Tod hopped back down between the shelves with the colored stones and gems. Despite only just becoming a bunny, hopping didn't seem all that hard. Still, his tail pitched up and down in a way in normally wouldn't. He didn't have time to think about that; he stared up at the shelves, not knowing where to start. Since he couldn't reach the upper shelves without jumping, he scanned along the bottom shelf.
The two closest to him were an orange one and a brown one. ``Maybe one of those will turn me back,'' he thought. He reached for the orange one first. He wasn't used to his new ``forelegs'' and disturbed the brown stone in the process.
He stared at the orange stone. At first, he wasn't sure what to do with it, then his muzzle grew outward again. ``I think it's working!'' he said out loud. Indeed, his ears shrunk to a recognizable triangular shape as his head turned back into its regular foxy form. It was unfortunate that the brown stone would fall off the shelf and land of the floor with a clang.
Tod broke his gave from the orange gem to look and the fallen gem took effect immediately. Tod's body did grow again but instead of becoming a fox, he stayed in a more two-legged stance. His hind legs and paws grew larger and longer. His fox tail grew longer and heavier too. It landed on the floor with a ``WOOMPH!''. His forepaws didn't change much though they did become slightly more dexterous. Finally and perhaps strangest of all, a pouch formed across his belly, finishing Tod's transformation into a fox-headed kangaroo.
He went to inspect his new pouch and as he did so, dropped the orange gem. He tried to pick it up but he wasn't used to his new, bulkier body and kicked it beneath the shelf. ``No, no, NO!'' he exclaimed.
Before he could even try to reach for it, he heard a voice. ``Hey you!''
Tod looked up and saw the dog and wolf from before, Oliver and Lucy. He didn't want to get into more trouble so he did what his fox instincts told him to do; get out of there! He tried to run but it was proved awkward with his new legs.
``It'll be easier if you hop,'' Lucy advised.
Tod paused and raised an eyebrow then he tried a few practice hops. ``Hey, you're right! Thanks!'' he said appreciatively. He hopped down the aisle and turned the corner, out of sight. Oliver and Lucy watched on, impressed that he had gotten the hang of it so quickly.
Then the penny dropped. ``Hey, wait a minute!'' Oliver exclaimed and he and Lucy dashed down the aisle after Tod. They turned the corner but the new kangaroo was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, they both heard a clatter. ``That sounds like its coming from the...'' Lucy paused and checked the logs. ``The dehydrated products section!'' And she led the way.
Poor Tod wasn't used to being a kangaroo, compared to being a fox or even a bunny. When he tried to stop, his moment pulled him forward and he crashed into another shelf, sending a bottle of dust to pour all over him. Fortunately, it was just the one bottle.
Tod rubbed his head but with a wing instead of paw. He jumped; he still had his fox head but now he had the body of a hawk. He barely had time to comprehend what had just happened, he saw Lucy turn down the aisle and head towards him. Desperately, he flapped his new wings and was able to fly away. He felt very pleased with himself. ``They'll never catch me now!'' he thought.
But he was wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an eagle trailing alongside him. He had a familiar swirl of hair on his forehead and Tod recognized him as the dog chasing him. ``Did the dust get him too?'' Tod asked himself. He didn't know about Oliver's shapeshifting. Tod then realized that he was still being pursued and tried to go faster.
``Stop!'' called Oliver, ``I just want to talk to you!'' But Tod wasn't listening. He just wanted to get away.
Meanwhile, Lucy was following them on the ground as best as she could. ``At least he can't break anything up there,'' she thought.
Tod had had enough of this. He thought the best way to be rid of his pursuers was to out-maneuver them. As he flew, he scanned his surroundings. With all her rearranging, Lucy didn't have time to organize the transformation hoops properly. Some were arranged haphazardly and scattered on the floor and shelves. One was leaning up against the end of its respective aisle, forming a gap big enough for a hawk to fly through but not for an eagle. ``That might shake him!'' Tod thought and swooped downwards. It never occurred to him that the hoop would transform him too.
Lucy saw him descending towards the hoop and realized what would happen. ``NO, NOT THAT!'' she exclaimed but it was too late.
A fox-headed hawk flew through one end of the hoop and a fox-headed deer came out the other. Poor Tod crash-landed into the shelves holding the other hoops. Oliver turned away and he and Lucy shielded themselves from the chaos. When the dust settled, they surveyed the mess. The structure didn't fall over but all the shelves, save to the top one, had collapsed. The hoops were more scattered than ever and some had even broken. Flying debris had knocked over other artifacts from the opposite shelves. And in the middle of it all was Tod, the fox-headed deer.
