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Mark Parker had been working on his latest inventions for some time, though at the cost of advancing at the same pace as the other super villains. It was a price he was willing to pay, however; they were robbing banks and getting to be notorious enough to get the attention of superheroes, and he was quietly putting together devices that would take the world for him in one fell swoop. His victims, if one must call them that, weren’t people. They were animals. And nobody cared about them, these days.
He stepped out of his car at the edge of the local forestry reserve, looking out at the trees and those creatures in it. He could see a deer in the distance, as well as a few families of rabbits that were hopping across the fields outside it. Prior excursions had revealed a beaver dam further in, and he knew that there were more animals than that that called this place home. He just had to find them.
For now, however, he needed to set up base. A simple cloaking field would keep his car invisible, running off of its battery, and as he set up the smaller buildings that would take up place off of the path, he connected them to the device as well. Cords shimmered as they were taken into the field, and by the time he was done, there were five temporary houses put together, all the size of a normal two-story building, all completely invisible. Doubtless, his car battery was feeling the strain, but it only had to hold up for a day or two. Then, he would be able to progress his plans.
He gathered up his remaining equipment, slinging a duffel bag over his shoulder before reaching into it. A couple of rayguns lay at the bottom of it, but he would get to those later. For now, he wanted to set up projectors.
Intelligence boosters, really, but intelligence projectors sounds better, he thought with a small chuckle. He walked slowly, making sure to take his time so that the rabbits and other animals weren’t startled. It meant that it took a good twenty minutes to cross about a hundred feet of space, but they didn’t move as he gently wiggled the first projector into the ground. It didn’t need plugging in; it had a self-contained power source that’d last for weeks. He tilted the dishes on the top of the suspended box, pointed them down to the rabbits below, and turned it on.
There was no obvious change in the air, but the rabbits paused in what they were doing, almost like they were wondering what had happened. And then, more interestingly, they looked at each other. Self-awareness was spreading, intelligence was growing.
Feeling a growing surge of satisfaction, Mark walked around the edges of the field, placing bigger projectors where field became forest. Each one stood at chest-height for him, and he aimed their dishes deep into the forest. Some towards the deer, some towards the squirrels in the tree, and still others towards the raccoons that were slowly waking up this late in the evening.
As he pressed the activation buttons, the same awareness that he’d seen in the rabbits started to spread, making the animals curious and drawing them out. Raccoons were the first, followed by the skittish deer, and moving on past that. He smiled to himself, enjoying seeing their curiosity, but it wasn’t all he needed.
He let them gather, watching as species that would normally fight - foxes and raccoons, rabbits and predators - actually sat and just seemed to take in the projection from the boxes. The more they sat there, the more that he saw their eyes change. There was something growing, a potential there, an understanding. The more that they took in, the more aware they came, and the more aware they became, the more he knew sentience would be knocking at their doors.
The first to change was a vixen, her attention going from the machine to him. She stopped staring at it, and walked over to him, sitting at his feet. He waited, wondering if she would take it further, and she did, pointing one forepaw at the machine, and then back at him.
Reason. Logic. She understands cause and effect.
It was just what he needed. He smiled, reaching down and patting her head.
“Yes, that’s exactly it. I did this to you. And to the rest of you, as well. You’ll be my helpers, for my plan. And I promise, it’ll be good for all of us.”
She barked quietly at him, and he supposed that was her agreement. He smiled, patting her head one more time before looking at the other assembled animals. One by one, they were making the same connection between him and the device that she had, and they were sitting in front of him, waiting for an explanation. He waited until more than half had arrived, and he reached into the bag, pulling out one of the ray guns.
“This is the first day of the rest of your lives. I hope that you enjoy your birth.”
He shot the vixen first, and then the deer. The rabbits were next, followed by the other foxes. Squirrels, then raccoons, and then the birds that had come down from the trees. None of them collapsed or felt pain, he knew. He’d studied this too long to make sure that such a thing would never happen. Instead, they would all feel pleasant tingles as they were given the next step in their evolution.
As they grew, their paws began to change shape, turning from rough padded things to hands and feet, though still with claws and the memory of pads along the undersides. They grew in proportion to the rest of the bodies, slowly rising up from the ground. The deer leaned back as his hind legs turned to proper legs, and his forelegs turned to arms.
Mark walked by them, collecting some of the projectors before venturing deeper into the forest. The transformation would continue, now. There was no stopping what had begun. There was only the choice to continue it.
