It was a particularly sunny day as birds could be heard chirping melodies that caused a certain genius fur to rise. They were arrhythmic, each vocal piercing through his skin like an electric jolt. As if his body was completely rejecting the unwanted shiver that passed by, increasing his irritableness altogether. Ben had already been in a quite sour mood this morning, and the current expressionism those birds displayed through they're artistry had certainly no positive effect on it. If anything, it only seemed to dampen it further.

"THAT'S IT! I've had enough of those birds and their ruthless singing! If you could even call that singing!"

"Chill out Ben. You're making it sound as if they're claiming world domination on us."

Tom commented with his usual approach to things. However, the little bastard looked far too amused to actually be unaffected. And now could Ben not even be sure whether his annoyance was only directed at the birds. Deciding to ignore his inconsiderate friend, if he could even call him a friend after this, Ben prompted himself to continue on his current project. Despite his inability to fully focus on it.

For a second his eyes turned back towards his friend, who was busy burning his now pitch black fried eggs. Ben's nose scrunched in disgust at the smell that was emitting from the kitchen, mentally wondering how Tom himself hadn't noticed anything yet. Or if it simply did not bother him, which brought only more questions.

His eyes then trailed towards a certain pair that was having fun building their own fort. A sudden wave of unease appeared in the pit of his stomach. The whole sight would have been considered adorable, had he not remembered what it all led to the last time they did something similar to this. He was only praying that Ginger and Hank would spare him the torture and not monopolise the kitchen this time.

Angela on the other hand seemed to be the least bit concerned about the two troublemakers, far too occupied sulking over god knows what. She was sitting on the couch, watching one of those annoying Mexican soap operas. Apparently the bride had just realized that she was in love with her soon-to-be husband's brother, who was in jail, but had somehow escaped and managed to arrive just in time before the couple had to speak their vows.

Typical. Ben thought, rolling his eyes at the stupidity. How somebody could willingly watch this nonsense was beyond his comprehension. That timing was far too convenient to truly happen, as if he'd actually be able to pull that off in real life. Rather than wasting their time on this garbage, people should watch more intellectual movies. Angela should know better.

"LOOK OUT!"

Ben barely registered the loud crash that soon followed Ginger's obnoxiously loud voice, as a white transparent light enveloped the whole garage. He blinked himself back to the present, eyes adjusting to his currently blurry surroundings.

Before him, stood a frantic Ginger who was speaking very animatedly. His sky blue eyes wide as saucers. Ben was pretty sure that if the younger one wouldn't calm down soon they'd probably pop out. Unfortunately, Ben couldn't make out any word his friend was saying. He was speaking too fast, all words molded together into one big incoherent mess. For a moment he wasn't even sure if those were even words.

"Slow down Ginger! I can't make any sense of what you're saying!"

Ben swears he had almost choked at the end of his sentence as the sound of his own voice reached his ears. His friend, staring at him with a shit-eating grin stretched all over his face that screamed: 'I told you so!' Which was hard for Ben to ignore, since literally nobody would ever be able to understand such an ill-considered speech. Frankly, he had no understanding of why Ginger must've felt so offended.

Ahem, we are getting a bit off topic here Ben…

Due to his sudden awareness, Ben was finally able to notice just how much lighter the cat's voice had been during his inarticulate monologue.

Was it really necessary to point that out?

'Will you stop interrupting me!'

Sorry…

At some point everything just seemed to click, and Ben had finally understood what it was that had just taken place. Now that he had an explanation, the genius began actively searching for the cause of their misfortune. The only problem was: he could not find it. Ginger, on the other hand, was staring at Ben as if he had grown a second head as he was pacing back and forth like a mad dog, muttering some incoherent gibberish.

Ben was subconsciously aware of Tom's panicking figure and Hank's, surprisingly, calm demeanor. Which he now realizes was not at all that strange as he unconsciously reminisced all those critical moments, when Hank had appeared to be very useful. Mostly because he was the one to do the least complaining. And it was during these flashbacks that Ben finally realized what the missing piece had been all along.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he failed to find a certain someone who's been, up until this point, sulkingly sitting on the couch while watching TV. Too engrossed in his own musing, he was unable to detect the all too familiar presence that was carefully approaching him until it was too late.

"Boo!"

A high pitched scream enveloped the whole garage, forcing all frantic movement, in this case Tom only, to an abrupt stop. Angela was standing tall and proud, smugness radiating from her mere presence. But all Ben could see was the remote in her paw.

"Angela! Sweet, dear Angela! You really are an angel sent from above!"

