Derek eyed his test subject from across the street. The crystal in his hand was screaming to be used but he needed to wait until he could get a full view of his victim. There was a small part of him that wondered why he didn’t feel the slightest bit of remorse for what he was about to do to this unfortunate stranger, but that part was drowned out by the burning heat from the crystal in his pocket. True, the mechanic had ripped him off when he’d worked on Derek’s car, but that hardly justified what was about to happen. He shook off his second thoughts and gripped the crystal. He could feel his opportunity approaching and he wasn’t about to waste it. The man was bent over the engine of a car with his back turned, which was appropriate because there was no way he could’ve seen what was coming. Derek settled the crystal against his eye and within its facets was reflected a seemingly infinite number of variation of the man. None of them were as he was, but they were all as he could have been. Whatever genetic variation, trick of birth or twist of fate that could have occurred to make this man something else was revealed to whomever gazed into the crystal. Derek tried to focus on one facet in particular and felt a pulse rush through him, clouding his vision. When his sight cleared he saw his intended victim doubled over against the hood of the car, the first of the changes already occurring.
**********
Unaware of the stranger setting him in his sights, Jack went about his daily business of ripping people off. “Easy prey,” he whistled, laughing to his partner across the room. “How much you think we can take this guy for?”
“That guy knows as much about cars as his boyfriend knows about pussy,” Drew spat from under the car he was working on, “Rich asshole like that can afford to share the wealth, ya know?”
“I hear ya.” Jack said in smug agreement. “Fuckin’ yuppies and their bullshit. Fag’s got a hot wife though…he’s got a picture of her taped to the dashboard. Bet she’s got him good and whipped.” Jack grabbed his crotch and adjusted himself through his jumpsuit. “Bet I could show her how a real man takes care of business, not that girly queer she’s with.”
“I bet it’s for the money,” Drew chimed in. “That’s all they’re ever after.”
Working labor for nearly thirty years had stripped both men of anything resembling patience for those they viewed as spoiled or privileged. Unfortunately, to these two jaded grunts, that was everyone. Jack popped the hood and inspected the car’s innards. He wasn’t looking for the problem; he knew that would inevitably be an easy fix. Jack knew enough about cars to take one apart and put it back together blindfolded. No, he was poking around to see what else needed “repaired.” He’d only managed to grip the frame and lean in for a look when he felt the floor drop out from underneath him. If he’d been able to move he would have collapsed, but his body was frozen in its bent over position. Jack didn’t even have time to register what was occurring before his unblinking eyes witnessed the beginning of his new life. Creeping at a slow, steady pace, a series of changes began to wash over his body. The dirty, calloused hands that gripped the car’s frame shrank and softened considerably before shedding the wiry hair that ran up into his sleeve. Though he couldn’t see what was happening under his increasingly oversized jumpsuit, Jack was well aware that similar changes were occurring to the rest of his bulky frame. He was far from in shape, but his years of labor had given him a powerful, muscular build. Beneath the prominent beer gut and ample body fat his hairy frame was as sturdy and masculine as they came. This made his current experience all the more horrifying as he was helpless to do anything other than watch his meaty forearms whither to skinny wrists while his upper arms were practically swimming in his sleeves. The partially unzipped top that used to show off his furry chest now draped over one bony shoulder and exposed a hairless chest that had collapsed in on itself. Jack knew he had to be losing height just as readily as he was losing everything else because the pant legs of his jumpsuit pooled at feet that now felt lost in their size 12 work boots. Without warning the time that had been at a standstill rushed back to life and Jack collapsed against the car.
“What the fuck?!” Jack yelled, finally able to move again. He didn’t know what to focus on first; the tiny hands that were concealed by the too-long sleeves or the fact that his voice was a high pitch squeak. He staggered backwards, stumbling in his now-clunky boots. “What the fuck ith thith?!” he lisped in terror, catching sight of his new body in the reflection of a nearby windshield. His face had softened just as much as the rest of his body and there wasn’t even a hint of the perpetual stubble he used to sport. The only place that seemed to grow hair was his once-balding head that was now covered in blonde hair.
“What? What’s wrong?” Drew said, sliding out from under the car he was working on. “Did you hurt yourse…why are you wearing my clothes?”
“Your clothe’th?” Jack squeaked. “Thee’th are my clothe’th! Look at me!” Jack felt himself draw back instinctively as the other man approached. Drew towered over Jack now, and since Drew was 6’2”, Jack figured he was somewhere around the 5’5” mark.
“Oh, trust me, I’m looking,” Drew said sternly. He reached over and pushed a button to shut the garage doors. “We don’t need everyone else looking too.” Drew eyed the street as the door shut to see who might have witnessed Jack’s outburst, but the only person he saw was a guy standing across the street.
