Ty knew this was the final moment.

He knew that he couldn't escape above the surface, since his muscles all were tensed up. He wasn't dead yet, but he would be soon. He didn't panic though, he reminisced over everything he had done to get here instead. He thought about the new friend he made. He searched his mind for a song and something to distract him from the pain he felt. He found one. It was such an inspirational song that he continued thinking about other things to lift him. He found a desire, one of his darkest ones, and thought about it. Something shifted in his body. He felt strange things pressing under his skin. Knowing how this was tied to his desire, he focused more intently on the song in his head, known as "Till It's Over" by Tristam. The lyrics were what got to him.

"As I fell to the ocean floor
Feeling light through an open door
Saw myself rise with the water.
They thought they could keep me down,
Hold their breath and watch me drown,
But all they did has pushed me higher."

He knew he wasn't human anymore. Would anybody accept him the way he was about to become? He knew what he would be now, and accepted it as he let his eyes rest for the final time.

"We don't care what they say
We will be here all day
We'll stay here till it's over.
Till the world's out of sight
We will stand, we will fight
It's not over till it's over.
Through the nights in the rain,
Through the time, and the pain,
We'll stand, we'll never fall
And then at the end, of it all,
We will win, we will chant,
It's not over till it's over!"

He let the music continue in his head as he accepted his new name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan was feeling too many emotions at once. What he did notice seemed to go by in a blur. Furs flying everywhere, him removing his suit so he could attack better, and something coming from the vat.
It took him a moment to realize that something was coming from the vat, so when it did he didn't know how to react. Everyone was staring at it, having stopped fighting to sate their curiosity.

Out from it came something strange. Some sort of new species probably. No matter what they looked like, it was still Ty, right?

The thing came and shot its spikes faster than anyone could react. It only seemed to stun them for the moment, at least, the Charizard hoped this was the case. The thing descended from the rim of the vat and knocked the surprised security unconscious with a new sort of strength before it came to Nathan.

It said "You're ok! I was so worried that something had happened!"
When it said this, Nathan thought the voice had sounded different than before, but he didn't know how it was.

"Are we just going to ignore what happened there? What are you?"

"Just take this moment and look at me. Calm down."

Nathan took the strangely worded advice and looked at him. It seemed to take an overall humanoid form with major key differences. It had light grey skin which looked shiny. It had no eyes, no nose, or any ears he could see. It did have a mouth though, which contained sharp teeth. It had claws which were probably the least sharp part of its body, which seemed to still have five fingers. Its body looked a bit bulkier than before the transformation, especially the neck being a bit shorter and wider. The most surprising feature of all was the numerous spikes along their body. They were mostly pointed upwards, and they were all around its body. They were long and sharp but smooth along the outside. They looked like the color of slightly yellowed teeth and seemed to have the texture of it too. It even had lines near the top that were not smooth but seemed like the crown of a tooth. Somehow the ends were still pointed very sharp. Once he took all this in, he heard something from it which confused him even more.

"My name is unfortunately not Ty anymore. My name is Anger Spikes. You can still call me Ty if you want, but I still wanted you to know that. The spikes that I shot can easily regenerate somehow. I can control if they make a lasting impact or not. If I choose, they can pierce through whoever I shoot these at. I can also choose to affect their emotions and make them angry or not. It shouldn't have stunned them, but I think that came from shock. I am stronger as well!"

"How do you know all this after just being in there for a little bit?"

"I have been thinking about this guy for a long time. He was in my head for so long, but now I am actually him! I just assumed it would be the same as I imagined it, and I think I was right! Are you alright? You look scared. Are you just confused? I realize it is a lot to take in, but I don't know how I could bring it to you slowly after all this."

"Can you ever change to being human again?" As Nathan asked the question, he knew the answer was no. They had gone into a weird genetic formula. He probably couldn't, but if he could, would he?

"I don't think so. I would love to show you a couple more things I could do, but we need to stop this as soon as we can. We should probably do something. Oh no. I told you too fast. Please don't f-"
Nathan dropped to the floor out of shock, exhaustion, and forgetting to breathe after the adrenaline wore off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You woke up fast"
Nathan woke up and remembered to breathe this time. He was hit with everything that just happened but accepted it this time.

