platform made from the same material as the pool noodles that Mel remembered playing with as a kid. Or at least some kind of material that looked similar. The platform was connected by a short retractable bridge that was currently connected to it. As they were led closer to it, Mel could see that the large platform, which looked to be the size of a basketball court, was made up of squares in the shapes of puzzle pieces.

    "Welcome players, to the sixth and final game!" There was that chipper voice, making Mel bite back on another growl. "You little cuties are in for a treat! Today's game is... Crumbling Platform! You will have twenty-five minutes on the timer. You must stay on the platform during that time. Any player who attempts to leap off and out of the pool shall be eliminated. Any player that falls into the water shall be eliminated. Any and all players still standing on the platform when the timer counts down to zero are the winners! I will now repeat the rules."

    "I think this is a trick," Ariel whispered into Mel and Star's ears. The vixen and the lynx nodded. The jackal man, part of the waistband of his diaper poking up over the waistband of his trunks, was on his hands and knees on the bridge next to the platform, closely looking underneath it.

    "There's some kind of metal-looking device attached to each tile," he called out. Getting up, he, along with the rest, were led onto the platform. Mel felt a little off-balance from the gentle swaying of it, feeling his feet sink in a little into the kinda spongy material underneath. He and the others steadied themselves as they were all led to positions that had them all circling the outer edge. The staff left the platform, and the bridge disconnected from it, retracting back to the side of the pool. There was a loud BUZZ, and the clock started counting down.

"Nobody move!" Star called out, looking to all ten of the other players. "If we all just stay on the platform, then we all get the money! The current amount is almost fifty-nine billion! Divide that by eleven, and that's still over five billion for each of us! More than enough for all of us to pay off our debts and have so much leftover to never have to worry about money again!" The jackal and the squirrel nodded in agreement. Mel and Ariel looked at each other and smiled. The gator man and the falcon woman seemed a little nervous.

    "This is true," a golden gryphon said.

    "I... I think I could manage to not squander it all away..." a panda man added in.

    "I could even open up my own restaurant," the jackrabbit said, looking like he had stars in his eyes.

    "Yeah... nuthin' doin', sweet cheeks," Christopher said with a snort, striding confidently up to the center of the platform. "I said it before that I'm not big into sharing. Sure, five billion and some change could get me out of some trouble I'm in back home... but the cool sixty? That's enough to start makin' some changes in the world. And I've already started makin' plans with that money." He started walking towards Star, who was squaring up, ready for a fight. Mel tensed his muscles, completely sick of this arrogant jackass' bullshit... when something happened none of them were expecting. Random puzzle pieces started to rapidly change color from orange to green. Those that turned fully green silently sank into the water. The reason for the name of the game suddenly became rather obvious.

    Christopher had to leap backwards at the last second as the puzzle he's been standing on turned green and sank, sadly not taking him with it. Mel looked down at his square and saw only bright green. With a yelp, he leapt to an orange one just before he could fall in. Everyone was now hopping from square to square as more tiles started to change. Looking around, Mel saw that after a few seconds, the tiles that sank floated back up, now bright orange again, and slotted right back into the holes in the platform they had come from.

What started off as random pieces turning green soon became complex patterns, and began to speed up. It was then that the pattern became a single green line leading out from the center that started to spin clockwise. Right behind the oncoming line was open water, with orange pieces popping right back up a second later. Mel timed it as the line came towards him, the others sprinting to avoid it, and instead jumped. An orange piece popped back up under his feet right before he went into the water. He had to jump a few more times, and others copied him instead of running, but so far, nobody went in. And then, at the fifteen minute mark, no more green squares. The platform just bobbed in the water, which was starting to get choppier. Mel was at first confused, until he turned and saw large waves rushing to the platform.

    "Oh crap! This is a wave pool!" Mel tried to remember what he'd learned during his brief attempt on the California coast to learn how to surf. The waves started making the platform bob up and down, again and again. Mel kept his footing, but unfortunately, the jackal man didn't. He tripped over his own feet in an attempt to adjust his position and was bounced right off into the water. There was a whistle, and from the base of one of the watchtowers, a pair of circles on a wave runner gunned it through the waves, getting close to where the jackal was. One grabbed onto the passed out canine who seemed to be a bit smaller than he was just moments before, and pulled him over their lap.

