Troy was prepared. He wasn’t sure how he’d fight this Book of Transmutation user, but everything he needed was already set up. Their little subdivision, basically a cul-de-sac in the middle of town, had lanterns and songbirds in cages (formerly flies Troy had caught, negligible Paradox) strung up. Clint was outside grilling and chatting happily with his mar wife and their little foals. Troy was lucky they’d had a long weekend this week.
Muffin the Borzoi was out, chained to a stake in the neighbor’s yard. Troy didn’t want to use him, but he would if he had to. All the anthros were here, even Lenny, officer on duty. Troy had called the police and asked for an anthro officer to come down, and since Rusty had been on patrol, they assigned it to the big black bear.
Troy made sure he was groomed and wore his silvery thong that Rusty really liked under his rather tight clothes. That was, uh, pretty much his weapon of last resort. He’d attempt to seduce whoever got near him. Probably very dumb, but dumber plans had worked.
Then he frowned, noticing something odd with the crowd. He was being stared at. At first, he didn't understand why, rubbing the bit of belly he just couldn't shake no matter what form he took, thinking they might be mocking his beer belly. But he was muscular too, so why...?
"Man, that dude's really lucky," A voice nearby whispered, "To be the only carnivore in town who isn't in the police force. He must have connections."
Troy felt like slapping himself in the forehead. Everyone else was some kind of herbivore or common domesticated animal. He knew there was a cougar in town, but he was a fireman. Small wonder he was getting looks. He'd invited the WHOLE TOWN, not just his neighbors, who were acclimated to his presence. He needed to change that, make sure he wasn't the only exotic breed at the party.
A few human guests were milling around. He started shifting them, one at a time, into something more exotic. More carnivores to make him seem less freakish and weird. He pulled up his phone and started randomly selecting animals from a list of favorites. A panda here, another tiger there, wolves were super popular so he did a few of those in a row.
After a few minutes, Troy sat down on his lawn chair, exhausted. He was pleased with the results. Even more people were at the party now than every before.
A banner *poppped* into existence, stretching across the entrance to the subdivision. "New Anthros Welcome!" New memories bubbled in his head. He let them in. They were fine. Reality had changed, new laws on biomodding and anthrotherapy had opened it up to a ton of people. Even some of the human guests he hadn't changed to exotic species had shifted to something new by proxy.
An hour later and more guests trickled in, having gotten off work. Troy noticed something...odd about them. Every last one, whether they had walked or drove, were fit. Athletic. Some were even body builders.
“I didn't think there were this many health nuts around here,” Troy mused out loud.
A group of anthro pigs walked by with 8-pack abs and glistening pink skin. The normally rather short rodent anthros who wouldn't even reach 4 feet in height had easily surpassed 5 and a half feet tall. And even they were well-muscled. It...didn't seem normal. Someone had to be fucking around.
“Okay, sure, Mr. Reality Auditor!" Troy fumed. "I make a few goddamn changes to myself and Rusty and you try to turn us into fat nerdy pigs. But now I change a few more anthros and suddenly the world is filled with body builders and athletes and I'm stuck with a flabby midsection? Fuck you!"
Troy fumed harder as a group of humans walked past. They looked gorgeous with no blemishes, many of them looking like they could model for some clothing catalog. He slapped his stupid fat fucking belly that he couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how hard he tried, a growl rising in his throat as he stares at them in jealousy.
“You wanna play this game! Fine! Maybe it's time to make a few changes so I'm not the only fat exotic animal.” Troy shouted into the air, garnering more than a few looks.
Troy searched the crowd for a good target. Most of the humans mingling with the anthros were fit now, some were still skinny, but absolutely none were fat. Troy's frown deepened, and his ire focused on a handsome black man with a nice beard and a shaven head. He was leaning against a tree, shirt off, flaunting his stupid perfect fucking abs, built like Rusty. Troy ground his teeth. How fucking dare he!
“Half." Troy pointed, thinking hippo, because hippos were fat naturally and fuck that guy in particular.
The spell hit the man and his skin turned gray and rubbery, hands shifting and altering, becoming three-fingered. He scratched his ass as his body start to bulk up, a hole appearing in the back of his pants and a small hippo tail jutted through it, wagging happily. Troy looked on in fascination as the mouth of the guy stretched into a maw, huge tusky teeth filling it. The man's friends started tossing burgers at him, his mouth chomping them and swallowing them in one bite. His body swelled, gut pushing out into an apron-like gut that sagged to his knees. Total fatass. Finally, his ears migrated to the top of his head and twitched. As the newly minted hippo adjusted to his new size, his tight shirt expanded to fit him. Textbook reality alter right there. You could always tell by the clothes shifting.
“Nice! Now I won't stand out. It's definitely not wrong of me to do that, he's still got muscle…” Troy tried to rationalize his jealous rage.