Came Tom's rather cringeworthy attempt at flirting. Or perhaps that was his way of publicialy displaying his admiration for her? Either way did Ben definitely not wish to witness such a scene before him. Especially after seeing that evil glint in Angela's eyes. He was sure this was going to be the beginning of the end.

Whatever it was that Angela had planned, could definitely not be good. Otherwise she wouldn't have the need to blackmail him by confiscating his remote, which was practically his property. Even if she had not voiced her demands yet, her ocean blue eyes spoke volumes of what was about to come.

"Judging by your facial expression, this remote must've been the cause of this, no?"

She spoke in a sickeningly sweet tone, causing all of Ben's fur to rise. He felt as small as a mouse that had just been caught stealing cheese by the big bad cat. It was nerve wracking, and he found himself simply waiting for the verdict. Which was ridiculous since he was a dog and not a mouse. Not to mention, it was Angela who had stolen one of his belongings, not the other way around. If anything, she was the one who was supposed to await her doom. Not him!

Ben tried to remain unfazed, but the little spawn of satan was clearly not buying the act. Deciding to take advantage of the suddenly beneficial situation that she had found herself in, Angela threw the remote control lightly into the air before catching it, pretending to struggle while doing so.

"It would be such a shame if something were to happen to it, isn't that right Ben?"

Ben let out a shaky breath, trying to collect himself before sending the white cat a seething glare. His insides were boiling. His knuckles, had it not been for the fur, visibly turning white due to the strength he was using. Had anybody paid closer attention, they would even be able to hear the light crack that followed his partially unnoticed action.

"Wait! Why hasn't she changed?"

Ginger asked, pointing his index finger accusingly at the overly self-satisfied cat. Ben squinted his eyes in thought, wondering how the gender switch controller could not have any effect on her. Could it be that he had made a mistake in the programming and the probability of an effect only falls over males? He mumbled something inaudible, thinking just how impossible it was for him to make such a grave mistake, but still highly aware of the fact that no other explanation would be reasonable enough.

Never had Ben felt so inclined to strangle someone. Though, he still was not sure whether it was directed towards Angela or just himself. Admitting defeat, he reluctantly gestured for Angela to voice her so-called request.

"I'll give you the remote if you all agree on a girl's night out together."

She announced, eyeing their mortified expressions with utter amusement. Ginger was screaming in complete agony. Tom fell on his knees, begging Angela to spare them, or at least him. Ben was having a hard time breathing. Hank for some odd reason seemed completely unbothered by these circumstances. Which frankly, made Ben awfully aware of his sudden urge to commit murder. All in all, this was beginning to turn into one of Ben's most absurd and unfathomable nightmares.

"Hey, why are we all panicking? I mean, it's not like Ben won't be able to create a new remote right. We're worrying for nothing."

Tom gave him a desperate look, hoping, no, praying that Ben will give him a positive answer. Ben's head fell, hating himself for not being able to grant his friend's wish. Looking at the green eyed cat solemnly, he spoke.

"This remote was not complete and it will take over a month for me to start over."

His answer came out much quieter than he had intended. Voice barely audible. The mere sight of Ben's defeated look made the last piece of Tom's hope crumble completely. He could not bear to see his best friend in such a broken state. That's it! How could Tom be so selfish? It was obvious that Ben was struggling a lot more than the others. If anything, he probably even felt at fault for everything. Tom could not let that happen. He had to be strong! He had to be there for his friend!

Mustering up his last bit of strength, Tom marched towards Ben at a steady pace. His emerald green eyes were practically boring into his friend's brown ones as he placed his paw on the other's shoulder. Eyes determined as he spoke in a confident manner.

"Don't worry Ben, we'll get through this."

Right paw placed on his heart, Tom bowed in acceptance of Angela's victory. There was no need to worry. It was just one night, then everything would get back to normal. Ben was going to finish the remote and Tom can get back to his everyday life. A small part was even aware of the fact that nothing was stopping them from getting revenge on Angela later on. They just had to be patient and everything would be alright.

o0O0o

Turns out, everything was not going to be alright. Tom was not even sure just how much time had gone since they all agreed to fulfill Angela's demand. It was pure torture and Tom didn't know how much longer he'd be able to hear anymore of Ginger screaming. He was sure that his ears were by this point bleeding like a damaged fountain. How he was able to still remain conscious was a mystery he had yet to solve.

Time passed and at some point Tom managed to notice how quiet it had suddenly gotten. Carefully taking in his surroundings his eyes soon found a certain orange furred cat standing at the entrance of the living room. Tom felt his heart ache at the sight of his friend's broken form. Ginger seemed to be on the verge of tears.

