Facing Demons 2: Hard Bargain

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#2 of Facing Demons

When Toby finds the journal he needs, Tina helps out by striking a deal.


Toby Halstead stared apprehensively at the dozens of artfully arranged books before him. Each one was encased in a small glass box, looked about a thousand years old, and had price tags that made his head spin. He awkwardly touched the price tags with one small bat claw, marveling at the number of zeroes. At ten years old, he'd hardly even heard of that much money, let alone seen something with a price tag that high. "Who the heck has ten thousand dollars??" he whispered scandalously.

"Rich old guys," Tina Wong said with a dismissive shrug. The gangly snow leopard stared longingly at a third edition printing of Arial Fisk's Summers in Spring from the late twentieth century. "Dude, she's like... super famous! How is this only four hundred bucks?"

Toby glanced at his friend before moving on. He'd certainly never heard of Arial Fisk, but then again, that looked like boring stories, probably with people kissing and no explosions. He wondered if Tina liked the kissing parts, then found himself thinking back to the dreams he'd been having lately, then found himself blushing and hurrying over to the next aisle.

He adjusted his erection in his pants awkwardly while pretending to look at a row of slightly less-fancy books. He could tell they were less fancy because they were mostly intact, didn't have glass cases, and had price tags under a hundred dollars. He felt into his pocket, where his twenty dollars and change in saved-up allowance jingled, and sighed. Even if he found the book he was looking for, he was sure he'd never be able to afford it. His parents did pretty well, but they weren't rich. He got a five-dollar allowance every week, which he'd been saving to buy the new Call of Duty game (assuming he could convince Dad to outvote Mom on letting him buy it, of course) but since the dreams started, he was now bent on using it for a new purpose.

The wolf-demon who had invaded his night terrors had said Nikolas Volstag's journal held the key to learning whatever weird language her True Name was written in. Only then could he make the dreams stop. But... he couldn't help thinking over and over what she'd said right after:

If you want me to stop.

Did he?

He felt gross admitting it, but... he kind of liked what she did to him. It made his crotch feel weird, but good. And he kind of liked the taste of her. But the paralysis, that inability to move, in any way, was too horrid. Just thinking about it made him shiver and bite back a whimper. He definitely did not want that, regardless of how he felt about the rest of it.

"Well, then you better find that journal," a familiar perky voice whispered behind him.

Toby did not scream, but it was a very near thing. He did utter a sobbing whimper as he whirled around, his vestigial wings flapping awkwardly with the sudden motion, fully expecting to see a curvaceous she-wolf with huge pierced breasts, a massive sheath, and curling black horns protruding from her head and elbows. Instead, the aisle was vacant of anyone but him. But he knew--knew--he'd heard Lilith's voice, clear as day, right in his ear.

He turned back around, and was nearly brained by the old leather-bound book Tina had her muzzle buried in. Toby uttered a strangled cry and fell backwards right on his butt. Tina glanced down in annoyance and hefted him back to his feet. "Jeez, Toby, watch where you're going!"

"Me?" Toby huffed. "You're the one with your nose in a book!"

Tina glared at him. "Yeah, I'm reading a book. In a bookstore. You're not. So it's your_responsibility to watch out for _me."

Toby didn't really understand that logic, but he found himself saying, "Yeah, yeah," and slouching off toward the counter. Tina shoved her nose back in the book and followed along behind him.

A middle-aged weasel was perched on a wobbly old stool behind the counter, his circular glasses giving his head a slightly distorted appearance as he stroked the brown fur of his arms nervously at their approach. He seemed particularly unsettled by Tina. Toby supposed she just had that affect on people. Of course, the old man's pants were tenting too. Maybe he was embarrassed and worried she'd notice. Toby could certainly relate. The tag on his shirt said HI, I'M MARK.

"C-can I help you kids?" he asked. He seemed to realize his paws were acting weird so he put them on his hips, but that only served to draw attention to his erection, so he awkwardly crossed his paws in front of him to hide it. He was only partly successful. Tina didn't seem to notice, however. Her poofy triangular ears jutted up from the top of her book, but nothing else.

Toby cleared his throat. "Uh. Yeah. I'm looking for a really old book."

Mark shrugged. "I mean, we got lots of really old books here."

