For Alice, the last day started like any other.

It all seemed like a normal day at the start. The bar was fairly quiet, but that was common this early in the evening. It was mainly just a few regulars sitting at the bar or the tables, talking or laughing or playing cards. Alice's coworker Hallie was working today, too, and even with just the two of them the bar felt overstaffed. Alice probably could have handled this crowd herself -- though she was happy for the support in case it got busier later.

Alice was in the middle of cleaning a few glasses when the fox sauntered into the bar. It pushed the door open with its shoulder, ringing the bell that indicated a new customer, and began walking towards the bar.

As it got closer, Alice began to doubt her original opinion that the creature was a fox. It was the size of one, anyway, with tawny orange fur, a big bushy tail, and a long snout. But it appeared to have stripes of green around its forelegs and tail, as well as green tips on its ears. Had someone dyed the poor thing's fur?

It was certainly a bold little critter, whatever it was. Not only was it walking into a building full of people, now it was approaching the bar! It hopped lithely up onto one of the stools, then onto the bar itself, before plopping its haunches down, looking at Alice.

"Well now," Alice said. "You're a cute little thing, but I'm not sure you're old enough for me to serve you." She smiled a bit at her own joke, talking to this animal like it understood her.

The fox tilted its head to one side. Or maybe it was some species of dog? Alice still wasn't sure.

"Oh my gosh, is that a puppy!?" Hallie stepped forward, a smile on her face. She put a hand on top of the fox-dog's head and began petting it. "What a cute little guy you are! And such interesting colors!"

Alice furrowed her brow. She would never say this out loud, but Hallie wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. She had been hired for her looks: blond hair and a busty figure tended to attract customers.

"Hallie," Alice said. "I'm not sure you should be touching that animal. We don't know where it's been."

"Nonsense! I'll wash my hands afterwards. How could I turn down a chance to pet such a cute... hey!"

The little creature had leaned its head back, pulling it away from Hallie's hand. Then it opened its muzzle wide and moved forward again, glomping its mouth around Hallie's entire hand, engulfing it down to the wrist!

"Hallie, are you okay!?" Alice said, keeping her voice low so as not to make a scene, though the patrons sitting at the bar were already watching with interest.

"Whoa! Friendly guy, aren't you," Hallie said. "Heh, I'm fine. He's not biting or anything. His tongue feels weird. Okay, little guy, just let me... whoa!"

The fox-dog's mouth opened again, and it chomped forward, taking in Hallie's arm past the elbow.

Alice furrowed her brow. This didn't make sense. There was no way that much of Hallie's arm should be able to fit in that little fox's body. She didn't get time to really consider it, though, because the fox-dog opened its mouth again.

What happened next happened quickly, over the course of no more than a second or two.

The fox-dog kind of... inhaled, and there was a rush of wind, strong enough that Alice felt it flutter her shirt. And it just sort of... sucked Hallie in. She barely had the chance to let out a shout of surprise before her head vanished into the fox's throat. There was a sort of "shluck" sound as her chest, then her stomach, then her hips disappeared. Alice caught a glimpse of Hallie's kicking feet, still wearing her shoes, vanishing into the fox-dog's gullet, before its mouth snapped closed again, and it ran its tongue along its muzzle in a satisfied slurp.

Hallie was just... gone. There one second, vanished entirely the next. The fox-dog was still licking its chops, as though savoring the last few bits of her flavor. It didn't look changed at all, its belly still the same size as when it had entered -- it certainly didn't look like it had just swallowed an entire person.

"What the hell!?"

One of the tavern patrons, a middle-aged man, had jumped up from the bar, knocking over the stool he had been sitting on. He was pointing a shaking finger at the small creature.

The creature, for its part, turned itself around, almost lazily, before plopping its haunches down again, this time facing away from Alice, towards the rest of the bar. Its bushy tail flicked fitfully behind it.

It opened its mouth.

"Did that thing just... aaah!"

The bar patron didn't get to finish his sentence. The burst of wind that had sucked down Hallie was nothing compared to this one. It was like a localized tornado. Glasses around the bar rattled, and playing cards flew into the air, spinning around the room like they were possessed by a drunken genie. The man was lifted from his feet, flying finger-first towards the fox-dog's mouth. He was gone in an instant, flying down that throat with a shoop noise.

