“Well?” Sam grinned toothily.
Dustin sat in the passenger seat, mind racing, hands on the Book of Beast. Could they talk this over? Bubba and Sam were perverts, sure, but they just didn’t seem all that threatening. They’d be fine so long as Troy kept his-
Troy snatched the Book out of Dustin’s hands and pointed at Sam. “Shape!”
But…Sam was fast. Very fast. As Troy extended his arm to point out the window, Sam grabbed Troy’s wrist and curled it, pointing it back at himself. Troy yelped in pain as his wrist bent back and the spell went off in his face.
“Wait!” Troy gasped, slapping a hand on Sam’s arm. The mechanic's grip held firm as a wave of warmth suffused Troy’s form.
The rest of his thoughts devolved into chitters as the trucker bear rapidly began to shrink down, falling out of his clothes. Grey and black hairs covered him as his little legs kicked themselves free of his jeans and his wifebeater got tangled in his furry forelimbs.
“Sorry Buck, but castin’ spells at close range against a faster opponent just don’ work.” Sam gloated and tightened his grip on Troy’s shrinking forelimb. “Now aren’t you turnin’ out ta be jus the cutest thang? I might keep ya as a pet.”
Dustin stared in horror as Troy shrank away, watching his friend’s eyes turn black and beady and the intelligence inside them begin to dim as his skull contorted and shrunk into a proper raccoon’s shape. The shrinking coon’s little grabby hands let go of the Book and Dustin dove to catch it.
“Hey!” Sam jerked his head towards Bubba. “Go get him!”
Bubba hustled around the side as Dustin fumbled with the Book. He was much slower than Sam, but Dustin simply could get a good grip on the Book of Beast, managing a precarious two-handed grip on the bottom edge of the spine. It was damned heavy.
Book in hand, he saw the fat mechanic on his side of the car. With a surge of strength, Dustin tightened his finger-hold on the book, dropped it into his lap, and opened the door, slamming it into the big bear’s guts.
Bubba stumbled back and fell onto the gravel driveway. Dustin sighed and went to grab the Book off his lap and almost knocked it on the floor. He managed to set a hand firmly upon it while pointing at Bubba as he scrabbled to his feet.
The big bear froze, eyes wide in horror. “Wait, don’t-!”
“Shape.” Dustin said firmly.
“Shit!” Bubba said, then began to shrink, his beard turning gray.
The transformation was almost as quick as Troy’s had been. Bubba felt the world shrinking around him, his clothes billowing around him. He felt so warm, his fur fluffing out around him. Inwardly, he knew he should be frightened, but his skull had already started deforming and his mind was simplifying too fast to keep up.
As the rather large, fat raccoon finally stopped shrinking, his nose twitched. He caught the scent of another raccoon in distress. His ears swiveled and he saw Troy, chittering angrily, struggling in Sam’s grasp. The large raccoon tensed, terror rising inside of him.
“Control.” Dustin said. “You are a docile and happy pet no matter what happens.”
The raccoon shivered as warmth spread through his head. He chittered and slumped down, all tension leaving his body. His pink little cock poked out of its sheathe and one of his dexterous paws managed to tug his belly out of the way and play with it. Bubba’s hips wiggled and his tail floofed around in delight as he fondled himself.
His thought drifted away into a relaxing warmth, enjoying the slick smoothness of his new cock. A soft blanket of comfort and pleasure swaddled him. He couldn’t wait for his Master to hold him and pet him. Bubba’s heart fluttered at the thought of being played with like a well-behaved raccoon. More waves of warmth flickered through his body as thoughts of being a good raccoon, doing tricks for treats and scritches took hold in his mind.
With a joyful chitter, the raccoon came.
Dustin and Sam stared at the large raccoon as it happily jerked it self to completion and then sat on its haunches, vacantly playing with itself. Sam looked at Bubba in shock and horror, whereas Dustin…was having trouble staying awake. The control spell had been a mistake, he was almost on the verge of passing out. Darkness edged his vision.
“Hey Dustin!” Sam called.
Dustin groggily looked over. The handsome mechanic had Troy in his grip. The tubby little raccoon was struggling to free itself, hissing and snarling, but unable to reach Sam’s hands. Dustin lifted a finger to point at him, but Sam shifted the raccoon in front of him, blocking the spell.
“Ya can’t hit me when I have a hostage, pal.” Sam said. “You’ll only end up like yer friend here.”
“Alright.” Dustin gasped, trying to stay awake despite the lethargy that suffused his body. “I’m guessing you have something in mind, then?”
“How about you turn Bubba back, and I’ll let Buck go?”
“I’ll be honest, we were trying for a truce but, uh…weren’t quite sure how to get one without….” Dustin gestured.
“Yeah, well, Buck is a dumb fuck.” Sam snorted.
“I gotta ask. Why truckers? Is it really just a fetish thing?” Dustin asked.
He was stalling for time. If he recovered fast enough, he might be able to get off a spell or two before he passed out. Dustin had no idea how much energy he had left. It was so hard to calculate it without using the Book more often to get a general idea.
“It’s just our thing. You gonna keep stalling? I’m pretty sure yer gonna pass out on yer next cast.”
“So why turn Bubba back?”
“Cause then I won’t turn you into our dogs when we take yer Book and you can just be a gay truckin’ couple.” Sam shrugged. “If you knew what we could do with the Book of Body, you’d know that’s not the worst thing that could happen to you.”
Dustin thought furiously. There had to be something he could do. Some spell. Familiar? No, the power required would have him unconscious. He needed to have some way to get Sam into an animal and Troy into a human. Half would work on Troy, but he’d still be a hostage. Dustin couldn’t afford to leave things in Troy’s hands. But he’d have to. And then…cast Half on Sam? But he was blocking the spells with Troy’s body…
His eyes widened. Mass Half! If he only hit the two of them, it would be like casting one Shape spell, theoretically. He felt…reasonably sure he could get that off without falling unconscious immediately, but he’d have to be quick with the control spell.
“Mass Half.” Dustin said, pointing at Sam and Troy.
“Whuh-?” Sam lurched. “Mass Half?”
Gray hairs were already sprouting from his face and chest. A black mask was forming around his distorting face and forming muzzle. Sam was having a harder time holding onto Troy as the raccoon began to grow.
Troy shifted larger, gray hairs turning light brown, antler unfurling from the Procyon’s new, Cervine skull. He was still overweight and rather hefty for a buck, but at least he had hoof-hands. Dustin watched the anthro racoon mechanic and the anthro buck trucker struggle for a moment before Troy managed to wrestle Sam’s paws off him and push him away.
“Now!” Troy yelled.
Dustin pointed, his vision blurring. It had taken too much out of him. He might not have enough energy, but he had to try.
The raccoon turned and stared at him in horror. “No-!”
“Control. You are docile.” Dustin said, then fell out of the car onto the gravel.
Sam went rigid, eyes glazing over. “Yeah, I can do that.”