Big the Cat and Froggy are copyright Sega. We intend no copyright infringement with this story.
The Cameo characters are trademarks of Nintendo.
* * *
It was a windy and sunny day and Jason and Jackie could hear the faint sounds of the distant waves. The past weeks had crawled by with the anticipation of summer. Jason and Jackie had been dying for class to let out and finally it had. It was their first day of three months of freedom before their families pushed them down with summer jobs. All the same, with the bright sky and shining sun, the two teens had a feeling this was going be a fun day. So all the more reason to enjoy things while they could. They initially intended to go to the video arcade near the beach but found it was closed for the day for a reason the proprietors didn’t give.
"Can you believe it? The Arcade’s not open today, of all days! I thought it was always supposed to be open," Jason complained.
"Don’t worry so much, Jason, it’s probably just a technical or power glitch. Besides, we have a whole week before our parents push us for those dumb summer jobs," responded Jackie.
"Well, I guess we can enjoy the beach..." Jason reasoned.
"I prefer diving, you know that Jason," Jackie pointed out.
Jason grinned, "What, hoping to run into Ariel the little Mermaid’s sisters?"
Jackie rolled his eyes. Jason liked to pick at him because of his love for swimming, "Oh sure, and I’m so SUUURE the girls would like a guy who admires a chubby purple--"
"Walrus?" Jason asked.
"You know who I mean," Jackie jibbed, elbowing his friend with a smirk on his face.
Jason glared, "Ixney on the Ig-Bay, Jackie."
Jackie laughs, "Yeah, I know. I wouldn’t say that in front of anyone."
When the duo arrived at the beach, they noticed a sign someone had erected.
"No outside swimsuits permitted, Swimsuit Rental required."
"They -actually got that past?" Jason asked dumbfounded.
"I doubt it'll be in effect long." Jackie shrugged. "But I've got a feeling it'll last at least until our short spark of freedom is over and we are dragged once again into the chain servitude."
"I hate it when you talk dramatic like that."
"I got an A in drama class, you got a C, live with it," Jackie retorted.
"Yea yea I gotcha," Jason sighed. While Jackie never rubbed it in his friend's face, he always managed to get higher grades in almost anything the two studied.
That was hardly to say Jason was stupid however, the lad had a creative side that Jackie sadly lacked though some of his critics pegged his expressions 'too flirtatious.' Jason figured they were just rigid. Walking past the sign onto the sandy concrete that separated the town from the beach itself, the teens saw a small open windowed building that had clearly had innumerable incarnations since it's construction. Jackie was pretty sure this was where he bought some hot dogs last year. Now a was sign over the window announced rent swimsuits here. A girl a year or two younger than the boys was operating the stand. She appeared to be of Spanish descent and wore an 'Apathy Kills’ T-shirt. She regarded the boys, already knowing why they were here, and waved at them.
"Hey! Over here! Get your swimsuit rentals here, special today, safety deposit return! Pay for suit today, bring it back, get your money back!" The well built Jason and sleekly built Jackie looked at each other. You couldn't really beat a deal better than one that pretty much said 'free.' There was likely some loophole that said if they ripped them they wouldn't get their deposit back, but they were sure if they were careful they could walk away without the facility draining their wallets.
The pair walked over the open window stand as a young man a year or two older then them walked out wearing orange swim trunks. His had a pattern that resembled fur. The duo were more interested in the girl however, Jason could tell she was sizing them up, for what Jason didn't have a clue, but the sign and place seemed legit so he wasn't worried about it being anything shady.
"I see you read the sign, I'm sorry for this kind of trouble, really I am, but I hope you understand," The girl politely said.
"Meh, no biggie," Replied Jason.
"I'm glad you understand. You're in luck today; there aren’t a large number of people at the beach today so you have a wide selection. We still have some of each style and design with a few patterns for each so you should find what's meant for you." Clearly not wanting to look like the exposition her job required her to, the girl took a few good steps to the side to show off the rake of swim ware behind her in the relative protection of behind the counter. Jason let out a low whistle, hoping the girl thought he was whistling at the outfits.
"Jason, quit checking out the babe and pick one."
