Kophis Goes to the Mall
Kophis takes a trip to the mall to do some shopping, trick some mortals, and soak up the ambient chaos energy--only to find the mall's magic mucking with their own, by making every spell they cast turn them into more of a bubbly fox bimbo. The trouble with magic is that once you're used to relying on it, it can be hard to break the habit...
(This was supposed to be a quick warmup but it kind of got away from me.)
Cover art comin' from RushEloc!
One of the most useful bits of magic Kophis knew was their 'unremarkability' spell. An androgynous fox in a loincloth-dress and ancient silver jewelry wandering around a mall circa 2005 would normally be worthy of note--but one flick of their fingers, and mortals' eyes glazed over and anything out of the ordinary from the last few minutes would slip out of their minds.
"So I can say whatever I want right now," Kophis explained, oblivious to the quiet desperation on the face of the cashier who was trying to check them out. "For instance, I came here on a magic island. I parked it in the food court and disguised it as a smoothie stand."
"Wow," the cashier said. "Are you--"
"I brought it here because it's been running low on chaos magic, so I'm letting it charge up. You're supposed to use ley lines for that, not malls, but malls generate so much raw chaos magic that it cuts the charging time from a few weeks to a few hours."
The woman behind the counter nodded, hoping they would get tired of talking soon. "Nice. Do--"
Kophis continued onward, enjoying the opportunity to brag consequence-free. "It's because of all the capitalism crammed into one building. And using chaos magic inside of mall is like trying to light a match in a room full of propane. Mall are just that messed up. Of course, it's no problem for an expert tarassomancer like myself. So, since I've got time to spare, I'm doing some shopping."
Fixing Kophis with an annoyed glare, the cashier finally just asked, "Cash or credit?"
Kophis said, "Credit," and made a show of snapping their fingers to summon a credit card out of thin air. The swirl of their own magic around their hand sent ripples through the flow of ambient chaos-magic energy that permeated the mall. As those ripples rolled over Kophis, it felt as if they'd had seltzer water poured over their brain. For a few moments they just swayed in place, slack-jawed and staring into space.
The cashier snatched the credit card out of Kophis's hand, swiped it through the register, and then briskly shoved the sheets and matching pillowcases into the bag and pushed it across the counter. "If you're such a cool wizard, how come you don't have a 'summon bedsheets' spell?"
Kophis, the quick-tongued trickster, was at a loss for words. Their snout wrinkled and their ears folded back as they struggled to think of a scathing repartee. "It's...look, summoned objects have different rules. Say I wanted to make a sheet ghost costume. I couldn't summon sheets and enchant them..." Damn it. Now that they'd said it out loud, it sounded kind of silly. They'd have to scratch the sheet-ghost scheme and come up with something else.
All the cashier said was, "Cool," but it was so thick with sarcasm it felt like a slap across the cheek.
"Whatever, mortal," Kophis grumbled. They grabbed their bag and flicked an unremarkability spell at her on their way out, then nearly stumbled into the door as the mall's chaos magic reverberated around them.
Unfortunately, there was no such thing as an unembarrassability spell.
With the bag swinging in their hand, Kophis strolled down the main corridor of the mall, past skylit atria decorated with banners draped from the fourth floor down to the first and columns of neon lights in the shape of store logos. The floor trembled beneath their feet for reasons that were purely architectural, but they liked to imagine it was the raw magical energy pouring from every storefront and booth. It made the thought of picking a store, locking the door behind them, and transforming everyone inside even more tantalizing than usual. If they could work with the mall's magic instead of against it...
Maybe they needed to start smaller. Take a more subtle approach, get used to the environment, start with some mundane, non-magical trickery. Maybe they needed--
CROP TOPS 50% OFF
They stopped in their tracks in front of the window display and perked up their dark-tipped ears. Behind the glass, blank-snouted mannequins posed, showing off a set of tank tops with cheeky species-appropriate slogans printed across the chest: 'CATTY', 'BULLY', 'SKUNKY', 'FOXY'... At the sight of that last one, their eyes widened and their white-tipped tail flicked back and forth in an uncharacteristically open display of excitement.
After a moment or two spent in rapt fascination, they felt like they needed to try on that 'FOXY' top. They steeled theirself for the volume of music being played over the loudspeakers and ducked into the store. They rationalized the sudden urge to buy clothes as a desire for a more modern outfit. It wasn't a bad idea; they'd blend in better and would require less magic to smooth over their stubbornly anachronistic sense of fashion.
Once inside, Kophis made a beeline for the tank tops. Before they could start sifting through the racks, a store clerk who'd slipped in behind them surprised then with a cheery, "Hello, ma'am!" The young cougar woman had to shout a little just to be heard over the mid-aughts punk-pop blaring from the speakers. "Can I help you find something?
Kophis was caught off-guard. A mortal sneaking up on them? Maybe they were more off their game than they thought. "I'm fine," they said, "I'm just looking for a 'FOXY' top, like out front." Their first impulse was to brush off the unwanted attention as quickly as possible, but to be honest, they could in fact use some help. "Actually, I'm kinda updating my wardrobe. Do you have anything that would go well with one of those?"
The clerk's face lit up. "Of course! Hmm, you're about..." She cocked her head and squinted at the fox before her, sizing them up at a glance. They plucked one of the tank tops off the rack and pushed it into Kophis's hands. "Here! I think that should be your side. You go try those on, I'm gonna grab you some shorts."
In the changing room, Kophis hung up the top on a hook, then reached behind their back to take off their dress. Although there was no visible zipper or seam, they pinched the air just below their silver-sapphire collar and mimed an unzipping motion. The white linen split neatly in two, opening wider until they could easily slip it off their shoulders and let it fall to their feet. They pulled the tank top on over their head and smoothed it out over their chest.
Unfortunately, the fit was just a bit off--too snug across the bottom, too loose around the chest.
