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“Damn it… there should have been some breakthrough by now…” Ezran mumbled under his breath, looking over the papers on his desk. The investigator had been tasked with tracking down a string of disappearances that had plagued the town in recent months, where people had just started vanishing off the face of the earth. What made this case peculiar is that none of the people involved were related to one another, nor had they any ties with any big corporations or certain figures - it was just seemingly normal people who were being targeted.

“You should really take a break, Mr. Cakal…” One of his assistants advised, looking worriedly at the man.

“I can rest once this case is done with!” He shot back at him, green eyes burning with determination.

“B-but you’re working on this largely on your own at this point! Most of your crew have all but given up on working on this case since there’s no leads to follow!” They pointed out.

“Urg…” Ezran sighed, knowing they had a point. Given that there had been no leads, and this case had been going on for several months now, they had started treating this case as unsolvable, washing their hands of it. Ezran, however, wasn’t one to give up, even if he was the only one left - he’d find a way to solve the case.

“I worry about you sometimes, I mean you’ll work yourself to death if you don’t take a moment to relax every so often!” The assistant spoke again.

“I understand your concern, but I can’t give up on this… I’m going to find out who’s responsible for this, and bring them to justice!” He slammed his hand down on the desk, disturbing a pile of papers. Just then, the phone at his desk rang, Ezran picking it up. “Hello?”

“Hello, am I speaking to Ezran Cakal?” A female voice spoke through the handset.

“Yes, may I ask who this is?”

“I’m afraid I can’t give you my name, at least not yet. I’m calling in regards to the missing persons case, though, and I can tell you exactly who is responsible for the disappearances!”

“You can?” Ezran perked up slightly.

“Mmhmm. Sadly I don’t know their name, but they’re an elderly man who lives in a mansion on the outskirts of town. He’s the one behind everyone going missing… rather, he’s the one responsible for KILLING all of them, as he used them all for twisted experiments!”

“Unbelievable…” He thought, surprised how they were able to get away with any of this without arousing suspicion or attention. “I believe I know the place you’re talking about - you’re absolutely sure about this?”

“I’ve witnessed it first-hand, so yes! Trust me, you find him, and you’ll have your man!”

“Perfect, thank you!” He hung the phone up, sitting up from his desk. “I’m going to that mansion right this second!”

“Wait, are you sure that’s a good idea?” The assistant asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait until there were others to go with you?”

“I’m not taking any chances on this!” Ezran tore a piece of paper out of his notebook, writing the address of the mansion on it, alongside the words ‘Suspect located - on my way, send backup!’ “Just make sure whoever comes in here next gets this note, ok?”

“R-right, will do!” They nodded, watching him head outside, getting into his car as he floored the acceleration, dashing off. “I just hope you know what you’re doing…”

~~~~~~~~

Some ten minutes later, he’d arrived at his destination, charging out of his car the second he parked up. He approached the door, knocking on it loudly. “Open the door!”

It took a few moments, but the door shortly opened up, a frail-looking man answering him. “Good heavens, what’s with the racket? You could raise the dead with the noise you’re making!”

“You can drop the act, old man, I’ve been filled in on what you’re doing!” Ezran spoke sternly to him.

“What act, what are you talking about?”

“The disappearances - I’ve been told that they’re your doing!”

The elderly man said nothing, looking up at Ezran. “What disappearances?”

“Cut the crap, already! The people going missing, unconnected to anyone - I was tipped off that you’ve killed them!”

“Aaaah… well, you see, the thing about that is…” The man started. Ezran was about to draw his pistol in case they attempted anything, but he was instantly brought to the ground by a sharp, forceful strike hitting him in the back of the neck, causing him to black out.

~~~~~~

“Urg…. my head…” Ezran groaned, his vision blurry as he regained consciousness. As his sight returned, he was quick to notice that his arms and legs had been restrained, tied to a chair. “What happened… what’s going on?”

“Oh, you’re awake?” The elderly man chuckled, looking at Ezran. “I was hoping for your sake that you might have stayed asleep through all of this!”

“You…” Ezran glared, trying to tug at his restraints. “What are you up to?”

“You’ll see in due time, though I can’t promise you’ll be happy with the end results!” They sneered, looking on as a pair of bodyguards entered the room, setting up pieces of equipment whilst another brought in a large, stone relic, setting it up on a plinth in the middle of the room. “The people who have gone missing were all failed experiments - this relic that my associate is setting up has the potential to bestow godhood to those who it sees fit to deem such powers, but alas, everyone so far has been burnt to a crisp and reduced to ashes!”

