This is a long overdue request. Finally got it finished a couple of days ago. It's not very long despite the time I spent on it. Also not too pleased with it, although I tried a different style for the transformation this time.

Also, despite happening in the same Universe as my Costume stories, I'm not considering this canon to those until I decide otherwise. Enjoy.

Kitty Softpaws is © Dreamworks.
Everything else is © me.

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This shouldn’t be too hard a hit, Ian thought as he scanned out the place. It was a small store in the mall, with a rustic log-cabin theme made apparent at the entrance. A sign over top of the front read “Clarence’s Cabin – Costumes and Trinkets.” Ian knew that it was originally a costume shop, and that it still focused on such products, but it had recently added little things and accessories, similar to souvenirs. It was some of these that he was to focus on.

“You’re going to ignore the costumes the place has,” his boss had instructed. “They aren’t worth much, and they’re harder to get to, anyways. But you will scout out the front of the store for valuable trinkets, and later get as many as you can find. And for God’s sake, do NOT trigger any of the securities!”

Ian growled at this last instruction – just because some of the other guys kept forgetting the importance of security removal didn’t mean that he was one of them. Did he really think that Ian, master burglar who was the glue holding the group together, was really dumb enough to NOT check for alarms or protective measures? It wasn’t a huge deal, though – even careful scanning revealed that there were none of the common noise alarms, and only a handful of security cameras. It was almost like this place was begging to be robbed – all he had to do was get the cameras covered or find good blind spots, and he was golden.

But as Ian left and began thinking of how he would go about doing it, he got suspicious – it did seem like the store was begging to be robbed. So what was going on? He highly doubted any business owner would be so naïve as to be that careless. Perhaps there was something else in there that he hadn’t noticed which might set off an alarm of some kind. But going back in now might draw suspicions. Ian decided that he would have to deal with the possibility tonight.

Ian camped out nearby – he already knew how to get into the mall from previous jobs, and the exploit he had set up still hadn’t been found. Crawling inside was the easiest part – the moment he got in, he headed straight for Clarence’s Cabin. But once he arrived, he had to double-check the front, and was astounded to find that the entrance was wide open. Was the place just begging to be robbed? Before he could properly think, Ian stealthily snuck to the open doorway of the store, and he slipped inside.

Ian took a quick look around. He couldn’t find anything extra that would be protecting the place other than the few cameras he had found while casing the place earlier. Wondering what was with the place, Ian suddenly heard what sounded like footsteps coming from another door behind the store counter. Thinking quickly, he dived behind a display, peeking from behind it once he was hidden.

Ian noticed a bearded man who looked to be in his late twenties step out from the door behind the counter. The man had dark circles under his eyes as he walked over to the front door and closed it, locking it shut. “Maxine?” he called. “You got the day’s profits counted up?”

There was a pause, and Ian heard a voice call something from behind the counter, although it was too indistinct for him to make out. He saw the man, whom he assumed was the owner, nod at the response and begin to head back to the counter. However, Ian could swear that he saw the man glance in the direction where he was hiding. Not good – did he already know he was here? But if he did, why wasn’t the man stopping him?

Fortunately for Ian, the shopkeeper went back into his quarters, allowing him to leave his hiding spot. He already found a couple of the things he wanted to get at, including a ring that looked to have a ruby encrusted within the hilt, and a jeweled amulet. Neither was particularly expensive, but they were high-value for a shop like this. As he was about to make his escape, however, Ian saw something else beside him – a pair of big, knee-high boots. He normally wouldn’t bother with them, except for one thing he noticed – they each had a large buckle made of gold. Yes, actual gold – probably not 24-karat, but definitely real gold.

Ian grinned as he grabbed the boots. Those buckles alone easily made the pair worth over a thousand bucks by themselves. Definitely not a bad grab for such an easy gig. Better yet, he saw no extra security measures while he was hiding. It seemed to him like he was going to get away scot-free. Sneaking to the exit, he quietly unlocked the mall-lock and left, closing the door behind him.

Twenty minutes later, Ian was at his usual gathering spot where he made sure he had all the loot he needed before heading back to the group. He had the amulet and ring, and the last-minute grab; the boots. Surprisingly, he was starting to think that these boots actually looked kind of comfortable. Perhaps he would keep these ones for himself.