"I didn't know how to wake you up, but I remembered something about salt maybe working. I was about to go to the room two floors up, but you started to wake up by that time. "

"That was the right idea, but just the wrong type of salt."

"Oh"

Nathan got up and immediately felt a major pain coming from his stomach. Had he fallen on it? Wouldn't it have not hurt though? Maybe there was something in the room that was causing this since chemical vapor was most likely coming from Ty? He realized he was panicking again and decided to calm down. He did a self-check and noticed it was his stomach, which probably meant he was hungry.

"What time is it?"

Anger Spikes looked around the room.

"3:54 in the morning."

Ty also came off the adrenaline rush by that time and realized a major pain in his stomach as well.

"Let's save the city after we find something to eat first. I can't think straight when I have hunger pangs."

Ty agreed with this and they went a floor lower. Below them was more equipment for something they took no time to look at. Down another floor was a cafeteria. Nathan jiggled the handle.

"Why out of all the floors does this one have to be locked!"

As Nathan was formulating a plan, The door was cut down by Anger Spikes. Without questioning the power of Ty, they both rushed in.
"Whatever you do, don't eat so much that you become sluggish. After this, we need to go back upstairs." Ty warned.
Inside there wasn't much.
"It's just small portions of health foods! It's not going to be enough!"
As Anger Spikes said this to Nathan, the Charizard already had some ingredients from a back storage area.

"Bring some of the fat, salt, and maybe some sugar from the vats upstairs! I'll start preparing!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was finished.
The kitchen smelled of something other than lettuce and dressing.
The parmesan chicken had browned just enough, the seafood paella had finished caramelizing, and the banana bread was done baking.
While they did lose a little over an hour of time, it was worth it.

Both of them tried to keep their manners for a while, but their pace quickly increased once they got to taste them. It wasn't like they were messy, but they had little resistance to eating more than they should since it was 5 in the morning and everything was just a blur by that point. If they could remember one thing, they would remember that the paella tasted the best. In the end, they ended up doing the one thing they shouldn't. They fell into a food coma.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anger Spikes woke up first. He was confused about why they were in a cafeteria until a few flashes of hours ago came back to them. He looked at a clock. 9:00 a.m.

Nathan felt a sharp pain in his back, heard a bit of worried yelling from Ty, remembered where he was, and bolted out the door while still being a bit lethargic. It was a bit harder to move that time but he didn't focus on why. He looked up at Ty and noticed something was a bit different, but he couldn't place his claw on it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Regretting their hasty decision, they collapsed onto the floor which contained the catalyst. After a few moments of rest, they heard security sirens go off again. They proceeded to hide in different rooms, with Nathan hiding behind a vat and Ty going up to the labs. A few crashes came from upstairs, but they were quickly silenced.

With a sample of the catalyst being analyzed by a spectrometer and another strange mixture of liquids being heated, condensed, and some other terms Anger Spikes could not understand, there was a way to safely disarm the catalyst. Once the tub of yellow liquid was poured into the vat of green liquid, it turned a dark shade of red.

"All we need to do is find a way to reverse the effects of the rain, and also stop whoever had done this from doing it again."

As they continued back to the lab, they heard sirens again. Both of them ran to the room with the disarmed catalyst, but the guards came prepared this time. Armed with tasers and actual lethal weapons, Nathan was stunned, but he saw that the guns were being used on Ty. He wanted to say something, but he kept on forgetting what to shout. Everything felt strange at the moment. His electric current was increased, which made him incapable of thinking at the moment.

Meanwhile, Anger Spikes was dealing with multiple dangers at once. The guards must have said something after their last encounter which made sure they didn't use tasers. As bullets were fired at him, he was able to dodge as fast as he could and take cover in the lab. A few bullets had hit the vat from some of the officers who had the aim of people in white suits from a franchise he could not remember the name of at the moment. The vats had thick metal, but maybe they could be pierced. He thought about destroying the vat until he realized the many consequences of doing so. He came down from the lab once he noticed Nathan was not with him and saw a large container of rain being carried to him.

