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Master Garfield, now recovering from shock, stood up. Each of his loved ones flinched as he shot them and angry glare before storming out of the room. They were supposed to care for him. It was their job to hold him up and look out for him. Instead, they let this strange women turn him into a monster. He was furious.

Yet, the dark women that he left behind him did not seem as strange as he thought. She was definitely the girl he kept seeing in her dreams. Garfield remembered Dick mentioning her name was…Rachel? Who was this Rachel? Where had she come from and why was she in his dreams? The prince had so many questions for her, but now was not the time. Right now, he had to go.

Garfield opened the door to the fresh scent of cedar. It was calming and natural. ‘Oh great, the Changeling DNA is effecting more than just my skin.’ The warmth of the July sun welcomed him as he stepped into the open. Even though Rachel was dreary and dark, she was surrounded by gorgeous scenery.

The new prince was walking for around a half an hour when he came to a cliff. He wasn’t fully aware it was actually a cliff until he was only inches away from falling. It was too late. Garfield felt his balance start to go. With one last struggle for footing, he began his freefall.

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“We have to go find him!” Dick shouted at the sorceress, who was now trying to meditate.

“Why? He is now a Green Changeling. If he were in danger, his instincts would kick in.” She lowered one foot to the floor and then slowly the other. Padding over to the kitchen, the calm empath poured another cup of tea, “Would anyone like tea?”

Kori and Stone raised their hands. Neither of them was as half worried as Dick was. They knew about Garfields new form. If he were in danger, he would save himself. Now, all that was left to do was wait for him to figure out his own feelings.

“What if he tries to kill himself?” Dick questioned, sinking deeper into the chair he was seated on.

That comment got their attention. Garfield wasn’t particularly happy about his new appearance. It may seem far fetch, but it’s still in the realm of possibility. Would he do that? After all the hard work that Kori, Dick, Stone, and Rachel did? Even after all the emotional stress that he put on them, would he go and kill himself? It seemed as though all of them were thinking the same thing.

“Let’s not wait around to find out,” Stone stood up, the others following, “We can’t let him do that.”

“We won’t let him do that,” Kori added with a determined look.

Rachel furrowed her brow, concentrating hard, “I’ll reach out to his mind, but my powers can only do so much.”

“Then we better get going,” Dick said, throwing his sword and cloak on, “We have a prince to find.”

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Garfield felt a thrill as the rush of air blew against his skin. Even though he enjoyed the feeling of falling, the hitting the ground part didn’t seem to appetizing. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate. In his body, Garfield reached out to the newfound animal side of him. He opened his eye and saw the ground coming at an alarming rate.

“Garfield, calm down,” There was her voice again. She was in his head, “Take a deep breath and focus.”

The prince did as he was told. The feeling of air in his lungs gave him a sudden boost of strength. Willing himself, Garfield focused on flight. An animal that could fly would be optimal. Something in his brain snapped and the prince morphed into a humming bird. He zoomed out of the canyon and onto a ledge.

His clothes were tattered from changing but he was alive. From across the canyon, Garfield could see his 4 friends lined up on the edge, each of them beaming. Rachel created a black platform of magic and they flew towards the half-changeling.

“Glorious! You changed! You are well, yes?” Kori enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. Garfield just made a funny face and waited for the foreign princess to let go. Next, Stone just gave him a pat on the back and a bright smile.

Then came Dick, “What were you thinking going off like that!? You had me worried sick!”

“Calm down,” Rachel appeared from behind the ranting prince, “He’s alive and that’s all that matters,” Before anything else could be said, the dark women turned toward the direction of her home. The others had no choice but to shrug and follow.

“Rachel!” Garfield called from behind, running to catch up with the sorceress, “Thank you.”

“For what?” She replied in her normal monotone.

“For being there. For being worried, thank you.”

“Who said anything about being worried. I wasn’t just going to sit there and watch you splatter like a bug. You would’ve done the same thing,” Rachel through her hood up. Under the cascading shadows, her cheeks went from pale to a light pink. She quickly shook the occurrence off and continued to walk to her home.

