Kevin might not have been a real detective, but he always wanted to be one. For him this was the perfect opportunity, as the police refused to take up the case he was looking into. 

‘For the last time they’re not missing,’ the police would always explain. ‘They’re at a concert.’

‘They’re partying,’ they would say. 

‘They’re raving,” they would say. 

‘All of them are just some jobless losers…’ they would always end the conversation there, and that was what he hated hearing the most. But here, he would prove them wrong. 

Sure, the police may have been right that they were partying, but why had they never stopped for weeks? And they might have been right about the concert, but the performing band in question, Fangs, was a small local band. How had their audience grown so much? And why was there no information online about them? Everything he found out was through hearsay, and the people he could get the most information out of were often the most suspicious people. 

Kevin knew he could solve this case, now. He located this endless concert. All he had to do now was gather his evidence. 

He turned on his phone flashlight and pointed in front of him. Just like the staircase, the hallway seemed endless, tapering off into an unknown. Taking in a deep breath, he started down the hallway, his footsteps echoing along with the deep bassy thud, which grew louder the deeper he went. When he got to the end of the hallway, he found and old metal door, colorful lights flickering underneath the crack between the door and the floor.  At first Kevin thought he should just go in, expose whatever this band was doing, and then leave. But he realized it might not be a good idea to just run in, guns blazing. Maybe someone would catch him and destroy his phone. It was best to act cool, and pretend he was there just to hang out.

Kevin cracked open the door, slipped inside, and shut the door behind him. Flashing lights blinded him. Loud music rattled his skull. He wanted to take in his surroundings, to investigate, but the space was too overstimulating to focus on any one thing, or any one person. It was clearly a party, as people were dancing, eating, drinking, and waving glowsticks, but he couldn’t analyze the space or the people.

I need to blend in! Kevin thought to himself, as he realized his jeans and polo shirt looked far too uptight for a party like this. He either needed to find something similar to what everyone else was wearing, or he would need to act more casual and more relaxed. He opted for the latter, as he tried to ground himself by focusing on just one thing about his surroundings, by only trying to analyze that thing and not getting carried away taking in everything at once. It was easy to become aware of the music. The bass droned chords, the singer and guitar sang a slow melody, and the drums were oddly fast paced. Despite the unusual style, Kevin found this music oddly catchy. 

As Kevin wandered the space, looking for anything fishy, his footsteps began to line up with the beat, and he couldn’t help but nod to the rhythm and hum along with the music. His footfalls grew heavier and heavier. At first it was only that his steps became more flat-footed, but then his feet themselves became heavier, his shoes growing tighter. His shoes finally gave way, his toes bursting through the toecaps on each shoe. His feet looked like regular human feet, at first, just swollen, but his toenails began to retract and shrink. Then each toe began to grow thinner and longer. The skin on his feet became sweaty but then began to moisten, becoming slimier, his skin going pale, and then discoloring to grey. The slime formed a membrane between each toe, which thickened and solidified. His nails retracted more, his toes kept growing longer and thinner, and the webbing between each toe grew more and more solid, making his feet go from human to floppy webbed flippers. 

But Kevin didn’t notice any of this, as he was too focused on the music. 

He continued looking for a place where he could find some merch as a disguise, and in the meantime, he kept listening to the music. Fangs was a better band than he expected. The song was so catchy that he couldn't get it out of his head, and he didn’t want to. After taking in the catchy melody, the lyrics began to swirl in his subconscious as well. 

“The music puts me in a bind

my path ahead defined

Look in my eyes and you’ll find

I got nothing on my mind.” 

Kevin repeated these lyrics as he wandered. The more he said them the more they got stuck in his head. Each time he repeated “I got nothing on my mind” he felt his mind go blank, or his thoughts would get fuzzy, or he would forget what he was doing. Enough repetitions made it a permanent dampener on his brain, his thoughts slowing and getting sluggish, unable to connect all of them into a coherent string. 

“Music… bind…” he mumbled, slurring his words. “Path… defined… nothing… on my mind…” 

He stopped in the middle of the room, his jaw falling loose as he tilted his head. His gaze fell upon everyone around him. While his mind was going blank, this level of calm, this lack of chaos, brought him to a more grounded state, temporarily, one where he could focus. Everyone was either wearing baggy hoodies, or shades, both of which concealed their eyes. And while most people did dance, and party, some knelt in front of TVs that displayed the band, and some walked with big strides, arms outstretched in front of them. 