Toby blushed. "Uh. Yeah. I know. I mean, I'm looking for a specific book. Uh, a journal?"

Mark cocked his head. "You want like a diary for yourself? We don't really sell--"

"No!" Toby interrupted, then cringed a little at the vehemence in his voice. Gosh, did he really sound that desperate? He supposed he was, at that. "Somebody else's journal. Uh. N-Nikolas Volstag?"

Mark scratched his chin thoughtfully. "That name actually rings a bell. One sec." He wiggled off the stool and vanished through a door in the back.

Without looking up from her book, Tina said, "That guy had a huge boner."

Toby blinked, then blushed. He'd never heard his friend talk about boners before. It made his stomach flutter a little. "Oh? Uh. Didn't notice. I guess."

Tina did look up at that, giving the little bat an appraising glance. "Is yours that big?"

Toby froze. He'd heard older boys in the PE locker room brag about how big theirs was. Clearly he was supposed to say "yes," or "like, way bigger," or something. But Tina was also kind of terrifying. He worried about lying to her. But then again, how was she gonna know? It wasn't like she'd ever want to see it ohhhh dear.

Toby had to shift his own hands to hide... things. "N-no," he admitted meekly.

Tina eyed him with a look he'd never seen before, then went back to reading. Toby couldn't be sure but... was she...? Yes! She was blushing! His stomach did a little flip and he stared forward, entirely unsure what to do with this information.

After a few more moments, Mark finally came in from the back holding an unassuming brown book with a soft leather cover and small cords tying it shut, sealed in a plastic Ziploc bag. He set the book on the counter and frowned apologetically at them. "Well, uh. The good news is, I think I found the one you're looking for. The bad news is, I'm guessing neither of you can afford it." He spun the book around on the counter and pushed it forward so the cubs could look at the price tag: six hundred dollars.

Tina mumbled, "Oh," in a very small voice. Toby almost fainted.

He plopped his head on the counter dramatically, ears flopping out of the holes in his beanie. "How am I supposed to learn the language now?" he groaned. To his surprise, Tina put a reassuring hand on his arm. It felt nice, but did little to actually console him. He was going to be anally assaulted every night for the rest of his life, at this rate. He'd gotten to the point where he could take Lilith up to the knot without it hurting, in fact it felt really, really good if he was being honest. But of course that wasn't enough for Lilith. She'd wanted the knot inside him. "Breeding him," she'd called it.

That... that had hurt. A lot.

He hadn't sat down correctly all day yesterday. Even today had been uncomfortable, and his poops still hurt. He tried not to think about it, instead wondering if he had anything he could sell to make six hundred bucks. He had a few rare issues of Man-Man, including a gold foil alternate cover of issue #365 where he fought Poisoner in Central Park, but he was pretty sure he could get a hundred for it, at best. And it was his prized possession. Maybe he--

"I think maybe we can work out a trade," Mark said, the older weasel eyeing Tina hungrily. Tina set her book down, crossed her arms over her flat chest, and gave him a dirty look, but didn't respond.

Toby blinked. Had he missed something? "Uh. What kind of trade?"

"Twenty minutes in the back with your friend," Mark said. His fur was starting to glisten with sweat.

Toby's brow furrowed. "Twenty minutes for what?"

"For whatever I want." Toby blinked, confused... and then he saw Mark's boner had resurfaced, and he understood.

His face got flushed, and his heart raced. This gross old man wanted to... do that... with Tina? That wasn't right. Grown-ups weren't supposed to do that with kids. Right? Then again, Lilith was an adult. Sort of. She had adult proportions anyway, and from Volstag's writings, it seemed she'd been around a long time. But this felt different somehow. And as much as she scared him with the yelling and the arm punching, Tina was his friend. His only friend. "Th-that's not..." He tried to find the words to stand up for her, but he didn't know what to say.

Tina looked at him, face flushed under her fur again, then turned to Mark. "Ten minutes. And no touching below my shirt." Then she turned roughly the shade of a tomato, fur or no. "And Toby has to be there. To... to make sure you don't hurt me." She patently refused to make eye contact when she said it. Toby's eyes drifted down to her pleated skirt. She almost never wore skirts. It looked really nice on her. He stared at her legs before remembering just what was happening.

"Wait--what?" Toby asked, startled.

