An Unusual Transformation

The second I grabbed that paw, the world around us seemed to shatter like glass. The golden lights of the sunset seeped away, leaving the world dark blue. I stood to my feet, glancing around to better survey my surroundings. Cuddles looked around lazily, lacking the uneasiness I felt.

“I didn't realize days were getting shorter already.”

“...They're not.”

“Oh.” Still not sensing the eeriness of the situation, Cuddles hopped up to my shoulder. “Guess they weren't as far I thought.”

“When were you going to tell me one was this close to us?!”

They just laughed at my exasperation. “Relax. It's only one. Nothing you can't wipe out as you are. Think of this as the tutorial for what you'll be up against.”

Were they really treating this like some sort of game? I didn't have infinite lives to burn through. My breath was coming in short and quick. I was seriously beginning to think twice about agreeing to this arrangement.

“They're heeeeere~”

I turned back to the opening of the alley and slowly trailed my eyes up the hulking figure that stood before me. Without the light to illuminate it, it looked as black as night, with two glowing red eyes glaring down at me. Body-wise, it looked like a cross between a body builder and a wolf. As I took a step back, I noticed something dripping off of its body in multiple places, almost like blood.

I took another step back, and the monster took one forward, easily closing the space I just cleared. As small as the alley was, I didn't want to go too far in and get locked in. It was taking every drop of self control to no scream and run into the night.

“This hapless fellow is a simple wereman. Seems he got into a fight earlier and got a bit nicked up.” Cuddles spun around on my shoulder. They really weren't concerned in the slightest! “You can handle this, right~?

“Like hell I can!” I covered my mouth as that came out a bit louder than I wanted. But the damage was done. The wereman growled at me, baring his jagged fangs and curling his mouth into a snarl. It shot its arm at me. I had no time to react before long claws slashed at my left arm.

The pain that shot down my arm was unreal. I cried out in pain and clutched my injured arm. Blood was already beginning to drip down and pool up on the ground beneath it.

I became disoriented from the pain and fell on my butt. I tried to scoot a little further away. The monster followed and aimed his claws at me again. I managed to throw myself to the side and roll to one side of the alley. What filled my vision then was a long, broken pipe.

“With our contract, you can call upon my power and transform into a form much more suited for battle.” Cuddles' voice was barely audible with the pain searing through my left arm. The words weren't quite registering in my brain. “All you need to do is shout something transform-y. Anything will do, really.”

My mind was focused entirely on not being killed by the wereman. The only coherent thought running through my head was that I knew I didn't want to die in such a pathetic way. To be played with like a doll, torn apart, and discarded by some inhuman creature.

Through the pain, I felt a surge of energy fill my body. I slowly got to my feet, grabbing the pipe from the ground. I held the weapon up and locked eyes with the monster before me. He then made a rush at me, snarling and growling. I squeezed my eyes shut and swung the pipe. It connected to the monster, but I was still pushed back by the recoil.

“Hey! You can't fight that as you are! You need to transform!” Cuddles had fallen off of my and landed somewhere to the side.

I regained my footing. “I won't die to the likes of you!” I made a rush for the wereman. Clearly not expecting me to fight back, it hesitated before going in for another strike. It gave me the chance to swing the pipe to his head. I got a decent hit, but then he grabbed my pipe in his clawed hands. I found myself being swung around a few times before I was launched to the back wall of the alley.

“Owww...” Pain shot up my spine. I wasn't getting up right away.

The wereman grabbed at his head. He was clearly in pain after my attack.

Cuddles somehow made their way to me quickly. “Are you stupid? I told you to transform!”

“You said... I should be able to.. deal with it... as I was... right?” Even in so much pain, I could still quip back.

“Okay, I might have misspoken!” Cuddles held their arms over me, and a faint white light appeared. “You would have been able to handle it if you had just transformed from the start. It gives you more to work with.” The light sunk into my body. The pain was quickly fading away.

