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Poppy

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The whole bridge was alive with colour, whirling with movement as dancers spun back and forth across the wide road. The procession to mark the flare was a huge event, although nobody down below seemed quite sure why – perhaps it had something to do with growing concerns about the age of the solar system's central star. Everyone made a lot more fuss about the sun nowadays. It was probably just a fad, a mass hysteria like all that talk about time travel a few years ago. Nothing had ever come of it.

Artemis was not at home here on the high bridge, looking out across the city from above. It made her feel somehow exposed, as though something might swoop down from above at any moment. What with the new curfew laws in the city, she thought bitterly, that was almost a legitimate concern.

"Not so far, Ange," she called quietly, and her sister turned back to give her a pleading look from amongst the revellers. Angel had absolutely insisted on being here, right at the centre of the festivities. They weren't doing anything wrong, but if any of these upper-class snobs took exception to their presence, they'd probably get arrested anyway. Society was all about equal opportunities, which was probably great if you were lucky enough to be counted as a member of said society. Unfortunately, the majority of slum-dwellers owned nothing, contributed nothing and were less than people in the eyes of the law…

"Don't be so miserable." Angel pulled a silly little face up at her sister, and Artemis couldn't help but smile. She grimaced back good-naturedly, and then grinned. "All right, you can dance in the parade," she conceded. "Just don't annoy anyone." Angel span away, but all of a sudden a hush fell over the assembled crowd. Everyone waited with bated breath as the master of ceremonies stood on his parade float, arms spread wide, beaming. Nothing happened. The crowd seemed to be in raptures anyway, gazing anywhere but at the sun, manic smiles on their faces as the radiation hit. The sun might even have increased in brightness, just for a moment.

Then a scream split the air and Artemis moved without thinking, pushing through the crowd. Somehow she knew instantly that it was her sister, although the pitch of the sound was rising and people were beginning to cower, shielding their ears. No human could screech like that; it was a sound of pure avian terror.

She shoved the last person out of the way and found Angel curled in a little ball on the ground, writhing. Not knowing what to do, she put her hand on her sister's back, between the shoulder blades, and immediately recoiled as she felt something moving under the shirt. A lump had formed, making the whole Ange's back look hunched and misshapen. Arty couldn't get a grip on what was happening, and she didn't try to. All she knew was that they had to get out of there, and fast. She scooped Angel up and, taking advantage of the fact that people were still reeling away from the shrieking, began to run down the bridge.
 
It was another day for Archie Hackett. He carried his card-board box over his head, as he sloshed through sewage. He used his left hand as he reached into the sewage, and captured some of the waste-water in his hand. He placed his left hand against his mouth as he slowly took a sip of sewage water. Archie swirled the fetid water in his cheeks, each of them extending outwards and inwards in a rhythmic pattern. He then swallowed the water, as he returned his left hand to grip his card-board box.

"Yeah, we're close Sarah! This definitely has traces of industrial solvent in the run-off. Dangolkids pollutin' the environment! How am I supposed to live when these bastards keep ruining the planet!? I live on this planet. It's all the fault of those damn capitalists, and commies for eggin' them on! But none of this would have started if the midgets didn't act up! I voted for Henry Harrison by gum! Back when gumption meant something! Those youthful bastards have it all and nothing, foolish creatins of my time keep them shackled! Bah, they're all just terrible!" Hackett said as he coughed, releasing a large bubble of phlegm and snot. Archie wiped his mouth of the remnants of phlegm and snot as he slurped it back up.

He looked at the sewage, as the water levels kept increasing, "Something's up, up there. Stupid people probably doing some superstitious mumbo-jumbo, causing the sewage to flow more. If this affects my recipe." Archie coldly noted, as he continued trekking through the sewage. He then came across a small incline, with a rusting ladder, which led back upwards. And, of course, the toilet, that was seemingly placed there at random. Hackett smirked, "Can't trust anyone back at the encampment, they work for the Reptilians... Of course the Reptilians and the Greys are conspiring with the Midgets for the resources, and my bootleg wine recipe." He went closer to the toilet which was randomly situated in the sewer, as he glanced in it, as he checked the toilet tank.

