It is now complete. This is a rather short one, but the next chapter is going to be a really epic, probably lengthy, one.

As for why it stops right before the real celebrations start, that is because it would be rather boring for reader and writer alike for me to describe all the going-ons of the party.

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Issue IV: The Day of the Party
Ready or Not, the Party Must Begin!

“Cruuuud!” Amy exclaimed as she dashed off, Ankh and Shadow following closely behind. Amy was running a bit slow, so she would not leave Ankh behind. Shadow, on the other hand, was having trouble willing himself to travel so slowly.
They were getting a lot of stares, and even a few comments, because of their costumes, but that was the last of their concerns. They were running late. It was about 20 minutes before the party was to start.
“We’ll never make it at this rate,” Shadow said.
“We’ve got to try!” Amy shouted, increasing her speed a bit.
“I cannot go that fast,” Ankh said, heavily panting. She was starting to lag behind, now that Amy was going faster.
“Hey Ankh, I got something you can use,” a kid on the sidewalk said coolly. He was wearing a rather large backpack, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing special about him.
The trio stopped and looked at the boy. “What might it be?” Ankh asked.
The boy said nothing, but instead rummaged in his backpack and pulled out a firework with a rope attached.
“Surely you are not suggesting…” Ankh began. The boy started tying the rope around Ankh’s waist.
“A rocket?” Amy guessed.
“This kid watches too much cartoons,” Shadow said.
“Listen, child, I know you just want to help, but I really don’t think this is such a good idea,” Ankh said. But the words fell on deaf ears The boy pulled out a button and pressed it. The rocket activated and sailed high into the air, taking a terrified Ankh with it. It was a nightmarish moment for her. She was sailing high and fast through the air, with no control over her flight. Sparks from the rocket flew at her, stinging her, and she had to shut her eyes tight just to make sure that she did not go blind. But then, suddenly, the rocket’s sparks, along with the rest of the rocket, stopped. She was moving so fast that she might injure herself if she were to try a psionic square to stop herself. There was nothing she could do, and nowhere to go but down.

Perry woke up by the buzzing of his alarm clock. 8A.M., still plenty of time to prepare for the party.
“I guess since it’s the day of the party, you might as well wear me around today,” the costume said optimistically.
Perry smiled. “Yeah, I guess you found the opportunity here. By the way, I’ve known you for about a week now, but I still have yet to hear your name.”
“Name? My… name?” the costume asked, almost as if it had never heard of such a thing before.
“Yeah. Do you have one?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it before. I didn’t think most costumes were supposed to have names.”
Perry chuckled. “Well, ‘most costumes’ can’t do a mind link, let alone transform the wearer. You’re special.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But what should it be?” the costume asked.
“Well… I’m not sure. Naming is a difficult process, I heard. And now, I know why,” he answered.
“Maybe I should do the naming, then. How about… Erva.”
“A strange name for a bunny, but then again, you’re not exactly a normal bunny.”
Perry stepped out of bed, then opened his closet. In there were all his numerous decorations for the living room, where the party would take place. He then changed his mind and closed the closet door, opting to get some breakfast before starting decoration.
The moment he stepped out of the door, he caught a whiff of something pleasant: blueberry muffins. It seemed a somewhat distant scent, probably from the kitchen, which was where he was headed anyway. And so, he continued on to the kitchen. When he got there, he found his suspicions confirmed. There was Kane, partially covered in flour. Next to him was a box of muffin mix and two dozen muffins. The third dozen, from what Perry could smell, was in the oven.

“You’re welcome!” the boy called after Ankh as she was launched up.
“You idiot! Do you have any idea what you have done?” Shadow scolded.
“Ankh…” Amy muttered, staring at the shrinking dot in the sky that was Ankh.
“I know what I did. I sent her way ahead of you guys. Fast, easy transport,” the boy said triumphantly.
Shadow glared at the boy, enraged. “And what happens when that rocket lands? Do you think she’ll fall on a conveniently located truck of pillows or something? I doubt it!”
The boy gulped, terrified. After all, he was but a young boy being stared down by a particularly intimidating, not to mention powerful, black wolf.
“Do you think she’ll survive?” Amy asked, horrified by the prospect of Ankh hitting something… too solid.
“All I know is that we’d better get over there fast,” Shadow said. He rushed in the direction of the now descending dot in the distant sky. Amy glanced for a moment back at the quivering boy, then followed Shadow down the street, to wherever Ankh might land.