Bringing himself enough courage, Tom forced his eyes to at least have a brief look of Angela's work. He, or rather she, was wearing a light summer dress with pink floral patterns cascading over the white material. A white summer hat together with a white purse, giving her a rather innocent, yet ladylike, appearance due to the light coloring.

Ginger wore a pink flowery bracelet on his left wrist that matched the dress. The whole outfit consisted mostly of white, but the small pink details on his clothing made it all that easier to make out the pink coloured makeup and nails. Frankly, the only thing that was standing out, from Tom's point of view, was the delicately crafted silver pendant, since his heart shaped earrings were of the same color as the short, pink heels he was wearing.

Soon followed Ben's slightly taller figure. He refused to make eye contact with Tom, but instead chose to embarrassingly stare down at the cold hard floor. Ben had crossed his bare arms over his chest as a way of hiding himself. Making the dark blue crop top barely visible, had it not been for its high neckline covering most of the upper part where his arms rested.

"Will you quit staring at me!"

His words were rather hostile and would've probably scared Tom, had he not looked so ridiculous at the moment. The star shaped earrings he wore, doing nothing to help with the situation. Not to mention that stupid, yet pretty, flower on his head that made Tom's urge to laugh all the more difficult to surpress.

Ben huffed in annoyance as he received the exact opposite reaction to what he was hoping for. His black skirt swaying in motion with his movements airily, making him more self conscious than he would've liked.

While he could appreciate the blue mascara Angela had applied for the sake of matching his clothing as well as the blue heels and purse he got, there was still one tiny little thing that left him confused. He was pretty sure his outfit had no red elements, so why she had decided to put red lipstick on him was beyond his capacity to understand. But then again, he wasn't truly a female.

Ben unconsciously scratched his neck, not being used to wearing such attire. His dark blue nails grazed the surface rather harshly, forcing Angela to slap his paw away with a pout, not wanting him to damage the manicure.

"I don't understand why you're so upset? If Angela's happy then so should we be."

Both Ben and Tom gave Hank incredulous looks. Angela on the other hand was squealing in delight, halfheartedly complaining about how the others could learn a thing or two from him. While Tom simply began to sulk over her fawning, Ginger continued to stand his ground. Hank on the other hand seemed to be completely oblivious to his surroundings by this point, admiring his new look in the mirror, making Ben internally cringe.

Out of everything that his outfit consisted of, Hank seemed to pay most attention to his black t-shirt. However, it was not the t-shirt, but rather the big golden heart in the middle of it. Had it not been for the heart, and maybe even the blue jeans he wore, Hank would be the biggest example of a goth. Everything else that he wore was practically pitch black, including his spiky bracelets and makeup. Except for the smoky eyeshadow that seemed to match the color of his broken shaped earrings.

At first, Ben wasn't even sure whether he was hallucinating. But then he realized that rather than chopping off his nails, Angela must've simply applied black nail-polish that seemed to merge with his leather jacket. All in all, he began to understand why Tom had reacted the way he did when Ben had just entered the living room.

"Well, now there's only one left."

Angela spoke, the evil glint in her eyes evident as she faced Tom. Watching their interaction, Ben swears he saw a pair of devil horns appear on her head out of nowhere. Finally realizing in what predicament he was in, Tom began to slowly back away from the white cat. But Ben knew. And Tom knew that it was futile. Because when the white cat has set her claws on something, she would get it by any means necessary.

"But Tom, you would look so pretty in red."

Oh, she was good. Ben could admit. He could also admit that Tom had a very weak spot for Angela making cute and pouty faces. Despite the thought leaving him a bitter aftertaste.

Deciding it was best to ignore these sudden feelings, Ben forced himself to watch his struggling friend. Tom had reluctantly stood up from his sitting position, in which he had found himself ever since he ended up falling while trying to escape Angela. And was now carefully advancing towards her expectant figure.

Frankly, the whole situation had been considered comical, had Ben not been forced to watch their whole exchange while wearing a skirt. And something told him, he was probably not the only one thinking this and it was very likely that Ginger was sharing his sentiment. Though, from a bystander's perspective, this whole situation would probably still be considered very entertaining to watch.

Minutes passed as Ben continued to pace back and forth in the middle of the living room while muttering some incoherent words. Ginger was silently watching him from afar, which was something very uncharacteristic for the orange furred cat. The sight, making him feel, if only, the slightest bit dizzy. Yet, as annoying as it was, he still did not voice his complaints, having a feeling that Ben would just use it as an opportunity to let his frustrations out on him. Which was a big no-no for Ginger.

