Big Problems in the Little Village

Part I
	There stood Fenran outside the apartment building.  
The wall around the door that led outside to the fire 
escape from the main hall had been destroyed.  Fenran, 
still shaking from nerves, was glad he had avoided a 
catastrophe and kept the damage minimal.  However, his body 
was still growing.  He stood up when he had calmed down, 
and now reached a height of about 40 feet, almost as tall 
as the apartment which would've been destroyed if he had 
not gotten out in time.  Still a bit disoriented, he 
gathered himself and looked around.  Upon looking down 
he noticed his friends were standing outside with him.  
Lana and Dirk stared up at Fenran in disbelief and with 
some worry.  They were concerned that the problem 
wouldn't stop...

Part II (Three days ago)
	Dirk just stood motionless at the sight of 
his ramshackled apartment.  The thieves trashed the place 
and stole most of his expensive possessions.  His 
television, stereo, some pieces of furniture, and money 
he had been saving up for months now, all gone.  Dirk 
is a tiger, about 6'2" and of a medium build.  He has a 
kind nature, and lives next-door to his long-time 
friend, Fenran.  Fenran is a medium-gray wolf, is about 
6'5" and has a large build.  He is sometimes too hasty 
or irrational, but he has always been a great friend to 
Dirk and Lana.  Lana, who lives down the street in a very 
small house, is a husky, of average height, about 5'7, 
and has pristine, white fur.  She has always been very 
caring and comforting to her childhood friends.  Fenran 
was helping bring some order to the room as Lana rushed 
over as soon as she heard.
	When Lana arrived, she looked at the room 
stupefied.  "How could this have happened?"  Dirk, 
still distraught from his misfortune, just quietly 
replied "Edean isn't really a safe place to live 
anymore.  Things have been going downhill for years 
now..."  Dirk was right, crime had increased considerably, 
many lost jobs and were destitute or homeless.  Edean had 
turned into a slum over about 5 years.  Before then, it 
was quite a nice, balanced town.  Dirk just sat quietly 
and closed his eyes in despair.  Lana hugged him and 
softly spoke comforting words.  Still straightening up the 
mess, Fenran stared into space with angry eyes, not so 
accepting as Dirk was about the current condition of the 
small village.  He shook his head and growled slightly, 
but tried to calm down.  Now was not the time to lose 
one's temper.
	Later that day, Fenran was travelling through 
Hadile, a neighboring village.  He had not been there 
for a few weeks and was curious to see if anything had 
really changed.  All seemed to have remained the same.  
A few new faces perhaps, but otherwise nothing had 
drastically changed.  He had often wondered how Hadile 
had remained slightly prosperous.  They weren't rich, but 
they weren't in a slump either.  Recently, he had 
discovered that they sustain the economy by selling 
medicines and chemicals.  Some of the chemicals were still 
in an experimental stage and couldn't be sold yet.  The 
lab was at the back of the town.  There wasn't enough 
money for an ultimate security system, but they attempted 
to increase security slightly over the past 2 years 
as crime greatly rose.  Hadile did have small markets 
also, so sometimes Fenran went there to purchase food 
and other small goods.  After a few purchases, Fenran started 
to leave town.  On his way, a stoat shielding his identity 
with a cloak and hood stopped Fenran and motioned for 
him to listen.  Fenran bent down to hear what the little 
stoat had to say.
	"How would you like to make a little extra cash 
der, buddy?"  Fenran was curious, a small monetary 
donation would be nice.  "I'm listening..." Fenran whispered.
	"Alright der!  See's here, I work back at dat lab, 
and we be needin' someone to test out a reeshent development 
of a chemical.  We'd be willin' to gives ya 'bout 500 
smackers?  Whaddya say?"
	Fenran knew they needed some more money, 
especially since Dirk just had a great loss.  "Well...
w-what kind of chemical?"  Fenran was a bit uneasy about 
being a test subject for a new chemical, who knows what 
could happen with an experimental substance!
	"Well, I don't know if I'm s'posed ta tell ya that 
until you've agreed to do it, but uh, it's an injection 
trial for a growth drug...it hooks up to ya so whenever 
there's extreme emotion, you would experience an increase 
in size...hope I don't get in trouble for dis...so please 
give it a try, ay?"
	Fenran was still hesitant. He fell in an 
internal conflict and wasn't sure what to do.
