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Jumped Up

The grate came loose with relative ease. Infiltration had been achieved. The mission had begun.

But that wasn’t the true danger.

Steven held the grate between his hands, staring at the mesh of metal. His body began to sweat and his skin ran cold. He wanted to be free of the tight vent he was in, but small, deadly details swam around his head.

_Put the grate on the ground? _

Shimmy my way out with the grate in my hands?

Petty though these details might seem, they were a matter of life and death and both contained the same risk.

Will they hear Steven Lam put the grate on the ground or him bumping up against the vent?

Slowly, Steven lowered the grate onto the floor until it was just a mere fraction of an inch above the ground. Swallowing, he gently closed the fraction and released his hands.

There hadn’t been so much as a bump or a thump, at least to Steven’s human ears. But that didn’t matter, not in a war where Steven had seen one of his comrades cough and in a mere blink of an eye, they had been swooped up by a flash of green scales and carried off to whatever prison the Telchuan had in mind.

That was the tenth time Steven had been spared a fate worse than death by sheer luck or indifference by the invaders. It was more luck than most people got.

Lifting himself up as much as he could, Steven reached out and put his hands across the rim of the vent exit and pulled himself out slowly, making sure there wasn’t a chance of his shoes or elbows bumping up against the vent, not until he was completely out and into a seemingly innocuous storage room.

The Ryzat warriors were overwhelmingly powerful, but occasionally things slipped through their claws. An escapee in this case managed to slip away while their master was distracted with a newer and more entertaining slave.

They spoke of a secret device stored in an accessible area and gave the schedule for the patrols. The crew that Steven was a part of didn’t trust him at first, the sheer range of powers that the Ryzats had left far too much room for imagination: were they mind-controlled? So fearful of their master that they obeyed an order to infiltrate rebel groups out of loyalty? Or perhaps it was just a simple trap, release a captive and watch where they go quietly.

When the Ryzats didn’t show up and raid the hideout after a week, Steven figured the escapee was on the up and up.

And here he was now: in the storage room of a Ryzat base and inches away from his prize.

The metal orb on the shelf didn’t look like much, but if the escapee was telling the truth, it contained a power that might allow humanity to finally fight back for real.

Steven placed his palm on the orb and-

Click.

An echo, a mere shadow of a noise somewhere within the seemingly empty base. Then nothing. Silence.

Steven remained perfectly still, palms still on the orb and waited for the next noise. To hear claws and talons scraping along the floor drawing closer and closer to the room he was hiding in. To see the death of his freedom barge through the door, covered in scales or feathers.

Slavery or death was always an inch away, but now it felt even closer.

So Steven waited, not even breathing, for the next deadly noise.

But nothing came, which was even worse.

Are they standing still? Listening? Waiting?

Steven slowly took a shallow breath in.

It had to be just the walls creaking…

That did little to reassure Steven. But at the same time there was nothing conceivable to him that could actually help.

If I die, I die. If I’m captured, I lose. Whatever happens, happens.

That was the mantra his crew made whenever they were in a situation like this. In the face of a hopeless and overwhelming enemy, you might as well act on the assumption that you won’t get caught in an instant. Either you succeed or you lose and if the latter happens you don’t have to worry about much anymore.

Finally, Steven worked up the courage to lift the sphere up and part of him expected to hear alarms blare out immediately.

Silence.

Holding his breath, Steven slinked around and walked back to the vent, slowly moving from heel to toe as he walked. His ears on the watch for any other noise.

The back of Steven’s neck began to itch. It felt like someone was watching him.

They can’t turn invisible can they?

Steven paused for a bit, but then kept on moving.

If they can, I’ve already lost. Go on and take me then.

Lowering himself onto his rear, Steven pushed himself face-forward into the darkness of the vent and wormed his way back the way he came.

No noise. No death.

Steven was lucky once again.

Eleven times now.

There was a general rule about traveling under cover. No fire, no tents. Even making a lean-to was risky if a keen-eyed Ryzat happened to be examining the forest covers on a whim but Steven assembled one out of pine branches on the final night before he reached the hideout.

The sky was so dark it looked like the Ryzat had covered up the entire planet in a container. The rain quickly poured down the moment Steven sat underneath his makeshift shelter.

Steven slowly opened his bag, carefully pushing the zipper down with his index finger so that it didn't make any noise. The orb stared back at him, the metal reflecting his silhouette back at him in the darkness.

It was tempting to use it right then and now, but Steven’s crew had a plan that he had to stick to no matter what.