    They sped back to the watchtower where more circles were waiting. It was at the ten minute mark that the waves calmed down. The pools looked almost tranquil in comparison, before suddenly the entire platform lifted up on the left side out of the water, causing the surprised jackrabbit to fall over and tumble down, slamming into the gator, the both going into the water. The raised edge slapped back down onto the water, and then dipped in as the other side raised up. The panda and now Mel slipped and tumbled. Ariel caught Mel, while the panda man dug his claws into the foam flooring. An arm up to his water wing went into the water, but he stayed on just fine.

    "Phew, that was clo--OUCH!" He slapped at his wet water wing as the platform lowered. "S-somethin' stung me," he said while tiredly whimpering. His eyes drooped and when the platform raised up from another angle, he slipped into the water. More waverunners and circles came out now to collect the three fallen. The platform continued to raise up and lower, each time raising up one side higher and higher. Mel, Ariel, and Star were digging their claws in to keep from falling from the steeper angle. They could see Christopher and the gryphon, both with claws digging into the foam, were having a one-handed fist fight. Christopher growled and grabbed the gryphon by the throat, and tore him off the platform, literally as the poor gryphon had several large orange chunks still stuck onto his taloned claws. The platform crashed back down, and then slowly started one more rise. Mel saw that it was the opposite side from the one they were still holding onto.

    "We gotta go!" He urged Ariel and Star to start running as the platform gained momentum. To their right, Christopher backhanded the oblivious white squirrel woman who was trying to run past him, sending her rolling to the side that had now dipped under the water. The vixen, the red panda, and the lynx were now clutching the lip of the side of the platform that was now sticking up out of the water at an almost ninety degree angle. A little below them, Christopher was slowly climbing up with the use of his claws. The falcon woman was in between them and him, and she let out a terrified squawk and Christopher grabbed her ankle, and ripped her down. She tried to flap her wings, but only managed to spin in the air before slamming into the water.

    Ariel felt a sudden shift in the platform. "It's going back down!" Mel and Star nodded to her, and the three let go when it was no longer a straight shot downward. The lynx, now sliding on her back, kicked the other feline right square in his nose, causing a sickening crunch from the impact. Blood immediately gushed from Christopher's nose as his eyes watered and he let out a roar. The side they had been holding onto collided with the surface of the water, breaking through and briefly swamping the place the trio had just been. Standing back up, Christopher snarled at the three of them, when the clock hit the five minute mark.

    That's when all the squares broke apart. They turned and moved on the water, not just mindless drifting, making concentric spirals leading to the center of the pool. Then, forming rapidly, was a whirlpool at the very center of the spiral. The circles had gathered up the last of the eliminated players and driven back, leaving the final four standing on their own individual puzzle pieces, the loose spiral they formed slowly spinning into the vortex. Tiles would be sucked under and, like in the first part of the event, they would pop back up to the surface, only now at the outer edge of the spiral, essentially adding to it and making it a never ending one.

"This is just getting ridiculous," Mel yelled over the roar of the water. Then he saw Christopher sprinting up along the spiral as he and his friends were being drawn closer. Without thinking, Mel grabbed the girls' arms and gave a tug. They saw him jump from the spiral they were on, which now was now longer the outer spiral, and headed further inward. The vixen and the lynx followed suit, and Christopher, looking seriously pissed, also jumped to the inner ring. That's when the trio jumped back out, the lion drawing closer and doing the same. trying to run out the clock and avoid him and the whirlpool, they jumped to the newly formed section of the outer ring. Unfortunately, Christopher had correctly guessed as much and had leapt up behind them in a crouch. The three tensed for a fight. Christopher smirked at them, and whipped the hand he had dipped in the water, splashing it at them.

    "Remember the panda? When his arm went into the water up to his water wing, he said something stung him? Well, between that and the lack of darts or syringes being used by the circles on our fallen friends, my guess is that there's needles and sensors in the band covered by our water wings." He splashed another sizable amount of water at them, managing to hit one of Star's water wings. Immediately, she yelped, and growled. Running, but now on less steady feet, she charged at the lion, who grabbed her by the throat and chuckled. Her movements became sluggish and less coordinated.

