Peter held the camera tightly as he focused on Jay. Truth be told, he was right now tense. He had to make sure everything worked. He wished he was picked to go to the war correspondence with Jay, that time when he was a virtual unknown... instead they gave that to a veteran cameraman.
This time though... this was his.
Jay might be on the news, but Peter was in charge of getting him on the news. He had almost every contingency to get connected in the van. Still his thoughts drifted to that skunk girl... he hoped she was okay.
Jay stood still as the camera focused on her. her three fox tails twitched in unison. The camera was showing her full form. She did her best to look as presentable as possible in her suit.
"3... 2...1..." Peter made the gesture and the red light on the camera came on.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen," Jay began. She took a breath... even she was nervous to report this. "I am reporting on the events within the town of Hedgeton. As many of you saw, it had disappeared... but I can report to you now, that we are indeed back..."
The camera panned to the various areas outside. The main street had various cracks and ripples, some of them just hanging in the air. Various buildings had taken on a crystalline form.
"What you are seeing here, are the results of... another world, joining into ours. Parts of the town still exist in the other world... and in the same way, much of that world has ended up in the town. The Army has come in, and has drawn up emergency shelters for anyone who had lost their home..."
The camera panned to various army personnel. There was a sense of urgency but also quite a sense of awe.
"The people are in good spirits here. We will continue to report on the findings of this momentous event."
Peter nodded that they were off the air.
"You didn't mention about the sun," said Toby.
Jay shook her head. "For now, we need to investigate... I don't want half the world descending here. We don't know what will happen when the sun rises."
Toby nodded. It was a wise precaution.
Jay sniffed the air suddenly... seeming a bit ill.
"You okay?" Asked the anime girl.
Jay coughed. "Y-Yeah... something smells quite bad out there..."
The fox girl didn't like it. An instinct in her.. was telling her to stay away from it.
Eric lay there in the fields, in quiet disgust with herself.
She hated this body... it wasn't just the smell she could make. Being female she was 'introduced' to the whole monthly cycle almost a month ago. It seemed she was human enough to warrant that. That was bad... but the worst part, the absolute worse, was the heat cycle she went through lasting a few days leading up to it.
Admittedly she should have gone to the doctor, but it came on her so slowly, and by the time she was aware of what it was she was so mentally out of it that she was unable to even get help. She missed two days of work, until her body has sufficiently calmed down. She didn't suffer anything like that between cycles, unlike the rabbit-changed... but while in that cycle, she really wasn't herself.
Would she have to go through that every month? She didn't want to find out! She was already dreading the next one. Hopefully she still had a few more days? She sniffed her fur a bit sickened with the smell. Even if it wasn't much.. it was still pungent enough.
the first time she unleashed the scent was an accident. Those around her went white a sheet, and were quite disgusted. No more then herself though. This time she had done it on purpose, and was surprised at just how much of it she had. She wasn't sure how much a normal skunk had, but she was a far larger creature. Her glands were chemical factories, primed to make as much of that toxic stench that she needed. A natural extension of bio-chemical warfare.
Disgusting...
The worse part is, she had used it. She actually used it...
She examined her dress again. She supposed she should be glad her transformation left her with this... though it would be nice to get rid of it as soon as possible. She hoped she could wash out the smell from her fur, it took 'days' last time.
She was so close... she was almost human. She focused on that desire, pushing herself up, her tail automatically balancing for her. "Like- I'm going to get human!" She said wincing at the way she spoke. It wasn't her fault the last time she was a teenager this was normal for her.
Hopefully.. that... thing... whatever it was, will not follow them to Earth.
Hawkins group continued to traverse the alien landscape... they had not gone too far out from town. Soon they would be back and can report on their findings.
The shadow agent wondered. Could these crystals be the equivalent of sea or land? Maybe neither?
Jen glanced about. The demon girl gave a little smirk at a thought "You know... technically, this land is now America."
Cecelia glanced at her. "What?"
"Well, it now exists as part of Hedgeton... so therefore, It's America. I think we should consider staking our claims. Haven't you ever seen those wild west movies?"
"Not a fan of them," The gynoid said as she continued to walk. "Besides, such a thing would be unethical. We don't know if anyone lives here."
"Didn't stop us last time," The demon girl said with a shrug. "I'm going to call that patch, Jen's Den." She grinned.
Hawkins shook his head. "We are exploring... not staking claims," He said with a touch of annoyance. "We are also behind schedule. We are heading back to Hedgeton."
"Suit yourself," Jen said. "You're with me aren't you Mike? Wouldn't you want a piece of this place?"
"Nothing to eat here..." The raptor girl said simply. "How far are we going to explore anyway?"
"Standard procedures say, No more then an hour's walk" Hawkin's explained. "At least when radio contact is being made."
"Hm.. it keeps coming and going," said Cecellia. A lot of interference... but the connection to Earth was there. It was like a life line, and was very assuring. Still sometimes she would get strange red-shifts or blue shifts on the signal.
Mike peered ahead. "Something there... whatever it is, it's wounded- and URGH!" The raptor girl fell. "Oh.. God!"
"What's wrong?" Asked Jen. Then she smelled it too, the demon girl lost some of her colouring. "Oh.. pew... I'm going to be sick..."
Cecellia ran a trace of the air. "Various low molecular organic compounds... aromatic..."
"It's coming from that thing..." Said Mike, barely able to stand. Every instinct was telling her to stay away.
"Some kind of... attack?" Asked Hawkins. They didn't know what these aliens were capable of.
"I do not detect any technology on that creature... or any biological methods to produce this scent. It is more likely, someone else attacked 'it'"
The creature continued to stumble. It was clearly blind...
"Analysis shows the compounds have an adverse effect on light sensitive tissue. It has some acidic qualities to it."
Hawkin's continued to watch the stumbling alien... Injured creatures tend to go to places of safety. If they followed this creature, maybe they could find a settlement. But then, this could be the equivalent of a bear here... in which case, should they follow it? Was there any way to work out if it was sentient...
Eric walked slowly.. she just.. wanted to go home. Suddenly, something bright appeared in front of her. It opened like a crack in space, making her take a step back... she saw a tiny figure come out of it alarming her. But even more confusing, when it was something that looked just like her.
It seemed to be a young skunk girl, that looked very similar to her. Only this one was about ten years old. She was also naked. The skunk girl looked at Eric wide eyed in shock. "M-Mom?"
Eric's jaw dropped.
The little skunk continued to approach. She seemed all ghostly, but slowly becoming solid. "I- I can't believe it. It really is you! You look so weird. I fell down a crack an' I don't know where I am please help me!"
Eric was about ready to run. "G-Go away! I'm not your mom. I'm not anybody's mom! I'm a man!"
The skunk girl looked around. "This.. is Hedgeton? Home? it looks different..."
