Teamwork

(Story by SampsonWoof)

The clank of a locker echoed through the cinderblock room.

I was naked, holding my swim briefs in my paws and mentally preparing myself to swim my laps at the university pool. It was double or nothing tonight. Lazy me had skipped the last practice and I wanted to be ready for Saturday’s meet. Maybe it was the fact I’d been up against otters all my life. Perhaps it was an innate drive to succeed and win. Whatever the reason, this doggy was fixated on at least three medals this school year.

I tilted my head. Someone else was here. Maybe it was that fat lion who padded down the hallway to the changing room earlier. Could’ve been the lifeguard. It was five minutes past ten and the rec facility was going to close soon. Only the weight room stayed open all night. I sighed as I pulled my stretchy swimsuit on. I sacrificed about an hour of studying each night to swim. Maybe I should switch to bodybuilding. I could work out any time. Just no thrill of competition, that’s all.

Whomever was in the locker room with me barked - a deep, gruff bark that echoed off all the hard surfaces. My ears flicked. It was a warning bark. Who the hell was back there, anyway? I quietly padded across the tiled floor and entered the shower area. The muffled sounds of shuffling paws followed me. I punched the metal button below the shower head and rinsed off, a sense of unease rising up in me. My paws traveled up and down my chestfur as the water washed away all the dust and dirt that gets trapped between the follicles. The shower normally relaxes me, but I stayed on high alert.

With a hiss, the shower ended and I padded towards my towel. I was almost to the edge of the shower room when the light from the entrance was suddenly blocked by a large, dark figure. I yelped in surprise as the figure began to laugh. I whined as I noticed that there were two glowing orbs where there should have been eyes. Instinctively I started backing up. The creature had fearsome teeth and a malevolent look on his muzzle. As he stepped into the light in the shower room, I dropped my jaw in surprise.

It was Dev. The swim team captain. But…monstrous.

“Dev?” I squeaked out.

The creature grinned hungrily. “It’s Dev all right, Henry. So nice to run into you this evening.” His voice was deeper. Rough, even. Dev laughed maniacally as he stepped closer to me.

“What’s happened to you?” I whined. It was hard to process exactly what was going on. Dev was normally the same size as me – lean with a bit of definition. The beast before me looked like he’d been working out for years. Muscles beyond the norm of most Dalmatians. Muscles beyond the norm of any steroids I was aware of.

“Christmas came early, Henry! I was given a gift!” Dev was now stalking me. I panicked and bolted, spotting an opening between the Dev-beast and the entranceway. With a leap, I was skittering across the tiles and darted to the pool. The cool, unbroken surface of the pool meant I was alone. Even the lifeguard was absent.

While I stood there trying to figure out what to do, I felt a strong paw snatch my left arm. Dev had snuck up on me.

“Henry. I thought we were friends?” Dev mock-whined. I was shivering in fear now. Whatever weird transformation he’d gone through had made him extra creepy. His glowing red eyes seemed to pierce right through me and into my soul.

“Let go of me, Dev,” I whined. “You’re not well. Just let me go.” You know those nightmares where you can’t run? I was living it. His sharp sabre teeth glistened in the subdued light of the swim hall.

I blinked as he dug his left paw into the front of his swimsuit. He pulled out a glowing biscuit in the shape of a bone. Instead of a tasty treat, it glowed a sickly green as he held it out.

“Eat this,” he thundered, an evil grin on his maw. “Eat this and become like me. Big and strong. We’ll win that meet, Henry. You and me.” He tilted his head back and howled like a wolf. I shuddered as the fur stood up on the back of my neck.

“Become like you? You’ve become a monster! No way, Dev. Let me go!” I struggled against his grip, but he tightened it, holding me in place.

Dev snarled and brought his muzzle to mine. “Eat this or I eat you!” The Dev-beast licked his chops and quickly bit down on my ear. I yipped in pain.

Considering my options, I preferred not becoming a late night snack. Reluctantly, I reached for the glowing bone. Dev snorted in delight as I took it in my paw. It felt like hard gelatin and warmed my pawpads, no doubt from being wedged between his swimsuit and his underneefy bits. I brought it to my maw and sniffed. It smelled like musk and plastic. With a worried mind, I put it on my tongue and began to chew.

“Good boy. You’re a good boy, Henry,” the monster cooed.

It dissolved rapidly against my teeth and tongue, covering the inside of my mouth. I swallowed the melted liquid and gasped. Instantly, I felt warm all over. Dizziness took over. Dev released his grip and I slumped to the concrete. Helplessly, I watched as my arms and legs swelled with muscle. Abs emerged on my stomach. My very frame grew as my bones and spine stretched and pulled. I yelped as my swimsuit became exceptionally tight over my equipment.

Bringing a paw to my maw, I felt my new sabre teeth gingerly. This will take some getting used to, I thought.

Perhaps the biggest change happened between my ears. I could feel a strong mix of both rage and determination flood my brain. It was as if I could lift an entire planet, race every race and win first place in any competition. Nothing was going to get in my way. Gone was my old, wishy-washy thinking. Clear goals and winning everything was all I could imagine.

I scrambled to my footpaws and scampered to the locker room. The shock of my new appearance was quickly followed by a smug grin and a narrowing of my glowing green eyes. Nothing was going to stop me now.

Nothing.