Benefits of Friends

Arcanine TF Request.

"Well, what do we do now?" Zach said impatiently. Zach and his so called friends were sitting on the front porch of his house. All of them were waiting for one of their friends to come and pick them up to go cause some trouble in town. However, that ride was supposed to be there at 7:00pm, and it is now 7:40pm. "Dude, this is taking too long. Why can't we do this another night?" Phillip asked, taking a puff out of his cigarette. "Because idiot, we can't. I have to go to that stupid reunion thing and will be there for god knows how long." Zach said.

Just as he said that, all of the boys heard the familiar rumble of the car coming to get them. All three of the boys looked down the road to see the dim headlights of the Ford Mustang roaring up the road. "Finally!" Zach said, jumping up from the wooden step and throwing his cigarette into the grass, Phillip doing the same. The car pulled up directly in front of the house and turned its headlights off. The dirty passenger side window rolled down to reveal the face of the man whom they have been waiting for, Rex. Rex was the person who has seen hells gate and walked through it. He only trusted a few people in his life, and to him, everyone else seemed to be after him. "Dude, what the fuck took you so long?" Zach said, walking up to the car. "Got the fuzz after me. Just lost them though." Rex said in his normal rocky and deep tone.

Phillip came up behind Zach, pushing him to the side slightly to talk with Rex. "Well, lets not waste any time tonight." Phillip said, opening the door to the passenger side. "Whoa! What do you think your doing you little shit? Get in the back!" Rex barked, his scarred and bruised face glaring him down. Phillip was about to respond back to Rex, but telling by the look of Rex's face, Phillip just sighed and climbed into the back seat of the Mustang, pushing empty beer cans and dirty magazines out of the way. Zach climbed in behind Phillip, and the more shy and quiet one Travis was the lucky person who got to sit in the front seat, considering Rex think's he is the least annoying out of them. And with that, the four took off down the road towards the city, hoping to cause some ruckus.

Meanwhile, at a secret lab not so far from the city, Dr. Gandos was up to it again, transfusing DNA samples with others. The lab was very dimly lit, not to mention how dreary it is on the inside. "Oh, how boring this is." Gandos sighed, setting down his test tube onto the wooden desk. Gandos leaned back in his chair to stretch himself out a little bit, grunting in the process. "Let's go check on my little pet." Gandos said, pushing himself off of the chair and grabbing his glasses. Gandos looked at his surroundings, constantly being paranoid by the experiments in the glass containers making up the walls. The demented eyes of the seemingly other worldly creatures always seems to be gazing down Gandos constantly, simply waiting to strike at any moment. Gandos shivered slightly at the thought of that even happening. He quickly walked out of the door of the room and put the pass code on to prevent anyone getting into the lab. A loud noise suddenly came from down the dim hallway, Gandos knowing what it was. "Sounds like someone is hungry!" Gandos mused to himself.

As Gandos walked down the spooky hallway, the noised getting gradually closer as he walked down the hallway. When Gandos walked around the corner to the room where his creature was being held, he was relived that the safety light was green. "For once, it is safe to see it up close." Gandos said, walking up to the lock on the door. Gandos fished around in his pocket for his slide card key to unlock the door. Gandos quickly slid the key through and the door sloly began to creak open. The line of lights being suspended on the ceiling began to light up, to reveal a monster standing up in the cage below them.

The monster had a canine figure to it, but rather feline markings on its vibrant orange fur. Black stripes lined its torso both of its legs, almost giving it the false look of a tiger. But it was far from that. A white-yellowish mane covered the back and front part of its neck, the back part going all the way up to the top of its head stopping between its short and pointed furry ears. The neck mane went up to the jaw area, covering its skin with short fur as well as his nose being a sharp contrast from the mane fur. Its sinister sharp teeth shined off of the increasing light.

Seemingly bracelets of fur covered the beast ankles, the fur matching the color of the mane. And at last, the tail of the creature was very thick and fluffy, again the same color as the mane. But, the most interesting part about this creature was that it had the powers of fire inside of it, almost a volcano waiting to erupt at any given second. "Hello, Arcanine!" Gandos said, the creature snarling in response. Gandos laughed at the Arcanine's anger. Gandos walked over to the mini fridge on a metal table to grab a slab of meat for the Arcanine and for the stun gun laying beside the fridge for self defense. "Dinner time!" Gandos said, slowly approaching the cage.

The Arcanine began to snarl, but suddenly saw the stun gun in Dr. Gandos's hand and quickly backed up into the corner of the cage. "Heh, that's right you dumb mutt! Your just one of my many experiments." Gandos said, putting a sinister grin on his face. The Arcanine felt hurt by his words, for he knew he was more than an experiment, he was a very powerful beast capable of amazing powers. Gandos threw the somewhat rotten meat directly at Arcanine's face, the meat slowly sliding down it. "Hah! Enjoy your dinner, foul beast!" Gandos said, slowly closing the gate to ensure that the hinges don't break off. Something in Arcanine's mind mentally snapped, as if someone had just fired a weapon and Arcanine was the bullet discharged from it.

