NOVEL NEXT 94. Return to the Warren, Part 4: Stage Magic (Cottontail)
“I told Alex everything is fine. She started rushing over as soon as I said a battle had begun but didn’t get to the Warren before we had it wrapped up. She’s going to wait at the Hut for us with the…” Flou2 the bunny-eared Fuzzy Slime looks around at all her prey monster kin surrounding us, “With her new friends, so don’t take too long.”
I understand. The mission isn’t a success until we return to the Hut, after all. And it’s better Alex doesn’t come down here since it’d cost some of her daily marks to change her Stature only to see us a few minutes sooner.
“That voice, is it you, Flou?”
“Hi, Miss Lois,” the Fuzzy Slime says while bobbing in something like a bow. “Yes, I ended up as a Slime after some Treefolk nearly killed me.”
“I’m glad you’re alright.” The dormouse woman with a furry tail kneels and hugs the bunny-eared Fuzzy Slime, who melts into the mature lady’s arms.
“The Mole-men… they’re all dead,” a bunny girl says in astonishment. So many voices talking over one another makes it difficult to recognize anyone I’m not very familiar with. Plus, I wasn’t that close to most of my kin before—even considered a bit of a weirdo due to my barely suppressed predator kink. Most know me by reputation after Alex rescued me last time, though.
“Is Peter gone?” a mouse boy asks.
“I saw Cottontail kill Peter! He saved us!”
“Hey, didn’t you hear what she said, call her a woman, or she’ll fucking kill you!” a bunny boy whispers under his breath.
“Cottontail is a nice… girl, she wouldn’t…”
“Besides, don’t you see those tits?”
“Yeah, she smells a bit like a girl now, too,”
“Peter really is dead, though, and our home isn’t safe anymore. Who’s going to protect the Warren?”
“Can’t you see Cottontail evolved?!? She’s a third-tier now, she’ll protect us!” Chrissy says with perhaps unearned confidence in me.
“Are you sure? She doesn’t look any bigger…”
“Nah, that hat is powerful magic for sure,” a bunny boy says. “And have you even seen what she’s wearing?”
“But she brought a bunch of scary predators with her! She’ll feed us to them!” a cowering mouse girl says.
The crowd of rodent kin muttering is loud in my sensitive ears. I’ve got a headache after what happened at the end of the battle so I’m in no mood for all this speculation.
“Everyone, quiet!” I shout over the mob. They go silent in an instant and I blush to find them all staring at me. “L-let’s figure this out one thing at a time, okay?” Everyone nods. I gulp; public speaking is so stressful!
“Introductions first,” I say as I wave toward where Mom is hugging Flou2. “That Fuzzy Slime is Flou. She transformed after an accident.”
As Alex well knows, Slimes are no joke. Nobody in the Warren would take one lightly, especially an evolved Slime. Flou was absolutely one of the scary predators that mouse girl was referring to. Some of the crowd recognizes Flou’s name, though, or sees Lois hugging her, and relax a bit around the otherwise terrifying monster.
“That’s Spindle, she’s a W—” I suddenly reconsider calling her ‘Wicked’ in front of everyone. Even bunnies and mice know monster names mean something. “W-Webling. She helped us.”
Spindle continues to cradle Megan in her arms as I speak. It seems to be helping the Wicked Webling’s image with the Fuzzy folk since Megan appears comfortable with the arrangement. In fact, Megan has been a little sweeter on the demonic spider girl since the battle.
“She’s nice,” Megan announces, “And won’t hurt anyone.”
Considering Alex’s magical contract with the Wicked Weaver, that seems like a safe enough assertion.
“Praising Spindle in front of her prey earns you a kiss,” the Webling says before planting an affectionate peck on the mouse girl’s lips. Megan closes her eyes and kisses back.
Despite calling them prey, the Webling’s congenial attitude and PDA along with Megan’s reciprocation further eases the tension in my rodent kin.
“And this is Gabby,” I say, tilting my head to indicate the Goblin girl I’m leaning on. I see no need to introduce Olindia yet, all things considered. The Jellyfish Slime seems content to be quiet most of the time anyway. “She’s in cha—”
Gabby steps on my foot, not hard, but enough to make me trip over my words. “A moment, please,” she says before turning us away from the crowd. She takes us a few paces away and whispers quietly in my ear to keep my rodent kin from overhearing. “Cottontail, these are your people and you’re the most evolved monster in the room. You should be in charge, even if you leave the logistics to me.”
“I am? But I don’t feel like I evolved…?”
“Are you tired and hungry?”
My stomach grumbles. “Yeah, and my head aches.”
“Those are signs you’re ready to evolve. I feel it too.”
“You do!?!”
“Shh, not so loud. Yes, we both need a good meal and a good sleep tonight. Monsters evolving in battle like Dura are the exception, not the rule. I think my body is ready for Matron. That means my magic is lagging behind, but I’m a Goblin, so it’s fine. You, on the other hand…”
She looks me up and down before continuing, “I thought for certain you’d become a March Hare. That’s something like a bunny berserker as far as I can tell from the literature. They’re overtaken by lust and madness, going into a battle frenzy when they fight. Whatever you are isn’t in the Book of Monsters… Yes, we need to have Alex fuck you as soon as possible!” She puts her hands on my shoulders and shakes me. “Cottontail, I need to know what you’ve become!”
I stare at her with wide, slightly panicked eyes, silently begging for mercy.
