Tex paged through the Book, exploring the new spells the combined might of all three Books had enabled. It was big stuff. And best of all, the energy consumption of the basic spells had drastically reduced. With this much power, Troy could Mass-Half an entire state. He’d pass out for a day or two, but what would it matter at that point? Reality itself would tremble.
He was honestly surprised Troy had managed to recognize he had been doing things wrong. But there were complications.
Even if Tex changed Troy, ‘punished’ him as he asked, there was no guarantee that he’d place himself in check. There were two ways to do it, honestly, though they all involved ‘killing’ Troy, in a way. Tex bit his lip. He didn’t want to do this but Troy was too powerful and a loose cannon. He walked outside and turned to face Troy through the office window and pointed.
“Shape.” Tex intoned. He concentrated on what he wanted-a healthy, strong, pedigreed Rottweiler with all his shots and paperwork and guard dog training.
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Troy stood in the middle of the shop, knowing Tex was going to do something, but not sure when. He didn’t notice himself shrink, fingers begin to recede into his palms, becoming clawed toe beans. He wobbled, off balance, wondering why he’d worn shoes as his feet lifted up, resting him on his hind paws.
A crack in his back sent him to the floor, padded fore-paws catching him before he hit the floor. Tex entered the warehouse and Troy looked up, head cocking.
“What did you change?” Troy growled roughly, vocal cords shifting into inhuman configurations.
His face altered, losing any humanoid features, tongue flopping out as a heat enveloped his brain. His eyes turned a deep brown color, forehead sloping, cranium shrinking, becoming more streamlined. Troy mind dulled, thoughts erratic and slow, the light in his eyes dimming as his intelligence faded. His jaw lengthened a bit more, muscles that would help him bite harder wrapping around his head, making him unrecognizable and talking impossible.
He stares up at the huge bull man, panting, eyes glazed as he wondered why the big man was looking at him with such concern. Troy was a good dog. He recognized Tex’s scent-barnyard, sun sweat skin-as a friend, someone allowed to be here. His stubby tail wagged and he whined.
Tex reached down and pet him, voice calm and comforting though Troy didn’t understand him. Tex’s big hands roamed over his body, the flab melting away, chest heaving forward, muscles growing, giving him a strong posture with incredible definition.
The smell of pot left the air, his smell becoming normal, dog like. His waist cracked, becoming leaner, more efficient for standing on all fours. His potbelly shivered, flopping to and fro, and then receded, giving him the form of a perfect show dog. A truly perfect, muscular, streamlined Rottweiler.
Troy’s clothes disintegrated. A heavy spiked collar with his name written on the tags appeared, clinking as the new Rottweiler cocked his head. His new owner's (the neighboring hog Daryl) name appeared on it along with his name and address. His owner loved him, showed him off to all his friends, even gave him steak sometimes!
Troy’s tongue lolled happily out of his mouth as his life with the hog filled what little space was left in his doggy brain. Memories of guard training and show training and breeding-Troy’s rocket slipped out of his fat sheathe at that one. He was a very big (even for his breed) and very busy dog. And he pulled all the bitches.
Troy’s ears perked up as the warehouse filled with life. New employees appeared, grunting as they tested new products. Products *popped* into existence, lining shelves. Tex was very busy in this new reality, given ownership after Troy disappeared after the battle with Sam. Daryl had lent his champion guard dog and breeder to Tex to serve as a guard in exchange for testing a few products himself.
The smells of musk and sex and the sterile smell of lube and latex filled Troy’s nose. He was such a lucky boy to have so many new friends to guard!
“Troy?” Tex asked. “Are you in there?”
The Rottie whined. He vaguely remembered he used to be a big thug who smelled bad. He was naughty and this was punishment. But how was this wonderful life punishment?
“Not much left, huh" Tex's eyes were sad and knowing. "This is the next part of the punishment: ensuring this never happens again.”
Tex walked back to the office.
Troy panted, confused. Where was the big barnyard-smelling man going? He heard a sound in the office and turned his head. Tex was pointing at him and mouthing something. A wave of magical energy entered him, energized him, his mind revitalizing, the light in his eyes recharging as his intelligence increased. Tex staggered exhausted out of the office and looked at the big Rottweiler.
