After agreeing to Krockman's terms, Emily went back to her room to get dressed. Fortunately for her, the Krockman's reality warping powers had affected her pants as well, sparing her from having to open up a hole in her pants for her tail. When she had finished, she was dressed in a sensible blouse and mini skirt with black stockings. Grabbing the teddy bear from her bed (as per the Krockman's request), Emily slipped out of the apartment, meeting up with Krockman and his cronies on the sidewalk. Krockman and the others were sitting in a red sports car, with Tom and Joe sitting in the front, with Krockman sitting in the back with a pile of random junk. "Well, glad to see you finally made it," Krockman said with his usual smile. "And I see you brought the bear." "Yes I brought the bear," Emily replied. "Don't know why you want me to bring it, but I brought it anyway." "Don't worry," Krockman said. "You'll find out soon enough. Now hop in. It's going to be a long trip." Doing as the lost soul said, Emily got into the car, which proceeded to move forward to its destination. 

    As they were driving, Emily turned to Krockman and said, "Okay, this has been bugging me since you said it. What exactly does a person do to get kicked out of both heaven and hell?" "Well, there's various various reasons that a person can be rejected," Krockman explained. "In my case, I was kicked out for committing all seven of the deadly sins and for generally being a dumbass." "They kicked you out for being a dumbass?" Emily asked, somewhat shocked. "No, but it didn't help my case,"Krockman answered. "The only reason why I didn't go to hell was because my sins weren't intense enough to warrant eternal damnation. Only place left for me to go was limbo." "Limbo?" Emily asked, her ears standing erect. "You mean like 'Dante's Inferno'?" Krockman only smiled, replying, "Ah, you're a cultured type. I knew there was something I liked about you. Anyway, it's not exactly like how Dante imagined it. It's really more of an extension of the living world, where the souls of pagans, atheists and lost souls reside, phasing in and out of the world of the living. We're actually about to phase into limbo right now."
  
   As he said this, Emily noticed that the world outside of the car became muted, taking on an ashen tone. The road ahead seems to stretch on, the buildings along the roadside fading away, revealing a dull forest. "Oh my god, you brought me to the afterlife?!" Emily shouted, freaking out. "Relax will you," Krockman ordered. "I told you before, people in limbo phase in and out of the mortal realm at will. It's the only part of the afterlife mortals can visit as often as they like if they know how to get there." "Alright, fine, but there's still one thing I don't understand," Emily said, calming down. "Why did you turn most of Seattle into a fantasy setting? Are there even any humans left back home?" "Of course there are humans back home," Krockman retorted. "It's just that I have grown bored with the monotony of the human species. All I wanted was to spice up the gene pool a bit, y'know. What's wrong with that?" Emily stared at the lost soul in disbelief, saying, "Okay, I'm not even going to pretend to understand anything you just said. I'm just surprised you didn't throw in some mermaids and harpies." "Excuse me?" Krockman asked, slightly confused. "I'm just saying, you could've thrown in some mermaids and harpies," Emily explained. "I mean, I kinda have a hard time imagining a fantasy setting without those two, and you could easily have made male versions of them too (maybe even give the mermaids the ability to walk on land. I don't know)." "No, see... the thing is... I..." Krockman tried to explain, only to realize that she was right. "Oh son of a bitch!!!!" 

   Suddenly, the car came to a stop. "We're here sir," Tom announced, turning back to Krockman and Emily. "Excellent!" Krockman shouted excitedly. Grabbing a handful of junk, Krockman turned to Emily and said, "Grab as much stuff as you can and follow me. Pace yourself though, we might need to make a second trip. Oh, and one more thing, that thing you said earlier about the mermaids and harpies; let's pretend that never happened okay." Seeing no other choice, Emily agreed and grabbed as much of the junk as she could. Following after the lost soul, Emily looked around her surroundings, noticing the enormous, steam powered castle that towered before like a great, mechanical mountain. "What is this place?" Emily asked, gazing upon the castle. "Fort Hancock," Krockman explained proudly. "My beloved home." 

