Battle of the Brothers

Story by Andlat on SoFurry

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"What are you giggling about, twerp?" Connor asked his brother Caiden. The eight year old kept giggling as if he knew the funniest joke in the world. His red mirthful face showed through his striped fur.

"You'll see." He said in sing-song before devolving back into snorts and snickers. Connor's tail twitched, but he figured it was nothing to worry about. Caiden's idea of a prank was hiding a book in his big brother's bed or something really dumb like that. He rolled his eyes at the thought of it and kept watching TV.

He barely looked up when his parents came into the room, only emitting a sigh as he relinquished the remote to his father. It was family TV time, a weekly tradition. Every commercial break, Caiden kept looking over at his older brother and giggling.

"Mom! Caiden's being annoying!"

"And you think it's not annoying to tattle on him?" His mom replied. "You're fourteen years old, Connor." Caiden stuck his tongue out at Connor, who tried to hit him. Caiden was too experienced with dodging to get hit. Caiden glared at Connor as he tried again, barely brushing Caiden. It was too close a call for him.

"Oh, you asked for it." He whispered. "Hey, mom. Dad. Isn't it Connor's bedtime?" Connor scoffed.

"What are you talking" Before he could finish, his parents had stood up.

"Where did the time go?" Mom said. "C'mon, kiddo. Bedtime."

"Yeah, kiddo." Connor teased. Caiden simply shook his head.

"They're talking to you." Connor yelped as his dad lifted him up out of his chair.

"No lollygagging, Connor. It's bedtime." Squirm though he might, the teenage tiger could not escape his dad's strong clutches. He was half carried, half pushed upstairs and into the bathroom.

"First things first," his mom said. "Connor, do you need to go potty?"

"No!" The teen exclaimed, scandalized.

"How about you try for mommy and me?" Connor yowled and nearly hissed as his dad yanked down his shorts, leaving him in just a t-shirt and his boxers. Connor had only just recently convinced his parents to let him make the shift from briefs to boxers and it felt horrible to have his dad tug his boxers down off his body and sit him, clad in nothing but a t-shirt now, on the toilet.

"Potty time!" His dad said. "Can daddy's big boy make peepee on the potty!"

"I'm fourteen, dad!" He tried to get up off of the toilet, but his dad held him in place.

"Sit on the potty for five minutes." His mom said, holding up five fingers as she explained. "That's potty time, remember?" The next five minutes seemed to drag by. Every time that Connor thought his parents' guard was down, he tried to escape, but they simply returned him to the toiler.

"No pee-pee or poopy in the potty yet!" His dad said cheerfully as he returned the humiliated teenager to his seat.

"What is going on?" Connor demanded. "Why are you acting like this?" His parents responded by kissing his cheek and praising him for being such a big boy for trying to use the potty.

The timer on his mom's phone finally went off and he was allowed to get off of the toilet. He tugged his shirt down over his front.

"I see Connor's striped tushie!" His mom teased.

"Mom!"

"It's time to brush your teeth, Connor." His dad said, handing him his toothbrush with toothpaste already on it.

Somehow, Connor felt more naked in nothing but his t-shirt than he would have if he had been truly naked. His parents seemed not to notice his bashfulness, making him stand there dressed just like that as he brushed his teeth.

"Can we finally stop this?" Connor asked after spitting. "I'm missing my favorite show downstairs!"

"Enough fussing, kiddo. Let's get you to bed." His dad once again half carried him out of the bathroom and into Caiden's bedroom. The racecar bed and Disney decorations had always seemed terribly cubby to Connor. He conveniently forgot just how much of it was hand-me-downs from him.

"What are we doing here? This is Caiden's room!" His protests fell on deaf ears as his dad kept him from running away while his mom grabbed something off of Caiden's bed. Connor did not recognize it at first, but as she opened it up for him to step into, he realized that it was a Pull-ups, Lightning McQueen's smiling face looking back at him. "No way!" Connor yelled.