On one hand, it wasn't like they were committed to this top. There would be plenty of pieces that might fit their non-standard figure better. On the other hand, they'd gotten so excited about this one that it'd be a shame to have to settle. They were still wary of using magic after how it had gone last time, but they needed to get their mall legs anyway, and altering their own body was the sort of magic they could do in their sleep.
With their pointer finger extended, Kophis placed one hand on the mirror. They closed their eyes to focus on the flow of ambient mall-magic around them. The trick was to move with the current, not against it--or so they thought. Opening their eyes again, they slowly rotated their hand as if turning a dial, with their finger as the indicator. The energy in the air trembled and rippled; they felt a light head rush, like a buzz coming on after having a drink or two.
Their shoulders relaxed as they grew slimmer, and their waist shrunk as if drawn inward by an invisible force inside of them. They paused for a moment to check their work, giving their midsection a few appraising pinches. They nudged the dial back a few inches and forward again, adjusting the spell to compensate for how slim twenty-first century fashion expected you to be.
The peaks of their breasts spread and grew, filling out the tank top until it no longer hung slack in the middle. They arched their back and tugged on the hem lightly, ensuring that 'FOXY' was front and center across their chest.
Of course, the look was only part of it. "How's this sound?" they asked themselves, testing the sound of their voice, aiming to make it just feminine enough to suit their new look. With one hand resting against the bottom of their throat, they tipped the imaginary dial a little further. "Aaah." A bit more. "Aah." Just one more push. "Aa-aahhh!"
Suddenly mall magic was whirling around them again, sending strange tingles rolling over their body. Their eyelids fluttered. The floor seemed to jump beneath their feet and their legs swayed. They brought their hands up to brace themselves against the mirror only to bonk their snout against the glass and pull back with a yip of surprise. Braced with one shoulder against the wall, they slumped down onto the bench and waited until the turbulence had passed.
Once the changing room stopped spinning, they reached down to push themself back up to their feet, and bumped their hands awkwardly against the sides of their thighs. There was more there than they'd intended. Rising up onto their feet, they ran their hands along the sides of their hips, then leaned forward to grab their backside and give it a bounce with their hands. There was definitely more there than they'd intended.
"Better watch my butt next time," Kophis said under their breath. At least the top fit properly now, though they'd wound up with more of a bustline than they'd meant to do too. Upon closer study in the mirror, they figured they must have been unconsciously copying the figure of the mannequin out front. While they hadn't meant to go quite so feminine with it, they weren't arguing with the results.
Knock-knock. Their ears perked up and swiveled toward the door. They thought they'd only been appraising their appearance for a moment or two, but several minutes had slipped by while they were soaking in the new size and shape of their body.
"Knock knock!" the cougar chirped from the other side of the door, before tossing something red and shiny over it. "Found some short shorts for you. They're gonna look great with that top. Lemme know if you need a different size!"
Kophis caught the shorts, then spread them between her fingers. 'Shorts' was generous, and even 'short shorts' was pushing it. They'd barely cover anything beyond their ass. They wrinkled their snout. They were trying to blend in, not look available. They were about to toss them back over the door and ask for something less flashy, like jeans, or hot leggings, or...sexy red booty shorts...
Their fingers played with the smooth glossy material, stretching it between their hands and letting the glare from the overhead lights roll over them like beads of water. Their eyes widened. They hadn't noticed, but amid all their changes, the blue of their eyes had turned brighter, crisper, and a bit more glassy and glazed-over to boot.
Maybe they could try them on. Just for fun. Then they'd tell the clerk they weren't her style and get something else. Slipping the shorts on, Kophis wiggled them up over their thighs, until they sat snugly around their hips and up against the base of their tail. Planting their hands on their hips, they cocked them to one side, then the other. They turned around, bent forward, and glanced over their shoulder to watch their ass jiggle as they swung their tail from side to side. Reaching back, they sunk their fingers into the shorts until the glossy sheen traced a liquid outline around their fingertips.
Dang, these shorts were hot. Now that they'd tried them on, they didn't want to take them off. Sure, they were flirtier than their usual style, but they were cheeky and sassy enough to make up the difference.
When they opened the changing room door, the cougar girl was waiting just outside, smiling hopefully, her tail batting back and forth behind her ankles. "So? What do you think?"
"I dunno," said Kophis, flicking a lock of their long dark hair over their shoulder and cocking their hips. "What do you think?"
"I think it looks great! Real foxy. Rawr," she growled playfully, curling her fingers and flexing her claws. "Or...bark. Or whatever foxes say. Ooh! I had some other ideas for outfits while you were in there. Let me show you!"
Before Kophis could excuse theirself, the clerk had them by the hand and was pulling them deeper into the store. "Actually, I just needed the one..." they began to say, but then they spotted a pair of pink tiger-print leggings, and the warm fizzy feeling bubbling up in their head made the words tangle up on their tongue. "But...some more wouldn't hurt."
Dressed in their new outfit, with several extras stuffed into the bags bumping against their hips, Kophis wandered down one side of the mall, gazing curiously at the displays as they went. They noticed heads turning and eyes glancing their way as they passed by. While the extra attention made them wary, it also meant their disguise was working. People weren't seeing a mythic trickster unmoored in space and time, they saw a fox lady with a nice ass. And in the end, horny mortals were distracted mortals, and thus were even easier prey for their schemes.
Unfortunately, the same was true of tricksters. Kophis had been low-key horny ever since squeezing into this new outfit, and every few stores they passed by, something seemed to draw their eye. It wasn't even how much transformative mayhem they wanted to cause. They were used to those urges. It was the ever-present desire to splurge and go on a shopping spree. They'd spent just as long fantasizing about the buy-one-get-one-half-off sale at the lingerie store as they'd spent fantasizing about transforming its patrons.