The bar erupted into chaos. Everyone had seen that. Some of the patrons looked angry, others looked frightened. A few made a dash for the door.

But the wind didn't stop this time. If anything, it only seemed to increase. Alice actually felt her feet starting to lift off the ground, and she braced herself against the bar, able to keep herself in place by holding on tightly. Alice was behind the creature, and thus was apparently spared the full brunt of the bizarre wind.

The bar's patrons weren't so lucky. One by one, they flew through the air towards the fox-dog's open mouth, each one blocking the flow of wind for a moment before vanishing down its gullet. Shoop. Shoop. Shoop. A skinny man disappeared almost immediately. A chubbier fellow blocked the flow for maybe a half-second longer than normal, but then vanished. A young woman who had managed to grab hold of one of the tables lost her grip and flew screaming through the air.

Finally, the flow of wind died down. Alice released her grip on the bar, her knuckles white. Slowly, her heart pounding, she stood up and looked around.

Other than herself and the small fox creature, the bar was empty.

The fox-dog turned around to face her again, licking its chops. "Well," it said. "That was a nice appetizer!"

Alice froze, her eyes wide. "Did... did you just speak!?"

The fox-dog gave her what she could only call a sly look. "I just ate an entire bar and the fact that I can talk is what worries you?"

He had a point. Alice took a step back, bumping into one of the shelves of spirits behind her. "Are... are you going to eat me, too?"

The fox-dog tilted its -- no, his, the voice felt masculine to her -- head. "Hmm... maybe, but I think I'll pass for the moment. You'd barely be a morsel by yourself. I'm gonna go grab some more food outside."

"M-more food?" Alice asked, trying not to faint.

"Yeah! You can come with if you want." He looked up at her expectantly, his green eyes sparkling.

Alice hesitated. What the hell was this thing!? He had just devoured more than half a dozen people like it was nothing! His stomach wasn't even bulging!

Alice squinted. No, on a second look, his tummy had grown, just a little. Had the people he had swallowed been crushed to death? But no, she thought she caught a flutter of movement.

None of this made any sense!

However... one thing was certain. Judging by what had just happened, the safest place to be was right behind the creature. Maybe if she stayed close, she could avoid meeting the same fate.

"S-sure," she stammered. "Why not?"

"Great!" The little fox-dog hopped down from the bar, landing lightly on the floor. "Come on! My name's Megaru, by the way. What's yours?"

"Alice." She fought another urge to faint.

"Nice to meet you Alice! Come on, it's going to be a fun day!"

Alice swallowed hard. Maybe it would be for him -- she wasn't so sure the same would be true for her.

---

Megaru trotted happily down the street, with Alice following behind him in a sort of daze. She was still struggling to wrap her head around what had just happened. Hallie, and everyone else in the bar -- some of them regulars that Alice saw every day -- were currently inside the little fox. How was that even possible? Other than his slightly odd coloration, there was no indication that Megaru was any different than a normal animal -- others walking past them on the sidewalk barely paid them any mind.

"Ah, this looks good!" Megaru said, his tone pleased.

Alice followed the direction of Megaru's gaze and found herself looking at a three-story-tall office building. "What you going to do in... hey!"

Megaru had already trotting up to the front entrance, slipping in the door after another person walked through. Alice sprinted to catch up, forcing the door open and into the office building's lobby.

There was a front desk with a secretary sitting at a computer. A few other people in suits or other professional attire stood or sat in the lobby, possibly waiting for appointments. The place seemed as quite as a library, and each step she took echoed through the room.

Alice felt incredibly out of place as she fell into step behind Megaru.

"Careful," Megaru said, his nails clicking on the tile floor. "Stay close, or you'll get caught up in it!"

The secretary at the main desk, a young woman wearing glasses, looked at the two of them. "Excuse me, we don't allow animals in heeaaAAAAH!"

Megaru had opened his mouth again, and with another blast of suction, the secretary was dragged over the top of her desk and into the fox-dog's waiting maw. Alice couldn't help but noticed that her computer mouse, a few pens, and various other objects from her desk came with her.

The flow of air around him increased, and Alice braced herself as she felt it whip through her clothes. The other people around the lobby began flying into his maw as well. Just like in the bar, none of them were able to stop it: even the few who had the wherewithal to grab onto chairs or other sturdy objects all lost their grip eventually. After no more than a minute or two, the entire lobby was clean, devoid of people and any small objects.