He set the projectors up around the riverside, particularly near the dam that was on the far end of the river, and also near a den that he knew was populated with the local wolf pack. At all times, he moved slowly and quietly, a studied movement that kept him from standing out in the wild. Animals did not like smells of humans, nor sounds, but he could at least blend in.
Once more, the call of the machines pulled animals to him, beavers, wolves, pups and adults alike. They came to him, looking up as the machine awakened the depths of their mind, slowly bringing them up from the mere animalistic state that they were in. He watched the awareness come to them, and the reasoning that came after.
The wolves learned as a unit, and turned to him almost immediately. They walked over, suspicion in their all-too-human eyes as they looked up at him. Why did he do this, they likely wondered. Why would he help a predator of his?
“I help you because I want your help in return. I will give you intelligence, and you’ll give me what I need to carry out my plans.”
The wolves looked at each other, and nodded. The ray gun came out once more, blasting them with a few lines of light that triggered their transformations. The beavers, shortly afterwards, received the same treatment. They, however, were not asked. The wolves could kill him. They couldn’t.
The transformation began, just as it had in the fields. The wolves rose up on their hind legs, their fur spreading out to cover certain areas before that fur turned to clothing. Their paws turned to hands and feet, their tongues no longer hanging out so far as they had been. Humanoid features and biology took charge, lifting them upright without a hunch or a slump, and their shagginess faded to a more manageable level.
Rather than simple clothes, their apparel was more like armor. Their fur wove into mesh, and then detached from their bodies, growing into body armor and thick pieces of protection. As their faces changed, growing more wide-eyed and human with wolfish features, he turned his attention to the beavers.
Their transformation had already proceeded to clothing, but theirs was more of a construction worker’s sort, thick and protective for a laborer’s work. Their long, flat tails spread down like a pan behind them, running from their waists down to their knees, and spreading out wider than their legs were. It formed quite the imposing tool, though he doubted that they would use it to the same extent in this form.
He gestured for them to follow him, and they did, picking up the intelligence projectors as they did. It was a quick walk out of the forest, and by the time he reached the fields again, the others had been transformed fully.
Deer, raccoon, squirrel, fox, rabbit, wolf, beaver. There were so many different species, all uplifted with the power of his technology. The ray guns had lifted them to humanoid forms, and had given them clothes so that they didn’t have the crass look of lustful beasts to them. Instead, they were civilized, intelligent people...just as he needed.
The vixen from before stepped forward, a smart blouse and a suitable skirt covering her. High heels somehow clicked as she walked up the gravel path to him, adjusting a pair of glasses she definitely hadn’t had before.
“Hello, sir.”
“You’ve learned to speak already. I’m impressed.”
“It only took a shift of biology to allow it. My name is Vivian.”
“Vivian. You have names?”
“All of us, sir.”
He wondered if they were original or taken as they had changed, but that was something to ask later. He glanced over the others, seeing that they had already changed in clothes, each species forming a different block. The deer were looking more like runners, scouts, but military at the same time. The wolves were soldiers, strong and armored, powerful and quick. The foxes were servants, perhaps even diplomats, while the raccoons were spies. Every species offered him something, every one would help him.
He smiled to himself before turning back to Vivian.
“You will be my personal assistant.”
“Of course. May I ask why, sir?”
“Does it matter?”
“I’m curious.”
“Because you were the first to realize what is going on. If my plans are to succeed, I need intelligence that is quick to grow, not merely something that comes where it will.”
She nodded, stepping back into the group. In a minute, he would sort them into the temporary housing that he’d brought, but for now, he luxuriated in the sight before him. His plan, his technology, was workable. With this proof, he could take on the mantle that he had prepared for himself, and become the Intelligent One.
“Next stop, the zoo.”
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Forest Forces
For ehh123
By Draconicon
Mark Parker had been working on his latest inventions for some time, though at the cost of advancing at the same pace as the other super villains. It was a price he was willing to pay, however; they were robbing banks and getting to be notorious enough to get the attention of superheroes, and he was quietly putting together devices that would take the world for him in one fell swoop. His victims, if one must call them that, weren’t people. They were animals. And nobody cared about them, these days.
He stepped out of his car at the edge of the local forestry reserve, looking out at the trees and those creatures in it. He could see a deer in the distance, as well as a few families of rabbits that were hopping across the fields outside it. Prior excursions had revealed a beaver dam further in, and he knew that there were more animals than that that called this place home. He just had to find them.