She shrugged nonchalantly, though still bright crimson. "You need the book to make the dreams stop. I'm just helping. But you totally owe me."

Mark wrung his paws excitedly. "Okay," he whispered. "Okay. Hold on. Yeah." He hustled around the counter and ran to the front door of the little shop, locking the door and flipping the OPEN sign around to CLOSED, then, after peering through the windows to see if anyone on the street was looking, he shuttered the windows. The light felt softer, dimmer and heavier, now that it was just the overhead 60-watt bulb. "This way." The old weasel led them through the door to the back room.

More books were stacked everywhere, nearly all of them in plastic bags or glass cases, each marked with a serial number and price tag written by hand. It was dingy and even more poorly lit than the front end of the store. Toby gulped audibly as they followed the older Anthro. He grabbed a rickety wooden chair and sat down in it, clumsily scrabbling at his pants button and zipper in his excitement.

Tina knelt in front of him and slapped his hands away. "God, let me do it." She glanced up at Toby. "Get your phone out and start recording."

"W-what?!" Mark cried. "That wasn't part of--"

Tina grabbed him by the bulge in his pants and squeezed. Toby was pretty sure it wasn't a nice, gentle squeeze, based on the weasel's face turning slightly purple and gasping. "You asked a kid to do dirty stuff with you. I'm keeping this as evidence so you don't get any funny ideas." She turned back to Toby. "Hurry up and hit record, I want to get this over with."

Toby fumbled his phone out of his pocket. It was a small Trac-phone with a touch screen, but it wasn't a real smartphone. It had a couple games and could send text messages but that was it. It didn't even have a camera. How was he supposed to...?

Tina grinned and winked.

Ohhhh, Toby thought. He might not have a camera-phone, but Mark didn't know that. Keep him too scared to tattle on them. Then again, he'd probably get in way more trouble than they would, but apparently Mark wasn't thinking straight. Toby felt his pants tighten as he watched his leopard friend unzip the weasel's fly and start tugging his pants and underwear down. Almost immediately, his erect penis popped out from behind his undies and nearly bopped Tina on the nose. She made a face.

"Eugh, do they all smell like this?"

"I-I didn't get a shower this morning," Mark complained. "I was late to open the shop!"

Tina sniffed disdainfully. Toby felt his pants get even tighter. He really wanted to touch himself right now, but he was scared Tina would think he was a creep like this guy. Toby did not want to be equated with the weasel. He settled for adjusting himself through his blue jeans and pretending to record on his phone. He did have a stopwatch function, so he hit that and watched for the ten-minute mark. He already felt embarrassed and ashamed Tina was doing something so gross just to help him, he didn't want to make her suffer through it a minute longer than necessary.

Tina's rough little pink tongue darted out and she dragged it up the underside of his erection. She made a little face when she got to the tip, but didn't stop. Toby found himself panting without having done anything particularly vigorous. Meanwhile, Mark huffed and puffed, whispering, "Oh fuck yeah. You've got a hot little mouth."

Tina stroked her paw up and down his dick. "Stop talking," she growled. "This is bad enough without you talking."

Mark snapped his mouth shut, but he grabbed a handful of her dark hair and pushed her muzzle down onto his erection. Several inches slid into her waiting maw, and Toby saw her tongue dart out to lick him. The old man shuddered and pushed her down further.

He checked the stopwatch. Two minutes.

Tina awkwardly mouthed the older man's penis, and he twitched a little. "Ah! Teeth." Tina didn't respond, but she opened her muzzle a little wider and focused on using her lips instead. Toby was almost ready to burst, he was so hard. All the shame in the world for letting his friend do this for him couldn't stop him from wanting to keep watching. He found himself adjusting through his jeans every few moments, until he finally admitted to himself he wasn't really adjusting anymore, just looking for an excuse to touch himself. He wondered what Tina's lips would feel like on him, and rubbed himself through his jeans again.

Four minutes.

Tina glanced at him as her head bobbed up and down on the weasel's penis, then locked eyes with her bat friend as she took the whole erection down her throat. She gagged loudly when she touched the base with her lips, her neck craned at a weird angle to keep eye contact with Toby. As soon as she gagged, her eyes watered and she tried to come up for air, but Mark held his hand on her head and started humping her face. Tina gagged feebly with each thrust.

Five minutes.