“What happened to me?” Jack was still frantic. He didn’t understand how or why his friend was so calm.
“Are you high?” Drew asked, gently grabbing Jack’s chin and looking him in the eye. “I thought you told me you wouldn’t do that shit anymore Jackie.”
“What? What thit?” Jack bristled, both at being called Jackie and at his lisping voice. “Why are you tho calm? Thomething happened that made me thmall like thith.”
Drew stepped back and gave the shorter man a confused look. “Oh shit, you’re right!” he said after a pause. “How’d you get so small?” his voice was suddenly full of concern.
“I don’t know! That’th what I’ve been athking you!” Jack clutched at his shrunken neck, searching for his former voice.
“When did this happen?” Drew reached over and tousled Jack’s blonde hair.
“What do you mean? Juth’t now!” Jack tried to pull away but Drew’s hand held him in place.
“And when you got here this morning you looked like…” Drew tugged at one of Jack’s little ears.
“I looked like me! What’th wrong with you?” Jack shrieked. “You know what I look like…I wath like you, not like thith!”
“Like me? Fuck! We should probably see what all changed,” Drew said, his tone serious. He started to undo Jack’s jumpsuit further, “You ready man?”
“Uh…yeah…I gueth…” Jack said hesitantly. He felt like they should be calling an ambulance or going for help but was too dazed to protest.
“Okay, take a deep breath… here we go.” Drew undid the rest of the zipper and let Jack’s enormous jumpsuit fall to the floor, giving the tiny man the first clear view of his altered body.
“Oh thit…” Jack gasped. He ran his tiny hands over his smooth, shapeless torso, watching what little muscle he had left flex in his stick-thin arms with the movement. His beer gut was gone, replaced instead by a soft, baby-fat belly and tiny love handles. His dirty white briefs, once filled to capacity, hung precariously, held only in place by the prominent, jiggling backside at his rear. Without the suit to hold them up they quickly lost their battle with gravity and traveled down Jack’s soft, squishy thighs before landing where his rocky calves used to be. Though he knew what to expect, Jack was still horrified to see his heavy, low hanging balls and thick cock replaced by what looked like a set of marbles and a pinky finger in comparison.
“Whoa…” Drew said, staring at the little man. “Here, let me help,” he grabbed Jack under his armpits and literally lifted the smaller man out of the heap of clothing, his now tiny feet sliding free of his shoes without any trouble.
“Thith ithn’t pothible…” Jack said as Drew set him down, feeling incredibly tiny and exposed as he stood naked in front of his friend. It didn’t help that the second Drew’s rough hands touched his smooth skin Jack’s tiny rod had shot to attention.
“So what you’re telling me,” Drew said as he undid the zipper on his own jumpsuit. “Is that when you got here this morning, these,” he ran his hands along Jack’s arms where his biceps should have been, “looked like these?” He peeled down the top of his jumpsuit, exposing his own beefy, hirsute torso and flexed his large biceps. “And these,” he squeezed Jack’s tiny nipples before flexing his impressive chest, “were like these?”
“Yuh…yeah…” Jack stuttered, overcome by Drew’s touch. He didn’t understand what his friend was doing, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted him to stop.
“Oh my,” Drew said, unable to hide the humor from his voice. “So then this little guy,” he swallowed Jack’s diminished package with one hairy paw while he shed the rest of his jumpsuit. “Looked like this?” He peeled down the front of his packed briefs and wagged his long cock proudly while he tweaked Jack’s tiny member.
“Drew…thtop…what’re you doing?” Jack tried to pull Drew’s hand away from his cock but his little fingers barely made it half way around the other man’s thick, hairy wrist.
“We’ve gotta make sure everything still works, don’t we?” Drew spun Jack around and the little man found himself bent over the hood where everything started. The larger man’s rough hands dug into Jack’s soft love handles, positioning his supple ass against the hardening organ that sought entry.
“Wait…Drew…thtop! Thith ithn’t right…we’re not fagth man! Thtop!” Jack’s high frequency lisp was anything but convincing as he halfheartedly struggled to get away.
“This has been fun, but you know I’m not into this roleplaying shit Jackie… I like to get right to business.” Drew slowly worked his cock into Jack’s waiting hole while he spoke.
“Ro…roleplaying?” Jack grunted, surprised at how natural it felt to have his ass invaded by another man. “Tho you thought…thit Drew, I’m theriouth! Thith ithn’t right! I’m not thuppothed to be like thith!”
