I stood in the corner of the room, watching my classmates have their conversations that lead to nowhere. Talking about the usual; sports, girlfriends, boyfriends, cars, fashions, and more. I didn't join into those kinds of talk because I didn't have anything to talk about. I was the ghost of the school, the alien, the one who didn't belong to any social groups.

Even if I did have something to say, I was usually ignored for no reason. Perhaps it's because I was the alien there that people didn't pay any attention to. It got bad when I would play a team game with my classmates because, usually, no one except me knew which team I was on. But it was silly and stupid when my classmates were encouraging me to speak out more, be more social, but how could I have if the same people ignored me, making the whole argument pointless?

'I don't belong here,' I thought. 'I belong somewhere else.'

There' were times, like being ignored, that made me feel like I was being abused by everyone around me. Some I would help in their personal crises and they promised to repay the debt they owed, but never did. Some I would ask for help, but I was ignored in the end. And some would make me take the fall someone else's problems. Maybe it was because I was too nice for my own good, something that even my dad criticized me for it. But the one thing I couldn't stand in the world was to see others cry.

"Ok class," our teacher, Miss Levo, said, "It's 3:15. Have a great day."

'Ok,' I thought. 'Time to go home.'

I grabbed my backpack and walked out of the room. Walking to the bike racks at the side of school, I thought about how alien I was there. I had few, if any, friends there in that school and they hardly got into conversations with me unless they wanted something from me and, even then, I got nothing from it. Perhaps, there was a place where I could go and feel normal for once.

I reached my bike, which was gold and silver in color, unlocked it, and rode it on my way home. Along the way home, I passed by Ashlei Lupus's house. She was the new girl in school who had just entered a year ago. She had brown hair with blond highlights, blue eyes, always wore her necklace, which had a red gem on it, and she was the star of our chess club and softball team. I admitted that I loved her, but so did all of the guys at school and, with all of the competition for her, why would she have cared about the alien of the school?

I then passed by the shopping center of our town, or what was left of it. Most of the stores here were closed due to the failing economy there. Sometimes, I wondered, if the future was bleak, that we were heading into dark times last seen less than a century ago. If so, did we let it happened? Did we make mistakes that shouldn't have be made? Or was it bound to happen?

I then noticed a store I had never seen before. It was an video game store, with images of video game characters, like Mario and Solid Snake, on the windows of the store. I would've loved to go into the store and buy a game, but I didn't have any money. Besides, it looked like it was closed for the day. So I had no choice but to go home.

After a bit, I reached my home, which was one floor and blue and white. I got off my bike and walked it to the side of the house where I left it leaning on the wall. Pulling out my key, I unlocked my door and entered my house.

It was empty, just as I expected it would be. It was still before four o'clock, which was when my sister would come home from college. It felt strange though, coming home alone those days. My mom died of lung cancer four years before then and my dad left here last December to work with my great uncles at their farm at California, leaving just my sister and me to take care of the house. It wasn't that bad, it just got lonely at times.

I placed my backpack on the couch and opened it. I then pulled out a book, The Three Investigators: The Mystery of the Coughing Dragon, and opened it. But then a folded slip of paper had fallen from the book and onto the floor. I picked it up, unfolded it, and read it.

It said:

Dear Matt Vulpes,

Can you meet me at my house at 5:00? I have something to show you.

From,
Ashlei Lupus

My heart gave a leap of joy, but my mind filled with questions. Why should she send it to me when she could invite another cooler guy? Still, since she asked me to come, I decided I'd go.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ok," I said. "I'm going out."

"Ok," I heard my sister say. "See you later."

I went outside at five and went to my bike. I then road it to Ashlei house, passing by the shopping center in the progress. Looking at the stores, I noticed that the video game store that was here less than a couple of hours ago had vanished. Instead there was a rings and plush store in its place. In front of the store was a man with long black hair, blue eyes, and he was wearing a brown tweed jacket with elbow patches that were left unbuttoned, a fashionable shirt, a bow tie, red braces, rolled up trousers and black boots. He smiled and waved at me as I rode by.