But then the fat hippo...altered. The fat his species was supposed to have melted away, muscles bulking and redifining, and where a fat hippo stood showing off his protuberant gut now stood a massive body builder with no shirt on at all. Oddly, it still looked like a swimmers build-if one were the size of a hippo, that is.
“Are the Auditors doing this?” Troy frantically checked himself. Nothing seemed out of place, but then panicked again, because if reality had shifted he wouldn't notice anything out of place! Now he understood why Rusty was so paranoid. He waited a minute but nothing happened. “What the hell…”
He checked outside, trying to spot other shifts in reality or *pops* of something being added. Nothing.
“Ok, maybe it was just a fluke because it's an exotic animal…” He tried to calm himself down. Troy searched the crowd to find another human who looked like they went to the gym daily. He finally spotted one sitting on a cooler drinking beer and laughing-there were less and less humans around now, most had shifted into anthros. He seemed like a nice guy and Troy felt bad doing this, but he needed to know what was going on.
“Half” He pointed.
He watched as the guy's body turned flabby, definition fading as a nice bristly coat of fur covered his body. The man's nose jutted out into a pig snout and the hair on his head shaped itself into a Mohawk. As a final touch, tusks curled out of his snout and a curly pig's tail poked out the back of his pants. The new pig snuffled and oinked at his plate, now piled with food, his shirt messy and covered in food stains. The pig began to chow down and Troy watched his thighs widen and jiggle with fat, shoes disappearing as his feet became ham hocks.
As the changes finalized Troy watched the newly minted pig man eat and talk at the same time. But that didn’t last long as the guy's shirt started looking cleaner and more fresh as the plate of fatty food shifted, looking like a vegan dish as the anthro pig's fat started to melt away, muscles bulging, fat streaming from his legs. Even the pig man's manners shifted from slob to gentlemanly, dignified.
“What the fuck is happening…?” Troy was shocked.
This had to be the work of another Book. Maybe...Body? He searched the party for the person responsible. Who was doing this?
He grabbed a steak and potatoes from the grill and put it on a plate, trying to look inconspicuous. Troy sat back in his lawn chair and cracked open a beer, knowing it was bad for him, especially if he was trying to lose weight. He glanced down at his thin, athletic figure and the beer-belly that disfigured it. Sitting down made his gut pooch out more. Troy prodded it and shook his head unhappily. It may be bad for him but needed the comfort food right now, just for stress relief. He took a bite of steak and moaned happily as the juices slid down his throat.
A chill breeze picked up, sending shivers down his spine. He rolled his large shoulders, nipples hardening, and cut another piece off his deliciously flakey tuna, spearing a piece of asparagus with a tine. He happily chewed it and swallowed, grateful his diet had worked out so well for him. He washed the whole lot down with a gulp of mineral water and paused. Something was off. Troy glanced down past his heavy pecs and tight six-pack abs to his rather large cock, which had inexplicably gotten hard. He chuffed happily. Rusty would take care of that later. The big tiger shifted on his large glutes.
Man, he was so glad he'd gotten serious and started dieting and exercising. With all these fit people around, he'd be pretty embarassed if he still had that gut on him! After finishing his tasty meal with a side salad, he resumed his search of the party.
Everything was in place, except the very large man with bullhorns, ears and tail that was currently making a beeline for his door. Troy was both suspicious and puzzled, as the man was…well, kinda ugly and thuggish looking. He had a beard and a fucked up face, like he’d been punched a few times, with a large brass ring in his septum. Generally not the type to knock on a police officer’s door.
That…wasn’t what a serial killer did. Especially someone who evaded police as well as the Transmutation guy had. So what was this guy’s deal?
Troy kept his hand on his book and walked over to the man pounding down his door, pecs bouncing.
“Oh, sorry sweetie, he’s not home.” Troy called.
The bullish man turned and squinted at him. “Uh, do you know when he’ll be back? I have a package for him.”
“Package?”
“Yes, a book. Do you know a Troy? I think he’s a tiger like you.”
“Which Book?”
“Body.” The man glanced down at himself. “Obviously.”
“Body. Of fucking course. Do you have it with you?”
“Yeah, uh, here.” The man fumbled with his bag. “RK said I was supposed to give it to him when I got here.”
RK? Oh. This was unexpected.
“Shake the book out onto the ground in the grass please.” Troy said.
The bullish man blinked, then nodded. “Right, but, I was going to trade it to him, actually.”
“For?”
“Uh, you’re Troy, aren’t you? I want to be a bullman, Mr. Troy.” The bullish man stared at him. “That’s my price.”
Troy stared at him. “What’s your name?”
“Tex.”
“Okay. Tex.” Tory rubbed his temples with his leathery pads. “Altering reality like that costs massive amounts of Paradox. My reality auditor is a sadistic dickweasel. The last thing I want is to make this neighborhood into Ram Ranch.”
“Reality Auditor?” Tex frowned. “Is that something I should worry about?”
“Have you noticed any attempts to warp your very mind?”
