“...And that’s about it,” Xarxos finished. The minotaur looked over at Mark, who was staring at him in utter confusion.
“So, let me get this straight…” the snow leopard said. “You’re telling me this…” He pointed at the Book of Transfiguration. “...is a magical book that can essentially change anyone or anything into whatever I want them to be.”
“Yes,” the minotaur confirmed.
“Not only that,” Mark continued. “But it will also alter reality so no one will think that anything has changed, and only the other people who have the books will know that reality has been altered.”
“Yeah, that’s about it,” Todd said, nodding his head. “Well, everything minus Paradox and Auditors.” The snow leopard looked at Todd, then at Xarxos, then back at Todd before bursting into a fit of laughter.
“Okay, I’ve heard some pretty stupid things in my day, but this takes the fucking cake,” Mark laughed. “You two honestly expect me to believe that this book is magical? I mean, come on! Magic doesn’t exist!”
“But we’re not lying to you, babe…” Todd said, feeling a little hurt that Mark didn’t believe him. Sure, the claims that he and Xarxos were making were batshit insane, but he at least expected Mark to be a little more accepting of what he was saying, or at the very least play along.
Mark’s laughter began to slow as the snow leopard began to take some deep breaths. “Todd, hun,” he said. “I don’t know why your friend had to come over at three in the morning and tell me all this. Couldn’t you have planned this for some time later in the day?”
“But we didn’t plan this…” Todd replied quietly. “I…I thought you would believe me…” Mark didn’t seem to hear him, however, as the feline got up from the couch and walked over to the stairs.
“Alright, I’m going back to sleep,” he said. “You two have fun with your ‘magic book.’” The snow leopard walked up the stairs, laughing to himself. As Mark stepped out of earshot, Todd let out a defeated sigh.
“I really thought he would at least believe me a little,” the wolf said quietly. “I can’t believe he didn’t…”
Xarxos scoffed and shook his head. “Eh, screw him,” the minotaur said. “You don’t need him in order to take down Time. You’re strong enough as is, and with the proper training, you’ll be unstoppable.”
Todd let out another sigh and gave the minotaur a defeated smile. “Alright, I’m in.”
“Great! I knew I could count on you!” the minotaur said as he stood up. “Anyways, I think it’s time I take my leave for now. I’ll be back at nine AM sharp to pick you up for your first day of training. Be ready, okay?”
“I will,” Todd replied. The minotaur smiled and pat the wolf on the head before walking to the front door, letting himself out. As Xarxos left, Todd grabbed a folded blanket from the other end of the couch and unfolded it. He laid down on the couch and covered himself with the blanket, resting his head on one of the throw pillows. The wolf frankly didn’t feel like going back to bed with Mark after he’d acted that way. He just needed a little time to himself.
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
The next morning started out rather uneventful. Todd woke up, ate breakfast, and relaxed until there was a knock at the door at nine AM sharp. The wolf jumped off the couch and opened the front door, letting the minotaur come in.
“Mornin’ kid,” he said, smiling. “You ready to start learning how to use the Book of Transfiguration?”
“Yeah, I think I am!” Todd replied, sounding rather excited. “I know I was a bit hesitant last time, but after sleeping on it and thinking it over, I’m pretty excited now!”
“That’s the spirit! Now grab the book and let’s head out!” Xarxos walked out of the apartment, and Todd picked up the Book of Transfiguration from the coffee table. He tasted copper for a split second, but nothing else out of the ordinary happened.
“Bye Mark,” Todd called out as he began to walk out the front door. “I’m going to train with Xarxos.”
“Uh-huh, you do that,” the snow leopard called back. “Have fun with your ‘magic book.’” The wolf rolled his eyes and shut the front door behind him before running down the hall to catch up with Xarxos.
“So how are we going to start training?” Todd asked. “I was thinking we could start small, like turning one object into another object.
The minotaur laughed and pat the wolf on the back as they walked down the stairs. “I like your idea, Todd, but you’re thinking way too small,” he said. “If you want to stand a chance against Time, you need to think bigger.”
“Bigger?” the wolf asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion. “Bigger how?”
