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Meanwhile at the lair of Dr. Callyco

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The kitten in a lab coat ran in circles in the middle of his lab. Meanwhile, his wolf pup companion just stared at him eyes wide.

"So... Should I be concerned?" Dr. Cutie Pup took a step backwards to avoid being run into.

"Dr. Cutie Pup! Thank goodness you're here!" Dr. Callyco came to a stop nearly crashing into the pup. "Your timing is impeccable. We have an emergency."

"I've been here the entire time!" Dr. Cutie Pup threw his hands up in the air. "We came here together! Then suddenly you just started running in circles and screaming. You've been doing it for six hours."

"Well the situation is quite dire." Dr. Callyco said. "I just checked our provisions. We're out of both candy and cookies."

"There, there." Dr. Cutie Pup patted the kitten on the head. "You'll survive. I know the stuff is nice, but it's not as if it's essential to our very survival."

"All the 2-liters of soda are also empty." Dr. Callyco finished.

"WHAT!?" Dr. Cutie Pup grabbed the kitten by the shoulders and shook him. "Tell me you're joking! That's impossible! We can't be out! There still has to be more!"

"I'm afraid there wasn't even a single droplet left." Dr. Callyco hung his head in shame.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dr. Cutie Pup collapsed onto all fours and began to punch the ground. "Of all the possible timelines and futures... HOW IS THIS THE ONE WE'RE IN!?"

"Maybe... There's some way we can get more?" Dr. Callyco suggested. "There has to be some way to kids dressed as scientist could find treats on Halloween night."

"It's a long shot... But we can try something." Dr. Cutie Pup nodded. "We must leave immediately." He turned for the door.

"W-wait!" Dr. Callyco grabbed his coat. "Not yet! We almost forgot to introduce tonight's tale."

"This is more important!" Dr. Cutie Pup insisted.

"I know but I'm pretty sure we get in trouble if we don't do this!" Dr. Callyco insisted. "Then we might night be able to get candy or soda! So just introduce the guest real quick."

"F-fine!" Dr. Cutie Pup crossed his arms. "Tonight's guest is Kickaha Ota. He's a fox-coyote crossbreed. A foxyote if you will. Never seems to wear more than that green cloak of his. From what I hear he's something of a trickster."

"What do you mean what you hear, we both-" Dr. Callyco started to respond then immediately stopped. "I mean! Right! This Kickaha! He sure does sound like a fine upstanding canine who I have never met!"

"Sounds like a trouble maker to me." Dr. Cutie Pup muttered.

"So someone fun!"

"I never said he wasn't..."

"Anyway Kickaha is up to his usual tricks it would seem." Dr. Callyco began to rush towards the door ready to move out as soon as he was done. "The life of a trickster can be unpredictable though. Some days you search high and wide for your mark. Other days... The tricks come to you. We present our fourth tale. The Tale of Tricks by Delivery."

Thirteen Karmic tales

Fourth Tale

The Tale of Tricks by Delivery

Kickaha sat in a comfortable chair with his feet propped up on an ottoman. A large bowl of candy sat on an end table next to him while a book of spooky stories sat in his lap. It was to help get into the proper headspace for the night. Tonight was a very special night.

This was because Kickaha was a very serious person. He was serious about not being serious. That made this serious business. His job was one that often necessitated travel. After all his 'clients' were never ones to come to him on their own. At least not usually... But tonight! Tonight was special! And now as he sat waiting, his ears were perked up in full alert for the sound of a doorbell.

Trick or treat. It was such a marvelous tradition. Though Kickaha found himself often confused as to why everyone always defaulted to the second option. You're offered a choice up front! It sure was strange that the majority of the population couldn't be bothered to choose trick. But then again... That was what separated Kickaha from the common man. He was willing to go the extra mile just to make the occasion that much more special.

Besides. If they didn't want a 'trick' they shouldn't have given him the option.