    "You played a good game, little girl. I'm sure your new parents will be proud to know you helped someone become stupidly rich," he said, holding her out over the water. He let go just as Star, a fiery blaze in her eyes, wrapped her arms and legs around the arrogant lion, digging in her claws. "OW! THAT HURTS YOU B--YEEEEOOOOW!"

    Looking down, Mel saw Ariel at his feet, biting down on one of his ankles, enough to draw blood. Seeing his chance, the pink vixen ran forward and shoulder-checked a screaming Christopher in the side and off the squares. Star smiled sadly to Mel and Ariel as she and their opponent went into the water. Mel looked to see that the spiral they were on was almost to the whirlpool, and reached down to help Ariel to her feet.

    "C'mon, we just gotta run out the clock now!" He said, shaking her. Ariel looked up at him, seeming very fatigued. It was then that he noticed the water dripping off her left water wind.

    "N-no! How?!" Mel demanded.

    "When he and Annie fell into the water, it splashed me," Ariel said tiredly. "I'm sorry we couldn't share the money together."

    "NO! I-it doesn't count! W-we can... I don't know, we can still go back home!" Mel said, tearing up and sounding hoarse.

    "I've already been injected with the serum," Ariel said, looking at her arm, and noticing that the water wing was already starting to look pretty loose on it. As Mel looked her over, her bathing suit looked like it was a couple sizes too big for her.

    "B-but... this isn't fair!" Mel stamped his foot, the fur on his cheeks damp from silent tears. He took in a shuddering breath, suddenly surprised by a sleepy hug from the red panda.

    "Promise you'll do something really cool with the money," she said, looking up into his hot, prickly eyes.

    "... I promise." The vixen's voice was a hoarse whisper.

    "Thanks for being my friend," Ariel said, letting go, and dreamily walking down the spiral towards the vortex. Mel reached out for her, but she drunkenly swayed a bit, before being sucked under. And just like that, Mel was all alone. He sniffled and considered just letting the vortex take him, but decided that to do so would be to spit in his friend's sacrifice. So he started to run, first at a jog, then an all-out sprint, with the spiral now speeding up. He looked up at the clock, now at eleven seconds. Looking behind him, he could see the whirlpool getting closer. He could also see some circles pulling Ariel from the water, her water wings having expanded. Mel sprinted faster, faster than he'd ever run in his entire life, and the spiral sped up even more. He looked at the clock, the rushing water sounding like the roaring maw of a great and terrible beast ready to swallow him whole. Tears running rivers down his cheeks, he pushed himself harder.

    BUUUUUZZZZZZZZZ!!!

    And just like that, the whirlpool stopped, and the puzzle pieces broke apart and quickly reformed into the platform, bobbing peacefully in the center of the pool. The bridge extended, a group of circles approaching with a large fluffy white towel. They picked him up and began wrapping him in it until he was completely swaddled. As they carried him off, he simply cried and squirmed. After a bath and a fresh diaper, where Mel just didn't move or play with any of the offered toys, letting his body be moved for him as he was cleaned, he then was carried on the hip of a circle to the giant room he'd shared with the other players. Now there was just one crib in the center. He whimpered around his binky as he was laid down and tucked in for a nap, Mr. Cash placed in his arms to help give him what comfort he could, and into an exhausted and fitful sleep he fell.




* * *




    Mel awoke with a start to find that the back of his diaper had been pulled back a little. He had been sleeping facedown on the soft mattress, drool leaking around his binky. Turning and looking, he saw he was now face to mask with a square, who was completely alone.

    "Congratulations player four-fifty-six. You have won the Stork Game," the square said, pressing a button on a remote. The overhead lights kicked on and, turning in his crib, Mel could see the plastic piggy bank now sitting on the floor eight behind him, full to the brim with stacks of money. He could barely believe it. "It will be transferred into a bank account under your name, for which you will be provided a card. You may access all of it when you return to Earth."

    Earth. Mel frowned as his foggy mind cleared and he remembered that he would be going home by himself. He whimpered again, only to be scooped up and cradled by the square. As he felt this mysterious kin's heartbeat, which helped to soothe him, Mel, not feeling any breasts, could at least determine that this square was biologically male.

