A Fox Serum Story

by grapehyacinth

“FoxFAZE, the crazy new way to a whole new you!” The commercial played over and over in Jessie Robinson's brain as she juggled the colorful bottle before her. This 'safer' version of the Fox transformation serum only modified one's looks, not one's form. Senator Bob Brenton, her boss, wanted her to use this “makeover in a bottle” to infiltrate a group that was protesting his re-election campaign. He had special-ordered the serum so she could go undercover to gather information to use against the protestors, and she could only imagine what the concoction would do to her. With Bob's sick mind, she would end up as a bimbo or something worse...

Heck, the way the general Fox Serums could turn a person into anything living, well, she could end up as a snake or worm, for all she knew. The idea horrified her, which was why she had never transformed before.

But she needed to do this for her job, and Bob assured her over and over that the changes would not be drastic.

“Hell, Jessie, you'll still be human!” he had finally fumed in response to her objections.

So she now stood beside her husband Jake, both staring at her reflection in the mirror. Morosely, Jake petted her perfectly-coiffed, tastefully-blonde pageboy cut. “I can't believe you're going to use that crap. And why? To infiltrate a group of hippies? What the hell is it with these tree-huggers? Bob wants to allow fracking in national parks. Why should these people be against it? It hurts no one, and benefits us all!”

Jessie nodded. “You're preaching to the choir, my friend.” She twisted the bottle around to view the back label. “'Hippie Love: The Sixties Are Back! Beware: Potion grows out body hair,'” she read aloud.

Jake burst out laughing. “That's just...hilarious! Does it make you go live in Woodstock and sing “Scarborough Fair” too?”

Jessie gulped, wondering if she would be affected mentally. When one transformed using a Fox Serum, she had heard that the subject would take on the characteristics and instincts of what they had become. A hawk would look for prey. A cow would eat grass. Would this make her think like a flower child?

Yet she didn't say anything. Instead, she glanced down at her conservative blouse and slacks, then swallowed about a quarter of the bottle.

“Aren't you supposed to finish it?”

She wiped at her lips. “Yes, but I don't need to be disguised that long. A whole bottle lasts twenty-four hours. I need about a quarter of that.” The true answer was that she was too frightened to take the full amount. A little bit would be fine, she assured herself.

“Jake, I know they say it feels great, but I'm still scared.”

“You'll love it. Trust me. Now take your clothes off. I want to see you change.”

“Oh, please. You want to see me get hairy?” But to pacify him, she did remove her shirt and pants, if only so she could eventually don the peasant blouse and tie-dyed long skirt she had purchased. Then there were the Birkenstocks...

“Oh, damn. My underarms are itchy.” Jessie reached into the air, and before their eyes, dark hair began to sprout from every visible area of skin. “Hell,” she muttered, slamming her arm down against her side. Then she moaned. The added feel-good drugs in the Serum were kicking in. Just so you won't scream like hell as your body contorts and completely changes its form, she thought to herself.

Jake chuckled gleefully. “You...oh, leg hair's growing out also!”

“Hell,” Jessie murmured again, scratching at them. The urge to shave was nearly overpowering. She couldn't stand the itchiness.

But she did feel wonderful.

Jake's eyes brightened. “Jessie, the hair on your head...look!”

They turned back to the mirror to see Jessie's hair darkening to its original pretty brown. “I didn't know you were a brunette,” Jake breathed. “It's...really nice...maybe you'll leave it alone...”

Jessie gave him a look of death which softened as she viewed the brown locks starting to pour down her shoulders.

Jake let out a surprised sigh. “You're...beautiful like that...”

The hair stopped only when it reached the small of her back. Her face was pale and free of makeup, and her body was as if it had never been touched by a razor. “Oh,” Jessie looked down at herself mournfully, trying to hide her hairy legs from her husband's gaze.

“No, no. As stupid as the hippie thing is, I like how you're so natural...oh, wow! Your eyes are almost...violet! You have freckles, too! I love freckles.”

“Ugh,” she mumbled. She had fought very hard for the perfect visage she had obtained over the years. Now it was gone.

“Come closer, Jessie.”

“What for?”

But then she realized why as she neared her husband. She was no longer at eye-level with him. She was now staring at his neck. “I got shorter,” she moaned.

“And your voice is higher. You're a completely different person! And don't you feel great? It's amazing!”

“It's not that amazing when people can turn into freaking elephants with these crazy drugs!”

As she started to put on the skirt, she reddened as she noticed her bikini line. Once it had been completely bare. Now, the slang word “bush” was putting it lightly.

