Everyone in the newsroom knew who the three-breasted clouded leopard woman was, and she smiled and waved as normal as she strolled in.  And yet, the calls of “Hi Tina” had a note of uncertainty to them.

Bradley rubbed his balding pate as he stared at the leopard-girl in his office.  Then his frown cleared as he sniffed at the air.  “Subtle.  But that’s Janice’s perfume.  What are you up to?”

“I wanted my job back.”

Bradley’s eyes widened.  “Janice?  What did you do to Tina?”

Janice cupped a hand around one ear and the crystal earring dangling there.  “She’s here.  Feeding me lines and suggestions.  My own personal Jiminy Cricket, and almost as f...”  Janice covered her mouth, stopped what she was about to say, then sighed.  “This is going to be challenging.”

“Why should I even let you try after what you did to Tina?”

“What I did to Tina?” griped Janice.  “After everything she’s done to me?  She’s earned it...  But I didn’t do anything to her.  She turned me into a copy of her, then her sweetie helped get her shape right.  Venning an earring that can see and talk took a while.”

“Do you really expect me to believe Tina offered you the chance to take her place?”

Janice unhooked the earring and handed it over to the station manager.  “Don’t take my word for it.”

Bradley held the earring up to one ear, and his bushy eyebrows lifted even higher.  “Are you sure, Tina?  I know it has been over a year, but...  Okay, I’ll trust you.”

He handed the earring back to Janice, and while she was reinserting it he glowered.  “You have one day.  Don’t screw it up, and we’ll see about the rest of the week.”

Janice smirked at him, an expression wholly her own.  “One day at a time.”

She ventured out into the news room, smiling fondly at the familiar scene.  Instead of cringing, everyone she met smiled back and greeted “Tina” warmly.  Janice found herself smiling back more easily than she’d expected.  There were familiar faces and new ones, her earring helped her get the new names right.

Janice found herself becoming increasingly tense as the broadcast went on.  She hadn’t done the weather in over a year, and her tension came out as snappishness.  She had to apologize to several of the staffers, reciting words given to her by Tina.

When the moment came, and the red light went on over the camera, Janice was all grins.  Talking to an audience and flaunting a fantastic body felt like the most natural thing in the world.  That her body had three breasts instead of two, and towered taller than she ever had in high heels... that just made it even better.  She finished the forecast with a toothy, predatory grin.

Then Tina pointed out how nervous that grin had made the cameraman.  Janice sighed, and headed for Bradley’s office.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.  “Looked great, keep it up.”

“The grin wasn’t too much?  Jerry flinched when he saw it.”

Bradley sighed.  “Amy’s influence, I’m afraid.  Long-fingered rodent bodies have more dexterity, but the reflexes around predators sometimes cause issues.  Try not to eat anyone, okay?”

Janice snickered at that.  “You’re setting an awfully low bar.  Though to be fair, one that Tina failed to clear.”

Bradley lifted one bushy eyebrow.  “I don’t think I want to know.  What happens outside the studio is not my concern.”

“Really...”  Jancie’s grin grew even wider.

The next morning she was in the station manager’s office once more, getting a much sharper glare than before.  “Did you really turn Jerry into a jellybean and eat him?”

“Yes and no.”

The eyebrow of doom raised inquisitively.

“I venned him into a jellybean, yes.  I did not eat him.  I kneaded him between my fingers for a while, then dropped him into a glass of water.”

“And that’s supposed to be better?” fumed Bradley.

“You said you didn’t care what happened outside the studio.”

“Terrifying the staff affects the studio!”

Janice snarled back at him, then sighed.  “Fine.  Fine.  I’ll leave them all alone.”  She cupped her earring in one hand and glowered.  “I know, I know, you told me...”

She was sulky for much of the day, despite a voice in her ear trying to cheer her up.  The only thing that got her to smile was the prospect of playing with the Venn Machines once the week was over.

Still, she put on her best smile for the cameras, and even Bradley admitted that the ratings for the weather were staying solid.  They were even getting a few calls praising “Tina” for being livelier than usual.

Janice chuckled at that when Bradley told her about it in their post-show meeting in his office.  “What has she been doing, then?”

“She’s more relaxed than you.  Easy in her skin... fur, whatever.  You’re still getting used to everyone looking up at you.”

Janice’s grin grew feral.  “I like that part.  That moment of surprise when someone has to look so far up, that little bit of fear in their...  I know, Tina, but if I can’t be honest with Bradley this can’t work.”

Bradley sat back in his chair.  “Hrm.  So far you’ve been surprisingly good.  I can see the tension rising among the staff, I think you’re causing more consternation with your grins than you ever did with your snappish ways and all that nonsense with Quick Draw.”