Kevin rapidly shook his head back and forth, pulling himself back to reality… something wasn’t right. He took out his phone and hit the record button. 

“Some of these people are acting weird,” he said. “I can’t… I can’t tell why, though.” He shut his eyes and strained his mind, forcing himself to think of something. He kept losing his train of thought, and he felt as if the answer was just out of reach. The more he tried to grasp the answer, the more it slipped away.  This only made him more stubborn. 

“I… I have to figure it out,” he grunted. He ended the recording and shook his head out of frustration.

Once he made it a few rooms over, he found a hallway, where there were several entrances to a concert hall. When he peeked inside he saw the band playing, and many people watching the concert, dancing and celebrating. There was a wolf singing, a lion on guitar, a bear on bass, and a shark on drums. He would have stayed and investigated for longer, but he noticed something that would help him more: a door labeled “GREENROOM.” 

“Maybe I can find the evidence I need in there,” he muttered, before slipping inside. The music was more muffled inside, and the room was pitch black. Turning on his phone flashlight revealed some mirrors by vanity tables, clothing and costumes hung up on tables, but also a big TV with a console and video game controllers, bottles of soda on top of a fridge, a pool table… the types of things he’d expect in a man-cave, rather than a green room.

A loud CLICK in the room made Kevin flinch as dim lights flashed on inside, a disco lamp spinning overhead, causing circling spots of colored light to glide in circles across the walls and the floor.  He watched the lights for a moment, fascinated by the pattern in which they moved, mesmerized by the variety in the color, smiling as his mind grew fuzzy once again. His eyelids drooped, and his jaw loosened as his muscles filled with warmth and sleepiness weighed over him. His stance wobbled, swaying back and forth as he could no longer stand straight. 

As he swayed, his legs became sweaty and grew slimy, just as his feet had done. All the muscles in his legs twitched and began to tense up, each one thickening and swelling, the denim in his jeans tightening around his legs before tearing at the seems, shreds and patches of fabric falling to the floor, leaving him in his briefs. 

He shook his head, reminding himself he had to focus. His webbed feet slapping against the floor with each step, he wandered over to one of the vanity tables and went inside the desk. The inside of the drawer was messy, but he found a composition book, with messy handwriting inside, each glyph being a thick graphite line, as if its writer was trying to break the pencil as he wrote. 

It turned out this book was a journal, presumably the lead singer’s journal and the evidence was scathing. One would only need to skim a line of each entry to get an idea of what was going on. 

“Dave turned out to be kind of an asshole, so we hired a new guy to play the drums. His name’s Kai.” 

“The new guy turns out to be really good at drums. He’s chill, cool, and charismatic. I look forward to practicing with him more.” 

“Kai is… kinda hot. I can’t stop looking into his eyes.” 

“Kai is so smart. I am so dumb. I must do whatever he says. He knows best.” 

“Obey Kai. OBEY KAI.”

This journal entry would give Kevin exactly what he needed to know, and would have been enough for him to show to the police… 

… but it was no help to him, because when he looked at the pages, he found he could no longer read.

He scratched his head, examining the glyphs, doing everything he could to decipher them, looking at one at a time, looking at the page as a whole, reading in all directions… but no matter what he did, it all just looked like meaningless squiggles. Realizing this book wasn’t getting him anywhere, he shut it, put it away, and stood up from the desk, but he hesitated as he failed to recall why he was there in the first place, his goal becoming a thought that was just out of reach, and the more he tried to grasp at it the farther away this thought floated. His head lulled to the side as his mind completely emptied out. 

Kevin heard a click and a slam as a door opened and closed behind him, but it sounded muffled and distant to him, his mind separate from his body. He didn’t hear that the band had fallen silent, nor that the cheers from the crowd had lowered to a murmur. However, he was able to clearly hear the voice behind him. 

“There you are~” a deep voice said from behind him. The floor creaked as the man took slow steps toward Kevin, until he was standing right behind him. The voice spoke directly into Kevin’s ear. 

“You’re not supposed to be in here right now, you know.” “Wh-whuh?” Kevin muttered. The voice sent chills down his spine, and it made his skin tingle. Kevin didn’t know why but he wanted to keep listening to that voice.

“You’re supposed be standing guard, making sure no one comes in.” 