“Sure…Jack” Drew emphasized the name. “You’re a big, hairy stud…just look at all these mucles…” Drew ran his hands all over Jack’s smooth little frame. “You’re a real man’s man…just look at that cock.” Jack could only moan in protest. Drew had hit a sweet spot and the smaller man was in ecstasy. “You’re a pot bellied, beer drinkin’ bull dawg, right?”
“Thit Drew…” Jack moaned. He didn’t want to believe any of this was really happening, but if the pleasure he was feeling was real, then he might be okay with it. “Oh thit…oh thit!” he screamed as he came, pressing his ass back forcefully against Drew’s hairy abdomen.
“There we go,” Drew panted. He continued to pummel Jack’s ass at a leisurely pace, taking his time until he finally erupted into the smaller man.
“Drew, pleathe,” Jack pleaded, trying to catch his breath. He was still bent over, his face buried in his arms. “You’ve gotta lithen to me…thith…thith…” his voice broke off. Memories of a new life were rushing in and settling next to his old ones. He wasn’t Jack, the middle-aged, shit talking pig-headed macho man; he was Jackie, Drew’s prancing teenage shop boy. The now-effeminate little man was disappointed as these new memories solidified but failed to replace his old ones. If he was stuck this way he was hoping that he could at least forget about how he used to be, but no such luck. He knew this wasn’t the way things should be, but he also knew there was nothing he could do about it.
“That was fun babe, but we’ve gotta get back to work.” Drew gave Jack’s ass a light swat and sent the tiny man scampering towards a pile of clothes. Jack looked down disgustedly, not wanting to believe that these items were his. There were no generic white briefs in the pile; instead he slid on a tiny pair of powder blue bikinis that accentuated his supple, newfound curves. Next came a too-short tank top that exposed his soft belly, followed by a pair of women’s stretchy pink short-shorts that came to an abrupt halt at the top of his thighs. He slid his feet into a pair of work boots that would have been ridiculously small just an hour ago and took in his reflection in a nearby windshield. Jack wanted to cry. He looked around for his jumpsuit to cover the foolish outfit but realized as he stared at his reflection in the car window that he no longer knew anything about fixing, or breaking, cars. He knew he should know, but when he tried to focus on a specific subject there was only a hazy memory. There was no jumpsuit for Jackie because he didn’t actually work on any of the cars. His duties were limited to sweeping up and cleaning the cars after Drew worked on them. “Hey, if you do a good job today when we get home maybe I’ll do a little role playing of my own,” Drew called from across the shop. Jack’s still-tingling ass knew exactly what that meant, but despite himself he was thrilled at the thought.
**********
Outside, Derek swayed on his feet. He’d watched the whole scene unfold in the crystal and his head was swimming. The experiment wasn’t a total failure, but it proved to Derek that he still needed practice. Jack’s transformation had gone according to plan, but Derek hadn’t intended for the other man to be involved. If he were going to master the crystal, he’d need to improve his focus. The last thing he wanted was another accident like the one that happened to Scott. He forced the crystal back into his pocket, resisting the urge to swing it towards a man jogging a little further down the street. He was a little concerned about his growing hunger to use the power but he pushed it aside. Everything that had occurred, from finding the crystal to adjusting to his new life with Scott, was so surreal that it was hard to believe it had only been a few days. He started the walk back to his apartment, running through the sequence of events that led to the crystal’s discovery.
**********
Everything started with the book. Derek had found it at an estate sale a few weeks ago, but when he tried to read it the archaic language was too much for him. He took it in to the office and showed it to his friend Scott during one of their morning chat sessions, and it was Scott who discovered the map to the crystal’s location. He hadn’t thought there was anything to it, but Derek insisted on checking it out. The following weekend the duo set off on their search.
“Are you sure this is a good idea? Don’t people get lost in these caves?” Scott asked. Again.
“Dude, for the last time: yes. We’re fine,” Derek laughed. Scott was too cute when he was nervous for his constant pestering to be annoying, but Derek wasn’t going to let him know that.
“It’s just that this idea sounded better when we were talking about it at work…” he struggled to keep up with his friend’s longer stride.
“Here,” Derek reached behind and grabbed Scott’s hand, guiding it to the waist of his pants. “Hold on to me and I promise you won’t get lost.”
“Oh…uh, okay,” Scott said timidly. He had no idea that his friend secretly would have preferred to stay holding his hand. “But seriously, what are the odds this thing will even still be here? It’s 2008 and that book was ancient. Someone’s bound to have been here by now.”
“Dude, really? I don’t honestly expect to find anything.”
“Then why did we just drive three hours to the middle of nowhere and hike for another two just so we could get lost and starve to death in a cave?”