Janice smirked.  “Are you sure I can’t talk you into the Venn Machine once the week is over?  The things I would do to you.”

“My wife would not appreciate that, I’m afraid.”

Janice leaned forward in her chair, ears perked and eyes bright.  “You’ve never mentioned your wife before.  Have you ever become something fun for her?”

“None of your business.  And no.”

“She doesn’t worry about you hanging around with sexy furry weathergirls?” purred Janice.

Bradley coughed and adjusted his tie.  “We’ve had that discussion.  She knows I would never.”

“But she still worries.”

Bradley’s eyes narrowed.  “When the hell did you become such an acute judge of character?”

“I spent a year listening instead of talking.  Been doing a lot of that here, too.  I was surprised how much you can learn by smiling at people and listening to them.  God, the things I could do to Jerry... the boy needs to learn to relax, unwind a little.  Get laid.”

Bradley snorted.  “Wouldn’t put it like that, but... yeah.  He’s been making moon-eyes at Sandra for months, but doesn’t have the guts to make a move.”  Noticing Janice’s avid expression, he held up a hand warningly.  “No.  Stay out of it.”

Janice slumped in her seat.  “You never let me have any fun any more.”

“I don’t need relationship drama blowing up on the set.”

Janice waved off the complaint.  “Sandra’s in the graphics department, she’s never on the set.”

“Don’t.”

Janice rolled her eyes.  “Fine.  I’ll be good.  Good-ish.”

“I’ll take it.”

Janice was good to her word, to Bradley’s surprise.  While tensions continued to rise, Janice managed to avoid sparking a flame.

Friday morning found Janice in Bradley’s office once more, and her smile even more predatory than before.  He sighed.  “Now what?”

“Smiling nicely is getting wearisome.  I won’t trouble you after today.”

Bradley was halfway through a sigh of relief when his eyes narrowed.  “But you are going to trouble me today.  Do I need to pitch you out and scramble for a replacement?  Because I will.”

Janice crossed her heart with the most angelically innocent look on her face.  “I only have one surprise, and it will wait until the last broadcast.”

Bradley’s bushy brows drew together.  “Am I going to hate it?”

Janice looked off to the side, tilting her head.  “It will be disruptive, but...  I think you’ll like it.”

Bradley sighed heavily and waved her away.  “I’m not condoning it, just don’t get anyone hurt.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” said Janice with yet another toothy smile.  As she headed out of Bradley’s office, she dialed the toothiness back just enough to keep the staff from squeaking in alarm.

Janice was on fire for her final show of the day, excited, eager, snapping through the forecast with gusto.  She finished a few seconds early, and turned to face the camera.  “Time to face the music.  There’s something I haven’t told you good folks...”  She plucked her earring out, and set it on the desk in front of her.  “That is Tina.  She’s been feeding me all my lines.”

Janice spread her furry arms wide in a dramatic gesture just as the reversion hit.  “Tada!  Janice is back.  Was back.  I’m done here.  Sorry for all the fuss I’ve caused this week, and even more for the pain I caused when I was a bitch to all y’all.  See you at the bar.”

Janice turned and strode away.  A moment later, Tina appeared sprawled on the desk, then quickly stood up and put on a professional smile.  “And I’m Tina.  The girl under the fur.  I’ll be back Monday...”  She glanced towards the manager’s office.  “I hope.  Send in your suggestions for a new look, I’ll pick something fun.”

*** *** ***

Janice was nursing a drink alone at the bar when Tina bounced in, already back in leopard-girl form, though tonight she’d gone for an average height and build, rather than the amazonian one she used on the show.  Amy was snuggled up against her side, looking pleased.  Janice’s glower deepened as all the regulars cheered and called out greetings to Tina.

“Hey Janice.”

Janice startled, and turned a sardonic smile toward her captor and friend.  “Hey Tina.  Here to gloat?”

“Hardly.  You know me better than that.  Why aren’t you with the others?”

“You saw the way they reacted when I appeared.  I’d rather not stir up old bitterness.”

Tina grabbed her arm and dragged Janice towards the tables occupied by the studio crew.  “C’mon.  They won’t bite.”

“I might if you keep that up!”

Tina smirked at her.  “Promises, promises.”

Janice growled at her, but her heart wasn’t in it and she let herself be pulled into the group.  “Hey everyone.  Sorry about the jelly bean thing, Jerry.  I thought it’d be funny.”

Jerry nodded along.  “In retrospect, it kind of is.  I mean, Jerry the jellybean?  How is that not funny?”

“So you’d do it again?”