Steven didn’t sleep that night. It was cold, wet, and every twist of the wind and snap of a branch set him on edge. He could sleep when he was back at the hideout and safe.

But when the morning came and Steven completed the final leg of the journey, there was no safety to greet him.

The moment Steven emerged from the woods and spotted the cabin his team had been staying at, he knew it was compromised. Etched onto the logs of the cabin was some Ryzat symbol, an orb surrounded by some kind of letters from their language, some kind of symbol of victory Steven figured. A few bright, colorful feathers littered the scene and Steven knew right away they were Zyaer, not a forest bird.

Everyone was gone. Whether dead or enslaved, they were gone.

Steven didn’t feel sad. His heart held the same level of defeat in it that had been constant since the invasion. His friends, his comrades; Steven always knew that both them and him were disposable in the wake of the Ryzat Empire’s might.

It was always healthy not to get attached to them.

Steven returned to his lean-to and sat down beneath the dripping branches. As he rolled around in his brain looking for a path to take, he realized that he had no contacts left. With the eradication of his resistance cell, Steven was well and truly alone in this world.

All he had was the orb.

There was no time to think about the plan. There was only a small chance of Steven reaching another resistance group to continue it as his crew had drafted. At this point, as far as Steven was concerned he had only two options: to actively seek out a Ryzat to surrender his will to or take the risk of enacting the plan alone.

And there really was only one choice for him.

Taking out the orb and placing it on the dirt, Steven swallowed a lump in his throat and took off all of his clothes, shivering as his skin was exposed to the cold air, and pressed his finger atop the crown of the orb.

Just like he said…

After making a circle with his finger, Steven nearly jumped when the orb began to glow green. Immediately, he slammed his palm in the middle of the circle he drew.

There was a brief pain, intense and incomprehensible by human standards, but it quickly faded like a bad memory, replaced by a warm flame burning on the inside of Steven’s body. It grew hotter with each second, but there was no more pain. Muscles began to twitch all over Steven, flexing and unflexing at a rapid rate.

Steven’s palm suddenly clenched and the orb crumpled like a tin can.

This power…

The seizing of his muscles grew in his palm, the very same he had on the orb, shaking violently. Steven grabbed his wrist with his other hand, trying to stabilize it to no avail. It did not hurt, but it felt like his hand might tear itself from his wrist from how fast it was vibrating.

Between a blink of his eyes, Steven saw a glimmer of scales appear on his hand. They were the color of smoky quartz and with each blink they crawled across his skin like a carpet being unrolled.

Breathless, Steven watched with fearful fascination as the plan began to take place. There was another brief surge of pain in his fingertips as claws suddenly broke through the last trace of flesh but that was quickly vanquished just as before.

The pain was not vanishing, Steven figured. He was just becoming that much more powerful with each second that passed. A pain that was a giant in one second became an ant in the next.

“Ha ha ha!” Steven let himself laugh. A deadly mistake for a human under normal times but these were no longer normal times.

The scales ran all along his arms now. They were beautiful, glimmering gemstones. Steven was surprised by a sudden jolt of pain as spikes emerged from his elbows, a defensive weapon that he hadn’t seen on a Telchuan yet.

An unfamiliar sensation hit Steven: pride. Pride in the beautiful scales replacing his dull skin that now ran across his torso. Pride in his ever-increasing strength, which he knew he had only had a brief taste of.

Excitement came next and perhaps a bit of ego as the transformation reached his crotch. There was only a slight shudder of his cock and balls, not enough to hurt, and it had suddenly turned into a Telchuan cock: tapered and thick, sticking out of a slit that served as its sheath.

Steven’s leg bones creaked and twisted as they reversed their joints. Claws emerged from his newly digitigrade feet, another quickly defeated burst of pain.

All that remained was Steven’s head and he expected a series of agonies. But it would all be worth it in the end.

Do it!

The sheer quantity of pain as his skull and jaw warped was enough to make up for the shortness of their duration. This was the first time in the transformation that Steven tried to scream, but could not do anything more than moan from his throat.

Steven’s face was pulled forward like it was made of putty. Sharp bursts of pain wracked his skull as horns and spikes shot through. His flat, dull human teeth suddenly were shot out of his mouth as dagger fangs emerged from his gums.

And then it ended.

There was no ceremony, no bell ringing. Steven’s transformation was complete.