	"Look," the stoat blurted out, "Ya don't have to 
be takin' it right now, just sign dis here contract and 
I'll give ya the cash and just be sure to try it within 
the next three days and den report back ta us, well?"  
Fenran figured this would give him more time to consider, 
so he felt it was a good deal.
	"Alright then..."  Fenran signed the contract 
and took the serum contained in the injection needle.  
The stoat kept to the shadows heading back toward the 
lab.  Fenran was worried, but knew the money was a 
godsend!  "It's not a fortune, but it'll at least keep 
us going a while longer..."  Fenran hurried back to 
Edean to tell his friends the good news, just the part 
about the money.

Part III (The next morning)
	Fenran had decided to go to bed first, he 
had become very tired.  First thing that morning, 
however, he rushed next door to tell Dirk the good 
news.  Fenran knocked on the door, and a very tired-looking 
Dirk answered the door.
	"What -y-a-w-n- are you here so early for?" 
said Dirk, his speech slightly inaudible.  Fenran could 
hardly keep a straight face, but then he smiled for the 
joy of his good news, not at the sight of the drowsy 
tiger.  "Guess what I stumbled upon last night?"
	"Wha-?..."  Dirk looked like he was having a 
hard time even standing.  Fenran decided to just tell 
him straight out.
	"I just received 500 dollars last night!"  Dirk 
seemed to be instantly awake.  He looked at Fenran with 
great joy, but with a touch of confusion too.  
	"Where in the world did you get 500 dollars?" 
Dirk inquired.
	"Uh, er uh, did a favor f-for somebody..."  
Fenran really didn't want to tell anyone what he 
volunteered to do to get the money.  "But what does 
it matter where I got it, the fact is I got it."  Dirk 
shrugged and decided to take on Fenran's care-free 
attitude toward it also.
	"Well that's great, now it will give me some 
leeway to recover!"
	"That's right!" said Fenran with a big smile 
on his face.  "We should tell Lana the good news!" 
	"Oh, we can't yet, she went to the outskirts 
of Hadile to meet up with some friends for the day.  
She'll be back home tonight though."
	"Oh...alright...."

Part IV (That night, a temper flares)
	Fenran sat on his couch and took a nap after 
leaving Dirk's apartment.  His ears perked up as he 
slept to what seemed to be a scream.  His eyes opened 
and he looked around the room, wondering whether the 
scream was in his dreams.  He decided to check outside 
to make sure.  He left his apartment and ran down the 
hall and out the front door of the building.  It was 
very dark outside and it was hard to distinguish shapes.  
He squinted, looking for whoever screamed.  Fenran was 
about to give up and started back for the front door 
when he heard fast footsteps.  He turned around with a 
start and noticed a shadow running toward him.  He could 
hear it crying and gasping for breath at the same time.  
Fenran squinted and saw it was Lana.  Lana noticed 
Fenran standing in front of the building and ran over 
as fast she could.
	"Lana, what's wr-" Fenran couldn't finish his 
sentence.  Lana ran straight to him, hugged his waist 
and started crying uncontrollably.  "Lana, what happened?!"  
She couldn't answer, she just continued crying into his 
fur.  He figured she wouldn't be able to compose herself 
for a while so he just tried to comfort her.  He stroked 
her back and repeated "It's okay now, it's okay...Come 
inside..."
	He guided her to his apartment and had her lie 
on the couch.  "Just rest for a while."  She shook and 
was still crying and gasping for breath.  He just sat 
down and waited until she'd be able to tell him what happened.
	Lana fell asleep for about an hour and then woke 
up a little more calm.  "You okay?" Fenran asked when he 
noticed she was awake.  "I guess so..." she whispered.  
Fenran really wanted to know why she was upset, "What 
in the world happened?"
	She explained how while passing through Hadile 
on her way home, a gang of rats confronted her.  They hit 
her in the back of the head, and stole her money and 
necklace.  Afterward, they planned on making her take 
them to her house for more of her valuables.  She 
somehow escaped and lost them in the darkness.
	"I think it's best you stay here tonight, Lana.  
Now get some more rest."  She just nodded and drifted 
back to sleep with a more relaxed expression on her 
face.  Fenran slipped outside back in front of the building.  
