The Adventures of Jayce.
By Simbaloon.

All Jungle Emperor Leo References Copyright Tezuka.
All Lion King references Copyright Disney.

Prologue

	Over a year ago the world had been changed forever as several rifts in time and space opened up. The barriers between what we thought was the real world and what we thought to be fantasy were briefly shattered, allowing the two worlds to converge upon each other. Our world was shaken as new creatures, lands, and even technologies sprung up at random. Some animals began to talk, species thought extinct reappeared, buildings razed to the ground decades ago reappeared in new condition while other structures vanished.  The human race was also effected, some people transforming into other forms they had only dreamed about. Also creatures we had only dreamed about had also popped up. A walk near Hollywood could make one think they had stumbled into a movie like Roger Rabbit, as ‘toons now existed in the real world along with some other movie characters. It was said to be the same all over the world, even in Japan where they were dealing with the appearance of several anime and manga characters. While the numbers of new creatures were relatively small, the world had still become an interesting and sometimes more dangerous place than before. The human race and world governments were reeling as they tried to come to grips with what had and was still happening. Some countries had fallen into chaos while others picked up the pieces and moved on, struggling through each challenge as it was found. The US had faired with mixed results, but most of the problems had been contained to a few hot spots where conflicts still raged on. 
	My area of the country had survived with relatively little change except the old hotel had reappeared after being a vacant lot for the past ten years. Since exposing a ring of poachers and smugglers a few years back, my life had been rather dull. Eat, sleep, and work each day. Of course luck shined down on me when I won the mega jackpot a few months before my birthday, finally allowing me to pursue life itself as opposed to working in retail for the rest of my life. Now it was my birthday and I was having the lousiest day of my life or at least the year. Maybe it was one of those karma things my friend had always been telling me about. Either way, I had no idea my life was about to be changed forever.

Story one:
Happy Transformation Day, Jayce!

