Vendetta

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#96 of Commissions

A story trade I did with nelson88 about his cubs learning the realities of getting even


Vendetta by Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. Any resemblance to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental. They are the original and rightful intellectual property of their creators. I use them with permission and respect. This work contains micro/macro content involving underaged characters. You have been warned.

"Love all, trust few,

and do wrong to none."

-Will Shakespeare

The travesty of envy is one that places itself into the disposition of an overzealous person. One must never allow wanting to control the self. Each and every day the desire creeps and eventually possesses the character of a person. Often lashing out in anger or in complete insanity. Sometimes the person doesn't even realize it since envy can often act as a brainwashing mechanism that erases all other trains of thought, even if but for a small amount of time. It is usually those who are young or otherwise desperate who suffer the enthralling nature of such envious desire.

Remi and Sammy were two young boys who lived in Wisconsin. They were just outside of the largest city in the entire state. The place was all they knew was they hadn't traveled yet in their young lives. At 9 years of age, they were enrolled in the local Elementary school and hadn't moved even once. Their parents were well established in the community and despite the sometimes harrowing climate of the area, they were fine with living there. However, since both parents were over-employed, they weren't often at home and usually had their grandfather babysit them.

The family was one of dogs, beagles to be exact. Each of the nuclear family has its own distinct design of orange-brown spots among a prominence of otherwise white fur. During the winter their fur was sometimes longer to accommodate for the colder temperatures. However, Remi never had much of a coat of fur and usually had to wear a thicker coat. He was rather jealous of his brother who had no problem growing extra fur and shedding it whenever necessary. It was not something that Remi was ready to admit.

It was early March and recently the old groundhog had shown it's head signifying the come of the end of winter. It had been about a week since it happened and still, it continued to snow. People cared not since not many actually bought into the whole symbolic tradition of the rodent popping its head up to signify the coming of spring. Remi was one of the few who looked forward to the ordeal since it meant he wouldn't have to wear thick clothing to school. It was almost the weekend and the boys had been looking forward to going to a Buck's game.

Neither of the two cubs was ornately athletic but even still it was hard not to get into the whole competitive atmosphere of sports. Besides the basketball team was doing pretty well lately and it was getting harder to get tickets to the game. Since the boy's father was a big wig in the state government, he had an easier time getting tickets to whatever he wanted. He was able to get four tickets and since his wife didn't care about sports, it was decided he would take the two cubs and a friend to the game. They had invited a school friend whom they had in common, a boy who went by the nickname of Shade.

It was now the day of the game and both Remi and Sammy were looking forward to a chance to spend some male bonding time with their dad. The mother was especially glad they would be spending the night together. Not only did it mean that the boys and their father would get family time, but she would also get some time alone. She figured that she could use some rest and relaxation. Matt was getting ready to take the boys out the door as Linda was getting them ready and dressed for the event.

Once they were ready, the two cubs hugged their mother and were quickly rushed out the door. Matt knew they needed to get something quick before they went to the arena. Fiserv Forum was a 30-minute drive from where they were, so he figured McDonald's was a quick enough detour, once he picked up the cubs friend. and would please the boy's picky palette. The older male rushed his cubs into the car before shutting the door and kissing his wife. She waved them well and they were on their way. Matt made a streamlined effort towards the other kid's house.

The man had been there plenty of times and didn't need to be told the directions. By the time he got there, the boy's own father was waiting outside. Apparently the dog's wife had called and told him ahead of time to prepare Shade to be picked up. Matt was glad he was ready as he knew that they were pressed on time. No pleasantries were exchanged as the Koopa kid was quickly hurried into the car by his own father.

"Thanks, Gus." The door was automatically locked when the final boy packed himself into the back row of the vehicle.

"McDonald's good for everyone?" The oldest male asked as Shade began buckling himself in.

"Yeah!" All three cubs chimed in unison.

With that confirmation, they were on their way. There was McDonald's close by and so Matt made his way through the secondary roads in order to avoid traffic. It was around 5, which meant that it was close to rush hour and he wanted to avoid the rush of other automobiles. He made really good time on getting there, even managing to avoid any sort of line in the drive-through.

"What does everyone want?" Of course, he knew what his own boys wanted but he just wanted to be sure.

"Chicken Nuggets!" The two twins chimed in unison and looked at each other with a playful smile.

