It's not every day you find out there's a witch in the neighborhood. Unfortunately, Cj has to find out the hard way via a "harmless Halloween prank" that lands him in the witch's pool... with unexpected side effects.

This is the second of two endings. Higher effort than ending #1, but I wrote this ending first and decided to add the other ending later. Dunno why I felt the pooltoy mood around Halloween, but I'm rolling with it!

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“C’mon man,we shouldn’t be here, you know this.”

CJ bundled his coat tighter against the chilly October air, following his friend as they dodged the last couple of trees. He’d never understand why Tee dragged him on all these wild adventures; he clearly never wanted to go on any of them, and they always ended up in some kind of trouble afterwards anyways.

“Aw, no chickening out now! We’re almost there!”

CJ sighed, exasperated. “Yeah, and we’re gonna get caught. Again. You remember that time you tried to go dumpster diving for a catalytic converter behind Joe’s? Or the time you thought you’d memorized the combination to the lock on the water tower? Or, or, what about the time that you went rooting around in the Quarry and got yourself turned into a damn fox? I don’t think your parents ever recovered from that one-” “Ok, ok, I get it! I messed up in the past, I get it! But this time’s different, I promise!”

He paused, raising an eyebrow at his friend. He wasn’t kidding about the fox thing, Tee very much still had the fur, the tail and the ears to prove it, albeit tucked away into his hoodie, jeans and the usual backwards baseball cap. He’d been lucky and only got halfway; sometimes CJ wished Tee’d been transformed into full feral. Would’ve made his life so much easier.

Tee smiled back, trying his damndest to look as innocent as possible, which somehow worked when you had a snout.

“I swear, if we get the cops called on us again…”

And without another word, the two darted from the forest towards the fence they’d been watching for the past five minutes.

CJ was really starting to get a bad feeling about this.

It’d just been… too easy. No spikes over the fence, and they’d checked the gate after and found it unlocked. There weren’t even any spotlights or motion detectors that they could see; just the usual brick-and-metal fence that all the houses in this area had, with orange and purple string lights across the sparse black bars of the fence to mark Halloween being less than a week away. As CJ recovered his breath from the sudden sprint and jump, he took a moment to see the house they were supposedly not breaking into: normal, plain brick, and the back patio made from normal concrete with a few patio chairs, tables and standing umbrellas (all of them also Halloween themed) all gathered around the massive swimming pool recessed into the ground. Tee’d already gone up to the edge of the pool by the time CJ’d caught his breath.

“And remind me- why- we’re doing this- again?”

Tee stopped, just short of dipping a paw into the smooth water.

“Because this is the best damn pool on the block! Apparently Miss Secrecy never goes outside, but she’s got the best pool out of everyone in town- heated and everything!”

“And- why can’t we just ask her to use it? Would it kill you to actually do things the polite way for once?”

Tee waved off his question. “Like I said, Miss Secrecy. I don’t think she’d even look at, let alone talk to people like us.”

CJ stared into the crystal clear water, seriously doubting every life choice that led up to this moment. “Right… because breaking into Ms. Cassidy’s patio and using her pool as a Halloween prank is definitely the way to go about it. Yeah, this is gonna get us in the County jail again, dude.”

“You know her name?”

“You don’t?”

Tee rolled his eyes, taking his jacket and hat off and tossing them into the nearest chair. CJ took a step back, not wanting anything to do with this.

“C’mon, dude, we really shouldn’t be here.”

Tee completely ignored him, instead proceeding to strip what clothes he still had on save for his undies. Even though his friend was covered head to toe in pure white fur, he still averted his eyes, trying not to blush as he did so.

“Dude- I’m probably just gonna leave or something-” “Aw, you scared?”CJ huffed, growing more and more impatient the closer his friend got to the pool’s edge. “Yeah, actually, I am! I get dragged along on every single one of your damn “adventures” and I’m getting sick and tired of it! Aaaaand you’re not even listening-”

He was cut off by a sudden splash! and an assault of droplets. Scrunching up had basically no effect, as his entire right side was nearly drenched from being so close to Tee’s cannonball. Grumbling, he wiped his face as Tee floated back up to the surface.

“...You did that on purpose, asshole.”

Tee stuck his tongue out playfully, floating a little closer. CJ grumbled some more, grabbing Tee’s towel and taking his own jacket off, seeing as it was completely soaked through on the right side. The towel hardly did anything; he was still just as drenched as before, and now with the added bonus of the pool water running down his leg and collecting in his shoe.

Tee floated in place, watching CJ start taking his soaked clothing off for a while before speaking up.

“Getting in? The water’s nice and warm.”

CJ scowled, getting one shoe off. “No, I’m just getting my wet clothes off, Tee.”

“Aw… baby’s worried about some wet clothes. Would be a shame if I were to just… pull you in!”

CJ had barely gotten his other shoe off by the time Tee grabbed his shirt, pulling him off balance right towards the water. He didn’t have any time to react before he, too, hit the water with a resounding splash!

