It was a bright and beautiful day, the sky almost cloudless. Birds sang as they flew through the fresh warm air. School had let out early that day for a teacher meeting and second graders Zack and Joey were walking home together.

"You have any homework today?" Joey asked.

"Nope, finally a free weekend. Do you have any?" Zack asked.

"A little math," Joey responded.

"Yuck, I hate math," Zack replied.

"Me too, but if I don’t do it I’ll get in trouble," Joey said.

Unbeknownst to them, the two boys were being followed by a man half a block away. He watched them with a pair of binoculars, confirming the blonde hared boy on the right was Zack with a picture of the boy. Folding up the binoculars, he put them back into his black coat.

He pulled out a small white container the size of a carton of cigarettes. Opening the lid, he pulled out one of four vials of teal liquid before closing and putting the box back his pocket.

Reaching into another pocket with his left hand, he retrieved a tool the size of a TV controller; inserting the vial into the slot at the top, he activated the tools small screen to program the vial.

"I’m sorry Zack but this has to be done. I can only hope you’ll be happy and will be able to make a new life for yourself this way," he said, feeling the heavy emotional impact of what he was about to do.

When the screen indicated that the vial was ready, he removed the vial from the tool before returning the tool to his pocket. Finally, he reached into the coat and pulled out a hypospray, a small pistol shaped tool with a rounder barrel and notch at the top for inserting vials. Looking at the vial, he sighed. He was about to change history and Zack’s entire existence. He didn’t really want to do this but saw it as something that had to be done. Hyprosprays had replaced needles some time ago as more convenient way of distributing medicines and vaccines; however they could also be used for the way he was about to use it. As he clicked the vial in place, he quickened his pace to catch up to the boys.

When he caught the boys, he didn’t give them time to react. Grabbing Zack, he held him with his left arm before injecting his neck with the vial contents.

Zack helplessly felt the liquid pouring into his body, a wave of dizziness nearly overcoming him. The ski mask clad man soon let him go. Unable to stand due to the dizziness, Zack quickly fell onto his rear end. Looking at up at the man he was about to ask him what he had done.

"I’m sorry Zack but this had to be done. I hope you can forgive me for this," he said before running off in the opposite direction.

Kneeling down beside Zack, Joey looked shocked when he saw something growing around the area he had been injected.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I’m dizzy and my neck is itchy," he answered as he reached up to scratch the area. When his right hand made contact with what felt like fur, he gasped.

"What’s on my neck?" he nervously asked.

Looking closer, Joey gasped before backing away slightly.

"I … I think it’s fur. Dude you’re growing fur!" Joey responded.

"Fur? What the heck are you talking about?" Zack said feeling the area. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deny what he was feeling; he also couldn’t deny that it was spreading around and up his neck. "It’s spreading!" he cried.

"This is impossible! What did that guy inject you with?" Joey asked, gasping in at the sight of the brown fur.

"How should I know?" Zack asked, his voice quivering with fear. Warmth enveloped his shoulders as the fur spread onto them; his jaw and cheeks itching as it progressed to his head. Darting his head back and forth as if looking for a cure, Zack looked very panicked. "What am I supposed to do?" he asked. The dizziness having faded, he arose and ran down the sidewalk, breathing deeply out of panic as Joey followed. Unfortunately, the process of change was already in his body, escape impossible.

A sharp jolt of pain in his jaw and nose stopped him dead in his tracks. Joey caught up to find Zack sweating and whimpering. Touching Zack’s shoulder to get his attention, Joey could feel the fur under Zack’s shirt and see it poking out; it contrasted oddly contrast with his blue shirt.

Cupping his jaw with both hands, Zack turned around. Tears streamed down his face as the fur quickly covered his head. Joey gasped that Zack’s jaw appeared to be lengthening, his nose and mouth merging.

In his vision, Zack saw pieces of his blonde hair falling out as the fur reached it. His ears tingled but the horror of feeling his growing muzzle left him paralyzed with fear.

"My mouth!" Zack cried. Joey, afraid that this was somehow contagious was almost afraid to touch Zack. He however couldn’t stand to stand there and do nothing as his friend’s humanity slowly slipped away. Joey cautiously touched Zack’s hands, gently lowering them from Zack’s face. He nearly passed out when he saw the muzzle and black nose that now resided on his friend’s face.

The fur on Zack’s face was now a pelt, his human hair almost completely gone. Joey watched Zack’s ears shrinking as new ears formed on top of his head. The black mask around his eyes made what Zack was becoming clear. It was not unlike the raccoons Joey had seen in his backyard a few times. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell Zack or not.

Zack could tell from the look on Joey’s face that he knew what was happening to him He could feel his ears tingling and something was happening at the top of his head. Feeling the sides of his head, he felt his ears shrinking into nothing, the canals slowly closing. Even more panicked, he felt around his head, feeling the soft warm fur that now adorned it. When he felt the top of his head and encountered soft fuzzy rounded ears, the animalistic feel of them only increased his fear.