The girl blushed at this, understandably. Jason rubbed the back of his head, and looked over the swim trunks. One of them caught his eye almost immediately. A Purple Pair, that had some white on parts of it, just like Big’s Fur. The Waistband looked just like Big the Cat’s belt, which was what drew him towards it. Jackie chuckled. The moment he came in, he noticed that one, and knew that his friend was going to choose it. Jason always has liked anything feline and Big was the only feline to appear in the Sonic games. This is one reason why Jason refused to play the GameCube version of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle - they totally removed Big from it.
Jason spoke up; "I’ll take that purple and white one."
The girl at the register smiled, "Of course."
"I had a feeling you would," replied the girl in a satisfied tone. "It couldn't be more becoming for you." She calm took down the trunks from their rake and turned towards Jackie. "And what about you? Having trouble deciding?"
"Naw, I just haven't decided yet." The girl laughed. "That sounds like having trouble to me. Don't worry, I have a knack for knowing just what suits people." The girl flew back a lock of hair; the boys mildly noted the white twist band going down on one side. Who was she trying to be? Lain from the anime series of the same name? "You're not looking at any of the swim trunks and I'm pretty sure you're male so that rules out the bikinis, care for a Speedo?" Jackie shook his head rapidly and took a couple steps back. "I didn't think so, I just wondered how'd you'd react. Well, let's see."
The girl pushed the racks aside that were clearly on hinges and showed off a number of wet suits. None of them were black. "Since the theory that sharks attack people due to them being mistake for seals is so common, these wet suits have been all colorfully designed and given a new experimental material underneath to conserve body heat while in water. No, we haven't had shark attacks along the coastline but since this whole thing is experimental anyway, they gave us them for free to see how they worked out. Don't worry, we haven't had any complaints about them yet, so I'm sure you'll enjoy the one you pick." Jackie looked at the line of wet suits; all of them bright colored.
Jackie could see as a joke the designs had made them all look like cartoonish aquatic creatures, but still no way any shark worth it's substandard sight would still mistake a human in one for the real thing. Jackie chucked at the image of a shark with thick glasses bumping into a boat mistaking it for a baby orca. "If you still can't decide, I can pick one for you if you like." The girl added.
"Naw, that's all right, just give me a sec," Jackie promised looking down the line until he spotted one that did catch his eye. Oh this was too perfect! Jackie was honestly proud of himself for not laughing out load. This had to be either a marketing scheme or a great cosmic set up! Jason would either hate'em or love'em for it. Either way, the look on his face would be worth it. He pointed at a suit by chance in the middle of the rake.
"I think I'll rent that one." Heh, what were people who wore wet suits called? Oh yea, Frogmen! Heh eh!
Jackie stuffed the wetsuit under his shirt so that Jason did not it until he got it on.
"What’d you get?" asked Jason.
"A Wetsuit."
"I know THAT, but what kind?"
"You’ll see."
The girl smiled at the exchange, "There are changing rooms in the back."
The two nodded and proceeded to the changing rooms behind the shack. If they thought about it, they’d have noticed that the shacks small size forbade these rooms from being there. By all intents and purposes they should have been back inside the area where Jackie chose a wetsuit. When they emerged, Jason practically did a double take upon seeing Jackie’s Wetsuit.
"...Okay, pal, go back and get one that isn’t mocking me, before I REALLY make you croak," Jason shouted.
"You wouldn’t do that, and you know it," Jackie said smugly.
Jason sighed. Jackie was right.
"Anyway, let’s go!" Jackie said, with a bit more energy than usual.
Jason grinned and did his best impersonation of Big, "Duuuh... Wait up, Froggy! You know I don’t like being to far from you, Pollywog Pal!"
Jackie laughed. "That's the spirit. Ribbit! Ribbit!" The two left the stand forgetting they had forgotten to pay, the girl behind the counter remembered but made no effort to stop them. She only shook her head and smiled. The pair had had countless summers and great games at this beach. They guessed it was time for another trouble-free day. Their playground was so huge; they didn't know where it ended. They both Felt so energetic and -groovy-! Everything was cool, and so excellent! The inseparable pair was quick to notice a modest number of other beach goers each of them wearing similar spirited swimwear as them. As it was, none of them paid the two or their antics more than a moment's thought. Since the stand had been set up and the 'interesting' swimsuits had arrived, it wasn't uncommon for some to 'act out' their 'parts.' Not that the two teens were giving the other beach goers much thought either. Jackie skipped ahead followed closely by Jason and both quickly dived into the waves rising up a moment later. The girl had been right Jackie thought, it did conserve body heat.