With quick action, he knocked away the container and the furs carrying it. He felt something hit his stomach. When he looked at it, he noticed a bullet had deflected off of it. It did absolutely nothing to him when several more were fired, except some pain was caused. He fired some spikes at the remaining security officers, made them go into a blind rage, and knocked them out. He went over to the Charizard on the floor. They checked their pulse and saw the taser marks.

"Only dazed at the moment. He will be fine later. I think I can wake him up if I put a bit of thought back into his mind. He just needs to feel something again which will override the shock."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan felt like he was in a sort of space environment for a while. Something kept him from thinking, so he didn't. It was all something he kept forgetting at the moment. He snapped out of it once he felt a strange sensation in his back that spread out through his body. He felt a sort of invigoration which he had never felt before. He had something in him which could not be denied. A new level of anger rose within him, and he broke free from the space around him.

In a blind rage that lasted for a few minutes until he was calmed down, he managed to smash a few things. He threw around a few unconscious bodies for no reason. He yelled awful things at Ty. He flew into the air and tried to smash through the floor below him. Right before he dived, he calmed down from his realizations. He was doing it! He was flying! He swooped around the room for a few more minutes before he lost some of his adrenaline energy. He also realized that Ty was gaping at him, with an expression of awe. He seemed to have easily let go of the things said to him since he caused those things to be said. After a bit of explaining, Nathan was able to understand why he was so enraged. He took a few deep breaths and slowed down his heart rate.

"Time to save the city. No more distractions! Stay down here and make sure nobody else arrives, I am going to make a reverse. I am going to need a few samples of the salt, fat, and sugar from the vats upstairs."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan was an absolute genius. He had made a way to restore the city to the way it was before in around three hours. He went to check on Ty and found a very exhausted one when he peeked down the stairs. Many furs were around the room, and hours ago they had concluded there were some great quantities of the rain in their bloodstream. This would be perfect for testing. Ty woke one up, and Nathan splashed a bit of antioxidant onto them. The wolf plumped out before their eyes. What was once a slightly muscular figure had turned into a very curvy fluffball. After some explaining, the wolf understood what had happened. He tried to say thank you through his puffy cheeks, but his belly had interrupted. With a growl that woke up most others around the room, there was quite a bit of work to do.

Nathan ran up to the lab as Anger Spikes defended the door. Nathan dumped some antioxidant onto Ty, which provoked a bit of questioning before they knew what to do. Anger Spikes shot out some spikes which he had dialed down the anger of into every fur he saw in the room. It was such an interesting sight to see everyone there blimp outward within seconds. After this had happened, the room felt a lot fuller than it had before. Everyone there was confused, but some seemed to remember small flashes of what happened. The room had felt cold before, but after some explaining, there was a pleasant feeling in the room. Many of them said thank you, (some more than others) but some of them said that they wanted to help save the city as well. Anger Spikes and Nathan shared a smile as they felt they were melting into a puddle of smiling goo, before coming back with a strong determination. They said their plan to everyone in the room and heard many cheers back. Some of them happened to be old lab partners of Nathan, so they helped him develop more antioxidants. Half of those who remained went to get more ingredients for it. The rest went to the kitchen to prepare meals with some of the ingredients.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the lab, multiple formulas were finished. To dispose of the remaining rain, a few of them had made a way to allow the liquid to become non-toxic, drinkable, and flavorful! The rest had made it through the hours of work with hunger being on their minds the whole time, and couldn't wait to eat. They had made more of Nathan's rain suits to allow more ingredients to be acquired and had the final steps for producing metric tons of antioxidants at the ready.

