The Muscle Effect – The Offer and The Choice

Story by Gruffy on SoFurry

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#3 of The Muscle Effect (TF Themes)

The Muscle Effects Continues - Shawn is still held as a captive by the mad scientists...what are they planning to do with the poor wolf?




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Hello, everyone!

I've finally gave myself a kick on the butt and wrote this one out - the long-awaited continuation to my transformation-themed story The Muscle Effect! Wow! It's been over six months, I think - inspiration is a flighty thing, and it tends to jump around a lot...but today I had a nice, quiet afternoon to work with, and here you go - 7,000 words more in this saga of intrigue, young love, and mad scientists!

I hope you'll enjoy the read, and I hope you will write me a lot of comments - there was quite a lot of feedback in the first two parts of this story, and not without controversy, either, which means that I hope that it still grips you, and you are interested in the tale! I do hope to get the next installment out a bit more quickly than this. *chuckle*

Thank you, and I do hope you'll enjoy the read!




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Shawn woke with a start. His eyes snapped open, his paws curled into first, his tail smacked from side to side, his entire body tensed and pressed against the tight bounds that surrounded his chest and his limbs, locking him into place on the sinister table. The lights made his eyes somewhat bleary, and he blinked, trying to get the feeling to go away. He felt thirsty again, tired, and his limbs were heavy.

A glance down his body, with is tired, bleary eyes, told him that he still had an erection, but it was but a dull sensation now. The pink, knotted flesh simply rested against his belly. The throbbing tip rested in a small puddle of his cum against his massive abs. The stains covered his entire body, all the way to his chin, and emanated a strong scent of manly musk that he could smell with each breath. It seemed almost...soothing, somehow, to his dulled mind. Familiar, and then not, like he was smelling someone familiar...not quite the scent he was most intimately familiar with, his own, of course, but...something else.

Shawn flapped his tail and felt an odd, full sensation coming from above it as well, inside him. His muscles squeezed down instinctively, trying to expel whatever was lodged inside his ass. It didn't move, but caused a twinge of sensation as something rubbed deep inside his body. He almost sighed at the sensation, for it was pleasurable. It made his erection throb.

Shawn let out a deep breath. His head felt heavy, and he felt tired, but everything else seemed somewhat...clearer. Hazy, yes, and dull, but he found out that he was more able to articulate his thoughts. He knew where he was...somewhere with concrete walls and loaded with medical equipment, and he knew what had happened to him. There was none of the earlier confusion over his whereabouts or what was going on.

He felt trapped.

He knew that Doctor Gorman and Professor Harvey had done this to him. They' drugged him, strapped him down, and injected something into him that had caused his body to balloon into massive, muscle-bound shape. Something mysterious, artificial, dangerous coursing in his blood was making him feel horny all the time, and it made his brain dull as well. Somehow he had made the two other furs feel it, too, forcing them to copulate roughly in front of his very eyes. He barely remembered that, having been in the middle of his own massive sexual frenzy, but he remembered the grunts and the slapping of flesh as mating had taken place here...rough and fast, and deep.

The sexual thoughts seemed oddly distant, now, he realized. He just felt slightly warm, slightly fuzzy, and in need of a cuddle.

John...

_ _

The idea of his boyfriend passed his mind, briefly, but without deeper thought. He knew that the fox was likely worried. He must've been away for hours now...unable to be reached by phone which the two scientists had surely confiscated and hidden somewhere. John didn't know where he was. He didn't even know where he was himself. He didn't know what the two wanted of him. He didn't know how long this haze was going to last.

Shawn wanted to be angry. He wanted to muster up his strength, tear these bounds, pulls that damn tube off his arm and then beat the two down until he could escape. He was super strong now, massive, buff, covered in muscles that he had not possessed only hours previously. They called him a superman...well, he'd show them some super strength in the form of crashing it down on their skulls. They'd deserve it...captors...rapists...whatever they had done to him. They seemed to have gotten off sexually on it all. Everything was fucked up.

They weren't to be seen, though, the wolf noticed quickly. He couldn't see very much beyond the cone of light shining from above, and he wasn't sure where the tiger and the German Shepherd had gone. He was alone, only accompanied by the tubes and cables attached to his body.

He felt like he needed to take a piss, too, and there were no tubes on that part of his body, he knew as much. Things could get uncomfortable soon, Shawn decided, with the same dull determination that was evident in his escape plan, too, the wolf noticed. He just didn't feel much yet.