Without even getting a chance to raise his weapon, Gandos was suddenly tackled by Arcanine, the creatures head bashing into Gandos's chest at lethal force. Gandos soared through the air to be stopped by the metal wall above the door, killing him instantly as his lifeless body crashed to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around him. Arcanine was now pleased that his hurtful owner was now dead. Arcanine now had to find a way to escape from the lab. He looked around the room, but the only windows were high up on the wall, impossible for him to jump up to. Arcanine decided to scope the place out for an exit, happy that soon freedom will come to get him out of this hell hole.

Arcanine stepped out of the room into the dim hallway to find the overall atmosphere of the hall much different from the room he was stored in, due to the fact he had been in their for so long that he forgot out the outside world felt. Arcanine saw that there was a door with a window down the hall to the left of him. Arcanine's eyes widened, when he saw that this was his way out. He started to dart towards the door at full speed, determined to escape. Arcanine's hope grew even higher, when he gazed out the window to oberve clouds slowly floating in the dusk sky. However, Arcanine saw that the lock on the door was locked, stopping his progress of escape. Arcanine looked at the door to find the lock on it. When he spotted it, he saw that the lock required a key card in order to unlock the door, one that Gandos hid very well.

Arcanine thought for a moment. He was totally stumped on how to get through the door, not a single clue appealing to him. If he were to try and break the window open, he would seriously injure himself trying. Suddenly, it hit him. Fire. Arcanine took a few steps back, planting his paws into the ground. Summoning up the powers from within, Arcanine let out a super heated wave of fire from his mouth, directly impacting the door. The heat from the flames was too much for the metal door, as it started to melt to the ground. Within a few seconds, the metal was now a liquid glob on the floor, the walls now starting to warp from the insane heat.

Arcanine jumped over the liquid metal into the outside. He stopped, taking a minute to put himself in the feeling of the outside world. Never before has Arcanine felt this good in his life, the cool evening breeze slipping through his fur. He looked up at the night sky, the full moon shining down upon him. Arcanine felt more alive than he ever has before. He looked down at the city skyline a few miles away from him. The array of lights looked so mesmerizing to him, tempting as well. Arcanine snapped out of the feeling and went back to reality. With that, Arcanine set off towards the city to hopefully find a new life for himself.

"...And that's why I almost killed my father." Rex said, finishing his story as he parallel parked into a spot on the streets of the city. "So he got blamed for doing it?" Zach said, opening the door. "Yup, and I was the one who got away with it." Rex said, stepping out of the car. Phillip came out and presented a pack of cigarettes. "Who wants a smoke?" He asked, taking one out for himself. Almost in perfect harmony, Rex, Zach, and Travis took a cigarette out of the pack and pulled out their lighters to light them up.

"So whats the plan for tonight?" Phillip asked, releasing a puff of smoke from his mouth. "Split up. If we stick together were going to get caught." Travis said quietly. "I can agree. I'll take Greyland Avenue." Zach responded. "Fine, but what if the police catches one of us?" Phillip cut in. "Don't worry, if that happens the back alleys of the city is a perfect place to loose them-" Rex was cut off from his speech, when he saw the lights of a police vehicle quickly approaching from down the street. "Shit! Book it guys!" Rex said, running off up the street. Simultaneously, the other three dispersed as well, all going separate ways.

Zach always heard stories about being chased down by the fuzz, but he never knew he would end up in the scenario of it happening to him. Zach saw that the police car stopped and two police men piled out of it, one going off in another direction and the other coming right towards Zach. Zach started to sprint down the street, afraid the police would catch him. He saw that a back ally was quickly approaching and he didn't miss his chances. Zach turned and took off in the dark ally, pushing a trash can down behind him. That didn't stop the police officer however, as he easily jumped over the can. Zach looked around at his surroundings, hoping to find something he can hide behind.

Suddenly, he saw it. A stairway led up to a door hidden behind a brick wall. It was hard to see it, but Zach managed to pick it out, as he quickly leaped up the stairs and behind the wall without the police officer seeing him do so. Zach heard the running footsteps of the officer come to a stop, as the officer began to search around. "I know your back here you little punk." He said, looking behind a rusty dumpster. Zach felt that the officer was getting closer, the slow footsteps creeping up on him. Zach's eyes widen and heart sunk when he saw the police officer walk by the stairs and look at him.

However, Zach was confused when he saw him walk away. 'He must not of saw me!' He thought, relieved. Zach peeked his head around the corner to see the officer walk around the corner, leaving Zach alone in the ally. He stepped out from the brick wall and sat on the staircase to have a cigarette. Lighting it, Zach took a big puff out of it, still somewhat shaken up from the chase. "I need to stop doing this crap. I just need to start over." Zach said.

