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Meanwhile at the Lair of Dr. Callyco

"Okay, okay we're almost set up." In addition to his coat and goggles Dr. Callyco was also wearing a headset today. He eagerly barking orders to someone on the other side. "Did we get cleared for the strobe light warning? Excellent. Now let's make sure the flamethrowers on those demons are up to fire code! We don't want to burn the place down before we get any scares in."

"What is this?" Dr. Cutie Pup walked up to the kitten and interrupted him.

"Oh not much." The kitten shrugged. "Just setting up a few Halloween decorations. Our series is almost over, so figured we should get this going. I thought I'd try out a minimalist style this year."

"THIS IS MINIMALISM!?" The wolf threw up his arms gesturing behind the kitten where an army of cranes and bulldozers were reconstructing the entire lair.

"Well yeah I'm only using half the city to build it all." Dr. Callyco responded. "Really it's quite restrained."

"The worst part is for you that's technically true." Dr. Cutie Pup rolled his eyes. "Well at least we'll get a lot of visitors."

"Speaking of which! Should probably introduce our next guest!" Dr. Callyco beamed.

"Very well. Our guest tonight is half fox and half boar named Crehvan," Dr. Cutie Pup explained. He has something of a weird condition. He's technically twenty-three but his age can vary a bit based on who and what is around him."

"That sounds fun!" Dr. Callyco beamed.

"You would say that."

"Crehvan is in for an adventure tonight." The kitten ignored the wolf. "But may have chosen the wrong night to do so. A little rule breaking leads to a dire situation and his little condition only makes things worse. I bring you our twelfth tale. The Tale of the House Next Door."

Thirteen Karmic Tales

Twelfth Tale

The Tale of the House Next Door

Crehvan kept staring at his neighbor's house from the safety of his own window. He couldn't help it. What he was seeing boggled the mind. Yesterday it had just been a normal brick house on the corner of the street. Now it was surrounded by the massive spires of a castle, bats flew through the air above it, there was an honest to goodness swamp around the house and fog obscured most of it from sight. There were even strikes of lightning occasionally lighting up the entire facade of a castle. How did they pull that off? Obviously they couldn't control the weather so they must have had some kind of strobe effect and a speaker.

It was just maddening to know this entire thing had sprung up almost overnight. And Crehvan was feeling himself a bit jealous of the kids who'd get to visit the house when they went trick or treating tomorrow night. Mostly though, mostly he just wanted to know how they had freaking done it. The haunted house his neighbors built looked like it belonged in a theme park instead of just a normal neighborhood.

Eventually his curiosity got the better of him. He found himself walking outside late that night. The house that was more accurately described as a castle now had a massive iron fence around it. There was a large 'Keep Out!' sign hanging on the gate. That didn't make much since to Crehvan. You would think that someone who went way over the top for Halloween would welcome at least trick or treaters. Maybe the sign was just a decoration too? Or maybe it'd be taken down tomorrow.

Crehvan looked around. There was no one coming up the street from either side. The gate itself looked unlocked. He was burning with curiosity about this place. He took a step inside the gate... And found the ground gave way beneath his paws.

A slick ramp had been hidden beneath the pile of leaves. Crehvan flailed trying to keep his balance but was helpless as he slid down it. It looked like he was going to land in the swamp water. However right before he made contact with the water a small wooden boat floated directly beneath him. Crehvan had just enough time to sit up in the boat before a metal handle bar came down on him locking him in place.

"Hey what's the big idea!?" Crehvan demanded as the boat began moving through the swamp. He struggled to try to free himself but it was stuck firmly down. He couldn't even get his arms above the bar. All he could do was sit there as the boat sailed on.

The area became darker as the boat drifted beneath a tangle of vine and thorns. A small torch hanging from the front of the boat lit up allowing Crehvan to see about five feet out. It was just enough for him to see something moving beneath the surface of the water. He couldn't make it out... Then as he tried to peer at it he saw a piece of it. A massive tentacle covered in scars rose out of the water. It slammed downward barely missing the boat.

"GAH!" Crehvan let out a yelp. As he did he shrunk very slightly as he rolled back one year in age. It was a thing that happened to him sometimes. His age was in flux, and being caught in a frightening situation could sometimes make him regress. He tried to calm himself down. This had to just be some kind of ride. There was nothing to be afraid of.

Eight more tentacles rose out of the water in a circle around the boat. Then the lantern went out. It was completely dark. Crehvan couldn't even make out the tip of his own muzzle. There were loud crashing sounds as tentacles slammed into the water all around him. Now the shrinking escalated. He wasn't sure how long this lasted... But eventually the boat made it out of the thicket unharmed. It pulled up to an old rotting dock and the bar holding Crehvan in released.

The fox-boar wasted no time getting out. He down to being a teenager now, around twelve years old and he had to keep a hand on his pants to keep them from falling off. He wasn't sure where he was running to right now other than away from the water.

The closest thing was the castle. He didn't want to go in there; he wanted to head back for the exit. He looked around, seeing woods all around him. He tried to figure out which direction was out. As he did he could hear howls in the distance. Then, there was growling. And it was getting closer. He shrunk further. He was a preteen of ten years old now.

With no choice other than facing the wild beasts coming or entering the castle Crehvan made his choice. He bolted, abandoning his pants in the process leaving himself in just a shirt. As he crossed the drawbridge of the castle it began to lift upward. This had the effect of knocking Crehvan off his feet and sending him flying into the castle landing between two suits of armor.

"Ugggh is it over?" Crehvan whined as he picked himself up. He blinked examining the enormous hall he was in. The hallway split into two paths. One heading down into the basement, the other up torwards the towers. "Well no way I'm going to the basement."