"Say something! What do I look like? What am I turning into?" Zack desperately asked. As he finished that question, he felt the fur on his shoulders began to spread downward, enveloping his armpits. Warmth and itchiness marched down his arms and he could only watch as fur sprouted under his short sleeves, spreading like wildfire down his arms. His chest itched like mad as the fur covered it. "Help me; don’t just leave me like this! Do something!" he yelled out of desperation.

"What am I supposed to do?" Joey said, his own voice trembling.

"At least tell me what I’m turning into!" Zack again asked.

As Joey prepared to give his friend the news, an answer that would be telling him of what would be his new future, he could see the fur spreading down Zack’s arms and into his hands. He could only watch as Zack’s hands quivered the bones, skin, muscles and nerves remolding as his thumbs shifted into fifth fingers. Zack’s light fingernails quickly darkened as they grew into long sharp claws. Zack could feel a slight contraction in the bones of both arms as they shortened slightly.

"You’re turning into a raccoon," Joey said, shocked at what he was saying. If he weren’t seeing this with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.

"Help me Joey; I don’t want to be a raccoon!" Zack said. His whole life was slipping away before him. What he wanted be when he grew up no longer mattered; now he was doomed to the life of a wild animal.

"Think of it this way, you won’t have to worry about homework or going to school anymore. Now you can have fun all day. It’ll be like summer vacation all of the time," Joey said, desperately trying to calm his friend.

"But… I…" Zack’s vocal chords began to change, "No … I want to speak…. I don’t want to…." Were the last words he was able to say before his human speech was replaced with the warbling chitters of an animal. He warbled loudly, a look of terror forming on his now raccoon face as he realized the gravity of his situation. He’d never be able to tell anyone who he was now! Of all things to lose, the ability to speak was the worst.

The changes were far from over as the fur continued moving down his torso, quickly covering his belly. His belly felt strange, as if something were building behind it. Holding it with both paws, he felt it expanding, getting rounder as the fur engulfed it. The rest of his torso felt strange; he could feel his innards shifting, the bones changing as to make him rounder. Looking at Joey, he desperately warbled, hoping to somehow get out a human word. Joey was, in the meantime, panicked. He wanted to run for help but he didn’t want to just leave Zack alone out of fear that he’d be gone by the time he got help.

Zack was scared to death, this kept spreading, it was now moving down his legs, the warmth and itchiness on them a sure sign of it. His hips began to ache, feeling warm. It was as if the structure of them was changing, not just in shape but position. He soon felt his center of gravity going haywire as his hips changed, moving his legs to the sides of his body, a position more suited for a quadruped. He could feel it, he could sense it; he would soon be on all fours, he was truly going to be an animal!

The world seemed to be getting bigger, his clothes looser, he knew he was shirking. He felt himself being thrust forward onto all fours. Looking at Joey, he walked towards him, fear and desperation in his now black eyes as he fell forwards, his paws hitting Joey’s chest, the boy momentarily giving him support.

It wasn’t long before his waist had shrunk enough that his pants and underwear fell down his legs. As he looked up at Joey, a view he was unused to seeing, normally being slightly taller then him, he was far too terrified over his changes to worry about his nudity.

Joey looked down at Zack; his friend no longer looked human. What was propped up against him and whimpering in fear was looking increasingly like an animal by the second. Joey saw something emerging from Zack’s tailbone. At first it was a hairless extension of his spine. That hairless extension quickly grew until it nearly touched the ground. Fur soon began to cover it, and within several seconds, it was a bushy tail with a black tip and three black rings. Zack could feel the tail as it brushed against his legs, not just his legs being touched by the tail but the feel of having a tail touching furry legs.

Zack was much smaller now, his shirt cavernous on him. Hearing the sound of bones shifting he watched as Zack grimaced. He could see his friend’s neck realigning, changing into a position that would have him looking forward when on all fours, a method of locomotion that would soon be his primary one.

"No!" Joey yelled, "Don’t leave me Zack, don’t give up!" he said, on the verge of tears as his friends last signs of humanity slipped away.

Zack so badly wanted to respond. He was terrified and wanted to yell out for help. Zack's mind was swamped with conflicting thoughts and desires. Something inside of him was telling to run, to accept this new existence. Something else was telling him to fight it and not to let the human Zack fade. Unfortunately, the side of him trying to convince him to accept this was very strong and growing stronger by the second.

Opening his mouth, Zack tried desperately to say something. Joey could see Zack’s sharp teeth and the desperate look on his face. That look was changing, becoming less like a terrified human and more like a look of acceptance.

Zack could feel something inside of him changing; he could feel himself slipping away and began pawing at his face out of desperation and panic. The feel of his fur and muzzle was a harsh reminder of what was happening to him. When he heard Joey say something and didn’t understand him, he knew he was losing his mind. He wanted to panic and scream out in protest but something in him was calming him, as if ensuring him this was necessary for him to function in his new form. Backing away slightly, he felt himself shrinking further as he fully lost his balance and fell to the ground with a light thud.

He felt a sense of completeness, as if he were finally at a destination. Looking down, he saw himself sitting in a human shirt, his shirt. Something about it seemed strange to him; the human smell on it, his former smell was not something he saw as his own but as a scent that scared him.