“Oh, you’ll see…”
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
“X-Xarxos…when you said ‘bigger’, this isn’t what I had in mind…”
Xarxos had taken Todd to the side of one of the state’s various highways, where the two of them hid in some bushes on the side of the road. At first, Todd was confused. Why had the minotaur taken him out to the middle of the highway? What was there to be transformed way out here? His question was soon answered when a white school bus on the other side of the highway pulled off into the dirt and came to a stop. The wolf took a close look at the bus, and his heart stopped when he read the words along the side of the bus: Arizona State Penitentiary.
The doors to the bus opened, and two prison guards stepped out, followed by at least twenty inmates wearing orange jumpsuits and yellow reflective vests with the word “INMATE” printed on the back. It didn’t take long for Todd to realize what, or rather, who he was going to be changing.
“Those lovely gentlemen right there are going to be your test subjects, kid,” Xarxos said, a grin on his bovine face. “Pick one out and we’ll get to work!”
“B-But…they’re people!” Todd stuttered, looking at the minotaur in horror. “I...I thought you hated doing this kind of stuff to unsuspecting people! W-Won’t we be ruining their l-lives?!”
Xarxos sighed. “Look Todd,” he said. “Under any other circumstances, you’d be right. Doing this to unsuspecting people is ridiculously fucked up and can one hundred percent ruin their lives. That’s why I’m having you do this stuff to convicted felons and murderers, AKA, people who have already ruined their lives. You can’t feel sympathetic for a murderer.”
“I-I guess you have a point…” Todd said quietly.
“Great! Glad we’re seeing eye to eye! Now, let’s start out simple: see that prisoner over there?” The minotaur pointed a finger at an inmate with black hair and a goatee who was currently picking up trash. Before Todd could say anything, Xarxos handed him a manila folder.
“Open it.”
The wolf hesitantly opened the folder and was greeted by various documents and newspaper clippings. The one that stood out was the one with the mugshot of the man that Xarxos had pointed out.
“His name is Andrew Dixon,” the minotaur said, reading the dossier for him. “Thirty year old white male. He was arrested on account of him murdering his girlfriend and the man she was sleeping with. Sentenced to life behind bars. Piece of shit is just a complete waste of oxygen. So, what are you waiting for?”
“I-I…”
“Stop hesitating and change the bastard already!”
Todd whimpered slightly as he put his left hand on the book. He took a second to think of something, then pointed at the man and quietly said “Shape.”
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
Andrew Dixon was tired of doing all this community service shit.
The thirty-year-old man couldn’t stand it when the guards dragged all the prisoners out of their cells, drove them out here to the middle of nowhere, and made them pick up the trash that some family and their crotch-goblins threw out the window of their car as they drove. The government wanted them to do all this to “beautify the state” or “preserve nature for the next generation” or some bullshit reason along those lines, and the guards always spouted the same “cooperate and they might shave some time off your sentence” bullshit. Not like he was going to get out of prison. He was in here for life after he slaughtered his no-good cheating whore of a girlfriend and that cuck she was sleeping with. If only he hadn’t been so sloppy…
A strange chill suddenly ran down Andrew’s spine, and the taste of copper filled his mouth. The man hobbled backward for a second, suddenly overcome with dizziness. Then, just as soon as the strange dizziness started, it stopped. Thinking nothing of it, Andrew returned to picking up trash.
After a second or two, his arms started to itch considerably. The man tried to ignore the feeling, but after a while, it just became too much for him to bear. Andrew began clawing at his arms, scratching them until his skin turned red, but nothing was helping. Worse yet, the scratching had spread to his chest. Fuck, did one of those wrappers he’d accidentally touched have peanuts in them?
Unable to bear the itching any longer, Andrew threw off his vest and jumpsuit top, leaving him shirtless. To his surprise, however, the guards didn’t seem to notice him doing this. In fact, none of the other prisoners seemed to notice him doing it either. The man looked down at his chest, only to let out a scream of terror. His chest was now covered with a soft, yellowish fur, and it was also now beginning to sprout on his wrists and hands.
“What the fuck?!” the convict yelled, dropping his trash picker and bag. “What the hell is going on?!” The man was so panicked by the fur growing in on his chest that he didn’t even notice how baggy his pants were getting, as well as how large the world around him was becoming. A crippling pain caused the man to double over, hyperventilating as his body practically shook with fear. It felt as if his torso was being stretched by an invisible force.