To Troy, as the energy built inside him, flooding his every pour, it felt like a weird connection was being established with Tex, his very being connecting with him, his true loyalty. He stared at Texter in confusion, wondering what he’d done, what spell he’d cast. He ran towards his master, whining, tail between his legs, as he realized his Master looked sorrowful.
“I really am sorry about this, Troy.”
Troy was confused. Master had spoken to him without moving his lips or making any sound-
His doggy eyes widened. No! Not that spell.
“Wait what have you done to me master?” Troy responded mentally, then shook his head. “Master? Why am I thinking of you as my master?”
“As hard as this is for me, you simply won’t take any responsibility. I thought you’d use this as a second chance, to make people’s lives better. I sent Todd to you as a test, and what did you do? You altered reality to make it so you didn’t have to take the time to train him properly.” Tex sighed. “And then you never helped out with attempting to fix Sam’s mistakes. You were flippant and angry. Instead of staying here, dealing with the people you’ve hurt, you book tickets to Hollywoo to become a fucking actor and take out Myth. It’s reckless. Irresponsible. And dangerous. RK was right.”
“I trusted you!” Troy thought, involuntarily barking. “I gave you that Book and now you’re stealing it from me? Traitor!”
“I'm not a traitor.” Tex shrugged. “I AM going to change you back. Eventually. And give you the Books back. But now you’re on a leash, literally. It wasn’t even just my decision. We all came up with this plan. RK. Lenny. Rusty. Clint. Me. I was only wondering how I’d get the Book from you to do it. And then you had an attack of consciousness and handed it to me willingly.”
Troy howled his displeasure. He wanted to lunge, rip Tex's throat out, steal the Book. But the Familiar spell was too powerful. He could not take any direct action that would harm his Master.
“Silence.” Tex said. “It can and will get worse.”
Troy’s jaw snapped shut against his will. Master’s orders.
“The spell binds us together forever. I promise I will help you and Rusty and RK in any way possible. This was the nicest way to do it. “Now, we’re going to go through town and see what you’ve done. And I’m going to show you how I make sure my spells don’t hurt people.”
Tex turned and grabbed a leash that hung from a nail by the office door. His leash, Troy realized. He felt so dejected. Tex fastened the leash to his collar and walked Troy out into the driveway.
“Where are you two goin’?” Daryl called.
“Taking him to the park.” Tex called back.
“You take good care of my good boy now.” The hog called back, before settling in for some more football and beer.
Troy felt a surge of happiness and barked. He loved his owner! Tex opened the passenger seat of his truck and Troy obediently hopped in. Tex settled in to the driver’s seat and drove off.
“Hard not to settle into doggy thoughts, huh?” Tex eyed him sadly.
Troy realized he’d stuck his head out the window. He considered pulling his head back in. But the feel of the breeze on his face was just too pleasant. His tongue lolled out and he vibed with the country music blaring from the radio.
They came to a stop at the dog park. Tex got out and opened the passenger door, letting Troy hop out. Troy felt strange and awkward now, exposed to so many people. But the smells of the other dogs and the sounds of them barking and playing drew him in.
Tex sat on a bench outside the park. Troy whined, wanting to play like his doggy mind demanded. Then a thought occurred to him.
“Why is my mind still intact?” Troy thought.
“Because the familiar spell links our brains. You’re using my processing power, so to speak.” Tex shifted in his seat and held the Book. “Watch me. You will be using this whenever you change someone who isn’t an enemy spellcaster.”
Hours passed. Tex was changing people with the Book. Troy heard every spell Tex whispered under his breath. It was a spell called 'Polymorph'. It must have been a new one, but the effects it had were wide-ranging and surprising.
People on the streets started to shift. Some of them became muscular. Some became a variety of animal species with fur in weird colors and patterns that were anything but natural. Many of them-most of them-seemed happier after the changes. Even a few people became robotic, though still acting as if everything were normal. They all waved at Tex, as though they’d known him forever.
“I don’t get it.” Troy finally said as the sun began to set. “What are you doing so differently from me? You’re just transforming people randomly like you don’t care. I do the same thing.”
“Ah, but I’m not thinking about what I want when I transform them.” Tex smirked. “They are the ones choosing their new forms. Just like I did to you when you were feeling jealous at the party. I just cast the spell and they shape it.”