   As the group approached the castle, they were soon greeted by a large welcoming party. Among them was a muscular black man dressed in a suit and tie, a very effeminate looking man dressed in a stylish button up, a long nosed man with a goatee and a suit, and an attractive woman wearing horn rimmed glasses, button up sweater, pinstriped skirt and her hair in a loose bun. Scurrying about their ankles were several little creatures that resembled children formed from random objects. "Welcome back, sir!" the black man said, saluting Krockman as he approached. "Ah yes, it's good to see you to Terry," Krockman replied cheerfully. "And how was you and Foxy K's part of the mission?" "Oh it was fabulous, Krocky," the effeminate man answered, brushing his frosted tips out of the way. "Although I was a little distracted when we were at the gym. Nothing I like more than seeing a bunch of sweaty men in tight shorts lifting weights." "Yes Foxy, we get it! You were a gay in a man candy store," Krockman replied, somewhat frustrated. "Anyway, everyone, I'd like you to meet our newest member, Emily." The long nosed man approached Emily, shaking her hand and said, "Welcome to the afterlife my dear. My name is Misfit. I'm Krockman's handler." "And I'm Lolita," the woman added. "I'm Krockman's secretary." "It's nice to meet you all," Emily replied cheerfully. As they were shaking hands, Misfit leaned in and asked, "If you don't mind me asking, my dear, how exactly did you... well you, died?" "Wait, what?" Emily asked, somewhat shocked. "She's not dead Misfit," Krockman interjected, before turning towards Emily and adding, "Trust me, you're not dead yet." Misfit stared in shock before saying, "Wait a minute! Are you telling me you brought a mortal being into Limbo?!?" "Look, I can explain," Krockman replied nonchalantly, not showing a single care for his handler's opinion. 

   As the two lost souls were arguing, Emily felt a light tugging at her skirt. Looking down, she saw one of the strange junk children at her ankle, it's head a teapot with a jagged crack for a mouth and a pair of green eyes peering from two fractured holes underneath its lid. The little creature tugged at Emily's skirt with its spout, chattering a strange, chirping gibberish as it looked up at her. As unsettling as it was to look at, Emily found the teapot child rather adorable in a weird way. "Well who are you little guy?" Emily asked in a motherly tone. "These little antiquarians are my scraps," Krockman explained, doing anything he could to end his argument with Misfit. "They play around on my grounds in exchange for maintaining my fort.""Aww, well I bet they're the most helpful little guys ever," Emily said, petting the little teapot boy on the head lovingly. "Oh, I wish," Krockman replied exasperated. "They're formed from broken souls inhabiting random junk, and as a result, they're rather stupid." As Emily was wondering what a broken soul was, she noticed that the little teapot boy was whimpering, having heard the Krockman's comment. Noticing how his comment had saddened the scrap, Krockman picked the teapot boy by his head and said, "That was rather rude of me. I'm quite sorry little one." Giving a light peck on the scrap's head, he set the little creature down and watched as it happily scampered off. "You see what I mean?" Krockman whispered to Emily so as not to repeat his mistake. "Bottomless pits of need. Now go bring out the rest of the junk from the car and bring it here. I'm on a tight schedule here." 

    As Krockman watched Emily gather the rest of the junk from the car, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking behind, he saw that it was Misfit, sporting a scowl on his face. "We need to talk," Misfit stated. "Yeah, yeah, I know what you're going to say Misfit," Krockman replied uncaringly. "I shouldn't have brought the mortal back here, you're all upset now, blah, blah, blah..." "Will you take this seriously!" Misfit shouted, losing patience with his charge. "Now look, when I was assigned by the heavenly court to guide you, I was fine with the whole transformation thing (mainly because since you're rewriting reality, you aren't technically breaking any rules). But this, there's no way you can find a loophole to justify what you've just done." "What if I told you the girl has her memories of her old reality and wants me to change her back?" Krockman replied, shooting a nasty glare at his handler. "I only brought her on board so that if I find a way to undo her transformation and change her friends back to normal." Pausing for a moment, Misfit asked, "So what're you saying, that you hired her out of guilt?" "Not really," Krockman answered, shrugging his shoulders. "It's mostly out of curiosity. Thing is that no one I ever transformed retained their memories from their old reality (well at the very least, people who didn't form a contract with me). I just want to figure out how she slipped through the cracks. Plus, since it might be awhile before I find a cure, it wouldn't hurt to test a few transformations on her while I can." Glaring at the younger lost soul, Misfit retorted, "Krockman, you are horrible." "Oh Misfit, you have no idea," Krockman replied as he watched the others return with the rest of the junk. 