After awhile, I reached her house. It was like my house, only brown and white. I looked at the door and saw her in front of it. She was wearing a green shirt, brown pants, the necklace she usually wore, and white running shoes.

When she gestured me with her hand to come, I got off my bike and put it down on the ground. I walked towards her and, for a few seconds, we stood there, face to face, without talking.

"Hello Matt," she finally said.

"Hello," I said. "What do you need?"

"If you'll come," she said, "I'll show them to you."

She then turned around and opened the door to her house. She entered it with me following, with questions filling up my head. After a bit, she stopped at the wall with some type of symbols I've never seen before in a shape of a triangle. The top symbol was red, the lower left was blue, and the lower right was green.

"Matt," she said. "Do you remember what happened a year ago?"

After a bit of thinking, I said, "I think I know what you mean..."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was riding my bike home, just like any other day. There was nothing interesting usually on the way.

But then I saw her standing there. She had on a blue shirt, the necklace with the red gem, and jeans. I was so startled by her appearance that I hit a part of the sidewalk and fell down onto the ground. Getting up, I felt the opened wounds burning and the bones aching. I heard running and, when I turned around, I saw her running to me.

"Are you ok?" she said.

"Y-yes," I said.

"That's good," she said.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

We turned around and, when I saw him, I groaned. Drew Infirmus, the troublemaker of the school. He had blond hair, purple eyes, and he was wearing a black shirt with a black jacket over it, black pants, and black shoes.

"What do you want?" I said.

"Nothing from you," he said. "What I want is that thing around that girl's neck."

"What?!" she said.

"Yeah," he said. He ran up and forcibly removed the necklace from her. "I'll be taking that."

"Hey!" I said.

I felt my blood becoming hot, even hotter than those scrape wounds, and heard the blood running through my ears. Without thinking, I gave Drew a punch in the nose, breaking it. Drew stepped back a few steps and dropped the necklace. He then ran off the opposite direction, holding his nose and crying. I picked it up and handed it back to her.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome," I said. I walked to my bike, picked it up from the ground, and prepared to continue on my way home. "See you."

"Wait," she said. "What's your name?"

"Matt Vulpes," I said. "What's yours?"

"Ashlei Lupus," she said.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If you mean the day that I stopped Drew from stealing your necklace, then yes," I said.

"Yes, that's it," she said. "Do you know why I wear it all the time?"

"Other than the fact that you've got it as a gift from your dad, then no," I said.

"Now," she said, removing her necklace, "you'll find out why."

A few seconds had passed and there was a ripping sound. To my shock and surprise, a wolf tail appeared behind Ashlei. I then saw her hands transform into a mix between a hand and a wolf paw with gray fur spreading up her arms. Then there was another ripping sound and, when I looked down at her feet, I saw her shoes ripped apart as they became digitigrades-like wolf legs. I looked up to her face and saw her ears moved up her head and became more pointed, like wolf ears. While her brown hair became gray, her blond highlights remained the same. Finally her face became covered in grey fur as her nose and mouth turned into a wolf muzzle. I rubbed my eyes, trying to tell myself that people didn't transformed in front of me, but when I opened my eyes again, she was still an anthro wolf.

I stood there in shock for a few seconds, and then I said, "W-what the heck just happened?"

"I'm not human," she said. "I'm actually a Wilk, a species from the planet Eckzahm."

"From another planet?" I said. "So you're a-"

"Alien?" she said. "Yes. I was sent here to observe this planet for about a year for my school report."

"So that necklace turns you into a human?" I said.

"Yes," she said. "My dad got it from a man he called Mr. Crevan."

"Wait a minute," I said. "It turns you into a human as long as you're wearing it, right? So why didn't you turned back into your true form when Drew removed it a year ago?"

"Because," she said, "as long as I don't want to changed back, I'll remained in human form for about a minute or so."

"Why are you showing me this now?" I said.

"Because this is the last day I'll be on earth," she said. "But I want you to come with me."

"What?" I said.

"You see," she said, "when Drew took my necklace, I was scared. Scared of what everyone around me would think if they saw me when I changed back. Imagined, your first day at observing the humans and your true form is about to be revealed any second. I was really scared.