Just as Tina looked ready to pass out, Mark let go of her and let her pull off, gasping and coughing. "Asshole!" she growled. Toby had never heard her use that word before. He shuddered at her distress, but his penis also didn't soften. "Are all grown-ups creepy jerks? Or just you?"

Mark puffed out a breath. "Don't pretend like you didn't like it. Now get back down there, time's not up yet and I wanna cum in your mouth."

"Wh--" she started, but he gripped her mouth in a hard, firm hand and, to both Tina and Toby's surprise, spat in it.

Tina flinched and coughed, spitting out the saliva. "You said I could use you however I want, as long as it's above the skirt," he leered. "And I want you to drink my fucking cum, you slut."

Tina wiped tears from her cheek fur. It could have been from getting gagged earlier, but Toby didn't think it was only that. He blushed in shame again, his little erection still rock hard. The old weasel's wasn't enormous, but it was definitely way bigger than Toby's. Tina glared daggers at Mark, then shoved her mouth back down on him and got to work.

Seven minutes.

Toby gulped, rubbing unabashedly now. He glanced at Tina's butt, which was mostly visible thanks to her skirt riding up as she knelt into Mark's lap. White cotton panties with thin blue horizontal stripes poked out under her skirt. Unable to resist, Toby took a couple small, tentative steps to the side to get a better look.

Tina glanced at him, and she must have realized what he was doing because she blushed furiously, her rhythm on the old weasel's cock faltering. Toby froze, feeling ashamed. Everything she was doing for him right now, and all he could do was try to sneak a look at her panties?

If Tina was upset about it, though, she had a weird way of showing it. As she knelt over and slurped up and down Mark's member, one hand gripping the base, her free hand slid down her stomach and pulled her skirt aside further, giving him a better view. There was a damp spot on her crotch. Did she pee herself a little? Oh, man, now he felt really bad. He hadn't realized she was that scared.

Mark's face bunched up in a funny way, and he groaned, grabbing the leopard's tiny ears and shoving her down on his erection. Tina flailed a little and braced herself on his thighs, pulling against him, but the big adult held her in place, tip buried at the back of her throat, and started twitching, with little grunting moans after each spasm.

Tina gagged louder than Toby realized it was possible to gag, a staccato noise that echoed weirdly off the dirty stone walls of the store's back room. A week ago, Toby would have been very confused about the fluids spraying out of Tina's nostrils and the sides of her mouth, coating her muzzle and spattering against Mark's silver-patched pubic fur. Toby was old hat when it came to semen and its flavor, now--though Mark's looked a little different from Lilith's, a little thicker and whiter. It spilled down Tina's chin as the old weasel continued to fuck her throat with a wail.

Nine minutes.

Tina stopped struggling, her eyelids drooping as she feebly twitched, and sagged to the ground, held in place only by Mark's paws clamping her face down against his pulsing member. Toby felt his own erection throb against his paw through his jeans, until he also started twitching, feeling that same delicious tightness spread through his erection and tummy. After a moment, it faded, leaving him feeling tingly again.

Now he watched his friend with growing concern. Mark had clearly finished jizzing, but he kept fucking Tina's throat with feral grunts as his friend tried with steadily draining strength to even get back up to her knees. She looked like she was going to pass out. Toby shivered. Don't pass out Tina, please stay awake, please--

"Time!" Toby nearly shrieked. He jumped, startled by his own voice.

Mark pushed Tina off him and let her drop unceremoniously to the ground. She lay unmoving, her chest rapidly rising and falling, her tongue lolled out as cum dribbled out. "I'm gonna go wash this bitch's mess off me," Mark panted. "Book's out on the counter." He disappeared through an imposing green door marked with the outlines of both a male and female Anthro.

Toby rushed over to Tina and knelt down, grasping her shoulders gently. "Tina! Are you okay?"

The cub spat semen out onto the floor. "Super," she grumbled hoarsely.

"I'm so sorry Tina," Toby sniffled. "I should never have let you do this for me."

"S'okay," Tina said, blushing. "Wasn't that bad."

"You don't gotta lie to make me feel better," Toby said miserably, hugging her. "You were so scared you peed yourself." He glanced down, seeing the wet spot on her panties was much larger now, and it was dripping down her leg and butt fur.

Tina turned absolutely crimson again. "That's... not pee."