After another couple of minutes, Tom finally emerged from the other room. And Ben was rather surprised when he saw his friend's new appearance. Tom was wearing a rather provocative red, midi dress, with a very deep v-neck that reached the upper part of his abdomen, almost touching the black belt on his waist. The black blazer, draped over his shoulders, accompanied by a pair of black heeled boots, giving him a more stylish vibe.

Ben's eyes, however, subconsciously fell on the ruby necklace that reached the middle of Tom's chest, practically where his heart was supposedly located. The jewelry, having practically the same color as the moon-shaped earrings he wore.

"What do you think?"

Even if it was phrased as: "What do you think?" The hidden meaning was as clear as day: "I rock this outfit, don't I?" Which was obviously meant as a rhetorical question.

Tom's red nails carefully touched his golden, feline shaped sunglasses as he removed them from his eyes, and placed them on top of his head. He had squinted his emerald green eyes into a challenging gaze and Ben could clearly see the purple eyeshadow together with the applied cat-like eyeliner. Which made him wonder about Angela's choice of color patterns, since the rest of his makeup was red.

But still, Tom was pretty. Ben could even admit that he was probably prettier than Angela. Not that he would ever say it out loud. The recently turned female feline would never let him live it down.

"Now now, let's not sulk and use this opportunity to have fun instead!"

oO0Oo

"I seriously have no idea of how to interpret this situation."

These were the first words that left Ben's mouth the second he realized what kind of activities Angela had planned for their "girl time". If you thought that doing makeup and playing real life dress-up games would be the end of it, then you were deadly wrong. Because Angela had planned to spend the whole day/evening together, doing practically everything.

And let's not forget the whole three hour lesson where all his former male friends, including Ben himself, had to learn how to walk on high heels, whilst moving their body more feminine. Which was pure torture, considering the fact that they ended up falling on each other every third step.

The dinner, however, turned out to be quite pleasing, excluding all the stares Ben had gotten from both the customers and the waiters. What annoyed him even further was that blackfurred cat that wouldn't stop ogling Tom from the other side of the restaurant. Ben could even admit that for the first time in his life, he had considered creating a machine that would allow him to turn into a cat. Not that he would ever let anybody know, that is.

Which takes us to the present, where Ben was aimlessly staring down at the stupid picture they had taken at a photobooth over half an hour ago. According to Ben, were those strikingly feminine poses, in which Angela had forced them to stay in, completely ridiculous. Well, mostly Ben. No matter how many times Tom and Ginger, who looked fairly alright, told him otherwise, he did not change his mind. Ben guessed femininity was just not his thing. And Hank was … Well … Hank.

"And now The Brightest Star!"

Ah, right. Ben had completely forgotten that they were on stage. And he was supposed to play the guitar. Whilst singing. Great. At least this was their last song. And when this torture finally ends, Angela will return the remote and Ben will finally be able to start fixing whatever it was that he had done wrongly. He just needed to be patient.

As the song began, Ben carefully started to play along. His paws, swiftly switching between the chords as he got lost in the music. He hadn't recognised the title, but as soon as Angela had started singing, his mood had practically lifted tenfold and he was feeling like he was on cloud nine.

Angela's songs had never meant that much for him, except that he considered the melodies beautiful. This one, however, had always owned a special place in his heart. Ben slowly found himself enjoying the whole experience, playing his instrument with such euphoria he had only experienced after finishing his long-term projects. And as the song ended, was he much happier. Not only him, but all his friends as well. Well, all expect for Ginger.

"I think I have learnt something very important today."

Tom said as they all were walking back to the garage after a long and eventful day. Hank hummed in response as Ben was busy fiddling with the remote that Angela had sweetly returned after the concert.

"Gender switched or not, I'm still the ole, cool Tom." He stated smugly, which made Ben want to punch him. Just like always, leave it for Tom to destroy the moment with his big ego.

"Well, I think that this event has bringed us all closer together and made us realise that we are who we are no matter the gender, race, furr color etc. We are who we are and still care for one another deeply."

As Ben finished his ranting, he only then noticed the all amused stares he had received from his friends. Tom was giving him a cheeky grin. Angela had the same malicious stare as she did before. Ginger was happily eating his ice cream, completely oblivious to his surroundings. Hank was giving him a knowing look that said: I feel you, my friend. Which was fairly disturbing if Ben was honest.

"Alright! Then let's celebrate our newfound philosophical views!"

Tom, being the sweet angel he is, decided to save Ben his embarrassment, much to Ben's appreciation and luck. He stared at his friend fondly, wondering what he would do if he didn't have Tom in his life. If I didn't have any of his friends in his life. One thing he knew for sure, however. It would be anything but as colorful as it was now. And Ben couldn't ask for anything else. Really.