For now, however, he needed to set up base. A simple cloaking field would keep his car invisible, running off of its battery, and as he set up the smaller buildings that would take up place off of the path, he connected them to the device as well. Cords shimmered as they were taken into the field, and by the time he was done, there were five temporary houses put together, all the size of a normal two-story building, all completely invisible. Doubtless, his car battery was feeling the strain, but it only had to hold up for a day or two. Then, he would be able to progress his plans.
He gathered up his remaining equipment, slinging a duffel bag over his shoulder before reaching into it. A couple of rayguns lay at the bottom of it, but he would get to those later. For now, he wanted to set up projectors.
Intelligence boosters, really, but intelligence projectors sounds better, he thought with a small chuckle. He walked slowly, making sure to take his time so that the rabbits and other animals weren’t startled. It meant that it took a good twenty minutes to cross about a hundred feet of space, but they didn’t move as he gently wiggled the first projector into the ground. It didn’t need plugging in; it had a self-contained power source that’d last for weeks. He tilted the dishes on the top of the suspended box, pointed them down to the rabbits below, and turned it on.
There was no obvious change in the air, but the rabbits paused in what they were doing, almost like they were wondering what had happened. And then, more interestingly, they looked at each other. Self-awareness was spreading, intelligence was growing.
Feeling a growing surge of satisfaction, Mark walked around the edges of the field, placing bigger projectors where field became forest. Each one stood at chest-height for him, and he aimed their dishes deep into the forest. Some towards the deer, some towards the squirrels in the tree, and still others towards the raccoons that were slowly waking up this late in the evening.
As he pressed the activation buttons, the same awareness that he’d seen in the rabbits started to spread, making the animals curious and drawing them out. Raccoons were the first, followed by the skittish deer, and moving on past that. He smiled to himself, enjoying seeing their curiosity, but it wasn’t all he needed.
He let them gather, watching as species that would normally fight - foxes and raccoons, rabbits and predators - actually sat and just seemed to take in the projection from the boxes. The more they sat there, the more that he saw their eyes change. There was something growing, a potential there, an understanding. The more that they took in, the more aware they came, and the more aware they became, the more he knew sentience would be knocking at their doors.
The first to change was a vixen, her attention going from the machine to him. She stopped staring at it, and walked over to him, sitting at his feet. He waited, wondering if she would take it further, and she did, pointing one forepaw at the machine, and then back at him.
Reason. Logic. She understands cause and effect.
It was just what he needed. He smiled, reaching down and patting her head.
“Yes, that’s exactly it. I did this to you. And to the rest of you, as well. You’ll be my helpers, for my plan. And I promise, it’ll be good for all of us.”
She barked quietly at him, and he supposed that was her agreement. He smiled, patting her head one more time before looking at the other assembled animals. One by one, they were making the same connection between him and the device that she had, and they were sitting in front of him, waiting for an explanation. He waited until more than half had arrived, and he reached into the bag, pulling out one of the ray guns.
“This is the first day of the rest of your lives. I hope that you enjoy your birth.”
He shot the vixen first, and then the deer. The rabbits were next, followed by the other foxes. Squirrels, then raccoons, and then the birds that had come down from the trees. None of them collapsed or felt pain, he knew. He’d studied this too long to make sure that such a thing would never happen. Instead, they would all feel pleasant tingles as they were given the next step in their evolution.
As they grew, their paws began to change shape, turning from rough padded things to hands and feet, though still with claws and the memory of pads along the undersides. They grew in proportion to the rest of the bodies, slowly rising up from the ground. The deer leaned back as his hind legs turned to proper legs, and his forelegs turned to arms.
Mark walked by them, collecting some of the projectors before venturing deeper into the forest. The transformation would continue, now. There was no stopping what had begun. There was only the choice to continue it.
He set the projectors up around the riverside, particularly near the dam that was on the far end of the river, and also near a den that he knew was populated with the local wolf pack. At all times, he moved slowly and quietly, a studied movement that kept him from standing out in the wild. Animals did not like smells of humans, nor sounds, but he could at least blend in.
Once more, the call of the machines pulled animals to him, beavers, wolves, pups and adults alike. They came to him, looking up as the machine awakened the depths of their mind, slowly bringing them up from the mere animalistic state that they were in. He watched the awareness come to them, and the reasoning that came after.
The wolves learned as a unit, and turned to him almost immediately. They walked over, suspicion in their all-too-human eyes as they looked up at him. Why did he do this, they likely wondered. Why would he help a predator of his?
“I help you because I want your help in return. I will give you intelligence, and you’ll give me what I need to carry out my plans.”
The wolves looked at each other, and nodded. The ray gun came out once more, blasting them with a few lines of light that triggered their transformations. The beavers, shortly afterwards, received the same treatment. They, however, were not asked. The wolves could kill him. They couldn’t.