Right now, they were headed for the shoe store. Footwear was the last thing they'd need to complete their outfit. They'd been skirting the mall's No Shoes No Service policy thus far, but now that they were actually garnering attention, they needed to ensure they wouldn't be thrown out.
But getting there was taking longer than it should have. Not just because they kept getting distracted by stores, either. Each time they stopped to check the mall directory, they had to look up the number for the shoe store again, and remember which floor they were on, and find it on the map, and find the You Are Here sticker... Ambient chaos energy messing with their powers was one thing, but it shouldn't have been messing with their mind. Something was going on, and they were going to get to the bottom of it as soon as they could buy some hot new shoes.
Then Kophis's eyes locked onto a single word: SECURITY, stretched across the chest of a Rottweiler rent-a-cop a few stores down. They came to a halt mid-step. He was leaning on the railing overlooking one of the neon-tower atria, chatting casually with a fellow security guard. Normally, Kophis could slip by with a quick spell or two, but they were wary of using their magic right now, plus the sight of a hunky guy like that was making them warm and dizzy in a way they didn't quite trust.
Since waiting out the security guards seemed like the safest bet, Kophis ducked into the nearest store, planning to bide their time until the security guards had cleared out. Only once they were inside did they realize they'd picked a jewelry store to hide in.
Surely that wouldn't be a big deal. They had self-control, they didn't have to buy something just because it looked pretty. If they had to, they could just avert their eyes and not even have to look at--they glanced at one of the displays--silver bangles and hoops and studs, polished to a crisp shine, or frosted so finely that they sparkled like snow. By the time they pulled their eyes away, they had gone from standing by the front door to bent over the display case, drooling over a necklace with a silver chain and sapphire heart. They fidgeted absently with their own silver-sapphire collar as they searched for something else to occupy their mind.
"Good morning, ma'am," said a voice right in front of them. Again Kophis was surprised; they had been to focused on the jewelry to notice the rat woman who'd come up to her on the other side of the counter. For a moment or two, Kophis's eyes lingered on her golden earrings and necklace. Gods, those were pretty too...though not quite as pretty as silver, of course. "If you'd like a closer look at one of our pieces, just let me know."
After a moment of lag in their head, Kophis caught up with what the clerk was saying. "Oh, I'm actually just browsing right now, but thanks."
"Of course," said the clerk. Then, as if it was an afterthought, she added, "If I may, I love your earrings."
The praise left a warm feeling in Kophis's belly, like the warm fizzle of the mall's ambient magic crossed with the twinge of glee they got from successful trickery. "Oh, thanks! They're from, uhh..." They trailed off, struggling to remember what people called that place and time today. "...super-old Hiberia."
"Oh, I never would have guessed," Tricia said. Given the impeccable condition they were in, she suspected the silver hoops were not in fact antiques. Doubting customers wasn't good for business though, so she was content to let the spacey fox think what she liked. "If you're looking for something to pair with them, we have a selection of silver bracelets..."
From beneath the counter she pulled a velvet stand hung with an assortment of silver jewelry. They glittered and sparkled and drew in Kophis's attention, until she was barely aware that the clerk was still standing in front of her. "I could give them a try," they said, their voice a soft sigh.
Although Kophis's armbands had no visible hinge or clasp, all it took was one twist of their fingers at each wrist, and they popped free from their arms. They tossed them into one of their spare shopping bags from the clothes store, then began to eye each bracelet in turn. After picking out a few and slipping them over their wrists, they turned their arms over to see how they felt. While they weren't as timeless and classic as their armbands, the new jewelry sparkled and clinked as they danced around their wrists.
"Wow, these are cute," Kophis said, then frowned inwardly. They had never liked the word 'cute' and hearing it come out of their mouth sounded strangely out-of-place. "I mean, they're hot."
"Oh, are you looking to spice up your look? Why don't you try these on."
Tricia lifted a pair of silver earrings, their hooks balanced on her finger. They were reminiscent of Kophis's own pair, albeit larger and broader, with a more bottom-heavy shape. "Well, I don't...need new ones, but I guess I could..." they mused. Taking the new earrings in their hands, they swapped them out with the old pair. The extra weight made their ears subtly droop to either side, while the larger size meant they bumped and bounced against their cheeks if they moved their head.
"You know, we're set up to do piercings in the back," said Tricia, her tone casual and innocuous. "I could do another set for you, if you'd like another pair. Like here." She gently pinched the edge of Kophis's ear a half-inch up from the first.
How dare this mortal deign to touch them? Kophis opened their mouth to snap at them, but all that came out was a plaintive whine. All the words they had meant to say tumbled down the back of their throat. More piercings meant more jewelry and that meant looking hotter. They tried to remind theirself that they were only here to hide out for a couple minutes, and then they were going to hit the shoe store, but it didn't help. They were already thinking about what they could do with another pair of earrings or two...
A few minutes and pieces of paperwork later, Kophis sat in a chair in the back of the shop, while the clerk, now wearing a pair of purple gloves, rubbed the edge of their ear with a cotton ball. "All right. That should help numb the pain, but if you need me to stop, just say so."
Kophis cursed inwardly. In their excitement they'd forgotten that when you couldn't use magic, getting pierced hurt. But this clerk had been super nice to her already, and between that and their pride, they didn't want to back out now. At the sight of the needle in her hand, they closed their eyes and braced themself for the pain, steeling themselves to suffer for their art. Just as the pinch of pain in their ear became a jab, their magical reflexes kicked in.
Zap.
Turbulent currents of chaos magic sunk Kophis deeper into the well-padded chair. As their mouth drifted open, their lower lip puffed outward and curled into a subtle pout. They could hear the clerk walking around to their other side, but it sounded muffled and distant. They hadn't even meant to use their magic. Okay, they told themself. They bit their lip and tried to focus. Okay. This time around, they weren't going to--ow.
Zap.
