Neal pushed open the flimsy door and entered the small shop labeled Curious Creations.

“Hello sir, how may I help you?” An old lady behind the counter said kindly.

“Just browsing,” Neal responded examining the shelves containing all sorts of curious objects.

The items seemed to be displayed with little organization, a small necklace with a red gem sitting right next to a stuffed rabbit, which was also sharing a shelf with an over-sized hammer. Looking around Neal noticed more extravagant objects, such as a sparkling fox mask, and a rusty sword with a jagged blade.

This place checked all the boxes. Ambiguous name, random merchandise, unthreatening shop keeper, wasn’t here yesterday, the works. It was definitely an unregistered magic shop. The only reason he couldn’t just talk to the shopkeeper was because of regulations, he had to be absolutely sure these Items were magical, and this wasn’t just some munnie’s thrift shop.

After walking about the store some more Neal decided on the fox mask. Such an object would have a predictable effect. It would most likely give him some sort of fox-like power, or turn him into a fox. This was a particularly attractive quality because if it did transform the wearer it was nice to know what you were going to turn into beforehand.

“This is a splendid choice,” the old lady said as she rung up his purchase, “Have a nice day now.”

Neal nodded to the old woman as he exited the shop, walking across the street to his comrade who was still in the van. The van itself was not what it looked like. On the inside it had an almost empty rear compartment, used for testing low powered magic items. It wasn’t fancy. The small space only had smooth reinforced walls and a cheap metal chair for when the effect took longer to kick in. Once he was safely inside their mobile headquarters Neal showed the mask to Cody.

“All went well I assume?” Cody said, turning the mask around in his hands.

“Yup, in, out, no problems,” Neal responded.

“Well as far as I can tell it’s not going to explode or spew a tone of acid everywhere,” Cody said as he examined the mask, noting that no runes were present, which was a good sign all things considered.

“Great, I like it when I survive these tests,” Neal said, taking the mask back and climbing into the back of the van.

“Ready?” Cody asked.

“Ready,” Neal responded

Neal watched as the door separating the two compartments slid closed, and a hum filled the back of the van as the precautionary runes activated. Neal knew that Cody was watching and had an abort button, but he was nervous nonetheless. This was both the most fun and the most terrifying part of his job.

Neal took a deep breath as he slid the mask over his face, aligning the eyeholes with his eyes. Immediately he felt the first sign that it was a magic item. The mask fused to his face. Neal took a deep breath as he felt the familiar sensation of his body beginning to change. His skin prickled as short hairs sprouted all over his body, coating him in short black, white, and orange fur. Neal’s face pushed out, filling the mask. His teeth grew sharp points and his nose grew black and moist. His ears elongated and migrated to the top of his head. His fingers shrunk, pads growing on his palms, a similar change happening to his feet. A large tail burst out of his rear. Neal felt his heels pull up as he fell onto all fours, his hips having shifted to a more quadrupedal form. Finally Neal shrunk down to a more appropriate size for his new species.

“You alright?” Cody asked over the speaker system.

Neal opened his mouth but only yips came out so instead he just nodded his head.

“Great, you in full control of your body?” Cody asked again.

Neal nodded again and sat down, facing the front of the van.

“Can you change back?”

Neal lifted a paw to his face and tried to remove the mask. As soon as his paw brushed his muzzle it popped off, and Neal swiftly returned to human form, abet naked. He swiftly put his cloths back on as Cody deactivated the safeguards.

“That went well,” Cody commented as Neal reentered the front section.

“Yup, no mental changes, no gender changes, no additional tails. Just a bit of itching during the change,”

“Great, let’s go talk to the manager,” Cody said getting out a small stack of paperwork.