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Follow the Rules 2: Transformation Boogaloo

By CalexTheNeko

"Once again, I find myself sharing the company of a familiar kitten while stuck hiding from the rain under the park pavilion." Kickaha sat at the picnic table bench beneath the pavilion. He was dressed in his usual green cloak and was his usual half fox half coyote species.

"Indeed what are the odds?" Calex asked. The orange kitten was sitting atop the table due to his smaller stature. He was just under half the foxyote's size. As usual, he wasn't wearing anything, not even a sensible cloak. "Once again we are stuck beneath the same exact pavilion as last time. What a strange and completely unplanned coincidence." The kitten spoke in a loud awkward voice.

"Indeed, and this vicious storm that has blown in looks like it could last for hours." Kickaha's voice grew louder as he spoke. Many of the other visitors to the park were stopping to stare at him. Unlike the foxyote and kitten they were not huddled into the pavilion. This might have been due to the fact that it was a bright sunny day without a single cloud in the sky. Or it might have been the fact both of them were shouting very loudly.

"Well now what are we going to do?" Calex asked. "Everyone knows you can't have fun when it's raining. That's against the law."

"Now, now my good chap!" Kickaha held up a paw. "Don't forget, board games are exempt from that rule. It's a rather strange legal loophole, one that has its origins in a certain game about unregulated capitalism. And, well, the government would never ban something like that. So by extension all board games are now legal. And I just happen to have been carrying around Airport Security with me again!"

"We can't play that though." The kitten whined. "For there are forces far mightier than government regulations. Company mandated policies."

"GASP!" Kickaha purposely shouted the word.

"Yes, I'm afraid it seems that it seems the rights to Airport Security were purchased by a new company. They've released a new edition with half the features and twice the price. However they added in some a very specific new rule. It's against the rules to play an old edition of the game, and anyone who does is immediately disqualified and loses."

"What an absolutely diabolical and yet absolutely genius ploy." Kickaha was as disgusted as he was impressed. "Then I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. We'll have to play... The other game."

"NO NOT THAT!" Calex shrieked. "No one's ever managed to successfully complete that game! Trying to understand the meta alone has driven people to madness. People who try to finish the entire game are never seen again! You can't possibly mean you think we should play-"

"That's right!" Kickaha grinned. "For today I have brought with me... FUR CON THE BOARD GAME!" As he spoke there was a dramatic flash of lightning and a crack of thunder. This alarmed many of the onlookers who couldn't figure out where that had come from in the perfectly clear sky.

"FUR CON THE BOARD GAME!?" Calex screamed. "That's the most dangerous-" The kitten paused. "Wait no it isn't. I thought you were talking about the OTHER other board game."

"Oh, good heavens, no." Kickaha shook his head. "Even I have standards, you know."

"Okay but yeah sure I'm up for a game of Fur Con the Board Game. Standard Circean Rules?"

"Those are always fun, but I always pegged you more a fan of the Lilliputian Rules." Kickaha grinned.

"Oh those are great!" Calex grinned. "But if you're wanting to mix in various regional variants then I'm going to also demand we add Herodotus Rules into the mix!"

"You would want those, huh?" The foxyote shrugged. "But don't you worry adding all those regional rules into one sitting will make the game needlessly complicated and chaotic?"

The kitten just fixed the foxyote with a stare.

"You're right. That was a dumb question." Kickaha grinned. "Very well... As per tradition! The player with the longest tail goes first!" Kickaha adjusted himself to let his tail hang loosely off the side of the bench. Calex jumped down from the table to perch next to him. The kitten was at a distinct disadvantage. Being less than half of Kickaha's size to start with already rigged the game against him. But add in the fact he was a kitten so his tail was not fully grown and it was no contest. The foxyote's tail was almost twice that of the kitten's in length.

"These rules are clearly biased against kittens." Calex crossed his arms and sat down on the bench in a huff.

"Perhaps so!" Kickaha grinned. "At least one group of concerned parents tried to have this game banned saying it wasn't fair or appropriate for children!"

"They did!?" Calex's ears perked up and he leaped back into the table in glee. "Oh man! Being boycotted by concerned parents is practically the highest form of praise a game like this could hope for! Now I can't wait to play!"

