(Women to Various)


It started with a bark.

Jennifer was walking in the mall when a nearby girl had dropped to all fours, slobbering and barking like an animal. Her blue eyes were wide with fear, though that soon changed-the color was darkening, her pupils dilating, black creeping across her gaze as her vision greyed over.

Then the fur had started to grow, tearing through her clothes, stripping her and baring her new teats to the world. She had six swollen mammaries, which jiggled as she fell onto all fours, wiggling her ass and swaying a large tail from side to side.

“Attention, all female shoppers of Havenwood mall!” A redhead proclaimed, standing atop a fountain. She spread her arms wide, a cocksure grin on her face. “Today you’ve been visited by a reality shifter! You might have noticed that this local girl is now a simple-minded bitch. Well, that’s just a taste of what’s in store for you all. Heh, in store…”

A pair of security guards rushed up towards her, a man and a woman. The woman was radioing for backup, while the man fired a TASER at the shifter. The Shifter caught the wires in her hands, rolling her eyes as the thing sparked ineffectively.

“Oh, and as for the men…” The Shifter waved her hand, and he disappeared, as did every other human in the mall with the misfortune of being born with a Y chromosome. Jennifer had heard of such disintegrations and vanishings in the past, but she’d never thought to see one in person.

The female guard had enough time to look distressed before her face distended, lips working soundlessly as her skull stretched out, further and further. Her hands pulled back towards her body, and a large, scaled tail extended from her backside.

The guard’s legs gave way, and she fell onto the ground, her body writhing like a fish out of water. It was an appropriate comparison, since it looked like the homely woman was rapidly becoming a salmon. She choked on the air as the Shifter picked her up by the tail, tossing her over her shoulder into the fountain with a splash.

“Always thought the security here was a little fishy.” The Shifter said, her face split into a manic grin. “Now… Who’s next?” Pandemonium broke out, as women surrounding her began to change.

Jennifer’s heart pounded in her chest as she stared, watching a pair of sisters clutching each other, screaming as they transformed. The girl didn’t want to see it happen, but it was like seeing a natural disaster-she was unable to look away.

One was growing hefty, fat, splitting her clothes at the seams. Her breasts jiggled free as she slumped onto all fours, grunting, squealing, and snorting as her nose flattened on her face into an upside-down heart. Her hands clacked against the tile as they became trotters, and the sow loudly pleaded with anyone who could hear. “Herruuilp mREEE!”

Her sister growled and drooled in response, her teeth sharpening as her back bulged, impressive muscles splitting the girl’s shirt. Her hands and feet devolved into simple paws, and the girl fell to them, her tongue slipping from her mouth. “Haarghll…” She managed, eyes turning a shade of gold as she became a wolf.

The pig ran from her changing sister, and Jennifer decided that running was indeed a fine idea. Some women were frozen in shock, and they were already beginning to suffer the Shifter’s attention. Raccoon tails, fox tails, rabbit ears… They were slowly regressing from human to beast for the sin of being too shocked to run.

At least those fleeing the scene were given some more time, though not much more. Jennifer watched as a redheaded saleswoman tossed a lengthening mane from side to side, her neck broadening and thickening as her body barreled out. “HgghREEIGH!” She screamed, rearing back on her feet as hooves split her shoes, mouth frothing as her lips thickened.

The horse-to-be fell to her hooves with a thundering clop, sending various woodland creatures that had been teenage girls scattering for the mall’s faux trees. A squirrel still clutched a pair of glasses in her mouth, as though she could use them to tell someone she had been human. A second later, and the glasses fell to the floor, the girl’s mind forever erased.

Jennifer’s phone was in her hand. She couldn’t remember when she’d pulled it out, but she was already dialing Emily. Her friend had been shopping for clothes in one of those Goth stores, which was at the other end of the mall. She had to be safe, she just had to be.

“BuGWAK!” A dark-skinned woman grabbed Jennifer’s leg, pulling her to the ground as she fell. The girl screamed and kicked at the changing chicken, watching as the stranger’s pretty lips hardened into an ugly beak. Feathers covered the woman’s mottled skin, and the girl tore her attention away, looking behind herself and wishing she hadn’t.

The Shifter was following the running women, at a casual stroll. She simply extended a hand and another girl fell, her cheeks bulging as she croaked like a frog. “GRROAK!” This girl sobbed, looking to her hands as her fingers lengthened, as her thighs bulged.

“Little Miss Froggy, how’s your tongue? Catching dayflies one by one…” The Shifter sang in a girly voice, snickering as the girl’s tongue slipped past her lips, stretching down to her feet.

It was a nightmare made real, and Jennifer scrambled to her feet again, backing away from the Shifter, unable to keep herself from watching as the Shifter scooped up the frog, kissing her lips as her head deformed into the ugly shape of an amphibian’s.

“Nope, guess that won’t turn you back. Sorry, but you’ll have to find someone else to be your Prince Charming.” The shifter chuckled, dropping the frog and looking up. Her eyes met Jennifer’s, and Jennifer saw nothing inside them.

There was no pity, remorse, even humanity. Instead, the Shifter’s eyes were like those of the animals she was creating-utterly inhuman and unreadable. The Shifter lifted her arm, and Jennifer braced for the worst.