Shawn swallowed and tried to lick some moisture onto his dry lips, too, but his maw felt very dry as well. It didn't help much, and when he spoke, his voice crackled.

"Hello?" the wolf grunted. "He...hello."

He coughed, swallowed a couple of times, and tried again.

"Hello?"

No answer.

There was nothing, no sounds, no movements, for some time. Shawn repeated his call after a while, but still nobody answered, nobody came. He tried craning his head to see if there was anything happening, but the table made it difficult to see anywhere except straight ahead of him. The bounds were strong, and he seemed to find it difficult to muster energy to really trash against them. He tried arching his back, using his legs for leverage, but that brought little results, too. The bounds were tight and it was difficult to breathe when he was pressing against them, but when he relaxed, they gave away enough so that he could take some deep breaths and not feel like he was choking. It was better that way. He didn't want to feel pain. No pain was good. The discomfort from his full bladder seemed a bigger worry, now. It was starting to became an ache, throbbing somewhere below his persistently hard dick. And he wasn't even feeling horny. The erection didn't even feel good, not really now. Just like the one in the mornings, brought by the need to urinate.

It was all too quiet.

Shawn wasn't sure how long it took before he finally heard noises, rustling, pawsteps, anything, and he became more alert again, ears perking up to seek the source of the noise. It took a moment before he saw movement, too, coming ahead of him...and...to the left?

"Let's hope that..."

_ _

"I'm sure..."

_ _

The voices were muffled, and he wasn't sure who was speaking when, but he did hear a few odd chatted words, before two shapes emerged into the cone of light, and he could finally discern them. Two furs, both clad in blue robes of sorts, white gloves, their faces covered by hoods of sorts, with a soft, plastic faceplate, through which muzzles and eyes could be seen. A strange humming noise accompanied them, and made the insides of Shawn's ears itch.

One of the strangely dressed figures stepped closer and stood by the table, and Shawn recognized the tiger, peering down at him through the plastic visor. The helmet of sorts seemed to be made of loose, blue material. Shawn was sure he saw a black hose protruding from the back, waving behind him even as he leaned down a little. The humming intensified now that he was close.

"Hello, Shawn," the tiger spoke, a glowed paw coming to rest against his arm.

Shawn tensed.

"How're you feeling?" the oddly filtered voice of the tiger physician rumbled again.

Shawn blinked and stared back at the tiger and didn't say a thing.

"How is he?" the other fur, who couldn't be anyone but Professor Harvey, of course, asked from his place on the foot of the bed.

The tiger glanced at the monitors - some of them splattered with stray splashes of Shawn's cum, he noticed - and then turned to look at the German Shepherd.

"Everything seems fine. He has come through the peripheral effect, and is now in the steady state number three," he said, his paw leaving Shawn's arm. "He seems to be alert and maintaining his state normally. All vital signs are normal and within the limits of what we have seen before."

"Good," the Shepherd replied in the same filtered, oddly subdued voice.

"Indeed," the tiger spoke as he looked down at Shawn again. "How are you feeling, Shawn?"

Shawn refused to speak again, but he too, even if he was sure that his mind wasn't working right, could see a change in the attitude and the behavior of the two furs. They didn't seem jubilant anymore, none of the extravagant yelping, the celebratory kissing, or..fucking. The exhilaration seemed to be gone now. And why were they wearing these outfits...he had seen enough movies to recognize biohazard gear when he saw them. Breathing masks...whirring pumps for air...were they afraid to breathe the same air Shawn was breathing? Was he somehow dangerous to them? Contagious, even?

The wolf bared his teeth and hissed.

"Very reactive, I see," Doctor Gorman noted. "And quite relaxed."

Shawn pressed himself up against the bounds, just show that he certainly wasn't feeling relaxed at all. He maintained it until he needed to breathe again, and only then slumped down against the table again, sinking at the leather padding.

"The peripheral effects and the central effects seem to be harmonizing," Professor Harvey noted. "He seems to be coming towards normal post-emergence status on the steady state."

"I do hope so," Gorman replied as he walked towards the Shepherd and then took a little right turn, to pull one of the metal carts loaded with equipment towards him, the foot of the table. "He seems to be holding on just fine."

"Did you hear that?" Harvey looked at Shawn now, smiling through his visor.

Shawn didn't even bother to grimace.

Doctor Gorman stepped between Shawn's spread legs and gave him a little smile of his own. Shawn could see his breath fogging up the soft plastic panel occasionally. Was the tiger breathing hard? He didn't know.