Toby blinked. "What is it?"

She nuzzled her face into Toby's chest. "D-don't worry about it. Dummy."

Toby felt dumb again, like he'd missed something but wasn't sure what. He sighed and offered her a paw. "Come on, let's get out of here before that creep comes out looking for more."

"Well next time I'm letting you take the hit," Tina griped, taking his paw and standing on wobbly legs. Toby looked up at her--she was a good six inches taller than him--and grinned awkwardly. She hadn't let go of his paw, and his heart was starting to beat kind of fast now and--

Tina gulped and dropped his paw. "Let's go," she said, hustling out of the back room as fast as she could. Toby hustled to keep up on his much shorter legs, vestigial wings flapping awkwardly. He snatched up Volstag's journal as they hustled out. For the briefest moment, as he touched the journal through its plastic bag and shoved it in his backpack, he felt like something warm and soft was wrapped around his limp penis and balls, something very akin to lips. He froze in place and shivered hard with a little whimper, but before the noise had even finished passing his mouth, the sensation was gone.

Tina stopped, realizing her little bat friend was no longer right behind her, and frowned. "What's wrong?"

Toby gulped. "No-nothing," he stammered, and hurried after her.

He also had a wet spot in his undies now, and he knew what it was. He hung his head in shame as Tina unlocked the shop door's latch and led them back into the bright daylight.

* * *

Toby stared at the ceiling, body limp and unresponsive to his panicked, futile commands. One would think, after over a week of this every night, he'd eventually get used to it. Nope. His eyes darted along the stretching shadows in the darkness, the sliver of moon offering the barest hints of light, over posters for Minecraft and rock bands his mother wouldn't even let him listen to but _boy_did they have cool posters. All of it so familiar and innocuous in the bright cheer of day took a sinister, unreal quality as he lay powerless to move.

"You got it!" a familiar voice chirped with a happy squeal. "I knew you would! You're so smart. I can't believe you got your best friend to suck down some gross old man's load to get it though. You're more devious than I thought!"

The familiar face of Lilith entered his view, and that face was positively dripping with lust. "It's really fucking hot," she breathed, and shoved her tongue into his open mouth. She did this a lot, licking every inch of his mouth as he lay slack-jawed, unable to even close his snout to her. She pushed her tongue under his, licking between his teeth and tongue, tickling his frenulum before running the wide, soft digit across his teeth, breathing warm, sweet breath into his throat that tasted like sugar and mint. He was instantly hard.

She finally pulled away from his mouth and grinned, her tongue lolling out the side and making her look disarmingly silly. "I can't wait until I can call you master! When you can wrap your arms around me and kiss me. Mmmrh." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Out of the corner of his vision, Toby saw her thick red rocket poking out of its sheath just at the thought of kissing him. He found himself feeling surprisingly flattered in spite of his terror. Just kissing him made her that excited? Despite the scarier parts of her anatomy--the elbow protrusions were especially unnerving to him--he had to admit she was beautiful. And a grown-up! Grown-ups didn't find him attractive. They said he was cute and pinched his cheeks like he was still four. They didn't even pinch Lily's cheeks anymore, and she was six.

Yet here was a grown-up, or as close to one as it made no difference, and she wanted to kiss him. The warmth in his chest at the thought mixed with the mind-numbing horror of being paralyzed, into a decidedly less pleasant concoction. He whispered a breath past his lips that he wanted desperately to be a scream.

"Second clue," she said, stroking her cock and scrambling one-pawed onto the bed, wiggling herself up between the little bat's legs. Toby knew what was coming next, and his little penis was instantly erect. Though... now that he was looking... was he... bigger? His penis had always been a small one, maybe three inches (not that he'd ever measured it with the little ruler that came with his Power Rangers binder while hiding in one of the bathroom stalls at school when he was supposed to be at lunch he'd never do that). As it grew, he could swear it had another full inch, at least. Was this part of the dream? Surely he'd have noticed that big of a growth in his waking hours, right?

He realized Lilith had been speaking, and only now caught the last of what she was saying. "...and the little triangle thing is actually a y sound, like yodel. Okay?" Panic bloomed fresh in Toby's chest when he realized she'd been giving him clues on how to read the language and he'd been focused on his dick.

