AltRealm Ch. 01

Hello all! I'll keep this intro brief; enjoy.

This is my first foray into writing a story. At least true if this is where you get the majority of your stories from. Been coming here for over 10 years and decided it was time. It's been a great experience so far. Thank you for reading!

This is the first chapter in what I hope will be a very long series. I hope enjoy reading.

Cheers!

-Dylan Zed

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Tycho Mason sat in his darkened room playing the latest eroge game. Not the most auspicious beginning to a weekend for a young man named after a 16th century astronomer who wore a golden nose after losing his own in a sword fight. But after a long week of classes, there was little else he wanted to occupy his time with.

Some people may call this immature, but rest assured that Tycho would promptly tell such people to mind their fucking business. To be fair, the back of his mind continuously warned him that his obsession with mature cartoon content wasn't the best use of his adult free time. Fortunately for the intrepid chronic masturbator, the moaning sounds and Japanese dirty talk drowned out his thoughts effectively. The latest and greatest of games were at his fingertips, but he always found himself replaying Monster Girl Quest. He felt a certain kinship with Luka, or at least really wanted to. Currently, he found himself in the tentacles of one of his favorite monsters; the Kraken.

"Hora," he said out loud.

He clicked the option to surrender and was just about to put his hands down his boxers to ease the raging hormones when the 40" flat screen flickered and died.

"Motherfuck..." He breathed. He went to smack the side of his prized possession and was met with static in answer.

'Do flatscreens even do static?' he thought.

He sighed, biting his lower lip and trying to run potential solutions through his sleep deprived mind. He needed this fixed and fast. He hadn't saved since the damn crab girl, which was annoying enough, but an issue with an expensive television threatened all of his plans for the next two days. He prayed it was something else. He restarted his steambox, checked the HDMI several times and even swapped it for another, and fiddled with the settings on his TV but even the remote wouldn't work. He was out of options.

"Fuck," he said exasperated.

He sighed again in frustration at the now blank screen. He leaned back and perused his surroundings as if a solution may materialize in the corner somewhere. It was small, even for a dorm room, but it was home. He hadn't even been assigned a roommate since Willie had left mid semester and good riddance. Willie was a decent enough dude but his mother visited quite often and would chastise Tycho every time she came by. She would drone on and on about... well, he never really paid attention. Frankly, he had no idea what her problem was.

Looking right, his desk was littered with empty coffee cups, energy drinks, snacks, and books. Mostly math, physics, and engineering; only appropriate for an actual engineering major.

Tycho fancied himself as smart and he was, though often not as much as thought. Not brilliant but when it came to puzzles and inventing his own answers to problems, he did have a certain gift. That added to a fluency in sarcasm and being a dick. It was enough to get him a scholarship, at any rate. His mind, not the dickish sarcasm.

He stared momentarily at the mess of technological academia knowing that maybe this was a sign from the heavens that he needed to study. He tossed the remote into the bed and decided against the wisdom in studying. He had much better things to do. He threw on his jeans, slid a shirt over his slim frame, slid some sneakers on, grabbed his go bag and headed for the door. Time for a new TV.

"When I get back, I'm taking you out to the alley and pouring thermite on you," he threatened his now extinct TV.

His hand had just reached the handle when he froze. He had heard it.

The TV was back on.

"Just kidding?"

He slowly turned and sure enough a sea of static greeted him. He dropped his bag and shuffled slowly over to the set. He turned his game on to see if anything had changed but he didn't have that kind of luck. He switched it off again, eyebrow raised in suspicion. He had seen this sort of thing happen in a film. Inner horror movie fanatic showing, he unplugged it before turning and walking a little more quickly to the door.

He had just put his hand on the knob when again, the unmistakable sound of his TV turning on echoed off the painted brick around him. He stood dumbly, undecided on his next course of action. Talking to himself seemed as good an answer to this issue than any.

"Just walk through the door, T. You've seen this movie. You're gonna turn around and the little girl in the well is going to kill you. You don't want someone to see your face all horrific and shoved in a closet. Just turn the knob, and walk away..."

He argued with himself but eventually his curiosity, not quite outweighing his apprehension, held long enough for him to convince himself he must have unplugged the wrong device. But he knew it was bullshit.