   As Emily lugged the junk to Krockman's feet, she asked, "Okay, can you please explain to me what the point of all this garbage is?" "Garbage!?" Krockman shouted, somewhat offended. "I'll have you know that every piece of this was hand picked for its value and its personal meaning! From the pepper mill to the boxing gloves to even your teddy bear, they all have meaning to them!" "I suppose you're right," Emily conceded. "My dad gave me that bear when I was six when I was getting my tonsils removed. It really does mean a lot to me." "Yes, yes, that's all well and wonderful," Krockman replied nonchalantly, pushing the young drok aside. "Now stand aside while I work my magic." Before Emily could ask, the lost soul took a whistle from his pocket and blew it, issuing a shrill tweet from it. The minute he blew the whistle, a swarm of strange wisps hovered down from the dull limbo sky, sparking and crackling all the way. "What are those?" Emily asked, mesmerized by the spastic lights. "Those are broken souls," Lolita explained as she adjusted her glasses. "They were souls who didn't survive the process of becoming lost souls. As a result, they ended up being reduced to blank slates, lacking even enough coherence to form a physical form." Emily watched as the broken souls floated down to the junk below, merging with each piece. As the broken souls possessed the junk, the junk came to life, taking on a somewhat humanoid form and becoming a scrap. Among the scraps was Emily's teddy bear, now taking the form of a little girl dressed in a children's nightgown and wearing a little cap that resembled a teddy bear's head atop her long brown hair. She practically looked like a human child except for her limbs, which were that of a teddy bear. As she stood up on her wobbly legs, the little bear girl noticed Emily watching. With a happy shriek, the bear girl hugged the drok's leg, uttering a stream of happy sounding gibberish (though Emily was easily able to pick out the word "mama" from the stream). Watching Emily return the hug to her former teddy bear, Krockman said, "Alright Emily, you can stop hugging the bear now. We have work to do." Looking down at the young scrap, Emily said in a motherly tone, "I'm sorry Teddi, but I have to go now. Go play with your new friends. I'll be back soon, okay?" The little scrap only nodded her head and skipped off to join the other scraps. 

   "Well, now that your biological clock has been satisfied, let's get down to business," Krockman stated. "I have a lot of appointments to make and I got to get things moving." "Appointments?" Emily asked, slowly regaining her senses from the flood of mothering instincts. "Of course," Krockman answered, taking a paper from Lolita's hand. "You see, I set up a website that people go to to list jobs for me to do (mostly like changing some aspect of their reality). I'm pretty much the Angie's List of reality warpers. Anyway, I'm taking you along with me since you're going to need the field training." "Fine, I can live with that. But where exactly is this 'appointment' taking place?" Emily asked, following along with Krockman's plans. Looking at the paper, Krockman replied, "Fishkill, Newyork. We have to meet up with some guy named Regis Kalby." "Uh, Krockman, do you really want her on this particular appointment?" Misfit asked. "I mean it is her first day and all." "No!" Krockman roared defiantly. "She needs to do this sooner or later. I'd prefer it if she'd do it sooner." Walking over to Emily, Krockman gave her a necklace, saying, "Now put this on. It'll let you jump from place to place." Before Emily could ask anything, Krockman opened up a portal and dragged her into the portal's light, taking her to the first day of her new job.
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     When the light cleared, Emily and Krockman found themselves in a run down apartment. The apartment was in abysmal condition, seeming only one step above a crack den. There was not one square inch in the room that was not covered in garbage or reeking of piss. Outside, the sounds of the city blared into the couple's ears. "Okay, no offense, but this place is a shit hole," Emily said, holding her nose to guard it from the offensive smells. "Actually, I think this place sullies the good name of 'shit hole'," Krockman said, casting a judging eye on the apartment. As they were gazing upon the fresh hell that was the apartment, they heard the sound of a pistol being cocked. Turning toward the the source of the sound revealed it to be the tenant himself, a shabby looking 26 year old with a five-o-clock shadow and a hand gun. 

   "Whoa, hey buddy," Krockman said to the man, nervously shuffling himself between Emily and the tenant's gun. "There's no need for firearms. I'm just looking for a Mr. Regis Kalby. If you could just point me in his direction and we'll be right on our way." The man eyed the two intruders warily, asking, "You two debt collectors or something?" "No, no, we're not debt collectors," Krockman explained. "I'm Krockman, and this is my new assistant, Emily." Eyeing the invaders, the man asked, "Krockman? Hey wouldn't happen to be the guy behind www.Krockman.com, would you?" Pulling out a business card from his pocket, Krockman said to the man, "My card." Taking the card, the man read it over before lowering his gun and sayng, "Oh hey, sorry man. I thought you were with the debt collectors. The name's Regis. I'm the one who placed the job request, though to be perfectly honest with you, at the time I thought it was one of those entertainment websites or something." "You know, I actually get that a lot," Krockman replied, letting out a sigh of relief.