“Oh, God! I have to at least shave that!” she turned away to scratch at herself in embarrassment.

Jake twisted her back towards him and locked eyes with her. “I don't mind hair down there at all. Please, just leave it.”

“Ugh,” she muttered. Slowly she pulled the skirt the rest of the way over her hips. It was longer than it was supposed to be, due to her height loss, but at least it fit. She straightened up and gazed into the mirror once more, and a stranger blinked back. “Damn.” Fingering the blouse, she placed it over her head but did not pull her arms into the sleeves. Instead, her fingers found the clasps of her bra.

“Hell, might as well go all the way.”

The bra was discarded, and Jessie yelped. Her breasts were much smaller now.

“Wow. I'm surprised Bob didn't pump me up to a double G!” she exclaimed, and hippie Jessie was on her way to infiltrate the protestors.

“Hey, I'm Crystal Winters. What do I need to do to join you guys?”

The young man that twisted to face Jessie was perhaps twenty-five or so, yet his ragged red beard gave him the appearance of someone far older. “You can despise Senator Bob for one thing.” He scrutinized her suspiciously. “Do you?”

She tossed down a woven bag she was using as a purse. “Definitely.” Well, that response was as close to the truth as she was going to get today. As polished and perfect as Bob was on the outside, he was a terrible womanizer. Nonetheless she was behind his ideals one hundred percent. Why let precious untapped energy reserves go to waste? Why did people care about wasteland?

A woman beside the man turned towards them, studying Jessie with the same cautious eye. “Hey, Steve, I see you've found a new recruit?” She held out her hand. “I'm Edie Dudley.”

“Crystal. Winters,” Jessie said slowly, now feeling stupid about her too-obvious choice of monikers.

“Nice to meet you, Crystal. You know why we're here at the hotel?”

“To protest?”

“No, it's better. Bob's in there with Milton Gader. We're going to catch him redhanded!”

Jessie was confused. Milton Gader was a billionaire oil baron. “Redhanded?”

“The Senator's taking bribes, Crystal. He's paid off by every person involved in the fracking industry.”

“Really?” Jessie thought back to the Senator's schedule of appointments. Not that she paid much attention, but, come to think of it, he often went off and met unnamed colleagues. It only made sense that he was friendly with people who carried out what he believed in, but she didn't think he was being paid to push all the fracking legislation.

“He is so corrupt,” another woman scoffed. “We have tons of proof. Pictures, bank statements...We've got people everywhere!” she bragged.

Jessie smiled. Unbeknownst to them, so did Senator Bob.

The group remained there for several hours, and Jessie began to wonder at the wisdom of imbibing only part of her serum. When Senator Bob finally emerged from the building, he was not with Gader, but the protestors still managed to shout insults and criticisms at him.

“What do you have to say about the 4.5 earthquake Gader's fracking tapped off yesterday?” someone called out.

“Fault line,” Bob tossed off, looking straight through Jessie. It amused her to realize that he had no idea who she was in her disguise.

“Senator, you know there's no fault line there, but there are houses. And many people were killed or injured! You destroyed a huge area!”

“Nature is cruel,” Bob replied, ducking into a car which rushed him away.

“Fracking set off an earthquake?” Jessie piped up. She felt slightly nauseous, and she was wondering if that was simply a side effect of the serum...

The woman named Edie frowned. “You didn't know that? Drilling down into rock and forcing water in and gas out builds up a ton of pressure. Yes, it sets off earthquakes. Yes, it can ruin stuff on the surface. Think about it. Plus just getting all the huge machinery in to do the work knocks down tons of trees and messes with the ecosystem.”

Jessie thought about a recent trip to Yellowstone National Park. Fracking could destroy all those wonders she had experienced. The park ranger had even mentioned how fragile these ecosystems were. She had never thought about the effects all that drilling and machery could have.

Maybe fracking was not such a great idea after all.

“Oh!” her body gave a strange jolt, and Edie blinked at her. Actually, Edie seemed to blink up at her.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked. “I didn't realize you were so tall...”

Jessie grasped at her hair. It seemed to be shorter...

My God! The Serum's wearing off!

“I gotta go! I'm late for work! I'll talk to you soon!”

Gasping for breath, Jessie stood back in her office, her hippie clothes feeling tighter around her fully-reverted body. Her hair was back to normal, she was taller once more, and her breasts were back to their familiar fullness...

She ran to the small closet where she had several extra emergency outfits and pulled on a blouse and slacks.

“Ah,” she let out a relieved breath, and crumpled to the floor in exhaustion. “I can't do that again. If I need a whole bottle, I better take it.”

