Hey, guess who! That's right, JackalRaptor here again with another chapter for the few people who are currently interested in this. Thanks, guys. Until more people notice that I exist, I'm just gonna keep writing for the guys who do read this. Sorry for the long absence, as I had some personal stuff going on in my life. Yes, I understand that it's awkward to take a break right after the first chapter, but it's not like I had a choice! The important thing is that I'm back now with more content ever before! That's technically speaking, as this is my longest chapter yet… In other news, I'm going to take this story into less of an emotional tone, and bring it in more of a comedy/action story. To be honest, that's sorta what I was going for from the start, for Act 1 at least. I actually didn't really like what was going on in chapter 1, but this is supposed to be realistic. If you turn into a giant lizard you're going to freak out, whether it's with happiness or fear. Me, I'd be stoked. Anyway, make sure to check out my Twitter sometime! I'm also working on art for this story's profile picture while I'm offline, so I'll have that little present for you all in a bit! Now I'm sure you all came here for more Convergent Fates, not to listen to me talk my ass off. So without further ado, read, like and review!

Convergent Fates, Chapter 2: No Place in the Real World

Jay's POV

I woke to the sound of shouting. I could vaguely hear the unfamiliar voice of a man furiously yelling. Then the voice was suddenly silenced. For a second I sat in bed, confused at the loud noise. Then I looked down at my newly changed body-I'll never get used to saying that-and I began to panic. Was someone in the house? Had the government come to abduct me for science experiments? Was I going to be dissected or worse? More importantly, would they let me keep my phone? Probably not.

I flipped over the bed sheets in a messy fashion, and sprang out of bed, looking at the clock. It was 2:13 PM; I'd slept for a couple hours. If they were going to take me away from my house, and not to mention my wi-fi, then I at least wasn't going to go out without a fight. They were violating my civil rights and they knew it. I grabbed a black and grey T-Shirt with the "OBEY" logo on it, and some blue jeans off the floor. I quickly put on the T-Shirt, but the snout got in the way, so I had to look up as I did it. As I put on my jeans, I noticed that my tail was in the way, making it impossible to put on, and that my boxers were largely ripped through the back, luckily not enough to expose anything. I quickly ran over to my dresser and pulled out my pocket knife, which I kept safe for anytime someone broke in. No one had ever broken in yet, but I was paranoid, and ever since we had to hunt that giant rat in the kitchen, I wasn't taking any chances. I ran the pocket knife through the back of the jeans, listening to the shouting which was still going on. I could now also hear some rhythmic music, but it was impossible to tell whether that was from our apartment or a neighbor's apartment. What the hell was going on out there!?

I was happy to find that I had cut an almost perfect fitting hole on my first try. It was a bit large at the top, so I'd have to be careful or the pants would rip completely. I quickly pulled the jeans up, grabbed the pocket knife, and opened the door. My plan was to slowly crawl behind the kitchen island while they weren't looking. Then I could go through the open fire escape-Tony always left it open in the afternoon-and run like hell. Wait… was Tony okay? If whoever was in the condo had done anything to hurt him, I swear I'd screw running and beat the shit out of all of them. I peeked around the corner, ready for a fight. Then I saw what the shouting and music was.

"SONO CHI NO SADAME! JOOOOOO, JO!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. The shouting was coming from the TV. It was just Tony watching anime.

Tony's POV

"Hey." I heard from behind me. I turned around, seeing Jay come out of the hallway, putting something-was that a knife?-in his pocket. "What anime is that? I haven't seen it." That was just like him, trying to distract me from how he felt to keep me from worrying. I knew one nap wouldn't fully calm him down after something like this, not even close.

"It's JoJo. Wait, you haven't seen it? Damn, you're missing out; it's a great show. But, um... are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think I little rest was just what I needed, so I feel a lot better. But I had to cut a hole in the back of my jeans, so I guess I can't say the same about them." Jay said with a small grin. I was surprised to find that despite having a snout, Jay was still capable of producing understandable facial expressions. As a matter of fact, they seemed more animated and understandable than before.

"That's a shame, but I'm glad you're alright. Now," I said, pausing the TV, "we need to talk about the future. Other than my job at Sushi-Yama and my parents' occasional loan, your job at Panera Bread is our main source of income. If you're like this, you obviously won't be able to work there anymore. Without the job, it's going to be a lot harder to pay taxes and keep our apartment, so we need to find a better newer way to pay for stuff."