He quickly crawled out of the shirt, standing on his hind legs and looking at the human standing before him. Looking down at his body confirmed what he already knew; he was a raccoon. He didn’t know what to make of that; he wasn’t sure if he should be excited, scared or confused. Watching raccoons in his yard and being one were two totally different things. Seeing the world from the point of view of one was so strange, far different then seeing one as a human.

Realizing he wasn’t wearing any clothes, he covered his groin in embarrassment. Strange thoughts were consuming his mind; the thoughts terrified, horrified and yet oddly comforted him. He knew that he should fight them but something was odd; it was if they were natural, a part of him now. He was no longer human and such human thoughts didn’t seem to make sense. Soon, the idea of feeling exposed didn’t make any sense; it wasn’t natural for him to wear clothes and being seen without them was hardly out of the ordinary.

When he saw Joey leaning down to touch him, he backed away, chittering in protest. He didn’t understand why this human was trying to touch him. All he knew was that he had to get away; he had to get home where it was safe. Taking in the scent of the air, he could smell the forest nearby. His mind told him that this was home, this was where he belonged. Slowly turning in that direction, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He could hear the human saying something but didn’t understand any of it. All he understood was that he had to get away.

Joey could only watch in horror as Zack ran away. Tears ran down his face as he saw his friend acting very much like the animal he now was. Joey had no idea what to do next. A part of him wondered why the man had not changed him. He wanted to find the guy and make him restore Zack but he had no idea of where to find him or how to force him into doing anything. For all he knew, even if he did find him, the guy would change him as well. He felt truly helpless.

***

At a corner two blocks away from where Zack’s entire life had changed, the warm but quiet day was interrupted by the appearance of a vortex a few centimeters above the ground. The vortex caused quite a disturbance, blowing leaves off of bushes and knocking a few garbage pails at the end of a driveway down. Seconds later, a figure flew out of it, landing several meters away; he was soon joined by another that landed to his left. A few moments later, the vortex closed. Both men slowly stood up, brushing off their clothes. Tim stood first, looking around before helping Shane up.

"Did we get here in time?" Shane asked.

"No way of knowing for sure; at least not until we find Zack or his assailant. Did that article say what street he was attacked on?" Tim asked.

"Yes, it said it happened on Vine Street; two blocks south of this house. There is a forested area west of there, that’s where his friend said he ran towards after," Shane answered.

Tim looked around the area, seeing the street sign at the intersection they had landed by.

"Vine and Oak Street. I’ve visited this city a few times; if I remember correctly that forest is north of here," Tim said.

"I just hope we’re on time," Shane said.

They both started walking down the street, thankful that no one had seen them leaving the vortex or it forming. They only walked a block before they saw someone lying on the ground behind a bush. Tim and Shane quickly ran to his side, kneeling down. Soon after, they saw something terrifying; a ripple went through the man, as if he were fading out of existence. He was wearing a ski mask over his head; determine to ascertain his identity, Shane slowly removed his mask. When they saw who it was, both he and Tim gasped in shock.

"Jordan?" Tim asked.

"Jordan Pierce? Agent Jordan Pierce?" Shane added.

Jordan rolled over to his back; he seemed to be having trouble breathing. Another ripple flowed through his body, his expression was evidence enough of the pain it caused him.

"I miscalculated," he said.

"Miscalculated what? What did you do?" Tim asked.

"I thought I had no choice; that I was doing what had to be done," Jordan said.

"What did you do?" Tim yelled.

"Zack, his younger self. You should of seen him as a kid; very cute kid, so innocent looking," Jordan said, sorrow showing through as he winced before half of his body temporarily phased out of existence. "I thought I could solve all of the time travel related crimes by stopping him from helping to invent it in the first place; remove the cause and all of the effect goes with it."

"By turning him into a raccoon? Why that species?" Shane asked.

"I could have chosen any species; a dog, a cat, a bird, or even an insect. I didn’t want him to end up in someone’s home where he might have revealed the truth; I needed him wild. I had a pet raccoon as a kid. I really liked the species. I felt he’d be happy as one," Jordan answered.

"But removing him didn’t stop time travel. We came back from a mission to find out that someone had used it to stage a revolt that threw the country into a dictatorship. Just because Zack didn’t invent time travel doesn’t mean no one else would have," Tim said.

"I know … I erred. I did let Zack’s friend go. I didn’t want to condemn him to the same fate. It’s not too late to help Zack," Jordan said, reaching into the pocket and handing Tim the white box, hypospray, tool to program the vials and a scanner. "You can use the scanner to locate Zack. Just scan for a raccoon with the serum in it. It will remain there for 72 hours so you need to find him by then to reverse the affects properly."

Tim handed Shane the scanner, asking him to reconfigure it.

"Obviously I must have been killed in the new timeline I ended up creating." Jordan said, his body starting to ripple badly. He started having trouble breathing. He reached up to grab Tim with his right hand, but the hand passed right through Tim’s body. "I’m sorry for doing this, I should have thought it through. Find that kid and give him his life back. Leave the life of an animal to a natural born one and not to someone that should be human."

"We’ll bring him home," Tim said.

"I know you will. I could always … count," Jordan said, falling limp to the ground, his body completely vanishing, leaving no trace of him.