A brown muzzle took up a larger portion of his field of vision, but what he could see was amplified. He only needed to think about it and his eyesight could zoom in and see a tiny bug against a tree trunk on the other side of the maze of trees. A branch cracked and the sound reached Steven’s earholes.

Four miles southeast. Sound consistent with a hoof cracking the branch. Deer.

Breathing in slowly, Steven caught an orchestra of scents. A melody of cedar and pine pollen blowing across the wind. Animal scent markings that lit up in Steven’s brain like radar, indicating their location.

But most prominent was the smell of sex.

It came from the direction of the cabin and travelled miles to reach Steven. At least four Ryzat had enjoyed tormenting Steven’s companions, an even mix of Telchuan and Zyaer. A cocktail of Ryzat seminal fluids and human floated around in the air, drifting off past the range of Steven’s nose.

Steven’s companions were alive but captive.

It was not a mercy. The escapee that managed to make it out was a rare exception, someone who didn’t have their mind completely broken into submission by the Ryzat; and even then there was a likely chance they were a spy all along, Steven figured after seeing the strike on the cabin.

Picking up a shard of the orb, Steven tilted it until he caught sight of his reflection. He looked like a dragon lurking in a dark cave. Two horns stuck up straight from the back of his skull and a line of spikes dotted the length of his snout and his eyebrow.

At first Steven felt nothing at seeing his new form, silencing his breathing for fear of attracting the ears of the Telchuan he saw. Then he felt fear, realizing that being this close to a Telchuan with its obsidian eyes locked straight on him was something that no one ever walked away from freely.

Then at least he felt strength, confidence. He had nothing to fear from this creature he had become. He had more power than he ever had before, maybe more than the entire human race combined.

And it was time to test out those powers.

The test went better than Steven could ever imagine.

Every breath was a miracle, every twitch of his muscles rippled with godly power.

One kick of his legs and Steven found himself hurtling across the world. The great plains of North America fly by, instantly replaced with the cold coast of the Atlantic, which then became an endless dark canvas rolling across the earth.

Or it would have been endless had Steven been a mere sailor atop a ship. In but five blinks of his eye, he soon caught sight of the Canary Islands and the red-tiled roofs of its homes, seemingly unhit by the invaders for now.

The arid coast of North Africa came next and the ruins of Marrakesh. Steven quickly moved past it, whirling past the Atlas Mountains and through the vast, empty stretches of the Sahara Desert.

Just like the ocean, the sand quickly vanished behind Steven until a familiar sight peeked above on the horizon.

With a smile, Steven flipped in the air and his feet hit solid limestone, instantly bringing his flight to a halt.

Perched atop the peak of the Great Pyramid, Steven peered down at the ruined homes and businesses of the dusty city of Giza. Across the great Nile River, Cairo looked much the same, save for an occasional plume of black smoke floating up from the cityscape.

The sun was shining above, it was a bright, clear day but Steven felt just as comfortable as he had been back in the woods of North America.

Steven clicked his claw atop one of the bricks of the pyramid and the whole structure shuddered for an instant. Just a little bit more force and Steven figured he could have destroyed one of mankind’s greatest creations with as little effort as killing a fly.

“Somewhat impressive, isn’t it?”

Steven snapped his muzzle to the side and for a moment, the confidence his newfound powers gave him shook.

A Zyaer was now clinging to the side of the pyramid, just a few steps below Steven. Her sandy-brown feathers blended into the stone almost perfectly, but her jet black feet and talons, along with her beak, stuck out like a sharpened piece of obsidian.

The fear shot through Steven’s heart for only a second before his confidence returned, a terrifying flashback to the scared human he once was.

But he was more than that now. He was Earth’s greatest hope.

And it was time to see just how well his disguise worked.

“I suppose so,” Steven shrugged. “We can’t expect much better from these pitiful creatures.”

“First campaign?” the Zyaer clicked her beak and tilted her head.

“Yes.”

“I saw a pyramid three times as large during the Vulpi Campaign. It was built to serve as the final resting place of a young King of their planet…and now he serves as my pet,” the Zyaer lifted her beak proudly. “What trophies have you claimed so far?”

“None yet,” I said as plainly as I could. “I was late to the action.”

“Too bad. I was also late…”

A claw pricked against Steven’s back, slowly caressing down the length of his spine. A shiver of pleasure whispered out of Steven’s mouth, especially once the Zyaer reached the base of his whip-like tail.

“How about we make our own fun?”

Steven grinned, peering into the icy-blue eyes of the avian alien. It was impossible not to feel just a little bit prideful, having attracted the lust of a former foe not even a full day after Steven had received his new, superior form.