Megaru licked his lips. "C'mon, let's go upstairs! There are bound to be plenty more up there."

Alice followed Megaru towards the elevators, still in a daze.

The upper floor went very much the same. It was a maze of cubicles and offices. Megaru started with a huge blast of suction, sending people careening through the air towards him. The floor filled with screams, though most were overpowered by the strong sound of wind, as Megaru walked happily back and forth between the cubicles, snagging anyone who happened to be hiding or standing in a location where the wind hadn't caught them yet. One by one, person after person slipped into the fox-dog's mouth, each one vanishing with a shoop noise as they momentarily blocked the floor of air.

Shoop. Shoop. Shoop. Each sound the sound of a person disappearing without a trace.

No... no, that wasn't right, Alice realized. Megaru was starting to develop a noticeable belly, a bulge beneath him that definitely hadn't been there before. And... had he grown bigger overall, too? That didn't seem logical, but nothing about this was logical.

Once he had cleared the second floor, they went back to the elevators and moved onto the third. This one had fewer, but larger offices, each of which Megaru cleared easily. The power of the wind yanked file cabinets open, sending papers and folders flying through the air to his mouth, but he swallowed those just as easily as he devoured the people.

"Well, you did it," Alice said, her knees shaking. She wasn't sure she would be able to stay on her feet much longer. "You cleared out the whole building."

Megaru sat down on his haunches and lifted his nose into the air. He sniffed a few times. "No... no, not the whole building. I think a few people found somewhere to hide. Come on, let's go back to the elevator. Didn't this place have a basement?"

Alice managed to follow Megaru back to the elevator, which they took down to the lower level. The elevator doors opened into an underground car park.

Megaru sniffed the air again. "Yep, they're down here. Hello? Anyone here?" He trotted forward, his nose still up.

Alice followed hesitantly behind him. He had definitely grown larger. He had started out the size of a fox, but now he looked more like a large dog.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," Megaru said, in a sing-song voice. He kept sniffing at the air, occasionally taking a turn between the rows of parked cars. "I'm going to find you eventually, you're just making it harder on yourself."

Alice swallowed. She still wasn't sure why Megaru had spared her, or why she was being allowed to witness all of this. But... maybe it was for a reason? Should she have been helping -- trying to rescue the people in this building? She couldn't imagine how she could possibly have done so without putting herself in the line of fire, but what if that was the reason she was here? To find a way to help?

"Ah, there you are!"

Megaru peered between two vehicles, and there, sitting on the floor beside a barrier wall, was a sobbing young woman, probably about Alice's age.

"P-please," she stammered. "I saw what happened to everyone else. Please, just let me go!" She looked up at Alice. "Please, stop your pet!"

"Oh, I'm not her pet," Megaru responded as he trotted closer to her.

"No! Get away!" She kicked out at him.

Megaru simply opened his mouth and caught her foot between his teeth. He dipped his head down, scooping up her other foot, too, and started to slurp her into his throat.

She screamed and clawed at the concrete floor as she was rapidly pulled into Megaru's gullet. "No, no please, don't mmmph mmmrmmph!" Her protests became nothing but muffled noises as her head vanished between Megaru's teeth, followed quickly by her arms and hands.

"There we go!" Megaru said. "Now I've cleared out the whole building!"

"Y-yeah," Alice managed.

Megaru responded by nuzzling her leg as he walked by. "Come on! We're nowhere near done."

Alice swallowed as she followed Megaru towards the exit. Then she took a deep breath and steeled herself. Even if she got out of this alive, she would never be able to live it down if she didn't at least try to do something. Alice didn't think she could stop Megaru, but maybe she could at least limit the damage he was doing.

---

Alice stared at the shopping center entrance. "Here?"

"Yep! There are lots of people inside. It'll be great!" Megaru stood up on his hind legs and hit the automatic door button with his paw to grant himself access to the large shopping center.

Alice followed, keeping her eyes open for her opportunity.

The shopping center was packed today. People talked and laughed and generally had a good time, visiting the various shops and stalls. The chatter of humanity became a dull, friendly roar, filling the space with the sounds of life.

Megaru opened his mouth.