"A cheeseburger and fries are fine." Shade didn't usually get to eat fast food so he was unsure of what they had but figured it was a simple enough choice since the place was famous for its hamburgers.

The father ordered everyone a meal, even going as far as getting each of them an individual happy meal, to make sure none of them feel like they were being left out.

"Yay, a toy!" Remi pulled out a transformer toy that appeared to be Megatron, which wasn't a character he was particularly fond of.

"Hey, look who I got?" Sammy pulled out the Autobot leader Optimus Prime, which was both of their favorite characters.

"Lucky! Wanna trade?" Shade ended up getting bumblebee, which was at least better than getting a Decepticon.

"Nope, he's mine. Let's battle!" The three of them began smashing together the toys, forgetting all about the food.

"Please eat before we get to the arena." The older male reminded them of the obvious task at hand.

After a short bout of battling, the boys finally stuffed their faces, soon returning to the more fun activity. Matt was much more diligent in eating and was glad to see the boys to have eaten their food. Now he could go to the forum and finally get to the game. Fiserv was still a good 25-minute drive, even on a good day. Looking at the car's clock, it seemed he had about an hour and given the usual traffic to the game, he would have to rush. Putting the pedal to the medal certainly wasn't an option with kids on board but he would have to go faster than usual.

Even rushing it took him 40 minutes to get there. The traffic was oppressing his progress. It seemed the closer he got, the more people there was. Once they were in the parking lot, Matt was overwhelmed by how many other people were there. He knew the sport was popular but had no idea that the Bucks attracted such a crowd.

"Let's go guys. Pick up your garbage and we'll head inside." The father instructed his charges.

They made their way outside and headed towards the arena. It was a large 2 floored building that could sit up to 20,000 people, which given the population of the state was quite large in comparison to similar buildings throughout Wisconsin.

Once they were through the line, they made their way to the concession stand. Matt bought the three kids some peanuts and popcorn to share during the game. For himself, he just got a soda since he was still full from dinner. After they made their way to the seats, it was finally time for the game to begin. Each team was announced with the Bucks playing the Philadelphia 76'ers. The home team was favored to win, but not by much so it was supposed to be a close game. None of the boys were innately interested in the sport and by the end of the first quarter, the twins were complaining that they were bored. Of course, Matt wouldn't have it and was intended to stay at least until halfway through the final period of play.

Halftime changed all of that. The bucks always had some big ordeal event planned for the time filler between halves. Today was no different with a challenge involving making hoops from half-court for the fans. Ironically enough, Sammy was called up to try his luck in the game of skill. Remi couldn't believe his brother was so lucky as the camera's focused in on him and the showlady instructed him as to the rules and even permitted him a closer distance since he was younger than the average participant. The entire crowd roared as the cub prepared himself to make at least one of three baskets. Not surprisingly he didn't make any of them, nor did he even come close.

"How about we help him out, crowd? What do you guys think?" The crowd roared in approval as a member of one of the Bucks came out from the locker room.

It was number 22, Khris Middleton who was a forward for the team and one with a better free throw average than all of his teammates. The tall man approached the boy and bent down and picked up the small puppy with no effort.

"Now try it..." The man beckoned to the kid on his back.

Before the boy could make his last throw, Khris helped guide him in making the throw. With just a little bit of help, the cub was able to make the basket.

The crowd screamed and yelled in approval. The player put the boy back on the court and asked the woman running the event for another ball. She was apparently prepared for what was already planned ahead of time. Khris signed the ball with a permanent marker that he was given by the woman.

"Here you go. Great job..." The man guided the boy back off the court.

Remi couldn't believe what had just happened. His jealousy was raging. Not only had Sammy gotten to participate but he got an autograph as well.

"Neat, dude. Lemme see!" Shade wanted to see the ball and get a good look at it.

The rest of the game went like normal. The bucks ended up winning with a 9 point lead. The end was quite celebratory with confetti being spewed out by the arena canons. It was totally unexpected by the extended family.

"Alright, let's go home guys." Matt was content the boys had lasted the entire game and waited along with the crowd to exit the building.

The boys were rather rambunctious on the way out as they had been sitting idle the entire time. However, it was hard to really be playful since they were stifled by the crowd all around them.

Once they made it back to the car, the boys were reluctant to get into the car. Matt was in no mood and pushed them inside. It was already late and snowing outside, he didn't want to wait around all day and potentially risk getting stuck on a winter road. Inside the vehicle, Sammy immediately began gloating about his new prize.