The transformation began, just as it had in the fields. The wolves rose up on their hind legs, their fur spreading out to cover certain areas before that fur turned to clothing. Their paws turned to hands and feet, their tongues no longer hanging out so far as they had been. Humanoid features and biology took charge, lifting them upright without a hunch or a slump, and their shagginess faded to a more manageable level.
Rather than simple clothes, their apparel was more like armor. Their fur wove into mesh, and then detached from their bodies, growing into body armor and thick pieces of protection. As their faces changed, growing more wide-eyed and human with wolfish features, he turned his attention to the beavers.
Their transformation had already proceeded to clothing, but theirs was more of a construction worker’s sort, thick and protective for a laborer’s work. Their long, flat tails spread down like a pan behind them, running from their waists down to their knees, and spreading out wider than their legs were. It formed quite the imposing tool, though he doubted that they would use it to the same extent in this form.
He gestured for them to follow him, and they did, picking up the intelligence projectors as they did. It was a quick walk out of the forest, and by the time he reached the fields again, the others had been transformed fully.
Deer, raccoon, squirrel, fox, rabbit, wolf, beaver. There were so many different species, all uplifted with the power of his technology. The ray guns had lifted them to humanoid forms, and had given them clothes so that they didn’t have the crass look of lustful beasts to them. Instead, they were civilized, intelligent people...just as he needed.
The vixen from before stepped forward, a smart blouse and a suitable skirt covering her. High heels somehow clicked as she walked up the gravel path to him, adjusting a pair of glasses she definitely hadn’t had before.
“Hello, sir.”
“You’ve learned to speak already. I’m impressed.”
“It only took a shift of biology to allow it. My name is Vivian.”
“Vivian. You have names?”
“All of us, sir.”
He wondered if they were original or taken as they had changed, but that was something to ask later. He glanced over the others, seeing that they had already changed in clothes, each species forming a different block. The deer were looking more like runners, scouts, but military at the same time. The wolves were soldiers, strong and armored, powerful and quick. The foxes were servants, perhaps even diplomats, while the raccoons were spies. Every species offered him something, every one would help him.
He smiled to himself before turning back to Vivian.
“You will be my personal assistant.”
“Of course. May I ask why, sir?”
“Does it matter?”
“I’m curious.”
“Because you were the first to realize what is going on. If my plans are to succeed, I need intelligence that is quick to grow, not merely something that comes where it will.”
She nodded, stepping back into the group. In a minute, he would sort them into the temporary housing that he’d brought, but for now, he luxuriated in the sight before him. His plan, his technology, was workable. With this proof, he could take on the mantle that he had prepared for himself, and become the Intelligent One.
“Next stop, the zoo.”
The End
Commissioned by ehh123 in the same world as Birth of the Retriever, we have this little story of a super-villain working on building up a strange army of intelligent animals. We'll see how this goes...
If you enjoyed this story, please consider dropping me a at spencer-gorman[at]hotmail.com . I make my living by writing these stories, and every little bit helps.
If you're interested in contributing more frequently, consider visiting my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/draconiconlibrary?ty=h for good rewards and better stories.
If you simply want to get a commission for yourself, keep an eye on my journals and my twitter DraconiconWrite for updates on when I'm open.
And if you simply want to get to know me, my writing, or my characters more, take a look at my tumblr at http://draconiconcharacterask.tumblr.com/
Enjoy.
If you enjoyed this story, please consider dropping me a at spencer-gorman[at]hotmail.com . I make my living by writing these stories, and every little bit helps.
If you're interested in contributing more frequently, consider visiting my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/draconiconlibrary?ty=h for good rewards and better stories.
If you simply want to get a commission for yourself, keep an eye on my journals and my twitter DraconiconWrite for updates on when I'm open.
And if you simply want to get to know me, my writing, or my characters more, take a look at my tumblr at http://draconiconcharacterask.tumblr.com/
Enjoy.
Category Story / Transformation
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Any
Size 120 x 120px
Wow. I'm actually curious to see where you will go with this idea. Good job draconicon.
well... he might laugh at the others villains who go rob banks, but he doesn't even take the time to build a proper army before attacking a zoo. A ZOO!!! A place with camera and security system who will see what he does and immediately attire attention on his project when there is literally TONS of free animals he could convert first..... Genius!
Otherwise, really good and interesting read!
Otherwise, really good and interesting read!
You'd need more heroes to combat them! The retriever can't do it all on his own!
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