Steven leaned over and flicked his tongue out, licking the Zyaer across the length of her beak. He had more than just a little bit of pride now, he was downright bold and ready to show this alien just how powerful he was.

The Zyaer’s beak opened and their tongues twisted together, both of them moaning with delight. Steven’s palms cupped her chest, rubbing at them while the Zyaer continued to stroke the scales lining Steven’s back.

Breaking from their kiss, the two stared at each other’s eyes in silence.

“Someplace more comfortable?” Steven asked, wrapping his arms around the Zyaer.

“Lets.”

“I know a place.”

Steven launched off of the pyramid and went hurtling through the air with the Zyaer clung tight against him.

This time, Steven could not observe the world beneath him pass by. The Zyaer quickly made sure this trip would be an excellent time for a quick bit of foreplay. Her claws quickly wrapped around Steven’s tapered cock and began to furiously stroke it, squeezing it in a vice that would have been painful were it not for Steven’s new strength.

And Steven didn’t want his new companion to be the only one to show their strength. Steven leaned forward, forcing his tongue past the Zyaer’s beak and began making out with her once more, this time pushing his long tongue in far enough to reach down her throat. The Zyaer flinched back, arching her back while she moaned in ecstasy.

Feeling a member of the proud Ryzat Empire weakened in Steven’s grasp was enough to make him wish to cry out victoriously, to rally the men and women of Earth to witness his power and rise up in his name.

But on the other hand, the Zyaer’s teasing of his cock created pleasure that Steven could never have imagined were possible. It was like a new section of his nerves had opened up, a part devoted purely to pleasure unknown to humanity. Either that, or she was just that good at pleasing Steven.

The ecstasy came to a sudden end as the two of them crash landed in a forest, skidding against the ground like a plane landing on a runway, until they came to a halt in a meadow. The Ryzat pushed herself up and planted her talons in the dirt as she lifted her beak.

“My name is Secondblood Xyla, you have earned the honor of my name.”

Steven’s mouth locked open, paused in a sudden moment of doubt. He didn’t have the faintest clue what kind of fake name to give her, let alone the alien’s form of titles. He couldn’t exactly address himself as, “Steven Lam, I used to be a human.”

Thankfully, Xyla’s talons put a stop to that as they snapped around Steven’s muzzle, preventing him from addressing himself.

“No words,” Xyla ordered. “Just passion.”

The sharp claws of the Zyaer scraped harmlessly across Steven’s diamond-hard scales, at most they gave him a pleasurable tickle that inched across his nerves. Steven’s muzzle was released, though true to his surprise mate’s orders he did not address himself or speak at all.

Xyla lowered herself atop Steven’s legs, clutching his cock between her hands and squeezing.

The sudden gasp of pleasure was enough for Steven to get winded, had he been a mere human still. The memories of his weakness were still recent and he knew that one mere squeeze of this alien’s grip and he would have been amorously bound, helpless to resist.

But Steven was no mere human. He reached out and cupped Xyla’s breasts, squeezing and rolling them like dough and just as she was able to force him into erotic ecstasy, so too could he.

“Ohhhhh…” Xyla’s beak opened with a moan, “...not bad for fresh meat.”

She’s…beyond this world… Steven couldn’t help but think as the alien stroked his cock, each motion like an opiate coursing through his veins.

Xyla leaned in towards Steven’s face, pushing his arms aside and nuzzled her beak against his snout, “I’m just getting started.”

Their minds and bodies were in sync. Steven cupped Xyla’s rear in his palms the moment she began to shift her thigh, brushing up against his shaft. Her sex was warm to the touch, welcoming like a roaring fireplace.

Xyla pushed the tip of Steven’s tapered cock inside her. An intense burning, hot enough to burn a mere human perhaps, engulfed his cock and he curled his claws in joyous agony with every inch she took of him.

Not content to be a passive partner with his newfound strength, Steven gripped Xyla’s butt tight and thrust his hips, pushing his shaft all the way past what little defenses remained of her. Xyla arched her neck and her beak opened, her passionate screeches echoed through the forest. Steven joined her with his own chorus, letting loose with powerful growls and hisses their thighs danced together.

With every blink, Steven felt a brand new sensation of pleasure. Images danced in his brain of far-off planets, stellar objects burning brightly in the midnight of space; all close enough for him to reach out and touch, just as he could pluck a feather from Xyla’s body.