Kophis let out a warm involuntary sigh. With each bat of their eyelids, the kohl they wore traced thicker around their eyes, contrasting against their brighter blue color. All the tension in their muscles melted away. That time, the rush of mall-chaos magic had felt good. Maybe they were getting the hang of mall magic after all.
"Hmm. You're not bleeding. Like, at all..." the clerk said, running her fingers over Kophis's ears.
They just snickered and said, "Yeah, I'm like a natural. A mischievous twinge curled their plumper lip into a grin. "Hey, since we're already here..."
While store policy was no more than two piercings per customer per day, with some convincing and plaintive pouting, Kophis talked Erica into doing another set of piercings for their ears.
This time around they pre-empted each jab with a spell to numb the pain, so they wouldn't even feel the pinch. The swirls of mall-magic that washed over them in response left them tingly and warm and puffy, particularly around their face. Without a mirror at hand, they couldn't track the subtle changes to their cheeks and snout and eyes--but they could feel the oversized earrings leaning against their rising cheekbones. Surely it wasn't a big deal. The mall magic felt too nice and warm and fizzly to be doing anything bad.
"Before you put the stuff away...do you think a belly button piercing would look hot?" they asked.
Tricia rolled her eyes and sighed. She was well within her rights to cut Kophis off, but they were going to make so much on commission, and her boss wasn't here today so he didn't have to know how many she'd done. "Okay, but that's the last one I'm doing today, got it? If you want more, you'll have to come back another time. Understood?"
Kophis was mostly just delighted that they'd get to look even hotter. They had no idea how much their window shopping had been influencing them subconsciously. Holding still was tricky, especially with her tail wiggling and thumping against the side of the chair. They did their best: closing their eyes, clenching their jaw, waiting for the feeling of Tricia's fingers before summoning up one more pain-numbing spell...
Zap.
A grunt left Kophis's throat as their eyes rolled back. The pinching sensation rippled outward around their torso. Numbness and tingling and warm thick fuzziness blended together into one sensation. Their waist tugged inward, drawing the displaced mass upward and outward toward their chest. The straps of their top pulled tight, stretching gently across their shoulders. As the letters spelling out 'FOXY' were less elastic than the surrounding fabric, their swelling bustline stretched the letters laterally until a pair of cracks split through the middle of the X. They gaped open, warping the letter beyond legibility, until with a snap the X split into three, leaving the word 'FOXXXY' emblazoned across their gently-wobbling chest.
Tricia made the mistake of asking what the hell had just happened. Several minutes later, after she'd cleaned up and brought Kophis back out to the front of the store, they were still talking, explaining their entire day to her in scatter-brained detail.
"...and I didn't even wanna buy jewelry but the hot security guy with the big pecs, who I think was a Doberman or something? Anyway I didn't want him to kick me out cause of the no shoes thing, so I came in here, but then I wanted to buy a bunch of jewelry, and I was like is that weird? But then it looked really hot, and then you gave me the earrings and asked if I wanted piercings but I forgot about how you guys feel pain, cause I usually just magic it away, so..."
The clerk barely listened to any of this. They kept saying she wouldn't remember any of this, so she didn't bother to pay attention. She just wanted this magical fox ditz out of the store so she could take lunch, sit down, and have a long think about her perception of reality. "For, uh, normal people we recommend washing the site with soap and water daily, and if there's any swelling that doesn't go down after a few days, to see a doctor. I don't know if you have...spells for that."
"Maybe!" Kophis said. They tried to perk up their ears, but between the weight of their new jewelry and the mall-chaos muddling their mind, they could only make it about three-fourths of the way up. "Thanks for being cool about doing a bunch of 'em."
"Don't mention it," she said, sticking the receipt in one of the bags and passing them to Kophis. "Literally, please don't mention it, unless you're going to mind-wipe my boss, too."
Kophis gasped softly. "Oh, yeah! I forgot. Here, lemme just.." They leaned forward and squinted at the rat woman, then flicked out their pointer finger and said out loud, "Poof!"
Their unremarkability spell kicked up another small storm of magical energy around them. While they just enjoyed the ride and turned to head out the door, the sapphire set into their silver collar popped free and tumbled down to lie on top of their chest. Dangling from the collar on a loop of silver, the gem creased itself down the middle and canted upward at each end, forming into the shape of a heart. The collar itself split into glittering facets, becoming a choker that hugged their neck snugly while the flashy heart-shaped sapphire bounced and swung in time with their stride.
Tricia blinked drowsily as her thoughts stirred, as If a wave of fatigue had just caught up with her. She watched the fox's tail flicking behind them as they walked out the front door. She couldn't even remember their name. Somehow she'd spaced out and been on autopilot the entire time. As she raised a hand to her forehead to rub at her gently throbbing temples, multitudes of gold bracelets and bangles clinked against one another, and her fingers were laden with rings themselves. She absently tapped her gold tongue stud against the back of her incisors, unable to shake the feeling that something was...different.
With no security guards to stop them, Kophis could make the final leg of their trek to the shoe store. Even a pair of flip-flops would have sufficed for a passable modern-day outfit, but passable seemed like a low bar compared to how much work they'd put into the rest of their wardrobe. Plus, this was a mall. Shopping was like, the whole point, right? Plus, money was like its own kind of magic, and they were having fun flinging it around and seeing what it could do.
They paced up and down the aisles of the shoe store, wagging their tail brazenly behind them. Normally, they'd avoid such an overt display of emotional, both as a personal preference and as a tactic for effective trickery. Now their enthusiasm was spilling over their unflappable façade. It wasn't even their fault. They had some hot stuff out on display here
They considered each set of shoes as they passed by. How about wedge sandals? Too light and sporty for the look they were cultivating. Shiny red stilettos? No, they were nowhere near dressed up enough for those. These ones were too small, those ones were too strappy, too beige, too basic, too many laces to bother with without full command of their magic...