The two getting out of the surf for a moment, Jason did some babe watching and spotted one girl in a blue bikini that resembled fur with skimpy gold jewelry painted right on it. But seeing she was idly talking to a man her age in a matching pair of swim trunks with a reddish brown fur pattern, Jason knew better than to proceed. He watched the girl's 'painted' jewelry slowly become real jewelry, glittering in the sun. The fur like pattern on her bikini begin to spread across her body as a bushy tail ripped its way through the seat of her bikini bottom. A look of concern spread across her boyfriends face, but even that seemed to vanish as the fur pattern on his own swimwear became real and spread across his body. His girlfriend didn’t seem to notice, even as he sprouted a tail. Even as the changes spread, no one seemed to take notice and soon, a pair of anthro foxes, a red and blue one were laying in the sun, everyone behaving as they’d always been there in those forms. A black furred panther walked over to and sat down beside the blue fox, offering her a smoothie. The red fox frowned at him before saying something to the blue fox and running off. A gray furred wolf looking much like the fox except the fur color was nearby, laughing at the situation. Jason may have said something to Jackie about this scene if he hadn’t of forgotten anything was wrong.
Jason turned to see if there were any unclaimed territories that he might venture upon, he didn’t want to deal with two guys and besides, cats and canines don’t mix … not that he knew where that thought came from.
Jackie meanwhile was regretting not having brought any equipment to dig a sandcastle with; one is never too old for sandcastles, not even a tin can. He considered just doing it with his hands, but with his sense of touch numbed by the wet suit, maybe it was best if he stuck with diving. He also hoped Jason didn't end up slapped by too many pretty girls like he normally did. The girl's case in of itself wasn't all that uncommon on the beach since the shack’s opening, but no one noticed it and so it never made it into the newspaper, and passers by simply didn't notice anything at all.
After a minute more Jason sighed and landed on his rear with his legs out. It seemed every girl here had come with an escort. Even the two playing volleyball were competing against two guys; why were the pretty girls always taken? He needed something to take his mind off things. Something simple, calm and relaxing. There was something very tempting about just laying back and enjoying the sunshine, but he wanted something else. He rubbed his legs together thinking.
He thought he saw something light up just outside his field of vision, but he must have been imagining things. Turning his head, he saw the same young man from before watching the girls as he was. Or was he? The man seemed to be looking at his feet, which were getting longer, so long that they ripped his sandals clean off. The man stood up and looked down at his feet just as his legs started getting larger and stronger looking. His red swimsuit seemed to be larger, no, fur was growing out from it and all over the chaps legs! Coooooool! The man seemed to panic until the fur spread all over the rest of his body and onto his head, turning light red on the lower part of his face and chest. A thick tail with an orange tip at the end of it ripped its way through the seat of his swim trunks, hitting the sand with a thud. He looked back at his new appendage as his face reshaped into a muzzle and his ears moved to the top of his head, changing in shape. His human hair semed to fade into his head until there was only longer red hair atop his head. As his legs moved to the sides of his body, his swimsuit ripped and fell off, landing on his huge feet. Jason couldn’t help but giggle, the man was becoming a cartoon like kangaroo! The man’s panic seemed to vanish and he chortled as he looked himself over. He smiled before hopping right in front of Jason, knocking sand all over the place. Jason looked down, noticing the roo had a pouch, not that this seemed out of place on his body.
"Sorry dude but this is so freaking cool!" the young man yelled before hopping again, landing well to Jason’s right.
No one seemed to notice the young mans metamorphoses, and even Jason wondered why the kangaroo was so happy all of a sudden. Had he just found out he’d won the lottery or something? The kangaroos bounds had cleared the sand around something that DEFINATELY wasn’t there before, a Fishing Rod. Jason blinked a bit, but then grinned as he got up and walked over to it, it was right by where the roo had landed after hoping away from him.
Got to try this!