“You mean you haven’t enjoyed any of this?” Derek stopped and turned the flashlight on his friend as Scott stumbled against him.
“No, not really. Those woods were terrifying…we didn’t see a single animal or hear a single bird the entire time. I’m telling you, there’s something not right about this place. I’m not gonna lie, I could stand to not be here.” Both men looked down to see that Scott still hadn’t let go of Derek’s belt.
“Well if the book was right, I think we’re just about there.” Derek started walking again but kept his pace slow for his friend’s shorter legs.
“Yeah, uh, about the book? Whoever wrote it didn’t make it sound like finding whatever was here would be such a great idea.”
“How many times can we have this discussion?”
“I’m just sayin’…”
“Scott, look, we’re not going to find anything, so don’t worry about it. I just thought it would be cool to see if any of what was in that book was real or not.” Derek left out the part about how he was also looking to spending time alone with Scott outside of the office.
“You didn’t read the book, remember? I did. I don’t want anything to do with…” Scott paused, struggling to find the words, “with whatever nightmare someone stashed away in here.”
“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”
“At home in my safe, warm apartment,” Scott said dryly. Unlike Derek, who’d grown up in the Scouts and playing sports like all the other kids, Scott’s entire youth was spent buried in a book and studying his way onto every honor roll he came across. The only reason he’d agree to come on this trip with Derek in the first place is that he didn’t want to deal with the inevitable harassment he’d get if he chickened out. He’d read the book and found the directions for his friend, but Derek still insisted he come with him, even though Scott clearly wasn’t built for this sort of thing. Though both men were in their mid twenties, Scott could have easily passed for a high schooler. His skinny, five and a half foot stature appropriately reflected his timid attitude. His boyish face and scraggly brown hair didn’t help much either. “Adventure’s one thing, certain death is anoth…hey! Could you start warning me when you’re going to stop like that?” Scott asked, bumping into Derek again when the other man came to a sudden stop.
“Look!” Derek said excitedly, “I think we’re here!” He turned off the flashlight and both men were surprised to see the cave around them was still illuminated. A small sliver of daylight could be seen coming from around the bend in front of them. “The book said it was in a chamber that had an open top…that’s gotta be it!” Derek darted around the bend, unable to contain his excitement. “Holy shit…” he gasped as the cave suddenly opened to a massive chamber. A column of daylight poured down from above and illuminated the stone pedestal in the middle of the room. Much to his surprise, Derek saw the light glinting on a small object on the pedestal. “No way…there’s no way…” he darted forward, stopping just before he reached the pedestal. Lying before him was a clear round crystal with a seemingly endless number of facets, just like the book described. Though everything around it was covered with dirt and lichen, the crystal itself was perfectly clean. Mesmerized, Derek slowly grasped the crystal and let it settle into his palm. Despite the damp coolness of the cave the crystal was warm. It was as if someone had held it just moments before.
“How are you just gonna leave me like that?” Scott panted as he stumbled into the room. He saw his friend standing in front of something in the middle of the room but his view was blocked. “Uh, Derek? You okay?” he asked his unmoving friend.
Scott’s loud entrance snapped Derek out of his trance. “Check it out! It’s here! It was actually here!” he yelled, holding up the crystal. On a whim, he held it up to his eye like one of the bug-eye kaleidoscopes he used to have as a kid and looked through it, watching his friend multiply in the many facets.
“What?” Scott paled, not sharing Derek’s enthusiasm. “Let me see that thing before youAAAGGHHHH” Scott broke off in a scream and fell to the ground in a heap.
“Scott! What’s wrong?” Derek pocketed the crystal and ran to his friend, but by the time he got there the Scott he knew was already vanishing. It was hard to see the fine details in the dim light, but Derek could tell that his friend was growing. The silent cave was filled with the sound of ripping fabric as Scott’s shirt exploded off his enlarging back, quickly followed by his now too-small jeans and worn-out boxer shorts. Even his hiking shoes gave way beneath the onslaught of pressing flesh. It didn’t take long before Derek was left standing over a naked hulk where his skinny friend used to be.
“De…derek?” came an impossibly deep voice from the face buried in a set of gigantic hands.
“Scott?” Derek reached down and placed an unbelieving hand on the slab of muscle that was his friend’s back. “Are…are you okay?”
“What…what did you do to me?” the voice was anguished.
“What? Nothing! I didn’t do anything…are you hurt? What happened?”
“The crystal,” the voice sobbed, “you used the crystal!”
“The crystal? What are you talking about? I was holding it the whole time! The crystal did nothing.”
