Her fur standing on end, Jane reacted as a cat would, launching herself off the counter and squeezing herself down under the living room sofa. She couldn't let anyone see her like this, she'd end up in a freak show. If she unmerged with Missy now, she'd be left facing the intruder nude. While Jane was frantically trying to come up with a solution, she heard the knob of the back door turning and footsteps approaching.
"Not bad," Jane heard a deep voice say. From her hiding place, Jane saw a tall, hefty figure walk into the living room. Although he wore a hooded jacket, he had removed the hood and it hung behind him, revealing his face. It was a man with dirty-blond hair and a stubbly beard. Although he might have once been good-looking, there was a haggard and worn look about him, and his rather grungy dark clothes didn't add to his appearance. His black work boots thumped against the floor as he rapidly walked through the room and over to a corner desk, obviously looking for valuables. He began to dump out drawers, leaving a mess in his wake.
At first, Jane was scared, but as she watched the robber's careless actions, she began to get angry. Perhaps because of the cat in her, she also felt a heightened sense of territoriality. This was her home; how dare this stranger stink it up with his presence. Her fury building to a fever pitch as she saw the man pull out photo albums from a shelf and dump them on the floor, Jane streaked out from under the sofa, hissing angrily, her claws extended and her caution forgotten. The man, certain he was alone, had his back to the sofa and didn't notice anything. Rather, he bent down to pick up one of the albums, hoping to find some stashed cash. As he did so, his pant hems raised slightly, revealing just a bit of ankle, which Jane instinctively swiped at, forgetting entirely about the ring, which still remained on her stubby clawed finger. She only realized her mistake when the burglar disappeared into thin air, followed by a sudden rush of warmth and a momentary blackout as she skidded across the floor.
Coming to relatively quickly this time, Jane began to consider what she had just done. The familiar sensation of heat warned her that changes were on their way, and not steady enough to make her way upstairs, Jane lay there on the ground panting as her form slowly shifted. It was like merging with Missy, but slightly in reverse. The fur began to recede, leaving a soft fuzz in most areas and furry gray-white hair on her head. Her paws became more like hands and feet, although she retained her retractable claws, but she lost her quadrupedal stance. Her tail drew in, but not entirely, leaving her with a stub like that of a Manx cat. Though she remained female, her breasts and nipples became less prominent, leaving her with a relatively flat chest with slightly raised bumps. As a final touch, Jane felt as though she were being wrapped in a blanet, and when she looked down, found that she was wearing the burglar's clothes, even though they were slightly large for her.
Propping herself up and getting slowly to her feet, Jane found that thanks to how tall the robber was, she now approached her original height, even though she was still merged with Missy. Stumbling up the stairs in a stupor, Jane was bombarded with memories of how to break into homes, where people usually stashed their valuables, and other bits of criminal wisdom. Shaking her head, she entered her bedroom and finally saw herself in the mirror.
Although Jane still had triangular cat ears, they were situated a little lower on her head than before, somewhere between cat and human. Her face was relatively unfamiliar, now a strange melange of a hint of Missy's muzzle and the prominent cheekbones of the robber. It also appeared a bit older, although not by much. While her eyes now looked more human, they were an odd deep green, Missy's amber and Jane's hazel eyes mixing with the blue of the robber's. She was definitely more bulky than normal, but not as built as the robber. Dropping down on her bed, Jane considered her next move.
She couldn't just unmerge with the robber right there, as he would see her either as a cat-girl or as a nude teenager, depending on if she unmerged with Missy first. However, she couldn't just wait around for her family to get home, how would she explain what happened to her? No one would believe her, and she didn't want to tell anyone about the ring, they might take it away. She would just have to unmerge with the robber in some place where he couldn't see her or attack her, but how would she accomplish that?