AKA 04

A Kitsune’s Ascent 04:

After the night of hanging out with her best friend Bobby, and a breakfast on two raw eggs and an uncooked sausage — she was hungry, and they were delicious — they fell asleep on the couch for a few hours and relaxed.

“… You okay?” Bobby asked as she snacked that morning. He was staring and looked very surprised, perhaps even aghast.

“What? It’s sooo good,” Zack said, crunching down another raw egg with a blissful expression.

“I like my meat rare, but Zack? You’re downing the eggshells, girl. Like, there’s some yoke on your lips I can see? I know I’m the one with the tusks now but like… what?” Bobby asked, scratching his head and looking mildly horrified yet transfixed as Zack committed atrocities upon chicken eggs.

She licked her lips. “Yum~”

But yeah, this was supposed to be a relaxed day. One she could reasonably use to sit back and get used to her new body, and she was definitely going to do so.

The first day was supposed to be a free day after all. They could just wait for the ping to get their classes on their School Slates… if they even had classes at all after what happened.

But sure enough, the Slates blared an announcement, and their phones rang with a tone to alert them of an emergency meeting on campus.

She licked her lips, sighing as she made her way towards the door to put on her shoes. Unfortunately, when she did, she realized that her toenails simply shredded them.

“… need a pair of my steel toed boots? Although not sure how well that’d work…” Bobby offered as they mutually stared at her 180 silver shoes that had been thoroughly ruined.

“I’ll just have to order custom,” she shrugged, peeling the remains off. “Besides, it’s not that far. I’ve walked tougher roads barefoot a few times.”

“If you say so. Let’s get going before things get too busy out there,” Bobby said.

Zack shrugged, making her way out of the apartment and shoving her wallet into her jacket pocket on the way out, in case she needed her school ID. Along with that, she placed her keycard for the apartment in the inner pocket of her jacket.

She had been robbed before, and she knew it was genuinely better to just not have expensive things shown in public spaces. And to secure things that are expensive in ways that people can’t easily take them.

“Ah well,” Zack said, making her way down the steps to the ground floor. “It’s not like we’re in too much of a ruuuuuuu—”

The stairs were turned into a slide of ice when a snowy woman flew passed them on the rail, smiling softly behind her hand. When they reached the bottom, in a pile with a few other students, she was nowhere to be seen, and the ice melted in the summer heat.

“Man, some people have all the luck. I just got a bit uglier and maybe a bit more muscle. She got freaking ice powers, man,” Bobby whined, hands behind his head as he navigated the melting ice with ease.

“Ugh, least your tits caught my fall,” another student said as he stood from the pile. “Thanks for not letting me break my face on the concrete.”

“Huh?” Zack looked down, having forgotten all about her chest. “Huh. It really is kinda big isn’t it.”

“I’d comment on that, but I have too much respect for the one who kicked my ass in the last cycling competition by lapping me. Twice,” the man said.

“Kodi? Damn, you got gender bent too huh,” Zack sighed.

Bobby tilted his head, scrutinizing her. “You must have gotten breasts of steel in the change, Zack. Most girls with a chest as large as yours I’ve known both needed special bras to be comfortable and would’ve been cursing like a motherfucker at a fall as hard as the one you just took on ‘em.”

“Huh?” Zack shook her head. “…You know what? You’re right.”

Standing and walking towards the exit, Zack’s tail swished a little from side to side, her body naturally compensating for having a fluffy red appendage that was longer than she was tall attached to her rear as she moved. It was strange how natural it felt to be this way, how powerful she felt in general.

But honestly, as she stepped out into the sunshine, she sighed. Not everything was as good as some may have gotten, after all.

She was fairly certain the zombies, skeletons, ghouls, goblins, gnomes, and fairies were not exactly happy to be there, from the looks of things, even as they were seated in the chairs set out for them. Nor were those with extreme transformations like the Centaurs or the one Wendigo that happened to be standing in the corner.

Yet a lot of the students did look like they were having fun with their transformations. And some of them weren’t changed at all on a physical level. In fact, the vast majority still looked completely human.

A few Angels, a Valkyrie, a Tengu or two and even a few Bat-folk and Demons were flying nearby, hooting and hollering at each other as they came in for landings nearby. A golden man with a cloud for a lower body hefted a fishing pole, and caught a catgirl in the distance, somehow reeling her in without hurting her before flying off. Hell, there was even a Minotaur eating a burger while they waited for the announcement to start.