Ankh woke up in a dark place that smelled like soot, so strong that it made her sneeze several times. By the feel of it, she was upside-down, so she twisted herself upright and shook the soot off her fur. Her head was pounding. Where was she? And how did she get here?
“Mommy, mommy! I heard something in the chimney! It must be Santa!” a girl called out from somewhere in the distance. She heard approaching footsteps on what seemed like carpeting. Was this a house? It must have been.
Wait… Santa? If a girl was mistaking her for Santa, then she must have been out for months. And all in this chimney? It was all very confusing. If she had been out for months, what noise had she made that sounded like Santa? Was it her getting up and shaking herself off? Or perhaps some manner of noise that she made while unconscious?
She then heard the voice of an older woman. “Oh, that’s silly. December is still months away, child.”
This was a great relief to Ankh. She had not been out that long, after all. But how long had she been out for? Had it been mere moments, or had it been days or even weeks? She decided, though, that this was of lesser importance. The two pressing concerns were whether she had a concussion or not and how she would explain the situation to the child and the person whom she assumed to be the mother.

The child still detected the wolf’s life force. His plan to destroy one of the wolves had failed. He would have to go back to his home… for now.
But he would be back, back to slay the wolves and their creator, back to slay even that scrap heap and half-breed that lived with him, once and for all.
Yet he knew he would have to be subtle. As long as he kept to the shadows, kept anyone from noticing his true identity, he would be at no risk of harm. But as soon as his identity was revealed, those meddling heroes would be after him. He did not want to risk that. At least, not yet.

Kane looked up from his cooking, at Perry. He stared, speechless, at the strange half-bunny before him. What was this strange creature? Was it once a human, like him? If so, who was it? Was it a wizard like him, or was it a scientist, like… “Perry?” he asked, awestruck.
Perry was a bit embarrassed. How silly of him to forget that Kane had not yet seen this form. “Yeah. This is the, uh, living costume I was talking about…”
Kane paused for a moment to take it all in. “I guess that explains why you didn’t seem too afraid when a half-animal came knocking at your door.”
“Yeah, I think it helped.”
“Well, muffins are ready whenever. You can eat them now, or you can wait until the party, whichever you want.”
“Well, I don’t know that I’ll be able to eat any at the moment, unfortunately. Bread is very bad for rabbits, I’m afraid.”
“Well, I guess we should be glad I haven’t started on the cake yet, then.”
“Ooh! Make it a carrot cake!” Patch called from a different room, apparently having overheard the conversation.
“Well, I’m not really sure that would nullify the effects of bread. It would probably taste good, otherwise,” Perry said.
“Well, I guess I should go ahead and prepare a salad, then. It’s a bit hard to stick candles in that, though,” Kane said, a bit humorously. He was, of course, not seriously intending to do such a foolish act as lighting candles in salad. Salad flambé did not sound very appealing.
“I never really tried eating while in rabbit form, but I’m pretty sure a salad would be pretty good. And the muffins should be a pretty good thing to serve on the side, since not everyone likes salad,” Perry said.
“Yeah, which means more for us,” Erva commented optimistically.
“Good point,” Perry mentally responded.
“We should also probably include meat, because the will be some carnivores present,” Perry said, referring to the wolves.
“You know, it’s strange. When you are transformed, your ability to eat is changed, but even though I’m transformed, I can still eat anything I could as a human,” Kane observed.
“Interesting. So while our transformations are similar in outcome, they have different types of effects on our internal organs,” Perry said.
Kane, not being well-versed in the solid art of science, almost missed the meaning of the sentence. “Well, I never quite thought of it that way, but I guess so.”