Her salvation came in the form of a couple of saleswomen trying to tackle the Shifter to the ground. They managed to wrap their arms around her before tails sprouted from their spines, one furry and the other coarse and whiplike. The Shifter grabbed them by the new appendages, lifting them and changing them into a cat and a rat.

They couldn’t even put up an iota of resistance. Unlike women who’d only received a dose of the Shifter’s attention, these two lose their minds instantly. The rat-to-be squealed, revealing bucked teeth, and she wriggled frantically. Her feline friend hissed in response, swiping at the shrinking woman, trying to reach her.

“You seem interested in a fight… Have at it.” The Shifter laughed, tossing her hands to the sides, throwing the former women to the ground and beaming with malicious amusement. Jennifer didn’t look to see the outcome, instead sprinting as fast as she could, grabbing a soccer mom and tossing the woman behind her as a distraction.

“What are yHURK!” The woman exclaimed. Jennifer sent her a passing glance, watching as the woman’s body extended into a long tube, as her arms and legs pulled into her form. Her hair fell from her head as she became a common snake, and she outright hissed at Jennifer’s retreating form.

Jennifer was guilty, deep in her core. She had consigned another woman to effective death, and in return she’d… Well, she managed to make it to the store at least. Jennifer pushed through the doors, watching a woman scream at her.

“You led her right to us!” It was one of Emily’s other friends, though not for long. The woman choked as her body convulsed, sending her to the ground. Sleek fur swept across her in a wave of change, and her limbs flailed as she began to resemble an otter more and more with each passing second.

She pawed at her nose as it darkened, grunting as her torso elongated into a proper mustelid’s form. A small tail sprouted from her spine, and her hands became little paws, suited less for shopping and more for swimming.

Jennifer didn’t need to look behind herself. She knew what was coming, she knew she’d attracted the Shifter’s attention and couldn’t possibly escape her. Tears dewed at Jennifer’s eyes as she watched a nearby shopper fall from her hiding spot, pawing at the air as she became a lioness.

“HRRGHOAAR!” The girl growled, curved and dangerous fangs curling from her mouth. She pawed at her face, clearly struggling to regain her identity. Jennifer had seen too much of this already, all she wanted to do was see her best friend before the end.

The girl fumbled for her phone again, dialing Emily’s number. A familiar ringtone echoed through the air, and Jennifer’s blood ran cold.

It was behind her.

Jennifer turned, tears slipping from her eyes as she saw Emily, or at least, a creature that looked like Emily, held within the Shifter’s hands. Emily had shrunken, and her arms had fallen limply to her sides. A thick slime dripped from her every pore, and her eyes stretched out on stalks.

“Jeblbnlfbblrrr...” She managed, sounding as though she was trying to speak underwater. Bubbles of goo dropped from Emily’s mouth as she fell onto her belly, though her eyes kept staring at Jennifer, pleading her for impossible assistance.

The Shifter cooed as Emily’s clothes reformed into the snail’s new shell, then looked up to Jennifer, meeting her eyes for the second time. “You. This was your friend, was it? Don’t answer, that was rhetorical.”

Jennifer gawped at the Shifter as she let the snail go, letting the animal that had been Emily ooze from the store in a panic. Jennifer hadn’t seen intelligence leave the girl’s eyes, but she dearly hoped that the Shifter had been merciful.

“You know, it’s been a while since a norm looked me in the eyes. Honestly, it’s kind of refreshing, so I was thinking of something special for you.” The Shifter breathed, stroking Jennifer’s arm and sending a tingling wave of dread along her spine.

“It’s an honor.” Jennifer said stiffly, too stiffly. Her whole body was growing hard and immobile, a pearly plastic hardening in place of her skin. A pout settled along her lips as she became a mannequin, looking out through painted eyes at the world.

“It should be. I thought of this, you know. Making you into a mannequin, watching this mall become a zoo.” The Shifter waved, and Jennifer gasped as she became flesh and blood once more. “But then you pushed that woman to the ground. And my, if that wasn’t cold-blooded.”

This time, the change was different. It hurt. Jennifer screamed as her arms and legs shortened in an instant, sending her collapsing onto her belly. Her breasts receded into her chest as it barreled out, hard scales absorbing the impact of her fall.

“HGGHAAAOOR!” Jennifer sobbed at the animal sound, hoping to have something more dignified as her last words. Her hands scrabbled at the floor as her tailbone swept out larger and larger, swishing from side to side as it became a long, reptilian tail.

The Shifter watched her with open lust, staring at the changing girl as her teeth fell out, replaced with long fangs. Ridges poked out from her back, and her nostrils flared as her face extended. She could feel herself losing her mind, raw terror erasing her thoughts.

She struggled to hold on, but it was like trying to collect sand with her bare hands. Every time she scooped at her memories, more slipped through her fingers. She sobbed and retched, gurgling out a low hiss as mind devolved into that of a simple alligator’s.

As her ears sank into her skull, her hair from her head, and her body completed its changes, Jennifer had enough intelligence left to hear the Shifter’s parting words. “See you later.”

Then Jennifer was gone, and only the beast remained.

She was hungry. She needed food. Needed nest.