Kophis was ready to circle back to the entrance and settle for cheap flip-flops when they laid eyes on the hottest pair of boots they'd seen in a while. Thigh-high, with a velvety black finish, like suede but with the elasticity and breathability of spandex. Polished metal rings ran around the rim of each leg, reminding her of spiked boots but cuter and less aggro. Their platform heels were high enough that Kophis would need a quick charm to keep themselves on their feet--but that wouldn't be a problem now that they could use their magic freely without risking unintended consequences.
As far as they knew, at least.
Snagging a box of the boots, they set it down on a nearby stool, then popped off their anklets and tossed them in the bag with the rest of their jewelry. As they tugged the boots on one at a time, the elastic faux-leather fit their feet firmly and clung tightly to their calves and thighs. They wiggled the tops of each boot up until they sat just bellow their hips, then smoothed out the wrinkles with their hands until they provided a skin-tight fit. Even once they were smooth, they kept stroking along their sides, savoring the texture and snugness until they were satisfied.
They were a good fit, even if they could feel the strain in their muscles from how tightly arched their feet were. A quick charm would fix that, and then they'd have no problem getting around.
Kophis put their hands out to either side of their hips, curling them into fists as if clutching two ends of an unseen string. As they raised their hands by bending their elbows, invisible lines of tension laced tight across their legs, and tighter still the higher they lifted their hands. The heels of the boots, pulled by that same force, clacked against one another, followed by the toes; then their knees locked straight and their thighs squeezed together.
The boots creaked as tingling sensations rolled up the backs of their legs. The constant flow of chaos magic around them pushed back against their spell and tested the boots' elasticity. Their hips widened. Their thighs swelled. Their thicker, rounder ass stretched their red-hot shorts even tighter. Their arms strained to keep their position against the mounting force making their body grow. They just needed to finish up the charm, to make sure it would stick--and just as they did, the roiling mall-chaos surged up between their legs at full force, erupting into intense, raw, and decidedly sexual pleasure.
A loud moan escaped Kophis's lips as they clutched the shelves, both to keep from toppling over and to keep their hand from going for their crotch. They didn't need to go poking around to figure out what had happened; they were well-acquainted with the sensation of spontaneously growing genitals. It just didn't usually hit this hard, or this quickly.
Warm-cheeked and panting, they glanced over their shoulder to see several people in adjacent aisles, looking back at them with an assortment of confusion, annoyance, and infatuation on their faces. "Haha," they said without laughing, "Sorry, these boots are just really hot." Despite a lingering glare or two, the other shoppers seemed to accept that as an excuse. It afforded them enough privacy to slip their thumb under the waistband of their shorts and adjust them to sit more comfortably around their swollen mound.
It took much of their dwindling self-control to not simply segue into turning everyone in the store into horny sex animals right now. Or to keep from shoving their hand down their shorts and start fingering their newfound pussy. Even their own urges couldn't decide on which was more important, and that left them with enough presence of mind to hurry off toward the front of the store so they could buy these boots before their sex drive made up its mind.
Along the way, they scooped up a few other pairs of shoes. Black and gold stilettos, gladiator sandals that laced all the way up past the knees, and even a pair of bright beach-tone flip-flops, since they were only ten bucks. Who knew when they'd stop somewhere that required shoes next?
"All right," the young man behind the counter said, after he'd rung up the armload of boxes the fox had dumped onto the counter. "That'll be four-hundred and thirty-six dollars and eighty-eight cents."
Kophis gazed absently in his direction, daydreaming about what they might turn him into. Cows were a classic option, and a bull could make a pretty hot boyfriend...or maybe they ought to give him boobs and make him a tigress instead. Or they could make him a hyena, and then they could...
The cashier tipped his head to one side and frowned. "Uh, ma'am?"
Kophis fluttered their lashes and shook their head, sending their ears flopping and rolling around loosely. After shaking theirself out of their reverie, they still couldn't quite met his gaze with both eyes at once. "Sorry, I was thinking about making you grow a huge cock," they said, then slumped their shoulders and let out a groan of frustration. "Aagh. My bad. I forget it's weird if I say that stuff out loud.
While he'd gotten weird comments before, none of them had been quite like that. Direct, explicit, and confusing, all rolled into one. Left speechless, he just took their credit card, swiped it, and handed it back to them with the receipt.
"Thanks a bunch!" Kophis said, plucking their credit card from his hands and grabbing the bag. They began to walk away, then halted and turned back toward him. Lifting up a hand they said, "Aaand...poof!" and flicked their fingers him like a stage magician miming a spell.
Before he could say anything, a strange tingle ran over his body from head to toe, and his short-term memory from the last sixty seconds or so melted right out of his mind. As the fox strutted off in their new boots, his head began to throb. A growing weight stirred between his legs, stretching the crotch of his khaki slacks. His joints popped and creaked as swelling muscles pulled his tendons tight, while the sudden surge of mass into his chest made his collar split open a little further with every breath he took. A loud rip was followed by a heavy thud as his pants ripped open and a foot-long shaft thumped against the underside of the counter.
His thoughts were fixated on Kophis's boots. His tongue lolled from his mouth as he panted hungrily. God, he needed some boots of his own. Big ones. Tough ones. With plenty of spikes.
Oblivious to the ripple effects of what had been a perfectly innocent unremarkability spell, Kophis meandered back toward the food court with their fistfuls of shopping bags bouncing cheerfully at their sides. They didn't have to stop window-shopping just because their early-aughts mall outfit was complete, and by crossing over to the other side of the mall, they had a whole new selection of stores to drool over.
Once they got back to their island-slash-smoothie stand, they'd get to work plotting out whatever big mall takeover extravaganza it was they were planning to do. This was wishful thinking, as they were struggling even just to remember which store they'd been ogling last. But once they'd had a chance to sit down, put their feet up, and hump a vibrator till they came a couple times, they'd be able focus on--ooh was that a salon?