He bent over and picked it up, thinking of taking it to the docks, just to try it. He heard a thud and looked behind him to see the kangaroo there.
"Hey mate, you know where I can get my vest, boots and gloves? I’ll feel a little naked without ‘em," he said.
"Go see ‘da cute girl where ya got yer," Jason said, pointing out the shack.
"Thanks mate!" The roo said, hoping away.
"Silly roo!" Jason said, diverting his attention back to his rod.
Meanwhile, Jackie had swam so far out, that he couldn’t even see the shoreline.
"I guess I let myself get carried away," He said as he chuckled.
Swimming as fast as he possibly could, Jackie eventually saw something that immediately grabbed his attention. A small ‘object’ floating in the water ... his curiosity got the better of him, and he grabbed it... Suddenly, something was pulling him.
"What the---" he asked out loud, as he was yanked around by... whatever it was... Soon none other than his pal, Jason, pulled him out of the water.
"Hey! Watch it!" Quipped the frogman.
"Oops, soorrry." Apologized Jason. "I didn't mean ta catch ya Jad-kee, I was hopin' fer a fish!"
"Do I -look- like a fish to you?" Jackie retorted.
"Naw, ya look lika frog."
"Duh," Jackie rolled his eyes still holding onto the thing he grabbed in the ocean.
"What's thad ya got there Jad-kee?" Asked Jason eyeing the thing in Jackie's arms.
"I dunno... *Ribbit*, I found it right near your fishing hook," responded Jackie
He stared at it and licked his lips, "Reminds me of Rock Candy."
"Jad-Kee! Dun't eat it! It looks lud-key!"
As if mesmerized by the Object, he swallowed it, ignoring his friend’s plea. Seconds later, he felt a tingling at the base of his spine. Something seemed to press against the back of his wetsuit. He discounted the sensation.
"Whad's up with tha tail?" Jason asked seeing a green mass grow out of his friend's rear extending and lengthening into a new appendage. With a Ribbit, Jackie simply shrugged.
"*Ribbit* Huh?" Jacky turned around to see his new tail sticking out of his body and fitting the wet suit like a glove as if it had always been there.
Jacky wagged it back and forth, finding it interesting to have a tail again. After all he hadn't had one since he was a tadpole. Jason seemed more curious however and pulled his friend closer to get a better look.
"Hey! Lemme Go!" Croaked Jackie.
Jason, whose eyes had by now gotten large and yellow, stared closely at his friend.
"Hmm."
"I SAID put me down!"
"But FRO-ggy, I jus’ wanna’ look at your purdy tail!"
"My name’s NOT Froggy!!!" Jackie shouted. Though neither of them noticed, Jason’s swimsuit had already fallen off. He had fur that matched its patterns all over his body, and a Long Striped Tail. Or to be more precise, Jason's swimsuit had been assimilated into his skin, the patterns becoming true fur and not just pattern on waterproof fabric.
"Ah know, ah jus' playin. Jog-gy.'" Jason apologized.
"Thadds bedder." His friend responded.
"Now pudd mea ddoownn!" The frogman repeated his protest. This startled Jason so much that he did indeed drop his friend who landed on all fours on bent limbs. Joggy looked up at Jason without standing up, preferring to be able to jump out of the way on a moment's notice if his big friend do something clumsy.
"Comea onn." Incited Joggy. "ledds goh swimming."
"Uh, I'm not sure." Responded Jason not sure if he wanted to dive in, he was worried he might sink like a rock. Joggy saw this and continued.
"Every day's a new beginning!" Jason looked back the beach thinking he might see something he'd like though not sure since he never heard of fish on the beach. He caught of glimpe of the two couples playing volleyball. Strange, he thought, he didn’t remember them being two pink and blue bunnies. He was mesmerised as one of the blue ones caught a ball in his ears, jumped up and spiked the ball, all with perfect grace. He realised he had just imagined they were human. "Yeah, but we dun't know whoh we're gonna meet today." Joggy rolled his eyes as they rolled onto the top of his head. "Ddhe more yuu wandd, dde less yuu can gedd. Yuu should deep waldind fur a nuoh domorroh."
Still on all fours Joggy hopped around to face the peer. "Budd ah duesss ddad am hadde nuoh dunnassed mie heard frea."