Into the room came a young girl and an adult woman, as Ankh expected would happen.
“You’re not Santa,” the little girl said, disappointed.
“Is that… Ankh? But what are you doing here? How did you get there?”
“A wayward rocket,” Ankh explained, her head still throbbing.
“Oh my, that doesn’t sound pleasant,” the mother said, not entirely sure what Ankh meant. Still, she had understood enough. “Are you okay? You aren’t hurt, are you?”
“I have an immense headache, but I probably do not have a concussion. I cannot say for sure,” Ankh said.
“Mommy, what’s a ‘concushin’?” the girl asked.
“Well, you see, it’s when someone bumps their head really, really hard,” the mother explained.
“What’s that red stuff?” the girl asked, pointing at Ankh.
The mother quickly switched her gaze back to Ankh to find that the child was right. In the light of a mere two curtained windows, it was hard to tell, but Ankh was dripping blood, most likely out of the back of her head, since there was no visible wound on the front.
Ankh was the next to check this theory. She turned around to look and, even in her limited view, she could see the blood running down her back.
“It’s ink, dear. Now, please leave the room. I need to clean this up,” the mother said.
“Alright,” the girl said. She rushed out, seeming not to give another thought to what she had just seen. After the child left the room, the mother closed the door, leaving only herself and Ankh within the room. The mother walked over to a large chest, opened one of the drawers, and pulled out a small first aid kit. “It’s a good thing I keep one of these in every room,” she said, opening the kit.
Ankh was about to inquire as to why the mother kept a first aid kit in every room, but decided against it. Now was not the best time to be asking questions.
“Head wounds tend to bleed badly, but briefly. You should be okay,” the mother consoled. She quickly and efficiently cleaned up the wound and wound a bandage around Ankh’s head.
“You do this with great skill,” Ankh complimented.
The mother smiled. “When you have a reckless child like mine, you just tend to learn these things.” The mother abruptly turned on the lights, then stared right at Ankh’s eyes. After a small while, she said, “Your pupils seem to be sizing normally. I don’t think you have a concussion. Still, you lost quite a bit of blood. I’d suggest you rest up. Do you have a home? Should I take you there?”
Ankh nodded. “Yes. My friends and I were on our way to a costume party with a relative at his lab when… misfortune struck,” she explained.
“You mean Perry, right? I guess that will work. The lab isn’t too far. It should be an easy trip by car. You don’t get carsick, do you?” the mother asked.
“I’ve never been in a car, but it is probably safer for me to ride than to walk,” Ankh answered.

“I think I have a really faint trace of something…” Amy said, sniffing the air.
“Is it Ankh?” Shadow asked.
“I can’t really tell. I can’t tell where it’s coming from, either.”
“Lovely…”
“Wait, a door’s opening. A woman’s coming out of it and Ankh’s following her!” Amy said excitedly.
“She seems to be bandaged, though. Still, the damages are not as bad as they could have been,” Shadow said.
Just as they saw Ankh, she too saw them. So, they had found her across such a large distance. What luck that was.
The mother was the next to notice the two. “Oh, hello. Are you two Amy and Shadow?”
“Hard to mistake,” Shadow said. After all, were there any other talking wolves in Adther? Such was highly unlikely.
Amy rushed up to Ankh. “Are you okay? We were so worried.”
Ankh nodded. “It is nothing to worry about. These wounds will heal in time.”
Shadow looked up to the sky in thought. “Not exactly the best thing to happen on Perry’s birthday.”
“Misfortune takes no vacations,” the mother said, sympathetically.
Ankh looked up at the mother. “Perhaps you could drive them to the lab, as well? I would be most grateful.”
“I’d rather walk,” Shadow said.
“Alright, then. Amy, would you like to ride?” the mother asked.
“I’ve always wanted to try riding in a car. Just don’t let it get too hot. I heard some complaints from some dogs that have been left in a hot car,” Amy said.
“Don’t worry. We won’t be in there long enough to worry about that,” the mother said, opening a back door for Ankh and Amy to enter.

