“You do? How? Did he try to attack the mortal realm?” Ko-Gekigami asked quite curiously.


“Well, um. This might sound odd but I have memories of old Ammy. Also, I think she spoke to me.” Joey sighed.


“Wait, she spoke to you!?” Ko-Gekigami gasped. “What did she say!? Did she say anything about why she went missing!?” He asked and quickly was staring Joey down for an answer.


“She was telling me to accept my destiny. It was back when I was dealing with Kabegami. She told me that the only way I could access my powers was to accept my destiny.” Joey looked down at his furry hands, and then back at his tail. “Sadly she did not tell me anything else.”


“And that is what you did? You accepted becoming the new Ammy? Are you going to become our new sun dog and live here with us with your child?” Ko-Gekigami asked quite hopefully


“I...err...um…” Joey was at a loss for words and then sighed. “Listen, I honestly have no idea what is going on with me.. Kabegami thinks that I am descended from ol....Amaterasu.” he caught himself.


“You...are? But old Ammy only had one kid. There was no way she hid another kid from all of us. One of the other gods would have definitely found out.” Ko-Gekigami pondered.


“And that is, without a doubt, the most confusing part of this.” Joey sighed and reached over to give Ko-Gekigami a pet on the head.


“Hey! Cut it out.” he laughed and made no effort to wack Joey’s hand away. A happy purring noise came out from the tiger cub.


“Or else what?” Joey laughed and kept up the petting. “Can the mighty Ko-Gekigami be defeated by ear scratches and pets?” Joey laughed. As he kept petting, he would smile and seem to zone out. For a brief moment, he would see Ko-Gekigami as a small wolf pup instead of a tiger cub. Thoughts and feelings of motherhood once again started to bubble up in Joey’s mind, and he did not find himself disagreeing with them.


Ko-Gekigami kept laughing and purring as Joey kept up his petting. When he noticed Joey was a bit out of it, he rolled away and got back up on all fours. “Um, Joey? Joey are you okay?” he asked and looked up at the wolf who was still smiling and staring forward. “JOEY!?” He cried out.


Joey Gasped and shook his head as he broke out of his stupor. “Ug sorry kid, I don’t know what came over..me?” He stopped shaking his head and blinked as something was starting to sound off.


“Are you feeling okay Joey? Your voice is starting to sound a bit weird. Ko-Gekigami’s ears twitched a bit as he heard Joey’s voice cracking a bit.


“I..I think...so?” He cleared his throat several times, but could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. There was a slight tingle in his throat and he raised one of his hands to rub the area over. “What is..?” Joey gasped and his eyes widened a bit in horror; as an unfamiliar noise hit Joey’s ears as he spoke


As his hand rubbed his throat, it would feel something shrinking away under his fingers. Joey gagged and coughed a few more times. “OH this doesn't feel..” He stopped talking and quickly moved his hands to his muzzle to keep his mouth shut. A bright red Blush formed under his fur as he tried to process the feminine voice that just came out of his mouth.


“Mister Joey? What happened to your voice?” Ko-Gekigami asked, quite confused at the tone change. “It sounds a bit weird and different.


Joey gave a very audible gulp, and then a small whimper escaped his throat. Joey looked down at the small tiger cub for a bit, and then slowly pulled his hands off his muzzle. “I think I am changing more.” Joey looked a bit displeased as he heard his new, female voice


“Changing..more?” Ko-Gekigami took a moment to process that, and then gasped as it clicked in his mind. “Oh! Are you becoming a beautiful lady like old Ammy was?” he happily jumped around the changing Joey.


“I...think so..” He groaned more as he felt some discomfort between his legs. “UG!” Joey grit his teeth and fell to his knees. “Ow, oh this is, not, pleasant!” He winced and even growled a bit as he felt the area between his legs starting to get pulled into his body. His hand quickly moved down there and underneath the remains of his shorts and underwear, he could feel something important slowly starting to get smaller and smaller under his grasp.


Ko-Gekigami stopped his happy jumping around and gasped as he saw Joey fall to his knees. “Joey? Joey what’s wrong?” The tiger cub asked as he watched Joey’s actions.


“I am...just...trading in...godhood for GODDESS!” He yelped and gasped as he felt one last huge tug down there. He stared forward with a shocked look as his hands no longer felt anything familiar down there. Looking down at Ko-Gekigami, he blushed a bit and turned away from the cub. He pulled his pants out and a yelp escaped him as he confirmed the missing equipment.


