Ryan patiently waited his turn to use the dressing room and five minutes later one opened up for him. He grabbed the boots and headed into the dressing room. He closed the door and sat down on the small wood bench as he began to untie his shoes. He chuckled again as he picked up the boots and slipped his foot into the oversized shoe. "I knew it, there was no way this was gonna fit me!" Ryan said as he set his foot down.
He picked up the other shoe and wondered if he should even bother putting it on. He already knew they were too big but what harm could it do trying it on? He looked at the tag again and slipped his small foot into the massive boot. He set his foot down and began to tie the laces as he imagined what his life would have like had he joined right out of high school like his brother instead of going to college to be an engineer and working his ass to the bone, working sleepless nights to make assignment deadlines and writing his thesis and participating in all his different extracurricular activities to better his resume so he could hopefully get a high paying job.
He finished lacing up the boots and stood up to see how they looked in the mirror only to notice they actually looked really good on his feet. Despite being four sizes too big he actually liked how snug is feet were in the boots and how soft the soles were. They cushioned his feet like he was walking on clouds. Ryan walked around the dressing room as he looked at them in the mirror from every conceivable angle. He sat back down on the bench to take them off when he felt an electric shock run through them.
"OW!" Ryan shouted as he grabbed the boots. He reasoned it was probably just a cramp as he went to untie them but found that the laces wouldn't come undone. He then tried grabbing the heel of he boot reasoning that his small foot should easily slip free seeing how small they were. He tugged at the heavy shoe but his foot wouldn't come loose. He tried again and again and with each tug his foot hurt worse and felt like it was growing inside the boot.
He switched legs and tried pulling at the other foot hoping it would come out more easily than his other foot but it too was stuck. He set the foot down as the muscle spasms began to spread upward. Now his calves were twitching and swelling, knees trembling and strengthening as if he'd just run a mile. "Of course I just ran a mile, my old boots are worn to shit and i needed to hit the surplus for a new pair." Ryan thought to himself smirking. "Wait where did that come from?" He said as he looked around, the dressing room fading into a small doorless closet with a ratty curtain hung such that it hung just a few inches off the floor.
He sat back down on the wooden chair and tried unlacing his boots but as he reached for them a spark jumped to his hands and as he shook them they swelled up and became calloused and tough. His wrists and arms followed soon after, doubling in size, growing stronger and tougher from years of daily rigorous exercise. His shoulders grew into boulders as they stretched his chest outward, giving him manly pecs and a six-pack. His legs had bulked up to match his upper body but had yet to grow longer, leaving Ryan looking like a teen that has abused steroids, but that was about to be fixed.
Ryan's legs began to stretch longer as he sat on the wooden stool-now-bench pushing him to a height of 6'5", the tallest member of his platoon he remembered. His feet then began to fill the boots as Ryan stood up again. He looked in the mirror as his face began to itch and as he looked as his reflection, his face began to shift and transform. In less than a minute he was looking into the handsome face of a man who could easily be a model.
Ryan's head began to get hit with the changes next. A tidal wave of memories crashed over him; he remembered barely graduating and joining the army with his brother, and while his brother went into intelligence and reconnaissance, Ryan decided to join the infantry because that's where all the action was. He remembered excelling at boot camp and surpassing all the other guys in his battalion at training. How he'd pushed himself harder than anyone, working twice as hard, running twice as far as his friends to succeed despite his stature. He was determined to do his parents proud, to do everything he could to serve his country.
The last thing to change was his long shaggy hair and pierced ears. His mop of wavy brown hair started being sucked back into his head as it became a tight faded crew cut with two military chevrons carved into the sides of his head so everyone would know his rank upon meeting him. Sergent Major Ryan Thompson was not someone you wanted to anger or lower your guard around. He did not tolerate any sort of foolishness. He was a no-nonsense, do it by the book kind of man, groomed to perfection, and kept his belongings in top shape; "A place for everything and everything in its place." as he liked to call it.