Once they stepped out of the lab door, it was like walking into a potluck. All furs who had been working for the one who did this had been saved, there were even more who had been saved during the journey for ingredients, and the building had become a major party zone. The Vats had their flavorful antioxidants put into them, and they had disabled more rain from being made. All floors were occupied by many, they had to wait a bit before distributing the cure after all. Nathan had been having the food on his mind for a long time, and seeing it all was like sensory overload. This was only a small portion of what there was since he was told all floors had food of all types on them. After finding Anger Spikes drinking some of the rain, they both agreed to try all types of food that they could possibly try. It was a daunting task, but they felt they could do it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They went to the top floor where the rain had stopped being produced. There were drinking contests that allowed more rain to be consumed. The rain up here was flavored with green apple and fruit punch. Nathan was a bit skeptical at first, but when he remembered Anger Spikes having some earlier and still appearing fine. he took some from the long dispenser hose and put it into a large cup, which he noticed was fruit punch from the smell. As he tasted it, he felt new energy come onto him that he didn't feel before. It tasted like what he expected, which was fruit punch, but there was another element that added a bit of something different. It felt like it had more of a "zing" to it which may have been some sort of zest. He gulped the rest down and was about to go for some more when he was reminded that there was one more to try up here.

The green apple was a bit sour, but with that same feeling of difference to it that the Charizard loved so much. Its sourness was described by his friend as giving it a sort of "neon" flavor. Nathan decided to use colors instead of words to describe the taste in his head since it would be very difficult to describe each one otherwise. Once he had another large cup of rain, he followed Anger Spikes to the next floor down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next floor smelled of fatty meats, pot roast, smoked meats, and other assorted meat-related dishes such as tacos and burgers. The vats of salt, fat, and sugar appeared to have been emptied.

"How much did they use?"

"We actually ended up using a lot in the lab. It took so much to make the formula that we ended up using somewhere around half. That's also why we need to get rid of as much rain as possible. Once we have some vats emptied, we can put everything together and start evaporating antioxidants. We also need to make sure no more vapor is formed into clouds, so drinking it is the best option."

"That makes a lot more sense."

They rushed down to the tables which were quickly emptying and grabbed some of everything they could. Platters were used to try and fit everything since meat doesn't stack well, but they each had to grab two to hold everything They sat down at some nearby folding tables and proceeded to dig in.

The spices on the ribs made it feel like there was a candy shell on the outside of each one with it being glossy and red. It tasted like it could be as well since it was honey and brown sugar for the most part, with the rest of the spices being able to give it its red color. The meat inside the shell was medium rare and had absorbed some of the flavors. It was unfortunate that the ribs were so big that the meat was not able to be enjoyed for long, but it allowed them to get excited to have some pot roast.

Anger Spikes almost had put some into his mouth until Nathan told him it smelled of alcohol. It could have been cooked out, but it was best to play it safe. Nathan was able to taste it though, and it tasted exactly like the beef bourguignon he had made when this all started. He had definitely made a good call for this one. Only trying a bit of the fancy pot roast, he had moved onto the dish his friend was trying at the moment.

It could only be described as a beautiful taco. He went heavy on the cheese since he liked it that way, but that could not overpower the meat's flavor. Secret taco spices were blending with the flavors of everything else and made some flavorful juices almost come down his chin, but he was able to catch that with his tongue. It was a pleasant experience, but it seemed to end too fast. It was time to try the next dish, pork belly.

He expected it to be chewy, but it was instead seemingly able to incorporate the fat into the meat seamlessly. It even had felt like the texture of pure meat. He had never liked the fat of meats he ate but was thinking of reconsidering it once he tasted this. It had been made into a decently sized cube that had been placed upon the end of a short skewer, which allowed for easier access to the fatty meat. Nothing he seemed to eat ever seemed to be enough, so he kept on eating anyways. He was surprised he had eaten half of one of the platters since it felt like there was much more than he had looked at once he started his journey but didn't comment much on it since there was much more in store for him on the other floors as well.

Burgers were next on his agenda, and the Charizard did not mess around when it came to his burgers. Anger Spikes did seem to though, as he had put an ungodly amount of mayo onto his. After tasting the flavors of cheese, lettuce, meat, tomatoes, and ketchup in perfect equal amounts, he had realized he needed to slow down with the portions he had if he wanted to try everything. He said this to Anger Spikes, but they had already cleared everything they had.