“First the voice, now this! What else can happen?” He sighed and shook his head. As if on cue, Joey would get an answer as there would be a small tingle on his chest. “Oh no, no no Don’t tell me…” He looked down and gulped nervously. “Oh no, not those too…” As Joey felt a bit of weight forming, he clenched his eyes tight and waited for it to be over. His mind mentally panicked as he envisioned and blushed as he saw himself growing a rather large pair on his chest.


A whimper escaped Joey once again as he dared not open his eyes and see what would lay before him. As the weight slowly increased, it would just as quickly stop. Joey still waited with closed eyes, as he was expecting the changes to quickly spring up once more.


After nothing more seemed to happen, Joey slowly opened his, now her, eyes. “It’s over?” she sighed, still uncomfortable with the new voice. Curiosity finally took over Joey’s mentality and slowly she started to lower her head and look down at her torso.


Joey could not help but raise an eyebrow. “That's all?” She seemed perplexed and tilted her head to the side so she could get a better look without her muzzle getting in the way.


Joey would barely see anything on her chest. At most it seemed it grew out less than a centimeter. The fur on her chest did seem a bit more fluffy and there was a bit of a curve to her figure, but the results were quite different than what she feared.The fur kept everything hidden and almost made Joey look like she belonged in a cartoon.


“Um, what’s all?” The little tiger cub asked as he kept looking at Joey’s backside. ``Is everything okay Joey?”


Joey gasped as she heard Ko-Gekigami’s voice and her face blushed; forgetting he was there. Slowly she turned to look at him. “Oh um, well.” She chuckled nervously. “Let’s just say that I...expected something to be much worse.”


“Worse? What do you mean?” Ko-Gekigami looked over Joey very confused. “You look very nice Joey. Err, should I still be calling you Joey since that is a boy’s name and you are a pretty lady now?”


Joey’s eyes widened and her face blushed once more as the words “pretty lady” echoed in her head a few times. “Er, true, but, I would prefer it if you still called me Joey.” She chuckled nervously and looked over the rest of her body. She seemed a bit perplexed as she was sure her arms and legs looked a bit more slender as well. “Huh…” a small smile was visible on her face as she felt oddly comfortable with her new gender.


Ko-Gekigami could not help but giggle as he noticed the smile. “Ah, I see that you like being a pretty lady, MISS Joey.” He laughed and teased the goddess.


Joey turned to glare at Ko-Gekigami for a moment and then sighed. “Look I can’t explain it, but it just feels natural?” she shrugged.


Ko-Gekigami’s laughter died down to a few chuckles from the small glare. “Oh so you are fully becoming the new Ammy? All you need to do now is run around on all your paws. Also, you may lose your voice too. It was odd but Old Ammy never really spoke now that I think about it.” He pondered. “All she did was growl and bark.”


“I won’t be able to speak anymore?” Joey looked a bit confused. “That sounds odd considering everyone else was able to speak just fine. As for running around on all fours...” She looked at her hands and then down at her legs and feet. “..not sure I can do that right now.”


“Well you seemed to have made yourself female. Maybe if you desire it enough you can finish your changes?” Ko-Gekigami innocently asked.


“Um, I think I will be fine now kid.” Joey bent down and gave the kit a pat on the head once more.


A loud roar rang out through the entire area, followed by another massive rumble of thunder. Joey quickly covered her ears from the noise and looked around nervously. “What, what was that?” Joey asked as the noise softened and she slowly pulled her hands away from her ears.


“That would be my dad.” Ko-Gekigami said a bit nervously.


“Your dad? Oh so maybe we can finally have a talk with each other?” Joey looked around the area. He took a few steps around; when suddenly an lightning bolt struck the ground right next to her feet!


Joey yelped and jumped back as she saw the bolt explode into a small bit of electricity. “What the heck!?” She cried and looked around the area.


A small gasp escaped her as she spotted her assailant. Up on a ledge, Joey would spot a large tiger, snarling away at her. A large longbow was laying across his backside “Stay away from my son you faker!” It snarled. Joey could see it slowly pulling the bow string back with its tail. A lightning bolt formed in the empty area as the tiger took aim at her.


“Whoa whoa! EASY!” Joey cried as she put her hands up “We were just talking oh great and powerful Gekigami!” She pleaded to the tiger god. “Isn’t that right buddy?”Joey looked over and nervously chuckled at the tiger cub.


“Um, er, I, Should be going now!” The small cub slowly got up and ran away as fast as he could.