“Oh sure. Tell me after I try to fight him head on.” I leaned by head on the wall behind me. Without the pain, I was able to think more clearly. I held up my injured arm and found no traces of the bleeding gashes. “But thanks. I'll try to listen next time.” There was no point arguing with them now.

I could gripe about this once we were out of danger.

Cuddles gave a little “humph” and stepped away from me. “You might have actually done some damage, but you're not safe yet.”

The monster was slowly recovering from his head trauma. He looked at me with what I could only describe as pure hatred. He wasn't going to be playing around anymore.

I stood up. So I needed to transform, huh? But into what?

Did I need to become a monster too?

Imagining myself with fur and claws made me shiver involuntarily. I didn't want to become a monster myself if I could help it.

Cuddles laughed out loud at my line of thinking. “That's just stupid! I'm not going to transform you into that!” They gestured at the wereman. “Just try it out!”

“O..Okay...?” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I tried to channel my energy into one place, but gave up when I realized I had no idea how to even do that. I decided to just let my body figure it out. I shot my right arm into the air, reaching my hand out as far as it would go. “Uh... let's go? Transform!”

That seemed to do the trick.

I immediately found myself surrounded floating up in the air, bathed in a bright, warm white light. Or rather, I was the one emitting that light. I could feel my body changing from the inside, then take form in the light.

After what felt like a few minutes, the light died out and was lowered to the ground. I looked down at myself and nearly fainted from the shock.

My red short sleeved, plaid button up shirt and blue jeans were nowhere to be seen. Instead, I was wearing a dark blue bunny girl costume with some minor adjustments. On my waist was a black corset, tied as tightly as it could without hurting me. Sticking out from the bottom of that corset was a short skirt, matching the color of the bunny suit. Black tights covered the rest of my legs. Detached sleeves similarly colored as my suit rested on my arms, becoming wider at the ends. A hood was draped over my head and a cape billowed behind me.

But what really got to me wasn't the costume change, although that too was shocking in itself.

“C... C... Cuddles...?”

“Yes?”

It took everything I had to force the words out. “Why... am I... a girl...?!” The longer I looked at myself, the more obvious the additions to my chest were. I didn't even want to think about the rest of it.

“Is that it?” Cuddles tilted their head. “It's a magical girl transformation! You can't be a magical girl if you're still a boy.”

Out of the corner of my vision, the wereman was preparing for another attack. I didn't have time to complain, it seemed. I picked up the abandoned pipe and turned back to my opponent, “Whatever. I can change back afterwards, right?”

“Yep!”

Then I didn't need to worry about it. I could focus my attention on the issue at hand. The monster charged at me, rage and blood lust in his eyes. I jumped a bit in shock, but managed to swing my pipe.

The difference in my attack's power was immediately apparent.

The wereman's head flew off of his neck, slamming into a wall. Without a head to control it, the body tumbled straight to the ground. The head gasped for air, struggling to keep itself alive. But within moments, it has ceased to move as well. I felt a surge of nausea rise up at the sight. I kept myself together barely and turned back to Cuddles, who was kicking at the body.

“Could you not?!”

“Just checking to make sure you actually killed it.” Seeming to decide that he was dead enough, they turned back to face me. “You did good, Ryan. You were starting to make me worry, with that act you pulled at the beginning. But I'm glad I went with you.”

A gust of wind blew in, and I began to shiver. The scenery had fixed itself from the dark blue space we were just in, but the lights from the streetlights did little to deter the chill. I pulled the long ends of my cape together in an attempt to cover myself.

“So can I go back to my normal clothes? These are a bit...” I gestured at myself vaguely.

“Oh yeah.” Did they really only just remember what I was wearing now? “Sure. Just do the same thing to turn back.”

Without hesitating, I shot my right hand into the air. I tried to strike a pose. “Transform!”

A second passed.

Then another.

Then a minute.

I kept myself in the same pose, waiting for something to happen. After two minutes, my arm began to shake from the strain.

Maybe that was the wrong incantation?

“Return!”

Nothing.

“Turn back!”

Same result.

“Become a boy again!”

“You look stupid, shouting so much.”

“Shut up!” I was beginning to panic. “Then tell me what to do! It's not working!”