    "So, now that that whole 'holding us at gun point' thing is over, how may I be of service?" Krockman asked in a professional manner. "Well, you see the thing is, I've pretty much had a rough week, and I could really use a drink," Regis explained. "Problem is, I'm a little strapped for cash, and could really use some of your help." "So let me get this straight," Krockman replied, sounding somewhat annoyed. "You hired me just to pay your bar tab?" "No, no, no, that's not it at all," Regis corrected. "You see, the bar in my neighborhood has a lady's night tonight (women drink for free and stuff like that). So, since you're a reality warp or whatever, maybe you could turn me into a woman. Just for the night I mean." "All this just to get free booze," Krockman replied, a slight hint of disgust on his voice. "Yeah, pretty much," Regis replied nonchalantly. After hearing Regis' proposal, Krockman and Emily simply looked at each other and disbelief. "Um, Regis," Emily chimed in. "Have you considered something more simple, like asking Krockman to make you rich?" "Forget being rich," Krockman interjected. "What this guy needs is Alcoholics Anonymous." "Come on! I need this so bad!" Regis shouted. "Alright, fine! I'll do it!" Krockman retorted, utterly exasperated. "But first thing's first, before I do anything, I want my payment upfront and in full." 

   "Whoa, hold on a minute," Regis said. "The reason why I hired you was so I wouldn't have to pay any money. How much do you charge?" Krockman only chuckled, saying, "Buddy, I have no need for cash payment. I'm a bit of a traditionalist. I believe in the concept of bartering, as in you give me something of value to me and I provide you with a service." "Well what do you want from me then?" Regis asked. "That depends," Krockman asked, folding his arms across his chest. "What do you hold precious to you?" Hearing this, Regis thought for a minute, trying to figure out what was the most valuable thing in his home. Remembering something, he went towards his bed, pulled out a firebox from underneath, and opened it up; revealing an elaborate beer stein. Presenting the stein, Regis said, "I got this from a college trip to Germany for Oktoberfest. It's the only thing I have that's worth anything." Taking the stein and examining it, Krockman tucked it away into his trench coat, saying, "Must be worth something, considering how much trouble you went through to keep it safe. Alright, you've convinced me. You've got,yourself a deal." 

  Hearing this, Regis was elated. "That's fantastic!" he said, shaking the lost soul's hand. "So how exactly do you do this? Do you inject me with something, or snap your fingers, or what?" Without saying a word, Krockman gave his answer by blowing a gust of golden dust onto Regis. As Regis was coughing, he felt a strange tingling sensation fall upon his body. His body squeezed in and slimmed down, becoming more feminine and slender. His facial hair disappeared from his feminine face, while the hair on his head grew out into ginger locks. He felt a sharp, quick pinch in his pants, leaving them roomier than before. The most noticeable change was in his (now her) chest, expanding into a pair of modest breasts. Even her clothing changed, shrinking down to accommodate her new frame. "There, the deed is done," Krockman said, satisfied with his work. "I took the liberty of altering your whole apartment to accommodate for your new gender. Apparently you're just as much of a drunken slob as Reggie as you were as Regis." Heading over to the mirror, Reggie looked herself over, admiring her new curves. "I have to admit, when I first saw you in my apartment, I thought you two were a pair of lunatics," Reggie said in her newly feminized voice, cupping her breasts to gauge their size. "But you really know your stuff." "Why thank you," Krockman replied. "Now you just go out there and get sloshed." As Reggie was leaving, Krockman added, "Also, I wasn't kidding about how you need an AA meeting!" With that, Reggie left, leaving Krockman and Emily alone in her apartment.

   Looking over at Krockman, Emily asked, "So that's it? You're just going to let him (or her) go out there to a bar?" "Well what I'm supposed to do?" Krockman retorted. "I just do the job. Whatever happens to the customer after that is their responsibility." "Well you know that this is a bad idea, just leaving her on her own like that," Emily added. Hearing this, Krockman took a moment to contemplate before replying, "Well, believe it or not, this is the third time this month some drunk asked me to do this. Still, the end results vary from person to person (a matter of their choices and everything). And if we're going to be honest, all these morons are careening towards a brick wall in life. Wouldn't hurt to see just how hard Reggie's going to hit it." Before Emily could ask what he was talking about, Krockman went over to the mirror, pulled out a brush, and started combing his hair. As he combed, Krockman's body began to change. His chest and hips flared out as he shrunk a bit. His body became more feminine (if slightly pudgy), along with his face; which lost its scruffy stubble and gained a bit of softness to it. She winced a bit as she felt a pinch in her pants, signifying his transition into womanhood. By the time she finished combing, her hair was now done in a stylish pixie cut, while her clothes had shrunk to hug her curves. The only part that hadn't changed was her trench coat, which was practically swallowing her. Looking her newly female boss over, Emily simply replied, "Let me guess: Lady K?" "You got it, sweet cheeks!" K shouted excitedly, her voice now that of a woman. "I take it you want in on Ladies' Night at the bar?" Emily asked. "Well of course. How else are we going to keep an eye on our little tippler," K explained, placing a hand on her hip. "Might as well get free drinks for our troubles, am I right?" As she made her way towards the door, Lady K added, "Oh, and by the way, I know what you're thinking, and yes, my boobs are bigger than yours." Waiting for her boss to leave, Emily muttered under her breath, "At least my stomach isn't as fat as yours." 