"This is so cool!" Until now the smallest of the cubs couldn't care less about sports and yet now it was all he could think about.

For the next hour, all Sammy did was run his mouth about his basketball. Between Remi and Shade, they were quite annoyed.

"Call your parents and let them know your gonna sleepover." Matt informed the Koopa since it was super late.

The youngest of the three boys did as he was told and received permission from his mother.

"She said it's, alright." It was the first time the cub was able to hear himself think since Sammy had finally fallen asleep.

"Let's play a trick on him when we get home, Shade..." Sammy suggested in order to get even with his larger brother.

"Like what...?" Shade had no idea what the beagle had in mind.

"I got this new potion I wanna try...it will make him small. We can battle him with our transformers!" Remi sounded incredibly enthusiastic about the idea.

"Oh...that sounds fun! Do you really think it works?" Both of the boys were rather naive when it came to the prospect of realism.

"We'll find out soon...hehe." For the rest of the ride home, there was no sound as all three of the cubs were very tired.

The ride home left them all in a state of slumber. Matt even had to take each of them single-handedly and pick them up to deliver the kids inside. His wife helped him get them tucked in once they were settled back in their bed. The man was glad to get to his wife and spend some alone time with her once he retired to bed. It was super late but he figured it had been an all-around good day. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. Snuggling with his wife in bed, resting the night away.

Morning rolled around before long. When Sammy awoke, neither of the other boys was around. He assumed Shade had been dropped off the night before, but where was Remi? He couldn't help but wonder. Yawning and stretching, he slowly got up from the bed and rising to a fully upright position. He noticed was still in his clothing from last night and felt a little bit dirty but decided a shower could wait, heading into the front room where he assumed his brother was.

Sure enough, he found both of his brother and Shade in the kitchen. He was a bit surprised that the Koopa kid was still here but decided not to pursue the issue. Already breakfast was out on the table. It was nothing special just some toaster pastries and orange juice. The other two boys already disposing of their mess and not paying much attention to Sammy. The cub played it off as no big ordeal as he was much too hungry to care. He sat down and began nibbling away at the pastry, which was Apple Cinnamon. It was his favorite so it took him no time at all to consume the food.

He made quick work of the orange juice, which tasted just a bit odd compared to normal. He was rather thirsty though, so he powered through it and downed the whole thing in one gulp. The puppy disposed of his things in the sink, making sure to wipe up the table with a wet rag so his parents didn't yell at him. When he was finished, he went on his way to find his brother and his friend. Upon arriving, he was hit by a spell of dizziness. It was so bad that it stopped him in his tracks and his vision blurred rather suddenly.

Sammy couldn't shake it off, there was an odd sense of coldness surrounding his body. Within moments his clothing began to feel loose. Trying to move his body didn't work, instead of leaving him with an increasing feeling of weakness. Soon the clothing began to sag, his pants fell off and he would have had to hold his underwear up...but he couldn't move. Soon it too fell off...but, fortunately, his shirt was now dragging enough that it covered his loins. Still, he couldn't kick the feeling that was something off as his world circled in a whirlwind around him, causing him to collapse to his bum.

Within moments his shirt too pooled around him, leaving him all but naked. Remi turned around to see the now half-sized pup behind him. The boy was surprised that his ruse was but working.

"Hey, look Shade. Now the big bad star isn't so big after all!" Remi commented to Shade who was focused on the TV show in front of him.

"What are you going on about?" The Koopa ask slightly annoyed since he was engaged in a cartoon.

Turning around, Shade saw what exactly Sammy was talking about. Bit by bit the once bigger boy was diminishing before his eyes. Now in a pool of his own clothing, the beagle was becoming smaller and smaller.

Within moments he was a bundle of his own clothing. Merely a moving lump among a mountain of clothes. It was at this time that Sammy began to recover. No longer feeling quite as groggy from the effects of the drink. His vision soon returned to him, soon returning to their original state of vision. All he could think about was how he might know how his brother felt when not wearing glasses. But suddenly he realized something. Everything was not as it seemed, instead of a larger perimeter as if he was in one of those fun houses that deliberately over-sized the furniture.

