“And the winner,” Jack called out to the crowded room, “for the third week in a row, is TheWilter, aka Walter! Go ahead and pick your prize.” A round of applause filled the room.
Thomas threw his controller down. “You only win every time because you play video games all day. What a sad life.”
Walter gave Thomas a sneer. “What a sad line coming from the loser.”
Jack shot the two a look; they grudgingly quieted down. It was obvious certain people didn’t get along well. In the beginning, Jack tried to force the kids to become friends, but it took way too much effort. Now, if they argued too much, he kicked them out.
Jack eyed the group of fifty people; it was getting bigger every time. Every Wednesday, Jack would hold a video game tournament with a prize, usually something random from his shop. It began as a simple activity, but word spread, and more people started to come beyond the usual high school and middle school kids, including college students and working adults. He also had a smaller tournament for the younger kids. He made sure to hold the tournament later in the day to give most people the chance to attend.
Jack watched Walter choose the cheap sword Jack received the day before from a small pile of objects. Walter inspected it greedily, flaunting it to the people around him. Walter only came to the shop on Wednesdays; Jack figured it was so he could show off his video game skills to other people. Jack smiled; he thought he’d let Patrick play next week to break Walter’s winning streak.
Many people started to walk out, browsing the items in the shop as they left. It was the most profitable time for the shop; Jack didn’t care too much for money, but he did like it when he had sales.
An older lady with thick glasses wearing a business dress walked into the store. She scanned the room until she found Jack; Jack groaned. “Mr. Kearl, good to see you again. Have you thought about my proposal?”
“Mrs. Rever, like I said before, I’m not a babysitter. I’m not going to open a daycare, nor do I wish to be responsible for these kids.”
“I’m just saying you could make more money; plus, the kids seem to really like it here. Heaven knows that this shop is in the red.”
“Heaven also knows I am perfectly content with the way things are. Goodbye, Mrs. Rever. See ya later, Gary.”
Gary, a 10-year-old boy with sandy blond hair, waved as he walked out with his mother. “See ya, Mr. K. I’m sorry; I told my mom not to bring it up again.”
As they left, a sudden voice made Jack jump. ”Mr. K, I was so close,” Kim pouted next to him.
“The final four isn’t bad. That’s how far I got.”
“I still find it funny you participate in your own tournaments — and lose. Doesn’t the house always win?”
“Why would I make something fun and not participate in it? I’ve never been very good at competitive games.”
“Well, better luck next time. See ya later.”
Within a few minutes, the shop was empty and closed. Patrick had cleaned up some of the mess and walked up to his appartment. Jack looked at the ring; it had been glowing for about an hour. Time for another test.
Jack closed his eyes and thought about Desiree, absently thinking that she hadn’t come in. It was probably for the best because he might have transformed accidentally. The ring dulled and the usual symptoms occurred: the chill, the nausea, and the pain.
The pain now included his chest, waist, hips, legs, throat, and face. He felt his chest rise; his breasts were still getting larger little by little. After measuring and doing a little online research, Jack realized his breasts were a little below average. His waist had become slimmer, but it remained the same measurement from the previous time he transformed. His hips, however, had widened just a bit. He checked inside his pants: his manhood was tiny. Jack suspected this would happen, but he still wasn’t too pleased about it.
Jack checked the bathroom mirror. His face was even more feminine. His lips were fuller, and his jawline edges were smoother. Interestingly enough, his black messy hair was a tad bit longer as well, barely covering his ears. With the way he was now, he would be able to pass as a girl – a tall girl with broad shoulders and really short hair, but a girl nonetheless.
Jack noticed as he walked around, the room seemed a little different. The way he moved felt a little strange; he figured his center of gravity was a bit off. He also measured his height: he was 5’ 10”, two inches shorter.
“So this is me,” Jack said out loud; it was like hearing somebody else speak. His voice had become higher again. He still sounded like a guy, albeit a guy who hadn’t quite reached puberty.
Before he knew it, Jack had transformed back. He checked the timer: twenty-eight minutes. It was still getting longer. A sudden thought crossed his mind: what if it kept on getting longer where he would no longer change back?
He thought about it for a moment. So far, the time intervals had increased by about two minutes each time. He could probably transform four times a day, which means it would increase eight minutes a day. If he kept up the pace, by Saturday, he would be at an hour. He’d probably have to reduce the amount of times he transformed until he figured out more about the rings.
Jack decided he should unpack the boxes he received earlier that day. It was amazing how one day could change things. Before, opening the boxes was the best part of the day; now, it seemed more like a chore. A board game, comics, silverware, a large pot, a wristwatch, and a few other items. When compared to the rings, they were extremely uninteresting. It’s like the rings were what Jack was looking for; now that he found them, searching seemed to have lost its purpose.
Jack’s mind kept on going back to the rings, especially the other rings in the box. Jack had a fairly good understanding of the red ring; perhaps the other rings would give him more control over the transformation, or maybe it would give him a new power. Reason tried to tell him that it would be dangerous, but Jack was never very good at listening to reason.
Even before finishing opening the new packages, Jack had the box with the ring inside in his shaking hands. He opened it. The seven colored rings stared back at him; eagerly; expectantly. He picked up the ring with the yellow stone. “Last chance to back out,” he told himself.
Jack slipped the yellow ring onto his left forefinger. A tingle ran through his left arm. The yellow stone began to glow.
Jack smiled. It was comforting to know it worked, or at least had power. Now, he just needed to find the trigger. He tried imagining himself with big muscles. Nothing. Taller. Nothing. Hair color, skin color, age. Nothing. He even tried thinking about Desiree, like the trigger for the red ring. Nothing.