After a moment of disorientation, he managed to right himself, kicking back up towards the surface right next to his friend. Tee’d been right, the water was indeed warm, but CJ highly doubted that justified the trouble they were undoubtedly going to be in once the homeowner realized they were out here… if she hadn’t already. CJ kicked his way towards the ladder, practically gliding across the water.

“Done already?”

“Tee, I swear to god…”

CJ grabbed the ladder, only managing to hoist himself about halfway out of the water before his hand simply… lost all traction against the metal. He crashed face first into the ladder, hard, before splashing back down into the water below. When he resurfaced, Tee was right there, a concerned look plastered across his vulpine face.

“Damn, you good, man? That looked like it hurt…”

CJ scoffed. “Yeah, like you’ve ever cared about that. I’m- fine? I… think?”

Was it just him, or was his hand… unnaturally shiny? Like, abnormally so, even with all the water?

“H-hey dude? What’s-”

CJ glanced up, only to see Tee floating on his back, just as absorbed in his tail. It took him a moment to realize he wasn’t floating like that voluntarily.

“Uh- I think we might have a problem!”

CJ looked back at his hand, the panic now starting to set in. His hand had already inflated several times its previous size, fingers fat and unwieldy and refusing to stay below the water for any period of time. Already, a printed design was showing through his skin; pink paw pads, white around the palm and wrist and a light grey with black leopard print marching its way up his now-inflating arm. He could feel his entire body start to float against his will, the internal pressure starting to inflate other parts of his body and stretch out his shirt and pants. One poke was all it took to confirm that it was, indeed, PVC, just as he’d suspected.

“Bet you didn’t plan for this part, huh!?”

Tee looked too terrified to speak. Already, his tail was inflated, and his stomach starting in on the action too. CJ turned his attention back to himself- he could feel the air rushing into his chest and arms, straining the fabric of his shirt to their very limits. He tried to move them, to wiggle his fingers, to move his wrist, but his hand wasn’t a hand anymore. It had already fused and swelled into a bloated, unusable mitt, fingers nothing more than printed on lines. He found he couldn’t even move his arm; the plastic had already inflated enough to lock his elbow in position, only allowing him to bat at the water beside him.

R-r-rip!

Uh-oh.

CJ tried to look down at his chest, but his inflated neck made it extremely difficult. The ripping sounds only got louder and louder as he felt the pressure in his chest only get stronger, flowing down into his stomach and legs. He knew what was happening. His shirt continued to rip at the seams, letting his inflating leopard print body to show through and continue growing, to continue swelling. His stomach peeked up higher and higher, a small plastic valve plastered onto his belly button and greedily sucking in air. He tried to cover it with one of his paw-hands, but only succeeded in bapping his stomach with a wet doomph! 

He giggled, bapping it again with the same result. He didn’t know if it was the terror in what veins he had left, or the air rushing through his swelling head, but hearing the sound of plastic against plastic was suddenly so funny to him. He did it again, and a fourth time.

Suddenly, he was thrown off-balance on the surface of the water. He couldn’t even turn his head around anymore to look at why, but judging from what little feeling he had left he guessed he was growing a tail, too. Made sense, seeing as he was apparently inflating into a giant pooltoy snow leopard… and as he pitched further and further to his right, he felt his back and thighs fill with air, his shirt finally ripping off him completely and his pants getting pushed to their absolute limits too. His feet swelled and congealed just like his hands had, the same printed-on pawprints showing through the balls of his feet as his ankles contorted, swelling outwards into plastic and PVC. He could even feel the plastic on parts of his back and thighs hardening, forming handles, only serving to further throw him off balance.

In a rush of color and motion, CJ finally flipped over. His tail was absolutely massive, nearly as long as his body and certainly almost as large. There was absolutely no definition to his form, his chest and stomach were one curve, as was his back. His legs would be hard-pressed to stand upright, as giant inflatable quadruped legs were certainly not made for walking. His pants were short-lived, the sheer size and pressure of his growing thighs and calves enough to split the denim at the seams almost at once, the large plastic handles on his thighs only helping to shred through the fabric faster.

His head was the last thing to finish inflating. He could feel his face pulling out, locking his mouth into a permanent grin even as he tried to call out, to laugh. His ears morphed and hardened, travelling to the top of his head, and he found he couldn’t move his eyes anymore. They were locked looking straight ahead, and as the PVC locked the last of his facial features behind leopard print and plastic seams, he found he didn’t really care about that anymore.

CJ could see Tee out of what little peripheral vision he had. Apparently his friend had finished inflating too, into a giant white fox pooltoy just as big as CJ’s inflatable snep. Tee looked perfectly content, with a printed on smile and eyes half closed, mirroring how CJ felt inside. Some part of his mind screamed that he should’ve been scared, should be fighting this; but CJ found that it was so much easier to simply give in to the airheadedness, giggling internally as he and Tee bobbed around on top of the water, bumping into each other and the sides of the pool.