The man looked down at his torso and realized that it had gotten much longer relative to his size, with its humanoid appearance rapidly changing. He was almost starting to look like the ferret he’d gotten for his tenth birthday almost twenty years ago. Oh God was that what was happening to him?! Was he turning into a ferret?!
“Hey!” Andrew called out, trying to get the guard’s attention. “Hey! I know you can hear me! Please help me!” Much to Andrew’s dismay, the guards didn’t respond to his yelling. Neither did any of the other prisoners. Were they all in on this?! He didn’t even notice his fingernails growing into long, white claws as the warmth of fur covered his face. His arms and legs had shrunk to the point where they were short and stubby. Shit, he really was becoming a ferret!
“Come on, this isn’t funny!” the man yelled, tears streaming down his face as his voice got more high-pitched. “Please, don’t do this to me! I promise I’ll be a better person! I pro-SQUEAK!” As Andrew’s voice turned into nothing more than chitters and squeaks, his face pressed out into a muzzle as his eyes turned completely black. His tailbone began to tingle, which led to the feeling of something brushing against his back legs and touching the ground.
Andrew was forced down onto all fours as his neck realigned so his head would always be facing forward. As his ears began to round out and move to the top of his head, new instincts flooded his mind, suppressing his human thoughts. He was having thoughts of being docile and trained by humans, as any good ferret should. Wait, ferret? No, he was human…wasn’t he?
The new ferret looked around, wondering who all these unfamiliar humans were before a pair of hands scooped him up.
“God damn, these fucking people will throw just about anything out of their cars!” the prison guard said as he looked at the little ferret. “Poor little guy. Maybe I’ll bring you back home to my kids. They have always wanted a ferret…”
Andrew squeaked in defiance. He was a cold-blooded killer! He was not going to become a pet to some snot-nosed kids! He had claws now! He could scratch the shit out of this man! But…why would he do that? This man was being nothing but nice to him. The ferret suddenly felt his entire body relax as the man began to gently rub between his ears. Fuck, that felt so…so good…
Why did he ever want to hurt this man? He was being so kind to him…and besides, he’d never hurt a human. More and more of the former human’s violent tendencies slipped away as the former human’s protests were slowly silenced with each stroke.
“Let’s see, you’re going to need a name, aren’t you, little guy?” The guard said as he stroked the happy ferret some more. “How about something simple…like Peanut?”
As the guard spoke, a tiny collar *popped* into existence around the 3-month old ferret’s neck.
Peanut dook’d happily, and in a few more pleasant strokes and a scritch under his chin, Andrew was gently and pleasurably erased from reality.
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
“Haha! That was great Todd!” Xarxos said, patting the wolf on the back. “You turned that fucker into a ferret! Serves him right! Maybe next we should- hey, you okay?”
The wolf was shaking and hyperventilating, unable to look away from the guard who’d carried the former prisoner-turned-ferret off. He felt absolutely sickened by what he’d done…
Todd lurched his head to the side and threw up, causing Xarxos to back up a little. The minotaur looked at the wolf in disgust and shook his head in disappointment. “Fuck, I guess you weren’t ready for this after all…”
“You…you think?!” Todd snapped, trying not to vomit again. “I…I just killed someone! I’m no better than he was!”
“No, you’re much better than he ever was,” the minotaur countered. “Unlike the ferret that used to be Mr. Andrew Dixon, you rid the world of a terrible person and gave them a better life. None of these people are redeemable in the slightest, so get off your damn high horse and get rid of these scumbags!”
“No, I’m not doing this anymore,” Todd growled, grabbing the book. “I’m going home. Don’t talk to me for a while.” The wolf began to get up, ready to walk all the way back home, when he saw someone that made him freeze up.
A tall, muscular prisoner with a buzzcut stood out among the other convicts. Unlike the others, he was wearing a wifebeater instead of a jumpsuit top, showing off his large biceps. The thing about him that drew Todd’s attention the most was the tattoo of a dagger with a snake wrapped around it on his upper left arm. The wolf knelt back down.