Looking around, Ian slowly made a decision – he would wear the boots for their size, and if they fit alright, he would keep them, although he’d make sure not to wear them in this area. Removing his own shoes, Ian slowly started to slide his feet into each of the boots. At first, it looked like they would be a bit too small, but to his surprise, they seemed to expand slightly, letting his entire feet in. Smiling, he stood proud with the boots upon his feet.

Ian’s mind suddenly started to cloud, and he found it harder to think clearly. He managed to mutter a “what…” before a strange feeling surrounded his legs, as if tiny little dull pins were emerging from his skin under the boots. Slowly, the feeling climbed up his body, and a layer of black fur began covering the entirety of his legs. Ian glanced down, but his brain could barely register what was happening. It was only as fur covered his entire body, along with white fur on his belly, that he finally muttered, “…fur?”

His body slowly shrank down, although Ian couldn’t comprehend why – the most of what he noticed was that his clothes were much looser, with the exception of the boots. Slowly, his hands started reforming into paws, each tipped with a short retractable claw – and all VERY soft. His feet followed suit inside the boots, although Ian didn’t notice at the time. What he did notice, and what almost broke him out of his trance-like state, was a long furred tail extending painfully out of his backside until it was a foot long.

Ian’s mind clouded a bit more as his face began to change. Black and white fur covered it as his head shrank slightly. His face pushed out slightly as his nose turned small and pink. His eyes grew much longer and turned to a deep blue colour, and his ears grew pointed and moved up his head. It finished off with long whiskers emerging from his face, leaving him with a very feline appearance.

Finally, just as his thoughts started to return, there was a weird sucking feeling in his crotch and a pressure in his chest. Ian’s chest puffed out very slightly, but something down below was slowly vanishing… but within seconds, it had finished, and Ian fell to the ground gasping. He took a look at his hands, or paws as they know were, and his breathing became heavier and faster. What the hell just happened to him?! As Ian felt the tail behind him swish, he looked back at it. Was… was he some sort of cat?

Ian slowly got back to his feet, doing his best to get out of the jangled mess that was his clothes. His boots were still fitting around his feet – he had a sneaking suspicion that they had something to do with his change. But before he could do anything about that, he suddenly had a strange feeling down below. “No…” he whispered softly before he reached a paw down there – confirming that he technically wasn’t a he anymore.

“No… I’m… I’m a cat AND a girl!” Ian muttered under her breath, barely noticing the sultry, Spanish accent that escaped her lips. Growling in anger, she reached down to the boots. She KNEW that these had to be the reason! As she tried to rip them off, however, she found that they were stuck to her feet. Beginning to hiss, she struggled harder, even falling down and rolling around as she desperately tried to get the boots off. But nothing was working – even trying to pry them off with tree branches wouldn’t so much as budge them. It was as if the boots were glued to her feet.

Growling again, Ian realized who was behind this. “It shouldn’t be possible, but the shop owner tampered with these boots,” she muttered to herself, still pissed off at her situation. “Something supernatural happened, and he’s behind it… I have to go back.” Making sure that her now-too-big clothes were hidden in the bushes by her gathering spot, she crouched to all fours and leaped back in the direction of the mall.

One of the things Ian noticed as she slinked and leaped back was that she was much more agile now. She had never been able to move this quickly before, and she was quiet as she moved as well. She easily made it back to the mall in half the time it took for her to get there initially. Not only that, but she found getting back inside a breeze as well. But as she made it back to Clarence’s Cabin, she found that the door was locked again. Cursing, Ian suddenly felt something odd – as if her dextrous new body was scoffing at the lock. One of her claws extended slightly, and grinning, she picked the lock within a few seconds. Silently applauding herself, she snuck back in, only to come face-to-face with the shopkeeper, who was staring at her in a way that claimed that he was expecting her. “I knew you would come back,” he said.

Ian hissed almost involuntarily. “Of course,” she responded. “You’re the reason I’m… I’m like THIS!” Gesturing to her feline body as she said this, Ian’s glare became more intense.