Whilst he claimed that no-one so far had been deemed worthy, that wasn’t the case - one person had been granted godhood, but they had enough willpower to retain their sense of self, and used their new powers to erase those memories for the head of the old man and his goons. It might have been a good idea to have also taken the relic with them to ensure no-one else suffered as a result, but given how they wanted to distance themselves from the creep without causing any lasting damage (outside of that to his property), you could forgive them for overlooking that one small detail.

Ezran looked down and around him, and whilst the room appeared to be spotless, he could see that the floor immediately beneath him had been scorched, several times over in fact.

“You’re insane!” He shouted, the goons finishing their preparation of the relic. “You’ll never get away with this, I left a note alerting my fellow cops to your plans and location, so even if you kill me, you’ll be brought to justice for your misdeeds!”

“Really, now?” The man smirked. “If this experiment fails again, there won’t be anything left of you to prove you were even here, and you’ll be surprised at how easily I can talk my way out of these situations!”

“What about my car, how will you explain that away?”

“Oh, that was already dealt with in the time you were unconscious. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with an officer turning up on my doorstep!”

“Damn you…” Ezran growled under his breath.

“Now if a squad really IS on their way, I suppose I better get this over with!” The man stepped aside, the eyes on the relic glowing as an eerie, ethereal humming filled the room. Ezran braced himself for the worse as beams of light shot forth from the statue’s eyes, striking him in the chest. For a few brief moments, nothing seemed to happen, but before Ezran could comment on it, his body was swiftly engulfed in flames.

“Ghhh…!” He groaned under his breath, desperately suppressing the urge to scream, even as his skin burned and blistered from the intense heat.

“It seems we have a fighter!” The man laughed, watching Ezran write and squirm. “I wonder how long you can go without screaming, even the bravest have cracked before too long!”

“You’re… freaking… psycho!” Ezran hissed through gritted teeth, glaring at the man. “Your luck’s gonna… run out eventually…!”

“The amount of times I’ve heard people say that!” He cackled. “This will only end when I’ve successfully bestowed godhood upon someone and bend them to my will!”

The urge to scream was growing stronger, but Ezran was refusing him the pleasure of hearing him screech in pain. His determination to see this guy thrown in jail was the only thing that kept him from breaking, and unbeknownst to him, it triggered something deep inside, aided by the blazing flames.

“Hrm, normally by now they’ve started screaming…” The man muttered, seemingly disappointed that their captive wasn’t breaking down. “He’ll break eventually, they all do… hm?”

He looked on curiously as the flames dispersed, a faint glow surrounding Ezran. Despite his clothes having burned away, whatever damage had been inflicted upon him by the fire had healed up, nothing seeming out of the ordinary on his form, outside of the patches of golden fur that were spreading across his form.

“What in the world?” He moved in closer, the fur sweeping along Ezran’s arms, the muscles swelling in the process. His biceps became broader, arms bulkier as the restraints strained against his wrists, long, sharp claws sprouting out through his fingertips, soft black pads forming on his palms and digits.

Ezran tugged at his restraints, once again trying to pull himself away from the chair. His body grew further, his abs and pectorals swiftly becoming more defined, a six-pack showing up on his chest. The fur grew thicker, a bump pressing against the base of his spine.

“Oh no, you’re not leaving that chair until I’ve bent you to my will!” The man protested, pressing a button on the nearby desk to tighten the restraints, two extra sets locking around each limb. “I’ve waited far too long for this!”

“I’m NOT going to be your pawn, old man!” He growled in defiance, tugging further at the restraints, which began to stretch tighter around his muscles, his thighs bulking up to match his massively muscled arms. The bump grew outwards into a long, flowing tail, the golden fur shimmering as it swayed behind him, the fur transitioning to a dark grey around the end of the limb, becoming dark red at the very tip. With another tug, his right arm broke free of the restraints.

“No, NO!” The man began to back away, witnessing Ezran free his other arm. His feet stretched, bones clicking and popping as all weight shifted to his tiptoes, the middle digits fusing whilst the big toe shrank back towards his heel, curving claws poking out from them. He wriggled his toes, the soles of his feet gaining pads akin to those on his hands. “This isn’t how it’s meant to happen!”

“What, you weren’t expecting the person you bestowed godhood upon to be your subservient pawn?” Ezran chuckled, pulling his legs free from the chair, destroying the rest of the shackles. He attempted to stand up, only to put his head through the ceiling above, making him duck back down. “Ah, damn it!”

As the ceiling crumbled around him, the old man felt an odd twinge in his mind - he remembered a few months back that there was some unexplained damage to his house… had this happened before?

“When am I going to stop growing?” Ezran wondered, sitting in a crouched position as his head once again went through the roof, his ears growing to points that sat atop his head. He could feel his hair growing longer, the dark blond shifting to a vibrant gold, matching the rest of the fur that spread across his face.