    "But first, the director would like to speak with you," Mel was carried over to the changing table and, when sat down on it, flinched from the feeling of the full load in his diaper. He sighed as he laid down and was changed out of the thick night-time diaper, with a spinning glow in the dark galaxy on it, into another one that read 'Princess' on the front. He saw that it had a big red heart on the butt. Rolling his eyes, Mel sat up, and had a long shirt pulled over his head. Looking down, he wasn't surprised to find that it was another legless onesie, but this one a bright happy pink with a picture of a daisy on the chest. He frowned at the square who chuckled and quickly snapped the buttons at the crotch together. Mel thought he was done dressing him, when a pair of large pink baby booties were pulled out and slipped onto Mel's feet. And to top it off, a big pink bow was snugly tied to the tip of his tail. Standing back and admiring his work, the square nodded.

    "Is this really necessary?" Mel choked out, secretly grateful for a distraction from any other feelings other than embarrassment.

    "Of course, you're too adorable not to dress like the pretty princess you are," the square replied, scooping Mel back up. Mel opened his mouth to complain, only to find a bottle popped in, his binky having fallen out in the crib. Mel grabbed her bottle and nursed from it, hugging Mr. Cash to her chest with her free paw. Out into the maze of stairs they went, going through a false section of wall. Mel looked around, surprised to see the shape-masks walking about, all talking, and some even removing their masks. A circle pulled off their mask to reveal a light blue she-wolf, whose tail was wagging as she cooed and smiled at Mel.

    Mel shyly waved back, and found that he was the center of attention as he was carried further inward. They were soon going up another flight of stairs and into a strange office, made up of simple barren wooden walls. There was a large, decoratively carved oak desk with a big leather chair behind it. Before it were two big black plush couches, where a figure in black and wearing a black mask that looked... humanoid; was sitting. Right next to this person was a baby stroller, with a sleeping occupant who seemed a little too large for it, but was still sleeping comfortably. Mel jumped a bit when he saw that this occupant, who was just wearing a diaper, was a red panda. If Mel had to guess, she looked to be around five years old.

    "Awiel?!" Mel said around the nipple, squirming in the square's arms. The square sat with her in his lap on the opposite couch, and immediately began to bounce the big fussy vixen. As Mel reluctantly finished his bottle, he saw the adorable red and white ball of fluff, hugging a familiar plush bunny.

    "The effects of the serum will keep her out until tomorrow. Until then, she'll sleep peacefully," the figure in black said with a transmogrified voice. Before Mel could ask a question, the figure wordlessly pulled back the hood, revealing a pair of long black ears that had been tucked behind their head in the hood. With the mask soon following, Mel was looking into the warmly smiling face of a bunny woman with black fur. The woman stood and quickly unbuttoned the cloak, she removed it to reveal she was wearing a charcoal gray and red pinstripe skirt suit.

    "I was getting so tired of wearing that silly getup," she said, her voice sounding melodious as she looked over Mel with twinkling lavender eyes. Mel suddenly felt nervous, realizing that this was the person in charge of this crazy place. She whimpered a little as she was passed to the woman's welcoming arms, who began to slowly rock the vixen. The bunny woman giggled and leaned down to kiss Mel on his forehead. "I am just so proud of you, Mel," the woman said.

    "Who are you?" Mel asked, looking up at her with wide eyes.

    "My name is Amelia Thorne, and this is my husband Diego," Amelia said, nodding to the couch across from them. Mel looked to the square face, to find that his mask was off and resting on the coffee table between them, unzipping and stepping out of the pink jumpsuit. He was wearing a red flannel shirt and a pair of worn jeans. His tail was gray and bushy and, turning around, Mel was looking into the golden eyes of a large wolf man, who was giving her a big goofy grin.
"D-do I get to go home?" Mel asked, now hugging his tail and Mr. Cash tightly.

    "That's up to you, princess," Diego said, leaning over and gently ruffling the vixen's headfur.

    "Now that you've one, you have the option of returning home with all that money... or, you can stay here, with us, starting over," Amelia said, nuzzling the top of Mel's head.

    "Wh-what happens to the money if... and this is a big 'if', I were to stay?"

    "Well, the money will instead be used to help improve peoples' lives back on Earth.

"Poor people?" Mel asked. Amelia and Diego nodded at the same time.

    "Correct. And even more will be used similarly... now that it's in more responsible hands. Humanity... is just too precious to us to just sit by and let suffering continue on in your world." As Ameliea explained this, Mel started to blush.