He sat on the steps and shook his head.  He got up and 
paced around and then punched one of the brick walls.  He 
pulled back his hand in pain.  "Rggh!"  He knew it was a 
stupid thing to do but he was just so angry, he didn't 
know what he was doing.  He sat back down on the steps 
and heaved a long sigh.  He wanted to find those rats 
and punch their faces in.  Not to mention he also would 
like to find out who robbed Dirk's apartment.  He knew 
he'd never find any of the culprits, so he just continued 
to stare into space, taking deep breaths in his rage.
	Sometime during the night, Fenran went back 
into his apartment and fell asleep in his recliner.  
After a few hours, when the sun started rising, Lana 
opened her eyes.  She looked over at Fenran who was 
still out cold in the recliner.  She rose to her feet 
off the couch, and walked over to Fenran.  She bent 
over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, whispered "Thank 
you..."  and slipped out the door.

Part V (Forgotten Assignment)
	Fenran still stayed in his apartment throughout 
the day.  He was still upset and barely wanted to even 
stay awake.  Later in the day, almost nightfall, he padded 
into his bedroom and noticed the small case with the 
injection needle.  He stopped in his tracks as he 
remembered that he was supposed to take the chemical.  
After long consideration, he realized he couldn't back 
out now.  Dirk needed the money.  As he thought about it 
even longer, he had an idea.  This could be very useful.  
If he were somewhat bigger, no gang scum, druggie, thief, 
or lowlife would dare mess with his friends.  They would 
know that they'd get mussed up good!  He stared at the 
injection needle and didn't make a sound.  Soon he heard 
a knock at the door.  Startled for a moment, he made 
his way to the door.  He opened it to find Dirk and 
Lana there.  He invited them in and they talked for about 
an hour.  Dirk had told Lana about the money Fenran gave 
him, and Lana told Dirk about Fenran's hospitality the 
previous night.  They were both appreciative for the 
things Fenran had done for them.  He was a little 
embarrassed and just said "No problem."  His mind was 
slightly wandering though, wandering back to his bedroom 
where the needle sat.
	Dirk and Lana were leaving and Fenran bid them 
good night.  Once they left, he headed back for his 
bedroom.  He sat on the bed and picked up the needle.  
Unknown to him, Lana walked back in the apartment to 
talk to him longer and thank him again.  She wandered 
into the bedroom and started "Fenran, I just wanted to-" 
and she stopped when she looked at Fenran.  There sat 
Fenran on the bed, shooting apparently a drug of some 
sort.  Fenran was startled when he noticed Lana.  "Are 
you-" stuttered Lana.  "No, no...I didn't want to tell 
you but this is what I offered to do for the money for Dirk."
	"What is it?"  "Nothing really," replied Fenran, 
"Just a mild drug I'm testing for the lab in Hadile."  
He didn't want to tell her what it was really supposed 
to do, because it might not work or it might cause some 
kind of harmful side effects.  He really didn't want to 
worry her.  "Oh...well, I just wanted to thank you again 
for taking me in last night...I, I really appreciate 
it..."  Fenran smiled at her, he had really grown fond 
of her...really fond.  In fact, he was starting to feel 
really shy and couldn't help stuttering.  "D-Don't worry, 
it, it wasn't a problem..."  He was so embarrassed.  Not 
only that, but he felt a strange buzzing, or burning, 
or something.  Fenran stood up and was about to leave the 
room, but Lana intervened and embraced Fenran, laying her 
head against his chest.  Fenran gulped, and was almost 
shaking.  The burning got worse.  It felt like he was stretching...he looked at his arms, and they seemed to 
be longer.  He then looked down at Lana, it seemed farther 
down than usual.  Her head was now resting against his 
stomach.  'Wait a minute...' he thought 'Uh-oh, I think 
the chemical worked.'  He coaxed her to let go and persuaded 
her to go back home because it was getting late.  She 
complied and headed for the door.  Just as she walked out 
the door, she turned around and looked at him one more 
time before she left.  As she walked down the hall she 
thought to herself, 'Was he...taller?'
	Right after she left, he ran to look for a 
tape measure.  "Something's not right here!"  He found 
one and pulled out the yellow strip.  When it reached 
his height, he looked at it and his eyes bulged.  "9 feet!" 
he shouted.

Part VI (A problem grows)
	The next day Fenran confessed to Dirk about what 
he did to get the money.  Dirk felt somewhat responsible.  