"Very well!" Kickaha nodded. "Now then let's review the rules. The goal of Fur Con the Board Game is to get to the Main Ballroom before anyone else so you can be first in line to meet the guest of honor."

"Right, right I remember." Calex nodded. "But you can't just move straight there. There's way too many panels between the entrance and the Main Ballroom. And of course, you can't just move through a panel's space unless you meet the conditions to join it."

"And don't forget some panel spaces will trap you in them regardless of if you want to go or not." Kickaha flashed a predatory smile. "So you would want to avoid those spaces."

"Unless someone forced you into them." Calex flattened his ears. "Geese I wonder who is very transparently planning something like that right out the gate. You're first right? So get this going already."

"Fine, fine!" Kickaha stared down at the table. "Let's see... As always everyone has to start out in Registration. I want to move on as fast as possible... But I'm actually going to end my turn without moving at all."

"Wait, so you're just going to let me go first then?" Calex tilted his head unsure.

"Not exactly. Since you haven't actually gone yet, you're not technically in registration. Which means you can't interfere with anything going on. This means I can swap registration with any other player, in this case only you, resulting in us swapping species!" As Kickaha finished explaining he began to change. His ears became more triangular, while his tail became longer and thinner. The claws on the tips of his paws retracted and hid themselves within sheaths. He shrunk in stature about a foot, dropping down to a mere two feet tall as his muzzle shortened leaving him a fox colored cat.

Calex got a bit taller as his changes started. He grew by about four inches placing him at a foot and a half tall. His ears became a bit longer and thinner, while his tail grew a lot fluffier. His muzzle pushed out longer and thinner as his claws lost their sheaths. After a few seconds he was now an orange colored coyote fox hybrid pup.

"Wait what was that about!?" Calex demanded.

"Merely pragmatism." Kickaha responded. "As a noble foxyote I'm afraid I would be in a constant state of demand. With the Fox Meet and Greet, the Coyote Meet and Greet and the Canine Meet and Greet... Well that's three spaces I have to avoid while moving across the board. Now all I have to worry about is the Feline Meet Up. It gives me much more room to move around the board without getting stuck."

"And leaves me to be stuck in a space with a bunch of drooling mutts." Calex folded his ears down. "Ugggh."

"Hey! We don't drool!" Kickaha paused. "Well not all of us. At least 19% of us are non-droolers according to the latest polling."

"Whatever my turn." Calex climbed back up onto the table. It was somewhat more difficult now that he wasn't a species that laughed in the face of physics. "Ok... So I can't switch my registration back cause you're in this space... I guess I'll move to... The Hotel Restaurant!"

"Why?" Kickaha tilted his head. "Everyone knows you get cheaper food if you go outside the hotel to eat. There's no reason."

"Well yes but there's not exactly any spaces on the board outside the hotel. The hotel is the board." Calex pointed down at the table.

"That's still not an excuse to waste your money." Kickaha crossed his arms and stared at the kitten.

"It's my imaginary money and I'll do what I want with it!" Calex stuck his tongue out. "And I'm buying two hot dogs!"

"I would think at your size one is enough." Kickaha shrugged. "But I guess if you really want to waste your money."

"It's not real money, just game money." Calex was getting exasperated with the cat's insistence.

"That hardly matters!" Kickaha sighed. "But I guess for now on my turn I might as well enjoy being a cat while I can! I'm heading to the Fursuit Games! Usually you have to spend a turn doing nothing once you're there... But due to my newfound feline acrobatic skill I can complete the course in one turn and use this as a shortcut to skip half the board! Not a bad trade off for giving up my first turn right?"

"Hmmmm." Calex stared down at the table. "I can't copy that myself... And if I try to go around the Fursuit Games I'm going to run into a panel. Luckily, I'm already forming a plan. I figured if I was going to have to waste a turn stuck on a space, I might as well have company."

"What do you mean?" Kickaha narrowed his eyes.

"There's more than just the canine panels that I'm required to visit if I go past their spaces!" Calex grinned ear from ear. "There's also... THE KID FUR PANEL!"