"Inside voice, Connor!" His mom scolded. "Now step in. Or do you need Daddy to help you?" Eyeing the babyish garment, Connor realized that there was no way it would fit him. He had not yet had his pubescent growth spurt, other than a little pubic fur, but he was clearly too big for a toddler's Pull-ups.

"Fine." He said, a tiny bit eager to smugly show them that the Pull-ups could not possibly fit his teenage frame. He stepped in and gulped as they slid up his body as if they were made for him. Just a few weeks ago, he had teased Caiden for still wearing white briefs, but now he found himself in far more childish underwear.

"Maybe we should diaper him, just for another few nights." His mom said, eyeing his Pull-ups. "They look so thin!"

"He's stayed dry for the past week, haven't you, champ?" His dad replied, patting Connor on the head. Connor shuddered at the thought that he could end up in a diaper. The Pull-ups were bad enough!

"No diapers." He said. His parents smiled.

"Of course not." His mom said. "You're a big boy, aren't you?" She looked at her husband again. "I don't know. He didn't go potty at all."

"We'll try it for just one night." His dad said, clearly having the final word. "If he has an accident, it's not the end of the world. He'll just go back to diapers." He turned back to Connor, who felt mortified by this conversation. "Promise you won't have any accidents?"

"Promise." Connor mumbled. Something was deeply wrong with his parents, that much was clear. Playing along seemed to be all he could do, at least until he saw another chance to escape. He had a growing suspicion that Caiden, who had started this all, had a hand in what was going on. Where could he go? The neighbors?

"Promise Mommy and Daddy that you'll try your hardest to be a big boy." His dad said.

"It's not like it'll be hard." Connor muttered.

"Digging the enthusiasm, sweetie." His mom exclaimed. "But promise."

"I promise." Connor mumbled. He could not believe that this was happening. It only got worse as his dad removed his t-shirt.

"Time for Connor's jammies!" His mom showed him the pajamas that he would be wearing.

"Oh, no you don't!" His dad grabbed him as he tried to run for it. Connor's feet barely brushed the ground as his dad carried him back over to the bed, where his mom held a two piece set of little boys Paw Patrol pajamas. His littlest cousin had the exact same pajamas. He fought and snarled as best he could, but his parents simply overpowered him. Before he knew it, he wore them. Even Caiden would not be caught dead in something this babyish! Just like the Pull-ups, he had no clue how they were able to fit him like a glove. He still was fourteen, he could tell, and yet he was dressed as a toddler.

His mom pulled back the covers of Caiden's racecar bed and his dad lifted him in, setting him down just as his mom tucked him in. They each kissed his forehead.

"Mommy loves her little boy." His mom cooed as she kissed him. She stood over him expectedly. "Say, 'Connor loves his mommy'." She whispered as if she was giving an actor his line. Connor mumbled the response and then his dad stepped up. All of his life, Connor had seen his dad as the alpha male of the family, the powerful and masculine tiger who had been his proudest when Connor had announced that he made the baseball team, but now he seemed even more proud to see his teenage son dressed like a toddler.

"Daddy loves his little boy." He said with a satisfied purr.

"Connor loves his daddy." Connor replied in a small, meek voice. His parents smiled and gently backed out of the room, turning out the lights.

"Nighty night, little Connor." They said in unison. Connor stared up at the ceiling, waiting to hear them go down the stairs. What was he going to do? Clearly, the first thing he had to do was sneak over to his room and change into his normal clothes. That would be easy, but he could not predict what his parents would do if and when they caught him. Could he lock himself in the bathroom? Maybe. Then there was the question of Caiden. He clearly had a part to play.

"Enough is enough." Connor muttered, getting out of Caiden's bed and carefully stepping across the room, taking care to make as little noise as possible. The door squeaked lightly as he gently pulled it open. He winced as he listened carefully to make sure that no one heard him. It sounded like everyone was still watching TV downstairs, but he could not be too sure. He slowly slipped out into the hall.