"If this is what you had to go through to get the money, 
I wouldn't have let you do it!"  Fenran replied "That's why 
I waited until now to tell you."
	"Hmm...Fenran, thank you for what you've done, well, 
I think you better tell Lana."  Fenran looked down, "I suppose..."
	Fenran went to Lana's house and she answered the 
door with a smile.  "Glad to see you, Fenran."  "Lana, I 
have to tell you something...let's go for a walk."  
"Alright..."
	It was already late, and getting dark out.  They 
walked down one of the backroads really slowly.  "Fenran, 
what is it you want to tell me?"  "Lana...that drug I took 
last night...it wasn't a medication...it was an 
experimental chemical I took to get the money for Dirk.  
I'm sorry I lied."
	"A chemical?  For what?"  Suddenly, a trash can 
fell over and gave both of them a start.  Little 
scratching and squeaking noises were heard.  Soon, four 
shadowy figures stepped out.  Lana noticed it was the 
rat gang and quickly grabbed onto Fenran and started 
crying.  "Not again!"
	"Are these the rats that mugged you?"  Lana just 
nodded, still in terror.  Fenran, however, was greatly 
enraged.  'Finally, I get a little revenge!' he thought.  
His anger increased, and he felt strangely warm again.  
Lana lifted her head and looked at Fenran.  He was 
growing!  He was growing right before her very eyes!  
The rats, confused, backed up a little bit.  Fenran's 
arms stretched, his chest and back broadened.  Lana 
looked at his legs as they stretched, lifting him 
upward.  'Whoa, this is crazy' Fenran thought.  He 
stopped at about 15 feet.  The rats and Lana looked 
up at Fenran, to them what appeared to be a towering 
beast!  Fenran bent over slightly and growled really 
loud, baring his teeth.  The rats let out a squeak in 
unison and they went to take off down the street, but 
one didn't get away.  Fenran picked the frantic rat up 
and roared in its face.  Then, he launched it down the 
street toward the rest of the pack.  Fenran felt a 
little better, now that he got to scare the living 
daylights out of them.  Lana, still somewhat surprised 
just stared at him a moment and said "Well I guess 
I don't have to ask what the chemical is for again..."
	They returned to his apartment to get Dirk.  
They were going to take a little trip to the lab in 
Hadile.  When they reached the apartment, Fenran barely 
fit in, walking in bending down.  Luckily the hall had a 
pretty high ceiling, but he knew he couldn't get back 
in his apartment.  Fenran tapped on Dirk's door.  The 
tiger answered and his eyes got wide.  "Oh geez..."  
"Yeah I know" was all Fenran could say back.  "We have 
to go to the lab in Hadile, I want you to come with us."  
Dirk agreed, "I hope they have something to fix this!"  
Fenran frowned, "Yeah, me too..."  He was getting 
really worried.  Soon, his worries got much worse 
because he could feel the burning again.  "Oh man, 
anxiety sets this stuff off too!" Fenran shouted.  
"Huh?" said Lana and Dirk with puzzled looks.
	This serum is set off by extreme emotions, 
come on, we have to get out of here now!"  Lana and 
Dirk rushed out the front door.  Fenran followed but 
didn't realize that as he was making his way out he 
was already growing.  Even though he was crouched down, 
his head bumped the ceiling.  "Uh-oh...I can't get out 
the door."  He backed down the hall and continued to 
enlarge.  As he became more worried, his growth slightly 
sped up.  "Man, I gotta get out of here before I destroy 
the place!  My landlord would have a field day!"  He 
looked around and saw the door that leads out to the 
fire escape.  "Oh well, better just a collapsed wall then 
a collapsed building!"  He moved as fast as he could and 
knocked over part of the wall.  He stepped out of the 
building and stood up, glad he didn't bring down the joint.

Part VII (Giant, the best way to travel)
	It was now morning, and Fenran was still growing.  
"We have to hurry!"  The 50ft. wolf titan picked up Lana 
and Dirk and placed them on his shoulder.  "Hold on tight!"  
The citizens of Edean that were outside stopped whatever 
they were doing and would just stare.  All of their 
mouths dropped as they saw a giant wolf just jog through 
the village.  Fenran took giant strides across the plains 
until they reached Hadile.  Fenran had to be more careful 
not to bump into or crush any small buildings.  A few 
giant steps and he was upon the lab.  He let Lana and Dirk 
down to try to get in the lab.  "Hurry up guys."  Fenran 
was probably a good 70ft. now.  Dirk knocked on the door and 
the security guards stepped out, "No admittance!" they said.