“I.. am…?” Kevin asked. Between the voice in his ears, the song stuck in his head, and his thoughtless trance, he had no clue what he had been doing. What the voice was saying seemed entirely plausible. 

The walked around Kevin, standing right in front of him. He lifted Kevin’s chin with a webbed hand to direct Kevin’s gaze up at his face. It was a shark with teal skin and red hair… He looked very familiar to Kevin but Kevin couldn’t tell how. 

“Hmm… you must be lost, don’t worry, I can help you with that…” His pupils and irises began to glow, his pupils going cyan while his irises went purple, the ring of purple expanding to the edges of his eyes while a new purple ring formed in the middle, creating a rippling effect… 

Kevin’s eyes widened. He watched the spirals in the shark’s eyes, soaking in all the colors, absorbing them, studying them, getting to know them on a deep innate level. The colors engulfed his mind, expanding to become his entire world. Watching the spirals was all that mattered to him and all he ever knew. His head began to bob up and down, dropping each time a wave of sleepiness hit him, and rising each time curiosity and eagerness lifted his chin. Unbeknownst to him, Kevin’s eyes began to follow a similar but inverted pattern, purple and cyan ether spiraling within his irises and pupils, rippling inward. 

“There,” the shark cooed. “Feeling better?” 

Kevin’s head bobbing slowed and dissipated as it transitioned into a purposeful nod, then from his drowsiness they began again. His head began to bob in a circle as the he followed the swirling spiraling patterns with his gaze.

“Good, but you still seem lost… You’re in my green room, do you know why you’re here?” 

He searched for the question, lucidity returning only so he could answer the question, so he could satisfy this shark’s request. 

“I’m… I’m hear to search-“ 

The shark snapped his fingers next to Kevin’s ear. All of his thoughts went blank, and he forgot what he was saying. 

“Try again,” he said, leaning closer to Kevin, forcing him to stare even deeper into the spirals. The colors swirled around Kevin’s consciousness before, giving him a vast pattern to explore, but this pattern began to swirl within his mind as well, causing his thoughts to spin and reshape themselves. It felt as if someone spun his brain on a pottery wheel and began to reshape it. 

“I’m… I’m here…” Kevin began, “to guard you…to obey Kai.” This statement didn’t seem to come from any outside source, and it felt like it came straight from his own mind, as if it were his own idea.

“Yeah,” Kai said, smirking. “You’re a newbie and we were gonna get you into your security uniform, but it doesn’t fit. Why don’t you fix that?” 

“Yes sir,” Kevin mumbled. He took a deep breath in, feeling a deep satisfaction as his chest expanded, not just from his breath, but as his abs tensed up and began to expand, just as the muscles in his legs had done moments ago. He grit his teeth as he dug his nails into his shirt as they grew sharper and thicker, becoming white gleaming claws, tearing off the fabric to reveal his bare skin, going from sweaty and off-white to slimy and grey on his sides and back, his belly becoming a paler and white. 

He pressed his hands against his abs and his pecs, his muscles conforming to the pressure and reshaping themselves, becoming more toned, more defined. He inhaled through his teeth as this satisfying sensation brought chills down his spine and throughout his body. He squeezed at his left arm with his right hand, massaging his muscles into their desired shape then did the same thing on his right arm. He watched his hands as they too became grey and slimy, his palms becoming white. His ring fingers and pinkies both went numb as they pressed together and fused with one another. A membrane began to form between his remaining fingers at first being a thin flap of skin close to his hand, but then filling the gaps between each of his fingers, more and more, until his hands were completely webbed. 

The small bit of rationality left within him asked “what am I doing?” 

But Kevin ignored this part of his mind, as he couldn’t stop focusing on the transformation he was experiencing, how satisfying it felt, the tingles all over his body, the pressure release as he massaged his muscles, the blood rush as he grew stronger and stronger, the warm fuzzy and dizzying feeling in his rapidly hollowing brain. A new urge overcame him, and he balled up both of his webbed hands into fists, and raised them in the air,  tensing up his arms as he flexed both his biceps. He stuck out his tongue and went cross-eyed, as satisfaction, euphoria, and ecstasy took over, as more of his knowledge, wisdom, and memories drained from his mind, and as he felt even stronger.

