text: A monotone buzz began to scream from an alarm clock into a very carelessly decorated bedroom. *7:45* the clock read as Terry groaned loudly. “Ugh... I thought I unplugged you!” Terry said as he nearly smashed the alarm clock with his hand. Terry climbed out of bed slowly as his eyes adjusted to the light spraying through the window from the bright sun. He yawned as he stumbled through his disgusting home. He rubbed his eyes, his hands rubbing against the many wrinkles on his face. Terry was an older man, around 53 years old. He was never the cheerful type and did not enjoy others company. He loved to complain, and his latest subject was the craze that had swept across the entire world in only a few months. The Changing. The Changing was a very cheap surgery where people could be turned into their favorite characters. Their looks and voice would be changed to be exactly like the character, so many people jumped at the chance to become their heroes. Most people became superheroes or their favorite movie character. Even other famous people got the surgery too! Almost the entire world had been changed after only a month of it being allowed. It was normal to be walking down the street and see Batman sitting alone drinking coffee or Michael Jordan playing basketball in your neighbourhood. Terry never understood the trend and thought it was a waste of someone’s life. He was one of the last original humans, at least in America, and he planned to keep it that way. He walked into his bathroom and stared at the person in the mirror looking back at him. He sighed heavily as he began to brush his teeth, his eyes focusing on the empty bottle of beer in the corner of the room like a monster glaring at him menacingly. He spat into the sink noticing the art gallery of different stains in and around it. Terry stumbled into his room, putting on his work uniform- A blue polo shirt with a small logo in the corner reading, “Terry’s Comics!”, and some jeans. He checked his watch. *8:10.* Terry clutched his car keys tightly as he left his house, slamming the door closed. He hopped into his car and ignored the trash collecting in every crevice of the vehicle. The engine jumped to life surprisingly quickly. Normally Terry would have to hit the dashboard a few times before the car finally started. He prepared himself for the work day ahead as he drove towards the mall. Terry stood behind the counter of his small comic shop. He stared at the people exploring the maze of aisles full of crudely put together displays of comics. He spotted Superman reading the back of a My Little Pony comic book and Sherlock Holmes aggressively eating a hot dog spilling different condiments all over himself. Terry barely contained the laughter building up inside of him. Suddenly, a very buff man wearing a ski mask ran up to the counter holding a knife. “Put all the money in the bag!” The man screamed while shaking the bag rapidly. Terry instinctively swung his hands into the air. “Uh...Okay..Just let me open the cash register..” Terry said nervously while secretly pressing the emergency security button under the counter. Almost immediately 3 large men wearing security uniforms barged into the store. Without hesitation they grabbed the robber and began to drag him out of the store. “Yeah! Don’t you ever try doing something like that again!” Terry yelled to the robber. The man spat on the ground, staring at Terry directly in the eyes. Terry rolled his eyes and continued working. The rest of Terry’s day was terrible. He got constant complaints from his customers about ripped pages in the books they had bought and lots of other bogus problems. Every time Terry would have to say that there was nothing he could do and point to the sign that read “No Refunds” hanging up behind him. The person would usually stomp away angrily or walk out of the store screaming at him. One of the only parts of his job that Terry actually enjoyed was his lunch break but even that went wrong. He ate quietly sitting on a bench outside of his store. Out of nowhere Princess Leia walked by and spilled her coffee all over Terry. “Oh my God! I am so sorry!” She screamed as she tried to clean him up but he stopped her. “It’s fine. I can handle it.” Terry said hiding his anger. He walked away cleaning himself up in the bathroom. At around 7:00, the end of Terry’s work shift, he walked to his car just praying that the day wouldn’t get any worse. He drove out of the parking garage and headed towards Skippy’s Bar. He watched the many people walking along the road, laughing with their friends, and just having a good time. Terry shook his head, disappointed in himself, and parked his car in front of the bar. “Hey Terry! how ya’ doing?” Skippy asked as Terry walked into the bar. He looked around the bar and saw Indiana Jones passed out on one of the tables and Jack Sparrow, The Terminator and Dracula all playing pool together. Skippy, just like Terry, was also one of the last original humans in America. He and Terry had become pretty good friends because of that, but also because they both hated The Changing. “Not very good. Just give me the usual.” Terry said, sitting down at the counter and putting his head down. “Hey man, what’s got you so down?” Skippy asked as he filled a glass full of beer and handed it to Terry. “Just a terrible day at work. It was a nightmare.” Terry replied. “It seems like every day is a terrible day for you Terry. Just remember man, I’m here for you and you can talk to me anytime.” Skippy said as Terry chugged his first beer and burped loudly. Although he wasn’t asked, Skippy slyly handed Terry another glass of beer, which he easily drank. Skippy continued handing him drinks as they talked. “Why can’t The Changing change a person’s personality too. No one can get their character’s personality right! You get me?” Terry said as he pointed at the other men in the bar and both of them started laughing. “Yeah...At least we still got each other.” Skippy said as he wrapped his arm around Terry. “Thanks Skippy. You’ve always been a good friend.” Terry said, mumbling after his 5th drink. “I think I should be going.” Terry said as he stumbled towards the door. “Okay. See you soon.” Skippy said smiling. Terry barely made it out the door because of how drunk he was. He limped out onto the sidewalk, completely forgetting about his car. He walked in the direction of his house, but bumped into two huge bald men wearing black suits and sunglasses. “Hey sorry guys, Hehehe..” Terry said as he fell on the ground. He tried getting up but was punched in the face by the first bodyguard and he passed out instantaneously. Terry woke up with a terrible headache. He groaned as his eyes adjusted to the area around him. He looked down and saw that he was sitting in a wooden chair with leather restraints holding his hands and feet in place. He shook his limbs rapidly trying to set himself free as he screamed for help. He noticed that he was in a small room with walls made of concrete, and there was a metal door closed in front of him. Suddenly, the door swung open and Skippy walked in with the two bodyguards from the night before right behind him. “Hey Terry. How was your sleep?” Skippy said with a sense of madness in his voice. “What is this, Skippy? What’s happening?” Terry yelled, looking around the room rapidly. He visualized the night before trying to remember what had happened, but with no luck. “Well, as you know, The Changing is a worldwide phenomenon now. Almost everyone in America has had the operation done by now. Only a few people are still the originals, including me and you.” He said pointing at himself and Terry. “I want to be the last human. Imagine all the fame and glory of being the only original person, but I can’t have that if you’re still here. I knew there was no convincing you to get the surgery via normal ways so... I had to take matters into my own hands.” He said as he pulled out a large syringe with a strange green liquid inside. “No....No! You can’t do this Skippy! I thought we were friends!” Terry screamed, trying his best to hold back tears. “We were never friends.” Skippy said with no sympathy as he drove the needle directly into Terry’s arm. The two bodyguards held him down as he screamed and thrashed, his voice getting deeper and darker by the second. Terry could feel the fluid running through his body, as if it were a snake venom slowly killing him. He felt muscles begin to grow in his arms and strange bulges cover his entire body. His grey hair began to fall out and his feet doubled in size. Skippy stared at the creature in front of him as it grew and screamed at the same time. Terry was now a very ugly looking goblin, his clothes completely ripped from the transformation and his new self looking nothing like it did five minutes ago. “It is done.” Skippy said as he motioned towards the guards. The bodyguards exited and Skippy waved at Terry while laughing hysterically.