Standing up, he could see that he was naked. Sammy didn't even have to look below. His clothing was in such a bundle that his low perspective offered him a rather obstructed view of it. The boy covered his bits, he didn't know why he was naked but suddenly the reality of the moment began to set into his conscience. Shade and Remi continued to stare in awe. Before them stood a now toy-sized puppy who just moments ago was slightly larger than both of them. A huge smirk began to creep across the formerly small cub's faces.

"Look, he's toy-sized! We can play Transformers with him now!" Remi suggested as he had stashed the toy in his pocket.

"Let's see if he can survive Bumblebee's attacks!" Shade soon descended from the couch and crouched overtop the tiny beagle.

With the looming Koopa overtop of him, the shadow of his situation fully dawned upon him. Sammy suddenly felt very afraid. Shade was huge...or rather he was small. Soon the cub cupped him in his palm and brought him closer to his face for inspection. Each time he breathed out of his nose, it felt like a hurricane was bashing on his little spec of existence.

"He's so little!" The Koopa's voice boomed and sounded like a megaphone to the tiny cub.

"Careful, don't hurt him. Mom and Dad would be really mad..." Remi was more worried about getting trouble but also cared for his brothers' wellbeing.

"Okay. Let's go try him out on your playset." Shade spoke without concern for his volume and tone.

The second time Sammy was prepared and had already put his hands over his ears to protect himself. Even with that done, it was still quite loud but it was certainly more bearable.

Shade took the tiny toy-sized pup in paw to Remi's room. Each step that the Koopa took, was like an Earthquake to Sammy and ended up leaving him rolled up in the fetal position clasping for any sense of safety. Remi was close behind and went to go pull out a playset once they were inside. The tiny pup was glad that the tremors had ended and soon the still open palm was lowered to the floor. Sammy had no idea what they had in store for him and frankly, he was a little bit afraid of his new perspective on life. Soon Remi placed the plastic street on the floor, followed by some buildings for some environment to destroy.

Even the playset was big to Sammy, with buildings resembling the size of real ones. Soon he found out what they were planning. Remi and Shade each put their toys on the matt which was designed to be grass.

"Let's Battle!" Remi challenged the Koopa who was glad to accept the competition.

They began smashing their toys together as if they were engaging in some grand conflict of epic proportions. Each time they met the sharp clash of plastic sent Sammy reeling in fear. But there was nowhere for him to run, the buildings were not something he could just avoid or go around.

Suddenly he was taken in hand by Remi who held him like he was a bird in flight.

"Woosh, now Sammy can fly!" The larger cub seemed very excited about the prospect.

One thing that scared Sammy more than anything else was heights and his brother had all but forgotten it. He felt like he was going to be sick and did all he could not vomit all over the floor. Flyover after flyover, each and every time he felt like he was going to pass out. Luckily for him, Remi seemed to grow tired of it. A sense of guilt was coming over the boy.

"What's wrong?" Shade could sense the fun had been sucked out of the moment.

"What if he doesn't return back to normal? Mom and Dad will be really angry!" Of course, everything returned to his own safety from punishment from his parents.

"Did the potion say if it would wear off?" The Koopa suggested in order to ease the tension in the other boy.

"I dunno...let's see." Remi put down the cub who was very glad to be on stable ground.

The larger cub found the packaging of the potion which stated in very small letters that the effects were not permanent. A sense of relief came over him as he shared the information with his friend. It wasn't until after lunch that Sammy began to return to normal. Slowly but surely growing back to normal size. Once he was, Remi couldn't help but hug him and beg for forgiveness. Of course, Sammy was ready to just move on and pretend the whole ordeal had never happened. Even going as far as making sure the rest of the potion was dumped down the toilet so that it would never happen again.

"What was it like?" The smaller cub couldn't help but be curious.

"I don't wanna talk about it..." Sammy just wanted to forget about it

"Okay...sorry..." The two hugged once again, content to let bygones be bygones.

Later that same day Shade was taken home, given the ball as a souvenir so it wouldn't cause another conflict between the two brothers. However, a new rivalry in the form of basketball began to form between them. In the end, it didn't really matter since it was all in friendly fun anyways. Both Sammy and Remi intent on besting the other in a game of hoops. Occasionally inviting the Koopa over, who wanted nothing to do with the sport. Matt, on the other hand, was glad his sons had taken an interest in the sport. Perhaps another trip to the Bucks game was in order? He would have to see if he could garner another set of tickets...