"Woah, woah! One step at a time. Before anything, can we figure out what happened to me and how? If we find out how I became like this, we can maybe figure out how I can change back to normal. Besides, ever since I got a tail I can't sit down without leaning over slightly, and it's pretty uncomfortable. Maybe we could check the footage from the security cameras in the hallways. We'd just have sneak down when they're not looking and check."

"Or, maybe we could-I don't know-ask them?" I replied sarcastically.

"What? No way! Then they're going to ask why, and I'm not dealing with that." He had a fair point; we'd silently agreed to keep this a secret, apparently. We sat in silence, desperately grabbing at solutions that didn't exist. Jay then got up and walked over to the fridge, opening it and grabbing a lettuce leaf. He started chewing on it, and reached for another.

"What are you doing?" I asked, confused at his sudden hunger.

"I want to see if I'm still able to eat plants, or if I'm a carnivore now. All my teeth are razor sharp now, but this lettuce doesn't taste bad, so I'm still not sure..."

"Wait, no! Don't eat it if it might be bad for you; that's like trying to see if something is poisonous by eating it!"

"Shit, you're right. I hope I don't get diarrhea or something later… wait, how do I sit on a toilet now with my tail in the way?" Jay wondered, the confusion clearly visible on his face.

"Eh, you'll find a way to make it work." I said. I suddenly had the feeling I was forgetting something important. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Work! I had work today in under an hour! I wish I could stay home to help Jay, but with me now being the only one with a job, I had no choice but to take every opportunity I could to work. Besides, he was a dragon now; I was sure he could handle himself.

"Jay, I've got to go, Sushi-Yama's needs me and the sushi isn't going to yama itself."

"What?! What if someone knocks on the door? Don't just leave me here!"

"Don't answer the door. Just watch some JoJo. It's really good, trust me." I said as I grabbed a coat off the hanger, and walked towards the door.

"But there's barely any food, what if I get hungry?! How can I-"

"Just don't go outside! Watch TV!" I yelled, and without further ado, I shut the door and made my way out the building. I guess I was a bit rude, I hope I didn't make him feel too bad...

Jay's POV

"Well, I guess I might as well…" I said, flopping on the couch and turning on the TV. I wondered why Tony was that mad, he usually had a happy attitude no matter the situation. Maybe it was partly because I couldn't work anymore, so now we probably wouldn't be able to afford as much nice stuff. I felt bad. I was the cause of his problems but I was unable to do anything to stop them.

I decided to take his advice and try to take my mind off of it. I didn't feel in the mood to watch some TV though, so instead I booted up the Wii U. I was happy to find that my new claws didn't hinder my ability to play at all, and in fact were not that different from just having longer, pointy fingernails. I decided to play Super Smash Bros, mainly because I was generally better than most players and didn't want to get rusty. I'd thought about joining tournaments, but then I realized I didn't have enough money to travel to any. I went to online mode, and selected 1v1 mode, choosing Cloud, my main.

In the first match, I fought a Link who obviously didn't know what he was doing. After he went for a super obvious down-air, I air dodged and he fell off the stage, not using his up-special until the last moment. The next fight was a Diddy Kong who kept spamming dash attacks and peanut guns. He also kept using the same recovery, so he used up his jumps, and used the jetpack; then I jumped off the stage towards him and neutral-aired. The next match was "JacklRaptr" using Bayonetta. She caught me in a combo, which continued until I was at 47%, But when I tried to retaliate, she witch-timed me. From then on, she just kept spamming Witch Time over and over while slowly adding damage. As I attempted to hit her with a Climhazard, she used a down air and we both fell down. She then recovered, but Cloud wasn't a character known for his recovery, so it ended in my first loss of the day. That was such a bad fight that I decided to stop for now.

I decided to watch that anime Tony had recommended to me, and ended up impressed. I was up to the part when Jonathan fights Dio in a burning mansion, when suddenly, something happened. One second I was watching Dio walk up the wall, the next, I was sprawled out on the floor of the kitchen. No time had passed in between the two moments, yet I was in a completely different place than before. I quickly jumped up and paused the TV, and looked back at the spot where I'd been. Then I saw it. Something had sawed one of the wooden chairs in half, right through the top. Was something here, or… had I done that? No, that would be impossible, I didn't even remember getting up, much less slicing the chair in half. But with these claws… it wasn't impossible. I had to test it out. Taking one of the halves of the chair, I poised my hand, planning to spear the chair in half. I thrust my claws at the piece of wood, expecting it to explode into little splintery bits. It didn't, to my dismay. Instead, I left a small indent in the wood and a stab of pain in my hand.