“Who is that?” the wolf asked, sounding rather serious.
“Hmm? Oh, him?” Xarxos looked at the prisoner Todd was looking at. “Honestly, he’s the one prisoner I couldn’t find much information on. His record was completely sealed. I did find out that he’s due for release in a couple of months, so he’s probably small time, not worth worrying about.”
But that’s where Xarxos was wrong…so very wrong…
“That thing doesn’t deserve to go free…” Todd growled, the fur on the back of his neck standing up. “Not after he bullied and killed my best friend in high school.” The wolf clutched the book tightly, his vision going red with anger as he pointed at the man.
“Shape.”
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
Thomas Burns was rather happy. Two months from today, he’d finally be out of prison and back on the streets. The twenty-year-old man had been arrested over six years ago for stabbing and killing a kid back when he was in his freshman year of high school. He would’ve gotten a much longer sentence had his parents not hired the best lawyer that money could buy and had the judge shorten his sentence under the fake pretense of “self-defense.” Served that queer-ass kid right. One less gay in the world the better.
The man didn’t notice a cold shiver go up his spine or the taste of copper filling his mouth. He was too busy thinking of all the things he’d do once he got out of prison. Maybe he’d buy an assault rifle on the black market? Or maybe he’d…
A sudden jolt caused Thomas to drop his trash stick. “Fuck, what the hell was that?” the man asked no one in particular. He bent down to pick up his trash stick, only to find that his arms had both gone completely numb.
“Huh…that’s weird,” the man said. He tried to shake his arms or move them around, but they didn’t respond at all. It was almost like they’d lost all of their bones and muscles at once…
Another jolt rocked Thomas’ body, and the man fell to the ground, landing flat on his face. He tried to get back up, only to find that his legs had also gone completely numb. He was unable to move his arms or his legs, and he was stuck on the ground. Surely things couldn’t get any worse for him…right?
Suddenly, the man let out a loud cry of pain as his body began to stretch and contort into a completely inhuman shape. Turning his head, Thomas watched in horror as his arms slowly shrank and shriveled up, melting into his sides. His insides began to twist and change into completely new shapes as most of the bones in his body ceased to exist.
“Wh-What the fuck is happening to me?!” Thomas cried as his legs melded into one long tail. As they did, brown scales began to rapidly cover the human’s body. It didn’t take long for Thomas to realize what was happening to him.
“Oh God, I’m turning into a sssssnake!” The man closed his mouth in horror upon hearing himself hiss. He stuck his tongue out of his mouth and stared in horror at the forked appendage that now resided inside his mouth. As his hair rapidly fell out and his body began to shrink, his head began to flatten and take on a new shape. His ears disappeared completely, turning into nothing more than holes on the sides of his head. As his nose flattened and disappeared completely, Thomas’ eyes lost their human appearance, taking on a much more reptilian look. As the scales completely covered his body, a pair of sharp fangs grew in the new snake’s mouth, completing his transformation.
Thomas was panicking. What the hell happened to him?! Why was he suddenly turned into a snake?! Did anyone else around him notice?! The new snake slithered out of his old clothes, not noticing them turn into a pile of trash and cardboard, and towards one of his fellow prisoners.
“Hey! Hey! Can you hear me?!” Thomas tried to say. “It’ssss me, Thomasssss! I got turned into a sssssnake!”
The other prisoner heard the hissing and turned towards Thomas, only to jump back in horror. “Oh fuck! It’s a snake!”
“Stand back, I got this!” Another prisoner said, stepping forward and raising his trash spike.
“No, you foolsssss! It’sssss me! Thomassss! You gotta help me! Pleasssse!” The snake’s cries for help fell on deaf ears, and the last thing he saw was a sharp trash spike rapidly approaching his head.
-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-==-
Todd was breathing heavily, watching everything unfold before him. As the other prisoner drove his trash spike into the snake’s skull, the wolf watched intently as the snake thrashed and flailed about for a minute before going completely still. Xarxos stared at the wolf, a mixture of shock and awe on his face. He waited a second before handing Todd a stack of manila folders.
The wolf took one look at the stack of folders before grabbing the first one and opening it without hesitation. He read the contents for a second before looking up and finding his next target.