They stopped in their tracks in front of the door, gazing hungrily through the front windows. Part of them wanted to keep going. It wasn't that busy, which meant fewer potential victims. Plus, salons were a bit played-out, weren't they? A different part of them wanted to see if they had a stylist with time to squeeze them in. They didn't need to get their hair done...but then they didn't need most of the other stuff they'd bought. They chewed absently on their lip as they wavered between the two options, lacking the concentration to actually debate the merits of one side or the other.
Was it an either-or thing, though? They could hit the salon, get a quick makeover, and then turn a bunch of people into animals with big boobs or whatever.
Smiling and swishing their tail cheerfully behind them, they strode into the salon and walked up to the receptionist's desk.
"Hi!" they chirped. "Do you do walk-ins? I'm doing a kinda makeover thing today and I figured I could get my hair done too."
"Let me see," said the receptionist, briefly checking her computer. "It looks like Taylor has an open slot coming up. Could I get your name?"
Kophis was about to give the receptionist their actual name before their brain processed that she was going to write it down. Telling mortals things they'd forget in a few minutes was well and good, but they had to be more careful with concrete physical proof of their presence. "It's Ko--uh, I mean, it's...Koko. Like with K's instead of C's."
The receptionist didn't bat an eye at their awkward pivot. A perfect save, they thought proudly, though in truth she just assumed that Koko was kind of an airhead. "All right. You can have a seat over there, and Taylor will be out in a few minutes."
Kophis sunk back into the plush armchair in the waiting area, shucking the bags from their arms. Although their charm ensured they wouldn't trip or wobble in these boots, they were still wearing high heels, and their feet were thankful for the chance to rest. It wasn't until they saw all the bags piled up on either side of the chair that they realized just how much shopping they'd done. Wow...they needed to do this more often.
The longer they sat there, the more the overstuffed cushions coaxed them into a relaxed slouch. Their snout dipped toward their chest; their legs slumped open wider. One of their hands drifted toward their crotch, and it wasn't until they were rubbing their fingers underneath the waistband of their shorts that they realized they were a few inches away from masturbating in public.
Oh no--in the excitement of spotting the salon, they'd entirely forgotten how horny they were. And if they skipped out to go get off now, they'd miss their appointment.
Clearing their throat and sitting up straight, Kophis grabbed one of the fashion magazines from the table in front of them and flipped through it. The articles themselves were largely uninteresting, as there were large portions that didn't talk about transformation or sex in the slightest, but luckily there were plenty of ads for them to fantasize about.
They were about halfway through when they heard someone call their name. Or actually not their name, but--"Koko?"
"That's me!" Koko said, dropping the magazine back on the table and hopping up to their feet.
The stylist, a cute young man with an encouraging smile and a name tag that confirmed he was Taylor, took them back to one of the stations and spun the chair around so they could sit down. As he turned the chair back toward the mirror, he asked, "So, foxy, what can I do for you?"
Koko couldn't hold back a laugh, nor could they keep their tail from wagging. Cute and funny? Maybe they could get away with asking for his number when they were done. Aw, but they didn't have a phone. But they could get one, and that would mean even more shopping... Oh, right. He'd asked them a question. "Um, well, I'm doing a whole makeover thing, and I already bought a new wardrobe and all, cause I'm gonna turn a whole bunch of mortals into sexy animal people and...aw, nuts." They'd gotten into the magic stuff too early. "Poof!" they said flicking their fingers at his face.
Taylor briefly swayed on his feet, while Koko slumped back into the salon chair with a soft groan. They'd only had to wipe a few second of memories, which barely took any magic at all, but still the mall-magic fizzles came washing over their head and seeping down into the wrinkles of their brain.
"Cause, like...I'm going on a big date. So I'm down for whatever is gonna spice this up," they said, gesturing generally toward their face and chest.
"Oh, lucky you," Taylor said. "Looking to impress a date...in that case, I'm thinking I could style your hair, then do your nails and makeup, going for a smokin'-hot vixen kind of look."
Being called a 'vixen' made Koko giggle greedily. It was the same sort of delight they got when people called them a 'trickster' without prompting. "Yeahhh, totally," they cooed, nestling back into the seat as Taylor tipped the back down to get to work on her hair.
With Koko's eyes shut, they could imagine any kind of luxurious pampering they liked. Their favorites were usually reclining on silk pillows while a team of servants attended to their whims, or basking under a warm spring sun in a quiet mountainside meadow. Today, it was sprawling back on red satin sheets in the nude, listening to music on their headphones--which couldn't quite drown out the sound of the egg vibrator tucked into their pussy and purring away.
Koko let out a soft grunt and shifted from side to side in the chair. Beyond the rhythmic tugging of Taylor working a curling iron through their hair, there was nothing to occupy their mind with. No matter what they tried, their thoughts came right back to the needy ache radiating outward from their crotch. They couldn't just start fingering herself and expect Taylor not to notice, but they had to do something. It took them a moment to connect the dots, but then they realized their fantasy had already given them the answer. As long as they kept quiet and didn't move around too much, Taylor wouldn't have to know they were using a vibrator.
They took a slow breath, then concentrated on their magic. Mall-chaos lapped at their sides like the waves at a beach, gently pulling at them, trying to drag them down into the surf. Their temples began to throb as their focus strained--but with significant mental effort, they managed to complete a 'summon vibrator' spell.
Then, all at once, two distinct sensations hit Koko. The warm fizzle of the mall-magic layered on top of itself until it was like a hot pink electric current coursing though them, while the hum of the vibrator was more like crackling static, both numbing and invigorating at once. Their pleasure peaked so steeply they were sure they it was an orgasm, but then it just kept going. It was enough to shatter their masturbation fantasy into a kaleidoscope of abstract ecstasy
They took a slow breath, then concentrated on their magic as hard as they could. Mall-chaos lapped against their sides like the surf at a beach trying to drag them down into the water. They could only hold their focus for so long; their temples throbbed from how tightly their jaw was clenched.