A look of hopeless on his face, Tim stood up and put the equipment Jordan had provided into his coat pockets.

"Have you had any luck reprogramming that thing? Is there any chance that we can find him?" Tim asked, his voice trailing off in despair.

"I should have it done momentarily. I’m confident we’ll be able to find him," Shane answered. Looking at Tim, he petted his right shoulder in a comforting way. "It’s not your fault. You had no way of knowing what Jordan was planning and what happened to Nathan wasn’t your fault either."

"I keep telling myself that but maybe if I would have noticed some warning signs that Jordan was up to something then maybe we could have stopped him. Even if we do find Zack, what are the chances he won’t suffer serious psychological problems because of this? I seriously doubt anything could have prepared him for this," Tim replied.

Shane looked back at the scanner and smiled, hoping to cheer Tim up.

"I don’t know how this will affect him. But I do have some good news, I’ve been to reconfigure the scanner and I think I have a reading," Shane answered.

"Where?" Tim asked.

"About 500 meters northwest of here in a wooded region. I can’t pinpoint his exact location until we’re within 100 meters," Shane answered.

"That’s good enough for now. We’d better get going. The longer he’s an animal the harder it will be for him to go back to humanity," Tim replied.

With that both men began walking in the direction of the readings. They didn’t know what condition Zack would be in but they knew they had to find him; the future depended on it.

***

He was an animal, this wasn’t a fantasy or game; his body really had been changed. His senses being so different from what he was used coupled with his smaller size gave him a whole new perspective of the world. His thoughts were different, simpler somehow, with each passing second this seemed decreasingly unusual.

Every blade of grass and bush had the scents of other animals that had encountered it. In the warm soil by a bush, he could smell the scent of a squirrel that had buried a walnut. Never before had he able to perceive the world in this manor; the human scene of smell was nothing compared to this; sort of like comparing a stick figure drawing to photo realistic art in terms of how much information he was able to obtain.

At the same time, he was also frustrated; it was difficult for him to concentrate. Eating, sleeping, drinking and finding shelter took priority, anything beyond that was a luxury. While his own sense of curiosity mingled well with that of his new species, when he saw something, he found himself more interested in how it felt, looked and smelled then what it did or what it was.

As a human he’d been so used to being told to think before doing or saying and about concepts such as right and wrong. Now, the decision process was much simpler. When he had run from Joey, all he knew was that the boy had seemed enormous and frightened him, his first instinct to flee. Being like this, decisions didn’t seem to matter much; if his instincts said to do something he did it. If something looked interesting, he’d take it. It was so strange having no real concept of having to answer to someone. While that did make him feel freer, it also scared him. He also noticed his already short attention span seemed even shorter; seeing a shiny object or smelling something interesting would always immediately distract him. It was a bit annoying but felt so natural and free, as if he didn’t have to worry about things anymore and could just explore and let his curiosity run wild.

As an animal, this was his life; while it was simpler and freer, not to mention lacking in responsibly, it also had little chance of becoming more. He wasn’t sure he liked that much, but the idea of not having homework or studying anymore, not to mention having to clean his room also had a strange appeal to it. Perhaps the scariest part was facing this alone. He wanted to get home, to be with his family so they could help him through it but whenever he thought of home, the image of the forest he was nearing was what came to him. When he thought of his mother, the image of finding a female raccoon was also what came to him. He didn’t understand that at all.

He however was determined to find those answers; something in him told him that the forest was where they were, that once he got there, he would have clarity. With his smaller size, it was quite the walk to get there and he was getting tired and hungry. Somehow, he knew both problems could be solved in the forest. He couldn’t help but think he was leaving something behind, as if he were giving up on his life.

Memories of his human existence were clear but he didn’t understand them. Trying to avoid the confusion, he walked over to a bush, stopping at it to smell it. He could smell the scent of squirrels, dogs and cats and even other raccoons having been there. Images flooded his mind as he slowly lost himself in the scents. For now, the thoughts of who and what he really was would have to wait.

*

Hissing? Did he just hear hissing? All he was doing was sniffing the ground around the bush and eating a couple of berries on it; hardly invading. Turning to his left, he saw a cat standing there watching him. It looked huge to him, nearly his size. At first he thought he was looking at a panther. He quickly realized that it was a black housecat, his smaller size the reason it seemed so large. Obviously it wasn’t happy with him being there; perhaps it considered this its territory. He was angry, he was just exploring, and he wasn’t hurting it. His body was unfamiliar and he was just getting used to its senses, he hadn’t even thought of territory, he was just trying to get to the forest.

The cat was still standing there. Zack’s anger felt different then it did as a human; before he’d think about what do to; now he just felt like acting. Without really thinking, he found himself growling back at the cat. Never having expected to hear a growl escape his mouth, the sound startled him. The cat didn’t need much more convincing it ran off before Zack did anything else.

With that done, he decided to continue on his way towards the forest. He could smell it clearer and knew he was getting close.

***

Tim and Shane followed the scanners reading, watching it move towards the wooded area. Without a direct route to the forest, they had to walk to the road Zack has been changed on.

"He’s moving pretty quickly; he’ll be there in another ten minutes or so," Shane said.