“What?!” Troy barked loudly, making Tex jump.
“Troy, easy!” Tex spoke out loud.
“I used to use my powers to change people into what I wanted at first. But something ALWAYS went wrong. This jerk from highschool? Total jock douche. Changed him into a twink. Had no idea that his father was a well-known quarterback and was pushing his son to behave like him. By changing him, I’d ruined his relationship with his father. He killed himself. Same with this mean bitchy girl who taunted me at school. I made her fat. She killed herself after graduation because her family fat shamed her and she’d never developed a personality because of her good looks so she had no friends.” Tex was in tears. “I thought I was delivering justice, but I murdered them, Troy. Over bullying. I can’t read thoughts, I don’t know what they truly want, so one day I just cast the spell and prayed they’d get their desired form. And they did. That’s it. That’s my secret.”
“So why give it away?” Troy asked, curious. "You figured out how to make things better."
“I'm haunted by it. And, because I knew that if I threw it away the next owner might be worse. The one guy I trusted turned me into his dream girl and the man I fell in love with made me his accomplice in horrible crimes. I’m not happy. I don’t want to feel anymore. I want to be helpful. And this is how I help people.” Tex stood and stretched walked Troy back into the car. "And I thought you would be a better match. I was mistaken."
They drove down parts of town that was not Owner’s house or the warehouse. Troy was confused. Where the hell were they?
“Where are we going Master?”
“To help someone who you hurt badly. And give them some happiness.” Tex pointed at Troy. “This is a new spell I found in your Book. Infant.”
“Infant? That wasn’t a spell-”
And Troy was shrinking, collar re-sizing with him, his mind working slower and slower as his skull shrank. He pissed on the car seat involuntarily. It was like his meager dog brain was leaking all his memories of Daryl and training on the floor.
“Master-!” Troy struggled to form coherent thoughts. “Wha-? I don’t deserve to be a puppy! Come on you fucker, I saved the town!”
“You put innocent people in danger to trigger Paradox.” Tex shook his head. “It’s unacceptable. And you just don’t care.” Tex pointed and sighed. “Control. You are a good boy.”
The puppy shivered, eyes rolling up into its head, and then sat quietly.
Tex sighed, glad he’d left newspapers on the seat just in case. RK had warned him of psychic overload if too many changes hit Troy at once. He pulled up into the driveway and got out. Troy laid unmoving on the newspaper in a puddle of his cooling urine. He’d be fine in an hour or two when his mind adjusted. Tex gently picked him up and snagged a few baby wipes and cleaned him.
“There you go pup.” Tex cooed. “Good boy. You behave for these kids.”
Tex placed troy in a box with blankets and food and toys and gently carried the box to the front doors of the house. He knocked quietly. The door opened, and Lenny came out, looking at the box in confusion.
“Tex, right? Rusty’s friend?” Lenny scrunched his muzzle.. “Sorry, just got off shift. Can I help you?”
“I need someone to watch my friend’s puppy for a few days while he goes out of town. The address is on his collar.” Tex smiled.
“Okay. But-” The bear opened his mouth to object.
“Daddy! Daddy! Is that a puppy!” Two cubs appeared in the doorway behind him, peering into the box.
“Now you’ve done it.” Lenny muttered.
“Oh, can you two watch him for a few days? I need to get some work done and my friend is on vacation?” Tex winked.
“Oh yes,” One of the cubs nodded, “We are very responsible!”
“This is not a permanent thing, right?” Lenny whispered.
“No, it’s my next door neighbor Daryl's champion-bred puppy. It's worth thousands. He doesn’t want it stolen while he goes to the NASCAR race in Indianapolis.” Tex whispered back.
“Why is he not moving?” One of the cubs asked. "He's all limp."
“Oh, he’s tired out. Give him an hour and some food and water and you can play with him all night.” Tex grinned.
“Alright.” Lenny heaved a sigh. “We’ll keep an eye on him for you.”
Lenny turned to go in and Tex mumbled something under his breath. The door closed and Tex smiled, knowing he’d fixed another family. The temptation to leave Troy here was strong, but he’d made a promise. In three days, he’d pick the puppy back up and see what Troy really wanted to be, deep inside.