    "'Cause you need babies?"

    "Only in part, sweetie," Diego said, getting up and sitting next to his wife on the couch. He reached out and started to rub Mel's tummy. "You're also the only intelligent life we've encountered aside from our own. Ever since we first discovered your world, shortly after discovering interdimensional travel, we've watched and studied you. Your people are capable of such kindness and love, but also capable of causing so much pain and suffering. In many ways, you are all a lot like how we Kin were long ago. When we observed you all, we saw ourselves, stumbling along as we did. We came so very close to destroying ourselves... I suppose that we wanted to help protect you all from that. And, with a little meddling, we have to some degree..."

    "I still don't see why this all has to be so secret or why you gotta make us play those games like this!"

    "I don't like it either," Amelia said, looking sad. "But for now, it's a necessity."

    "... I-if I stay... can me and Ariel be together?" Mel asked, his eyes starting to water.

    "Yes, Princess," Diego said, his tail starting to thump against the couch. Mel started to giggle at that, feeling a warmth in his chest he hadn't felt in a very long time.

    "Then... I'd like to stay," Mel said. Amelia and Diego both smiled, looking in each other's eyes with tears of joy beginning to form. They leaned over Mel and shared a kiss, all the while Mel hoped he'd made the right choice. From the stroller, little Amelia giggled a little in her sleep as she shifted. From a nearby room, several figures in shadows watched the now complete family, some nodding their heads.

    "Once again, humanity does not disappoint," an older masculine voice from one of the individuals in the shadows said with a chuckle.

    "After all these years and all this testing, I for one feel confident in moving forward with Operation Foster House," came the voice of an older woman.

    "While we've stabilized our population decline for the time being, but that will not last. I vote that we move forward as well."

    "I would like to add an addendum to the proposal to include a more thorough psychological screening process, so that we can better anticipate which of the children are going to need more help in mental health than what we've already got in place. It's adequate for the number of children we bring in for the Games, but if we're going to be expanding the number, then we're going to need to increase the number of mental health specialists involved," A shadow with curled horns said.

    "I concur," the first voice said. There was more agreement from the other shadows.

    "Very well, then Operation Foster Home is hereby approved and shall be put into motion effective immediately," said the older feminine voice, "with an addendum to expand on the mental health screening and treatment process."



Epilogue...



A few months had passed since Mel had first woken up in that strange facility. Looking out from the stroller she was safely buckled into, the little pink vixen with the white broken heart shaped patch of fur on her cheek. Bright blue sky above on this pleasant warm day, a gentle breeze tickling her exposed toes. She hugged Mr. Cash as she reached up for a green, yellow, and red butterfly that was fluttering right above her, letting out a happy giggle.

    "Someone sounds pretty happy! I thought you were gunna continue moping and pouting," a high-pitched voice giggled nearby. Mel looked to Ariel who was sitting next to her in the second seat of the stroller. She stuck her tongue out at the red panda.

    "You are such a baby," Ariel giggled, sticking her tongue out in response.

    "I'm notta baby, you are," Mel said with a huff.

    "Since I regressed first, that means I finished first and have a head start on growing back up, baby sister."

    "By a lousy day! If anything, we're twins!" Mel insisted.

    "Suuuuuure, whatever you say. Anyways, if you like being all girly, you shouldn't be ashamed."

    "Hey, just because I'm a girl now, doesn't mean I'm any less of a guy inside, okay? I'm a tomboy!" Mel insisted.

    "Then why did you insist on Daddy dressing you in your favorite fairy princess tutu?" Ariel asked. While the red panda was wearing a cream-colored sundress with puffy sleeves and her headfur done up in two short little pigtails; Mel was indeed wearing a bright pink tutu connected to a pink t-shirt. The tutu did nothing to hide Mel's diaper, and the glitter in it twinkled in the light. Mel had a big pink bow in her headfur.

    "Uh... w-well, it'll make diaper changes easier for Daddy, th-that's all," Mel said with a blush, looking away.

    "Whatever you say, Melody," Ariel said, grabbing Mel's wagging pink tail and hugging it.

    "Well, girls," Diego's deep voice rumbled above and behind the two, catching their attention, "are you two excited for this playdate with little Annie?"

    "Yes, Daddy!" Ariel practically cheered.