"Fuck it," he whispered and turned.

What met his pale blue eyes was not what he expected. Certainly not from a broken TV but also not from a TV that didn't have any channels or satellite. He ran a hand through his unruly brown hair and stepped tentatively closer to the TV. He couldn't deny that he was impressed with the picture quality but less so with what was actually happening. He could see a forest, bright and vibrant with a light mist in the air and sun streaming through the leaves and branches where it could. At least it wasn't some hideous little girl in a well. Nothing seemed to be happening apart from the rustle of leaves. What was this?

'Has to be glitch or someone screwing with me... Has to be.'

Whatever channel he'd stumbled on or prank was being pulled was surprisingly boring so far. Maybe one of those hot twins down the hall doing an experiment.

He walked slowly over to the TV yet again and picked up the remote but stopped just before sitting down. Instead he squatted down, shifted left then right, back up, and then sat.

"Huh," said open-mouthed and with brow furrowed.

Whatever angle he looked into the TV, the view changed with it. As if the angle he looked at it through changed the angle on the screen. It was like looking through a window instead of a television. He stepped forward and tentatively rapped his knuckles on the screen, then peeked over the TV to make sure he wasn't falling for some easy gag but found nothing. He knelt in front of it again, biting his lip.

It really did look like a window view rather than a two-dimensional image. He turned around and confirmed his hypothesis when one of the sunbeams that pierced the forest and the screen was casting shadows on the wall behind him. He raised his hand and saw the light on his skin; an impossible sunbeam.

Tycho had no idea what to make of what he was seeing. He double checked the plug and held it in his hand, confirming it as the power source and currently without any way to actually power his flat screen. He just couldn't comprehend or accept what was in front of him. His scientific mind offered several possibilities but they didn't quite stack up when compared to 'why.' Transmitting both power and picture was possible but not in this detail and not as targeted as only affecting his TV. Not to mention that no signal could compete with data on a hard connection via HDMI and his steambox was still on.

"What kind of Doctor Who shit is this?"

He picked up the TV and waved it around his dorm room. Everywhere he turned it was a new view of the forest as if he were standing in it. Chuckling at the marvel before him, he was surprised when he whipped the TV around and realized he wasn't alone in the forest any longer. The view landed on a firm, sculpted stomach with slatted abs and some kind of tattooed stripes of orange and black. Slowly he aimed the TV up and caught an eyeful of mammoth tits barely covered in a leather halter top that was trimmed with fur. He stopped on his journey up this heavenly body and, like any intelligent man, simply stared. Some kind of VR porn experience, perhaps?

Had to be Dave and Riley.

"Little overdone on the tits, guys," he said. "I'm not a 'they're too big' kind of guy. Bigger is always better for me but if you're going for mass appeal, I might make them a bit more realistic and maybe less... Gravity defying."

He figured whoever was screwing around with him was recording. For posterity... He hoped. He heard an exasperated snarl before his TV was yanked up and into the fearsome gaze of...

"Holy shit, it's a Jinko."

Yup, had to be some kind of porn.

And she was gorgeous. He was stunned by her momentarily. High cheekbones, heart-shaped face, and moist, plump lips in a very natural shade of pink. She had dreadlocked hair with decorations in various strands and pulled back but with several strays that framed her face. Her feline slitted eyes looked at him through a beautiful amber lens with bright green outlines.

"Wow," he said. "You're absolutely gorgeous. Hey, you guys put an amazing amount of detail making this girl. Who was your reference?"

He had no time to examine her beauty further as a massive, fully furred paw drew up in front of him and tapped on the glass. He felt the force and vibration on his end from her curious tapping and was jarred back into the moment. He was suddenly less convinced this was anyone's idea of an overly circuitous joke.

"Hey, knock that off," he exclaimed. With the plug still in his hand, he didn't know what else to do with the TV if this jaw-dropping monster decided she wanted to come in. Although, how much would he complain if he saw her in the flesh? Wait, no. Stupid. She can't be real.

"Who are you? What are you?"

Her sultry voice was surprisingly high-pitched for her size, but strong and distinctly feminine.

"Tycho," he said dumbly. "I'm uh... just a dude."

"Are you a witch or demon, Dude Tycho?"

