After some delay, the last of the second wave of the Vino and Kitsu Joint Commission Extravaganza has concluded with the last of the batch! This time, we have  hamcon getting more than he bargained for when he picked up a stone from the thrift store!

As always, the artwork was done by the ever-so talent  datkitsu and the following story was written by myself!

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Quinn, the Bengal Cat was at a thrift store more casually browsing around than anything else. He didn't expect to find much, it was just a fun, casual thing for him to do during his downtime from responsibilities. The hobby was usually entertaining for about a half hour before the novelty wore thin. Today would be no exception, although the cat had actually found something he wanted to buy. It wasn't much, just an old horse knick knack he liked. He went to go ring it up when the cashier the cashier offered the cat a rock that had been sitting in the store for a while, and resigned to never being able to sale. He saw Quinn in the store often enough so he figured it would be a nice show of faith.

Since it didn't cost anything extra, Quinn accepted the yellow stone, putting it in the bag with the horse as he made his way back home. It was rather uneventful, and Quinn entered into his abode taking out the horse and setting it on one of the free spaces on his collecting shelf. He then sat down on the couch, taking out the yellow stone and examining it.

It was un-naturally yellow, akin to the color of the sun on a colored picture. Upon closer inspection, there was a lighting bolt carved into the surface of the rock with the yellow there darker than the rock itself. Quinn held it with two hands, leaning forward rubbing it with his fingers. It was uncannily smooth, which led to only a deeper fascination for the rock. However, as he rubbed the stone the cat would notice something else going on with it. The insignia on it began to glow brighter.

It would escalate into strange yellow smoke starting to come out from the stone, which caused Quinn to quickly toss it across the room in a panic and shoot up to his foot. He watched from afar, watching as more smoke filled the room. The Bengal slowly approached it, noticing a shape start to form out of the smoke.

The shape would be some sort of anthropomorphic horse, with black "fur" that had white lighting bolts in it's pattern. A white "mane" went down its neck, with a lighting bolt shape at the top of its head while going all the way down its back with a spark pattern at the end of the tail. It's eyes were only half circles, giving it a kind of constantly angry look.

"Who awakens the great beast from its slumber?" the voice boomed out, Quinn shaking at the knees.

"Uhm...I did...?" he answered back, fearing what could happen if he ignored the question.

The figure in the smoke quickly turned to him, noticing his fear right away. "Ah...so it was you. What do you require of the Great Elore?"

"To go away...? I didn't mean to do any of this! I was just looking at a rock!" he hastily defended himself.

"Ah yes, of course you were. You mortal beings and your fascination. You are feline yes? Have you not heard the phrase curiosity killed the cat!?"

This made Quinn's fur stand on edge. "You're not going to kill me...are you?"

The spirit grimaced for a moment before speaking. "No, I am not going to kill you." he finally said, breaking the silence which led to Quinn breathing an early sigh of relief. "But you are going to be helping me."

"H-helping you?"

"Yes. You see...I tire of being put away, stored away until someone needs me. Do you know what it's like to be encased and not be able to do anything but think? At the will of whoever happens to have a damned rock? Well...I don't expect you to...yet."

Quinn's eyes shot open at the last part. "W-what do you mean yet?"

"I need a vessel, to get me out of this spirit realm. I've been in here for decades while people like you walk freely. I think it's my turn to walk freely. You are going to be the way I am. Your body will be mine to use as I conquer these denizens of the world, so ungrateful for the chances they get!"

"I...I didn't agree to that!"

"I didn't ask for permission. Of course your body isn't quite...suitable for me. I'm not looking to get used to being in a new body, so I think it's time to make a me out of you." the smoke suddenly moved from the stone, surround Quinn. The poor cat started to cough, feeling a horridly strange sensation form all over his body. He cringed at the feeling of it all, his body starting to transform.

The cat's yellow and black fur quickly began to start changing colors. Instead of those, the yellow of the fur turned black while the black stripes began to turn yellow, forming into lighting bolt patterns. Quinn's paws began to shorten, contorting into circular shapes as they hardened into a set of hooves. His thin, feline tail started turning white taking on zig zags as the end took on a circle with points sticking out similar to a spark effect.

In the midst of the transformation, Quinn spoke out through gritted teeth. "Y-you aren't taking my body away!"

"Oh my dear, I'm already inside your head." the spirit laughed, the voice booming inside the skull of Quinn. "You want to take over the world don't you? Have everyone at your feet?"

While Quinn's first instinct was no, another part that was constantly growing in his head was finding some fun in that. The rush it would bring him. He shook his head and held it, trying to fight off the corruption.

"By all means try to resist, the same result will befall you." he chortled.

Quinn's body continued to shift in fur colors, now entirely possessing the fur patterning of a Zebstrika. His muzzle elongated, becoming flatter in the process while his nostrils became wider. Quinn's new equestrian snout turned a darker black, with his ears moving farther back and taking on a more diamond shape. A white mane grew down his neck all the way down to his tail, the top of it where his hair was taking on a lighting bolt shape. Quinn's neck became longer, now nearly a full Zebstrika, the only remnant left was his eyes.

"There we go, this a nice upgrade isn't it? Time to surrender control, as it's my turn to walk to world again." he coaxed Quinn to fall into his possession.

"N-no...have to fi-...fight it..." he tried to resist clenching his fist.

"You act like you have much choice in the matter." the Zebstrika spirit spoke. "Say goodbye, cat boy."

"No...I...I..." Quinn trailed off as his eyes started becoming smaller, the appearance of them looking much more anger as their color shifted into a deep blue, Quinn's very spirit being trapped within his old former body, and with that a grin formed across the Zebstrika's face.

"I'm back." the voice was much more different know, sounding more elegant and quaint as opposed to the casual accent Quinn formerly possessed.

"I must say, your body makes a great vessel, I haven't felt this energized in years!" he cackled out by throwing his hands up in the air, emitting tons of volts of electricity, causing the building itself to shake vigorously and multiple electronics to blow out like the TV and light bulbs. He slowly brought it down, catching his breath with a hint of deviousness in it.

"Ooh hoo hoo this is going to be grand!" he said to himself, smirking as he stretched out his body. "It's been oh so long since I've been able to walk!" he sauntered over to the balcony overlooking the streets below Quinn's apartment. "All those people, lost in routines. They don't know how to appreciate the things like I do. They need a real leader. A leader that knows what to do. Someone to rule over them." a grin came across his muzzle. "This world is going to be mine, and no one down there is any wiser. It took eons to get freed from that blasted cell of a rock. And now this chicken has come back to roost.

The Zebstrika went around, looking at all the belongings Quinn had. There were some tacky things, in particular a horse statue that vaguely resembled the Zebstrika itself. He shook his head. "How tacky. This doesn't even come close to the elegance us equestrians have. It's like the people of this world are just asking to be conquered." he shook his head, destroying the statue by crushing it with his fist.

He shook the glass off and kicked down the door to the apartment, walking out seeing the other rooms on the floor. The Zebstrika cracked its neck and shoulders. He rose his arms up yet again, laughing manically as he started shooting out electricity yet again, the entire building shaking rapidly as the lights flickered. The Zebstrika had to start its global conquest eventually, so why not start with where he was brought back into the world? He can get his new servants he would make out of the tenants building his shrine right away as he goes off and starts conquering!