“WAIT! DON’T GO!” Joey cried as she nervously watched Ko-Gekigami run off and away from the two adults. “Oh boy..” Joey gulped and turned to look back at the tiger . “Look, I just want to talk with you!” She cried out.


Gekigami snarled as he stared down at Joe. “I have NOTHING to talk with you about, faker!” He snarled and let go of the string. A lightning bolt was launched directly at Joey.


“Oh crap!” Joey cried. She quickly concentrated as she saw the arrow quickly closing in and activated her powers. Once again the world turned sepia tone and time seemed to be frozen. “Okay em, er….” she grabbed her tail and drew a line across the bolt. “..hope that works.”


Joey deactivated her power and her ears picked up what sounded like two blades clashing. A small gasp escaped her as she saw the lightning bolt get deflected and landed harmlessly away from her “I’m getting better at this..” She whispered as she watched the stuck bolt explode like the previous one.


“So the fake can use the true one’s powers..” Gekigami snarled and leapt from his ledge and landed right next to Joey. The ground shook with his landings and he stared right at Joey with ferocious eyes. He leaned uncomfortably close to her and sniffed. “So the fake carries her scent too?”


Joey looked uneasy as she took a step back from the angry tiger. “Hey easy buddy, I am no fake.” She huffed. Gekigami gave a very loud growl in response to that. “Okay okay!” She raised her hands in defense again. “Listen. Yes I am not the real Amaterasu. I heard she and her son went off to investigate a rumor that Yami was returning. I know they went missing for a long time. Finally yes for some reason I am...becoming her replacement.” She sighed.


“You could never replace her!” He gave another massive roar that caused more thunder to boom in the sky. “I went along with the other fools and their “plan” just to humor the poor saps.” He huffed. “I suggest you remove yourself from that form and return to your pathetic, human skin.” He growled.


Hey now, I have been TRYING to change back, and get out of here, ever since I got these.” she reached up and gave her ears a small rub. “But ever since I talked with Kabegami, she brought up a lot more questions that I would like answered. So, while I might be stuck in this body..” She inhaled deeply, a small sigh escaped her.”..i am not going anywhere until I get some answers!” Joey found herself suddenly leaning back and giving a howl to the sky.


Small streaks of sunlight were starting to break through Gekigami’s storm clouds. He looked up at the sky and a small gasp escaped him “IMPOSSIBLE!” He cried as the clouds broke away and a sun was shining through with a clear blue sky.


Joey stared in awe as she saw the sun shining high above her. “I..did that?” she whispered. Her tail was wagging wildly in glee as small traces of a smile were on the corners of her muzzle. “Not bad for a “fake” right?” She gave a cocky smirk.


“I suggest you start running..” He snarled once more. Gekigami’s extended claws were digging into the rocks like it was nothing.


Joey’s cockiness vanished as she saw his claws dig in and easily carve the solid rock. “Okay okay easy big guy.” She said to hopefully calm the hot tempered tiger down. “Just listen okay?” Lowly Joey took a few steps back from him “Kabegami thought that I might be descended from Amaterasu..” She would be interrupted with a snarl from him. “...right, but from what she said, Ammy has had only one kid, her son. She also said that it would be impossible for her to have another kid, since everyone would know about it. Is that true? I never had any siblings and my mom has no past history prior to her adoption.”


“Amaterasu never gave birth to any other children! As for your pathetic history I could care less about the lives of you or your dear mother.” His tail thrashed around behind him. Joey’s ears would start to perk a bit as she would hear the sounds of Gekigami’s bowstring slowly being pulled back once more. “Like I said faker, run..” he growled again as the string was pulled back all the way.


Joey felt her hears sink a bit with fear as the lightning bolt appeared on his back; laying there ready to be launched at her. “Um..err...CATCH YOU AROUND!” She cried out and quickly took off running as fast as she could. “Come on speed of the sun, I really need you now..” She whimpered and ran along the rocky terrain.


Gekigami roared as he started to give chase after her. “YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE MY WRATH!” he roared and let the bolt fly.


Joey shot a look back and saw the bolt flying right at her. “Not again!” She cried and activated her powers. Like before she brushed a line right across and deflected it away. “Where the heck does that ink come from? Wait is this REALLY the time to question it!?” She whimpered as she kept running away from the angry tiger.


“You can’t get away that easily!” He snarled and started to pull the bow back once more. He let the bold fly, and then pulled it back again in rapid succession to find another one, and then once more “Your imitation powers can only save your tail for so long!” He cried.