"Going somewhere?"

"Caiden." He glared at his little brother who stood there smirking at the teen's juvenile wardrobe.

"It's even better than I thought it would be! Did they even put you in Pull-ups?"

"No!"

"They did too! I can tell!" Caiden chuckled. "Did they at least debate about diapering you?"

"Yeah." Connor replied through gritted teeth.

"There'll be plenty of time for that later." Caiden said thoughtfully.

"What the heck's going on?" Connor asked impatiently. "I know you did" He paused, realizing just how ridiculous it sounded. "Something." Caiden laughed.

"Like what? I magically swapped mom and dad out for robots that do my bidding?"

"No!" Connor replied. "At least, I don't think so."

"It'd be really fun if I just didn't tell you." The eight-year-old said. "It's a little complicated, especially for a little boy like you." Connor tried to take a swing at him, but Caiden easily dodged it. "Careful! I could make things a lot worse for you." That sounded just ominous enough to give Connor pause. "Anyway, all you need to know is that, from now on, mom and dad think you're four."

"Four!?!" Connor exclaimed.

"Shh! You don't want mom and dad to come up here and find you out of bed, do you?" Caiden purred as he continued, the little tiger quite pleased with himself. "Anyway, you're four in their eyes. Maybe once they start thinking about kindergarten for you, we'll change some things. Might make you older, probably will make you younger though."

"Don't!"

"I can't physically do anything to living things. I can make your little boy clothes fit you though. Heck, I could probably even make baby diapers fit you." A malicious glint appeared in his eye. "I could even make them think you're my twin sister. Or little sister." Connor tried to ignore all of that, asking the question that remained on his mind.

"But how?"

"Don't worry about it." Caiden replied. "It's nothing for little boys to worry about."

"Shut up!" Caiden shrugged and turned toward the stairs.

"Mom! Dad! Connor snuck out of bed!" Connor yowled in surprise and tried to get back into the room, but he stumbled and fell down. Caiden watched with eyes wide with delight as his big brother was brought back into what was once Caiden's bedroom. He expected to be returned to the bed, but to his surprise, his dad tugged down his pajama pants and inspected his Pull-ups.

"Pull-ups are still dry." He announced. "Were you trying to go potty?"

"No." Conner mumbled.

"I'm sure he was just sneaking out to play with Caiden." His mom said. Once Dad set Connor down on the bed again, she tucked him in once more. "Now, Connor. Big boys stay in bed after nini kisses." His mom explained patiently. "Can you be a big boy and stay in bed?" Connor tried to argue, but his mom shushed him. "I know, I know. You wanted to play with your big brother, but you can do that in the morning." Connor saw Caiden smirk and he whimpered.

"If we can't trust you to stay in your big boy bed, we'll have to bring your crib down from the attic. Do you want your crib back?" His dad asked.

"No." Connor mumbled, feeling like he had never said something more true than that. His parents nodded, appeased.

"Alright, let's redo nini kisses, hmm?" His mom said. She kissed his forehead. "Mommy loves her little boy."

"Connor loves his mommy."

"Daddy loves his little boy."

"Connor loves his daddy." To Connor's chagrin, Caiden came over and leaned in.

"Caiden loves his little brother." Caiden said as he kissed Connor's forehead. Connor grumbled, but his family waited patiently.

"Connor loves his big brother." He said. As he was left again to the darkness, he remembered something Caiden had said. He intended to leave him like this until kindergarten. If he was newly turned four, that would be a year! Maybe, hopefully, he had just been joking, but Connor did not want to take that chance. As he drifted off to sleep, he vowed that, in the morning, he would try and get back into his old clothes. He could still try to escape, right? He would never stop trying. That was a promise he could keep.


Connor and Caiden fight, like all brothers do. One day, however, Caiden debuts a new weapon that changes the war forever.