"But then you got it back from him in time. I had never been more thankful before in my life. I wanted to repay it back to you in any way I can. Now here's the chance I had been waiting for. So, will you come with me?"

I thought for a moment and said, "Yes."

The anthro wolf smiled and said, "Good. Here."

She handed me some type of ring. I looked at it and I noticed that it had a fox head engraved on it. I looked up at her questionably.

"What's this ring for?" I said.

"It's a ring that can transform you into what's engraved on it," she said. "I got it from a ring and plush shop run by a man named Undecim Medicus. He said it's due to the shop having Athrú technology powering it up."

"Athrú technology?" I said.

"Yes," she said. "It's technology that has powerful magic running its power, so the species were one of the five greatest civilizations since over thousands of years ago."

"What happened to them?" I said.

"They had gotten into what's known as the Last Great Transformation War," she said. "A war between them and the Nex Mutatio, another of the five great civilizations that could transform species, only darker. Both civilizations are destroyed now that they tried to kill each other. Now most, if not all, of the two species are dead."

"I see," I said.

I looked at the ring for a few seconds and then I put it on. As soon as I put it on, I felt a jolt running through my body. I looked at my ring for a few seconds before I heard a ripping sound from behind me. I turned my head around and saw a fox tail coming from me.

"Whoa," I said.

I looked at my hands and I saw them becoming a mix between a hand and a fox paw with black fur appearing there. The black fur on my hands-paws went up to my elbows where they were now rusty red. I then heard another ripping sound below me and, when I looked down, I saw my feet tearing apart my shoes at they became more digitigrades-like. The black fur on my feet-paws then spread up my legs where they became rusty red as they reached my knees.

"Incredible," I said.

I felt the fur spreading under my clothes and now they were going to my head. I felt a slight tingling from my ears and, when I felt them, they were moving up my head and are becoming more pointed now. Finally, I saw my nose moving more forward with my mouth as they were turning into a muzzle. I felt my muzzle with my hand-paw and looked at Ashlei.

"Fantastic," I said.

"Do you like it?" she said.

"Boy, do I!" I said.

"That's good," she said. "You know, ever since you've gotten my necklace back, I've fallen in love with you."

"You have?" I said. "Why, the first time I saw you, I've fallen in love with you too."

We both smiled for a few seconds and then we got closer. We then kissed on the spot for a few seconds. After awhile, she pulled away and turned to the wall.

"Tairsearch," she said and the three symbols span around until it became what looked like a whirlpool of white energy on the wall. She then turned back to me. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," I said.

She smiled and went into the portal with me following her. As I followed her, I realized that this is where I belonged, I no longer felt like an alien anymore. I'm where I should be for the first time in my life.

'Let's go across the universe.'

There was a little town up in Canada, far away from cities, where amazing things would happen. Things that should be in the front page news of every city, but aren't. The people of this world, except for a few, never saw why it was special. Their idea on what the world was not what the townspeople, or at least most of them, thought the world was. Because of this, they couldn't see the town's magic.

In that town, one summer ago, awoke Kyo Nettaichou. He had black hair, cyan eyes, and he was dressing into his black and silver sweater, blue jeans, and red and white trainer shoes. It was a special day for him because that day was the day he became an adult.

After he finished dressing, he went downstairs and met his parents in the dining room, sitting there, drinking their coffee. His dad had black hair, green eyes, and he was wearing a white polo shirt, black pants, and black shoes. He smiled when he saw Kyo.

"Happy birthday son," his dad said. "How does it feel to be an adult now?"

"A bit exciting," Kyo replied.

"Well," Kyo's dad said as he finished his coffee and stood up, "it's time for me to go to work. I'll see you this afternoon with a gift. Good bye."

Kyo's dad then left the house, jingling his keys along the way. As soon as the door closes, Kyo's mom finished her coffee and said, "It's time for me to go too. But before I go, I'll give you a little gift."

Kyo's mom, unlike his dad, was a dragon; a brown, scaly dragon with wings and a tail. Her husband never knew. Not because he was put under a spell and not because she disguised herself as a human. He, with his closed mind on what the world is, chose to see her as a human subconsciously. Kyo, on the other hand, saw her as a dragon because he understood that the world was more mysterious than science had ever explained. Though Kyo, in his younger years, tried to tell his dad about his mom, he remained closed-minded and Kyo stopped trying.