"How did you do that so fast?!"

"I just took small portions of most things. I still want to try everything, but I need to rest for a little bit."

Nathan took note of this and tried to figure out how he could eat everything he had and whatever was below them. As he ate a handcrafted hot dog, he realized he should ask around to see what he could do to try and eat as much as possible. He approached a bear with a beer belly, and the bear had told him to do a bit of exercise after a meal to allow faster digestion. This seemed like it would work, so he sprinted back and forth between the tables and the food a few times. After this, he was ready.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A good 10 minutes later was all it took for him to finish it all, and the sensory overload took about 3 minutes to wear off before he could think straight. So many flavors were on his mind, but he could only think about how he didn't feel full and how there was so much more to try. These were only the meats! He woke up Anger Spikes and told him to come to the next floor down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After skipping the lab, they went down to the room below it. Once the smell of pasta was present, Nathan was dashing to the table. Anger Spikes caught up with him and each one took as many bowls as they could carry and went to the nearby tables. They hadn't even realized how much they had grabbed until they sat down. In front of them were pasta, rice, flavored rain, and several soups. They decided to try and eat as much as they could anyway.

Anger Spikes had some of the rice first. This type was yellow, with brown noodles in it. It looked to be some sort of Mediterranean version. As he took a bite, he could hear one of the songs he liked play in his head. While there was always a song in his head, he didn't always have one at the front of his mind drowning out most other thoughts. He tried to remember the name, and eventually came up with "Goodbye JoJo Fridays". The song sounded like some sort of lo-fi beat, with something that made him feel "fancy" in a way. He was focused on the song so much that he didn't realize he had already eaten his rice and put a bowl of pasta in front of himself. It was a blend he had not seen before but looked reminiscent of a casserole with the ingredients it had. It seemed to be Rotelli pasta with melted cheese, tuna, and mayo. He didn't know how anybody thought of making it, but he enjoyed it anyway. Somehow, all the flavors had come together and made something singular that tasted delightful. He realized he had lost himself in his thoughts once more and had already finished his dish again, but didn't move to anything else yet. He knew he had to be careful with this, but didn't do too much to stop it.

The next dishes he tried were not too different from each other. He had finished a bit of white rice, brown rice, this one called Akhni, another one called Coriander, and some pilaf. None of them stood out as much as the Mediterranean rice though. The next pasta dish did though. A simple combination of tortellini with pesto sauce, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts somehow tasted quite amazing! He wished he could write down what he was having, but he didn't have anything he could use, so he just trusted himself to remember it instead. After some similar pasta dishes, it was time to try some of the soups.

The first one was another Mediterranean dish he knew was called Molokhia from a helpful sign somebody had put. He had no idea how to pronounce this, so he didn't think much about that. It had some of the Arabic leaves in it, along with chicken that was soft and easy to take off the bone. He realized that there was some of the yellow rice under the soup, which added a great amount of flavor to the rest of the dish without overpowering anything. It was delicious, but it became harder to eat more as time went on. He realized he was going to be full soon, so he turned to Nathan for assistance. Nathan was still going strong somehow and told Anger spikes to drink the orange flavor of rain. It somehow seemed to help a bit but overpowered any lingering flavors on his palette and washed them away entirely. It tasted like Gatorade almost.

The next dish was a broth of some sort. He tried some but found there was ramen inside as well. This made a bit more sense to him, and he was able to eat it with ease. The next soups were somewhat basic, with chicken soup tasting the best so far. He didn't pay much attention to what he was eating because he was excited about what would come next. In the staircase, he had smelled something sweet coming strongly from the next floor down. After some more rain flavored as lemon and lime, grape, banana (the flavor was hard to describe, it just came closest to this), chocolate (probably), and something similar to green tea, he finally was ready to try what he both hoped for and didn't want to be the end of this potluck. He had a lot of trouble getting up and felt heavier from eating so much. He didn't give in to his desire to lay down and take a nap though, he persisted with the help of Nathan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After what felt like it took longer than it did, they had arrived at the next floor down. It was the cafeteria room, and it smelled of a pleasant sweetness. They entered it and found many cakes, pies, cupcakes, baked goods, candies, two chocolate fountains, and other fondue fountains. The fondue fountains had a table next to them filled with things to dip in them, such as marshmallows and strawberries. Taking all of the dessert-crowded room in before them, they had major doubts that they could eat some of everything. Nathan checked if the next floor down had any more food on it. Nothing was there. Anger Spikes turned to Nathan and said, "This is it. The final floor. How do you think we are going to do this at all? I feel full just by looking at all this!"