	It was a very nice day in August, sun shining yet not overly hot for once. A nearly two hundred year old stone house stood proudly in a secluded meadow. The old house, a rather tall two stories tall, had been the first homestead on the land and had managed to avoid being destroyed by neglect and development. The sandstone structure with its slate roof and the surrounding land was like a paradise compared to the overdeveloped properties barely a mile away. This was the place Jayce now called home. After wining his jackpot, he won the place in an auction against developers who would have bulldozed the historic house and lovely countryside around it into yet another horrific cookie-cutter housing development. Though the old house wasn’t very large inside, it had the nice cozy feeling Jayce had been looking for in a home. Today he couldn’t wait to get there and hide inside the ancient house.
	Pulling up in his 1952 Dodge M-37 army truck, Jayce was glad to see his home. Slamming the door on the restored truck as he got out, Jayce ran his hands through his brown hair. Not much of a person to talk about, he could best be described as average in most ways. About six feet tall, 30 years old, a bit on the skinny side, with brown hair and eyes. A light mustache helped to ad some more detail to his face as did a pair of glasses he currently wore. Currently dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, Jayce hardly looked like a person who went head-to-head with two big game hunters only months ago. That had been his shining moment as he had dragged them in to be tried for poaching. Today was his worst moment. A lousy, rotten day. First it had started with his car blowing its transmission, forcing him to use the M-37 for his errands. Next, he had accidentally stepped on a fox’s tail while in town which ended up with him trying to escape a cursing fox intent on biting his ankles off. Finally, the M-37 had slipped the parking brake to smack into a parked truck while parked on an incline. The M-37 had survived with barely a scratch, but the pickup was going to need a good bit of work. There goes the insurance rates!
	Walking onto the porch, Jayce noticed a small package wrapped in brown paper leaned up against the front door. Picking it up with a curious look, he noticed the name on the return address. Obviously it was from a person he had gotten into a heated argument with about a month ago while he tried to squeeze through the animefest that had been going on in the mall. Jayce had inadvertently gotten cornered into a Kimba vs. Simba argument by one of the vendors there. Having a migraine at the time, Jayce had gotten fairly nasty and later regretted that. He was so tired of that debate, but he didn’t need to say the things he had and tried to apologize to the guy later on. It appeared that the apology had been accepted unless this was some sort of prank package. “Well, looks like I either have a present for my birthday or something to make the perfect end to a perfectly crappy day..” He mused to himself as he entered the house and closed the door behind him. Tossing the package on a nearby chair, Jayce headed to his bedroom to change clothes.
	The house was rather spartanly furnished at the point and time, Jayce still in the process of moving from his parents place to the house. The bedroom upstairs was the most furnished of the house, with a twin bed, dresser, an antique console radio, a small display case, and a chair. On the dresser sat a small television while the display case currently displayed the small toys that came out during the Lion King. A large Simba plush laid on the bed while posters from the movie itself adorned the walls. One piece of pride was a picture of Jayce with Simba himself, taken a few months after the convergence had happened. He had assisted with a clean-up effort in Florida and had managed to get a picture snapped of him and Simba while there. On the stand also stood a few items representing the Jungle Emperor or as a lot of people knew the anime as, Kimba the White Lion. A boxed DVD set of the Kimba series sat on one shelf along with a few books, some nice artwork, and a still wrapped DVD of the 1997 Jungle Emperor Leo movie. Jayce loved the art and message of Kimba for the most part, but the ending of the story made him reluctant to ever watch the movie. He grew up loving the Lion King and had no regret with that, though wondered if Leo did exist like Simba now did. Some sightings had been reported around Japan, but nothing positive.
	After washing up in the small upstairs bath and getting into a fresh set of clothes, Jayce descended the stairs to check out his package. Tearing the paper off to expose a little note and a very nicely framed animation cell of Leo from the 1997 movie. Showing the white lion in his full glory. “Oh wow! Now this is a very nice piece of movie artwork!” Jayce said aloud as he admired he picture. Even if he wasn’t that much into anime, he admired the artwork just the same. He read the small note attached: “I thought you would like another addition to your small collection of Jungle Emperor items. Maybe we can make a convert out of you yet!” Jayce chuckled as he read the note to himself. “Well, never hurts to try. This thing almost glows when you hold it up to the light.” Actually, the picture was glowing as Jayce held it up to the window for a better view. The rays of the evening sun playing over it right before a beam of light shot from picture and right into Jayce’s eyes. Causing him to cry out and drop the picture onto the chair. “What in the world?!” He exclaimed as he took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. He looked again and saw the sun reflecting off the windshield of the M-37 outside. “Ugh, that must have been it.” He muttered. Upon checking to make sure the picture was unharmed, he decided to call it a day. The light of the evening was fading fast and he felt a headache coming on.
	It was after midnight when Jayce woke up and fumbled for the light switch by his bed. He was drenched in sweat and ached all over, his mind seeming to race as various images raced through it. Struggling to his feet, he stumbled down the stairs to the lower floor and the phone as cell phones did not work at the house. Jayce barely made it to the base of the stairs before severe cramps made him double over in pain. It felt like his body was going to explode and he was more than a little scared for his life at this point. The phone was across the room from him, but might as well been a mile away. The cramps racking his body as he struggled towards the phone stand. He was almost there when he collapsed onto all fours, his body crackling as he cried out in pain and closed his eyes tightly. His hands widened into white lion’s paws as a muzzle began pushing out his face, white mane erupting from his head as the sounds of his clothes tearing from his expanding body mixed in with his yelps and groans. After it got started, the transformation proceeded quite rapidly. Jayce’s human body seeming to be consumed as the anime white lion body took over its place in this reality. Clothes torn to shreds and stumbling on his four legs, Jayce finally fell heavily onto his side and passed out, energy still crackling lightly over his new body as he succumbed to strain of transformation.