As he finished that report, Tim saw something up ahead on the sidewalk.

"What is that?" he asked.

"What?"

"There’s something on the sidewalk up there," Tim asked, quickening his pace.

When they were close to it, they could see that it was someone’s clothes and backpack lying on the sidewalk. Kneeling down, Tim examined them. In the shirt, he noticed several strands of brown fur as well as clumps of blonde hair on the ground.

"These must have been Zack’s; I can see strands of fur in the clothes. Better scan them to make sure," Tim ordered.

Shane saved the scanner configuration and moved it over the clothes; it beeped after a minute with its results.

"Those strands of fur are raccoon fur; I’m also picking up skin cells in the shirt, the DNA and structure of them appears to be a strange hybrid of human and raccoon; probably shed while he was changing. The DNA in the hair is a match for Zack’s; Jordan had his DNA profile stored in the scanner," Shane answered.

"Must have been terrifying for him. At this point in history, the idea of turning a person into an animal is pure fantasy. Imagine it; one day he’s walking home from school with his friend. Suddenly he’s being injected and can only stand there in terror as his body is slowly converted into an animal's. We need to take these clothes with us. Once we find and change him back, he’ll need something to wear," Tim said as he slowly picked up the clothes.

Shane switched the scanner back to scanning for Zack, regaining the reading.

"At least we’ll be able to find him. If it wasn’t for this scanner, we’d have no real way of knowing which raccoon is him," Shane said.

"Then we’d better get going. The sooner he’s changed back the better," Tim answered.

***

He was finally at the edge of the forest, finally home. He still didn’t understand why he saw this forest as home; he could remember his human home, where all of his stuff and family were. Something however was wrong. Something in his mind told him that this wasn’t his home that the forest was where he truly belonged. When he tried to picture some of his toys, he found that he couldn’t remember what they were called or what they did. All he could remember was what they looked and felt like.

However, thoughts of anything human were feeling less important by the minute as he walked into the forest, the gentle feel of the shaded cool soil on his feet comforting, the sweet scent of pine, oak and maple all feeling as if they were welcoming him into his new life.

Nearby he could hear the sound of running water and he could smell other raccoons! He knew they were close, he knew they were his kin now. He walked deeper into the woods, following the sound of running water. He could smell something coming from it that appealed to him, something that could satisfy his hunger.

It didn’t take him long to reach the source of the flowing water; it was a sparkling river. Of course, the human name for it didn’t mean anything to him. He now simply associated the smells and sounds of the river with being able to get food and satisfy his thirst.

Approaching it, he could hear chittering in the distance to his right. Looking that way, he saw a pair of raccoons dunking their paws in the river, obviously after crayfish. Zack tilted his head in fascination as he watched them. He really was one of them, they weren’t just wild animals anymore; they were his brothers and sisters.

His stomach rumbled and hunger soon took precedent. Knowing the river as a source of food, he walked up to it and submerged his forepaws into the icy water. He couldn’t help but gasp at how incredible his sense of touch was. He stood there for several minutes experiencing the sensation of water against his paws and the feel of the mud at the bottom of the river.

Soon, he remembered why he was doing this and began searching for prey. He closed his eyes and started feeling around for it. As he did so, a breeze blew across the forest, rustling his fur. It felt so strange, and reminded him of his total lack of apparel. Instead of evoking feelings of exposure, it provoked feelings of being free and natural.

A few seconds later, he felt movement and quickly grabbed at it. When he pulled it out of the water, he opened his eyes to see that he had captured a crayfish! He didn’t know why but he saw it as food. As a human the idea of eating such a thing would have been disgusting to him but now it was incredibly appetizing. He quickly felt around, smelling and feeling for the parts that tasted the best. As soon as he found them, he brought it to his muzzle and dug in. The taste was incredible and he soon finished it off and wanted more. Repeating the process two more times, he was soon full. After drinking some water, he walked away from the river.

His experience left him worn-out and needing sleep. He didn’t get far before he realized that he was too young to be on his own. His first instinct was to call out for his mother; he knew how to do that but for some reason, when he tried to picture his mother, the image that came to his mind was not a female raccoon but a human. He was a human that had been changed into a raccoon and not a natural born one or was he? He felt slightly agitated not knowing the answer to that. He could remember walking around and wearing clothes as a human, but he couldn’t remember the names for human things or why he was doing human things.

He knew he couldn’t just stand here on the forest floor trying to figure out what was going on; doing so left him open to predators. He looked around and found the nearest tree before scampering up it. Climbing came natural to him, almost as if he was able to do it without thinking. He climbed up to a branch halfway up the tree and walked across it, finding it wide it enough to support him. He looked down at the forest floor; it seemed so far away with his smaller size; it was like looking over a city from the observation deck of a huge building. He used to be afraid of heights as a human and this type of view would have had him sick to his stomach; yet now, it didn’t bother him at all, in fact it comforted him knowing the predators couldn’t get to him this far up.

Taking a deep breath, he lay down on the branch, getting nice and comfortable. Closing his eyes, he quickly found himself drifting off to sleep.