"We have to try. We made this our goal, so we have to finish it. Take small samples of everything. I don't think every single thing we can dip in the fondue fountain counts, so just skip those for now. We can do this!"

Anger Spikes looked for the song in his head. It had been changed to the Camellia remix of Megalovania. The next thing he knew, he had a small bit of chocolate creme pie on a plate he had picked up. He loved it, but started to feel the sense of fullness come stronger than before. He knew he had to eat faster than before, maybe he would be able to delay being full by eating some more very fast. He knew he had done all this to be able to enjoy all of the flavors, but he had a different goal now. It was to eat them all. As he thought of this, he heard two songs play in his head. Operation Overkill by RIOT was the first, and the Camellia remix of Megalovania was still playing. While he didn't really like the first one, he felt that it may fit the situation well.

Chocolate cake, angel food, key lime pie, tres leches, it didn't matter what it was. He still tried to process each flavor he had on his plate, but couldn't since he was bombarded with sweet flavors. He was glad he had put everything on a few plates and eaten it elsewhere since it would have slowed him down otherwise. Mint chip cake, pumpkin pie, raspberry chocolate truffles, all those were gone soon as well. Countless other desserts all disappeared from his three platters for what was around 4 minutes up until he had eaten the last bite of a chocolate-covered strawberry. That was it. He had done it! He looked over to Nathan. They were still trying to work on what they had, but ended up being distracted by Anger Spikes eating at incredible speeds and making almost no mess around him.

He wanted to celebrate this, but he felt a sudden sharp pain coming from his stomach. He knew this would happen, but he didn't know on what scale it would hit him. He fell backward from his seat onto the floor from exhaustion and pain. He didn't even know he had hit the floor though, the amount of pain was that strong. He didn't know what to do to relieve tension, so he just laid there until he felt something. Whatever it was, it had worked. He could see clearly now. What he saw was foreign to him at first, but he focused on it for a while until he knew what it was. The thing on top of him was him, at least his stomach. It was a ball. It looked to be slightly smaller than a basketball, but he didn't really know how it looked from other angles. From what he could see, the grey mass had grown a few more spikes on it somehow, but he also noticed it felt extremely heavy on him. Looking slightly closer, he thought he saw some strange lines forming along it. He heard a voice that he knew was Nathan's. They also felt something moving along the top of their bloated belly.

"Are you okay!? I didn't know this would happen, I forgot you have a lot less capacity than I do."

"It's fine. I could have stopped, but I didn't. I went on. What are you doing? Whatever it is, it seems to be working."

"Uh..."

Nathan took a moment to realize what he was doing. He was kneeling down and gently rubbing the engorged stomach of his friend. He quickly glanced around the room only to remember nobody was there. Anger Spikes realized what was happening, and didn't do much about it.

With the silence giving time for thinking, Anger Spikes made a very interesting observation. The 3 large vats full of salt, fat, and sugar had those contents from every fur in the city. If it were to all fit into one container, it would probably have to be very compressed. One grain of salt could be many grains of salt packed into one small grain of salt. Before he could make any more observations, his mind did it for him. The tightness of his stomach, the lingering flavors on his tongue, how exhausted he was, the panic of the situation, and the rubbing all hit him at once. This resulted in a combination that caused his mind a need for escape from all the stimuli. All this ended up causing him to pass out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"My turn to help you."