“I can definitely...HOLY!” She gasped as all three bolts went flying at her. “Um er ahh..” She used her powers and stopped time; her mind was panicking under the stress. She quickly looked around and pondered her move. They seemed too far apart to power slash. Her head started to slowly hurt from holding the Sepa tone world. “Ug, this is getting too much...need a plan.” She gasped and quickly drew two lines, one under the other. “Hope this works!” she cried and ended her powers with a gasp.


A purple mist quickly filled the area; and to Joey, time seemed to be going super slow “Thank you drunken sheep!” She cried and quickly moved herself out of the way of the bolts. The mist dissipated as quickly as it came. Time returned to normal and the bolts landed harmlessly in the ground.


Gekigami gasped at Joey’s sudden disappearance and skidded to a halt. He looked around and saw Joey’s new course. He gave an annoyed snort. “You won’t get far going that way...mutt.” he snarled and quickly ran after her once more.


Joey was starting to pant as she kept up her escape from Gekigami. “Whew, I am, starting to get a bit, drained.” She panted as she kept running along. Shooting another look back, she saw the angry tiger was still on her tail. “Blast...blast?” An idea came to Joey as she chuckled. She quickly turned around and used her powers once more. “Worth a shot..” She whispered and drew a circle with a line on top. “Hope that tiger is ready for a blast.” She chuckled weakly and felt her power end. A bomb appeared before the tiger.


Gekigami saw the bomb and tried to stop in time. Inertia made him slide and roll as he was right near the bomb as it went off. The explosion ran out through the area as a plume of smoke covered the tiger.


Joey wobbled a bit as she was feeling a bit more drained after using her powers. “Did it work?” She knew she had to get away, but she was too curious about the condition of the tiger god. A silence hung heavy in the air as Joey kept watching.


A loud, and quite angry roar ran out and dissipated the smoke cloud. Gekigami stood there, glaring at Joey. The majestic white fur on his face and forelegs were blackened with soot. “That is the last mistake you will ever make..” he started to bare his fangs. Another growl came out as he narrowed his eyes on Joey.


“I'll see myself out.” Joey waved and quickly ran off once again. “So much for that plan!” she cried to herself.


“GET BACK HERE NOW!” He roared and gave chase. Joey could feel the ground shake with the ferocity of the raging god.


“RAIN CHECK!” Joey cried and kept running away. Fatigue was starting to hit her hard as her speed was slowly starting to decrease. “Crap...crap..” She panted as she kept going.


Slowly the field would start to get narrower and narrower. The rocky terrain would slowly start to edge out and form a cliff. Joey would see the edge of the land and tried to skid to a halt. However, in her fatigued state, her foot would give out from under her and her body would fall and roll along and tumble on the ground. Her body stopped inches from the edge as she laid there and groaned. “How...graceful.” She said sarcastically as she slowly tried to push herself back up.


Gekigami leapt into the air and landed a bit of a distance away. The angry tiger was effectively cutting off any escape route, aside from going down the cliff. “I have you now, faker.” He snarled.


Joey could not stop herself from panting heavily “Um, time out!?” she cried as she tried to stand but kept wobbling and fell back to her knees. “Crap..um..” She looked at him and tried to concentrate and use her powers. A sharp pain quickly struck her head and interrupted any concentration she requited. “Well there goes plan..D?” She chuckled, a bit delirious from fatigue and fear. “Um, think you can grant my last request and get me a Gatorade?”


Gekigami snarled once more. “And you are the one who claims to take Amaterasu's place?” He slowly started to pull the bowstring back once more. “Pathetic dog, get out of my SIGHT!” he roared to the sky. A bolt of lightning struck his back and a much larger bolt formed, ready to be fired.


“Well, shame I wasn’t involved with Kabegami...would have had 8 more lives after this..” She chuckled weakly as her body felt too heavy to get away.


Gekigami narrowed his eyes and released the bolt. It flew from his bow and crashed into the ground next to Joey. The bolt glowed brightly and spared before giving off a massive explosion.


Joey felt the shock wave launch his body into the sky and away from the tiger. “Looks like Joey is blasting off again!” She chuckled to herself as her consciousness left her.


Gekigami gave one final huff as he watched Joey fly off. “And good riddance.” he snorted and walked off

---

Thank you so much for your patience as you waited for this chapter.
I admit it was a bit of a beefer, longest part in the series so far.
Anyway we are FINALLY in the home stretch as there is only ONE GOD LEFT!