"Owwwww! Fuck!" I yelled at nobody in particular. I was confused as to why I thought that would work, or why I even wanted it to work in the first place. Whatever, I'd have to worry about that later. But weird things kept happening to me, and so I'd have to figure out why eventually. For now, however, I decided the only thing I could do at this point was to just sit back and let all the weird shit go down, and hope it all ended out okay. Despite my decision however, I was still pissed off about it. Was I really this powerless over my own decisions?! I sure hoped not, I couldn't accept that!

"What now, universe?! What the fuck now!? What weird-ass shit are you going to shove up my ass this time!? Are unicorns in the bathroom? Is the Statue of Liberty going to walk over to my house and take a piss on my car? Well, guess what? I don't give a shit what happens anymore! Go ahead, take whatever fucked up shit you have and throw it all at me! Go the fuck ahead!"

It seemed like the universe had decided to give me the silent treatment. How fitting. Wait… I felt something. I could feel something that I had never felt in my life, as power seemed to surge through my veins and-

"RRRRMMMM!" My stomach growled. I decided to rescind my earlier statement; that was pain I felt, not power. Yep, definitely not power. I had an intense stomach ache, which felt as if it was slowly getting more intense by the minute. Was it because I hadn't ate lunch yet? I opened the pantry, and was surprised to find that besides pancake mix, and a jar of honey, the only food I could find was 4 leftover taco shells and a strawberry fruit bar. I quickly ripped open the plastic wrap and devoured the fruit bar, and I was delighted to find that not only was the consumption of plant-based foods still safe (for me at least), but my taste buds had intensified dramatically since I'd last used them. The bad news was that the bar hadn't calmed my stomach in the least. I opened up the bag of taco shells, scarfing them down one by one. It tasted like stale tortilla chips, and it still didn't calm my stomach in the least. I checked the fridge, but the fridge was almost completely empty, excluding some butter, a bottle of mustard, a moldy banana and some mayonnaise. There was something wrong, this wasn't normal. The pain was getting worse now; my eyesight tinged blue… wait, why blue? Maybe these were the delayed growing pains of my sudden… change. I felt like I was going to pass out, or throw up. I ran to the toilet, but of course it had to be clogged. This meant that the only option was to throw up out the window. I didn't want to be noticed, and Tony had told me not to expose myself at all. However, this was an emergency. I passed the cut up chair and ran to the window, ready to slam it open and ruin the day of whoever happened to be down below. But as I ran over to the window, I froze. The window had somehow opened by itself in my absence, and there was a small canister on the windowsill, and attached to it was a post-it-note. Someone was definitely here.

I ignored the pain in my stomach and carefully examined the can. The note was tied to it with a fancy red ribbon. The note read, "Take one of these, it'll help with the pain. Not all the way, but it'll help. You're welcome!" Under that, erased but still visibly noticeable, was another line saying, "P.S: Stop being a pussy!" Unnerving as it was, I ignored the rude statement and opened up the canister. Inside were a dozen blue pills, about the size of my fingernail. I grabbed some water, but hesitated. Could I really trust whoever had left this?

"Ah, screw it. I got nothing to lose." I said indifferently, gulped a pill down. Instantly, my stomach calmed itself from a loud roar to a timid grumble. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad to finally have some relief, even if not all the way. Grabbing the can, I put it on top of the fridge, in case I'd need it again soon. As I set it down, however, I could notice something on the back of the note, the side facing the can. I took the note off completely and found more writing, which said, "Eat something within 1 hour of taking the pill or you'll throw up, pass out and die slowly. It has to be at least the size of a candy bar." I had heard that one needed to eat some food after eating solid pills, because they almost always had negative effects if you didn't. So since I'd just eaten a mysterious pill that instantly cures stomach aches, I'd have to eat something fast. And then I realized there was barely any food in the condominium. I'd have to somehow go out to get some more food without getting noticed, but if I was like this, then how was that possible? I entered my room and grabbed the baggiest pants I could find. My aunt had sent them to me for my 17th birthday, without bothering to ask me my size, and instead had just assumed puberty had transformed me into a humongous giant who wore XXL pants.