Kyo's mom went into her purse and pulled out a yellow dragon tooth. Kyo recognized it as the tooth for the rite of passage for half-dragon like him. When one wore it, it would change the half-dragon into a full dragon.

"Thank you mom!" Kyo excitedly said. He took it and put it on. Nothing happened.

"It'll take some time," his mom said.

"How much time?" Kyo asked calmly, yet with a slight impatience in his voice.

"Who knows? It's different to every half-dragon in the world. Some of them never became dragons. Only time will tell."

"I've got to go now. See you this afternoon," she said and left. When Kyo heard the door shut, he sighed in frustration. Kyo loved dragons to the point that he wanted to be one. When his mom told him that he was a half-dragon and, when he turned 18, she'd give him the tooth that he thought it would make his wish come true. Now . . . he'd have to wait more, maybe forever.

Deciding to walk out his frustration, he went out the door and walked around town. It was a typical town with green grass on every lawn, tall trees on every street, and a few supermarkets. But it had a few things that would make a person new to this town magic wide-eyed throughout their stay. Kyo was used to it and very little surprised him here. Among the town are anthropomorphic animals, a blue lizard, a brown rabbit, and a cheetah, he passed by. Looking at the sky, there would be large birds the size of a car, griffins, hippogriffs, and dragons flying place to place.

Kyo, looking at the dragons flying, was feeling envious and was about to head back home when a voice said, "Kyo!"

He turned to the voice's location and smiled. The person was a three-tailed kitsune named Larissa Tyler, Kyo's longtime crush. She had brown hair, amber eyes, and she was wearing a red untucked shirt and blue jeans. Her fur was mainly brown, with her foxy ears black, white fur from her torso to her lower jaw, black hands, and white tips on her three tails.

Although Kyo's mom approved of their relationship, his father was against it, though he kept it mainly to himself. It wasn't not because she was ugly, crazy, or wild; it was because there was something inside of her that rubbed him the wrong way. The fact that Kyo would sometime act strange to his father after he visited Larissa also didn't help.

The reason why Kyo acted 'strange' was because Larissa hobby is to transform others and Kyo was the willing victim. He told her it was because he could get used to the pain of transforming when he would finally change into a dragon. But it was really because he loves her to the point of being transformed by her. Sometimes he would transform into something feral and Larissa would have to help him get home. To his dad, he would've seen Kyo walking on all four for no reason when it was because Kyo was changed into a raccoon or a wolf. Because he never saw the world Kyo saw, he believed Larissa did something bad to his son and tried to hide it.

Now, with that excited look on her face, it looked like she wanted Kyo to be her guinea pig again. When he saw her like this, Kyo usually asked, "Which species is it this time?"

"I'm checking if you've changed into a dragon," Larissa said. "I guess it didn't happen yet."

"Thank you for pointing that out," Kyo dryly said.

"Sorry if it bothers you," Larissa said. "But it's good for me because I can transform you one last time if you let me."

"Huh?" Kyo said confusingly. "What do you mean?"

"You know," Larissa said. "Dragons are one of the hardest species to use magic against. It's because of their tough hide that even the most skilled user of magic would have a hard time using spells on them. That's why people don't hear much of killing dragons using magic. I may be the best at transformation magic at school, but I'm sure I couldn't be able to change you once you're a dragon."

"Oh, I see," Kyo said while smiling. "One more transformation couldn't hurt me. So, what will I be changing into?"

"It's a bit home for me," Larissa said. "I'll be changing you into a kitsune."

"Cool," Kyo approved. "I never was changed into a kitsune before. Let's do it!"

Larissa smiled and lifted her left hand. Then a blue sphere of magic appeared slightly floating on her hand, growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a billiard ball. She then gently placed it above his heart and it entered his body. Kyo felt a warm feeling going through his entire body.

