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Something felt very off, which didn't make sense as Freddie's last encounter with one of the freaks had gone perfectly in his books. He didn't believe in karma, he didn't even know what the word meant, so there was no explanation for how crappy he felt as he went to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. Trying to walk it off had failed, mostly because he hadn't come across anyone to take his inexplicable frustrations out on. Having no one to vent on normally wasn't that big a deal, but he was feeling the lack more than ever. Maybe word was spreading and people were staying away, then what'd he do? He slammed the plate of fried chicken down on his tray as he thought about it.

Bastards. Wasn't like he needed people for anything. Anything but target practice, and if not that then what would he be? A lonely, pathetic wreck, that's what. He tried to shake that thought as he walked towards an empty table, but it kept nagging him. He was thinking too much, and not even the food was helping. The chicken tasted off, but he blamed it on whatever the hell he was coming down with. Some tropical flu, more than likely.

He just had to smile at him... What was that even supposed to mean? A dozen grossly inaccurate possibilities danced through Freddies head as he chewed his food, which was tasting more and more like stringy plastic. That wasn't helping. By the time he swallowed he had settled on assuming that little smile meant Lucas knew exactly why he was there and, just like all the others, thought he was on the same level as them. Freddie stood up, his chair skidding back in a repeat of that time he'd met Gaius. This time, however, his head swam once he got to his feet. No sooner than it passed an unpleasant warmth spread through his body. He couldn't let that stop him, he had to rise to imagined challenge. He'd gone after people in worse states.

"Don't act so ********' smug!" He yelled at the dog-boy's back. How could he just go right to getting food after giving him that look? The heat only got worse with the rage the thought inspired.

"Like hell!" Freddie barked.

He only made it a couple of steps towards Lucas when it hit him. He stopped as though physically struck when the achin spread to his nose of all places. He had attributed the aching in his hands to the time he'd spent punching holes in the walls of his duplex. In his feet? Too much time in those damn uniform shoes. The irritation from his shirt, likewise, he'd assumed was just part of having nothing but the uniform to wear out. He'd done well deluding himself... But it was hard to keep making up excuses when his nose began to widen. He put his hand to his nose as though he might sneeze, missing that at some point while balling his fists with those paranoid thoughts his fingernails had darkened and thickened.

"Ah... ah..." He wasn't good with words at the best of times, so gasping single syllables would have to do as his nose darkened and his ears lengthened. He patted his nose hard as the pinprick sensastion spread, as if he could be wrong about feeling it was not only wet, but a whole new shape. He couldn't very well call that a cold, same for the little twitch his ears gave when they finished growing.

"Oh, ******** no..." His voice broke on 'no'. Even worse, even more embarrassing, his eyes welled up. He tried to tell himself it was the pain, not the crushing realization it was happening, but it was hard to think clearly about anything as the changes continued...

Once he realized the dog-boy was coming closer, Freddie frantically wiped at his eyes. He noticed the changed to his nails only after he took his hands away, but he barely had time to gape before the next change made his knees buckle as though he'd been punched in the gut. The popping noise, at first seemed like it may have been his pelvis audibly expanding... until he realized that was just the sound of the seams of his pants pushed to the breaking point. He put his hands on his windened rear just as it stopped, but strained as they might have been his pants stayed up. He sighed in relief, then grinned when he realized that it hadn't been all that bad... just the nails, hips... On second thought, listing them still wasn't helping.

He only had a few seconds to revel in it before the heat suddenly returned, making him gasp again. He'd done well to keep from screaming up until that point, but once the fabric of his shirt was slowly pushed outward he was ********!" Both hands went his his chest, pressing down in a futile attempt to keep the growing fat from ruining his oh-so-perfect pecs.

Not amount of pressure could stop the growing, but Freddie tried, even as the tender flesh made it even more painful he tried. The fabric of his shirt was strained even more as within seconds he was left cupping a rather sizable pair of breasts. They weren't quite finished growing when, even more to his horror, a crawling sensation down below indicated he was losing mass elsewhere at the same time.

"Oh no... no, no, no, no..."

He took his hands from his breasts to confirm that, while he still technically counted as a he, it wasn't by much. He'd totally forgotten that he was being watched in the midst of all that, nor did it ever cross his mind that the top two buttons of his shirt were so strained that reaching down would be a bad idea. The second button was sent flying with a soft pop, followed closely by the top, and just like that Freddie's new... assets were exposed.

If the draft wasn't enough to clue Freddie in on the exposure, the look of horror from the guy did it. He looked down, his own eyes bugged out, and he quickly crossed his arms over his chest. The freak had not only caught him at a horrible, horrible time, but he'd seen them when it was all over with.

It was all too much, and he still felt so raw... Horror, shame, and confusion all collided together, starting the waterworks up again, and no way in hell was he going to cry in front of the guy, too. So Freddie ran, and he stumbled once he realized midstep that his shoes really didn't feel right. He discovered his center of gravity had shifted ever so slightly once he fell face first on the tile, and come to find out landing on those tender new tits of his felt a lot like getting kicked in the balls. He couldn't stop himself from crying, not while he was still lying on the floor.

"Just ******** off!" Freddie sobbed, awkwardly swatting Lucas's hand away. He was in the middle of pushing himself when he remembered his chest, and he just barely caught himself from hitting the floor again as one arm immediately went across his chest. Good to know his upper body strength wasn't completely shot, even if there was a bit more to push up. His arm shook with the effort, but he managed to get back to his feet. He glared at Lucas with his tears and sniffled with all the dignity he could muster.

"I-If you t-tell anyone what you saw-" He paused and sniffed again. Hard to be intimidating when you were holding your own boobs and close to hyperventilating from weeping. Even so... "I'll ********' kill you."

As he turned and stomped off towards the door, Freddie almost fooled himself into thinking he'd recovered a little bit. That was until he remembered he was covering himself as he retreated, and that the grief had only just begun...