“Attaboy!” Kai chuckled, patting Kevin on the back. A spot on Kevin’s back began tingling when Kai pat it, the tingling turning into a throbbing and squeezing sensation as a bump emerged on his back, growing bigger and bigger until a prominent shark fin formed. Eyes still spiraling, Kevin grinned at his boss, his face contorting into an expression uncharacteristic to who he was: flashing his teeth, scrunching his nose, and furrowing his brow in a slight snarl. “Anyway, you were telling me about yourself earlier,” Kai stated. “Why don’t you continue? Like… what’s your favorite food?” 

“Hmm… I really like sal-“

SNAP! 

The shark snapped his fingers next to Kevin’s ear again, making him flinch. Once more it felt as if something reached into his brain and molded his thoughts and memories by hand. 

“Try again.”

“I like… I like fried fish… Fish and chips… tempura…” 

“Pretty cool! Any hobbies?” “I… like to read, and do puzzles-“ 

SNAP! 

“Try again.” 

“I like… I like to swim. And I like to lift.” 

Kevin’s voice grew more monotone, mumbly, and grumbly with each statement. 

“What’s your favorite part about yourself?” Kai asked. 

“I like… my cleverness and wit-“ 

SNAP! 

“I like… My muscles~” Kevin chuckled, flexing one of his biceps. “I’m so strong and-“ 

SNAP! 

“I…” Kevin mumbled, tilting his head. He felt a tingling in his lower back and a tugging sensation, gaining feeling in something that wasn’t there before. When he looked behind him, he saw a shark tail had burst through his pants, growing longer and longer. He smiled and reached behind him, sliding his hand across the smooth skin of his tail, his smile widening with satisfaction at the sensation. He let go of his tail and began wagging it back and forth, enjoying the satisfying swish. 

“My tail,” Kevin stated. “My tail’s my favorite part of me.” 

“Awesome,” Kai replied. “Now, one last thing…” 

Kai grabbed Kevin’s face, which conformed to his grip, shifting like clay whenever Kai squeezed it. Kai squeezed Kevin’s cheeks, and his jaw became more angular and square. Kai pressed on Kevin’s nose, and it retracted back a little bit, fusing with his jaw to form a snout. Kai pulled on his snout, and it stretched forward, farther and farther, his teeth growing sharper, a second row growing behind the first. He rubbed Kevin’s eyebrows and ruffled his hair, making all of it fall out in clumps, leaving behind smooth skin. He pressed on the top of Kevin’s skull, which made his cranium shrink and become less rounded. He rubbed the sides of Kevin’s neck which caused the skin to become smoother, and two sets of indentations formed on either side of his neck, deepening into slits, becoming gills.  

None of the transformations as painful to Kevin, and every touch felt anywhere between comforting and satisfying. The smoothing of his skin felt as if Kai was wiping dirt off his face. The stretching of his snout felt like he was releasing pressure in his jaw. Seeing his nose in his peripherals grow into a big prominent snout also brought him this sense of pride and euphoria, loving the way he looked. Once the transformation was complete, Kai held the new shark’s face in his hands, directing his gaze into his eyes once more. 

“I never caught your name,” Kai whispered. 

Kevin’s name was clear within his mind. It felt innate, part of his core, lodged deep within his soul. 

“I’m Kevin-“

SNAP! 

“I’m… Kevin…” 

SNAP! 

Kevin’s eyelids drooped his eyes glazing over. His name put up a fight, not wanting to leave  his mind, but Kai had already reached inside his brain, and began squishing his name like play dough. 

“I’m Kuhh…Vi-“

SNAP! 

“Hhhh… Vin-”

SNAP!

The new shark’s eyelids fell shut, watching as the remainder of his mind and memory washed away. None of it would sound familiar to him at that point.

“I’m… Vuhhn…” 

SNAP!

“Van…” 

SNAP!

“I’m Van.” 

Van opened his eyes, revealing they were no longer spiraling, but instead were now pure black. He stood dazed for a moment, but then grinned and flexed one of his biceps, his tail wagging. 

“That’s right, I’m Van,” he said. “They call me Van ‘cuz I’m big.” 

“Great to meet ya, bro,” Kai said, patting Van on the shoulder.

“Who do ya want me to punch, boss?” Van asked, flexing his other bicep.

“No one yet,” Kai responded. 

“Boss is always right,” Van stated, dropping his arms to his side. “Born to behave.”

“I’m gonna get you a new uniform, you ripped the old one  because it was too small for you.” 