From the place where the magic entered his body, Kyo felt fur growing under his sweater. Though it had hurt the first time he was transformed, Kyo no longer felt pain whenever he was changed. The fur spread to his arms and when it reached his hands, he observed it was black. Kyo pulled back the left sleeve of his sweater and saw that the fur past his elbows was brown. His fingernails then lengthened and thickened into sharp claws and black pads grew on his palms.

Kyo felt his neck and he touched the white fur growing there. The fur spread up to his face as its color changed to brown once it reached his lower jaw. His hair color also changed from his usual black to brown as his nose and jaw lengthened into a foxy muzzle. Kyo put his hands on his ears and realized they were now a triangular shape, black ears on the top of his head.

The fur spread down to his legs and Kyo felt something growing at his rear of his pants. It ripped and four brown tails with white tips appeared and lengthened until they reached his ankles. He felt his shoes being discomforting due to his feet being changed beyond their abilities to hold them. They shredded his shoes apart and he moved his black, furry digitigrades feet from what remained of his shoes.

Kyo surveyed his new body with a foxy grin on his face as Larissa looked at him with her kind smile. They didn't mind the destroyed shoes and torn pants because they knew that, once he changed back, they'd magically be restore to normal. After examining his kitsune body, Kyo looked a Larissa.

"This looks great!" Kyo expressed happily. "To tell you the truth, I love kitsunes almost as much as I love dragons." Larissa slightly blushed at that comment. "How long will this one last?"

"For at least four hours," Larissa answered.

"I see," Kyo said. "Thank you for—"

"Kyo!" Larissa suddenly said with a shock tone. "What's happening to your dragon tooth!?"

Kyo looked down and saw his dragon tooth glowing brightly. It then entered his body with a jolt throughout his body. Kyo looked at Larissa with his eyes very wide.

"Is it ti—" Kyo began, but felt intense pain on his back. Though he had been changed into many different animals thank to Larissa, there weren't many changes done to his back before. Any changes there were only fur, not this. Kyo got to his knees and, feeling his back with his hands, he felt something growing there. The pain intensified and he put his hands on the ground, gritting his teeth hard. Unable to remove his sweater, he let it be ripped by what was growing there. When he looked at it, he realized it was a pair of brown, scaly, dragon wings. They were at least a yard and a half long each.

He looked up at Larissa with a shocked expression in his face. He was about to say something, but Larissa said, "What's happening to your tails!?"

Kyo looked at his tails and saw two of the four tails were shedding their fur at a rapid rate. When the fur touched the ground, it faded into nothing. When all of the fur at the two tails was gone, in their place were brown scales. His kitsune tails then thickened into dragon tails with an arrowhead tip. At the tip are white scales.

Kyo slowly got up to his feet and observed his body. Most of the changes done by Larissa are still there. In fact, other than a pair of wings and two of his tails, his body remained unchanged. He looked like a cross between a dragon and a kitsune, mostly kitsune. Kyo then looked at Larissa and she still looked shocked.

"What the Hell just happened?" Kyo asked.

"I-I guess the dragon tooth activated and its changes are layered over my changes," Larissa said.

"Is there a way to undo it?" he asked.

"I don't think I can remove the dragon part," she said. "As for the kitsune part, I think we can wait until the magic wore out."

"OK," Kyo nervously said. He looked at his body again and felt unusual. There has never been something like this before. Even when kitsune and dragons made children together, it's always purely kitsune or purely dragon.  "Can we go to my place and wait there?"

"Alright," Larissa said. "Let's go."

-----

"Has it been four hours?" Kyo asked Larissa.

Kyo was lying on his bed in his room. He was careful not to hit his wings on the walls and do some damage. At the head of the bed were some fox plush and some dragon plush. Larissa was looking at the clock at the small table right beside Kyo bed. She looked at him and he noticed her eyes are filled with confusion.

"It has been four hours 15 minutes ago," Larissa said. "I don't know why my spell hasn't worn out yet."

Kyo sat up and looked at his black, furry hands with his face filled with sadness. "I'm sorry Kyo," Larissa said.

"It's alright," Kyo murmured. "Do you know anyone who could know why this happened?"

Larissa looked up at the ceiling. "Well, one person might know. The Wizard."