Then, at the same time, two distinct sensations hit Koko: the warm fuzzies from the mall-magic layered on top of one another until they were a hot pink electric current, while the hum of the vibrator was more like static, both numbing and invigorating at once. Their pleasure peaked so steeply they were sure it was an orgasm--but then it just kept going. It was enough to shatter their masturbation fantasy into a kaleidoscope of abstract ecstasy, devolving into flashes of raw color and sensation and mind-numbing pleasure.
Taylor stopped brushing out the curls in Koko's hair for a moment, as they had started breathing heavily and squirming in their seat out of nowhere. His first concern was that he'd hurt them somehow, but on second glance, their dreamy smile, lidded gaze, and frantically-lashing tail eased his fears. With a laugh, he asked, "Enjoying ourselves, foxy?"
"Ohh my gawwds, yes," Koko groaned. They parted their legs then brough them together again, trying to clench their muscles around the vibrator tucked snugly into their pussy. Or was it her pussy? Hee hee, getting to play with words was fun, she monologued internally.
While Taylor finished brushing out Koko's hair, he noticed that her top had gotten tighter. The letters of 'FOXXXY' had begun to crack and stretch, like the strain of containing her chest was too much for them. He could have almost sworn her breasts were growing, but that was ridiculous. It was probably just how hard she was breathing right now.
Although speaking of, given the way she was panting and wiggling around in the seat, he had a feeling she wasn't just enjoying having her hair brushed.
As Taylor tipped the salon chair back up, Koko's eyes fluttered open, icy blue and strikingly vacant. She didn't notice; her attention was on her hair. Taylor had styled it into thick dark curls that fell in waves past her shoulders. She passed a hand through it, gazing in rapt fascination as the shine from the salon lights danced across her locks. "Wowww," she said, surreptitiously tucking a hand between her thighs. "You're super good at this."
"Well, it's my job, but thanks," Taylor said, then glanced at Koko's hand and cleared his throat. "I'm doing your nails next, so I'll need your hands. Both your hands..."
After a moment of blank confusion, Koko said, "Oh, oopsie," in her most plausibly-deniable voice, then pulled her hand free. Taylor spread her fingers flat, then began to paint her nails, taking a cue from her shorts and using a bright red nail polish.
While she was doing her best to hold still, so her use of the vibrator wouldn't be quite as evident, doing so made the changes happening to her body all the more obvious. Her heavier breasts were slowly prying apart the printing on her tank top, her lower lip had swollen thick enough to look taut and shiny without so much as lip gloass, and even her boots were squeezed snug around her thighs. Her face felt extra puffy and pumped up, suffused with the now-constant tingle of raw mall chaos magic. Only the fact that her nails were still wet held her back from trying to grab and grope and grasp every part of her that she could.
It was hard to hold herself together, but it was gonna be so worth it when she looked smokin' hot for her big date. Wait, no. The date was her cover story for the big...tricking people thing she was going to do. Not like she couldn't go on a date afterward, though. Maybe one of her victims would turn out super hot. Ooh, or she could ask Taylor out...but she'd already told him she's had a date. Maybe she could unre-marker-billify him so he'd forget about that, and then ask him out.
While Koko's mind worked through all of that, her glazed look and slack expression gave Taylor a chance to work on her makeup. She already had more than enough eyeliner, actual kohl by the look of it, so he accentuated that with mascara and a dash of crimson eye shadow, then painted her plump lip with a shade of red to match her nails.
Taylor paused to check his work and couldn't help wondering if he was seeing things. There was no way Koko had looked like this when she'd come in. All the individual differences in her face and figure and features weren't enough to be individually obvious on their own, but she'd gone from trendy mall rat to porn-star sex icon in the span of half an hour. While he prided himself on his skills as a stylist, plastic surgery wasn't one of them.
"So," he said, with a note of apprehension in his voice that flew right over Koko's head, "What do you think?"
Koko batted her eyes a few times. It slowly dawned on her that she hadn't been thinking, at least for the last couple of minutes. She'd been conscious, her mind was so awash with pleasure that it had gone completely numb, like the combined assault of physical pleasure and raw magical energy had maxed out the bandwidth of her brain. She gazed blankly into the mirror. Wow, that vixen in front of her was like, crazy hot.
Wait, why was there some fox lady in the mirror? And where was her reflection?
Oh.
Ohh.
Her addled mind connected the dots and made the final leap of logic; the turbulent currents of mall-magic fell into phase with one another, focused around a single point like a vortex forming in the midst of a storm; and the non-stop purr of the vibrator pushed her over the edge, melting all the sensations together into a red-hot magical orgasm.
Its sheer force threw Koko's head back and forced her body up off the seat, arched and shuddering and burning with the ache of every muscle in her body clenching at once. "Ohhh gaaawds YES!" she cried out loud. It was no less intense on the magical plane--instead of merely being buffeted by mall-tainted chaos magic, it was now pouring from every inch of her body, radiating off of her like a solar corona.
'FOXXXY' could take it no more. Stretched beyond legibility, the letters rent open as she arched her back, then fused back together in the same instant, now spelling out 'VIXXXEN' across her heaving chest.
Even the afterglow was mind-numbing. Several smaller orgasms rippled over her like aftershocks, squeezing more wordless groans from her lips. Finally, as the pleasure began to subside, she found the will to push herself out of the seat and up onto her feet. Even the balance charm couldn't keep her from teetering on her heels for a few moments. Her eyes were still half-lidded and struggling to focus, while a broad drunken grin was plastered across her snout. Without taking her eyes off the mirror, she cooed, "Oh em geez, thanks! I'm like...super smokin' hot."