“Yeah, some guy named…oh, shit…RealtiyAuditor69 posted in my livestream. Donated thousands just to get my friend to cum inside me. Then reality altered and I was his wife and he wanted to make babies.”
“Wait, the Auditor message you on Twatch?” Troy frowned. “Like, physically posted something?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Then they really are people. Sort of. Probably past Book winners. Each of us is assigned an Auditor and they punish us for straying too far from reality. I’m not talking about minor shit, or shit you correct quickly. If you alter reality in ways that generate huge inconsistencies, they bring down the hammer. And they all have different personalities, too. Mine’s a real asshole.”
“So you can’t do it or won’t do it?” Tex frowned and gestured at his cow parts. “Because I’m basically a bull right now anyways.”
“Shit.” Troy thought hard. “I wish Rusty was here.”
He wished he knew what exactly triggered the Paradox. Because Tex was right. If anything, transforming him should reduce paradox. But his Auditor was sadistic. The worst part was, he could give Tex what he wanted right now.
“Rusty?” Tex murmured. “Is he a police dog?”
“Yeah.” Troy looked up. “Why?”
“Well, Sam and I-he’s a friend that gave me a ride into town-met him at a coffee shop earlier.”
Troy steeled himself. “I’ll do it. Leave your Book there in the grass. I’ll be right back.”
Troy walked back inside his house and looked at Tex standing just outside. He was glancing around at all the anthros nervously. Well, he’d fit in soon enough. Wait! That’s it! That’s how he could pull this off.
“Half.” Troy pointed and used his imagination.
Tex’s horns grew first, pulling out of his head, becoming proper longhorns. His muscles bulked even more, spine creaking upward as he grew another 6 inches. Fur swept across the towering bullman’s form and his legs reversed, becoming more animalistic. His hands changed, little hooflets at the tips of his fingers, and he walked on toes that rapidly *clopped* onto the pavement as hooves. The unknowing Texas looked a bit daze and snorted, making the little bell on his neck tinkle.
Troy walked back outside and picked up the Book of Body. Tex was still on the lawn, wavering on his hooves dizzily.
“Did ya do it?” Tex’s voice boomed.
Troy nodded. “Reality shift should happen soon. You came to town to finish your recovery from anthrotherapy-therapy I paid for in exchange for your Book. You just got into town and attended this block party. Congratulations.”
“Will the Auditor buy it?” Tex sat down on his large bovine ass, holding his head. “And why do I feel so odd?”
Troy guided him to a lawn chair, mostly tucked out of the way of the general public.
“In this reality, you’re still recovering from the procedure.”
“B-but I wanna be useful!” Tex protested weakly.
“Trust me, you have been.” Troy smiled and left.
Troy made sure he was in the privacy of his home when he placed the Books together. He was glad he’d taken the precaution, as a blinding flash lit the room. When Troy recovered, his Book was thicker, and had a few more spells in it. Most of them involved changing bodily characteristics, including-he blushed-pregnancy. Having Rusty’s baby…the thought sent a thrill through him…he wouldn’t mind that at all.
He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to let his cock do the thinking. It was vitally important he be outside, in the position that would offer him a clear view of every that was at the party. He went back to check on Tex and…he was gone.
Troy stared at the lawn chair, mystified. Had he wandered off in the five seconds it had taken him to go inside? He turned to go find him and stopped. Blocking his path was an overly muscular Doberman-man. He was covered in drip and tattoos and piercings and smelled like cigars and rough sex and leather. A cruel smile played across the Doberman’s lips, and the big red cock he exposed when he pulled his jeans down left his intentions entirely clear.
Troy swallowed. His perfect man.
“Hey there,” The handsome and rather thuggish-looking Doberman growled, licking his chops. “You’re looking fine tonight, pretty kitty. Bigger than I remember.”
“I'm...uh, on a diet, thanks. And for your information, I’m m-m-married.” Troy stuttered, willing his boner away. This had to be a trap.
“You’re muh muh married?” The doberman mocked. He held up a rough paw. Something gold glittered in the lantern light. “So am I, to you, Troy.”
Troy pointed. “Shape.”
Nothing happened.
Why would nothing happen? Then Troy noticed Rusty wasn’t breathing. The Book of Transmutation had…turned him into a robot?
“Rusty, stop!”
“I'm not named Rusty anymore. Master gave me a new name. Randy.” The doberman growled and stepped forward, “Though I’m told that’s going to change when I’m done with you.”
“D-done?” Troy whimpered. How could it have gone so wrong?
“You’re going to be just like me. Sort of. A Rottweiler whose cum tastes like Xerther’s Original. I was thinking a fireplug build for you, thick with fat and muscle, with a dick that doubles as a bong.” Randy advanced, bearing down on Troy. “We’re being sold as a pair after all. The naughtiest dogs on campus.”
Troy’s mind started to race. How could he deal with Rusty…or Randy, without killing him? He desperately looked around him, looking for something, anything, that could help him.