***

Tim and Shane were getting closer to the woods. Shane’s scanner readings were a bit inconclusive but he was able to locate Zack with a radius of several meters. From there, it would just be a matter of finding a raccoon and determining if it was Zack.

"How many of them are in the area? The fewer the better as I’m not sure if he’ll still recognize his name," Tim asked.

"I’m picking up four. I can’t get their exact locations but they are all within 100 meters. There are two females and two males," Shane answered.

"Well, I think we can assume that Zack is still male; I doubt Jordan turned him into a female," Tim answered.

Shane nodded and read the scanners readings before finding where the two male raccoons were.

"One is sleeping in a tree about 30 meters away; the other is wandering around the river, probably looking for food," he said.

"Let’s check out the one by the river first, he’ll be easier to get to. We’ll call Zack’s name and hold out his clothes. If it’s Zack then hopefully he’ll respond to his name and recognize the smell of his clothes. If not, we’ll try the one in the tree," Tim said.

Shane nodded and they followed the readings towards the raccoon by the river. They soon found him hunting for crayfish. They stayed a good distance away from him as not to startle him. Finally they began calling Zack’s name. The raccoon didn’t even flinch at the sound of the name. Tim opened Zack’s backpack and pulled out his shirt, waving it in the air, hoping to get some of the scent in the raccoon’s direction. The raccoon unfortunately, completely ignored them.

"Looks like he isn’t Zack. I guess we should try the one in the tree," Tim said.

Meanwhile, Zack was having an interesting dream. He was his human self and he was in the woods. He was looking for his parents. He had found them but it was strange, they were humanoid raccoons and not humans. They were wearing clothes but only shorts and tank tops. His father walked over to him and looked him up and down.

"Zack, why aren’t you in your proper form?" he asked.

"What do you mean Dad, this is my proper form? Why do you look like a raccoon?" Zack asked.

His mother approached him, looking stern.

"Zack, why are you looking like a human? Take your proper form now!" she said.

"What are you talking about mom? I’m supposed to be human and so are you guys!" He said.

"No, you are a raccoon; stop denying what you are!" his mother said.

Zack’s mother walked up and touched his shoulder, causing a strange feeling to flow through his body. Zack’s chest started feeling itchy. Pulling his shirt up, he saw brown fur starting to sprout on his chest.

"No, this isn’t right!" he yelled.

"It is Zack … embrace what you are. Stop holding into humanity, you aren’t human, not anymore," she said.

"No!" Zack yelled.

The world suddenly went fuzzy when Zack thought he could hear someone calling his name. Soon everything went dark and he found himself waking up on the branch. He could still hear the voice calling his name. He knew it to be his name; he didn’t know how or why but he knew that was his name.

The dream had thoroughly confused him; his mind was a sea of chaos. He couldn’t understand why something in his mind was telling him that this was his proper form when he remembered being human. Before sleeping the feeling had been more like he knew he was human turned animal but something was telling him to embrace his new form and to see it as normal and the forest as home. Now he wondered if he really was a human turned animal; somehow his memories of being human seemed distant.

He could still hear the voice calling his name and looked down to see two humans. One was holding something and waving it. It smelled very familiar; it had a human scent but it seemed to be a part of him somehow. His natural sense of curiosity, which was only heightened by becoming a raccoon, made him want to find out what was going on. He slowly climbed down the tree and walked over to the humans. One of them said something but he couldn’t understand. He smelled the shirt, recognizing the scent, it was his scent but at the same time it wasn’t; it was all so confusing.

The human holding the thing with his scent put it back into the thing he got it from and then reached into his shirt. He pulled out a strange object, opening it and pulling out another. Zack watched curiously as the human pulled out multiple shiny things, putting some back while keeping others out. All the while, both humans were talking; it frustrated Zack that he couldn’t understand them. Zack recognized the thing the human was holding and his instincts told him it was dangerous and to run. He did just that; without a second though he turned and ran as fast as his little legs would carry him.

He could hear the humans following them and felt the thumping of their boots on the ground. Unfortunately, they ran faster then him and soon, the second one had caught up to him and had grabbed him. He chittered out in distress; desperately hoping the human would drop him. He slashed his paws back and forth, the human was holding him in such a way that made biting him impossible but he did manage the scratch his hands a few times. Unfortunately, the human seemed to have a decent tolerance for pain and his grip was solid. Zack could only watch in terror as the other human drew brought the strange up to his belly and injected him. He yelped from the sensation of the warm liquid pouring into his body. The human put him into the ground, Zack could smell the scent of blood on his hands from the scratches, but he was more concerned with how strange he felt now.

Warmth ran through Zack’s body as strange images flooded his mind. He saw his human house, school, friends, toys, games and clothing. He didn’t understand any of the images; they just didn’t seem to fit with what he was. A pressure was building within his body, all inside of him, he felt what could only be described as an expanding feeling; it felt as it every part of him was being pushed outward. He turned around, laying on his back and looking up at Shane and Tim. He was scared and whimpered. As he did so, one of the humans knelt down and rubbed his belly. The human was saying something but Zack didn’t understand it; from the tone of his voice however, Zack knew his words were meant to soothe him; to assure him that he would be all right.