Jerry blushed and glanced at Sandra, “With, uh, the right person?  No offence.”

Janice chuckled softly.  “None taken.  So, Sandra.  I’ll venn Jerry here into anything you like.  What’ll it be?”

That got a double spit-take, one from Jerry and one from Sandra.  “W... what?” stammered the petite woman once she’d finished coughing.  “Why?”

“Because he’s sweet on you, and you could have him wrapped around your finger.  Or shoulders.  Pretty much anywhere, really.  I bet if you tried, you could keep him in your wardrobe indefinitely.  Or would you prefer the panty drawer?”

Sandra cheeks flared crimson.  “I... you...”

“C’mon, there’s a new Venn Machine down the block.  You don’t have to risk getting in, I know I’ve made everyone here skittish about that.  Time to fix it.  Venning can be fun, and if it’s the last thing I do with you folks, I’ll make you see.”

Janice crooked her finger at Jerry, and soon he was following her out the door.  Tina, Amy and Sandra followed along, as did a handful of others from the studio.

Once there, Janice asked Jerry if he had any plans for Saturday.  When he shook his head, she tapped the day icon once.  “How about Sunday?”  She tapped it again.

“Uh, dinner with my folks that night, but...”

“Given the choice of seeing your parents, or being with Sandra, which would you pick?”

Jerry flicked his eyes over to Sandra, then back.  “Sandra.”

Janice tapped to open the doors, then strode into the Venn Machine.  Jerry followed more timidly.  “Come on, I won’t bite.  Well, not you anyway.  Let’s see now, something pretty, but that will fit her as well as me...  Aha!”

Before long, Janice hopped out of the machine and scooped up her prize, a long sheer scarf with a green and blue scale pattern on it.  She swirled it around her neck, then tugged it off once more as she approached Sandra.  She folded it twice, then gestured to Sandra’s hands.

Sandra held her hands out without thinking, and soon the slithery fabric was pooling in them and threatening to fall.  Just before it did, she closed her grip.  “This is... Jerry?”

“Yep.  C’mon, give us a show.”

Hesitantly, Sandra wrapped the scarf around her shoulders, tying it loosely so the ends dangled over her chest.  Janice grinned.  “Yeah, that’s more like it.  Let him have some fun, too.”

“Wait, he can feel all this?”

“Oh, yeah,” purred Amy.  “Being worn is especially nice when light and drifty like that.  So good.  I’m sure he’s having a great time.”

“So he feels like he’s groping my breasts right now?” asked Sandra.

Amy shook her head.  “It’s not like having hands.  Well, unless someone gropes you through him, then it’s pretty close.  He’s helpless, yours to wear or not as you see fit.  He can only touch where you want him to touch.”

Sandra bit her lip.  “I... uh... need to be going.”

She darted off quickly, to giggles from Tina and loud guffaws from Janice.  “Way to sell it!” crowed the latter.

“Wasn’t my intent,” murmured Amy.  She grinned as she watched how Sandra was clutching the scarf tight to her chest.  “But I do like a happy ending.”

“Who said anything about an ending?” asked Janice.  “I want details, girl.”  She waggled a finger at Tina.  “Details!”

Tina giggled, and pointed to the machine.  “I could show you what Jimmy’s going through.  Or would you prefer to go back to your usual shape?”

Janice’s cheeks pinkened.  “Not here, where everyone can see...”

Tina paused a minute to think.  “Oh!  I could make you a mask to cover up.”

Janice nodded slowly, and soon they were inside the Venn Machine, this time set for a year.  When Janice emerged, though, she looked exactly the same as before.   “Did it work?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper.  She reached up to feel her face.

“Ah, maybe leave that until we get home,” prompted Tina.  “Trust me.”

Janice nodded, but kept fussing all the way home, most notably about how her voice wouldn’t go much above normal speaking tone, and at that she felt like she was yelling.

“Bonus feature,” giggled Tina.  “You can yell at us all you like, and nobody will mind.”

Janice crossed her eyes and grumbled the rest of the way, but before long the grumbling turned into a sort of contented gurgling instead.  “You’ve done something really weird, haven’t you.”

Tina’s giggling grew louder, and Amy joined in.

Once they were home, Janice darted to the mirror.  Dirk sidled up beside her.  “Something fun?”

“I don’t know yet,” sighed Janice, as she felt around the edges of her face.  She felt a seam at the back of her jaw, and tugged.

Janice’s face separated from her head, prompting a yelp of surprise from Dirk.  “Holy...”