“Nothing?” The figure shifted and slowly started to rise, towering over a confused and increasingly concerned Derek. “NOTHING? LOOK AT ME!” Scott took a lumbering step forward into the light, giving both of them a first look at his transformation.
“Oh…my…god…” Derek gasped, having to look up to see Scott’s face. His formerly tiny friend had to be at least 6’8”.
“What did you do…what did you do…” Scott kept repeating in his much deeper voice as he gazed at his swollen body. His skinny frame was gone, swallowed whole by a mountain of shredded muscle. Derek could see that Scott’s face still had the same boyish good looks, but the rest of him looked like two huge body builders had been squished together. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!” he bellowed.
“Dude…” Derek whispered, shocked. As he stared at his naked friend he was hit with a sudden realization but fought desperately to suppress it. As surprising as it was to see in real life, the sight before him was one he was intimately familiar with. “What do you mean? What did I do?”
“You didn’t read the book so you didn’t know…the crystal it…” Scott found it difficult to speak as his mind struggled against a rush of new memories. “If you look at someone through it you can…whatever you want them to be…” Scott looked down at his friend through a new set of eyes. He still knew how things were, how they should be, but his head was full of his new life, a life where he grew up working out and playing sports instead of reading books and studying. He paled while the memories kept pouring in. He wasn’t the head of an IT department anymore he was a professional bodybuilder by day and a stripper by night. This new version of him wasn’t dumb, but he knew he was nowhere near as smart as he used to be. He never even graduated high school, let alone finished top of his class at college. This Scott lived to work out and, as the years of sexual escapades suddenly filled his head, fuck, and be fucked by, his friend Derek. “Derek,” Scott said wide eyed, “you mean you’re…” he never once imagined that his friend could be gay, let alone have feelings for him.
“Um…surprise?” Derek said, unable to look his friend in the eye. This isn’t how he imagined his coming out conversation would go.
“Surprise? All this time you wanted…you fantasized about this?!” He reached forward and grabbed his blushing friend by the shoulders. “You turned me into a musclebound whore!”
“I didn’t know this would happen! I’m sorry! Tell me how to undo it!” As he stared at the ground Derek couldn’t help but notice Scott’s now-enormous cock slowly start to harden. The vice like grip on his shoulders softened slightly as the organ grew.
“You can’t undo it. It doesn’t just change me, it changes reality. We’re the only ones who will ever remember that I was anything other than…this,” he sighed. Despite his anger, Scott felt an overwhelming need to be comforted by his new lover. He let his hands drift from Derek’s shoulders to his back and swallowed him in a bear hug. In this new life Derek took care of Scott, who while massive, was still just as sensitive and timid. He worked to provide for the two of them so that Scott could focus on his lifting career since he never had the brains for much else. Scott made some money by stripping, but not enough to really contribute much. Derek mostly encouraged it just so his friend would feel better about himself and build his confidence. “Sorry Derek…I just…I…”
“It’s okay,” Derek said as he was swallowed in the embrace. He tried to return the gesture but was unable to get his arms around the mountain of a man his friend had turned into. “Uh…Scott?” Derek felt his friend begin to gyrate his hips slightly, grinding his now rock hard cock against his stomach. “What’re you…”
“Sorry,” Scott said without stopping. “I can’t help it…I’ve never felt so…” he stopped talking and leaned in to kiss Derek’s neck while he ran his hands over his friend’s tiny-by-comparison body.
“Scott!” Derek yelled, surprised. “Come on man, this isn’t you!” Though he’d dreamed about this very thing more times than he could remember, he didn’t want to take advantage of his friend’s current state.
“You don’t understand Derek,” Scott said as he peeled his friend’s shirt off, “this IS me. Just like you wanted.” He undid Derek’s jeans and stripped his friend down to his boxer-briefs. “Maybe I didn’t an hour ago, but right now I want you…bad.” Derek couldn’t have protested even if he’d wanted to. His six foot frame was well muscled from regular workouts but he was like a rag doll to the enormous Scott. All he could do was let himself be manhandled in a flurry of lustful and angry fucking and sucking while his friend struggled to come to terms with his new life. By the time it was over the sun had disappeared, leaving two naked and exhausted men tangled together on the floor of the cave.
“Scott…I’m sorry man…I would never have done this to you on purpose. I didn’t…” he was cut off by a deep kiss from his fantasy lover.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know. I should have told you instead of complaining the whole time we were out here.” A few hours of pleasure had given Scott a rosier view of his altered future. All things considered, Scott knew this could have gone much worse for him. “What’re you going to do with the crystal now?”
“I don’t know,” Derek smiled, “I’m sure I’ll think of something.”