“No, no, please, have mercy!” The old man sank down on his knees, hands clasped together as he pathetically begged the colossal beast that moments ago had been a human not to hurt him or worse. Ezran reached down to grab the relic in his clawed hand, his jaws thrusting forwards into a long, canine muzzle, lips darkening whilst his teeth shifted into serrated fangs, more filling in the extra space in his maw. His nose darkened, sinking into his upper jaw, eyes moving to the sides of his head, retaining the coloration of his previously human self.

“Mercy?” He sneered. It would be so easy to swat him like a fly, especially since he admitted to killing everyone he had kidnapped. However, he didn’t let that judgment cloud his mind, as much as it would be easy to flat-out murder him. “Seeing you begging for your life just shows how pathetic you are… you didn’t have a back-up plan for if your ‘creation’ decided to turn on you at all, did you?”

“No! I just assumed their minds would be burned away in place of their human form!”

“You feeble old fool…” His lips pulled into a smirk. “I really should just flatten you, but since you’re on your knees begging, I’m going to show you the mercy that you didn’t show me!” He reached down towards the man, the palm of his hand glowing as he engulfed the man in light. “Just don’t blame me if you don’t like it!”

The man shielded his eyes as his vision was obscured by the blinding glow. After a few seconds, it vanished, but to his horror, he found himself kneeling down in the middle of a jail cell.

“What in the world?” A female officer approached the cell. “I left the room to get a drink, and suddenly there’s an old geezer in here? What did they put you in for?”

“I…I…” He stammered. “A monster! A monster put me in this cell! You’ve got to believe me on this!” His voice trembled - whether it was due to what Ezran had done in the process of teleporting him, or whatever had been used to tamper his memories of his past attempt had been jumbled by the situation he found himself in, but his sanity had taken a massive hit. “I don’t belong here!”

“O…k… we’re going to have to run a few background checks on you!” She looked at him, pitying the man.

“No! I don’t belong here, I’m not crazy, I swear!”

“It’s ok, we’ll make sure you get all the help you need!” She sounded somewhat unnerved by the guy’s rambling, but she attempted to remain professional, approaching the phone to call for help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, that was sure something…” Ezran thought to himself, looking at the relic in his hand. He had outgrown the house, the town… even the planet, floating around in the void of space, not suffering any ill effects from lack of oxygen. “Who’d have thought that something like this would turn me into a giant monster?”

“Trust me, you’re not the only one who thought that!” A familiar voice called out nearby. He was about to question how he could hear it, considering sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum, but that was small potatoes compared to the current situation he was in.

“Who’s that?” He turned around, being greeted by a giant, silver-furred wolf.

“Just the goddess who tipped you off about the old man’s plans - the name’s Tala!”

“Wait, you’re the one that called the police station?” Ezran tilted his head. “How is that even possible from here?”

“Oh, I have my ways… though in all honesty, I could have saved you and everyone else a lot more trouble if I had just destroyed that relic instead of leaving it with the guy!” She sighed.

“It’s in better hands now. At least, I THINK it is, anyway!” He presented the relic to Tala.

“Perfect!” She smiled, relieving him of it. “Now we’ve just got to put this somewhere where no other human will be able to grab it!” She produced a bag from seemingly nowhere, slotting it away in a separate pouch inside of it.

“You’ve just got something like that on hand?”

“Hey, a goddess needs a big bag to hold her stuff, after all!” She looked back at Ezran. “I can easily craft one for you as well!”

“It might come in handy, but I don’t really have anything I can store in it. I don’t think I’d be able to pack any of my old belongings in there… nor do I think I could even use them with how big I am.”

“Eh, one step at a time!” Tala shrugged. “We should probably start with your powers - you’re going to need a crash-course in how to use them!”

“My powers? Aren’t I already used to them, I mean I put the old guy in prison with them, didn’t I?”

“That’s true, but that was only a small part of them. The true extent of your powers can be a little more on the unpredictable side of things. Believe me, I found that out from getting used to my own abilities!”

“How hard can it be?”

“Let’s put it this way, I ended up blowing up an orbiting moon when I was seeing what I was capable of. Thank god I figured out how to bring it back!” She laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Heh, that would have been fun to see!” Ezran smirked a little.

“Is that a smile I see?” Tala grinned. “Given how serious you sounded on the phone, I didn’t think you’d be capable of cracking one without doing yourself some damage!”

“After how long I was working on that case, I’m just relieved that it’s over and done with. Granted, I don’t think I’ll be going back to my job anytime soon, but-”

“We’ll sort you out a new job. How about seeing if you can whip up some snow? It’s approaching the holidays, after all!”

“Snow? Can I do that?”

“You will after some practice~” Tala giggled.