“Calm down, for one.” Cuddles walked around me, studying me. “Weird. There shouldn't be any reason for you to stay like that. The monster's gone. Though you could change back even if there was one.”

I poked at myself. Maybe there was a button on me? A seal? Something! I probably looked like an idiot, but I was too panicked to care at the moment. Or maybe this was just a really bad dream, and I needed to wake up! I raised my fist to hit myself, but stopped when a fabric paw grabbed at it.

“Don't do anything stupid.” Their voice sounded stern. “You're not dreaming. Knocking yourself out is not the answer.” They then sighed and flopped down to sit next to me. “Did I use too much power to change you? Could have sworn I had enough to flip you back...”

Without the fear of death, I could feel my anger overflow. “You turned me but you can't turn me back?! What kind of good for nothing rabbit are you?!” I grabbed Cuddles and clenched my hand. They didn't seem to feel any pain, which only fueled my anger even more. “You nearly had me killed, and now I'm stuck like this! Damn it! Do something, useless rabbit!”

They were silent for a moment.

Finally, they turned their head to the side and spoke. “We can't do anything right now. Let's go back to your house and think this over.”

Oh no.

How was I supposed to go home like this? Mom was already pissed at me about the fight. But if she thought I crossed over into cross dressing, I'm sure her wrath would be like no other. But I didn't have much choice. I didn't have friends to rely on for a place to crash. A stay at a motel would drain me financially.

I sighed in defeat. “Fine. But we need to stop somewhere first.”

“You want to go out in public dressed like that?”

“No!” I shook my head and continued in a lower voice, “But I need to get different clothes before I can go home. No way my mom's going to think I went to school like this.”

With that, I scooped up my belongings and walked to the alley opening with large steps. Black boots made a clacking sound with each step I made, but I ignored it. My destination was reached within a couple of minutes; a SuperMart.

The florescent lights blinded me for a moment, but I soon adjusted and made a beeline for the men's clothing section. There were some people in the store, gawking and staring at me. I pulled on my cape and tried to ignore their looks.

As simple as my outfit had been, it took hardly any time to find it on the hangers. As I was heading to the checkouts, Cuddles' voice rang in my head. Get a hat too.

“Huh?” Remembering where I was, I stopped myself from talking further. Instead, I asked silently, 'Why a hat?'

Just trust me. And then they were silent.

The hat wasn't going to cost that much extra, so I just shrugged and grabbed one at random. I paid for my items and then walked to the bathrooms close to the exit. I turned to go into the men's room, but paused. Something told me that was going to be a bad idea.

So with reluctance, I turned to the other side and walked into the women's room.

Thankfully, the room itself was empty. I walked further in, allowing my gaze to slide over to the mirror.

I now understood why Cuddles insisted on the hat.

Under my hood, my hair had grown out. Once it was out of the hood, it went past my chest. My eyes looked a little bigger, made bolder by longer lashes. On my head was a headband with long rabbit ears. Even with the weird costume, I couldn't deny that I found myself a little cute.

'No no no no no no!' I violently shook my head to rid myself of those thoughts. I took the clothes in the plastic bag and rushed into the nearest stall to get changed. With my standard attire on, I felt like I could breathe again.

Getting the hair into the hat was a different story. I left the stall to attempt it in front of the mirror. But no matter what I did, hair always found a way to escape. Cuddles sat on the sink, watching me struggle.

“Maybe you should have grabbed some hair ties.”

I glared at them from the corner of my eye. “I didn't know it was going to be this much of a problem. And you only said a hat. Nothing else.”

“Oh yes. Blame the poor rabbit who's only trying to help you. That will go over well.”

I ignored their remark and continued to mess with my hair. After more trial and error, I managed to get it all inside. Paired with a loose fitting, red short sleeved plaid button up shirt to hide my more prominent changes and basic blue jeans, I looked closer to myself than I had earlier. Whether it would fool my parents was a different story.

