Chapter 4: Declaration of WarNSFW

Nexus Command

You, Fern, Sydney, Teresa, Robin, Lexi

Fern

Get the rest of the club awake and in the club room. The losers just started a club war on us.

Rhetta nearly chokes on her orange juice when she reads the message. Club war. She always knew this day would come, but how could it be so soon? She curls up in her seat at the coffee table, quickly dialing Robin's number. One by one, she wakes the other three in the wargaming club and calls them to action, urging them to travel quickly and safely...

The designated club room is still open only to them, but that will change once their status as an official club is taken away from them. Rhetta manages to convince the group to meet at this early hour, though not without some groaning and complaints. Everyone is here... except for two.

Fern sits at the head of the table, in front of the massive fantasy battle map they usually use for combats. The demi-gecko's scales are glistening and she's wearing her nicest pantsuit - she's obviously taken very good care of herself this morning. It's important to get what self-care you can in during times of stress, after all. She's really not happy about this, and she's not sure that she or her club can do this... but she's determined to lead her club members to victory all the same. She's not going to lose this, too.

Beside Fern, Rhetta, a golden retriever demi-dog, is in the midst of talking Teresa and Robin. She wears a Vorehammer hoodie (the back describes the fictional Fat Redistribution Phase) with some baggy pants, and her dirty blonde hair is pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her tail swings idly back and forth behind her. She's mostly just trying to keep the club from panicking. It's not like their group was prepared for a real club war...

Robin's black-and-red feathers are extremely ruffled, and she's still in what must be her pajamas. She's not used to being awake early, and she feels totally out of place. I'm not even good at this game! I'm only here to write my fanfiction! she whimpers internally. Still, she's done her best to listen to Rhetta's encouraging words and calm down.

Teresa is dressed in a green "My Other Shirt Is Acid Armor" T-shirt over a black long-sleeved shirt with well-worn jeans. She yawns so widely that tears come to her eyes, rather wishing she was in bed. Still, given the cause, she can make an exception - though she has no particular care for Lexi, the orange-furred, red-haired foxgirl is still fuming from her run-in with Nicole in the hall earlier in the week. So she's itching to carry out one of her trademark schemes and work out some stress on the poor fools who challenged the wargamers' strategic dominance.

The door bursts open. The sudden loud sound makes Robin jump out of her seat, and Teresa hastily closes her mouth. Rhetta trails off midsentence, her ears flattening back against her head. The cause - a scowling dog girl with frizzy light brown hair and freckles and wearing denim overalls - stomps across the threshold. "Alright, who the FUCK got eaten!?" Sydney yells, gesturing widely to the rest of her clubmates.

Fern calmly lifts her eyes toward Sydney. She sets down her coffee and half-closes her school laptop - all the necessary information she'd looked up while Rhetta was summoning the troops has been pulled up and is ready for use.

"Sit down, Sydney," she commands. She rises, facing the rest of the club. "As of approximately 2100 hours last night, Lexi is apparently slop gurgling through the guts of one of the sophomores. And I believe I've just about narrowed down who it is, as well."

"2100 hours?" Robin asks, raising a hand timidly.

"9 PM," Teresa mumbles to her.

"Well, let's hear it then," Sydney replies, huffing as she crosses her arms in her seat. "I'm ready to fight, but don't think you two can sit out just because you're wimpy sophomores!" She points at Rhetta, then at Robin.

Rhetta sighs. "I'm not going to chicken out! Fern has a plan and everything... right, Fern?" She looks to the club commander for guidance.

Robin's face goes red. "I won't run away either, I just don't know what I can do..." She also looks to Fern, though. And although she wasn't specifically called out, Teresa looks, too.

No pressure, Fern tells herself with a sigh. She turns her laptop around, opening it up. "Let me begin by explaining the situation. I did some research this morning while Lieutenant Commander Rhetta was getting everyone up. Near as I can tell, Lexi and her date - who I believe is named Britney, and who is a member of the losers club - went to Gravyburger last night." She shows the picture of Britney that Lexi sneaked while Britney was getting their food. It's a bit blurry - but for Fern, who's been keeping an eye on the losers club, it's clear enough who it is.

And as proof, she reaches around the laptop and switches to the next tab, of Britney's school ID photo in the student database. "As you can see, the hair and body shape match, and although the facial features are not clear I believe the resemblance is obvious. Per Selima's report, Lexi and Britney arrived at the restaurant at around 2030 hours. Half an hour later, at around 2100 hours, Britney sent a text to Selima's friend Valerie saying that Lexi was eaten by a sophomore. In the intervening period, someone burst into the restaurant and ate Lexi."

Fern advances. The new tab contains a social network post, a blurry photo of shoes recognizable as Lexi's kicking in the air with the caption "#WhatsYourGravy my friend's date L M F A O." The predator is just a blur of motion in the photo, impossible to make out, and most of their body is out of shot and covered by the back of their chair. Fern clears her throat. "This sudden appearance was noticed by a group of friends from a nearby high school sitting at a nearby booth - one of whom posted about it for the #WhatsYourGravy free Gravyburger promotion."