The contents of the tank was a strange colored elixir, which was primarily purple but it was mixed with orange. Archie sniffed at the contents, "Yeah.. Sarah it's ready!" he then placed his card-board box down near the toilet, as he reached into his hands into the tank, cupping the liquor as he brought them up to his face and drank it. "Mmmhmm" Hackett smiled contently at his brew, as he returned the top to the toilet tank.

Archie glanced at his card-board box, as he took it in one hand, and began climbing the rusting ladder, "They'll never find it here. Oh no, none of them will ever find it here!" He continued climbing up the ladder, until he reached the man-hole, and managed to push it open with ease. He slid the man-hole to the side, as he glanced at his card-board box, as he began pushing it together, so he could squeeze through it with his card-board box. He stared at the slums, as he noticed another person walking near the man-hole. Archie barked at him "GETOUTTATHEWAYYOUJERKBACKINMYDAYWEHADGUMPTIONBYGUM!" The man fled away from Archie quickly, as he laughed at this individual, before sliding the manhole back to cover the sewer below.

Archie strolled down the run-down road, as he looked at the various buildings, and other individuals in squalor. It gave him some joy that these people were suffering, and living in a horrible condition. Then, at a random moment, Archie felt a sharp pain in his chest as he knelt on the ground, as he clutched his chest with his right hand, and held Sarah in the left.

"Death, if you've come! Take these other people first! Also, I'll rip your throat out if you are Midget Death, I ain't lettin' Midget Death kill me!"
 
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"...I like my fish and poi, I'm a big boy/ Lomi salmon, pipikaula, extra large lilikoi/ Squid or chicken lu'au, don't forget the laulau/ Beef or tripe stew just to name a few, oh yeah..."
Iz was playing in the little tiki bar he worked at, having been hired a couple years back to "add ambiance", which apparently translated to "play ukelele and drink" in haole speak. Fine by him.
"...Can't forget Papa's specialty/ And Mama's poi mochi/ Smoke meat, shoyu po-"
There was a sudden, blinding flash of light that illuminated every corner of the normally-dingy bar. Iz's hand flew up to shield his eyes on reflex, nearly causing him to drop his ukelele. Then, just as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Iz blinked slowly as he looked around at the regulars, spots in his vision.
Louis and his brother Micheal were alright, Susan had spilled her drink but was otherwise fine, Noah had turned into a giant bee-monster, Chang was manning the- wait, what?
He did a double take. Yep, that giant bee-monster was Noah alright. Had his favorite tie on and everything. Iz shrugged and picked up his instrument in his oddly-slimy hands.
"Nuh. Dah bowl musta been stronga stuff than me thought. Nah wah was me? Ah, righ'."
He strummed his ukelele once again
"Smoke meat, shoyu poke wit da rice can make a bad day feel real nice..."
 
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When Ben Seddon woke up, he couldn't contain his excitement. The day was finally here! Today, provided there were no hitches, he'd be offered a permanent job, once he completed his final trial shift. The previous month hadn't been without incident, but Ben had found ways to adapt to everything that even threatened to go wrong. Nothing, and he meant nothing, would get in his way today.


Ben practically skipped the whole way to the supermarket where he was working. Several of his "friends", a word that could only be used very loosely here, had ceaselessly mocked him for working at such a mundane job as being a cleaner, but this had never even slightly bothered him. All Ben had ever longed for was normal, and he was finally getting his life on track.


Today was also a big day, as the supermarket was facing a Health & Safety inspection. As far as Ben could understand, all this amounted to was some men in suits visiting the supermarket, and leaving with considerably more money, and yet his supervisor was constantly yelling at him that if anything bad happened, everyone would be fired. Officially, some boxes had to be ticked to verify the supermarket was at least vaguely doing things right, so several not-at-all-faked-of-course spillages, infestations, and maybe even a fire or two were planned to show how the shop could deal with these. None of this even slightly dented Ben's spirits, however. How could it?


True to his expectations, the start of the day passed uneventfully. Then, save for two eggs breaking (which resulted in no fewer than 5 of Ben's colleagues being fired), the inspection went off smoothly. Ben had cleaned up totally-not-faked spillages and two broken eggs, which no one actually cared about and the inspectors started to leave, despite the riveting excitement of… a local supermarket. Ben allowed himself to finally relax, confident that this was enough to see him over the line.