The sounds of laughter were quickly replaced by screams as people began to be vacuumed into Megaru's seemingly bottomless stomach. Many barely had time to comprehend what was happening before they were sucked into the fox-dog's maw. Alice saw one man hanging from the side of one of the large stalls set up in the center of the walkway, only to lose his grip when he was hit in the face with a cell phone case. Person after person disappeared as Megaru began to make his way down the shopping center's main hallway.

However, Alice noticed that he wasn't going into the shops themselves yet, seemingly content to handle the crowds outside the shops first. This could be her chance! While Megaru was distracted by a particularly large group disappearing into his throat with that shoop shoop shoop sound, Alice ducked into one of the nearby stores.

Various customers were standing between aisles of shoes. None actually appeared to be shopping. Most were staring at her as she came in.

"What is going on out there?" The cashier said. "We heard screaming and what sounded like a lot of wind. Is there a hurricane or something?"

"Some kind of natural disaster, at least," Alice said. "Look, I really don't have time to explain. You all need to hide, now, somewhere out of sight and somewhere sturdy."

The cashier nodded. "O-okay. We have some employee restrooms in back. We'll try to squeeze everyone in there."

"Great! Now I have to go. Stay hidden for as long as you can!"

And Alice ran back out of the shop, falling into step behind Megaru again. If he had noticed she was gone, he didn't say anything.

She repeated the procedure several times while Megaru cleared out the crowds in the shopping center, ducking into shops and warning the customers and staff to get themselves hidden. She even managed two while Megaru tackled the food court, slurping up customers, chefs, and various foodstuffs alike.

When the reached the end of the shopping center, they turned around, and Megaru began taking the shops one by one.

Alice's heart was practically beating out of her chest. Would it work? Would he realized what she had done? Would he be mad at her if he did? All he would have to do would be to search each shop thoroughly and he would probably find the ones hiding.

But he didn't search the shops thoroughly. He stopped at the entrance of each one, opening his mouth and letting that tornado wind draw everything in. The people and a good deal of the merchandise in each shop disappeared into his throat, but then he would move on to the next. He didn't search the back rooms or bathrooms.

As they walked out of the shopping center, Alice let out a sigh of relief. She had actually managed to at least save a few people! She would at least know that she had done everything she could.

They had walked out into the shopping center parking lot when Megaru suddenly stopped and turned around. "You might want to stay a little ways back for this one," Megaru said.

"What?" Alice furrowed her brow.

Megaru opened his muzzle, and the wind started.

The amount of suction that Megaru's throat seemed capable of creating had already seemed fantastic, but this... this was something else. The blowback actually knocked Alice off her feet, and she landed on her bottom on the hard concrete of the parking lot. The sound of rushing air was absolutely deafening, extending in a wide cone around the entire shopping center. Shattering noises signaled the windows facing them breaking. Car alarms started going off. And then Alice heard an earth-shattering CRACK.

It couldn't... it wasn't possible...!

Another loud CRACK. The entire shopping center was starting to come loose from its foundations.

Alice shook her head, silently mouthing the word "no" over and over.

Brick by brick, the shopping center crumbled, somehow managing to disappear into the relatively tiny opening of Megaru's mouth. Alice's ears were filled with the loud noise of wind, and the sounds of rocks and bricks crashing against each other as they were crammed into that greedy maw.

After a minute or two -- it seemed both like an eternity, and also no time at all, the wind stopped. Alice's ears rang in the sudden relative quiet. She stared, wide-eyed.

Where the shopping center had once been, there was nothing just a large... hole. Just a hole. She could see the occasional pipe sticking out where they had connected to the building that was no longer there.

So much for those people she had "rescued."

Megaru turned around to face her, licking his lips. "That was a good snack!"

He had gotten bigger now -- a lot bigger. He towered over where Alice was sitting, and if she were to stand up, she probably wouldn't be much taller than him. He was no longer the size of a dog: now he was a great wolf, powerful muscles rippling beneath his fur. His belly sagged beneath him, bloated and round.

"Now, what next?" He said, looking around.

"You... you're not full!?" Alice swallowed hard.

"Not nearly!" Megaru said. He trotted over to her, and for a moment, Alice thought this was the end. But Megaru just stepped up beside her, then lowered himself to the ground, his belly flatting against the concrete. "Here, hop on."

It took Alice a moment to find her voice. "You... you want me to ride you?"

"Yeah. After this it's gonna be hard to not get you by accident. This is the easiest way. C'mon!"