The kids had been showing up all night. Many of the human children were surprised to see a foxyote answer the door. Some of them even thought he was a kid in a costume! It made him slightly curious as to who actually owned the house. But it didn't matter. He had given them their treat and sent them on the way. The trick had yet to appear. That was because he was waiting for the right person.

He could have done it with the first child, or even to all of them. But that would have been too predictable. Kickaha didn't do predictable. It just... Unprofessional. That didn't mean he lacked method though. And so he was waiting for the right candidate. After all! There had to be a reason as to why things happened without reason!

The doorbell rang again. Kickaha rose from his seat with a smile, grabbed the candy bowl and headed for the door. He flung it open to find a single child holding open an empty pillow case.

"Trick or feet!" The child said. Then paused. "D-dang it! I meant Rick or Treat! Or no! I- um! Can I start over?" The boy looked pitiful in more ways than one. His costume was less than impressive. He was a bed sheet ghost. However apparently the only sheets he had been able to find were covered in cartoon characters. Then the eye holes cut weren't exactly circular. One of them was a triangle. The other a rhombus. Then the bed sheet only went down to the kid's knees. Below that he was wearing a pair of shorts and socks with sandals.

"Uhhhhh. Sure?" Kickaha couldn't help but feel a little bad for the kid. He quickly shut the door and walked back to his chair and sat down. He waited a few seconds to see if the kid was going to ring the doorbell again or not. After nothing happened he returned to the door and opened it again. He found the kid with his finger hovering a half an inch away from the door twitching nervously.

"OH! SORRY!" The kid replied with a shout. "I didn't know if you were ready yet! So I mean! I wasn't sure if I should ring! Or if maybe I wasn't supposed to ring and just wait for you... Or maybe if I should just go away and come back later or-"

"There, there." Kickaha found himself stretching a hand out pat the boy on the head. He had the feeling the kid might need it. "Relax."

"But I! Um!" The boy looked around frantically. "Can I get another do over?"

"How about we just take it from the top from here." Kickaha suggested. "Go on, say the line."

"Trick and treat?" The boy tried. "Wait no I got it wrong! Stupid!" The boy slammed his head against the wall.

"Whoa! Whoa! It's fine!" Kickaha rushed out the door to grab the boy and pull him away from the wall. "It's fine. It's fine. Relax! You did it, you're getting the treat." After pulling the boy from the wall he used his free paw to grab a couple of chocolates from his bowl and drop it into the kid's bag. "See? Everything is fine."

"But I didn't do it right!" The boy is fine.

"It's fine, you're doing great!" Kickaha said trying hard to smile. He wondered what was wrong that made the kid act like such a mess. He tried to think of a compliment just to lift his spirits as he eyed him up and down. "Just look at you! Out here trick or treating! And that costume! It has... So much... Personality! Yes! Personality! Did you make it yourself?"

"No..." The kid muttered.

"Really?" Kickaha tilted his head. "I mean! Oh! Then was it store bought?" Part of him wondered if there were stores that were now selling ironically bad costumes as part of some new Halloween scheme. If there was... He'd have to pay them a visit and teach them the error of their ways! If there wasn't... He'd have to look into possibly opening up such a shop! That was a possible gold mine there. People loved disingenuity these days!

"No wasn't store bought..." The kid replied. "My younger sister made it. Then asked if I would wear and looked ready to cry when I tried to say no."

"Ah." Kickaha muttered. "Well... She may be a budding young artist. Maybe this will just be the gateway to many marvels."

"So you think it's terrible too." The kid looked down.

"You can't prove I thought that!" Kickaha said.

"Well it is... But at least I didn't make my sister cry." The kid muttered and turned to leave. It was at that point Kickaha made a decision.

"Look you did a good thing for her!" Kickaha smiled. "And I think it could be great, just need a small adjustment." As he spoke he could feel the magic crackling in his paws. He reached his paw out and placed it atop the kids head. Then suddenly... There was a crackle of electricity and Kickaha was sent flying backwards, back through the door where he landed in his own chair.