Unfortunately, there was suddenly a blinding flash of light. Ben was momentarily terrified, but then, overcome with pain, wasn't aware of anything enough to even feel terror. After a second the pain subsided, and he became acutely aware of shrieks all around him. Relief, followed by concern flooded Ben as he figured this meant everyone was affected, and it wasn't just a head-splitting migraine or anything similar, but then realised others may actually be in worse pain. A quick glance sideways told him otherwise.


A crowd of people were pointing at him and screaming so loudly that the inspectors couldn't fail to notice. As they looked back, Ben noticed his hands felt odd, before making the mistake of looking down at them only to see flippers. Rapid thoughts convinced Ben that his job was probably unsalvageable at this point- he'd lament this fact later- and that he had to get away.


He tried to let out a roar, but the squawk that appeared in its place was as effective, and no one tried to follow him, waddling at a rate that would have dumbfounded biologists the world over. Fear was a wonderful motivator!
 
"GETOUTTATHEWAYYOUJERKBACKINMYDAYWEHADGUMPTIONBYGUM!"

The shout had startled the hulk that was Raiken, who was busy walking home with a small package of groceries. With that look on his face he looked up and almost collided with another startled individual, that he side-stepped just in time. With a scratch of his head, he shrugged and walked on. In the distance was the old familiar road, and familiar people, all making their own lives as they could. He knew some of them by sight, and also recognised the old individual with the box. Seeing as Raiken never spoke, he knew no one's name, but he remembered faces.

Then he heard voices stirring, and something talking about the sky. As he glanced up he noticed it becoming very bright, and held his hand to block out the blinding light. As he looked down to lessen the sting, he saw the old man kneeling down and he looked to be in a bad way. Raiken's "mom" always taught him and his brother about how no matter how poor you were, kindness never cost anything. With this in mind, he stumbled over his feet to wards the old man, not realising his own anatomy slowly changing. The discomfort of his body wasn't registering too much either.

As the change happened, he tripped and fell down to the ground. He shook his head as he got up again, and by the time he got to the old guy, still squinting in the after-light he was completely transformed.
"Rr-oorr-rr-ttsss?" came the burly voice from his mouth in the form of a question. Somewhere in the background someone screamed and he looked up to see people pointing towards him and running in all direction.

This had him confused, and he glanced around, worried that maybe some gang members had shown up to cause trouble... but there were none... ?

---

"Ooooooh... this could work!" came an excited tiny voice from inside a large dumpster. It was one of the many that lined an alleyway closer to the medium-wealth area of the great city. Gnat knew that most of the people would be at the festivities, and that left the dumpsters open for rummaging!

rummage rummage rummage "Nice!" rummage rummage... "What the? ... hmm. I'll make it work..." rummage rummage...

Unbeknownst to the little kid, he was being sneaked up on by a nearby person. This person didn't like people, especially low-life slum rats, digging in the dumpsters of this alley. He knew who the rummager was, or at least knew he was the little midget from the lower slums, and he was always trying to grab the kid.

There was the great big flash of light, and after some blinking and rubbing of eyes, the person looked back to the dumpster, hands ready.

Then, a very odd sight greeted him! Instead of the goggled midget's face - there was a lizard looking face with large eyes. Both the person and Gnat yelled in surprise at the same time. Then both ran in opposite directions, one was empty handed and the other clutching to the treasures he had just found.
Gnat hadn't noticed his body's changes either, except for maybe being very itchy all over and an uncomfortable pressure above his butt. After some running he turned a corner, and took a breather. Then he peeked around the corner to make sure the person wasn't following him any more.

"Phew!" he exhaled with relief and ran an arm over his forehead. Then he noticed something odd: his hand. It looked wrong somehow. The fingertips were big and round, and as he turned his hand over, he saw the fine and strange surface of it. Uncertainty hit his mind like a ton of bricks, and he screamed - but them the scream turned to excitement! "Whoa! this is soooo coool! It worked! Hahaha!" he exclaimed, his fast little mind reminding him of the experiments that he and his older brother had gone for to earn some extra cash.

He did a little dance of glee, and then turned his attention to his backside... was that a tail?? Also cool!


... somewhere in the distance was what sounded like screaming... again his quick little mind made its conclusions. He wasn't the only one who had changed.
Curiosity got the better of him, and he sneeked his way towards the noise, making sure to stick to the shadows and nooks to stay out of sight.
 