    "Yeah, I don't mind the tea parties," Mel said, trying to sound cool and aloof, though the wagging tip of her tail tickling Ariel's nose betrayed her true emotions once again. "I'm just not looking forward to having to spend time with Christopher again."

    "Aw, Princess, his mommies say that he's been making great progress with his therapist," Diego chimed in, leaning down to look in on his little girls. Mel and Ariel smiled up at Daddy, seeing golden eyes filled with love and joy at the sight of them. While they couldn't see it, they knew his tail was wagging so much it was becoming a helicopter blade.

    "And he and Annie are cousins now, so she and you two can be good influences on him," Diego chuckled.

    "When's Mommy gunna arrive?" Melody asked.

    "She just texted and said she'll be along after she makes a quick stop," Diego chuckled, smiling as he looked at the confirmation on his phone from his dear Amelia that she had indeed managed to get the cake. He giggled just knowing that Melody was going to love the surprise party they were throwing for her. Though he knew Ariel would be expecting one in a month for her birthday. He chuckled and felt his heart swell, never knowing just how complete he and Amelia could feel before meeting two little princesses.

    He checked the weather to make sure it wouldn't rain today, smiling wider at the news article regarding the new volunteer program back on Earth being a major success, with a reported 1,000 human volunteers soon to be shipped over through the portal to their world, with soon to be another 1,000 after them. He leaned forward again to look at Mel, who was sucking on her bottle of juice. She would never know just how big of a part she played in helping so many people, human and Kin alike.






That's all folks! Thanks for reading!

[Guilend]

Good story. I thought I had read the first chapter, but not only did I apparently not finished reading the first chapter I didn't even notice the second one being posted lol. So I just read it all. I knew Ariel would get hit with a dart so every game I was on edge wondering if this would be it lol. I'm very glad she was last. 

Just curious, I was wondering if possibly if you had, umm, plans for another chapter of either of your diaper dimension stories to be posted in the near, possibly (hopefully very near) future? 

Asking for a friend. 

They're totally not addicted to diaper dimension stories. 

Nor are they completely biting their nails in anticipation for those stories to continue. 

And totally not me at all. 

I swear. 

[Panther Cub]

1 hour ago, Guilend said:

Good story. I thought I had read the first chapter, but not only did I apparently not finished reading the first chapter I didn't even notice the second one being posted lol. So I just read it all. I knew Ariel would get hit with a dart so every game I was on edge wondering if this would be it lol. I'm very glad she was last. 

Just curious, I was wondering if possibly if you had, umm, plans for another chapter of either of your diaper dimension stories to be posted in the near, possibly (hopefully very near) future? 

Asking for a friend. 

They're totally not addicted to diaper dimension stories. 

Nor are they completely biting their nails in anticipation for those stories to continue. 

And totally not me at all. 

I swear. 

Thanks for reading!

Yeah, I knew when I first started writing Ariel in that I wanted her to at least last until the fifth game.

I am planning on continuing them both! Dunno when, but soonish! So be sure to pass that along to your "friend". WInk-Wink.

[Guilend]

19 minutes ago, Panther Cub said:

I am planning on continuing them both! Dunno when, but soonish! So be sure to pass that along to your "friend". WInk-Wink.

My Friend?

Oh yeah, my friend, um yeah I let him, I mean her, them know. Thanks. 

[Panther Cub]

30 minutes ago, Guilend said:

My Friend?

Oh yeah, my friend, um yeah I let him, I mean her, them know. Thanks. 

Hehehe, no problem!

[BabySofia]

Congrats on finishing this! I think this is your first finished work? 
 

This was a great story, and I’ll have to reread it again at some point. Thanks for sharing it! (Nudge for Tracy’s tale? 😉)

[Panther Cub]

5 minutes ago, BabySofia said:

Congrats on finishing this! I think this is your first finished work? 
 

This was a great story, and I’ll have to reread it again at some point. Thanks for sharing it! (Nudge for Tracy’s tale? 😉)

Hehehehe... yeah, it kinda is... >.<

 

Thank you so much for reading it! (Giggles I knooooooow!)

[dmavn]

Just found this and have to say, it was totally AWESOME!!!

[Panther Cub]

20 minutes ago, dmavn said:

Just found this and have to say, it was totally AWESOME!!!

I'm glad!