"Shawn, I'm going to touch you now, because I am going to remove the prostate stimulator from your rectum," the tiger spoke in a level voice, "I had to insert it into you when you went into your first peripheral effect, to stimulate sexual relief and to balance out the hormone levels. You've had five orgasm cycles in the past hour and a half, and you seem to have steadied out nicely now."

Shawn wanted to tell the tiger to fuck off, but the idea of getting that damn plug from inside his ass seemed like a good idea, so he didn't make any token resistance, even. The tiger's fingers pressed against his tailbase only briefly, and then he felt movement, as the plastic object was removed from him in a single, smooth motion. It made a click as it was placed onto a stainless kidney dish on the cart. Doctor Gorman pushed it about a yard away and then rounded the table again, followed by Professor Harvey.

"Shawn," the German Shepherd spoke, "You deserve to hear what has happened to you, and why it has happened. I would to explain it all to you, if you would just let me. I think you are now calm enough after your peripheral effect, that you are capable of simply listening, and then making your own decisions based on what I have said. Will you let me do that?"

Shawn pursed his lips and decided not to give the mad scientist the pleasure.

"You will understand everything so much better once I tell you everything there is to tell," Professor Harvey said. "It will make you feel much better."

Shawn grunted.

"I don't feel anything," the wolf finally spoke.

"That is the effect of the oxytocin release, as well as the neurotransmitter cascade," Doctor Gorman chimed in. "It persists for quite some time after the initial emergence and the peripheral effects. Once the steady state is maintained, the levels slowly return to more normal levels, though there is a heightened level throughout the duration of the emergence, due to the normal function of the compound."

"So I am still drugged," Shawn huffed. "Still at your whim..."

"You are restrained because we are very well aware that we took you here without your permission, and we must protect ourselves from any aggressive behavior," Gorman replied. "That is why you are restrained. It is for your own safety as well, Shawn. You might harm yourself if the cannula is not removed properly."

"I'll take my chances," Shawn grunted.

"We know you will," Harvey replied. "But it will all make better sense once I have explained everything to you. I owe that to you, at the very least."

"You owe me nothing but my freedom," Shawn snorted. "And maybe a few hundred years in prison, and I'll make sure you don't run to Mexico before that by breaking your knee caps or something to make sure you can't hide."

The German Shepherd almost laughed - the bark-like sound he made inside his helmet made Shawn's ears flick hard.

"We will see about that," he said, "but before you intend to mutilate us, you must learn."

"I don't want to learn," Shawn replied. "I just want get out of this fucking place."

Again, the wolf dully registered his own flat tone, the lack of affectation, the lack of everything that one was supposed to do while speaking to carry out a tone, a meaning beyond the words that he was now monotonously reciting. He knew the feelings, and he wanted them, but he didn't feel them. His threat fell flat, because he knew, somehow he knew that he might actually be unable to lay his paws on the two. He just didn't feel like it.

Such a strange state he was in, he decided again. Worse than depression. At least he knew that he was sad, then. Now he wasn't even sad. Just cold. Cold despite the anger he felt for these two over kidnapping him and doing who knows what to his unconscious, spooge-covered body. He couldn't even be sure it was all his own.

"It will all become clear," Harvey said firmly. "I simply need a moment of your time. We aren't going anywhere before that, I think."

Maybe it'd do him some good, Shawn thought. Didn't evil masterminds always reveal the details of their evil plot in a long tirade that gave the hero a chance to escape and use the information against his captors? The professor seemed to be keen to do just that. It might be his chance.

"Go on then," the newly huge wolf grumbled. "Tell me what the fuck you've done to me."

"First, I must apologize once again, of course, Shawn," Harvey said, "because I assure you that I would have never done this in the first place if I didn't think that it would be beneficial to you, or at the very least, you would not come to any harm from it. It was done out of my high respect for you, Shawn."

Shawn growled.

"Strange way to show respect by kidnapping me and subjecting me to your experiments," the wolf mused flatly.

"I already told you of my regret, Shawn," Harvey said firmly. "And I do hope that you will understand, in time."

"I will never understand."

"Then I will try my best," he said. "And I hope that at least the scientist in you will understand."

"I don't see anything scientific in this travesty," Shawn grunted, failing to sound threatening.

"You must let me try."

"Believe me, Shawn, I didn't believe it at first, either," Gorman cut in. "But then he made me understand, too."

"Brainwashed you too, did he?" Shawn grunted.