Archie glanced up at the whippersnapper, who was interesting, some sort of large lycanthrope monster man. Archie peered at him, before quickly glaring at him. Archie pointed his right hand at the man, which Archie felt was somehow shorter than usual. "SO it has begun! You whippersnapper, I am pretty sure you are part of the Reptilian Invasion plan. Who else would change a lot of the world's population into mutants!? REPTILIANS, SO THEY CAN FINALLY REVEAL THEIR TRUE FORMS WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING! BUT I KNOW, I'VE BEEN KEEPING TRACK, ESPECIALLYWHENIWASINTHECLINKFORACRIMEISHOULDNOTHAVEGOTTENCONVICTEDOFYOUHEARBUTNOTHESYSTEMWASCORRUPT!" Archie got up as he glanced at Sarah. He grabbed his card-board box with his right hand as he glanced at Raiken. "I don't trust you, you probably started this you Reptilian! But, if you were a Reptilian you wouldn't have offered help to an old cranky man. But if you were a Reptilian you knew I would have thought of it and done it anyway! Either way, listen to Grandpa Hackett if you want to to keep having the Cat's Pajamas, you'll listen to everything I say! SOYOUUNPREPAREDANDCOMPLETELYIDIOTICWHIPPERSNAPPERDOYOUWANTTOLIVE!?" he barked out at Raiken.
 
"Oh my fucking god. Jesus, Iz, how can you be so calm about this? What am I gonna tell my wi-" Iz lit and placed a poorly-rolled cigarette in Noah's mandibles.
"Shh, bu. Is gon' be okay. Jus' be havin' a deeeep breath, nah."
Noah took a deep draw on the cigarette, his insect respiratory system causing him to very nearly black out. He stumbled for a second before collapsing into a booth, his antennae twitching.
"Shit, brah.", Iz said as he plucked the paper tube from Noah's mandibles, "Neva took you foa be a lightweight. You be wantin' some?" He asked the bar patrons.
"I'll just stick with booze, thanks" Said Louis, glancing at Noah. There was a murmur of agreement throughout the bar.
"Suit yaself." Iz said as he strummed his ukelele. "Any reques'?"
 
Zan had setup in the little corner coffee shop patio near her place with some double expresso black coffee. She hadn't slept in 18 hours and should be sleeping but something told her she needed to be here today. Laptop open, as she taped away furiously at the keyboard. She could hear the noise from the bridge from here. It was some crazy. She chuckles to herself and returned to hacking Hal Brogmen's system, that rich guy from Austin who though that all women though be viewed as sex slaves. He was gonna see quickly what Lillium thought of that.
She blinked as the light became too bright even for her night owl eyes. She covered them the best she could. She heard the screams from the bridge before the someone started screaming beside her. Quickly she uncovered her eyes and looked around. What the hell was all the scream about. No one looked hurt, maybe it blinded some people? I mean they say not to look at things like that.
That idea was changed when she felt something on her back. She turned to see a small child touching her with big eyes. It was also when she realize there were some kind of something sticking out of...wait...that can't be my back...what...where did that fur come from. No. What. That looks like bat wings. Where...no this can't be happening. What is going on! The small boy beside he drew back in fear as all her heard was growling and mews that seems confused.
She reached up with her left arm to her back and touched the wings. She flinched, not in pain but in shock.
Turning she slammed the lid of her laptop closed with a paw, accidentally leaving a small scratch on the cover, to which a growling noise was heard. Using her paws the best she could she nudged it into the bag beside it and closed the bag. She pushed her head under the strap and took off as soon as she could.
As she ran she could feel it. She was faster, much faster. Something...something else was different not just the fur and the wings...and those big claws.
She heard something that sounded like "IDIOTICWHIPPERSNAPPERDOYOUWANTTOLIVE!?" and she pulled to a sudden stop. What was that?
 
Getting off the bridge turned out to be harder than expected. There were people everywhere, but that wasn't the real problem, especially since they scattered in confusion as Artemis ran. The real problem was turning out to be the fact that upper-class citizens apparently liked their roads straight, long, well-marked and at absolute right angles to each other. Turning off this over-exposed, overcrowded thoroughfare just pitched her onto another, with no little alleys anywhere in sight.