Lilith seemed to realize he hadn't been paying attention, because she put her paws on her hips in a very motherly fashion (oh god, don't think about Mom, not right now) and huffed, "Tobias Halstead. Not paying attention, were you!" She giggled and pinched her pierced nipples, twisting the bronze barbells slightly with a little gasp. "Aw, I can't stay mad at you, cutie! But you do need to learn. I sense the Change coming, and when it does, the rules will change with it. I'll have to make things harder for you, that's just how this works. I'm sorry." And she did look sorry. Toby was so confused. What did any of that mean?? Tears streamed down his face again.

"Shh," Lilith said, wiping his cheek fur dry with her thumbs and then licking them clean with a shiver. "No tears. We'll go over the hint again in a minute. First, I need inside your sweet tail again." Without any further preamble, she shoved her erection into Toby's ass.

Toby instantly felt the tightness in his testicles as his erection throbbed with ecstasy and warmth spread through his tummy. "Just from penetration??" Lilith asked incredulously as she began thrusting into his tailhole vigorously. "That's so--nff--so hot..." Her fluffy wolf tail swished happily as she plowed into his backside over and over. Toby felt, just for a moment, the terror of his paralysis melt away as he savored the stinging, painful bliss of getting rammed.

By the time she came inside him, Toby's fear had returned, but so had his erection. It throbbed almost painfully as Lilith shuddered and pressed her knot hard against his anus as if willing it to stretch over the bulge, but alas, this time it remained outside of him as she poured her seed into the panting cub. As she filled his backside, he focused on the sensation, hoping the inviting heat of the grown-up's jizz inside his hole would abate the fear again. And it did, a bit. He was still scared, still whimpering, but he was able to take some comfort in her sweet warmth.

"I can't just leave that cute little thing dangling," she murmured as she pulled her cum-soaked wolf cock out of Toby. She dropped his tush unceremoniously onto the bed, knelt down between his legs, and licked him from his taut little balls all the way up the shaft. "It's just so adorable," she cooed, giving him one of her silly dog-like grins. "Can you promise me something, Toby? When you finally have control of me, will you put this in me? I wanna see if I can feel it."

Toby didn't respond--couldn't, as ever, but even if he could, he wasn't sure what he'd say. His cheeks heated up in shame. It wasn't that small, was it...?

If Lilith realized she'd hurt his feelings, she didn't show it. She licked enthusiastically, balls to tip, over and over, humming cheerfully to herself. Toby didn't recognize the tune. He wasn't paying much attention anyway. He was focused on wiggling his toe, but each time Lilith stroked his little dick with her tongue, his concentration faltered as a wave of pleasure washed outward from his crotch.

As his balls tightened and his erection began to twitch against her warm tongue, Lilith cooed again and wrapped her muzzle around the treat, suckling noisily. Toby wheezed as the orgasm struck, his big toe moved, and the world vanished.

* * *

Toby sat bolt upright in bed, panting and sweating, then doubled over and moaned loudly as he orgasmed. The throbbing pulses of pleasure wafted through his tummy and he could swear he still felt Lilith's soft, wet kiss around his shaft. But as the orgasm faded, so did the sensation, and Toby fell back down into bed gasping.

He reached down to touch his sensitive groin and thighs, then slipped a finger between his legs and felt his puckered, abused anus. It was slick with sweat, but nothing else. Just as it had every time before. His body felt like it had been fucked, but the evidence of it was gone. Part of him was disappointed--her cum had felt hot and comfortable deep inside him. He wondered what it might feel like in the real world, to have somebody's jizz in him and hold it in there. He blushed and rolled over, staring at his bedroom door. Just before sleep retook him, he slapped his forehead and groaned.

He'd escaped the night terror before Lilith could repeat the second clue to him.

* * *

Toby walked alone to school. Normally he walked up to Tenth, met Tina, and they walked together, but there was no sign of her today. Had she ditched him after what happened at the bookstore yesterday? He hung his head in shame once more. It was certainly what he deserved. He should never have let her do that for him. He was the worst friend ever. No wonder she hit him all the time.

When he passed out of the alley next to the Gamestop, he glanced around nervously. Collin was almost always here in the afternoons, but in the morning on the way to school, it was hit-or-miss. He didn't see anyone, so he began hustling up Tenth Avenue toward school. A group of other cubs--a gator, two otters, and a skink--laughed raucously across the street as they rushed up the road toward Artemis K-12. Toby watched them go, feeling even lonelier than usual. He stuffed his claws in his pockets and slouched down the street.