There's murmuring between the club members at the photo of Lexi's devouring. Fern holds up a hand to silence them.

"Later in that same outing, another of the friends in that circle took this picture of her friend - and here we can see the back of the predator's head." It's a picture of one of the other girls goofing off with a fry mustache across her upper lip - but in the background, Britney's laughing face is visible, only partially obscured by the head of someone other than Lexi sitting opposite her. "But more importantly, we can see the front of Britney's face. Based on this image, we can assume that Britney is comfortable with the predator - they must therefore be friends."

Teresa and Rhetta nod along, leaning in. Sydney remains reclined, unimpressed.

She pulls up Britney's Instagulp, scrolling down in her feed. "Now, this intelligence is not yet verified. But Britney made two new friends recently. One of whom is a sophomore named Nicole Andersson. You can see her in this photo they took together here - this is all four members of the losers club and the two additional NCC students that Britney became friends on the same night." She shows a picture the Empty Bellies took together outside the mall, with the caption "besties with bellies!"

Teresa winces, recognition splashing across her face. I know that girl all too well... The others' faces are more uncertain on the point.

She unpinches the touchpad to zoom in and points to Nicole's glasses. "As you can see, these pink heart-shaped glasses are quite distinctive. And it can't be a coincidence that..." She switches back to the photo with Nicole and Britney in the background. "The image here shows the upper curve of some similarly-colored glasses. This person's hair is also the same color."

Fern notes Teresa's grimace and takes the opportunity to draw attention to the connection. "Yes. As some of you may have already worked out, Nicole is the sophomore who claimed to be checking out the club in our most recent meeting - which, I will remind you, took place after this photo was taken. And immediately after that meeting, Lexi accidentally bumped into Britney, who was surprisingly - suspiciously - eager to go on a date with her, given..." She trails off. Best not to speak ill of the ass fat. "... how recently they'd met."

"Nicole also tried to eat me in the hall!" Teresa grumbles.

"Possibly unrelated, but noted," Fern says, nodding. "And here is the final nail in the coffin, posted to Instagulp last night by Nicole Andersson herself." She switches to one final tab, featuring a video expanded to take up the whole tab. The video is a recording of a two-player split-screen game featuring futuristic personal watercrafts zipping around a massive pool of water that seems to float in space. The bottom player spins out of control as the top player approaches the finish line - and then the bottom player uses a turbo boost to start moving again, colliding with the top player and sending both players over the nearby waterfall, resulting in the CPU racers crossing the finish line while the two human players are hoisted back onto the track.

Robin sits up a little straighter. "Ooh, is that Hydro Crash? I want to try that!"

"Wow. She's shit at video games, big deal," Sydney grunts.

Fern loudly clears her throat, "A screen recording from the Nindento Swap game Hydro Crash. A two player game..." She pauses the video, scrubbing back to the exact point of the collision - where it's clearly visible that the players are marked with the names "Nicole" and "brit" on each other's screens. "... played with a girl named 'brit'. The odds that Nicole just happened to go home and hang out with some other 'brit' are astronomical. Especially considering... this." Exiting the video, she scrolls down, where a comment from Britney's own Instagulp waits from shortly after the post was made, reading "damn you should learn to drive or something LOLOLOLOLOL."

Fern folds her arms, satisfied. "Before I proceed to discussing our plans, are there any questions?"

Robin raises her hand. "Did you seriously e-stalk a bunch of high schoolers? Creepy..."

"Shut up! It was for important research!" Fern snaps, making the harpy giggle. "Any actual questions?"

"That's some impressive detective work." Rhetta comments, nodding in approval at the effort Fern put in. "It definitely seems like we found the culprits, but that doesn't change the fact that we're about to lose our clubroom privileges."

"No, perhaps not," Fern muses.

Sydney shakes her head. "The clubroom doesn't matter, I could host the meets in my own dorm room if I wanted to. What matters is that we teach those rats a lesson. We can't be like the fanfiction club and just sit back and let them pick us off one by one."

Robin quickly perks up at the mention of her favorite hobby. "Huh? I didn't know there was a fanfiction club!"

"There isn't... not anymore..." Sydney gives her a spooky stare, haunted by memories of previous semesters at NCC. Satisfied by seeing Robin shrink back down into her seat, she turns her attention back to Fern. "So what's it gonna be, oh great commander? Are we gonna eat that bimbo kitty cat?"

Fern clears her throat. "I believe we can prevent the losers from reaping the benefits of their attempt to steal our spot. And I have connections to the committee. We should be able to have our provisional status restored so long as we find a sixth member. And..." She pulls up another window with another few tabs, this time from the student government website. "I may have found a loophole in the rules. We only need six members on the club charter. As far as I can tell, it's not required that all those members attend the club meetings so long as they remain undigested, active students of the school and don't formally renounce their membership in the club."