"He just told me the truth," the tiger replied. "And I hope you'll listen, too."

"Consider me captive audience," Shawn felt a brief moment of satisfaction at managing to pull that one off. He let out a rumble from his newly massive chest and prepared to hear the confessions of a mad scientist.

"This will take some time, but you may stop me and ask any questions if you like," the German Shepherd said.

"Just go on or I will try spitting on you," Shawn said, even if he knew that his muzzle was probably too dry for that.

"I'll try to fill in any blanks if I can, too", Gorman said, too, sounding a bit more eager than before.

"Indeed," the professor smiled briefly at the tiger.

"Well, first things first," the German Shepherd began, "we introduced a chemical compound into your bloodstream, one which I prefer to call a serum, even though it had had many names over the years, indeed. It has caused an increase of 400 percent of your muscle mass, with concurrent increase in physical strength and muscle size. The chemical causes, via indirect means, a massive hypertrophy of all muscle cells in your body. It has also caused a widespread activation in neurotransmitter and endocrine activity. And indeed...someone once called the resulting state...super male..."

Shawn snorted.

"You already told me that. I can remember."

"Good!" Gorman said. "We were worried whether you would. The first moments after the emergency can be very hazy due to the oxytocin release and the...peripheral effects."

Shawn's erection throbbed. It hadn't subsided even with the stimulation on his prostate gone now, with that toy out of his ass. The sexual frenzy seemed to have happened a long time ago, in his mind, even if it can't have been too long. Such a strange state to be in.

"Indeed," Harvey continued. "Super male...the words of one Doctor Fischer who employed the compound in his Project Pilot Light, and who was the first fur to discover the potential of the chemical in 1975."

"I don't care where you got it from," Shawn retaliated. "I just want it out of my body."

"Which will happen eventually, of course, but you have to hear this first," Harvey said calmly.

Shawn wished he'd feel like scowling, and blinked instead.

The German Shepherd cleared his throat and let his paws assume the position they often did while he was lecturing in a hall in front of a class, which seemed almost eerie in the current situation.

"I understand it was first synthesized in some laboratory, one of the countless ones that are thus created every year in every laboratory in this country. This particular chemical was first created by scientists working for DARPA, in a project that aimed to develop new truth serums. They believed on their usefulness in interrogating possible Soviet agents, of course."

"Of course," Shawn snorted. "Conspiracy bullshit."

"The sample was filed in and forgotten, most likely even before it was tested a single time, as happens to so many compounds of the sort. It simply disappeared into the array of untested psychoactive substances and buried in the archives until 1967, when another DARPA scientist, one Doctor Phillip Woods, somehow got his paws on it. He was conducting research in preparation for the orbital workshop project for the Ministry of Defense. They were researching ways for prolonged astronaut survival during projected long term orbital spying and reconnaissance operations. Personnel would stay in space for an extended period of time, and they thought that chemical substances could be used to maintain both morale and good crew health and functional capacity."

"I can't say I am feeling any good morale at the moment," Shawn snuffled.

"That is what Doctor Woods discovered as well," the German Shepherd rumbled. "He administered the serum to lab rats in 1967 and the results were...discouraging."

"I love this part!" Gorman chuckled.

"Have you ever heard of the gay bomb, Shawn?" Professor Harvey asked suddenly.

Shawn didn't even blink. His sense of humor seemed massively impaired at the moment.

"Everyone has. It's a meme." he replied without hesitation.

Harvey seemed to be frowning.

"A what?"

Gorman chuckled and looked at the German Shepherd.

"A meme is a funny thing, usually on the internet, that furs keep sharing with each other online until everyone has seen it a hundred times and then they get tired of it and try to find a new one," the tiger explained.

"Ohhh I see..." the German Shepherd sounded surprisingly enthusiastic.

"Heheh."

"So what the fuck about the gay bomb then, you fucker?"

"Doctor Woods introduced the serum to the lab rats and soon discovered that they were attempting...hmm...vigorous coitus with one another," Professor Harvey carried on in his lecturing voice, "their testosterone levels peaked and they were excreting so much pheromones that apparently they even had to enclose the test subjects in pressurized containers to avoid the staff from being affected."

Shawn let out a huff.

"You can't be saying that it made them want to fuck animals."

"Not precisely," the German Shepherd replied, "but according to the documents, there was...ahem...an incident in the broom closet between Doctor Woods' assistant and...well, it is not really very important but obviously the chemical was shelved because increased libido and a tendency for buggery were not really what NASA was looking for."