He didn't see the right hook burst out of the alley to his right until it had already put him on the sidewalk. His head swam and stars burst around him, making his vision tunnel. "Finally," Collin Darby growled, the big bear cub looming over him. His cronies weren't with him today, not that Collin needed them to put the hurt on Toby. Even if he hadn't been two years older, he still probably would have been bigger than him. Toby was smaller than everybody. "Been waiting all week to pound your stupid fucking face, bat boy."

Toby was too dizzy to reply. "Ow," he whispered, holding his head.

"You don't even know pain," Collin snarled. "Not yet. Been trying to get at you for over a week now, you little shit. Wanna know how you been liking my present."

Toby tried to turn and face the bear, but when he moved his head the sky spun and he retched into the nearby gutter. Present? What? What was he talking about?

"This is your fault, freak. You brought this on yourself." He kicked Toby, hard, and the bat pup felt something crack. He tried to scream in pain, but only managed a feeble wheeze and a shuddering sob. Collin kicked again, and Toby flinched, but the foot never connected.

Because he flinched, Toby missed the spectacular flying tackle as Tina Wong brought a bear half again heavier than her down to the ground, both of them careening into a trash bin. It dented under Collin's propelled weight and went jouncing down the sidewalk, spewing wet hunks of refuse across the ground and splattering unidentifiable liquids on someone's Prius.

On the ground, Tina attacked with wild abandon, slamming her fist into the side of Collin's cheek. He brought his arms up to defend his face, and she punched him hard in the chest, making the bear wheeze and his arms falter. She took the opportunity to grab him by both furry, round ears and slam the back of his head onto the sidewalk. Collin's eyes crossed and he moaned feebly, all the fight gone from him. For good measure, Tina slammed her fist into his nose, crumpling his snout at a weird angle and making a small spray of blood rain across the pavement beside them.

Tina dusted off her paws and stood up from the bear. Toby glanced around at the handful of onlookers nearby. On the other side of the street, a tiger in a business suit was staring at them while on his cell phone, probably calling 911. Toby turned from them back to his savior, tears welling in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he mumbled feebly.

Tina didn't punch his arm or roll her eyes or yell at him. She gently scooped him up in her arms and held him close to her chest. "You're okay, Toby. I've got you." She didn't feel gangly and bony then. She felt soft and warm and strong. Toby buried his face in her chest and sobbed quietly, every hitching breath sending a lightning bolt of pain through his chest. Tina stroked his fuzzy ears. "I've got you."

* * *

Toby hid in his room with his TV blaring, but he wasn't paying much attention to it. He was mostly listening to the muffled shouts of his parents arguing in the den. Lily was snuggled up to him, hugging him, while their parents had it out. "Why's Mommy and Daddy yelling?" the tiny pup whispered. Toby held his baby sister close and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry," he wheezed. "It's my fault. I got beat up by a bully today."

And boy, had Collin done a number. Moderate concussion and two broken ribs. Breathing felt a little like stabbing himself with a knife over and over. Thankfully, despite the pain, they'd only been hairline fractures and not full breaks. He'd be sore for several weeks, the doctor said, but because it was only hairline, he'd be fine to go back to school in a few days, much to Toby's dismay. He never wanted to go to school again. He'd already heard that both Collin and Tina were suspended, though he was at least happy to learn Collin's suspension was three weeks compared to Tina's one.

And of course, getting the crud kicked out of him had made his father adamant that Toby take self-defense classes. Elise had said absolutely not, she'd have no violence in her household. Ed Halstead said he was the man of the house and what he said, went. Elise said he wasn't a man, he was a cub in a man's body who just wanted to solve the world with his fists.

The fight had started in the car on the way home from the ER and had not abated since. Toby sat huddled with his sister in his room, watching The Lion King for the thousandth time (it was Lily's favorite) and trying to ignore the battle raging between their parents. Lily looked up at him with her enormous eyes and whispered, "They gonna diborce?"

