|Weak Hero| Of Fangs and Claws

Chapter 4

When school ended, they quickly all left together and met up with Kingsley and Jake who were already waiting for them. They made their way to Alex's house.

"Mom, I brought some friends over!" Alex called as they entered. "We're gonna hang in my room,"

"Hi Mrs. Go!" Ben greeted.

"Hi Ben, hi Alex's friends," Mom Go greeted. "I'm baking some treats for Ariel's tea party,"

"That looks like a lot of food," Alex commented. "Aren't Ariel's tea parties only with her stuffed animals?"

"She has two new friends now," Mom Go explained. "They're both very skinny and need to eat more,"

"Uh...sure..." Alex found it to be a bit strange but not too odd since his mother always cooked snacks for his sister's tea parties. "We're gonna head upstairs now,"

When they opened the guest bedroom, it was empty. "Gray?" Alex called as they entered. "Donald?"

Kingsley frantically shoved Alex aside. "Donald! Donald, where are you!?"

"Hey you're being too noisy," Teddy warned. "Alex's mom and sister might here you,"

"Who cares if I'm being loud!?" Kingsley snapped. "Donald's missing! I can't lose him, not again!"

"Is something wrong?" Mom Go asked as she brought up a tray of the baked treats to bring to Ariel's tea party. 

"Did anyone go inside the guest room while I was gone?" Alex asked his mother.

"Oh, you must be looking for Donald and Gray," Mom Go realized, surprising everyone. "They're attending Ariel's tea party,"

"EH!?"

Alex swiftly slammed open the door to his little sister's room. Donald and Gray sat at the table alongside Ariel and her stuffed animals. The two hybrids were noticeably cleaner, their hair had been cut shorter, and their clothes were new. Their animal traits had also seemingly retracted a bit.

"Uh..." Alex didn't know how to respond to the scene.

"Alex, I am very disappointed in you," Mom Go scolded as she set the tray of food down on the table. "You didn't even offer to let them take a shower and change into clean clothes!"

"Donald!" Kingsley rushed over to his boyfriend's side and hugged him tightly. "Don't just disappear like that without telling me! I thought I had lost you again!"

"Sorry," Donald hugged him back. 

"You cut your hair?" Kingsley inquired. "How did you hold the scissors?"

"Mrs. Go cut it," Donald answered as he grabbed a brownie and took a bite.

"You let her?" Kingsley questioned with confusion.

"She's nice," Donald shrugged, recalling her motherly warmth that reminded him of his own mother. "She made me and my brother new clothes,"

Gray ate some cookies. "Yummy!"

"Did Gray just talk!?" Gerard exclaimed.

"Is it surprising that he can talk?" Mom Go inquired. "Donald can talk,"

"Gray has been acting like an actual cat ever since we found him," Alex explained. "He never once spoke until now,"

Ariel was glaring at her older brother. "You and your friends are interrupting our tea party!" She started pouring some tea into teacups. "Here Mr. Kittypaws, here Mr. Fluffycat, have some tea,"

"Donald doesn't like black tea," Kingsley said.

"I'm not going to be picky about what food and drinks I'm given," Donald told him. "Anything...is better than...than what that hellhole gave us," His hands trembled slightly but he managed to regain composure.

"Donald," Kingsley gently asked. "What did they feed you in Mad Dog Arena?"

Donald suddenly sprinted out of Ariel's room and to the bathroom where he began throwing up into the toilet. "Others..."

"Donald?" Kingsley knelt down beside him and gently rubbed his back.

"They forced us to fight each other..." Donald revealed in a shaky tone. "The losers were fed to the winners..." He began throwing up some more. "Cub and I...we ate other people..."

XXX

"Both of them suffered so much in Mad Dog Arena," Eugene said while Donald and Gray were both resting before dinnertime. 

"I'm surprised Donald also managed to keep his sanity instead of his mind breaking like Gray's," Teddy added. "They went through some seriously fucked up shit,"

"Is there really nothing we can do against Mad Dog Arena?" Ben clenched his fists tightly. "Can't we get revenge against them!?"

"Big Ben, they're a large organization, larger than the Union," Gerard reminded. "Even the government struggles to locate and arrest them. It's a miracle that Donald and Gray managed to escape in the first place,"

"It's so frustrating!" Ben said. 

"Boys?" Mom Go knocked on Alex's bedroom door before opening it. "I understand your guys' reluctance to take them to the hospital, especially since it's evident that they were experimented on, but shouldn't you at least notify Donald and Gray's parents?"

"We could probably get Gray's mom's phone number from the school," Rowan suggested. "Kingsley, do you know Donald's parents' phone number?"

"Donald's mother died five years ago," Kingsley revealed. "Aside from me, he has no one,"

The Eungang and Jake felt some pity towards Donald. They each at least had one parent and Jake also had his big brother, but Donald had no family. They wondered if another reason Donald's mind convinced him that Gray was his brother stemmed from the desire to have a family.

"Do you think Gray's mother will react well to Gray's current condition?" Alex asked.

"We've never met her so we don't know what kind of person she is," Ben said. "But if she truly loves her son then she would accept him back in her life, even in his current state,"

XXX

The Eungang, Kingsley, and Jake all stayed for dinner. Alex's mom cooked a large amount of food for everyone to eat their fill. After he finished eating, Donald headed to the front door, much to everyone's confusion.

"Donald?" Kingsley asked. "Where are you going?"

"I want to visit Mom," Donald answered. Having experienced the motherly warmth from Alex's mom made him miss his own mother. 

"The columbarium is still open for visitors but is it alright for you to go out?" Kingsley asked. 

Donald took a deep breath and focused on his lion paws. His hands and feet both slowly began to shift. He winced with each movement. After a few agonizing minutes, his hands and feet were now more humanoid, but they were still a bit larger than they normally were and covered in lion fur and his nails were still sharp like claws. 

Word Count: 1011