"I think you've already done a lot more to me than turned me gay," Shawn snorted. "Even though I already am."

The German Shepherd let out a chuckle, oddly immature, just like most of his conduct had been throughout Shawn's predicament, and smiled.

"Indeed."

"So is that why you are wearing...those?" Shawn flicked an ear in the direction of the tiger looming nearby. "To protect yourselves from the pheromones? Am I putting them out as well?"

"Positive pressure breathing gear," Gorman tapped the side of his loose helmet, "the air is filtered for particles and blown through this hood and it comes out of this vent here..."

He pointed the white circle on the front of the good, and spoke on.

"We received a high dose during your initial emergency and the beginning of your peripheral effect, and we had to take measures after....ah..."

"After some time, because we were being affected and..." the Professor continued.

There was a pause, before it was Gorman who spoke again.

"...and we were becoming quite exhausted...and ...well...sore..."

"...and we can't really spend all night fucking each other when there's work to be done," Harvey spoke with some finality. "Such as to tell you about the super males."

"Super faggots by the sounds of it, if this happens to everyone who takes the stuff," Shawn pointed out.

"Doctor Fischer was in charge of yet another Cold War project," Harvey carried on without taking much heed of the grunted interruption, "Project Pilot Light. They investigated performance enhancing chemicals, substances for better endurance, sustained physical abilities. They wanted soldiers who could go on fighting for days without rest. Increased aggression, increased loyalty to comrades in arms, increased physical performers. They wanted to make super soldiers."

"Of course," he snorted. "I don't feel too super at the moment, though."

"They did what they did, using several compounds, including the one originating from Doctor Woods' labs. More rats, injections, experiments...everything they could do. Obviously they were by now aware of the effects caused by the drug, but the hyperstimulation of testosterone seemed like a promising venture. They believed they could counter the other effects and use it as a performance booster. They did already know about the power of testosterone and growth hormone, of course, in use at sports performance boosting."

"They wanted to make them fight harder, longer, and not go gay," Doctor Gorman smirked.

Shawn failed to find even the idea of the quip, let alone amusement.

"They tested on lab rats and then a few voluntary fur subjects as well," Harvey continued. "In their terms, the tests were a total failure. The chemical did cause increased feeling of energy, aggression and affection for those also under the influence of the compound, but the increased libido and the pheromone release were...problematic. The high levels of specific pheromones were found out to be the reason for the increased loyalty, as they investigated it."

"Basically, they...well, they were drawn to each other," Gorman quipped. "And since this was the time just after Vietnam, it was way before Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

"Why the fuck should I care?" Shawn muttered flatly.

"Alas, they did not give up yet, "Harvey said, slowly pacing back and forth, his blue protective gown rustling about. "They were conducting more experiments. Radioisotope tracing of the compound proved that while the chemical was readily absorbed into the bloodstream and caused stimulation of the endocrine system, there was no activity in the endocrine glands within the central nervous system. Somehow they were unaffected...and the reason was quite obvious, soon."

Shawn knew.

"The blood-brain barrier," the wolf muttered.

The German Shepherd snapped his glowed fingers.

"Precisely!" he barked, an odd sound as it was muffled by the helmet. "It would not penetrate it. There chemical could not effect the hippocampus and the pituitary glands and their various endocrine processes."

"Tough luck," Shawn breathed.

"Hence the great idea," Harvey sounded more excited now. "Deliver the compound into the brain itself, via drilling a hole in the cranium, inserting a catheter and injecting the serum into the cerebrospinal fluid circulation."

Shawn tensed. He wished his heart would have raced, and craved for a churning in his stomach that would tell of utter terror and fear...he wished, he hoped for that terrible feeling of anxiety, upon hearing what the German Shepherd has just said. He felt a compulsive need to rip his paw from its ties and feel his head...his neck...for any signs...oh, God...

"If you have drilled into my brain..." he spoke.

"We would never harm you, Shawn," Harvey replied immediately. "You must be patient."

"You just said..."

"Sixteen laboratory animals underwent the procedure," Harvey interrupted him. "They had catheters inserted and the compound was pumped into their brain. The effects were immediate, and dramatic. In 1976, Doctor Fischer witnessed the first total emergence. Total endocrine stimulation was achieved."

"Emergence, just like yours," Gorman said.

Shawn laid still, and contemplated the knowledge.

