Allie was the first one to come to. She noticed she was in a small office tied to a chair. She saw CJ next to her, who was also tied to a chair. In the middle of the room was Damien, his four legs tied up together. A rotund man in a zookeeper uniform walked into the office, followed by a penguin.

  "Who are you?! Why are we tied up?!" CJ screamed as he came to, trying to break loose.

  "And what have you done to Damien?!" Allie shouted.

  "Relax, Muffin," The man said, "He is just anaethitised"

  "What do you want?!" Allie asked him.

  "I'm sure 'Damien' has filled you in but I'll introduce myself, anyway," The man replied, "They call me The Big Zookeeper"

  "'Cause you're fat, right?" CJ retorted.

  "NO!" The Big Zookeeper shouted, "Why do people always assume that?!"

  "He owns the zoo, but he also works as a zookeeper here. Big as in Boss" The penguin explained.

  "Percival!" Allie stated, recalling their chat with Damien.

  "That's me" Percival replied.

  "Why do you turn innocent people into animals?!" Allie demanded to know.

  "If you want the truth," The Big Zookeeper started, "I'm flat broke and in debt. The council has given me an ultimatum; to raise profits, get more of each animal or they shut the zoo down for good"

  "So, with a little help from me, a former science teacher, I taught him a concoction that would do just that without having to spend a cent" Percival continued.

  "It apparently didn't work too well on you" The Big Zookeeper told Allie.

  "Why?" CJ asked.

  "Look at her! She's a life-size meerkat, the brew also is supposed to shrink you up or down, depending on the animals size," Percival began, then turningto The Big Zookeeper, " He probably added too much carbohydrates in the mixture"

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "I like a Coke while I work" The Big Zookeeper explained his actions.

  "Is there a cure?" Allie queried.

  "Sure," Percival answered, "You won't be getting your hands on it, though"

  "What are you going to do with us?!" CJ asked.

  "We'll be taking the big lug back to his cage first," The Big Zookeeper said, pointing to Damien, "Then we'll decide what to do with you two"

  With that, the man and penguin left the office.

  "We have to get out of here," Allie said, "Mum and Dad will worry sick if they discover what we've done with our beds!"

  "Relax, I got it covered" CJ said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small Iron Man knife.

  Why he carried that with him was a mystery to Allie but right now, she was glad he did. He cut the rope off his chair and did the same to Allie and Damien's ropes.

  "We need to find the cure" Allie stated, staring at Damien.

  "Already on it, sis" CJ told her.

  Allie turned to look at her brother. He was standing on a stool at the desk, reading something. She noticed there was a beaker full of liquid on the desk.

  "Is this it?" She asked, walking up to CJ.

  "No, that's the mixture," CJ stated, "But we do need that"

  CJ got out a paper cup from his jacket pocket. Allie wondered what else he kept in those pockets of his. He picked up the beaker and poured a bit of the mixture into the cup.

  "One problem, Allie" CJ told her.

  "What?" Allie asked.

  "It needs the hair of a person who was transformed to reverse the effects" CJ read.

  "But all we have is fur!" Allie stated.

  "Not exactly," CJ realised, looking at the top of her head.

  "What do you mean?" Allie asked.

  "Your bow," He said, "It's bound to have some of your hair left on it"

  Allie had forgotten she'd worn a bow today. It was lucky CJ had told her to change this morning or she would have nothing on her head right now. She reached up, and took the bow off her head, handing it to CJ, who plucked a strand of her blonde hair that had caught in it off and tossed it in the cup.

  "What about Damien? We can't just leave him" Allie reminded CJ.

  Just then, she noticed a baseball cap in the wastebasket beside the desk. She bent down and grabbed it out.

  "Maybe this is his" She said, handing her brother the cap.

  "Are you sure?" CJ raised an eyebrow at his sister as he pulled hair out of the cap.

  "It's worth a try" Allie said.

  "What if it doesn't work, Allie?" CJ asked as he dangled the piece of hair over the cup.

  "I love you" Allie told him and smiled as best she could with her meerkat face.

  CJ smiled his widest as he dropped the strand of hair into the cup.

  "Drink up" He said as he handed the cup to his sister.

  Allie held the cup in her hand and walked over to Damien.

  "Together" She said as she lifted up Damien's giant head.

  CJ watched as his sister shared a drink with a lion. Damn, why couldn't that have been him. Allie felt her tail start sucking into her bottom as her ears and face began turning into her beautiful human face and the fur slowly started disappearing.

  "Hey!" They heard The Big Zookeeper yell from behind them.

  This startled the both of them. CJ especially, as he wobbled and fell off the stool. Knocking the mixture straight onto The Big Zookeeper, who began morphing. He grew smaller and began sprouting white fur all over himself. CJ had turned him into a baby polar bear.