	Morning had finally arrived, the sun shone in the living room windows and cast its light upon Jayce’s new form. He was still laying on his left side from passing out several hours earlier, though the black tufted tip of his tail did twitch once in a while and his side raised and fell evening with his breathing. As the sun warmed his body, his whiskers began to twitch along with his front legs. Finally, Jayce’s eyes flew wide open and his feline body stiffened up as he came out of shock. Tail swishing and knocking over a small stand with books as he squirmed on the floor, fore claws extending and raking across the wooden floor boards. Jayce forced himself to stop, concentrating on his breathing and what had happened last night. At first it seemed like a nightmare, but the muzzle in front of his eyes and the big white front paws destroyed any idea of that. “Bluh…fluh…wha?” Was all he could get out of his muzzle at first. Struggling with a new mouth shape, teeth, and tongue to even try and speak. Growling, he managed to get onto his paws and made his way awkwardly to the master bathroom. Trying to learn how to walk on four legs was something very new to him, but his gait was already smoothing out as he entered the bathroom and looked into the mirror.
	“I-I look just like I came out of the movie…” He thought. Looking back at him from the mirror was a creature that was no longer the Jayce Gordon he knew. What peered back at him was a clone of Leo from the 1997 feature film, right down to the black tipped ears. Sitting down, he raised his right front paw and rubbed the side of his muzzle with it, then he looked the paw over itself before getting back up and turning, looking himself over as best he could. “Well, could be worse. I could have ended up as a huge slug!” He muttered, then stopped in surprise as he realized he could speak again, though his voice was different. He was starting to feel a bit stronger too as he faced the mirror and stuck his tongue out. Examining it before he pulled it back into his muzzle and sighed. At least he still had brown eyes, but he had really gotten a full makeover. The irony of what he had become wasn’t lost on him either. Black eyebrows over his eyes showed him going through various expressions, from perplexed, to worried, to a bit ticked off that someone would do this to him. One worry he did have was the thoughts that had been forced to the front of his mind as he changed. Two were from a Leo Fanfic he tried to write years ago and if the magic had used them and drew power from them, then he was going to be like this for a very, very long time. “I need some air.”
	After fumbling with the doorknob, Jayce had gotten the door open and wandered out into the morning sunlight. His mind still reeling a bit at what had happened and he was preoccupied enough that he didn’t notice the extra car parked in the driveway, or his Japanese friend who was now standing there with a shocked look on his face as he dropped the package he carried onto the ground with a thud. Looking up and being a bit shocked, Jayce put a smile on his muzzle and nodded to his friend. “Ah, Doctor Teriyaki! Just the man I wanted to see!” The poor doctor gulped and stood there looking very confused.
	After taking a short bit to get the poor doctor straightened out, Jayce was now sitting on his porch being poked and prodded a bit like a piece of meat. Doctor Teriyaki had witnessed transformations before and always carried a test kit with him no matter where he went in the world. Thankfully, the poking and prodding parts of the test were done and now all that was left was the scan of his life energy. It seemed that ‘toons like himself gave off a faint energy that could be read with the right equipment.  When read properly, this energy could be used to make a rough guess at the lifespan of the new creature. So far the technique worked as one person who got changed into a butterfly found out the hard way. The guy lived for a few days and then expired. “Ok doctor, am I going to live or snuff it any moment?” Jayce sounded a bit irritable. He never liked needles and poking his new body full of holes offended him somewhat. Though he found out one suspicion was true, he was capable of healing really quick.
	“Oh, you are going to live all right.” the doctor said as his eyes widened at the readings on his hand scanner. “You are going to live and live and live and live and,” He pause and stared at Jayce. “You’re a highlander, aren’t you?”  He folded up the scanner and put it back into its case. Rather than being disturbed by Jayce’s apparent longevity, he was relieved. He had friends either go mad or die from transformations, but Jayce was stable mental-wise and was in peak condition.  Teriyaki now wondered what his friend would do with his new form, though. The doctor wasn’t a tall man, but always seemed to walk with a confidence that made him seem much taller than what he was. Though he was from Japan and loved his home country, he also loved the states and was known for cracking the occasional odd joke. Currently he wore blue, long sleeved shirt and a pair of black dress pants. These were part of a suit he had been wearing for a lecture earlier that morning before his arrival at Jayce’s house. His hair was black and he kept it cut short and neat. He had gotten the nickname ‘Teriyaki’ because of his love for chicken Teriyaki.
	Jayce stared at the doctor for a few moments as the realization sunk into his mind. Then a grin began to pull at the corners of his mouth as he got up and began to hum Queen’s “Princes of the Universe”. “Well, I’d better make something of my new life hadn’t I?” He said as he walked about, wandering into the house like he had been on four legs his whole life. “I do not want to be some mediocre, overly somber white lion. Perhaps I can actually do some good in this form, make a difference.” He turned with a smile on his muzzle to look at doctor Teryaki. “If there are new adventures to be had, then let the adventures begin!”

End Story 1