I decided to turn my phone on so that I can get the time, only to be bombarded with over a dozen notices for missed calls, voicemails, and text messages. It was only 8:14PM, yet there were already so many calls. My stomach sunk at the thought of going home.

But I've stalled long enough. With one last look in the mirror, I forced my feet to walk forwards out of the bathroom and out of the store. Since it was quite a bit away from my house on foot, it ended up taking close to an hour to get back.

I made a mental note to never run off so far again unless I planned to stick to it.

I slowly opened the front door and slipped into the dark entrance way. Silence greeted me.

Maybe I could get by without running into either of my parents tonight.

But in thinking that, the door to the kitchen flew open. Light spilled out of the room. My mother stood in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. “Good evening, Ryan. You're home rather late.”

“Uh... sorry about that.” Faced with this calmness, I could only shrink back.

“The hell's wrong with your voice?” She looked confused.

Oh.

The voice.

I hadn't noticed in all of the chaos, but now that I thought about it, it was a little higher than it used to be. I coughed in an attempt to mask it. “N...Nothing.”

She looked at me incredulously, but didn't look like she was going to question it at the moment. “Fine. But can you explain where you've been for the past few hours? We needed to have a conversation about your little scuffle.”

“Well...” I looked away from her piercing gaze. Any excuse I could come up with fizzled out. “I...”

After a minute of my stammering, my mother held her hand up to silence me. “Stop. Don't bother if you can't even come up with an excuse.” She walked to the living room and sat herself down on the couch. For a while, nothing was said between the two of us.

The silence was killing me, so I tried to make conversation. “So... did Dad stay up to talk as well?”

“He has to work early tomorrow, so no.” She left no room to add anything.

“I...see...”

I wrung my hands together. I wished that she would just yell at me already. The anticipation was wearing me down at a rapid pace. Looking at her, I could see something was eating at her as well. But she still kept silent, choosing to stare at her lap.

Then my mother glanced up at me, eyes glassy with held back tears. “Where did I go wrong?”

That question threw me off. “Huh?” I could only ask stupidly.

“You play with stuffed animals and sew things on them. You refuse to play in sports or pursue any normal hobbies. You have no friends, much less a girlfriend. Your grades are average on a good day. And now you're picking fights and running off.” She rattled this list off, voice rising slightly as she went on. “All my coworkers gush over their amazing and wonderful sons, and I can't even mention you without having to explain away your quirks.”

So she was embarrassed of me? Pins pricked in my chest. It really hurt to hear it said out loud, by my own mother no less. I remained quiet and waited for her to continue.

“I've had half a mind to pull you out of that school for good. Send you somewhere no one knows us, or of your issues.” Her voice lowered, but I still caught the next words to leave her mouth, “Lord knows we pulled it off once...”

“So that's it?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them. Her eyes widened, then she turned her head away from me, avoiding my gaze. “So because you can't brag to your coworkers, because I don't act the part of the perfect boy, I'm an embarrassment to you. That's what you're saying?”

“Look, we're derailing from the issue at hand--”

“I think we've hit the true issue here!” I stopped my attempts at lowering my vocal tone and let my voice out without a filter. “But don't worry your little heart out. I've accepted that you won't accept how I am.” I spun around to start going upstairs, but stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Sorry for staying out late. Good night, mother.”

I walked away before I could hear a reply. But it was just as likely that she had none.

My emotions were going haywire. Only my self control kept me from breaking down from the outright rejection. I slammed the door to my door and locked it behind me. Only then did I allow the tears to fall.

Cuddles poked their head out of my backpack, propping their elbows onto the fabric and resting their head on their paws. “Lovely family you have.”

I wasn't in the mood to entertain Cuddles, so I didn't respond. I walked up to my shelf of plushies. I picked up my most recent purchase; the cat SquishPuff. I was torn between hugging it and throwing it across the room. Its innocent eyes stared up at me, silently imploring. This cat was a reminder of the loser I was, but I couldn't find it in me to even hurt it, much less throw it away.

Unable to decide, I simply placed the cat back on the shelf. Then I walked over to my bed and threw myself onto it.

I just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again.