"Huh... I've been called things close to that, I suppose. Who are you," he asked, stopping just short of asking her how she ended up on his TV. Couldn't give Dave or Riley the satisfaction of him thinking this could be real. It was a joke for certain. It was just way overly elaborate and technologically impossible was all.

She seemed to ponder his response. Her confusion was evident on her feline face with plump lips pouting and a strong brow furrowed.

"I'm Arterra," she finally responded.

"Good to meet you, I think. How did you get in my TV?"

'Dammit.'

"How did you bring a cave into a forest clearing," she fired back.

"Fair point. I have absolutely no idea. I'm going to go throw my TV off the roof now, I think. Pleasure to have met you, Arterra."

He turned to walk away but was spun back on his heels to face her.

"What? Hey! Stop that!"

She grabbed his TV and began pressing her face into the glass, looking around in his room. He wrestled for control but found her strength difficult to manage. Her button nose, lips and brow were pressed firmly into the thin film and the screen steamed up as she breathed.

"Can I come in, Dude Tycho? I've never seen a floating cave."

He struggled to hold his TV but she swung him around as if he weren't there. She finally wrenched it out of his grip entirely and began wandering around his room while he landed with a thud. Watching his broken flatscreen float about had him wondering if he was hallucinating.

"Hold on just a damn minute," he yelled.

He leapt back onto his TV and twisted it, placing his feet on the wall for leverage.

"I'm only looking, Dude Tycho. Calm yourself," she managed, clearly annoyed.

"Fuck that," he grunted. "I need my TV back!"

They fought. Or rather, a humanoid tigress flung him around his own room via whatever portal his flat screen had turned into and he just hung on for dear life.

"Arterra, you let go of my shit RIGHT NOW!" He roared.

And she did. The sudden loss of opposing force caused him to stumble back and the TV went airborne. He grabbed his backpack and managed to get it in front of his face before the TV smashed down on top of him. It was no small impact and the plastic composite cracked and broke on top of him.

After a minute, he unscrewed his eyes and looked up.

'That sure is a lot of sun and sky for the inside of a dorm room,' he noted.

He was now in the forest.

"Fuck," he exclaimed jumping to his feet. He whipped around looking for his portal back to his room only to realize what remained of his TV lay in pieces around him.

"No, no, no, no, nooooo."

He scooped up pieces and began to try and piece them back together but it was a wreck. Not even all of the pieces had traveled with him, only broken bits.

"I don't suppose you have a Best Buy in this forest," he said, hoping to whatever deity that had done this that he was somehow still alone in his room and only needed psychiatric treatment.

"Are you alright, Dude Tycho?"

He whipped around to stare her down but his breath caught when he realized how close she was. That, and her head sized breasts were also head level and maybe a foot away. He looked up at her towering form and his anger simply disappeared. It was a smart move to remain calm, he figured, upon observation that she must be at least seven and a half feet tall.

His gaze whipped down to her feet and took her in from bottom to top. Her clawed feet were more like paws that led to digitigrade calves. She was covered in fur from foot to knee where tanned flash began. Her striped pattern continued along her soft flesh past her thick, rippling thighs into her hips. They were inhumanly wide with bulging curves contouring into her hardened stomach and narrow waist. He caught sight of her hands. Like her feet, they were covered in fur and clawed, hatched sharply with black stripes across her orange fur before shifting again into tan skin. His hungry, fearful eyes met her bulging soft breasts directly in front of his face and he gulped. Every inch of her exposed skin was coated in a translucent sheen that caught his eyes and enraptured his senses. Her body coalesced into her feline face. She had a narrow chin and heart-shaped face with those large, slitted, amber green eyes, a cat-like nose, and long, wild flame-colored hair pulled into dreadlocks. Add her bonelike piercings and she looked like an alternative style girl in cosplay. Her plump lips were parted to reveal her exaggerated fang-like canines. A heavy but pleasant musk rolled off of her and into his nose, numbing his other senses.

He realized his mouth was open and closed it with a click of his teeth. He could swear he thought he saw her smirk.

"Uh... Hi there," he said with little wave.

"Hello, Dude Tycho. Your cave seemed very small. Now that you are out of it, would you reopen it so I may see it again? How did you do such a thing?"