Alice hesitated. Every fiber in her being screamed at her to run. But she had already seen how ineffective running was. The only way she saw herself getting out of this alive was if Megaru decided to keep her as a pet or something. So she steeled herself, stood up, then climbed onto his back.

She let out an "eep" as he suddenly stood, lifting her up off the ground. She gripped tightly onto the fur of his back and shoulders.

"Hang on tight, now!" Megaru said.

He bounded out into the street, clearing the entire parking lot in just a few hops. He landed right in the middle of one of the lanes.

"Look out!" Alice shouted.

Megaru turned, almost nonchalantly, to face the minivan that was headed straight for them. The van's horn blared. Megaru opened his mouth.

An entire shopping center had already been devoured by the fox-wolf -- what chance did a minivan have? With a great creaking and grinding of metal, the entire van was crammed into his gullet, vanishing in a second.

And he didn't stop there.

The gale-force winds returned, forming a massive tornado in front of Megaru, drawing everything towards him. Megaru began clearing the streets, sucking in entire vehicles, as well as any pedestrians who happened to be nearby.

Alice felt herself being lifted off of Megaru's back, and she gripped tightly onto him, bunching up his fur in her hands and clasping her knees tightly around his sides.

People, cars, and literally anything that wasn't nailed down flew into Megaru's throat. Those were quickly followed by the things that were nailed down, often along with whatever they were nailed to. Megaru bounded happily down the streets, devouring literally everything: people, cars, buildings. Massive crowds were vanishing into his gullet in moments. Entire buildings collapsed into his muzzle when he turned his incredible vacuum force on them. He was unstoppable, a storm, a force of nature.

Alice tried to close her eyes, but her knees and legs were pressing against his belly, and she could feel it moving and swelling as Megaru filled it.

Alice wasn't sure how long it went on. It felt like hours. But finally, things grew quiet again. The wind had stopped. She no longer felt like she was being pulled into the air.

She opened her eyes.

Megaru was standing at the edge of a massive scar in the earth, easily miles across. Other than the highways leading straight into the scar, Alice could see no sign of the city that had once been there.

Megaru licked his lips happily, before lowering himself to the ground to let Alice off.

She slid carefully off of his back, her legs shaking. She turned around to look at him.

Megaru was probably about the size of a horse now. His round belly hung below him, swinging from side to side every time he moved. He closed his eyes and slowly ran his tongue across his chops.

"Ah. Now that was a meal."

Alice opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a small squeak. She tried to steady her shaking legs, then tried again.

"You... you ate everything," she said.

"Yep!" Megaru responded happily.

"The whole city. Just... gone."

"Yeah! It was a great meal." Megaru almost sounded proud.

"What... what about me?"

She could have sworn that the fox-wolf grinned. "What about you?"

"Why... why didn't you eat me?"

Megaru shrugged, his belly jiggling with the movement of his canine shoulders. "I guess I like you. Don't worry. You can go ahead and leave if you want. I won't stop you."

"O-okay."

Alice wasn't sure where she was going to go, but if this creature was letting her go, she was going to get out of here. Maybe she'd be able to find someone on the highway who could help her get somewhere safe. She turned and started walking down the highway.

She had only made it about a hundred feet when she felt Megaru's teeth clamp down on the back of her shirt. She felt his hot breath against the back of her head and neck.

"Just kidding."

With a jerk of his head, Megaru whipped Alice into the air.

Alice let out a cry of surprise as she flew up and up, probably about twenty feet in the air. Her trajectory crested for a moment, and then she started to fall back down, headfirst.

And below her, she saw Megaru's wide-open maw.

"Nononononono...!" She managed to say.

Then, with a wet squelch, she fell straight into his gullet, surrounded on all sides by hot, slimy flesh.

---

Megaru kept his head tilted back, "biting" forward with a glk, glk noise as he pulled Alice deeper into his throat. His teeth clicked closed behind her feet, and then with one last swallow, she vanished, sliding down to join the rest of her city in his belly.

Megaru licked his chops happily, enjoying the feeling of his full, churning stomach. As he turned to leave, he noticed a sign, half collapsed. It was the city's welcome sign, with the city's name emblazoned in large letters. And, just below that, a number:

"Population: 136,755."

Megaru smiled to himself, then turned and began trotting down the highway, his enormous gut swaying beneath him with every step.

"A great lunch. Now, what to do for dinner?"