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Rachel sighed and fell into her chair. The others soon followed, fatigue setting in. It had been a long day, especially for Garfield and her. All the thought-communing and changing had them tired out. Garfield sank lower into his chair as Rachel went to go make tea. In the deepest part of her mind, the wheels began to turn.

“Would you like anything?” The sorceress gave a faint call from the kitchen. Each of the travelers were too groggy to reply. Kori was asleep on Dicks shoulder. Stones half-metal body had made him fall over. Garfield was just barely awake.

It was a minute or so before he replied, “No thank you,” Then fell into a deep sleep.

Rachel was now fully aware of what had happened those past few days. 4 strangers had come to her home, one desperately ill. She healed him, and turned him into a changeling. The changeling whose name was Garfield had nearly gotten himself killed. Now all of them were asleep in her living room. What a week.

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He was running. From what? He had no idea. All Garfield knew was that he has to get out. He has to get away from the beast chasing him. The pounding beats of each claw hitting the ground shook him to the core.

Up ahead, his brother Dick sat next to Kori and Stone. They were smiling and laughing as if they had no knowledge of the vicious beast behind him. Garfield sped up. If he could just reach them…maybe he would be safe.

Tired and out of breath, he finally reached his friends, “We have to get out of here!”

They ignored him

“You guys…hello????”

They still remained in conversation. He didn’t get a glance. The pounding in the distance grew louder. Garfiled covered his ears and curled in a fetal position. Stone, Dick and Kori noticed the noise as well. In the distance, a huge, mutated figure appeared. Slobber dribbled from its chin. With its huge teeth barred, the beast plundered on, closing the distance between them.

They got up. Garfield’s heroic brother pulled out his sword. From out of nowhere, two daggars were in Kori’s hand. Stone had his futuristic arm cannon at the ready. They faced the beast, which was now stopped in front of them. Dick glared at the thing.

“Please,” Kori pleaded, “Don’t make us do this.”

The beast paid no heed to her words. He swooped his claws at Kori. She skillfully avoided the blow. The battle had begun. Dick raised his sword to stab it. Kori’s eyes went wide at the thought of stabbing this thing that was her friend. She pushed dick out of the way. At the same time, the beast swung its clawed hand. It collided with Kori’s side. Dick screamed as she flew to the side.

Garfield watched in horror as Stone tried to comfort Kori. She was badly bleeding from the left side. He knew she was going to die. Tears started to stream down dicks face.

The beast slowly came up behind Dick and Stone. The prince turned and looked at the horrid thing. A plead from mercy was the only thing in his eyes. Garfield looked away. He did not wish to see his own brother perish at the hands of a beast.

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When Garfield turned back, the beast was plundering off towards the mountains. His eyes widened. The image of Rachel flashed through his mind. Taking a deep breath, the young prince struggled to morph. The changed prince couldn’t do it. He began to panic

“Calm down,“ Rachel’s voice played over in his head, “Take a deep breath and focus.”

Garfield took a deep breath. He was soothed by the beautiful sorceresses voice…..wait…what!?

Suddenly, he found himself on all fours. He’d done it! The prince was successfully a cheetah. Taking another deep breath, he chased after the plundering beast.

His eyes widened in horror at the sight of Rachel’s home. It was in shambles. The door had been ripped off. Windows were broken and shingles were falling off the roof. A sudden movement to the left got his attention. Morphing back to human, Garfield looked over at the figures.

At the beasts feet lay a crumpled Rachel, a pool of blood surrounding her motionless body. Garfield ran to her, not caring if the beast saw him or not. When he reached her, he put his fingers to her neck. It was faint, but her pulse was there. He shook her slightly and she barely opened her eyes.

“Gar?” Apparently that was his new nickname.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Before she could say anything else, her pulse disappeared. Rachel died in his arms. Garfield gently set her down, forgetting about anything else in the world. Slowly, he got up and screamed.

The beast came and cradled Rachel in its arms. As it did this, it morphed. Garfield fell to his knees. Before his was himself. He had killed his friends. He had killed Rachel. Turning away, Garfield emptied his stomach.

He was a monster.