Kodi, who had gone off ahead of them stopped and asked, “Hey, wait. Isn’t that cannibalism?”

The Minotaur shot the Elven Male version of her old friend a dirty look, and took an aggressive bite of his burger with a snort.

“Point taken,” Kodi nodded, and they all moved on.

Sure enough, they were being seated near the front of the crowd together, with a good view of the impromptu stage that had been set up. When they settled in, the crowd began to get visibly more and more nervous as they waited, until finally…

The feeling that overtook the plaza could best be described as one of weight. Though no one was visible, indeed though nothing had even happened, they all felt as if they were in the presence of something grand. Few could give the exact feeling a name, but all knew it innately, felt it instinctually. Then, there were the steps.

Thud. Thud.

A man down the row from them held a mostly forgotten clear cup of water. The water trembled with each thud. Then…

The stage’s impromptu curtains were thrown back with enough force to generate wind. The dean had arrived, and the world would know his name.

He had changed, perhaps even more than Zack and Bobby combined. Before, he might have played football in college, could’ve even gone pro at some point in another life. Now? They saw a hulking beast, a golden lion twisted into human form in a absolutely perfect and crisp dark blue suit. His deep blue eyes pierced the crowd as everyone collectively held their breath as if he was judging them. The beast’s gaze flicked over Zack momentarily, and they locked, briefly, triggering some deep born feeling in Zack’s chest like a gear she’d never even known began turning.

The dean finished his look over the silent crowd, reared back, and roared with a might that shook the sky.

“My fellow Academy City students…” he began. “The world has changed. I know this more than most. I woke on that morning a man, and yet now I stand before you as something more. I know the changes in the world have been frightening for many, that the world feels alien to some of you. In fact, a few had changes which were far less kind. But know this. Academy City has not forgotten you. We will raise you up, we will raise each other up in this time of crisis.”

“There are some on the news, leaders elsewhere, who are saying this is temporary, that we will go back to normal soon enough. Some dictators even declared martial law,” he said with a dismissive snort. “They are fools. The sky itself hosts a new feature, a rip in the fabric of the reality we once knew. You may ask, am I certain this is permanent? I assure you, Academy City host the premier scientific facilities in the world. I have already had it confirmed that previous static observations of the world have shifted, that new energies have been detected. Whatever happened is here to stay, which is why I am here to commence the school year!” he said with a resonant roar.

“While some will cower and fearmonger over the change, we shall not. You all paid good money to be here, and can we not still act, can we still not face the day? The world needs you, it needs us, more than ever to continue growing, to continue studying the new reality! Starting tomorrow classes resume, and we will be hosting brand new ad hoc courses meant to engage with and study the changes in the world as we will be at the forefront of this era of change. Remember, students the Academy City motto: Fear not the sword for We Wield the Pen. That is all,” he finished. Another awe-stricken professor stood shortly after to begin speaking as Dean Deen departed and began following up with details such as how to sign up for the courses, specific activities, schedules, and more, but with the Dean’s departure that feeling of weight, of sheer presence gradually faded from their shoulders.

Zack looked around, sniffed herself, and decided one thing very shortly.

“Ah, I need a bath…”

~~~~

AN:

Kitsu: Jesus fucking Christ Hidden. That hit way harder than I thought it would.

I will admit, I don’t think we’re going to top this one. Ever.

HiddenMaster: You asked for presence. I present you presence. If this were fate the dean would have Charisma A if not fucking EX.

Kitsu: Bro is so full of Presence that his Presence has Presence that has Presence. This certainly isn’t going to have any consequences later, no siree.

HiddenMaster: Indubitably. Nor was this beast of a Dean’s speech likely broadcast to the world and likely going to be studied by future generations. No sirree.

…

I’m kinda picturing the guy staring down a fucking titanic dragon now.

Kitsu: He’d win too. Like, full stop.

Bro could legit go up against Tiamat and solo her from sheer Riz alone.

Anyway, links!

We are but starving authors, and need money to live. Please do send us cash, and gifts, so that we can be motivated to write more of this shenanigans.

Kitsu’s carrd for foxxo funds: https://aikoakiyoshi.carrd.co/

HiddenMaster: My links as well.

https://hiddenmasterarchive.carrd.co/