Janice held her face out to him.  It looked like a very realistic mask, perhaps an inch thick and warm to the touch.  The eyes in it blinked up at him as he goggled at it.  Then he turned to look at Janice’s head.  The front of her head was a smooth curve of flesh tapering from her hair to her neck, uninterrupted by anything so human as a chin.  No features at all, save one – where her mouth should be was a lewd vertical slit.

“Tina’s work?”

Janice nodded, adding a little huff for emphasis.

“She has outdone herself.  Want to try it out?”

The nodding became much more emphatic.

*** *** ***

Janice didn’t put her face back on for the next week.  She carried it about in her arms when she needed to see, and learned to eat and drink with her alternate physiology, with great apparent enjoyment.  Despite her lack of speech, she made her annoyance with the one main design flaw clear.  She had to breathe through her new orifice, so it couldn’t be used as fully as she wanted.

Tina offered to tinker with the design, but when Dirk said he liked how it felt when Janice ran short of breath the faceless woman blushed, and declined the offer.

It was Friday again by the time Dirk persuaded Janice to wear her face once more.  It took even more work to get her to head to the bar, but she eventually agreed.

When Janice showed up at the bar, Tina called out her name loudly.  Many of the others joined in, then cheered.  Janice looked puzzled, then smiled and approached them.  “You put them up to that,” she accused Tina.

“Not at all.  Blame Jerry and Sandra.”

Janice looked over to them curiously, to find the couple snuggled against each other and sharing a large fruity drink with two straws.  “Ew.”

Sandra giggled.  “Not going to apologize.  Last weekend was a blast.  My turn.”

Janice blinked at her.  “What?”

“Turn me into something fun for him.”

Janice looked over to Tina, who shrugged.  She turned back to Sandra.  “Why me?  You can venn each other.”

Sandra giggled.  “Yeah.  But you’ve got a wicked imagination.  Come on, please?”

Janice narrowed her eyes.  “It’ll be very lewd.  And very fun for both of you.  Still in?”

“Oh heck yes,” breathed Sandra, eyes shining.

“This is going to be a regular thing, isn’t it?” asked Tina.

There were grins and nods around the table.  Janice beamed.  “I get volunteers to turn into wicked sexy instead of wicked-evil things for the weekend?  Aw yeah, this will be even more fun than Quick Draw.”

A large group from the bar followed Janice, Sandry and Jerry to the Venn Machine.  After Janice sent Sandra home in Jimmy’s pocket, Amy stepped up next.  “My turn.”

Janice’s smirk grew wider.  “Something for Tina, or something for me?”

Amy glanced over to Tina, then set the timer for a year.  “Both.”

“And how wicked were you thinking?”

Amy slithered right up to Janice and nuzzled at her cheek.  Janice squeaked, and clapped her hands to her face to keep it from slipping off.  “Scamp.  What was that for?”

“I want you in the right frame of mind to be exceptionally wicked.”

“You got it,” growled Janice, eyes sparkling.

When the doors opened again, Amy had been replaced by an enormous tongue the length and breadth of her torso.  Tina scooped her up eagerly.  “Ooooh.  Oh, she’s all covered in tiny little tongues, too.”  Amy squirmed against Tina’s chest, and Tina was soon blushing.  “A year you said?  Mmmm.  This one might just be a keeper.”

“Who’s next?” called out Janice.

There was some nervous shuffling, but nobody volunteered.  Janice sighed.  “I can dial it down, you know.”

Dirk stepped up.  “Okay.”

“How wicked?”

“Dial it down.  All the way.  I’m curious.”

Janice chuckled, more so when Dirk also set the machine for a year.  “You really trust me this much?”

“I do,” he said with deep sincerity.

He stepped back out of the machine a minute later, looking unchanged.  Until he opened his mouth, and showed just how long his tongue could now stretch, anyway...

After that, Tyson stepped up.  Janice turned him into a stylish leather purse, and offered him to Estelle, who he’d had a crush on for some time.  She considered the purse, then giggled.  A minute later she was a tube of lipstick tucked into said purse, and being handed off to another woman.

“But what am I supposed to do with her?” asked Natalie.

“Use them both.  Got anyone special you’d like to kiss?”

Natalie glanced down at her new purse.  “Maybe.”

“Then go have some fun.”

After that, the rest went back to the bar, chatting among themselves excitedly.

“Quite the outing,” said Tina from behind Janice.  “Think you’ll be back next Friday?”

“Heck yeah.  Will you volunteer?”

“If you trap me as a toy, you have to take my shifts.”

“That’s not a no,” said Janice with a growing smirk.

“It isn’t, is it?  C’mon, let’s go home and play with our new toys.”

“Hey!” protested Dirk.  Then he thought for a moment.  “No, wait, I’m good with that.”