"Hissssss." The noise came from right next to Crehvan. He felt the fur stand up on the back of his head as he turned and saw both suits of armor had glowing red eyes beneath their helmet. In one swift motion each one brought their axes swinging downward towards him. Crehvan helped and stumbled away barely escaping with his life. He backed away from along the ground only to watch with horror as they began to walk. They were following him.

"L-leave me alone!" Crehvan shouted as he climbed to his feet. He was shrinking again, now down to eight years of age. He ran for the stairs leading upwards. As he approached them a massive spider began to descend them from the upper levels. "Not that way!" He cried now seven years old as he turned and ran down the only path left. The path to the basement.

Crehvan got halfway down those stairs before the stairs suddenly transformed into a slide. The fox-boar let out a screech as he began sliding helplessly down the slide. By the time he hit the bottom he was no older than six years old. His shirt dragged on the floor when he stood up.

Down here it was dark. It was nearly impossible to see anything. Crehvan tried to tell himself he was safe now. But he couldn't see anything and it had just been one thing after another. And being a kid now made it even harder to stay emotionally calm. This only escalated his problem as he stumbled through the dark, soon down to five years of age... And then down to four years as his shirt slipped right off his shoulders leaving him in just his fur.

And there was no sign of where to go. He must have just been walking in some long dark hallway. He had no idea how long he had been walking or how far he had gone.

CRACK!

With a loud noise a single spotlight suddenly flashed on. It shone directly onto Crehvan. Going from the darkness to the light nearly blinded him. The poor toddler held one hand over his eyes as he tried to peer to see what was around him.

CRACK!

A second spotlight turned on. It was only a few feet away from Crehvan. There standing in the spotlight was a gaunt figure with wild gray hair. His face was hidden behind a pair of goggles and massive amount of facial hair. His body was hidden by a white lab coat stained with red liquid. He stood before a large table, something atop it that was a mass of wires and flesh.

"So you're the intruder?" The figure asked. "Who would be so foolish as to willingly enter the lair of Dr. D. Mented!?"

"I- I thought it was just some kind of haunted house!" Crehvan managed to stammer.

"I should kill you where you stand!" Dr. D Mented shouted. "But since my last subject has just expired it seems I could use a new guinea pig for my experiments. Yes, I think you'll do quite fine. There's no point begging for mercy! It's too late!" As he shouted bright strobe lights began to flash all around Crehvan. He was forced to completely cover his face with his hands to avoid going blind.

He began to shrink again. But this time it wasn't his condition doing it. This was different. His body was becoming rounder, his hair shorter. His ears became smaller, his tusk shrunk away, and his muzzle became rounder on the end. Next his tail shrunk down into a tiny nub, barely visible at all. He fell down onto all fours, suddenly finding himself unable to stand on twos. The fur slowly melted away over his paws, leaving them exposed like a rodents. After a few seconds it was over and the shrinking stopped. Crehvan was left sitting there, now a normal guinea pig.

"Squeeeak!" Crehvan let out a cry unable to talk.

"Wait what!?" Dr. D Mented seemed surprised at this. His voice suddenly sounded a lot more normal and even a bit annoying. He reached up and grabbed his goggles, pulling them and his facial hair off his face. Beneath them was just a normal looking guy. "How... How did that happen!?"

"Squeeeeak!?" Crehvan looked around in confusion.

"Hang on just a second..." The man walked out of the spotlight and grabbed something. Suddenly the entire area was lit up. Aside from the area Crehvan was standing in, the rest of it looked like a normal basement. He could even see a pool table in the corner.

"Squeak?" Crehvan was even more confused. He couldn't even be scared anymore now that he was so confused.

"Hey there little guy!" The man flashed a nervous smile as he walked up to Crehvan and bent down to talk to him. "Look, it was all just a show. I was just putting together a haunted house! Though it wasn't meant to open till tomorrow during Halloween... But since you snuck it thought I'd put on a show. I'm... Not really sure how this just... Happened to you. I guess... You know what they say, the mind makes it real? Maybe I went a little too overboard with decorations this year."

"SQUEEEEEAK!?" Crehvan nearly fell over onto his side. So it was all fake!? In the moment he had gotten caught up and thought he was actually in danger.

"Look this is all kind of embarrassing..." The man said. "I can't have people thinking I'm an actual mad scientist turning people into animals! It's not fun if it's real! I'll take some of the decorations down, make everything a little less realistic... And maybe I can give you a couple candies to keep this between us?"

"Squeeeeak." Crehvan managed to stand up on his hind legs so he could cross his forelegs and muster his best attempt at a serious stare.

"Come now there's no need to be so testy." The man pleaded. "I mean I didn't actually do anything to you! You somehow did that to yourself!"

"Squeak." Crehvan managed again. It was getting really hard to hold that pose on two legs.

"You're killing me here!" The man pleaded. "Ok, ok two candy bars!"

"Squeeeeeak." Crehvan narrowed his eyes.

"Geese kid you're a real cut throat you know that?" The man was now visibly sweating. "Okay, I'll give you an entire bowl of candy to just leave and not talk about this!"

"Squeeeeak!" Crehvan fell back down onto all fours. This he found agreeable.

"Can't believe I'm going to have to go buy new bags of candy to give out one night before Halloween." The man complained. "The stores will probably be packed." This was not Crehvan's problem. As far as he was concerned he didn't have any problems right now. Everything had worked out.

A few minutes later the guinea pig found himself standing on the sidewalk outside the house. A candy bowl bigger than his entire body stood next to him. There were good things in it too! Lots of chocolate and peanut butter! Crehvan licked the outside of his muzzle anticipating his treats as he pushed his head against it and slowly pushed the bowl home.

The End