Nathan tried to pick up his friend but wasn't able to do so. He wanted to get a few others to help him but didn't know if it was a good idea to leave. He decided to think about what to do instead. Maybe he would wake up not too long from now. That's what happened to him earlier. It also probably wasn't serious either. He decided to sit down and stay with Anger Spikes instead. Instead of worrying as he had done before, he thought about what he would do once they woke up. After a minute, one of the lab buddies came in.

"Hey Nathan! How are you doing there? I heard that you wer-."

The red fox cut themselves off once they saw Anger Spikes on the floor.

"Oh my god, is he ok!?"

"Oh, yeah. He just ate a bit too much."

"Ah."

"Hey, Sam?"

"What is it?"

"I think it's safe to use the antioxidant now. How is it looking up there?"

Sam paused for a moment.

"I think they are pretty much empty."

"Can you empty the rest and start making more rain?"

"I think so. I'll get everyone to help."

As Sam was leaving, he turned back to Nathan.

"Are you coming?"

"I can't leave my friend behind. I have to stay with them to make sure they will be fine."

"That makes sense."

The elevator doors closed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan had been there for 10 minutes. A few others came, but after some explaining, they ended up leaving to continue helping save the city.

During these 10 minutes, Nathan had thought something changed each time he looked at his friend. He couldn't tell what it was, but he thought they might have been getting bigger somehow. It was probably just them digesting their food, but it shouldn't happen that fast. Each time he looked, he saw that they seemed to have a few more pounds on them. His body was probably focusing most of its energy on his stomach to digest quicker. He was no expert on biology (especially for humans and his friend in particular), but he knew there was only a limited amount of digestive enzymes in the body. It should take much longer to digest everything he ate though. He concluded that they were different than anything else ever seen before, so their biology is unknown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nathan woke up.

"Did I really fall asleep? I guess I did end up eating almost as much as the-"

Even his thoughts ceased in shock as only one was clear in his head.

"There's no doubt about it, that's definitely not normal."

In the middle of the room, Anger Spikes had expanded even more. The mass of his belly looked much less taut now, but it did look even bigger than before. His whole body had expanded, with it all looking thicker than before for the most part, but some parts in particular stood out more than others. The most noticeable one was his belly. It had become a small yoga ball of fat! It looked like it was still mostly a ball shape, but it had parts that made it look like the ball was melting into the shape of the being which had it. This seemed to blend with his chest to make a ball with two small mounds on top of it. His face had thickened as well. It had slightly more pronounced cheeks and a chin that seemed to have doubled, while the rest had filled out a bit to proportion everything evenly. Their thighs had grown a bit too, with the rest of their legs filling out evenly like how the face did.

Nathan was about to get up and wake up Anger Spikes, but they noticed a bit more trouble getting up than usual. As he looked down, he noticed his belly had grown in the same way. It took up most of his field of view when he looked down and made sure he couldn't see the floor below him. That was the way it was before, but it didn't seem to affect him back then half as much as it does now. He could still get up and move around without too much trouble, but it took a bit more effort than it did before.

"This might take a bit of getting used to."

He moved over to his friend and called for them to get up. When nothing happened, he tried jostling them to see if that would work. This was difficult to do since he could barely reach them, but he still managed to make it work. When he did, he noticed it was not as hard as it looked, but it was actually soft to the touch. The spikes on it seemed to be the only thing that was very hard on it, but there was enough space between each one to still feel the surface beneath. It was very malleable, with it seeming to flow back into the shape it was before even after it was squeezed. That was strange though since it was very soft to touch and to move around. It took a bit of pushing into it to feel strong resistance.

"What are you doing?"

Nathan was startled by two things. What he was doing, and for not noticing what he was doing. Before he could try to explain, he was interrupted by a shout from Anger Spikes.

"What the heck!?"

Anger Spikes tried to get up but had to have some help from Nathan to do so. Once he got up, he tried to find his balance.

"I'm huge!"

He calmed down after a few moments of mentally accepting this. He sat down on one of the chairs. Nathan was about to sit down and think about what he was doing as well but instead stood up.

"Nobody came down here to check on us the whole time."

He looked up at a clock.