'Christ' he thought as he looked at her bulging arms and shoulders. 'Be cool. Be casual. Don't say stupid things. Easy.'

"Thing is... Arterra, right?"

She nodded and leaned in, pulling on his clothing and wristwatch, squatting down to examine his shoes.

'Curious as a cat,' he mused.

"Well, Terri. I'm going to call you Terri because I'm terrible with made up names. Terri, that cave wasn't supposed to be a cave."

She continued her examination, stepping around behind him, pulling his belt and backpack, and scratching his hair.

"Terri," she tried before beaming at him, tail twitching back and forth. "I like Terri. Hi Dude Tycho, I'm Terri!"

"Hi, Terri," he said awkwardly.

"But your cave seems to have floated off. Surely you can call it back," she said hopefully.

She possessed an innocence that belied her size. Her wide eyes and overly friendly nature seemed to scream "young." He wondered how old she was. She couldn't have been much older than his own 20 years but it was hard to gauge with her size.

"Well, thing is, Terri. My uh... Cave seems to be broken."

He watched her face fall and resisted the urge to give her a hug. Fuck, she was adorable.

"Dude Tycho... Did I break your cave?"

"What!? Pffft! That old thing?" He said trying to sound casual. "Not a chance. It just needs time to uh... rest. That's all."

'Why not?' he thought.

"Oh," she replied, trying to process this new information. She seemed to be struggling with it.

"In other words, nothing is your fault. At least, not as far as I can tell."

She took only a half second before straightening to her full height and beaming at him once more.

"Oh! Good! I break things sometimes. I don't mean to it's just, I grew so big so fast when I reached my seventeenth cycle and in the six cycles since, I still haven't gotten..." She sniffed the air, eyes zeroing in on him. "Used to..." She stepped within inches of him, leaned down and sniffed his neck. "It."

"It's fine," he said as he took a nervous step back. She moved a step forward, keeping their distance the same. It was all he could do to keep his eyes on her own and not travel down.

"Don't even worry about it, Terri. I remember my growth spurt. Gangly and awkward and here I am years later still slim and uncoordinated. Happens to the best of us. Is it hot? It feels hot."

He took another step back to create distance which she closed with a step of her own. He was getting light-headed from her strong aroma now. He kept taking steps back. Her face betrayed nothing else but curiosity. He detected no malice or hostility but her size alone was giving him the creeps. She had no sense of personal space, that was for sure.

"Dude Tycho, what are you? You never said before."

It was a loaded question. She was digging now and he knew it. For what, he had no idea but her sudden interest in his answer seemed targeted. She bounced on her heels and her bosom bounced with her. He glanced down at her chest and his eyes glued there for entirely too long. He looked up just in time to see her following his gaze before meeting his. Tycho could almost see the pieces clicking into place in her head.

This time she took a step forward first and he stepped back. She was trying to close the distance.

"Terri? Whatcha doing?"

"Your smell is... It can't be."

"If this is about me not showering today, I was supposed to be indoors..."

She held up a paw to silence him. He obliged the giantess with claws.

"But it's... You are, aren't you?"

His back hit a tree and she closed the few remaining inches between them, leaning down to head level. Her eyes were wide now. Lightning fast, her hands grasped his shoulders and pinned him firmly against the tree. Tycho jumped at the suddenness of her movement but she held him fast. His breath caught as she pushed her nose to his neck, his chest, his head. He dared not move, not that he believed he could have broken her grip if he wanted to. His vision swam and his head began to spin with her so close. Her iron grip softened and she drew a paw under his chin and tilted his head up to hers. Her lips were brushing his as she held his head in place. He melted when he felt her hot breath play across his features as her nose touched his. Her eyes were closed as she continued to sniff him in long, slow breaths. Tycho swooned in her grip. What was that smell? Like cinnamon mixed with something earthy. Some spice or semi-sweet smell mixed with her musk. Gods, it was driving him crazy. Something about her smell was dulling him. He could feel it ensnare his senses. A sudden but pleasantly mild euphoria washed over him while he just breathed her in.

Her eyes snapped open wide and caught his, rooting him.

"Tycho," she breathed. "You're a male."

He suddenly became aware of the tent in his jeans that he hadn't even realized was there. He was male alright, and she was a female all but climbing on top of him.