"NO! NOT THE KID FUR!" Kickaha panicked. "ANYTHING BUT THE wait a second. Why should I be concerned about this? It'll take you way longer to get to the Main Ballroom from there, and you're forced to give up a turn and stay in that space. It's 100% a disadvantage for any player to go there."

"You're not wrong." Calex stood up on his hind legs and pointed at Kickaha. "Which is why I'm summoning you to this square!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Kickaha nearly fell out of his chair. "But that's simply not possible! I'm already at the Fursuit Games!"

"Hmph! Anything is possible at a Fur Con!"

"Many things are not possible at a Fur Con!"

"But let me ask you this..." Calex turned away from Kickaha and crossed his arms. "What did you bring for lunch?"

"Nothing. Who wants the hassle of bringing a mouse through registration? I assumed I would just catch something. And as a cat it's bound to be even easier so I didn't need to have-" His eyes widened, then rolled upwards. "Oh no."

"That's right!" Calex grinned triumphantly. "If another player invites you to lunch and you have no food items in your inventory you must accept the invitation regardless of their current space! And if you don't meet the conditions to travel to their space..."

"You change to meet them now." Kickaha let his arms sag as he began to deflate in age. His paws got bigger in comparison to his body while his tail got shorter. After a few seconds he couldn't see over the edge of the table and had to climb up on top of it with Calex. He was close to around 14 inches tall now, being a small kitten just as Calex had started as.

"And since you've already entered the Fursuit Games once, you can't do it a second time." Calex stood up and patted the shorter kitten on the head. "So I guess that means you're just going to have to try and find some new route through the center."

"But I have to waste my next turn just staying here on this panel space and doing nothing because I'm a kid now." Kickaha signed. "Talk about getting the short end of the stick. Still it's not too bad. You're going to have to waste your turn here too. Which means I'm still moving first and have less panels I have to avoid!" Kickaha had no choice but to skip his turn.

"Hmph we'll see. It's still too early in the game to call anything." Calex puffed out his chest. Calex also had to skip his turn, but was feeling pretty confident.

"Though I will admit the hot dogs were better than I expected." Kickaha mused as it became his turn again. "Or maybe it's just being a kid again I don't have the best tastes. Either way... Onward! But to where? My original brilliant plan is ruined." Kickaha considered his options. "Hmmm the Fursuit Games may be out... But there's always the dance competition."

"But Kickaha! Cats don't dance!" Calex insisted.

"Maybe not... But Weasels sure do!" Kickaha grinned as his body started to grow thinner.

"Whaaaat!? You can't just change species for no reason! That's against the rules!" Calex glared accusingly at the shifting cat.

"But there IS a reason!" Kickaha grinned. "I accepted free food from a source who is clearly an unsavory enough individual to spike any food they offered a friend with a Transformation Potion!"

"I would never-" Calex paused. "Actually, yeah that checks out."

"So even though you didn't plan to do it, the rules on this are clear." Kickaha smiled as his feline features faded entirely into his longer leaner body. "If there is probable cause to suspect you've been drugged with a Transformation Potion you can change your species as a free action! Now if you excuse me, I have a dance to attend and a game to win!"

"And there aren't any Weasel Meet Ups that will stop you. Ugh!" Calex groaned. "I'm not letting you take the lead that easily."

"Oh, what are you going to do?" Kickaha asked. "Trapped in this corner in the hotel, you're surrounded by Meet and Greets that are bound to eat up your turns before you can go anywhere."

"Then I'll just have to make them work in my favor." Calex grinned. "You think you're the only one who can change species! Don't forget... The Transformation Panel is also on this side of the hotel!"

"So what, are you going to go back to being a cat then?" Kickaha asked. "It'll make it easier to move, but you still have to burn your turn up."

"You're right. That's why I've got to be something that can easily make up the lost time. Something that can travel between spaces quickly without getting stuck. And since I'm at the Transformation Panel I can pick any species! So I choose... A fruit bat!"

"A fruit bat?"

"A fruit bat!" The foxyote kit began to shrink dramatically in size. His ears grew much larger on his head proportionally while his muzzle grew even thinner. A thin membrane formed going down his arms and his torso giving shape to wings. His tail shrunk down to a tiny little nub. After a few seconds the changes were complete, and he was a very tiny bat just under two inches tall standing up.