Jack figured his problem was that he assumed the yellow ring worked the same way as the red one. Maybe it could do something completely different. He tried moving things with his mind, flying, catching things on fire, and running faster. Still nothing.
The best option Jack could think of was to wait and see if the ring would trigger naturally like the red ring did. It was more risky because other people might be able to see it, but Jack’s ideas were running low. He just had one more experiment he wanted to try, but he had to wait until the red ring activated.
The time passed slowly. By the time the red ring glowed, it was very late. Jack was used to staying up late, but the transformations used up a lot of energy. Groggily, Jack activated the red ring.
The transformation occurred as expected. Compared to the previous time, his breasts were slightly larger, his voice was slightly higher, his height was a little shorter, and his shoulders were less broad. Jack looked at his hands; even though they were smaller than before, the rings still fit tightly around his fingers. He didn’t think the rings would come off short of cutting off his fingers.
The yellow stone still glowed. He was expecting that. He tried activating the trigger once again by thinking of Desiree. Nothing. He tried imagining himself back to normal. Still nothing.
Disappointed, Jack started to get ready for bed after he quickly wrote some notes down. Maybe he would find out the trigger and power the next day.
Jack woke up once again feeling like he had a pillow under his chest. “Gah, I need to figure out how to stop that,” Jack said in his increasingly higher voice.
He jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom; he didn’t know how long the transformation would last. However, almost right when his feet hit the floor, Jack was lying face down on the ground. Apparently, his body’s balance was a little off. Landing on his chest, his breasts caused some cushion and pain.
Standing up, more carefully this time, Jack made his way to the bathroom. He almost didn’t recognize the face in the mirror. Jack thought if he ever had had a sister, this is what she would look like. His hair was a good three inches longer and a little straighter. His face had lost all masculine features. It was actually . . . Pretty. He never thought he would say that about his own face.
Measuring his breasts, they were still getting larger, but not as dramatic as before. He checked inside his pants nervously; it was still there but just barely. He also measured his height: 5’7”. Five inches shorter than his usual height. A lot of his body mass had decreased, including his muscles. He was never very muscular, but losing what he had made him feel petite and frail. Vulnerable. His clothes also felt very loose. He checked the scale; he was at least thirty pounds lighter.
As he was on the scale, he began to change back. He noticed his weight increase. He made a little note to research how that was possible. He started to wonder why he didn’t wake up when the nausea hits. He decided to go out to buy a camera to film himself while asleep. Filming himself transform might actually be kind of interesting.
He looked at his left hand. The yellow ring still glowed. Jack had somewhat hoped it would activate during the night like the red ring; at least, that way, he knew it would work.
Jack waited impatiently for the mail to come. He didn’t really have anything he needed to do, and the online research was getting boring. He ordered some stuff the previous day that should be arriving soon, if the one-day delivery thing was true. Finally, the door chimed and the deliveryman entered.
“I haven’t seen you for a while, Paul,” Jack said as he greeted an older greying man. Paul was the first deliveryman that came to Jack’s shop, even before it became a shop. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did back then.”
“What was that? My hearing has gotten a little bad,” Paul said in a loud monotone. Jack waved off the question. Paul studied Jack for a moment. “My, my, you are looking much better since the last time I was here. Anyway, I’ve got to get going. Take care, lad.” Paul limped out the door.
Jack shifted through his packages. “Eureka.” The large box wasn’t very heavy. He opened it to reveal a bunch of clothes inside. Women’s clothes to be exact. Jack wanted to test out his transformed state in front of other people, and his current clothing didn’t fit him very well. He didn’t know what size he’d become, so he bought a lot of variations.
He also didn’t think he’d wear them this soon; but when he saw himself in the mirror that morning, he couldn’t resist seeing what he’d look like and if he could pull it off. He made sure to hang the closed sign on the door; he didn’t want another accident to happen. He activated the red ring.
After he had transformed, he checked to see the differences. His hair was still getting longer as it reached his shoulders. His height was an inch shorter than it was before at five and a half feet. And, to his dismay, his manhood was completely gone.
The first article of clothing he picked out was a bra. From the measurements and online research, he figured he was about a B-cup. He had a bit of trouble getting it on, but it fit nicely when it did. He kept his boxers on; he wasn’t quite ready for panties yet.
He tried on a few different outfits. He began with khakis and a regular t-shirt. Nothing too different than what he usually wore. He looked in the mirror and saw a regular girl in her twenties, perhaps a bit of a tomboy by the way she held herself and her messy hair. He then tried on short shorts and a v-neck blouse. It felt very strange to have so much skin showing on his legs and chest. Finally, he tried on a one-piece swimming suit. The suit held tight around his whole body made him much more aware of all of the curves.
He quickly changed back to his regular clothes as he was running out of time. As a girl, the guy’s clothes felt awkward, especially after trying on clothes that fit. The feeling didn’t last long as he changed back almost right after he changed his clothes. Thirty-four minutes.
Two hours later, the kids began to come in. Thursdays were probably the slowest days. Kim and Patrick were there; they came almost every day. Quinn and Hugh were there as well.
“Mr. K, Mr. K, I’ve got a surprise for you tomorrow,” Kim said, bubbling with excitement. “But, I’m not telling you what it is.”
Jack couldn’t hold back a smile at her bubbly attitude. He let out a small laugh and said, “I’ll be looking forward to it then.”
Just then he felt a chill run through his body, just like when the red ring got activated. Panicked, he thought he was going to transform again. But, nothing happened; the red ring didn’t have enough time to charge anyway. He then looked at the yellow ring: it was dull.
“Mr. K, I don’t feel so good,” Kim said as she held her stomach.
TheXtra Path 
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