Oliver and Lucy moved towards him. He tried to run again but some bruises, coupled with his new, unfamiliar form meant he wasn't going anywhere. ``Oh dear,'' he thought, pausing for a second, ``now I'm in for it.'' He closed his eyes and prepared for the worst.
``Are you alright?''
Tod opened his eyes. Oliver had turned back into a shiba inu and he and Lucy were now standing in front of him. ``What?'' he asked.
``Are you alright?'' Oliver repeated with concern.
Tod stared for a moment. He wasn't expecting that after everything that happened. ``Uh... I don't know. I'm kind of sore,'' he answered at last.
Oliver and Lucy looked Tod over. Once they confirmed that Tod wasn't injured, Lucy went to inspect the damage.
``Now,'' said Oliver firmly as he helped Tod up, ``I want to ask you some questions. What are you doing here?''
Tod explained how he was curious about Oliver's truck. ``I see,'' said Oliver, ``Tell me, why did you run away from us?''
``I was messing around with things and I... I didn't want to get into trouble,'' Tod answered. Oliver motioned to scene of destruction around them with a stern look on his face. ``Right...'' Tod slipped a little on his hooves.
``Easy there, fella.'' Oliver helped him stabilize. ``And that's why you flew through the hoop; to try to get away from us. Didn't you hear me say I just wanted to talk?''
Tod paused. ``No, I didn't...'' he said. He felt rather silly and a little nervous.
Oliver sighed. ``I understand the impulse,'' he said and realized he hadn't introduced himself yet. ``I'm Oliver, by the way and that's Lucy. And you are...''
``Uh, Tod.''
``Well, Tod, let's get this place cleaned up and you back to normal.''
Tod perked up a little. ``You can do that?''
``Of course! My personal favorite method is the sandalwood candle. The aroma reverts all transformation effects.''
Tod didn't fully understand that but he was pleased at the idea of being a fox again.
``Yeah, about that...'' came a voice. They turned and saw Lucy standing there.
``What's up, Lucy?'' asked Oliver.
``Well first, the good news,'' said Lucy, ``Most of the artifacts aren't that badly damaged and can be patched up. In fact, there's only one artifact that can't be salvaged. You can guess what it is...''
``The sandalwood?''
``Yeah...'' finished Lucy, awkwardly.
Oliver sighed again. ``Alright, let's just get this mess cleared away, then we can focus on turning Tod back to normal.'' Tod agreed, taking solace in that he would be normal soon.
Oliver and Lucy quickly set to work clearing the debris and even putting some of the artifacts back together. It was a little painful having to dispose the remains of the sandalwood candle. Tod felt compelled to help but he wasn't used to hooves. Still, he did what he could with a few tips and tricks from Lucy.
``There's one thing I don't quite understand,'' said Oliver as they cleaned, ``Why didn't Tod's head transform too, when he went through that hoop?''
``Oh, that was part of another experiment,'' Lucy explained, ``I combined different parts of different hoops to see what would happen. I would've never imagined this!''
There wasn't time to fix the broken shelves so the hoops were left leaning against the structure for the time being. All the pieces of artifacts that couldn't be fixed on the spot were placed together on undamaged shelves and at last, they were done (or at least reached a good stopping point).
``Phew! Job well done, you two,'' said Oliver sincerely.
``Thank you, Oliver,'' said Lucy. Tod gave a pleased smile.
``Now, what to do with you?'' Oliver pondered, turning to the fox-headed deer.
``Oliver, what about the gene spoon?'' suggested Lucy.
The shiba inu snapped his fingers. ``That's it!'' and he hurried to another section of The Archive. Lucy and a very confused Tod followed after him. Oliver grabbed the remote with the bulbous spoon. It still had Tod's fur in it. ``Yes!'' exclaimed Oliver, ``Hold still, Tod. This'll turn you back to normal, then I can take you back to where you came from in my truck.''
Tod smiled and shut his eyes expectantly as Oliver zapped him. Tod shrunk in size and his legs became less skinny. The tips of his hooves separated into individual toes as they turned back to paws. His tail grew out longer and fluffier until he finally looked like his foxy self again.
But it didn't end there. Despite Tod already having a fox head, his ears grew longer.
``Wait a minute. Are those bunny ears?'' asked Lucy when they stopped growing.
Tod looked confused for just a second. He had forgotten all about is bunny ears. Then he smirked. ``Yes. What about them?'' he asked casually.
``You had them when you came in?'' asked Oliver.
``Yes,'' said Tod, sitting confidently, ``and after today, I think they're all the transformation excitement I need!''