I grabbed the tape from the kitchen and taped my tail to my left leg, which felt awkward, like I'd tied my legs together. I put on the baggy pants, which were unable to stay up at all without the usage of a belt. After putting on a hoodie two sizes too large for me, I was indistinguishable from any other person unless viewed from the front. Some sunglasses and a blue scarf quickly cleared up this problem. Now all I had to do was leave the condominium complex, go to a store, buy some food and get back home. The nearest food store was a 7-11 a block down, but I didn't want to be out in the open that long. I gazed out the window for a minute before spotting a hotdog vendor near the entrance. I could grab one, make a run for it, and climb up the fire escape to the third floor. Piece of cake.

I cautiously opened the door, peeking out to spot anyone near. There weren't any bystanders, to my surprise. I pressed the ground level elevator button and waited as the number blinked from 6… to 5… to 4… to 3, and then the door opened. My eyes widened as there was an old woman with her dog. It was small, white and fluffy. I almost couldn't resist the urge to pet it- I've always been a fan of dogs- but I maintained my composure and silently entered.

"You've bundled up a lot; is it really so chilly out today?" She asked quizzically.

"W-well yeah, it's pretty cold out, and um, I have a cold so I need the layers."

"Well I certainly hope you get better, sonny. I can hear it in your voice, it's quite hoarse." She seemed genuinely concerned.

"Aw, thanks, miss." I said. The elevator door opened, and I walked out of the lobby, paranoid I'd blow my cover. As I walked out, I saw the hotdog vendor and noticed that since I'd left he'd moved progressively closer to the entrance of the complex. I moved closer to the vendor, and suddenly, all the cars on the crowded street slowed down to a literal snail's pace. I'm serious, they all barely moved. Then I looked and saw that the people had all but froze as well. It was as if time had stopped… but that was impossible. It had to be some other phenomenon. Confused, I walked over to the hotdog the vendor was making, noticing my steps seemed to echo on the concrete like cheap plastic. I grabbed the hotdog, waited as the vendor didn't react in any way. Then I ran into the alleyway. The world, or time, seemed to start again as the bustling and noise ironically returned.

"The hotdog! What happened, who took it?!" I heard from behind me. I must admit, I did feel pretty guilty. As I lowered the scarf to eat the unfinished dog, I heard more yelling, closer this time.

"Hey, this guy has it!" He was pointing at me. Just my luck.

I panicked and ran, almost tripping over my baggy pants. I wasn't used to running with my tail strapped to my leg; it felt unnatural. I could hear running from behind me. I knew the alleyways pretty well, ever since I had gotten lost trying to find the dumpster (Don't ask). I took a left, then a right, followed by another right. I was hoping to find the fire escape that led to the roof of my neighboring building. On the roof, there was a large slab of wood someone had randomly left in between the building and ours that we found was strong enough to sustain a grown man's weight. Well, we'd thrown bricks at it and that hadn't broken it, so we were pretty sure at least. Then it was a simple matter of going into the rooftop door, and locking it behind me. After a couple more turns, I reached the ladder, silently praising myself for remembering how to get there. I threw the wrapping on the ground and shoved the hotdog into my maw, savoring it as I began to climb up the ladder to the start of the fire escape on the second floor.

"Ay, there he is! Get your ass back down here!" It was the hotdog vendor and some drug addict-looking man. They were both holding knives. I began to climb faster. The vendor grabbed the ladder.

I hit the fire escape and began to desperately flee up the stairs with the two men in hot pursuit.

"Get back here and we'll let you keep your balls!" The drug addict said. I attempted to be brave about the whole situation.

"Fuck off!" I yelled from twenty feet up the staircase. This seemed to piss them off extremely as one of them threw their knife with surprising precision. I expected it to miss, and kept running. Then my side seemed to feel a bit hot, and I looked down. There was the knife, sticking out of my side like a knife in a birthday cake. I attempted my best not to scream.