“Speak.”

CJ shook his head. What… what happened? He tried to rub his face, but was only met with the squeaks of plastic and a strange pressure in his limbs. He stared at the giant white paw in front of his face, barely registering that it was his.

“Alright. I’ll give you one minute to explain what you’re doing here before I make you inanimate again. And it’d better be good.”

“I- whah-”

The woman in front of him sighed, then bent down to his level. It wasn’t until she grabbed his face, prompting a small squeak of surprise, that he realized she’d gotten him out of the pool and he was sitting, digitigrade legs splayed, on the concrete in front of her.

“You got in my pool. I have a spell protecting my pool from idiots like you. You’re a pooltoy now because of your own stupidity (congratulations by the way) and I want to know why you went in a random stranger’s pool in the first place.”

CJ blinked, then paused, realizing he could blink. After a few moments, he then realized he could move his limbs, too, including his arms and legs, his tail, and even his mouth. All the while, the woman simply stared at him, his head still in her hands, purely unimpressed.

“Now that you’ve gotten the hang of your new plastic body, I’ll ask you one last time: Why were you and your friend in my pool?”

CJ glanced over at Tee, who was still floating around in the pool without a care in the world, surrounded by the scraps of what clothing the two of them had been wearing when they’d gotten in. It took him a moment to realize that he’d been the only one she’d bothered to fish out of the pool.

“I- I- Oh god, I’m so sorry, miss Cassidy- I told him this was a stupid idea-”

The woman paused, then took her hands down from CJ’s head. After a moment, she responded, her tone much lighter than it had been before.

“Well, props to you for knowing my name, you must be the only person in the neighborhood who actually cares. And yeah, you’re right, it is incredibly stupid. But I’m assuming that it was his idea?”

She gestured to Tee, and CJ nodded. He was still getting used to the squeaks and squrks every time he moved, but for the most part he could move the exact same as he had before. Cassidy stood up, kicking the end of her black dress aside as she did so. She made some kind of pulling potion at Tee, and he drifted over towards them. Cassidy picked him up and placed him next to CJ before placing her hand on Tee’s head and simply saying one word: “Speak.”

Tee squirmed, seemingly animate again. It took him a moment to get his bearings, much like CJ, and once he noticed him he simply stared. Large printed hazel eyes scanned his entire inflatable form, taking in every leopard spot.

“Alright, your turn. Apparently this entire thing was your idea, no?”

Tee glanced up at Cassidy, then motioned to himself with a small sqrk. She nodded. He glanced back at CJ, then back at Cassidy, who crossed her arms, staring him down.

“Eh- eheh, you see- It, uh- It kinda-”

He faltered under her steely gaze.

“...Yes, it was my idea.”

Cassidy smacked her lips.

“Well! Now we’re getting somewhere. And why did you break into my pool at-”

She checked her watch.“Two in the morning?”

Tee didn’t respond. Cassidy turned to CJ.“What about you? You have an answer?”

CJ would’ve gulped, if he still could. “He- he said something about this being ‘the best pool on the block’ and something about a Halloween prank? I told him it was a stupid idea and that we shouldn’t be here, but he dragged me along anyway!”

CJ glared at Tee for the last sentence, and Tee sheepishly chuckled under two steely gazes.

“Well well, so you’re Tyler Mattinberrow then, aren’t you? Famous little criminal around town. Which means you must be his friend. CJ, right?”

CJ nodded.

“Just what I needed to hear.”

Cassidy tapped Tee on the head, and suddenly Tee was back to being a rigid pooltoy, in the same lying-down pose as he’d been before. CJ covered his mouth in horror as Cassidy turned her attention back to him.

“Oh, no need to worry, I simply reverted the animacy spell. Your- friend’s still perfectly alive and well, he’s just back to being an absolute airhead. Seems- fitting for a trickster like him, don'tcha think?”

CJ nodded slightly, still looking at the completely rigid form of his friend in horror. He squeaked, not really sure what to say.

Cassidy laughed. “I know what you’re thinking, and no, I’m not taking your animacy away. Sounds like you got dragged here against your will. I don’t usually punish for that, and the fact you actually cared enough to know my name says a lot. I unfortunately can’t revert the spell, though; it’s specifically set to last for a couple weeks after it’s sprung. Just promise me you’ll stay away from anything sharp, mk?”

CJ nodded again, this time a lot slower. Cassidy held out a hand, and after a moment CJ let her help him to his (inflatable) feet. She motioned for him to follow, and he did, albeit rather awkwardly.

“Alright, just tell me where you live, and I’ll send what clothes you have left to you. You’re in charge of your friend here until the change wears off in a couple of weeks… unless you guys change your mind and want this to be permanent, I can do that too. ”

She stopped. “Oh, and one more thing.”

She laid a finger on CJ’s snout, pushing the plastic in slightly. CJ somehow felt a rush of heat to his cheeks, almost as if he was blushing.

“You should definitely get a change in friends.”