He still felt the expanding feeling and to make matters worse, everything around him seemed to be getting smaller or was it he that was getting bigger? He remembered this feeling, albeit the other way around. His size continued to increase, getting bigger by the second and within a few minutes, he was back to his human size, albeit still raccoon in shape and appearance.

He felt a snapping feeling in his neck, as if the bones in it were being re-arranged. They in fact were; his head slowly changed position as his neck aligned until its shape and position were much more human then animal. Zack chittered at the humans, not understand what was happening to him.

That lack of understanding would soon correct itself. He felt a strange wave of dizziness and for a few seconds felt light headed. He closed his eyes as the world spun. As the feeling subsided, he noticed a few things were different; His sense of smell, and hearing weren’t as good anymore, they were much closer to what they were before he became an animal. It was then that he realized something; he was starting to think clearer. Almost as if his human knowledge and experience were in a padlocked chest that had been unlocked and opened, he felt them flowing back into his mind. As the dizziness and spinning stopped, he opened his eyes. Everything made sense now; he knew that he was indeed a human that had been turned into an animal and now he was being restored.

His front legs began tingled as the bones changed shape and lengthened. He looked to his sides to see his arms lengthening, changing back into human arms. It spread to his hands as he felt them remold, his fifth digits being restored to thumbs as the rest of his digits were restored to fingers. As that completed, he flexed his hands, happy that they were much more human in appearance, except for the fur.

"It’s almost done Zack, just a few more things then you’ll be back to yourself," Tim said.

Zack was overjoyed that he could understand him. What came next was his torso feeling strange, even stranger then when it was getting bigger. He felt the raccoon fat melting away, taking away the chubby appearance. His ribcage and organs shifted and changed, restoring themselves to something much more of a resemblance to human then a large raccoon.

His legs were the next to change; his hips ached with the feeling of them turning to putty as they reformed, changing his legs shape and position. His legs quivered and moved as their bones shifted and changed. Soon, his legs had moved back to being under his torso rather then beside. He could feel his legs getting longer and straitening out. When the process completed, his legs looked human again, albeit with fur.

He slowly stood up as his center of gravity was restored. He felt exposed not wearing anything; even though he did still have his fur, it still felt wrong to be walking around naked. As a tingle flowed through his vocal chords, something in him told him that he could speak again.

"Who, " he started testing his voice "are you guys. Why did that guy turn me into an animal? Can I have my clothes back, I don’t want to walk around naked," he said.

"Don’t worry, we have your clothes here, might want to let this finish before you put them on," Tim said.

"Okay," Zack nervously answered.

An itching sensation encompassed Zack’s entire body, followed by coldness. He felt as if considerable weight was being shed from him. When he looked down, he saw why; all of his raccoon fur was falling out! Tim handed Zack his shirt so he could at least cover his groin.

"Why did that guy make me a raccoon?" Zack asked as his tied the shirt around his waist. He felt his jaw aching with the feeling of something pulling on the bones. His raccoon ears receded into his head and for a frightening few seconds, he was deaf. His human ears and hearing were quickly restored. Feeling the sides of his head to confirm the ears were there, he breathed a sigh of relief. He also felt his jaw, feeling the last of his muzzle vanishing as his nose and mouth were restored to their familiar human shape. He touched the top of his head to find himself bald. He was about to complain when some buds began pushing against his hands, those buds made way to a fuzz, which made way to a short covering of blonde hair, and within seconds, his hair was back to its ear length size.

Zack felt around and could feel that he still possessed a tail.

"I still have a tail!" he said.

"Don’t worry, it’ll go away soon," Tim replied.

And go away it did; it started shrinking, as its fur fell out in clumps, soon it was nothing more then a stub, and then it was gone with no sign it had ever existed. The last of his raccoon parts, his claws quickly diminished, turning back into their normal white color as they were restored to human nails. Zack was human again.

Tim handed Zack the rest of his clothes as Zack undid the shirt. Tim and Shane turned around to give him some privacy as he got dressed. Once he was done, he told the two it was okay for them to turn around and they handed him back his backpack.

"So how do you feel?" Tim asked.

"I feel all right but why did that guy make me a raccoon?" Zack replied, looking at Shane and seeing his wounded hands. "Sorry about your hands, I didn’t know what was going on. I thought you were trying to hurt me and was desperate to get away."

"It’s okay; I can get them patched up. Don’t blame yourself, you had no real way of knowing we were trying to help you," Shane replied.

Shane looked at Tim, as if worried about revealing the answer.

"I know this is going to sound strange but we can’t you why he did that. In fact, it’s important you never tell anyone what really happened, same for your friend," Tim answered.

"Why?" Zack asked looking suspicious, "Who are you guys? Why did you change me back? What the heck is going on here?"

"Zack, this is important; we can’t say why but you can’t tell anyone what really happened here," Tim said.

"I … guess," Zack replied.

"Now, your parents are undoubtedly worried about you. You’d better get home so they know you’re okay," Tim said.

Zack nodded and without a second word, ran in the direction of his house. When he was far enough away, Tim and Shane started walking back towards where they had found Jordan.

"You think he’ll keep quiet about what really happened?" Shane asked.