"It seemed perfect. Massive muscle generation, increased energy, increased loyalty to those undergoing the same transformation. The sexual side effects persisted, because systematic stimulation was inevitable and required for the full emergence, but they believed it could be controlled. It seemed like a perfect success."

"I sense a but here..." Shawn whispered, his maw almost too dry to speak comfortably.

Harvey stopped his gentle pacing, and gazed at the wolf.

"Indeed."

"What happened?" Shawn asked, curious almost against his will now.

"They performed more procedures. Longer emergence times, attempts to refine the technique, to prepare it for live trials on fur test subjects. The complications that...arouse...forced the program to be terminated before a single fur's brain was...penetrated, I must say."

"They fucked things up didn't they?" Shawn pressed on.

"They all died," Harvey replied.

Shawn's ears flapped against the bench. The feeling of being trapped in a cage bubbled up, stronger than before. He was almost...almost there.

"Intercranial scarring from the injection procedures, toxicity of adjunct chemicals, cardiovascular disturbances, homeostatic imbalances...electrolyte imbalances..."

"I might not be a doctor but I do understand the word toxic," Shawn huffed.

"The program was terminated. It seemed like another dead end, not to mention that the international climate was changing. Ethics...for the first time, it seems, interfered. The program was shelved and was never heard of again."

"Obviously it has been," Shawn retorted. "I am the proof."

"That you are!" Gorman was almost purring. "A perfect result in all regards..."

"I do not feel perfect," Shawn said coldly. "I know I am fucked up, and I am now trapped in this strange state you have created, and I know that I will still be fucked up when I wake up to the real world again."

"You will see," Gorman replied. "You will."

"I don't think so."

"But you must hear the final act of this...morality play, so to speak," Harvey barked one. "Twenty years ago...I was a young postgraduate student, pursuing my PhD...a brilliant student, I admit, and working on a variety of fields. You have heard of it, of course, because my bio is on the faculty web page...my early history is there. With a few exceptions, of course."

"Somehow I can imagine secret government work being part of that," Shawn pointed out.

"Officially I was employed by Harvard," the German Shepherd conceded, "But really, I was working for USAMRIID. The army needed my expertise, and I gave it to them for fifteen years."

"Bio weapons" the massive wolf grunted. "You made bio weapons for the men in black."

"I am under an oath, of course, to never speak of that, but I assure you, my work was for the good of the people of this nation," Harvey replied. "I will not discuss that, but I can tell you that it led me into discovering the serum, and the research associated with it."

"Were they asking you to make some more super soldiers?"

Harvey shook his head.

"No, but I accidentally figured out how to make them...or more like...I had a hunch on how it might work, in theory, if I was correct."

"And in practice, eventually," Gorman purred.

"I admit...I felt scared by what I had read...by everything I learned then that I have told you now, Shawn. I felt unsettled for weeks...months, even. I thought about what they had tried to accomplish and what they had done with that substance...and most of all, what they were once ready to do with it, if they would have been able to make it work."

"You'll feel how it works once I get my paws free and strange you," Shawn rambled.

"We shall see," Harvey replied with strange calmness.

"So is this the next experiment, then?" Shawn accused. "Kidnapping students to act as the first test subjects of these super soldiers?"

"I always saw myself and my work as something that could benefit peace, not as something created to take lives", Harvey said. "I was not willing to do something with so much potential for harming life...I would not do it."

"Gee, here I am, still."

The German Shepherd's eyes flashed, and his voice became stern.

"You are here because I saw potential in you, Shawn Permit, and I wanted you to help me to find it," the canine spoke in a low voice. "I will tell you very soon."

"Go on then," Shawn flapped his tail, "the longer you speak, the sooner this thing in my head wears off and I'll be able to get my paws on you."

"Just give me a moment, then," Harvey smiled crookedly.

"By all means."

"Five years ago!" the German Shepherd clapped his paws together. "I made my decision. I possessed the knowledge to unlock the serum, but I felt it was too dangerous. I was unwilling to give it forward to my employers. So what to do...what did I do..."

"You have worked here for five years," Shawn rumbled.

"I destroyed all record of the serum. Old paper folders were easy to dispose of, and steal away, of course, as part of my own records...and since they were obscure, there were no digital copies. I covered my tracks when I left...with samples of the serum and with the knowledge on how to make it work, perhaps."

"To make your own super soldiers."

"To do good with it, Shawn!" the German Shepherd wagged his tail. "I wanted to find a way to make something good out of it...if only by the very act of depriving the Army of its possession."

