The animal community had assembled, the stage open, the mic prepped. The box turtle was seated at the very front with the beaver and zebra seated to his right.

It was bustling with the typical sounds of a zoo as everyone took their seats. The once the punishment–er–ceremony was ready to commence, the lights dimmed and a spotlight shown on the mic at the center stage. The box turtle took a slow glance into the dark abyss behind the seats. After a slight nod into the dark void, he then turned to the beaver and zebra giving them a similar nod. The beaver jumped up and made her way to the mic while the zebra proceeded backstage.

“Greetings! Salutations all! Few of you may be aware of this, however we have managed to capture yet another sla–er–captain! After much testing, it is now time to make the change! You all are well aware of the process.” After a brief pause and a slight zebra sounding shriek from the back, the beaver then shouted. “Bring out the prisoner!”

Almost immediately, the zebra came bounding out like a rodeo bull with the prisoner desperately holding tight on his back. With a plop, the man fell off in front of the beaver as the zebra then scoffed. After all, what fool would even think of riding zebra?!

“Fellow zoo captains, we have a Christopher Bennett here. However, soon he will no longer be known as such a person anymore. We have one final test that was unable to conducted within the lab.” The beaver then pulled out a clipboard from somewhere. “If the results are as I suspect, transformation will immediately commence.” With a satisfied smile, she back away leaving the zebra nearby to keep the detainee on the stage.

The beaver did remark internally to herself that was wise of her to keep the conditions of the test a secret from the poor zebra.

Christopher stood at the on the platform glancing about, unsure of what would happen next. The zebra kept his well trained eyes on the captain before him.

Suddenly a small section of the floor opened up on the stage with a small three by three platform ascending with a remarkable feline atop it. The Calico meowed and tried pawing the new captain in what was meant to be a ferocious manner. But of course, he was unphased by her. He merely grinned back and looked on to the crowd still curious as to what was going on. The zebra, of course, gave the small feline a friendly nudge.

Then three cell doors opened, one on each side of the stage. The zebra was the first to respond to the presence of the Bobcat, the Ocelot, and the Serval. Glancing too and fro, the zebra had made an impression on the trio of cats for even thinking of attempting any funny business with him in the past. The three cats came over to the new captain. The bobcat kept his distance giving a low growl as the other two came in and…pounced on his feet!

Christopher jumped back surprised, however the Ocelot and Serval were not attacking. They were playing with him? The Bobcat did not seem to have quite the same interest as the smaller cats. Then the Calico jumped down from her platform and started to play with the Serval and Ocelot, keeping their antics to a minimum.

What was going on? The zebra was quite certain that things were getting out of hand with a bunch of cats on stage playing around with each other. It was making him nervous. The beaver, however, had expected such a thing.

Suddenly the other cats grew quiet and stared off into the distance behind the people seated in the room. From the void appeared two pairs of amber colored eyes that grew bigger and bigger as time continued moving.

And, as usual, the beaver was unphased having expected this as well. Meanwhile the zebra was getting more and more nervous by the second. He had seen those eyes before. It was only by the mere fact that these two cats would challenge each other, that he would manage to slip out of their awareness. Now, both of their eyes were locked on the stage.

Christopher stood his ground, curious as to what these two creatures would do.

As they entered the light, the Panther and Tiger were now quite evident to all. They both came to the platform on opposite ends, both having eyed the new captain and the zebra. The panther slowly circled the pair while the other cats watched in quiet. The Tiger was also ready to do just about anything.

Suddenly, the Panther gave a hiss and the Tiger gave a loud roar! In heartbeat, the zebra sprinted off the stage. However, Christopher, with heart racing stood his ground. Running was not an option for him apparently.

The beaver then stepped forward to the mic.

“With the test complete, it is quite evident that this new captain ought to belong to the feline family of the zoo. He has shown signs of being observant and standing his ground in the face of some of our more predatory animals.”

After a pause for effect, she then continued. “With the powers bestowed on me, I hereby declare that Christopher Bennett henceforth be known as…The Cougar!”

Without pause, Christopher Bennett found himself transforming into one of the more powerful cats in the STF zoo.

Once the transformation was complete, the Beaver spoke once again. “The Tiger also wanted to make it known that although he has joined the ranks of the ‘big cats’, The Tiger is still the only cat to have a definitive roar.” And with that the beaver trundled off the stage with the zebra staring her down.

The Panther then spoke up with a laugh. “You heard it here! The Tiger has the biggest mouth!” Immediately after speaking, the Panther turned about to find the Tiger’s jaw on her hindquarter. The Panther was never one to back down, and thus commenced the chaos to ensue as the rest of the zoo filed out.

-The Tiger, Beaver, and Zebra