“That’s right! They call me Van ‘cuz I’m big!” 

Van found his thoughts looping, only knowing a small set of desires and actions he could take. 

“While I go look for your uniform, why don’t you do your daily exercise.” 

“Yes boss! Born to behave!” Van repeated. He dropped to the floor, and immediately began doing pushups. Kai smirked and turned away, his tail swishing behind him, glancing over his shoulder with satisfaction. Pride welled up inside him at the thought that he created another new person, shaped another new mind to how he wanted it to be. Sure, ‘Van’s’  mind still needed to be sculpted some more, as he repeated himself like a robot or an NPC, but this could be fixed overtime.

When he was in the corner of the room, Kai typed a number into his phone, and put it up to his ear, whispering into it once he heard a voice on the other end. 

“Flub,” he said, “My pal, my right hand man… I got a new friend for you to meet.” 

Kai rode that same high and same pride as he finished his concert, the hundreds of spiraled eyed fans all cheering for him and his band. The guitarist, bassist, and he all stood next to the singer and took a bow. Then Kai raised his hand, reaching into the psychic bonds he had with his bandmates. One by one, each of their spiraling eyes went wide, and they each dropped to their knees and knelt before Kai. Kai smirked, and twirling his drumstick, he jumped off the stage and started up the aisle, toward the back doors. 

Kai pranced around the aisle, waving to his adoring fans. Making sure no one harassed him or got close to him, his bouncer followed behind. He was a tall buff shark in jeans, boots, a T shirt that said “Security,” an ear piece, and shades followed behind him. Van’s arms were folded and he wore a scowl. The earpiece was connected to other security guard’s walkie-talkies, but by default the earpiece played Fangs’ music in order to keep the guards in a trance. 

Every time someone stepped in front of Kai, Van would snarl and growl at them, to which they would back off. Every time someone jumped in the aisle behind Kai, Van would swing his tail, striking them and pushing them back into their seat. The truth was: Kai didn’t need any help, getting around his lair, but he wanted his new servant to feel useful, to fulfill his purpose. Plus, having such a buff powerful figure following behind him, being loyal to him and protecting him… it was an immense sign of his power, both magical and social. 

Kai and Van left the concert hall, walked through the halls of Kai’s lair, and then eventually stepped out into the dimly lit city. Yellow street lights lit up the alleyway around them, and there were no sounds outside, except for the distant sound of cars on the road. Kai turned to Van and beamed up at him. 

“Alright, bud, this part’s important.” 

Van tilted his head, listening, but not quite understanding what he meant. 

“We’re wandering out into the city to have some fun, to celebrate a little! But my fans aren’t here. So you’ll have to protect me.” 

“Boss is always right,” Van stated. 

A bright light interrupted the two. Van gritted his teeth and blocked his eyes with one of his big webbed hands. 

“This is the police!” A high pitched voice called down the alleyway. “You’re not supposed to be hear at this hour! Both of you, state your name and business.” 

Once his vision came back into focus, Van saw a young scrawny police officer in full uniform, holding up a flashlight toward the two sharks. Van scowled at the officer and stepped in front of Kai, who smirked and put his hands behind his back, putting on a falsely friendly smile.

“I need to ask you to leave,” Van grunted, folding his arms. 

“Wh-what?” The officer stammered. He began shaking. To Kai it seemed like this officer was young and inexperienced, and he was maybe on one of his first shifts… an easy target. 

“The boss doesn’t wanna see you,” Van grumbled, taking another step forward. “Scram.” 

“Y-you don’t tell me what to do!” The officer said, trying to put on a brave face. “Now if you don’t comply, I’ll have to arrest you!” 

Kai couldn’t resist the urge to grin, excitement bubbling up inside him. He knew he could cause chaos in two words. He let this excitement linger, let silence bring more tension, before he uttered them. 

“Get ‘em.” 

Van charged at the officer, tackled him, and pinned him to the ground. The officer yelped. His eyes darting around, he squirmed and tried reaching for his walkie talkie. When that failed, he tried shouting for help, but Van covered the officer’s mouth,  his gigantic webbed nearly covering the officer’s whole face. The officer squirmed a little more, but eventually settled, and once he did, Van removed his hand from his face, revealing that this officer’s expression had become frozen with pure horror. The guard removed his ear piece, and leaned in closer to the officer, whispering to him. 

“Boss is always right… you were born to behave.”