"And here I am..."

"And here I am about to start talking about love," Harvey looked at the tiger, and smiled.

"Give me a break."

"I came here feeling very much torn about myself," Harvey said, "and...lonely, too. I had sacrificed everything for the sake of my work...everything for work, and science. That almost happened here as well, as I settled into my tenure and...well...soon I was buried in my office again."

"Until you came for me complaining about back pain," the tiger chuckled.

Shawn almost felt uncomfortable, watching the two gaze into each other's eyes adoringly, over his own prone, bound body.

"I did..." the German Shepherd rumbled.

"It was probably unethical of me to ask a patient out but...I did and..."

"I was so shy..." Harvey said.

"But when we kissed..."

"it was heaven..."

Their gazing seemed to last on and on, compelling a dry bark from Shawn. It hurt his throat a bit.

"So you guys started fucking. When did the crazy kidnapping behavior come into the picture?"

"Remember that you are talking to your very own professor here, Shawn," Harvey clicked his tongue, "and we are together, indeed, and intend to for the rest of our lives...and I think I should allow Spencer to continue this story....if you'd oblige me, of course, Spencer."

"Of course!" the tiger purred.

"Go on then."

"We shared everything, Elliott and I," Gorman spoke, "including his research. We began to talk, and he told me about the serum, what he thought it could do, and how he thought it could be delivered safely. I was intrigued...extremely so, I must admit. I saw the potential...for so many things. New medicines...regenerative science...drugs to help millions, perhaps billions, if we could harness its effects. I am not a great scientist, but I knew that Elliott is. I wanted to help him."

"And we had to do tests."

"And you chose me," Shawn snorted.

That felt almost good, he realized. He had been almost... combatant.

"Not you," Gorman said. "Me...I was the first. I was the first, simply because how much I love my Elliot, and how I wanted to show him I a trust him."

"Did he brainwash you too?"

"I volunteered. Elliott tried to volunteer himself, but I told him that I thought it as all too dangerous. I was the one with intimate knowledge of the serum. He could carry on even without me...even if the thought scared us half to death."

"It was terrible to think that something would go wrong..." Harvey shook his head.

"But I persevered in my insistence, and that is why I was the first one to be strapped onto that very same table you are lying on, Shawn, and I became the first fur ever to undergo the emergence," the tiger rumbled.

"And it was magnificent," the Sheppie declared. "I cried."

"I cried when I saw the video," the tiger purred.

Shawn gave the tiger a look and snuffled, not about to let those two fall back into the reverie of their past misdeeds again.

"Pardon me but you don't look like you've got two hundred pounds of muscle on you, Doctor," the wolf grumbled.

An excited glint passed over the tiger's eyes, and his tail flapped against the Sheppie's, a victorious smile over his face.

"Not at the moment, Shawn, but I have, several times."

The thought dawned on Shawn. It almost felt hopeful. It made sense.

"It's not permanent?" he asked.

"It is the serum's greatest weakness, but also an asset," Harvey spoke, obviously as excited as the tiger, "Its function requires it to have a very rapid rate of metabolization. The half life is only...something between three and five minutes, on the average subject...that is of course, a calculation based on the few animal tests we have conducted, as well as my own biometric data, as well as Spencer's. After a time, without replenishment, there is a rapid regression, which results in the complete reversal of the serum's effects."

Shawn couldn't help but glance at the bag hanging above him, with the tube coiling into his arm.

Three minutes.

That meant that if he could get that thing off, he would have three minutes' worth of alleged super strength to use for overpowering his captors before the so-called reversal would kick in, if he were to believe the mad scientist spouting at him. If that was true, it meant that he might subdue the two, run away, and become his own self again, and get to the authorities before the two would have a chance to do anything about it. He'd get to the cops, he'd get John out with him, go hiding and wait until these two were locked up for good.

He'd get to them, and he'd make them pay for this. They had violated him, made him undergo this physical monstrosity and used him like one of those lab rats who had died for the sake of science, to prove a point. He wasn't buying any of the talk about helping him, or making this for him. They were obviously crazy and only doing it for themselves.

Hell, they were actually getting off on it, it seemed to Shawn, judging by the musk in the air that definitely wasn't just his. He knew what an aroused male smelled like, and boned up or not, he knew that not all of the musk in the room was coming from his own body. His own hard, knotted cock was slowly oozing pre out of the piss slit and onto his belly furs, mixing there with what remained of his cum, and added to the musk. The two mad scientists were now impervious to the musk, with those masks, but...perhaps...