"Him?" he said. "The one who says all those movie and TV quotes?"

"Yes," she said. "He may not be able to use magic himself, but he knows more about it than anyone I'd ever met."

"OK. Can we use Skype to talk to him? I don't want to leave the house just yet."

"OK."

Kyo jumped out of bed and the two went to the computer room downstairs. The room was almost empty except for a computer Kyo dad put together, a monitor, a keyboard, and speakers. Connected to the monitor was a webcam for Skype. The speakers also had a mic connected into it for Skype.

Larissa turned on the computer and, after a few minutes, went to Skype while Kyo waited at the doorway. She then called "The Wizard" and, after a few moments, he answered it. He didn't have a webcam, so in its place was a icon, a wizard hat with a magic wand right next to it.

"Why, if it isn't my favorite kitsune," the Wizard's annoying voice said through the speakers and Kyo felt jealous. "Of all the Skype accounts in all the towns in the entire world, you walk into mine. What do you want?"

"I need to ask you a few questions," Larissa said.

"What happened?" the Wizard asked.

"It's about Kyo," she said and looked at Kyo. "Show yourself to him, Kyo."

Kyo sighed and went beside Larissa where the Wizard can see him through the webcam. "Hmm," the Wizard said, "very unusual, but not unheard of. What happened that caused this?"

"You see," Larissa said, "I was turning him into a kitsune, but after it had finished, his dragon tooth activate and now he's this."

"I see," the Wizard said. "I believe I know what happened. It's what I call the Tape Effect."

"Tape Effect?" Kyo repeated.

"Yes," the Wizard said. "It happens when two or more transformation spells layer each other over like tapes. Think of a tape on the wall on the wall holding up a poster. Then it got another tape layer over it. They're now one and the same, yet different, just as your kitsune and dragon are one and the same."

"So, you're saying is," Kyo said, "they've fused together into one?"

"Yes, but not only that," the Wizard continued. "Since they're now one, the time you remain in that form is now different. The time you remain in that form is the longer of the two changes."

"Surely you can't be serious."

"I am serious," the Wizard said, "and don't call me Shirley."

Kyo slapped his head with his hand in annoyance. "That joke died 30 years ago."

"Anyways, which one is the longest and how long that'll last?"

"It's the dragon transformation and it's permanent."

"Ouch," the Wizard said. "You're stuck that way."

Kyo looked horrified, but Larissa asked, "Supposed if I use a spell to remove my kitsune transformation spell? Could that work?"

"I don't know," the Wizard replied. "I seriously doubt it could work."

"Let's try it," Larissa said. She lifted her left hand and, like the transformation spell, a red sphere of magic appeared, slightly floating on her hand and grew to the size of a billiard ball. She gently placed it above Kyo's heart, but it wasn't entering his body. She looked at the sphere in confusion and put in some more magic into it until it was the size of a bowling ball. She again tried to place it above Kyo heart harder, but it shattered. The two looked at where the sphere was while the Wizard sighed.

"Just as I feared. Kyo, you're now immune to magic."

"But this is kitsune fur, not dragon scales," Kyo protested. "Fur and scales isn't the same thing."

"Technically, they are," the Wizard said. "They're both made of keratin, though used differently by the reptile body and the mammal body. I'm guessing that your fur is taking on the component of dragon scales. This means that your fur's now protecting you from all but the best magic."

"So, I-I'm seriously stuck this way for the rest of my life?" Kyo weakly asked.

"Yes," the Wizard said. "Just don't worry about it."

"What do you mean?" Kyo angrily demanded. "I waited most of my life to become a dragon! Now, I'm only part of a dragon."

"If life ever gets crazy," the Wizard said, "roll with it."

"You quoted it from Nick and Sara who quoted it from Gil," Kyo mumbled.

"Even if the people are fake, their words have some truth in them," the Wizard sighed. "I got to go. See ya."

The Skype call ended and Larissa closed the page. As Kyo pondered over this, she turned off the computer and she looked at Kyo. When he looked at her, he noticed her face is a bit annoyed.

"Well," she softly asked, "are you ready?"

"For what?"

"To go outside for a walk with me?"