	"Yeah well," started Dirk, "We'd take that as an 
answer, but we've got a BIG problem here!"
	"What kind of problem?" the guard asked.  Dirk 
simply pointed a finger upward.  The guard was shocked 
to see an 80ft. wolf leaning over the lab.  "...Oh..." 
was all the guard could say.  The other quickly rushed 
in to get the head scientist.  The head scientist 
stepped outside in a few moments.  He was a salamander 
of average height and had dark, piercing eyes.  "I'm 
Dr. Sander...I see what you mean."  The scientist now got 
an eyeful of the gargantuan wolf.  "Well, I'm sorry but I 
don't have the chemical that reverses the effect here.  I 
do believe one of my assistants in charge of this 
specific project has it.  He's a little stoat named Dr. Mort."
	"Any idea where we can find him?  Time is 
important!" asked Lana frantically.
	"Well not exactly, but he should be around the 
town, or maybe on the outskirts somewhere.  He never goes 
too far."
	"Alright, thank you."  Fenran decided to wait out 
at the outskirts so he didn't destroy any buildings.  He 
was worried it would turn into a bad Godzilla movie.  Lana 
and Dirk ran around town searching for Dr. Mort, but nobody 
had any idea where he was.  Lana ran down the town road 
and bumped into someone while going around a corner.  It 
was a stoat!  "Are you Dr. Mort?!"
	"Who wants ta know?" the stoat asked.  Lana was 
starting to worry this guy would be a pain.  "Do you 
remember giving a wolf a growth injection about three 
days ago?"
	"Yeah, what about it?"
	"Well, it worked, a little too well I'd say!"
	"It was a success?!?!  Woohoo, I'm brilliant!"
	"Congratulations and all, but we need the chemical 
that will restore him to normal, do you have it?"
	"Yeah, but I'm not giving it to you, I want to see 
this experiment through to the end!!"
	"Look, the end will come sooner than you think if 
you let this go, please, give me the chemical!"  Lana wished 
it didn't have to be so difficult.  Dirk had enough 
himself.  The burly tiger picked up the stoat and brought 
him to the outskirts where Fenran should be waiting.  
Lana and Dirk were hoping things hadn't gotten too out 
of hand.  As they reached the outskirts, they stopped 
in their tracks and were scared out of their skin.
	"Things aren't looking good..." boomed 
Fenran.  His voice echoed throughout the valley.  
The wolf was now somewhere near 250ft. and still growing.  
"See what our problem is, Dr. Mort?!" Dirk yelled.  "Oh, 
I see, but I don't know if using this is a good idea.  
It's still in the experimental stages..." muttered the 
stoat.  "Oh geez, you shouldn't be telling us this now!" 
Lana panicked.  Fenran quickly shot up to 300ft. and his 
anxiety worsened making him grow faster and faster.
	"I would've liked to have run more tests..." 
sighed Dr. Mort.  Dirk was losing patience.  "Look, 
there's a 400, 425, 450ft...a REALLY BIG wolf here, 
there's no time for anything like that!!  JUST USE IT!!"  
The stoat handed the needle to Dirk who ran toward 
Fenran's monstrous foot.  "This better work" Dirk whispered 
to himself.
	Just as Fenran was nearing 600ft, Dirk jabbed the 
needle in.  Fenran felt really dizzy, and started to 
sway.  "RUN!!"  The three of them ran off as fast as 
they could.  Fenran finally tipped and collapsed to the 
ground.  When he hit, he left a huge imprint in the ground 
and knocked over dozens of trees and came very close to 
hitting the edge of Hadile with his foot.  Fenran grumbled 
and fell unconscious.
	Fenran still felt very disoriented and groggy.  
He tossed back and forth.  It felt like he was lying on 
his couch.  As he started to slightly open his eyes, he 
heard a cry of joy and felt Lana's arms thrown around his 
neck.  He squinted a bit and could slightly make out Dirk 
in the background and Lana in front of him.  A weak 
smile crossed his face, and he felt relaxed.  He knew by 
Lana's embrace that his BIG troubles were over.

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