"It's been two hours. Something isn't right. We have to get upstairs!"
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The elevator felt like it had never moved slower. They weren't taking the stairs again, especially with the way they were now. As it opened, they heard a creaking noise come from above them. Once Anger Spikes got out, it creaked louder. Nathan was trying to get out himself, but he required some help from Anger Spikes. Once they made it out, the elevator creaked louder than it had ever before. It started to go down a bit, and eventually start falling. They both shuddered after the thought of not making it out in time.

As they searched the rooms, they found nobody there. Everybody had left. When checking the room that made it rain, there was nothing in there. The vats did have the antioxidants in them, but they were not active. Nathan tried to turn on the machine, but he received a message saying his request was overridden. This worried them.

"We have a lot more to do. Should I bring some antioxidants so I can attempt to reverse the effects?

"Probably. I am going to light the burners, please make sure we don't get interrupted."

Anger Spikes took some of the antioxidants and coated the spikes they could reach with it, being careful to not get too much on themselves. Once the flame was lit, they could see rain being made. Nobody came.

"Do you think you can find a flash drive to put any potential information on? While we did solve most of the problem, we still need to find who did this."
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Going down the stairs, they found absolutely nobody there. They were exhausted but felt a sense of dread the most. Once they left, they had found that everyone had moved outside and were just finishing up with whatever was left.

Looking around, they saw canopies covering whatever food still remained, and some covering the group that decided to stay. After a few comments on their new appearance, they started asking around to see why they were left behind. Sam came over and answered them. They had gotten tired from having to go between floors all the time and having to wait for the elevator, so they moved everything they could using the elevator. This calmed Nathan and Anger Spikes a little bit. When they asked why the rain wasn't being made, they were told that the person who should have done it probably forgot to.

"That makes a bit of sense."

After Nathan said this, Anger Spikes asked one more question.

"Why do you think the elevator broke?"

"I think we managed to wear it out somehow. We did hear some creaking after getting a lot of stuff down, but we thought it was nothing."

"So, I guess that's it then. We did it!"

Nathan and Anger Spikes stayed there for a few more hours to wait out the storm.
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"How do you think you will feel the way you are now?"

Nathan and Anger Spikes were finally going home. They decided to walk so they had some time to talk.

"I don't actually know. I have so much left to explore about myself since I finally have accepted who I am now."

"I thought you already did! I feel like I was the one who took a while to take this in."

"Yeah, I understand that."

Anger Spikes looked at the sky above them.

"Twilight. I really like it when the sky looks like this. For me, I think it looks like the sun is setting and the moon is rising in the most amazing way possible."

They paused for a moment.

"Sorry to kill the mood, but I don't think we really did get everyone some of the antioxidants. How do you think we would even do that?"

"Don't worry, we already took care of that. Even if another problem arises, we don't need to worry about it for now. Any problems will be for another day."

"That sounds nice."

Eventually, they got home and exchanged phone numbers. As Anger Spikes was about to leave, Nathan stopped him.

"It's getting late. Why don't you stay here tonight? I have a spare bedroom I haven't packed up yet."

"I would say that you really don't have to, but I don't think I want to walk home. Thank you so much!"
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As they tried not to tear up the whole bed with their spikes, Anger Spikes had only a few thoughts on their mind.

"I can't wait for tomorrow! So many things to do, and a new friend as well. So much has changed in these past two days, and I accept them all. Adventures surely await me, and I will be ready for them. Tomorrow though, I don't know if I can stay awake any longer."

Only one more thought.

"I do have a response to the question, actually. I love the way I am now! I never thought I would be able to be like this since I never could gain weight, but here I am, having so much of myself! I think I might actually try gaining a bit more eventually, but I think I need to slow down for now and get used to all this."

They played around with their newfound flab for a bit until they felt all their energy drain away.

"I think I'm going to rest easier now."

Even as more thoughts swirled around in their head, they ignored them. Saying they were for another day. After around ten minutes of doing this, they drifted off to sleep.
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I finally did it! I am kind of sad that this is ending, but I am so excited for the future! I can now begin work on the next one, Mass Tag!