Meanwhile... The kid had started to change. His collapsed forward onto all fours as a large pair of wings burst out from beneath his costume. Large claws began to form on the tips of his fingers, as well as on his toes tearing through his socks. Then bright green fur began to grow in over his body.

"Wait fur?" Kickaha slowly stood up from where he had landed. "That's not right..." Then he paused as he felt a strange sensation coarse through his own body. Suddenly his cloak was shoved aside as wings spread upward from his own back and his own claws became much sharper. "Well this is mildly unexpected."

Both the human boy and the foxyote continued to change at the same rate after that. The boy's were more dramatic as his feet transformed into paws destroying his sandals and what was left of his socks. Kickaha's paws meanwhile swelled in size. Both of them soon had horns protruding from the top of their heads and extremely pointy teeth.

While the kid's fur was green. Kickaha's maintained its rusty coloration. However it was soon more ragged and Kickaha found himself swelling in size. His tail became larger and but there was an unkempt air to it. The kid's grew in his own tail, though a bit shorter due to the difference in age. At the same time his face pushed out into a muzzle.

When it was over... Both of them stood slightly taller than an average human of the same age. It had been quite the change for Kickaha. He had nearly doubled in size. The wings and horns they both had screamed dragon but they were both covered in ragged fur instead of scales.

"What did you do!?" The boy shouted. "You messed up my werewolf curse!"

"So that's what happened!" Kickaha's eyes lit up. "It must have mixed with my dragon spell. That's rather fascinating. And gives me some fun ideas to experiment with later. But more to the point. You were trying to put a werewolf curse on me? That was a bit presumptuous of you wasn't it!"

"You're one to talk!" The boy stuck out his tongue. "Look at what you did to me!"

"Yes about that." Kickaha was examining his own body. It wasn't quite how he had pictured himself spending the evening... But it certainly fit the theme. Not too bad. "What are you exactly... Cause I'm guessing not a human."

"I am a member of Autumn Court!" The boy huffed. "Though I don't know if I still am now. This sudden species change complicates things a bit."

"Oh you're a faerie!" Kickaha grinned wickedly. "You don't see them from your court very often. And yet you still managed to 'fall' for my trick like any other."

"I can't believe it!" The werewolf puppy dragon flailed his arms. "You ruined everything! I had a moral and everything! About making assumptions and trying to help fix things without knowing the situation! All about how unwanted kindness makes us the real monsters!"

"Seems a bit of a stretch if you ask me." Kickaha shrugged. "I was going for a very basic reward for a good deed. I figured a dragon in a ghost costume would be a delightful spook to anyone he met on the street! Would be the talk of the town after the spell wore off!"

"But a dragon wasn't even related to the costume I was wearing!" The boy objected. "Where's the irony of the transformation?"

"What irony?" Kickaha replied. "I was just trying to do something nice! And also hilarious."

"Ugh. Well this is the absolute worst." The dragon pup turned to leave. "And now my entire night is messed up. What am I supposed to say now? What kind of moral or warning does this encounter serve?"

"Hmmmmm." Kickaha lightly flapped his wings as he rubbed his chin. He gave it a few thoughts then lit up. "Aha! I got one! One good trick deserves another!"

"That sounds like something a fortune cooking would say." The boy muttered.

"So it's good then?" Kickaha grinned.

"I'm going home. I'm going home and going to pretend this never happened." With that the dragon pup growled, turned and walked away from the house.

"Well I suppose that won't be too hard. The spell should wear off eventually." Kickaha paused and considered this. "Then again... Mixing my spells with a fae curse is something of a new monster. Oh, this will be fun seeing what actually happens. But I guess he doesn't want to stick around to show me what happens." Kickaha watched the child leave until he disappeared into the distance. He then shut the door and went back to his seat.

That had been a fun little diversion! But the night was still young! There were still more trick or treaters to come! There was still much fun to be had.

The End