And then they were alone in space with not even stars to guide them. The whole universe had reverted back to when there was nothing, nothing save for the cosmic symphony that reverberated through the empty void with each moan the two lovers uttered. Their passion was the universe.

Steven blinked one more time as his cock began to shudder and now he saw something he could not quite describe.

The stars were back just as they were before but now there were thin threads connecting them, each a rainbow of colors shimmering in the night. Each star, planet, and even Earth’s own moon; were all connected in this tapestry that was slowly weaving together in a pattern that Steven struggled to connect even with his enhanced mind.

Only one word came close to describing what he witnessed.

“Another dimension.”

Steven’s brain was set afire. Endless ideas started scrolling through his brain faster than light. Light, faster than light…the schematics for a faster than light drive appeared in his mind, everything was perfect, Steven knew that. This was no mere prototype, this was the real deal.

Follow the threads…

The world went black for a moment and Steven found the cosmic visions he was engulfed in had vanished. He was once more on the forest floor, still locked together with Xyla in a passionate embrace.

Steven panted, struggling to catch his breath.

“Oh, did I wear you out?” Xyla smirked, squeezing her thighs together.

Something was wrong. Her squeeze generated pleasure, for sure, but it was merely amazing, earthly sex, not the otherworldly experience it had been.

And why was he so tired?

Xyla tapped her claw on Steven’s chest and there was a short jolt of pain that paralyzed him with a second of agony. It vanished in a flash and Steven pushed himself up from the floor and caught a flash of the scales covering his chest fading from view, softening until they became indiscernible from human flesh.

Steven placed his palms across his face. The spikes were the first to go, sheathing back into his flesh as if they had never existed and his muzzle squashed into his skull until it had been as flat as before. Only then did he also realize his claws were gone, replaced with normal human fingers.

Panting for air, Steven could not even muster up the energy to push himself up further to check his legs and fell back onto the floor. He was too tired to feel any pain from the bones of his legs readjusting.

He was too tired.

Xyla stood above him, beak upturned proudly.

“Did you really think you could fool me?”

Her talons shot into the ground, surrounding Steven’s neck and her foot squeezed. For one second, Steven’s windpipe was entirely cut off, just enough to give the message to him.

“I hope you enjoyed that taste of power,” Xyla’s foot was firm, just enough to humiliate her prey. “You’re never experiencing it again. Ever.”

The finality of that statement was crushing. Steven looked back up to the stars and experienced the final destruction of his hope.

Everything he had seen was gone. The threads had vanished, the schematic scattered to the corners of his mind.

Even the stars looked less bright.

“Not going to even try to fight?”

Steven’s mind couldn’t even think about it, let alone lift his fist to strike Xyla. It was over. It was not even a good attempt, the feeling of power just made Steven feel more hopeless than before. Part of him wished he had surrendered earlier so that he never had this spot of potential victory.

“No…”

Xyla’s claw squeezed.

“No, what?”

“No…” Steven’s mouth quivered, “...no…”

“Pathetic,” Xyla huffed. “You’re a rebel and you stole valuable tech. By all means, you should be killed.”

Steven said nothing. There was no point.

“But…” Xyla squeezed her foot again, “...I suppose that would be a waste of a pet.”

Once again, Steven said nothing. Felt nothing.

“Kiss my foot,” Xyla placed one of her talons atop Steven’s chin, “and you may serve as my pet.”

The order reached Steven’s head and he showed more energy in puckering his lips than he had even thought about fighting back after returning to his human form. He even went above and beyond, pressing his lips across the curved length of her claw, kissing it multiple times and even licking it as tribute.

“Very good, pet,” Xyla retracted her foot and stepped back, “on your knees.”

Steven sprang up, sitting atop his knees with his head held high like a loyal dog. Every jolt of sudden energy he got vanished the moment he completed his ordered task. He existed as nothing more than a vessel for his mistress’ orders now.

“Good, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

Xyla grabbed Steven by a clump of hair and began dragging him behind her as she slowly walked through the forest.

“Amuse me enough and perhaps I’ll let you play with your friends in the future. My friends are currently breaking them in.”

Steven was neither happy nor sad about hearing that. It was not a reward, it was just a simple matter of fact now. He was defeated physically and mentally, every emotion he managed to conjure up now felt like a mere facsimile compared to what he had in his alien form.

He had no right to feel anything now. No right to do anything but do as Xyla said. With the extent of his defeat far surpassing the rest of his kind, Steven knew he would not even be at home among human captives.

He was neither human nor Ryzat. He was nothing.