Jason smiled, "Now I got nothing’ ta’ wor-ry me!"
By now Jason’s face was totally catlike, his ears at the top of his head, and white and purple fur covering the whole thing.
"Budd on", Joggy shouted, "Duess ddeed up, do do do do!"
Joggy’s body had started to shrink and had also filled out his outfit completely. He smiled and hopped along, with his buddy Bason following him.
After a bit, Joggy smiled, "Dey Bigg Duy"
"Hey, Lit-tle Guy," Bason droned.
"Can du dell meh dho came first?"
"So-rry, bu’ I dunno, we are jus’ na-tu-ral."
"Dho kay, all buh dahv to do is zid up,"
"Look Left, Right, up an down?"
Joggy nodded.
"Dey Bigg Duy"
"Hey, Lit-tle Guy," Bason droned.
"Can du dell meh dhats inside?"
"So-rry, bu’ I dunno, we are jus’ na-tu-ral."
Joggy was right at the edge of the peer and dove right in. He looked up afraid Bason had chickened out he jump in a moment later. At first the ocean water felt cold and heavy on his fur. This didn't last long however as his girth slowly increased and the low temperature was swiftly forgotten and he felt rather comfortable in the water in spite of the saying cats hated water with a passion. Bason floated up till he was face with to face with Joggy and smiled.
"'ee 'resen' 'uu 'idd 'h didd - 'eldum 'u uur 'urudiss."
Bison floated up and down and giggled it was rather like paradise at the beach. Joggy Ribbited happily as he swam in the water. Bison smiled as he relaxed in the water. This wasn’t so bad.
A Few hours later, most of the people on the beach had left,
"Say Fro-ggy, they about to close da beach. We need ta’ go!"
Froggy hopped on Bigon’s shoulder and Bigon headed towards the hut to get his gloves and shoes that he had left there.
"Uhh--- Can I have my stuff back now?" Big asked the girl.
The Girl smiled and handed Big his brown gloves and dark colored shoes. Something in the back of his mind told him that something was wrong with this scenario, but Big didn’t care. It seemed right and she’s a nice girl, so what could be wrong? He put on the shoes and gloves, and then walked out, with Froggy on his shoulder.
Suddenly, Big and Froggy noticed a strange swirling vortex in front of them. Froggy hopped off of Big’s shoulder and jumped ahead.
"Fro-ggy! Wait up!" He shouted as he ran in after him.
The girl saw all this and simply closed up shop for the night, most of the swim suits gone from the rakes having served their purpose. The stand would reopen the next day until all the suits had been given out, which would the same day the city declared the ruling foolish On the other side of the portal was a vast jungle, very familiar to Froggy and Big. Their home, at Mystic Ruins.
"We’re HOME Froggy! How’d we get here so fast?"
Froggy made an unintelligible croaking sound.
"But there wasn't any gian' gol-den ring."
Froggy rolled his eyes. Sometimes big could be so dense. Not EVERY warp was via a giant ring. However, Froggy himself wasn’t quite sure about it. He turned and noticed Big had already collapsed onto his bed. Big looked at his pally-pog.
"What’d you think about da in-ce-dant?" Froggy responded a bit indignant. <<You always take me for granted!>>
It was frog croaks of course, but for Big it was as plain as day.
"I am asking you as a first step." Big defended.
<You answer first cause I asked you first!>
"You and I are friends for all of time, tell me how you feel." Froggy turned around actually Big's fuzzy logic rather heartfelt. He hoped over to his friend's head.
<<But you know I can’t resist that smile on your face.>>
Looking Big's pleading eyes at the small rain frog and the frog's own stern frown at the giant cat was soon simply too much and both burst out laughing. "Happy happy, Muy Amable!" They said together.
Still giggling Froggy hopped onto Big belly and began jumping up and down on it like a trapolin. This tickled and soon enough Big was laughing as well.
"Welcome to our paradise..."
Sang the girl to herself as she finished locking up the stand not wanting the swim suits to go the wrong people, though of course this hut's security system was more than meets the eye. "Where it all comes down to just one little thing, love." She finished as she turned into a Ball of light flew off from the shack and into the portal. The Portal closed up, and all was quiet... It was as if nothing had happened...
End