"You would pick the smallest breed possible, wouldn't you?" Kickaha asked.

"Hey I have a plan!" Calex insisted.

"Right, right." Kickaha shrugged. "Well my turn. Then. Normally you have to move to a Room Party right after a dance. But the Weasel War Dance is enough to get me uninvited to any party and continue onward! I'm moving into the East Wing lobby! I'm just a couple turns away from victory! To get this far this fast, I mustelid a charmed life!"

"Squeak!" Calex stuck his tongue out at the offending pun. "Always with the puns! Ugh. You screwed up a lot of my plans... But I think I'm about to turn things around! Because now I've got one huge advantage here. Bats can fly!"

"So you can skip several spaces." Kickaha crossed his arms and looked unimpressed. "Why is that important? You know the rules. A flying creature can take off and fly over spaces sure. But you can't come back down to land unless it's in a panel that currently qualify to attend. What are you going to do, move back to the Kid Fur Panel? Or just waste another turn in the Transformation Panel to try and get a better form. I'd consider dragon. They're sure to have a panel you can land in."

"Heh, you're thinking too much about species based things." Calex flapped his wings and floated into the air above the table. "But you see... Size is also relevant! And the Micro Meetup is the East Wing as well!"

"Ugh, I forgot about that one." Kickaha groaned. "There's way too many intelligent rodents in there... they get all nervous, and part of me gets hungry but most of me just looks at their smart little eyes and gets all unsettled and mopey."

"But I'm barely even an inch tall now." Calex grinned. "So I'll fit right in! Now it's finally my turn to skip most of the board!"

"Fine. But you can't fly to the actual Main Ballroom!" Kickaha was so frustrated that he bit his own tail.

"I'm still a lot closer to that space than you are now." Calex landed on the table and grinned up at the weasel.

"Ugh fine." Kickaha groaned. "You leave me no choice. I'm gonna have to use the Buddy System."

"Ugh not the Buddy System!" Calex whined. "That thing was never balanced for one on one games."

"Not really my problem right now." Kickaha patted the tiny bat on the head. "But per the Buddy System, any player that is underage may travel to the same space as another underage player. That way the two can keep each other out of trouble."

"Because us working together will totally not get into trouble." Calex rolled his eyes.

"Look it doesn't matter if the end results are the opposite of the intention. All that matters is the letter of the rules! So looks like I'm coming to the Micro Meet Up!"

"Course you do realize that means you're going to wind up tiny like me." Calex stuck his tongue out.

"An acceptable setback." Kickaha replied. "Besides, hanging out with you, I'm pretty much used to it." The weasel began to shrink in size as he ended his turn. His cloak which had already been hanging very loosely on him finally freed itself from his shoulders and fell over the edge of the table. He found himself thankful he had the insight to have climbed up on the table earlier in the game. After a few seconds he was left standing a mere inch tall in height, just slightly smaller than the fruit bat.

"Well that makes it back to my turn." Calex looked at the table. He was so small he had to pace back and forth across it to get an idea of what he wanted to do. "But I think it's time I start moving towards the end."

"Great. I'm coming along." Kickaha smiled.

"What but it's not your turn!" Calex insisted.

"That's correct, but I used my turn to activate the Buddy System. So where you go, I go!" Kickaha grinned. "Of course you could try to burn your turn to end the Buddy System. But that means you'd be unable to move this turn."

"But wherever I move you're going to go with me." Calex wrapped his wings around himself and glared at Kickaha.

"And now you see how it all comes together." Kickaha smiled. "Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat! That's the foxyote gone kitten gone weasel way!"

"Then the only option left for me is mutually assured destruction." Calex mused.

"Ohhh that sounds fun!" Kickaha wagged his tail.

"At this point we're both really close to the end. While the system is in place, whoever's turn it is when we reach the Main Event will win. It's going to take at least two turns to do that. Meaning that if either one of us moves or ends the Buddy System the other player will win."

"Yes, that was the basis for this strategy." Kickaha stuck his tongue out.

"Therefore the only way to win is to try not to win." Calex flashed a predatory grin.