Perry heard some light scratching on the door. He already knew who it was. Amy, Shadow, and Ankh had arrived, he just knew it.
He rushed over to the door and opened it. His suspicions were correct. Standing at the door were Shadow, Amy, any Ankh. All three of them looked very astounded, though Shadow only let that show for a moment before forcing his face back into a calmer expression.
“And who, exactly, are you?” Shadow asked, struggling, but succeeding, to retain a calm composure, though he was still ready to strike at any time.
Perry was just about to answer the question, but Ankh looked up at him and guessed, “Is this the living costume we have been told about?”
“Yeah. It’s me,” Perry said, a bit lost at the moment at how to explain it all.
“Oh. I thought Kane had failed another polymorph spell. That would have been pretty embarrassing,” Amy commented.
“It looks quite realistic. Is this costume truly alive?” Ankh asked.
“Yeah. It’s a pretty long story. Let’s talk about it inside, alright? Not much of it is set up yet, though, since you’re fairly early,” Perry said.
“Say what?” Shadow asked.
“Yeah, about an hour early, actually,” Perry said.
Amy thought for a moment. “Oh, I get it now. Daylight Savings Time ended yesterday. How could we forget?”
“Well, without a calendar or clock, I’d still say you do pretty well,” Perry said.
“Well, the clock tower is pretty helpful, too,” Amy said, blushing a bit under her fur.
The three wolves walked through the door and Perry closed it behind them. “Wow, the three of you have some pretty interesting costumes. Yours is especially realistic, Ankh. That is a costume, right?”
Ankh shook her head. “I am afraid that I met with some misfortune on the way here. It is nothing great, though. Time should be enough to heal it well.”
Perry looked a bit worried. “What happened? Did somebody try to fight you?”
And oh, how Shadow wished there was a fight involved. He was still rather angry at the child responsible for this. Youth was no excuse for what had happened. But then, he had another thought. If the child was smart enough to build a rocket, he can’t have been stupid enough not to realize its consequences, could he? Was it possible that the child was trying to kill Ankh? It was a possibility, but one that he would have to shove to the back of his mind for the time being. He did not wish to ruin the party.
“Let us just say that somebody was playing with rather large fireworks,” Ankh said. Perry winced sympathetically. He knew of how dangerous fireworks could be in the hands of the reckless, especially the large ones.
Ding-dong! The doorbell had rung again. “That must be Kevin. He’s an old friend of mine from college. His costume is pretty realistic, but it’s not a living one,” Perry explained. He opened the door to find that not only Kevin was at the door, but also Den, Damien, and Mary.
“Oh! I, uh…” Perry began.
“Don’t worry, they know. Damien found my diar… journal and learned all about it. Then he told the Den and Mary and now… they know everything,” Kevin, the one in the raccoon costume, said.
Shadow snickered. “You keep a diary?”
Kevin blushed under his artificial fur. “It’s a journal.”
Damien, the one in the skunk costume, bent down and whispered into Shadow’s ear: “It’s a diary.”
“It’s amazing that you could trick us so easy. It’s a bit scary that someone can just wander into the backstage and proceed to play a part in the stage,” Mary, the one in the robin costume, said.
“For an untrained actor, you did very well on the stage,” Den complimented.
“On the stage? You mean Perry was a star?” Amy asked.
“Yep. It was too bad that Perry couldn’t do more performances. The audience loved him,” Kevin said.
“If we’re really good today, maybe we can get an autograph!” Amy joked.
“So, who are the other guests, by the way? Or are we the only ones?” Mary asked.
How could Perry have nearly forgotten? Kane was one thing he had not yet explained. Of course, he was fairly certain that they would take it fairly well. After all, it was not very farfetched compared to living costumes. “Well, there’s one more guest, a recent friend. He was transformed into a half-tiger and is living with us now.”
“Another costume?” Den asked.
“No, it was a failed spell. That means he’s stuck in the form, too,” Perry explained.
“Bummer,” Damien remarked.
“Tell me about it,” Kane commented as he walked into the door. Perry could not tell how much Kane had heard. Had he been listening in on the whole conversation or was this just some extraordinary timing?
“So, how are you coping?” Den asked.
Kane looked down. “I don’t exactly like being in this form.”
Mary walked over to Kane. “Don’t worry. You’ll come to love your form in time.”
“I don’t see how. I mean, look at me. I’m a freak, a monster. What is to love?” Kane said.
“You are not a monster. You are a being of beauty and grace. You can do wondrous things in this form. Just give it a chance and you’ll see.”
Kane thought for a moment. “Well… I guess I don’t have a choice, now do I? I’ll wait and see, then.” He smiled slightly. “In the meantime, who’s in the mood for muffins?”