With the Book of Myth in hand, Troy looked down at Mark, currently in a balled-up position. Neither his elf nor his dark elf properties were present. He was just back to the big ole bear of a man he always was. A tall, broad shouldered, bit pudgy of a guy with a lot of facial and body hair that was a beautiful red color. He obviously cared about his weight, but Troy never thought of it as anything other than kind of cute. There was a bit of a handsomeness about him if he actually tried to clean himself up and wear clothes that properly fit him. Not to mention, cutting back on sodas and fast food could have easily cut off 20 or 30 pounds maybe even more if he kept it over the course of a year.
"So now what?" Mark looked up from his fetal position.
"I'm supposed to use the book on you. Then I assume we get out of here," Troy looked around the empty void. "Can't think of another way."
Mark took a deep breath and stood up, spreading his arms. His T pose showed anything but dominance. "Alright. Go on. Make me a leonin or a gnoll or werewolf or whatever."
As much as Troy would have loved any of those options, even a few he'd thought of his own like a bear from Goldilocks and the Three Bears or the lumberjack from Little Red Riding Hood or something else that would be just as fun, he couldn't help but think of the elf. Sure, Mark had caused a lot of damage. Even tried to hurt his boss. But in the end, he was just being desperate. All he wanted was to be an elf. Just like how all Troy wanted was to have a tail and animal ears. And claws. And fur. And a maw. He shook his head. A bit of jealousy still ran through him but that seemed to be a rule in this game, he wasn't allowed to be what he wanted.
"Shift," he said, thinking specifically of a high elf. Instantly, his short red hair grew down past his ears. Then to his shoulders and down his back. Each strand looked almost like it was made of silk as it had what looked like a breeze consistently blowing gently through it. A massive smile appeared on Mark's face as he watched his heavyset build disappear into almost nothing. Every bit of extra weight he'd had gleaned into nearly nothing while he seemed to grow several inches taller. Any roundness in his shape quickly became pointed at sharp points. Even his wide eyes looked to square off into a piercing stare when he was just looking normally.
"Thank you," he said, looking at Troy. Troy nodded back with a compassionate smile, watching as Mark's clothes looked to be more handmade and breathable. None of the fabric looked storebought and fit his very lean and tall frame perfectly.
The white void collapsed in on itself. Troy looked around the decimation of the office. "Now wh--"
Mark fell forward. Troy did his best to catch the man. Despite being so much thinner, it didn't feel like Mark had lost much weight. Maybe it was just his more towering presence. Or maybe it had all just turned into a very lean muscle mass. Troy did his best to set Mark down but Troy being in the nude was a bit distracting. Same with the loud methodical clapping coming from behind him.
"Good show my boy! Can't believe you made it out alive. Some of the others seem to think you would have lost this battle, but I knew you had it in you!" the man leaned against one of the remaining filing cabinets, brought his cane up to his black bowler hat and tipped it back slightly. "Not my favorite out of all of your showings but I must say for what you're working with, it's not all bad. To think you could have turned into a sexy Leonin just like you always wanted or a rockstar of a Gnoll. Then you would have had you're furry happy ending and no one the wiser..."
"Rude," Troy glared. With Mark lying on the ground, he stood back up to his full height, trying his best to look as intimidating as possible. It wasn't much, being an almost completely average guy didn't make him stand out all that much. Nor did it help his confidence to be completely in the nude.
"Rude? It's the truth my boy!" the man's hands went wide, cane swinging wildly in the air. "You think your cartoon violence is interesting? The fact that all you can focus on is using half over and over again? Ooo! What kind of animal will he turn them into this time? I don't know! Is it a lion? Or a tiger? Or maybe a horse!" He let out an exasperated sigh then adjusted his hat. "Try experiencing one of the other timelines. They has lying, deceit, murder, drug cartels and who knows what else! Oh! And there's even a shadowy group that follows their players every move to make sure that the world doesn't become too screwed up! So many pieces in play. Each one with a different running outcome that could go in any direction. So many possible motives. So many different unique characters. How can you even compete?! Every time something happens, I have to go check it out!"
Troy maintained his glare. Even if all of that did sound really interesting to read and something he'd eagerly wait for each chapter to come out, it's not like he was interested in actually living that. That sounded miserable. The fact that everything around him would have been untrustworthy or out to kill him was scary. He could only hope that his other versions were smarter than him if they were to have to experience something like that because he knew he couldn't keep up with that amount of tension.
"So now what?" Troy asked.
"Now we continue!" the gentleman's arms crossed against his chest, cane still in hand. "In an unexpected place, you and your friends might lose control." And took a bow. "And with that I bid you adieu." Then started walking off.
"WAIT! How's that supposed to help?!" Troy shouted. But the man just smiled and continued walking. Before he knew it, the gentleman was gone. "Damn it..." Troy dropped back down into one of the chairs only to see Rosco running through the building.
"Help! Help!" Rosco yelped. "You have to change me back!"
"What?!" Troy shot back up.
"I got down like three flights of stairs before Mr. Anderson woke back up. That's when he started screaming. But then the door to the stairs slammed opened and I could hear like 20 cops come rushing up," he continued.
"SHIT!" Troy clenched his teeth. He grabbed his book from under the rubble and said "shape." Before he knew it, he was looking back in Dustin's handsome face, only for everything to go black. "Da--"