Toby sighed, ignoring his sister's lisp, and squeezed her gently. "No, they're not gonna divorce. Don't worry, they'll figure it out." I hope. He couldn't feel as confident as he sounded--especially considering if they _did_divorce, it would be his fault for being such a wimp. He held Lily closer and tried to focus on the movie, but no matter how hard they tried, neither of them could hide from the frightening din pouring in from the den.

* * *

Toby stared at his naked form in the mirror, still slightly dripping after his shower. He could see the ugly purple lump under his chest fur where bruises and cracked ribs hid. He stared at his plain charcoal fur, his fuzzy ears currently laden with water, his drooping vestigial wings, and his short, knobby knees and slightly protruding belly. He was scrawny. Weak. Pathetic. He couldn't even defend himself from one stupid bully. He'd needed Tina to save him.

He thought about his snow leopard friend, pictured her leaping through the air with speed and grace (conveniently forgetting he'd been cringing in a beaten pile on the ground when that had happened), and driving Collin into the ground like... like a... well not a bullet, exactly. Like a pro wrestler! But not all bulky and weird looking. And no silly spandex (though, admittedly, he kinda liked looking at the wrestlers in their spandex; it was half the reason he watched it). She'd been...

He blushed and touched the head of his small, flaccid penis, feeling it stir slightly. She'd been beautiful. He thought back to her stroking his wings, how gentle her touch had been compared to when she'd punch his arm or nip his ear to tease him. He pictured her smell after she got off of Cross-Country practice, unshowered, musky with sweat, primal. He pictured her covered in sweat and kissing him, licking his neck, purring like she did when she was half-asleep.

His penis was no longer flaccid. H continued tracing a finger along its length, and was surprised to realize he had grown. It was just over four inches long, now. Not big, but he wondered if he was done growing, and if not, how big he'd get. He saw his dad's once when he'd stepped out of the shower, and it had been big, even soft, bigger than Toby was when he was hard. He wondered if his would ever get that big.

He gripped it as he stared into the mirror, ignoring his sad, fragile form and focusing just on his dick, the pleasant pressure of his paw gripped around it, stroking slowly, envisioning licks and kisses on his neck and mouth from his best friend, wondering what was just beyond those panties with blue stripes soaked with wetness that hadn't been pee. (And would he honestly have minded if it was?) He wondered what was between her legs. He'd seen vaginas in the educational videos at school, of course, the whole "your body's about to go through changes" routine (Mom had pitched a fit when she found out, but Dad had insisted he attend the class with everyone else).

But he'd never seen _Tina's_vagina. Before this whole debacle with the demon had started, he'd never thought about it. She was just Tina. But now she was Tina with the cute white-and-blue panties, Tina who stroked his wings because she thought they were amazing, Tina who had come to save him when no one else would.

He felt the familiar tightness building in his testicles, the throbbing pulse of ecstasy up the shaft as he stroked with more vigor, imagining Tina's maw on him instead of the gross shopkeeper, and her tongue dragging up and down its length like Lilith had last night. He was beyond the point of no return now, his erection throbbed as the orgasm erupted.

Without warning, a long, thin strand of pearly white fluid erupted from his tip and splattered against the bathroom mirror. Toby convulsed, and another, smaller strand reached for the first one but didn't quite make it, draping itself across the tall, curved faucet of the bathroom sink. A third and final strand shot out but only went so far as the countertop, not even reaching the faucet handle. Toby gasped and fell to his butt, cushioned by the fluffy rug under his feet. He flinched as the drop jostled his cracked ribs and cut into the tingling pleasure swimming across his torso.

"H-holy mackerel," he whispered, staring up at the smear of cum slowly drooling down the mirror. He'd done it. He'd made jizz. He stared in shock at it for a long, wondrous moment, ignoring the dull throbbing pain in his ribcage.

"Well," a familiar voice giggled. "That changes things."

Toby's eyes bulged as he swiveled toward the bathroom door. Standing there, naked as ever, one hand on her pierced tit and the other massaging her enormous sheath, was Lilith. The wolf-demon grinned down at him, her bright eyes full of lust. Toby shook his head, whimpering. This couldn't be happening. She was only in the dreams. She was just a dream.

"Aw, sweetie," Lilith said with a wry smile, as if she'd been reading his mind. "We both know that's not true. And I did warn you the Change was coming. Now things are gonna get really interesting."

Toby gulped audibly as his tormentor took a sauntering step toward him in the waking world.