She took a few moments to gather herself together, then rose. “I'm damned hungry. I've heard that Fox Serum makes you ravenous after change-back. Well, it's true,” she said to the empty room, and she walked out into the hall.

The few people who passed her didn't even question her disheveled look. I was just a different person! She wanted to scream at them. She had to admit that it truly was amazing. But then, her co-workers probably wouldn't care anyway. She'd heard of some wild after-hours Fox Serum parties here, and had even been invited to some. But after hearing how the lobby had been ravaged by a “bunch of oxen”, she resolved never to attend. She didn't have any wish to be an ox anyway.

She entered the lunch room, where a television blared out the latest news. A report came on about a fracking accident in Asia which claimed the lives of a whole village.

“Oh, no...” she whispered. “I have a feeling that was no accident...”

Ignoring Bob's secretary Jamie completely, she burst into Bob's office, the angry woman trailing behind.

“I couldn't stop her,” a flustered Jamie said.

“Bob, did you see what happened to that village?” Jessie demanded.

Bob put his arm around her shoulder, and she shrugged it off angrily. “Which village?” he asked with an innocent sneer.

“Which one? Are you serious?”

“Oh, the one that just happened? Come on, Jess. It's just a bunch of third-worlders.”

Jessie was rendered speechless.

“Now that the village is gone, however, it's perfect. We'll get rights to the land and drill to our heart's content!”

Jessie's opinion of her boss had sunk to greater lows. Had this accident really been staged to get land rights? Was that even possible, with all the red tape involved? Of course Bob and his friends had all the money in the world to cut through everything.

She lowered her voice. “I didn't know you were so greedy, Bob.”

He smiled. “You know you love it.”

“So you've gone with these hippies several times this month now. Where's all the dirt you're supposed to get me on them?” Bob requested impatiently.

Jessie gulped. “I'm working on it,” she managed to squeak. Actually, she had no intention of digging up anything on them. Her thoughts were focused on her crumbling view of her boss, and each time she had joined the group for a protest or activity, her dislike for Bob had increased.

“Jamie told me you seem to have taken a liking to wearing Birkenstocks now. That serum crap getting to you?”

Jessie frowned. The Birkenstocks were the most comfortable shoes she'd ever worn, and it annoyed her that they didn't fit as well when she wasn't on the serum.

Bob didn't wait for an answer. “Now listen, there's a protest tonight at Smithwood. They don't want the fracking industry to touch a complete wasteland in Siberia. Siberia! I mean, really! Look at the specs on the place!“ Without seeing if she was interested, he printed out a paper.

She gazed at it. “Mader Industries,” was on the top, followed by figures and dollar signs. “Village of Oblasti” it said below.

“People live there?” she whispered.

He waved her away. “We're not sure. Anyway, take some of that serum crap and mess up their protest. No one cares about Siberia.”

Surreptiously. she folded the paper and put it in her pocket. She would definitely be there tonight.

The Fox Serum flowed down her throat like the best of mixed drinks, and her husband watched dubiously. “You really want to go after your boss?” He ran his hands through her much-shaggier hair, pausing at the dark roots growing out.

The hair began to grow on her arms, and she made a quiet groan of pleasure. “He's completely corrupt. And wrong.”

Jake scratched his head, gazing at her unshaven legs. “Your legs were already unshaven before you took the serum. Are you sure that stuff doesn't cause mental changes?”

Jessie had wondered it herself, but even when it wore off, she still had the same feelings as she had gained on the very first use. She was against fracking, she was for saving the environment, and Bob Brenton needed to be exposed!

“I just kind of like the idea of not having to shave,” she replied with a blush. Now the itchiness didn't bother her in the least.

Jake was still staring down at her legs. “But why are your feet so dirty? I thought you were into wearing those crazy Birkenstocks.”

“I've been around barefoot lately. It's really very...liberating. Plus, the Birkenstocks are actually kinda tight until I change. Maybe my feet are spreading out since I'm not stuffing them into tight heels anymore...”

The brunette locks flowed down her back, and it felt right. A wave of calm swept over her as she was drawn into her hippie guise. “I like this,” she murmured, stroking at her new hair. “I might just give up hair dye once and for all.”

The Smithwood protest started mid-morning and continued through the afternoon. The senator was having a luncheon with some particularly “non-green” business owners, thus they were prime targets for the environmentalists. Jessie was having such a good time that she almost lost hold of why she was there. The group reached the hundreds today as angry onlookers joined in the cause. Many of the more extreme members, such as Steve and Edie, had slathered mud on their bodies and faces. Jessie wasn't sure exactly what this symbolized, but it worked, and she dirtied herself up accordingly.