"W-what?" Kyo stammered. "But—"

"No buts Kyo," Larissa said. "It may be hard now, but once you're out there, you'll realize you were fretting over nothing. Beside, didn't you say that kitsunes are your second loved animal behind dragons?"

"Well, yeah," Kyo sheepishly said.

"So you're now two of the animals you love fused into one. Just go outside with me, please."

Kyo sighed and said, "Alright."

"Good," she said, smiling. "Let's go."

Larissa took his hand and they went out of his house, though Kyo did it half-heartily. Kyo looked at the ground, unable to look at anyone watching. There were some who saw the kitsune dragon hybrid, but they didn't say anything. They walked around town for twenty minutes with nothing bad happening, until—

"Hey look!" a jeering voice said. "The half-dragon's now the freak of the town!"

Kyo looked down at the ground even harder as he recognized that voice. The person was Joshua Attor, a full dragon. He had yellow eyes with his scales a poison green with white scales on his torso and below his tail. On his head were two long horns with the same poison green color and yellow sharp spikes on his tail. He wore only a pair of black jeans, no shirt. Joshua looked at Kyo with an air filled with superiorly.

"Just ignore him," Larissa said to Kyo. "He's not worth listening to."

"You actually think that having fur and three extra tails would look good on a dragon?" Joshua continued. "That's almost as bad as being a kitsune."

"Hey!" Larissa shouted while letting go of Kyo hand. "Don't you dare insult the kitsunes with me nearby!"

"What are you going to do about it, huh?" he jeered. "My scales are more powerful than your kitsune magic and illusions!"

"That doesn't mean you can insult us while acting all high and mighty! That's wrong!"

"You know what's wrong?" Joshua asked as he pointed at Kyo. "That's what wrong! Freaks that don't seem to belong anywhere! Freaks that shouldn't even exist!"

This crushed Kyo badly. He was considering going home for the rest of his life, wasting all of his years. But then Larissa said something. Something he'll never forget.

Larissa said, "Yes, I admit it. It was my fault he became like this. But I love him this way. Who cares if he has fur for scales, I love him either way."

This brought Kyo's spirit up. The kitsune of his life declared her love in front of him. This didn't seem to unfazed Joshua however.

"HA!" he sneered. "You're suggesting fur is a good substitute for scales? That'll never happen!"

"Just because you don't like it," Kyo said, his spirit restored, "doesn't mean you have to shove it to our faces. In fact, I'm now proud of being like this."

"You-you what?" Joshua stammered, looking surprised. Even Larissa looked shocked.

"You heard me," Kyo said and took Larissa hand. "Come on, let's get away from him. Its people like him are why this world's going downhill."

Kyo and Larissa left Joshua, who still looked dumbstruck on what Kyo said. After they gotten far away from him, Kyo said, "I was a fool to believe him. That narrow-minded idiot. He probably can't see humans."

"Yeah, um, Kyo?" Larissa asked. "Do you really mean it? Are you really happy like this? Because—"

"Yes, I do," Kyo replied. "I realized it when you said that you wouldn't care what I look like. Kitsunes don't go back on their words, do they?"

"I did say that, didn't I? Since you're also part-kitsune, this must mean you can't either," Larissa said. "Kyo, I really did mean it when I said I love you either way."

"Larissa, I love you too," Kyo said, smiling. "It's the true reason why I let you transform me so many times."

The two then went closer and closer together until they kissed. It was a long one, filled with large amount of love between them. After they finished, they continued on their walk, holding hands and Larissa foxy head leaning onto Kyo shoulder.

-----

Later that day, Kyo's mom discovered what happened, but she loved her son either way. His dad also went home and gave Kyo a cell phone for his birthday. He never did realized what had happened.

Over time, the town residents realized what happened to Kyo. Some are amazed. Some, like Joshua, felt he's a freak. Some attempts to have the same thing happen to themselves, though never as unique as Kyo, who's called a dracotsune.

"Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream; both myth and dream are symbolic in the same general way of the dynamics of the psyche."-Joseph Campbell The Hero With A Thousand Faces

To my friends Apollo94 and Blackfox1210 who are among the ones who help me get started in writing stories.