She switches to a new window with another series of tabs, showing each member of the losers club and their class schedules. "Our first move is to get revenge. I suggest we go after Britney first. She's a freshman, and only seems to have a little predatory experience. My suspicion is that she was originally the one intended to eat Lexi, but she lost her nerve. Additionally, she's been associated with the club for much longer than Nicole, who seems to have joined recently."

She switches to Melissa's tab. "Gossip about this one says she's very strict about her schedules. As she's one of the main club leaders - and, as I understand it, the one behind their application - swallowing her will hopefully cut the head off the losers club."

She flips to Mora's tab, nodding to Sydney. "Then, we take a prisoner. This freshman has been in and out of bellies all year. We offer her a deal: she leaves the losers club and signs up to the wargaming club, and we don't feed her to you so long as she stays a member."

Almost as an afterthought, she flips through Nicole and Phoebe and Reya's tabs. "These three are a little bit more dangerous. We can go after them, but my recommendation is that we continue smearing their reputation instead. They've made enough of a name for themselves as it is, we just have to lean into it. Nicole is a minor celebrity and concerned with her fame. Phoebe has a role in the upcoming play, and will be easily pressured if we can lean on some of her co-actors. Reya is in the math department, so I doubt she cares about her reputation, which is already in the toilet. But once everyone else has left the club or been digested, she won't be able to bring it back by herself, either - and we should be able to corner her and get her down if we need to."

Silence falls over the room as Fern concludes her debriefing. Rhetta glances at each of her clubmates, gauging their reaction. This excitement is contagious - everyone in the room seems to be thinking the same thing. They can pull this off. It might even be easy! It'll be a risk, sure, but winning a real actual club war is enticing.

Sydney licks her lips with a wide smirk. "I like the sounds of that. Leave the catgirls to me, I can handle them!"

Rhetta's tail wags behind her, unable to stay still with all this hype. "It wouldn't be wise to go solo, I should come with-"

"So you can steal my dinner? No thanks."

"Wh- I..." Rhetta scowls at Sydney. "Don't be so difficult! I'm just offering help."

"Yeah well, I call dibs on Britney," the fierce canine insists.

Fern lets herself have a bit of a smile, her tongue flitting out briefly in the contagious excitement of the group. All her research has paid off... now she just needs to actually lead her club to victory.

Teresa looks toward Fern, trying to look excited too. But she's too nervous. "What if something happens to you?"

"I can take care of myself - I'll be fine," Fern says, arms folded. She glances at Robin, who is excitedly taking notes (to put into her vore fanfiction, of course). "Let's wipe the losers club off the face of this campus."

Meanwhile...

"What is with this gut?" Nicole grumbles, pinching the flab on her fattened tummy. Usually gains from prey are distributed evenly throughout the body. Not Lexi though. Lexi seems to have settled primarily on Nicole's belly. "I guess this is what I get for interrupting your date, huh?"

Gwrrrk~

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."

Morning light slips in through the gap in the curtains, reflecting against the mirror in Nicole's bathroom. Britney is still asleep, although she was sleep-talking a whole lot when Nicole slipped on by. Something about... Reya hogging all the tinies.

Pajama-clad and yawny in the early hours, Nicole jiggles her doughy potbelly with her hands, examining the new curves on her figure. "Hehe, I'm gonna start looking like Mom if this keeps up," she laughs, giving her plump breasts a short squeeze. It looks like her gut wasn't the only area that grew in size overnight. A goofy grin crosses her lips. "Sorry, I'm just higher on the food chain. You put up a decent fight....for a freshman that is."

Content, Nicole pulls open the shower curtain. She slides her PJs and panties down her legs and starts removing her top, teasing her prey all the while. "Poor Lexi. Clearly, you didn't follow any of the guidelines for dating preds. I talk about it on my podcast, Down the Hatch, episode fifty-two, How to date and not get ate. I'd show it to you, but you seem a little... busy at the moment. Hehe- ow! Ow...easy on the bone shards!~" As she piles her clothes beside the shower, she vaguely notes that she hasn't belched up any cloth. She must have digested it all.

Nicole's bowels give a few aggravated pushes, ejecting the remains of Lexi in what turns out to be a speedy (but rather gassy) exit. She fills up the bowl with shit and flushes twice for good measure, casting away the fetid mound littered with tiny bone remains, hair clumps, and ruined cotton from Lexi's outfit. She flushes twice for good measure, vaguely noting the ruined remnants of Lexi's outfit. What had she been wearing again? The memory of her unremarkable appearance is already fading from Nicole's mind. She quickly snatches a folded wad of toilet paper and begins freshening up. The sound of a final flush can be heard outside the bathroom door, eventually followed by the sink faucet and, the showerhead switching on. Nicole leisurely showers underneath the warm, relaxing waters, assuming that she got away scot-free from last night's misdeeds...