“At least take off the hat before you go to sleep.” Cuddles nagged at my side.

But I was done with today. I turned to face the wall and willed myself to fall asleep.

I woke to the first rays of sunlight shining straight into my face from the window. I groaned and sat up. Cuddles was nowhere to be found. For a fleeting moment, I allowed myself to believe that everything that happened yesterday was a really messed up dream.

I slowly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Flipping the lights on, I was momentarily blinded by the flash. But as soon as my eyes adjusted, my feeble hopes crumbled.

Staring at me in the mirror was a girl with long, disheveled dirty blonde hair and sleepy looking green eyes. The top two buttons of the button up shirt had become undone. I poked at my reflection, praying that my eyes would adjust and see the old me again.

“Good morning, miss Ria!”

A booming voice jolted me out of my sleepy train of thought. My father stood at the doorway, fully decked in a suit and tie. His gray streaked hair was slicked back. He wore a friendly smile for someone who was mad at his son for picking a fight.

Wait. What did he call me?

“E..Excuse me...?” Clearly, I misheard him.

“You're excused!” He laughed at his own joke. “Don't spend too long getting ready now. It's your first day at your new school, after all!” He walked away before I could process the words and inquire further.

First day? Did I go back in time? Or am I in an alternate world?

My reflection held no answers, so I silently reached for my mother's hairbrush and tried to tame my wild hair. It actually looked decent once the bedhead was combed out.

For clothes, I didn't own anything even remotely girly.

I eventually settled for a white t-shirt and jeans. But the pants were too baggy, so I broke out the belt I'd never needed prior to this day. I felt so stupid in this get up.

With heavy steps, I walked downstairs and towards the dining room. My father was sitting at the head of the table, his smartphone held in front of him. Mother chose that moment to walk in from the kitchen, carrying plates of pancakes and sausage links. I sat myself down to my father's left side. My mouth watered as a plate of food was set before me.

“Good morning, Ria. We hope you're well rested, after getting here so late last night.”

My fork froze midway. Last night came back to me in huge waves, crashing over my fleeting happiness.

I needed to apologize for what I'd said and did. “I'm so sorry about everything that happened yesterday!”

My parents looked at me with confused smiles.

“It's alright, miss Ria.” My father was the first one to break the silence. “We know it couldn't have been easy to find our house. We're just glad that you got here safely.”

“Though I don't think my old son's clothes quite work for your figure,” my mother added.

Something in that response bugged me. “Old son?” I tried not to look nervous as I asked.

My mother smiled even more. “Well, you see...” She paused, thinking about how to respond to me. “Our son was sent away a long time ago. I don't think we've seen him in years.”

It's been years?!

Nothing was making sense anymore!

I hurriedly pulled out my phone and looked at the date on the lock screen. Just like I thought, it had only been a day. There's no reason why she should be using years to describe how long it had been since we'd last spoken.

I know we didn't leave things on a good note after our discussion last night, but this was a bit much.

“But that's enough about us.” My mother laughed, trying to dispel the tense atmosphere. “We better get a move on. You've got school to get to.” She finished the last of her pancakes on her plate and left the table to take out her dishes. My father looked from her to me, smiling all the while.

My stomach was spinning, but I managed to finish my own food. I took my plates to the kitchen, and then went up to my room to grab my backpack. It was only then that I noticed Cuddles poking out of the bag.

“Morning, buddy. Had a good sleep?”

“What did you do?”

“Wow. Not even a 'Good morning, Cuddles!'? I worked myself thin trying to fix everything for you, you know?” They stretched their arms into the air, then placed them back on the bag. “I'm sure you got a taste of it just now.”

“With my parents?” It certainly explained their odd behavior, calling me some weird name, and acting like we haven't talked in years.

“Yeppers.” Cuddles lifted their head to stare into my eyes. “I just worked a bit of magic to explain away why you suddenly vanished. It wasn't going to work to erase you from your parent's past, so I just used the classic 'estranged son' story. Everyone else?” They paused for dramatic effect.

“As far as they're concerned, you never existed.”