   The two girls made their way down the street and into the bar. The inside of the bar was designed with a rustic, roadside bar aesthetic. Manning the counter was hipster, dressed in a flannel shirt, a wool cap and a pair of glasses. Noticing the two girls, the bartender asked, "So, what'll you have?" Lady K simply smiled a flirtatious grin and replied, "A three way with Ashley Graham and Tess Holliday." The bartender simply looked at the girl with a bored expression and said, "Was that a joke, because I don't do jokes." Raising a brow, K asked, "What's with you? Did you genuinely enjoy something when you were supposed to like it ironically?" "Lady, you have a lot to learn about hipsters," the bartender retorted. "If it explains why you guys dress like out of work lumberjacks, I'm all ears," K added, flashing a coy grin. "Ok, just order something and let me go on with my life!" the bartender shouted. "Just socializing with you feels like torture enough!" Looking somewhat disappointed, K ordered, "I'll have a hard cider." "I'll have a gin and tonic please," Emily ordered, trying not to piss the hipster off anymore than he already was. The bartender made the girls their drinks and went off to tend to other customers, leaving K and Emily to drink alone.

    "So, Krockman... er, Lady K," Emily said, correcting herself mid sentence. "I want to ask you something. Why do you hate humanity so much? I mean, you went to all this trouble changing people in Seattle into monsters, it just seems a little weird." Looking towards her newest accomplice, K answered, "I don't hate humanity so much as I have disdain for them. You see, when I was being judged, I was given a tour of all the parts of heaven and hell. Needless to say, that tour destroyed my faith in humanity." "So your argument with the bartender and Reggie..." Emily began. "All part of my contempt for the human race," K interjected. "I was able to see the darkness in there souls, and it wasn't pretty. Speaking of which, I see our little superstar over there right now." Sure enough, at the table in the far end of the bar was Reggie. The drunk was busily engaged in an all out war against her liver, her belly bulging slightly from all the beer she had pounded. Having finished another mug, she let out a satisfied belch as she waved on the waiter for another drink. Having looked at the drunk for long enough, Lady K turned to Emily and said in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "Ain't she a lady?" This sent both girls into a laughing fit, while Reggie herself was to drunk to notice. As she waited for her next drink, she heard a man's voice say to her, "Hey baby, how'd you like to come home with me tonight?" Looking up groggily, she saw the voice belonged to a man dressed in a business casual outfit. She had to admit, he was quite handsome. "That dependsh big boy," Reggie said, slurring her words. "You thinks you can handle a girl like me? 'Cause I can part all night..." And that was all she could remember before she blacked out. 

    When she woke up, she found herself in the bedroom of a high end mansion (much needed improvement over her apartment). "Where am I?" Reggie thought to herself. Looking down to her side, she was shocked to see the man from the night before was sleeping next to her. "Did I... sleep with him?" Reggie asked herself in a hushed whisper. "You bet your ass you did," a familiar voice chimed in from behind. Turning around, Reggie saw that it was Krockman, now returned to his male self. "Oh, thank good you're here," Reggie said, relieved to see the strange man again. "Wait, didn't you have an assistant with you?" "It was getting late, so I sent her back home to Seattle," Krockman explained, noting Emily's sudden disappearance. "Anyway, you say you need something?" "Oh, right, I need you to change me back to normal," Reggie explained. "I think that bastard took advantage of me while I was drunk." Giving the woman a disgusted look, Krockman said, "Okay, first of all, you threw yourself at him before he could say something; so if anything, you took advantage of him. Second of all, I can't change you back, mainly 'cause I don't know what'll happen to the baby if I did." "Baby? What baby?" Reggie asked worriedly. "The one that's cooking in your belly right now after that drunken night of passion," Krockman explained. "But if you're worried about the kid being conceived out of wedlock, I already took care of that. I altered reality so that you two have been married for a year now." Looking down at her finger, Reggie was shocked to see a wedding ring on her finger. "And you know what the best part of your situation is? You can't drink for nine whole months. That'll help you kick the habit!" Krockman added, taking pleasure from the woman's shock and horror. "Well, I have to go now, places to go and people to see. Remember to leave a review on my website." And with that, Krockman was gone, leaving the expectant mother to be speechless, incapable of processing the magnitude of what just happened.