"So what you're going to move us away from the finish? That will only delay the inevitable.."

"No, I'm going to instead choose not to move at all." Calex continued to grin. "I'll just stay at the Micro Meetup."

"You sure you want to do that?" Kickaha asked. "If you stay on that space two turns in a row you'll get smaller. And each additional turn you stay you're going to get even smaller."

"I know but the same thing will happen to you." Calex responded. "Unless of course you choose to try to break the Buddy System or move us on your turn."

"So... It's a stand off then." Kickaha sat down and crossed his legs.

"Quite." Calex responded. "So how small are you willing to get before you decide to let me win?"

"Oh silly bat." Kickaha grinned. "You should know better than try to play chicken with me! I don't know when to stop!"

"Well neither do I!" Calex puffed out his chest and flapped his wings.

"Then I guess let the shrinking begin." Kickaha responded.

The two tiny children sat on top of the table with their legs crossed as they stared at each other. They both began to dwindle in size quickly as they each refused to give in first. After a few seconds they were each no bigger than ants.

"The world is getting pretty big." Calex said as he leaned backwards onto his wings. "You sure you don't want to give in now? Any second now we might start getting lost in the woodwork."

"Please! Think this scares me?" Kickaha asked. "I've been around you long enough to see sizes way smaller than this!"

"Suit yourself." Calex shrugged.

After that it wasn't long before they were both just two tiny orange dots sitting atop a wooden table. Then after that they were invisible to the naked eye. Both of them continued to shrink smaller and smaller as the world took on a completely new look around them. It was full of strange moving blobs and creatures that looked like they were made out of tiny little hairs. These microscopic creatures were soon dwarfing the two cubs as they continued to shrink. Soon the two were small enough to sit back to back with each other atop a single molecule.

And still they refused to give in.

Microscopic life forms and even molecules grew unfathomably large. The two paid them no mind. Such sights were far less interesting than who was going to blink and give up the game first. The world seemed to expand into an infinite dark area. From there small orbs appeared, looking almost like tiny glowing planets. Atoms.

The atoms rotated around each other, at first avoiding the two cubs. At least until they were even smaller. Then the two wound up taking a seat together on an electron as it circled around an atom. They each let their paws hang off the side of the electron as they refused to give up. It wasn't until the electron was five times their combined size that Claex suddenly looked alert.

"Wait hold on hold on! Pause the game for a moment." They both stopped shrinking. "It just occurred to me, no one can see us now."

"Hmmmm, I suppose that does tend to happen when you're smaller than an atom." Kickaha conceded. "Perhaps we should invest in some kind of microscopic video cameras if we want to continue games like this."

"Yeah but we don't exactly have anything like that right now." Calex muttered. "No one can see now! And there's no point playing if no one can see."

"Well I mean we could still see who wins!" Kickaha suggested. As soon as he suggested he knew neither one of them actually cared about that part. That wasn't the fun part. "Yeah you're right."

"Huh I guess game over then." Calex shrugged and stood up atop the electron. "Well good job I guess! I'll get you next time!"

"Right same to you! If I lost! Which I'm not sure I did." Kickaha held out a paw and the two shook.

"Well guess we should probably head home about this point." Calex stretched his wings. "Do you have any idea which way is out of the park."

"I think..." Kickaha peered out into the darkness that was lit up only by the glow of subatomic particles. "I think it's that way! Past that group of oxygen atoms!"

"Awesome! Here climb up on my back! You barely weigh anything now so I can hold ya!"

"Uh huh!" Kickaha did as he was asked. He climbed onto Calex's back and wrapped his arms and legs around his torso. He was only a head smaller than the bat... But at this size their weight didn't make much of a difference at all.

"Right then!" Calex flapped his wings and took off from the electron with no difficulty. "Thank you for traveling Calex Airways! We're looking at a long flight today! But we'll get you home before you know it!"

"Is there any inflight entertainment?" Kickaha asked.

"You are in the inflight entertainment." Calex stuck his tongue out as he flew.

"Ah I suppose that makes sense!" Kickaha gave up. "Ok give me a minute! I'll come up with a good act while we travel!" And with that the weasel began to work on an act to keep them entertained on their journey home from the park.

The End