"RAAAAAAAAAA!" I couldn't help myself. I was surprised to hear that my scream sounded more like a roar… which I found awkwardly stereotypical. My body couldn't seem to make up its mind as the pain bolted through the rest of my body as adrenaline rushed through at the same time. I tore out the knife, throwing it away (Surprisingly it landed on someone's balcony) and ran even faster, my movements becoming even more spastic.

I was one floor away from the top of the condominium building when the tape keeping my tail down ripped, and the baggy pants immediately tore part-way, caught on the railing, and completely tore off, revealing the jeans I'd been wearing before. I reached the roof and, looking behind me, saw that my pursuers had not given up their chase and were only about a floor below me and coming fast. I bolted across the roof, wincing as the little gravel rocks pushed into my shoes. As I neared the edge, I glanced around desperately for the wood slab. Where was it? Then I realized the terrible truth: it wasn't there, and must've fallen off the buildings. Looking down, I found my assumption was true.

"Nowhere to run, eh? Sucks to be you. Before we cut your balls and everything else off, what the fuck's up with that get-up?" The hotdog vendor said, eying my tail.

"Trust me, I'd like to know that just as much as-" I was interrupted as the drug addict rushed at me, ready to punch me in the stomach. I harkened back to when I was in high school, when I took martial arts lessons. My teacher had taught me and a few others how to win a fistfight. "This might seem painfully obvious; pay attention on your opponent's fists in a fistfight." He had said. I had proved to be fairly good at that, so now was a good as time as any to see if I could still do it. I saw his fist coming right towards my stomach, and then something happened. My arm automatically moved in the fist's way and grabbed it, faster than I could process. I realized this was the perfect moment, and punched him without putting much force into it, hoping to make him fall over. Instead he was blown back a dozen yards, as if he had been hit by a truck. He spiraled, landing on his stomach on the other side of the roof, and didn't get up. I stepped back, stunned. How had I done that?! I had no time to question myself as the other pursuer charged at me with his knife, and as it streaked through the air towards my snout, my instincts kicked in again as I dropped low, grabbing his upper arm and punching him in the chest as hard as I could. After a brief moment, he flew upwards a few feet, coughing up blood all over my scarf. I turned to see where he'd land, but I was at the edge of the building. The hotdog vendor went plummeting off the building.

"No!" He may have tried to stab me, but he didn't deserve to die for it… I looked down, hoping that somehow he'd not died. I winced in disgust as there was an unrecognizable bloody smear on the pavement floor. Yep, he had totally died… but it was my fault. Lurching back, I fell on my butt, letting out a quick yelp as the rocks dug into my jeans. I looked up at the sun, setting behind the other buildings. It was getting late, and I wanted nothing more than to go back to the condo and lay down in bed. Getting up slowly, I made my way towards the stairs of the fire escape, ignoring the blurriness the tears made on the sunglasses.

? POV

A wolf and a leopard watched as Jay left, from inside an apartment a few hundred yards away.

"That was insane! Considering he'd changed only a matter of hours ago, I mean. The enhanced abilities following the transformation usually come out an average of a couple weeks after, the sooner depending on the more powerful the ability is. If he did it this fast-"

"They really were right in their studies, gotta give 'em credit as much as I hate to do it." The wolf said reluctantly.

"Yeah… you said it would be a week or so. Guess you were wrong, haha."

"I underestimated him. When the report said 'multiplied,' I'd thought they were exaggerating, but this…"

"Yeah, not to mention that you totally forgot to give him something to eat!"

"How was I supposed to know he was out of food?!" The wolf asked incredulously.

"Whatever. Anyway, I've been thinking. When we make contact, what if he panics and attacks us? At this rate, he'd destroy us completely."

"Come on, we deserve more credit than that. He might have power, but this is unique. Besides, we all have skill; he doesn't. What good is a weapon if there's no one to use it?"

"Good point. Either way, soon we'll be able to use him… and kill them all." The leopard smirked.

And with that, the two left the room to deal with other business.

And that's that! Here's to hoping I won't get occupied and take as long as I did this time for chapter 3! A big thanks to my friend ODDBALL for motivating me to finish this as soon as I did, otherwise you'd have had to wait a lot longer… Anyway, here's a little surprise for you guys! A bio for Jay! And just to let you guys know, I will be going with design #2. #1 is harder to draw, so this is better for me.

Anyway, I've said my piece. That's all for today! I'll try to post bi-weekly, but until then, see you guys next time on Convergent Fates!