She knew the alleys of the lower city like the back of her hand, but she was quite literally too high. The bridges arced over the slums, connecting one high tower with another above the smog and shadows of the slums. Eventually she found her way into a spiral of descending streets, and pitched downwards, barrelling past a museum, then a department store, a supermarket... once she started seeing pawnbrokers and dodgy drinking establishments she slowed down a little. Angel had stopped screaming, but was still whimpering helplessly, and as blind panic faded Artemis began to feel really worried. What the heck was that lump on her back? She set her sister down at the side of the alley and tried to turn her little body. The strange bulge was still there, still squirming gently. It was almost more than Artemis dared to reach down and lift the shirt, but she made herself do it, and then recoiled as her fingers brushed... feathers?

It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps Angel had simply been attacked by some sort of bird, that it had somehow been caught up under her shirt and began screeching for release. Her stomach seemed to know that wasn't the case, and a glance at Angel's face was enough to prove its point: her eyes were a bright, acidic yellow-green, the pupils narrow slits, and there was a slight scaly texture to her skin. Nothing made sense.

"What..." The sheer look of horrified confusion on Artemis's face was enough to stop Angel from asking. Neither of them knew what was going on here. A slight sound from further down the alley caught Arty's attention and she turned, eyes scanning the shadows. The last thing they needed now was company. "Who's there?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady. She glanced back at Angel, who nodded slightly. If they needed to make a run for it, Ange would find her feet.
 
Ben stopped and looked around him. He'd been waddling for no less than 5 hours, which given the adrenaline rush he was experiencing, probably only amounted to 10 minutes in reality. He was flustered, freaked out, and feathered. This was not a good way to be. Thankfully no one had followed him, although Ben knew it wouldn't take too long for him to be tracked. There were far too many cameras around the city for anyone to truly hide for long.

At least he was starting to think clearly again though. He had no idea where he was (which greatly concerned him, since he thought he knew every back-street in the city), not even a vague idea what route he'd taken to get here, and no idea of where might be sensible to go in this state. Home wasn't an option. People would look for him there. People always come looking when you do something wrong, or downright weird, and they're not the kind of people you want looking for you.

Gradually Ben was developing a clearer picture of what was going on. This was all thanks to those experiments he'd been in. Everyone had been told those were a failure as far as Ben knew, and he hadn't wasted any time in the intervening years mulling it over. It had happened, nothing had come of it, and Ben had finally escaped and moved on. Now though, Ben had to try digging up what he could from the recesses of his memory

As he continued to stumble through the back streets, walking for the sake of not stopping, he became aware that he was actually quite hungry by now. It had been a long shift, without any break, and as the adrenaline was wearing off, he realised he'd used up quite a lot of energy since.

Ben realised he needed to stop and think, so he could focus on what to do next, rather than simply keeping himself upright and walking for always at least one more step. Taking advantage of his notably smaller stature since his transformation, Ben easily hid between several boxes stacked near a dumpster that looked like it hadn't been emptied in weeks. This was reassuring- it meant he was finally back in an area of the city where he wouldn't (normally) stand out- this was a start. It also, however, meant that there was no chance of finding food in the bin. He wouldn't even be the fiftieth to try scavenging from it since this morning. "Typical" muttered Ben aloud, his exasperation getting the better of him now that he was convinced of his solitude, temporary as it may be. Much as he hated the idea, he realised that his only option in the short term was to steal food from somewhere, though doing that effectively with flippers and not getting caught was sure to prove a challenge in itself. Flippers were definitely not well-suited to pickpocketing, or breaking-and-entering. This called for some ingenuity, and one of Ben's schemes would have to go right for once.

Just then, there came a lot of clattering from the alley around the corner. Ben was about to flee, when he heard some helpless whimpering, and instantly turned round to help, despite having no idea what was wrong or whether he could actually do anything of use. He was about to call out to see what was happening when he heard a voice just as confused as he felt say "What…" He paused at the top of the alley, debating whether he should be around anyone else, or would he make things tougher for them as people looking for him undoubtedly closed in on this area.

"Who's there?" another voice called out. Without thinking, Ben simply responded (although in a voice closer to a parrot's than anything else he could think to compare it to), by calling out "I'm… I'm Ben. Are you okay? You sound like you're in trouble." He then waddled forward timidly, so they could see him. He had the impression that these people may actually be more scared than he was.
 
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