Gabby snaps out of it a moment later. “Ahem, sorry about that. I’d been wondering about you after than side-evolution last night. You fought Peter as a Bunny Patron, Aello the Harpy Matron, then Peter again as a Mole-Patron. I wasn’t sure he’d count twice for you, but here we are. You’ve ‘fathered’ several offspring, as well as fulfilled a few hidden conditions it seems.”
“If Spindle had to guess, she’d say there’s the barest hint of Dark Magic involved. From what she saw with her Profane Sight, Cottontail’s evolution bound the defeated Peter’s soul to the hat as a familiar.” The Webling snuck up on us while we were whispering.
Gabby doesn’t seem to mind. “Hmm, maybe that explains things. It’s vanishingly rare for a monster to peacefully survive a Dark Magic encounter without being corrupted. That could’ve influenced her evolution path.”
“Along with getting fucked by so many predators,” Megan reminds us.
“Yes, we can’t forget that,” Gabby nods with scholarly interest despite being one of said predators that fucked me.
“But, Gabby, then why did you call me the most evolved monster in the room if you’re going to evolve tonight too?”
“Ah.” The Goblin Apprentice proceeds to step away from me, conjure a pile of vines she sets on fire with Ember Magic for a source of neutral light, then make a wall of Water Magic for a reflective surface. “Magic-type evolutions tend to get their magic first, then their bodies evolve to catch up to the higher-tier baseline. Your magic is already third-tier.”
I see what she means in the water mirror.
My outfit has changed completely… and it’s stunning. “What is it?” I ask, breathless.
Gabby points to various articles of clothing, starting just above my rabbit paws, “Fishnet pantyhose, black teddy, red underbust corset, white button up, red bowtie, black tailcoat open at the front, and black top hat.”1Google Zatanna Thankfully, the top hat has holes in the brim for my bunny ears.
“Spindle supposes less skin visible leaves more to the imagination. She thinks this outfit is even hotter than the last.”
“Wow,” Megan whispers, her eyes glazed with desire.
I have to agree with them. The fishnet pantyhose rising from my bunny feet leave my thighs and ass plainly visible with how little the black teddy covers. The tailcoat barely hides anything and serves more as a tease from certain angles; the split on the back is high enough to let my fluffy white tail poke through. The red underbust corset emphasizes my breasts, which have their cleavage exposed with the first few buttons of the white top left undone, leaving my red bowtie alone on my neck as a choker.
“My boobs are larger…” I lift my suddenly heavier breasts—Alex would call them ‘C-cups’ on a human with my figure—in my hands and ask Gabby with concern, “Are they just going to keep getting bigger???”
Spindle, Gabby, and Megan’s eyes are glued to my jiggling breasts as I shake my rack in alarm.
Shrugging, Gabby replies, “Not all evolutions do that, but Matron-type ones certainly do. Yours is atypical in many respects.”
I’ve gone from having no bust to proper bunny boobies in less than a day. This is going to take some getting used to, both mentally and physically. “Alright, I’ll admit I look the part, but I don’t know any more magic than before! What am I supposed to do with this?” I ask while waving my hand to encompass my new outfit.
To my surprise, Gabby gives me a hug. It’s a warm, comforting, emotional hug rather than an excuse to press her face into my bust… though that also happens. My erratic heart rate falls after a few seconds of physical consolation. “Cottontail, you may have a rough time while figuring that out. I give you my sympathies.”
That’s not nothing coming from the Goblin Apprentice. Comparing a naked, untrained Gabby to the feats she displayed in today’s battle while fully equipped with herbs and spells is like night and day. Gabby must’ve had a bad time for years learning the basics of herb lore before meeting Alex, let along her journey to acquire her Apprentice Rod.
“Spindle would start with the hat. It appears to have potent magic,” the Webling suggests.
I hold my top hat in one hand and, after bracing myself, reach inside. Instead of finding a rabbit this time, my fingers close on fabric. Withdrawing my arm brings with it a long scarf, bright blue by the firelight.
Except, there’s something tied to the other end of the scarf… a red scarf? And there’s a white scarf tied to the red one? And a green scarf tied to the white one? And a black scarf tied to the green one? And a plaid scarf tied to the black one? And a yellow scarf tied to the plaid one? And a purple scarf tied to the yellow one? And an orange scarf tied to the purple one?
“Someone make it stop!” I plead. A deep puddle of scarves pools at my feet.
Spindle unties the last scarf in line before I finish pulling out, letting the fabric fall back into the hat’s impenetrable dark interior.
Applause fills the Warren as all my kin clap their hands in awe. They snuck up on me.
“Cottontail is amazing!”
“Cottontail leads the predators!”
“Cottontail will protect us!”
The crowd starts working themselves up. Gabby and Spindle each flash me a thumbs up.
Sighing deeply, I address my… my people. “Y-you were right b-before, the Warren isn’t safe now. But! But, I have strong allies who can help m-me protect everyone. We’re moving the Warren to under the hut in Fuzzy Field.”
There’s a moment of silence where I’m not sure they’ll listen to me.
Then Chrissy pipes up, “If Cottontail says there’s somewhere safer than here, I’m following her!”
“Hear, hear!!!” the rodent kin cheer.
Gabby breaks into the cheering to start giving instructions. “Alright, everyone, group up in front of me! Spindle and I will be weaving tarps from vines and spider thread to carry the Mole-men’s bodies. We’re taking them with us!”
…Despite being ‘in charge,’ I have no idea what we’re doing.
