That nearly took the wind out of your sails, until you FINALLY managed to recreate the chemical reaction that you were going for!

“Hot Kitsunebi plus Cold Kitsunebi equals…”

You guided both balls of flame closer and closer, until they collided to create a colorful cloud of steam!

“Instant smokescreen!” you cheered, throwing both arms up. As you did, two more bursts of foxfire flew out from your hands, shooting directly upwards in an erratic pattern before exploding in a puff of smoke and colorful sparks!

You, Shaggy, Harpy and Louise all stared up in surprise. You clapped both hands over your mouth, realized that they were far too close to your face after that little incident, and instead decided to hold them at your sides.

When no zombies showed up to attack you, you all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mm. Pretty.” the dog commented in a bland tone.

The sound of light applause drew your attention to Louise, who was watching you from afar. She had to do something to alleviate her boredom while waiting for Ben and Deadhead to come back out of that portal, after all.

You waved back at her and let out a nervous laugh.

“Thanks. I guess I can shoot firecrackers now too? Those look like they might pack a decent punch.” you speculated.

“They’re better for blinding people, but I suppose you could use fox-light for that instead.” he mused.

“Isn’t that kind of what we’re already doing?” you asked, tilting your head to the side.

Shaggy tutted in a way that left you feeling annoyed.

“Not quite, lass. Foxfire is a very flexible form of magic.” he went on. “Not only can you use it to make soul-chilling flames, but you can also use it to bend light to your will. How do you think those tricky little weasels are always making illusions?”

You just shrugged.

“I dunno. I always thought that fox magic was inherently tricky.”

Shaggy chuckled.

“Well, you’re not wrong there. Tricksters aren’t keen on revealing their secrets, so I suspect that I’ll be learning as much from you as you will from me.”

You gave him a wry grin.

“Aren’t you the sworn enemy of the Kumiho, or something? You can’t expect me to believe that you haven’t picked up on a few of their tricks over the years.”

“I have…but most of them aren’t particularly relevant to our current situation.” he claimed. It was clearly a deflection. “Now, stop wasting time and show us another one of those firecrackers. But do try to make it a lot brighter, and a lot quieter this time?”

“You’re asking an awful lot from a Kumiho in training.” you complained, holding both hands in front of you, and concentrating on making your next foxfire projectile ‘denser’.

You loaded it up with more spiritual power this time, hoping to create an improvised Kitsunebi Flashbang as you fiddled with its chemical makeup. The ball of white foxfire shrank around your fingers, and you tried to focus more energy through it to-

(Cont)

You flexed your tails, watching as they bounced, rainbow flames dancing along your pristine white fur. It would've been a breathtaking sight, if only it wasn't growing out of your back…

How many tails were you supposed to grow? All nine of them? How would you even hide that? What if…

What if the changes weren't just physical? What if this curse was changing you, inside and out? Would it change who you were? What if it was already happening? Would you even realize it if that was the case? What if-?

“Cindy.”

You blinked for a second, numbly realizing that Shaggy was addressing you directly. Everyone was looking at you, and you instinctively hid your tails behind your back.

“Fire…!”

That had come from Mercy. You weren’t sure if the others could hear it.

“It's okay. Those flames can't hurt you.”

“I know that!” you snapped. “I'm just wondering what size pants I'll have to wear to hide these in public.”

“Hey…it'll be alright.” Deadhead said, trying his best to comfort you, which honestly left you feeling a little confused. “That asshole werewolf showed you how to change back right?”

“Yeah, but that was before I grew a whole other tail and started shooting flames out of my butt!” you exclaimed.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I think that sounds pretty cool…” Janine offered.

You gave her a scathing look, and the girl shrank back, hiding her face behind her pointy hat.

“‘Pretty cool’? I can't just take this off like a…mask or costume! I'm turning into a demon, and I don't know how to stop it! I don't even know if I'll be able to turn back after-”

Shaggy barked at you. Actually barked. It was so loud that it left your vulpine ears ringing.

It also brought your rant to a screeching halt. You were still breathing hard, your hand gripping the hilt of your sword so hard that your knuckles were going white.

Shaggy glanced at it, and you finally remembered to sheathe it.

You took a deep, shuddering breath, and tried to get your heart rate under control.

“I know you're upset.” Shaggy began. “And you have every reason to be. Your life has changed so much in only the last 24 hours, and I wouldn't expect you to be able to cope with it all so soon.”

Just then, Mercy bandages started constricting you, making it that much harder to get your breathing under control.

Shaggy either didn’t notice this, or didn't understand what was happening, because he went on.

“But I also know that there are people who love you, and would move mountains for you. Your grandmother. Your mother. Your guardian. They all want to help you.”

The multicolored flames slowly began to creep up your back, steadily spreading to other parts of your body. Mercy started to thrash, and it all you could do to keep her under control!

“Fire…! Fire…!”

“Mercy…! It's not real!” you said in a hushed tone.

(Cont.)