When the press and cameras started to show, Jessie knew it was her chance. She pulled Senator Bob's incriminating paper from her pocket and handed it to Steve. He, in turn, passed it around until it eventually found its way to the press.

And chaos ensued, resulting in a cry to relieve Senator Bob Brenton of his post.

Alcohol flowed freely that evening. Most of the protestors met up in a nearby field where they celebrated the Senator's impending demise. In all Jessie's years she had never had such a memorable night. She was the star, she had brought down Bob Brenton singlehandedly, and she was finally happy in her own skin.

Even though it really wasn't truly her own.

“Jessie?”

The morning light hurt Jessie's eyes, and she hated to open them. Her body was achy and her bed was...grassy?

The night's adventures came flooding back, and even though she was most definitely hung over, she still felt joy. “No, I'm Crystal.”

Another voice chimed in. “No, she's Jessie Robinson, a member of Bob Brenton's staff! She was on Fox Serum and Bob told me to come find her...”

Jamie, Bob's personal secretary, stood above her looking very amused. “You're full of mud and beer,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

Steve was standing behind her. Silently he helped Jessie up. “So none of this is real?” he flapped the paper in the air, then held it up as if to rip it.

Jessie grabbed it away. “No! Don't! It's very real! And yes, it's true, I was disguised, but I saw what Bob is up to, and I learned more about what is happening to the environment. I want it all stopped, including Bob! I'm done with him!”

Instead of the angry response Jessie expected, Jamie merely winked at her. “Nice job, Jessie. I never would have imagined...”

Several mouths fell open.

“Jim, you shouldn't–“ Steve directed this at Jamie, who pulled something from her pocket.

“Aa, the hell with it. Between my info and Jessie's, I won't need to be with that bastard another minute!”

When the petite secretary gulped down her drink in a very unlady-like manner, she began to shudder. “Oh, yeah, that's the stuff!” she cried, her voice lowering with every word.

“Jamie, what the hell?” Jessie exclaimed, truly scared.

Hair began to sprout all over the woman, who was growing tall and quite muscular. Her tight clothes began to groan from the stress, and soon her blouse popped open. “Oops!” Jamie said, her voice a gruff baritone. “Guess I won't be needing that!” she yanked off the pink lacy bra that was exposed.

“Jamie, you're turning yourself into a man?” Jessie sputtered.

Edie put her arm around Jessie. “No, no! That's a reversion serum. Like an antidote. He's really Jim, and he's been infiltrating Bob's campaign as 'Jamie' for quite a while.”

Jessie took a moment to let this sink in. Never in a million years could she have imagined that Bob's shadow, the perfect little secretary, was really a big, rather handsome man.

“You like being a woman?” Jessie asked him comfusedly.

“It's been fun, really. I love transforming with the Fox Serums. I swear, I've been everything possible. I was an ox at one point!”

Steve smiled. “So he was all for being Bob's secretary so we could get some dirt on the senator.”

“That son-of-a-bitch,” the attractive new man frowned. “He was always after me.”

“Well, you were hot, Jim,” Steve smirked. Edie hit him.

Jessie shuddered, wondering if Jim/Jamie had ever given in to Bob's advances. She and everyone else had always simply assumed the blonde was sleeping with the senator.

“Welcome to our group, Jessie,” Jim said, shaking her hand. “Sorry if I was ever bitchy to you at work. I had to be convincing, you know.” He raised up an empty beer bottle. “Here's to you, Jessie Robinson!”

Jessie grinned. “Thanks.” She twined her arm around Edie's. “So when's the next protest? I'm out of work now, so I have to keep myself busy!”

SIX MONTHS LATER:

The brown hair was casading down Crystal Winters' back. It wasn't as long as when she used the Fox Serum, but it would get there eventually. Now she didn't need the Serum anymore. This was the way she should have been all along, she realized. She had shed her previous conservative guise, grown out all her body hair, and even went as far as to adopt her new 'hippie' name.

She had started to work for the Environmental Protection Agency, as she was now an expert on the effects of the oil and gas industries. Meanwhile, she purchased and moved onto an old farm where she and Jake, now a converted hippie himself, raised most of their food. They were also awaiting their first child.

A large part of their free time was spent protesting with the group. Steve and Edie were engaged to be married, and often on weekends, they joined up with Crystal and Jake, showing them the joys of the more involved Fox Serums. Crystal grew to love the whole metamorphosis experience.

And when the whole protest group partook in a shared Fox Serum event, the flock of tropical parrots that resulted was a sight to behold. Bob Brenton even viewed it from his jail cell.