"No way to know for sure. If we go with him, it could cause even more damage. Hopefully even if he does tell, no one will believe him," Tim answered.

"He’s a smart kid, he might figure it out. I guess we’ll just have to hope that he doesn’t," Shane answered.

"Your hands looked pretty bad, we’ll have to get them patched up when we get back," Tim said.

When Shane nodded, the scanner began beeping. Shane hands were a bit to cut up for him to hold it properly so Tim reached into his coat pocket to pick it out. Looking at the readings, Tim smiled.

"It looks like things are repairing themselves. If these readings are correct then Jordan is back. We’d better go and make sure. He might be out only chance at getting back to our time."

Tim and Shane ran toward the readings, taking about twenty minutes to get there. When they did, they were happy to see Jordan standing on the street, he looked a bit dazed but otherwise seemed all right.

"Jordan, you’re okay!" Tim said, obviously overjoyed.

"Yes, I suppose I am. The last thing I remember was lying on the street with your two at my side. Everything went dark and then, well I was here again. I take it you were successful in finding Zack?" he asked.

"We were, he’s human again and is on his way home," Tim realized.

Looking at Shane hands, Jordan looked shocked.

"What happened to you?" he yelled.

"Zack resisted a bit, so I had to hold him for Tim to inject him," Shane answered.

"Sorry about that," Jordan replied.

"We need to get back to our time. We don’t have anything to open a vortex though; do you? If not we’re stuck here!" Tim asked.

"Don’t worry, I have one, I wasn’t able to give it to you before I disappeared," Jordan answered.

"Then I suggest we return to our own time," Tim said.

Jordan reached into his coat and pulled out the device. With a smile on his face, he depressed the large button near the bottom of it. Its diodes flashed and soon a vortex flowed before the group. With trepidation, all three of them approached and then jumped into it. Seconds later, it closed, leaving the year 2004 behind them and history to unfold.

***

Forty years later and on the other side of the vortex, the trio flew out of it and into a room.

They looked around finding it looked familiar. It was square shaped with navy blue walls, the temperature was a cool 15 Celsius and the light level was low, the vortex providing much of the light. Once it closed behind them, the room was only dimly lit.

A few seconds later, a process they were used to activated as lights on the ceiling all came on, brightly lighting up the room. That was when they were able to see Nathan lying on the ground on his stomach. Tim ran over to him, slowly kneeling down to his right. Jostling Nathan, he felt for a pulse on his neck and was relieved to see that he had one.

"Nathan, wake up," Tim said.

Nathan slowly opened his eyes, turning himself around before sitting up.

"Did it work? Were you able to fix things?" he asked.

"We think so; what’s the last thing you remember?" Tim asked.

"Getting shot just before you guys jumped through the vortex. This place was different though," Nathan answered.

Tim helped him up and the four waited as the door opposite to where the vortex was opened, revealing two men in white coats standing before them.

"Agents Neblett, Derosier and Price, I see you managed to capture Nathan; Mr. Price, I was unaware you went along with them," the first man, Allan Tibbits asked.

"It’s a long story Allan," Tim answered.

Allan saw the cuts on Shane’s hands and walked up to him with a look of concern.

"What happened to your hands?" he asked.

"That too is a long story," he answered.

"Well, let’s get you to the medical bay," Allan answered.

Twenty minutes later, Tim and Shane were in the medical bay; Shane’s hands were being patched up after being cleaned by the doctor. Jordan and Nathan had been taken into custody when Shane and Tim had told their story.

"Does everything appear to be as it should be?" Their immediate superior office, Agent Kathryn Borger asked.

"We think so; everything seems to be as we remember it so far," Tim answered.

When they heard the doors to the bay open, they watched as the leader of the facility, Zack Landress walked in. With a smile on his face, he walked up to Tim and Shane. The doctor had finished repairing Shane’s injuries; so he and Kathryn walked off when Zack requested privacy.

"Sir, I’m glad to see you’re all right," Tim asked.

"I trust you are all right as well Shane?" he asked.

"Yes, the doctor was able to repair my cuts, no serous damage done thankfully," Shane responded.

"I’m glad to hear that," Zack started, looking around to make sure the three of them were alone. "Raccoon scratches can be quite serious."

Shane and Tim looked at each other and then back at Zack.

"So, you remember what happened?" Tim asked.

"Yes, quite clearly. Thank you for rescuing me all those years ago," he said. Shane and Tim nodded. "If it’s any consolation, I never did tell anyone the truth. When I got home, my parents had called the police and Joey was telling them what had happened. They didn’t really believe him. I took him aside and told him the truth, but explained that we couldn’t tell anyone. Our official explanation was that we thought the man was stalking us, so we ran and I hid in the woods. Joey said that he had panicked and once he saw I was okay guessed he had imagined seeing me become an animal."

"Did you ever figure out the truth about where we came from?" Tim asked.

"I had theories of course, some were pretty wild. But, no, I never suspected you two were from my future," Zack answered.

"I’m just glad we were able to find you and change you back," Tim said.

"As am I. Come on, let’s go and get something to eat. I’d be interested in hearing the tale of how all of this happened," Zack said.

Tim and Shane nodded and together the three of them walked out of the medical bay.