Just moments after he said that, Zach heard a noise come from behind another dumpster. "Who's there?" Zach said, standing up. Zach heard the same noise again, as he slowly started to walk down the steps. Zach saw an empty beer bottle roll out from under the dumpster, stopping when it hit Zach's foot. Zach picked up the beer bottle and threw it over the dumpster, a surprising squealing sound coming from it when it impacted what ever was hiding behind it. Zach was instantly froze in place, as he saw what was behind the dumpster jump out in front of Zach. The light in the ally was too dim to see the details of the creature, but he noticed that it had a canine outline to it.

"Who are you?" Zach sputtered out. The creature gnarled, anrgy that Zach hit it. "I'm sorry if that hurt you. I didn't know what you were." Zach said. The creature snarled at Zach. Suddenly and without warning, the creature line drived itself at Zach and sunk its teeth right into his arm. "Ack! Get away from me!" Zach shouted, punching the creature in the face. The creature squealed and backed up into the dumpster. Zach looked down at his wrist to see blood pouring out of the wound. Zach was very angry at the creature, his body heating up in anger. Zach felt that the heat didn't seem to stop increasing, causing Zach to sweat. "Man, what did you do?" Zach mused to himself, wiping sweat off of his head. That it when he saw it.

Zach was jaw dropped when he saw faded yellow fur forming around his wrist, his other wrist doing the same. "Yikes!" He said in shock. Zach suddenly saw that he was able to see his surroundings much better. Zach put his hands out in front of him, horrified on what he saw. His hands were turning into what looked like paws, pads of skin forming on the palm of his hands. His nails turned into claws, being slightly covered by orange fur. Zach saw and felt that the orange fur had spread all over his body, the ends of the fur tickling him slightly as they rubbed against his shirt. The only place Zach didn't feel the fur was on his head.

A sudden pain made Zach collapse on to the ground, as his legs began to morph. His feet followed the same fate as his hands, turning into paws as well. The upper part of his legs widened, giving them a full digitgrade look to them. Zach looked under him to see that his pants had ripped off of him to reveal two legs, covered in orange fur with black stripes on them. He also noticed that the same band of long yellowish fur that was on his wrist also formed around his ankles. Zach tried to stand up on two legs, but found it almost impossible to do so, causing him to stand on all fours. Zach started to hear the sounds of ripping and sure enough, an enlarged belly started to burst through his shirt, totally transforming his internal organs and extending his spine.

The action of the spine extension forced a yellowish long haired tail to erupt above Zach's pelvis. Zach wanted to scream out in horror, but was too stunned by the transformation happening to him. The heat coursing through his veins peaked, as the final part of the metamorphosis came. Zach yelped out in pain as his neck grew up slightly, making his head higher than his body. A large mane grew out of the back and front part of Zach's neck, shaking from the scared feeling Zach had. The hair on Zach's head combined with the mane on the back of his neck. Suddenly, Zach roared out in pain as his jaw bone began to muzzle outwards, his nose doing the same and turning black. His teeth separated slightly and gained sharpness, as his lips moved backwards. As his ears moved to the top of his head, the rest of Zach's skull changed to fixate the eye position as well as his brain.

Zach let out a gasp of air, as he felt the changes coming to a close. Zach felt weary in every location on his new body. His digitgrade legs felt very strange to be standing on, as well as his tail brushing against them. "You look very nice." A strange voice said. Zach looked up at the other creature to realize it was talking! "You can talk too you know, we both understand eachother." The creature said. "Who...who are you?" Zach said, still feeling akward to talk to an animal. "I am an Arcanine, and so are you." It replied. "A what...?" Zach coudln't even finish his sentance, too shocked by the fact on what just happened. "You are what my kind the new meat." The Arcanine said, sighing slightly on Zach's ignorance. "New meat? Enough of this, why the hell did you bite me?" Zach barked at the Arcanine.

"You threw a bottle at me! What am I supposed to do, take it?" The Arcanine said with a cocky tone. "Can I go back to being a human?" Zach asked, shaking dust off of his paw. "Nope. Your stuck as an Arcanine forever I'm afraid." The Arcanine said. A tear rolled down Zach's face, knowing that he would now have to leave his life behind. "All my friends and family..." Zach said, sobbing slightly. "You mean those punks? They were a bad influence on you. I ask you this, join me. I can show you the ways of being one of my kind." The Arcanine said. Zach nodded in responce. "Can any humans understand me?" Zach asked. "Nope. If you try to speak to them, all they will hear is barks and growls." The Arcanine said, whipping its tail. "Alright, I trust you enough. So where do we go, new friend?" Zach asked, walking towards Arcanine.

"To the fields that are on the outside of the city. That is where we will begin our new life. I will look after you, as long as you can look after me." The Arcanine said, hopping up onto the dumpster. "How do I do that? I don't have powers do I?" Zach said, hopping up on the dumpster and looking at Arcanine. "You do have powers. The powers of fire. But for now, lets get out of the city." Arcanine said, hopping over the metal gated fence. "Can't wait for you to show me." Zach said, hopping over as well. And with that, Zach and his new, rather unique friend ran off into the night, not only beginning a new chapter in both of their lives, but also learning the values of good friends.