"So...that's the stuff?" Shawn flicked an ear in the direction of the nearby IV bag hanging on its steel stand.

"You are currently receiving the maintenance dose, yes," Gorman replied. "The initial infusion required for the beginning of the emergence is higher than the dose needed for maintaining the emerged state."

Shawn glanced at the IV bag, shining a little in the bright light. Magic potion...slowly dripping into his veins.

"So that..."

"It is rather ingenious, I must say," Harvey spoke with some pleasure, "my invention of the polypeptide sheath which I could use to encapsulate the serum and hence deliver it into the brain..."

"All the pharmaceutical companies are abuzz," Gorman said. "Think of the potential...Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, brain tumor treatments, psychotropics...smart missiles against some of the most woeful medical conditions known to us..."

"And supermen..." Shawn said dully.

"If we find ways to moderate the effects, the potential is massive," Gorman said, "degenerative muscle conditions...any kinds of wasting illnesses...cancer...eventually, old age, perhaps..."

Shawn let out a snort.

"I don't want to live to be 100 with a permanent boner..."

The two furs chuckled, much to Shawn's annoyance. Even the hint of that negative feeling made the wolf feel slightly better. He was progressing, he thought. The effects were subsiding. He was still huge, but his mind was working more clearly. He felt determined.

"But before we can do anything about this serum, it has to be tested," Harvey said, "and for that, we need to conduct experiments. More elaborate tests, beyond those that we have performed on ourselves and one another. That's why we needed to recruit someone."

"KIDNAP someone!" Shawn bared his teeth and grumbled.

Harvey shrugged, his whole spacesuit-like outfit moving along with him, the hood becoming slightly lopsided.

"We had no choice. We thought you would never believe us if you didn't experience it first paw," the German Shepherd said. "I could not risk disclosing all this to you without...without being fairly sure that you would agree to help."

"I won't "Shawn said.

John...

_ _

If he'd only get back to John...

"You have a choice, of course," Harvey said "I do not intend to force you to do anything. But you have a choice...of course you have. Help us...or not."

"I will not help you," Shawn said flatly. "I don't want to...be involved in this."

"Then it won't happen," Harvey replied. "Then I will simply let you revert into your normal state and infuse you with a potent mixture of dissociative psychogenic chemicals which will induce retrograde amnesia and most likely make you forget everything that ever happened here. You will wake up, feeling very tired, very confused, and without memories of a few of the past days. It is not very exact but...it ought to be enough. Whether it is beneficial for your mental health, I could not say, but...it could be done."

"Are you threatening me that I would go insane if I refuse?" Shawn mumbled.

"I am simply telling you the truth," Harvey said sternly, "since you asked."

"It is the best we could do," Gorman said. "And that is the truth."

Shawn grimaced.

"And why would I help you, if I really can just walk away and wake up not remembering a thing?"

"I would try to attract the rather brilliant scientific mind hiding in that head of yours, Shawn, but I know that in your current state, it might not be effective," Harvey said, "so I would have to...well...use more earthly means of enticement."

"I cannot understand what you could do that could make me accept anything like this."

"Tell him, Elliot," Gorman said quickly. "Don't keep him waiting."

The tiger smiled at the wolf, causing Shawn to flick his tongue impolitely at the treacherous doctor.

"Three million dollars," the German Shepherd barked. "Three million dollars paid in ten increments of three hundred thousand dollars each. I have money, Shawn, I have the ability to pay you three million dollars, for your partaking in this experiment, and for your silence. If you agree, there will also be an offer for one percent of all proceedings made by the sales of the applications of the serum treatment...and if everything goes well...that sum will be...by all means..."

"Astronomical," Gorman grinned.

Shawn's dull mind began to work. Three million...enough to pay his student loan...enough to pay John's...enough to buy them an apartment near the university...enough to buy them a car...enough for good health insurance...enough for...

Simply put, it was more money than he had ever even imagined.

Money could not buy happiness or freedom, though, the little voice on the back of his mind whispered, beyond the neurochemical haze that held him in its grip.

"Think about it, Shawn," Harvey said. "We have all night, after all."

*

Oh my...what will Shawn say? It's so exciting to be back writing this story, and I hope that you enjoyed hearing all about the history of the mysterious compound! *Chuckle* I do hope for your feedback, and as always, remember that votes, faves and watches will help others to find these stories to enjoy as well!

Cheerio!