“Only partially,” said the shopkeeper dismissively. “Oh yes, I may have specifically trapped those boots you’re wearing, and I may have specifically put them out front and center tonight, but it was you who broke into my store, you who stole the boots, and you who put them on, Ian.” The man smiled deviously. “Or maybe I should call you by who you are now? Kitty Softpaws?”

Ian’s rage increased at that last comment. “NO! I… I’m not this cat woman! And…” Before she could finish, she suddenly realized something. “…how did you know my name?” she finished.

“I’ve known for a few days, before you even came to my shop,” the shopkeeper explained with a smirk. “But I wasn’t focusing on you – it was your employers. I knew of what they were planning for a while, and I’ve even discovered a lot of what’s behind your little band of thieves.”

“You… you know of my bosses?” Ian asked.

“Yes, that’s how I found out you were coming to perform the dirty deed,” the shopkeeper responded. “One set of magically altered boots with a golden buckle out in front should be enough to tempt any thief. But honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to put them on yourself – I was hoping one of your higher-ups would have, most likely forcing them to disappear.”

Ian heard this, and her rage dropped a slight bit when she learned she wasn’t the original target. But it returned a second later as she said, “That may be so, but I’m not staying like this! Change me back to a human now!”

The shopkeeper shook his head. “You’re not really in the bargaining situation right now, Ian,” he said. “Besides, you still actively attempted to rob my shop. Do you really think I’m going to let a situation like that go unpunished?”

“I… I don’t care!” Ian responded. “You will make me human again, amigo, or I will tear you up with these claws.” She felt the claws extend as she finished this sentence.

“And immediately you threaten with violence,” the shopkeeper sighed. “Just because I’m lacking in protective magic doesn’t mean I can’t defend myself. However… I would be willing to make a deal with you.”

Ian flinched. “What kind of deal?” she asked.

“An exchange of services,” the shopkeeper answered. “It’s simple – you return all of what you stole tonight, and then agree to work for me over the next little while – specifically, targeting your bosses and group for elimination. Do so, and I will tell you how to reverse your transformation.”

Ian thought of this – she didn’t have any love for her bosses, and their condescending attitude and insistence at following their own plans to the letter when she was much more skilled at burglary did provide temptation to get revenge. On the other hand, going against them would be very risky for her career overall; they could snitch her out as a burglar and deny involvement, even just for failing to bring back any valuables from tonight’s heist. But eventually, she made a decision. “If you can assure me that they can’t find me for comeuppance, I’ll do it, señor.” She silently cursed this accent she was given.

“Please, call me Clarence,” the shopkeeper answered. “And if you don’t mind taking up residence here in my shop for the next week or so, I can easily grant protection for you. You’ve already received comeuppance enough from me – it’s time for your employers to get their comeuppance. But you know what to do – go gather everything else you stole, return it, and I’ll let you know what to do.”

It wasn’t too long before Ian returned with everything that was stolen. That’s when Clarence explained the situation – the transformation was directly tied to the boots, and taking them off would easily reverse it. But he had put a separate enchantment on them that made it impossible to remove the boots while the sun was down. “When morning comes, you can take them off and be human again,” Clarence explained. “However, you might want to put them on again when you begin my little missions against your old employers.”

“What?! Why would I ever do that?” Ian demanded.

“Two reasons: first, seeing you like this amuses me,” Clarence began, and Ian snarled at this comment. “But secondly and more importantly, haven’t you noticed how much more agile you are?”

Ian thought for a second before nodding – she WAS making good time in this body, and it even seemed like she picked the store’s lock quicker than usual. “It’s because of who you are – Kitty Softpaws, the feline burglar extraordinaire,” Clarence claimed. “The stealth, the agility, and definitely the sleight of hand, er, paw… all of these will let you accomplish your break-ins more easily than you ever could have thought.”

“W-wow, I… never thought of it like that,” Ian answered. “But… you’re right. Breaking back into HQ… it would be a breeze like this.” She slowly smiled deviously.

“Think you’ll be ready to deliver some, ‘special’ merchandise to them?” Clarence asked.

“Without a doubt,” Ian responded, finally realizing this new body wouldn’t be as bad as she initially thought.
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