Taylor was still in shock. Whatever had just happened, it had enough physical force to blow his hair back and ruffle his clothes. Not only had Koko just clearly orgasmed in front of him, but somehow her top had changed, and all the growth he'd assumed was just his imagination had just proven itself real.
"Okay, so I gotta go turn a bunch of mortals into horny stuff, but do you wanna go on a date after? Or just come over to my place and fuck a bunch?" Koko asked. Her ears perked upwards, but between the weight of her earrings and her bimbo-brained daze, they maxed out at a forty-five degree angle.
Taylor tried to speak, but everything he wanted to say got tangled up together on his tongue. "I don't...what are...was that...are you...a god?"
Koko wrinkled her snout and scowled. "Uhh, as if? Gods are gross. I'm a tricks...uh, tricks...maker. Oh, right! I gotta make you, uh, un-remember..." She lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers at Taylor, causing a few glittery sparks to pop in mid-air. "Poof!"
Assuming she'd thrown a fistful of glitter at him, Taylor shut his eyes and pursed his lips. But instead, a strange warm glow welled up inside of him. He swayed on his feet, then stumbled backwards and caught himself against the wall. His shoes lay on the ground in front of him, while he himself stood on a pair of hooves. Purple stripes split open along his arms, while pink filled the spaces in between them. A growing mane fell stylishly down over one of his eyes, while the left leg of his pants grew increasingly tight around the flared shaft now snaking down its length.
Koko was surprised to see all this happening from what was supposed to be a simple spell. And yet this time, she was entirely unaffected. She assumed it was because she was good enough of a mallomancer by now that she could avoid the side effects, when in fact she was just maxed out, fully saturated, physically unable to be mall-ified any further.
"Wow, I'm like, really good at this," she mused to herself. Then, seeing that the brand-new zebra was blinking himself back to lucidity, she put on a cheerfully oblivious smile. "Thanks so much! That was like, the best makeover I've ever had? Aaand since you asked....we should totally go on a date and talk fashion and fuck a bunch." She winked at him, as if there was a shred of innuendo in what she'd said. Then she slipped a hand into her cleavage, fished out a slip of paper, and tucked it into the collar of Taylor's shirt. "Come by my place later, mmkay?"
Taylor's mind struggled to catch up. How long had he spaced out for? And why did he have stripes now? "Uh...sure," he said. As Koko brushed past him, her tail swished against his chest in a way that was blatantly 'accidental'. He plucked the piece of paper from his shirt and turned it over, expecting it to have a number or address, given the way Koko had acted. Instead, it was a coupon for one dollar off any drink at a place he'd never heard of called 'Smoothie Sanctuary.'
It had been a perfectly unremarkable day at the book store up until Koko strode in, plopped her shopping bags on the floor, and announced, "Hi, everyone!" loudly enough to shatter the politely quiet atmosphere mandated by the social contract of book stores. "My name's Koko and I'm like, a tricks-er? Cause I'm gonna tricks you all into being big sexy animals and then you can all fuck."
The response to her announcement was largely stunned silence. Everyone in the store was now staring at her, whether confused, annoyed, infatuated, or some combination of all three. It had been quiet before; now it was pointedly silent.
The first person to speak up was a woman who stepped out from behind the registers. Her name tag read 'Tiffany' and indicated she was an assistant manager. "Ma'am, if you don't quiet down, I'll have to ask you to leave," she said. This wasn't the first weirdo who'd wandered in here. A month ago someone had come in and demanded to debate 'secular Darwinists' about intelligent design, and before that there'd been someone who wanted them to take The Lord of the Rings off their shelves because it was Satanic. At least this time it was something new.
"Nope!" Koko said, flinging a hand up and snapping her fingers. The security gate came crashing down behind her as sparkles of raw mall-magic turbulence glimmered around her like an aura. "But I'm gonna hafta ask you to, um...like, turn into a big cat!!" she said, as if it was a witty retort. Then she pointed dramatically at the assistant manager and shouted, "Poof!"
Tiffany took a deep breath. She was going to tell Koko to move so she could get the door open--and if she couldn't, there was still an exit in the back. Instead, she yowled in surprise as pink tiger-stripes erupted across her face and plush white fur spilled over the collar of her polo shirt. Her breasts puffed outward, ripping open the collar and exposing even more thick, downy fur. The sudden weight of her expanding chest pulled her off balance. As she toppled forward, she put up her hands to catch herself, but by the time they hit the counter they had inflated into thick pink tiger paws with pads as round and glossy as jelly beans.
"H-how did you--" she started to say, but one of her new paws found her chest and she trailed off into a distant and squeaky-cute, "Ooohh..." The sensation was like a shot of hot pink right to her brain. She wanted to stay mad at Koko but touching her titties made her feel warm and fuzzy--but between the fur and paw pads it was like trying to grope herself while wearing a catcher's mitt. A purr rumbled from her throat as she rolled onto he back, wriggling and lashing her pink-striped tail, all the while pawing at her chest and crotch in futile desperation.
Koko had actually only meant to give her cat ears and whiskers, but she wasn't going to complain. "More like A-tits-tant Meow-nager! Zap!" She made a finger-gun motion at the nametag still pinned to Tiffany's shirt. With a poof of sparkles, the nametag pinned atop her chest now read 'Tiffi' with paws dotting the I's, and across the bottom, in place of a job title, it just said 'Please squeeze me!' with an emoticon-style cat face.
Koko's tail wagged eagerly as she bent down over the new tigress. "See, it's a trick cause now you gotta get help to get off! Hee hee," she said, then stood up and rounded her vacant gaze on everyone else in the store. "'Kay, who wants to be Tiffi's fuck-buddy?"
Wow. Koko was impressed by how easy that had been.
One mall patron down, four thousand-and-something left to go.