The events had started fifteen years ago. The first one hit in northern Iraq, with sightings of a strange peacock-like creature that was later revealed to a be local priest. After he was apprehended and the initial panic died down, the man described being engulfed and transformed by an all-consuming field of color and heightened reality that left him in his current state. The news was dismissed by most as a well done hoax or some overly ambitious viral marketing scheme, and was quickly forgotten

The next struck in Washington state, with the world’s first confirmed sighting of a live Bigfoot. A camera crew for yet another Bigfoot documentary on some once-prestigious channel was roaming the forest as usual, getting set up to fake some evidence to keep their viewers interested. That’s when a real life Bigfoot walked out of the woods to greet them. In stunningly clear English, the massive creature said it had a message for all of humanity. After some scrambling with cameras and some shouted phone calls, the interview was broadcast live to the entire world.

“The waves are cresting. Follow them, or be dragged under.”

The next event hit at a furry convention. Lightbulbs shattered overhead and the loudspeakers screeched with ethereal feedback. Some attendants suddenly found they weren’t wearing suits anymore, their fabric and foam turned to flesh and blood. Others without costumes simply changed. By the time the noise and power surges ended, thousands of human beings had become things they’d only dreamt of. Reporters arrived to cover the aftermath of what became known as a Morphic Wave, shoving microphones into faces with beaks and fangs in hopes of understanding what had just happened.

The cultural response was… mixed. Some people became convinced they’d lost touch with reality, and took months to fully recover. Others predictably assumed it was the work of evil forces, or a sign of the apocalypse. Still others saw an opportunity to create a new marginalized group, one they could claim wasn’t even human, an enemy they could use to gain power.

That stopped when their first political candidate started coughing during a live debate, staggered from his podium, and crumbled into a pile of rotten leaves. Others like him found themselves changed in less lethal ways, forced to beg for forgiveness to save themselves from the very cruelty they’d perpetuated. Governments around the world, either out of compassion or fear, quickly passed laws protecting all Morphic citizens, and guaranteeing them the same rights as any human. Life went on, more complicated than before, and with less standardized clothing, but happier overall. In most ways it was a blessing. It was hard to justify prejudices against other human beings when you might turn into a spider person next week, or when the horses on your cousin’s farm stood up and asked for an education. It wasn’t worthwhile trying to exploit nature when the rainforest stole your bulldozers and gave them minds and souls. And there seemed to be a deeper change going on. Something about the return of magic made people less likely to lash out, quicker to settle their differences peacefully. And the ones who didn’t? Well, let’s just say Nazis made good chew toys.

Scientists learned to measure and track the ethereal energy that made up these morphic waves, creating systems to measure and predict them better every year. Soon they could pinpoint when and where they would occur down to the day and zip code.

Which was why Derrick had taken the day off from work, and was sitting at home scrolling through the #WaveWatch hashtag on Twitter. Like anything else, morphic waves had become an online social experience. People worked to track their movements, made bets on what they or friends would turn into, and posted pictures and videos of their newly changed selves. And now that Twitter had been made into a free nonprofit service for the whole world, these recordings helped the newly changed, or “morphed” people confirm their identities with local governments so their lives could continue smoothly

The Ethereological report had predicted a 95% chance of a wave event in the area that day. Honestly, the percentages were more of a formality at this point. The waves had struck their predicted areas without fail for almost six years now. So Derrick sat there, waiting for this one to hit, livestreaming to a so-far meagre audience of six. Waiting for it to finally happen.

Waiting to stop hiding.

Because there was something Derrick hadn’t told the people watching yet. Something Derrick hadn’t told anyone at all.

She could hardly wait.

--------------------

A few blocks away, Mx. Brae Warton sat on their stoop, petting their siamese kitten Addersnap, or “Addie,” in the warm summer breeze. They’d head the wave was coming, of course. The alert sent to their phone had made sure of that. They weren’t worried, though, since the change had been kind to every morph they’d met. Brae just wanted to relax outside as a human one last time. For memory’s sake. The warm sun and gentle breeze lulled them into a tranquil haze, waiting for waiting’s sake.

Addie felt it long before they did. Her long ears and pointy head perked up with a tiny “mrr,” keen feline senses alerting her to the tangled ball of magic taking form in the air nearby. The kitten’s young mind couldn’t understand what was approaching, so she started kneading the lap beneath her. The tiny claws through their jeans snapped Brae out of their trance just in time to see the colors of everything around them turn… brighter? Deeper? More. That was the closest word for it. The sounds changed much the same way, every sensation did. Brae had never seen a wave in person before.

It was beautiful.

Addie’s simple cat mind struggled to comprehend what was happening around her. And as it struggled, it grew. Language welled up inside her mind, while the body around it grew.

The two were the first to be claimed by the wave. In mere minutes, a very feline Mx. Warton embraced their new catgirl daughter, happier than they’d ever been before.

The wave rolled on.

--------------------

“Sorry this is taking so long, everyone. It should be here soon.”

Derrick looked away from the camera again. The twenty-two year old girl in hiding was down to three viewers now. The stream chat was barely moving. It felt like ages before the next message popped up.

WarBird: so, what do you think it’ll make him? my bet’s on a turtle.

Derrick sighed. Just hold on a bit longer, she told herself. They’ll start calling you “her” once the wave hits. No more scrawny male body. No more hiding.

Another message. This one from Derrick’s coworker Mateus the next street over. She’d asked him if he wanted to go through the change together, but he’d blown her off. Said he wanted to do it by himself.

MateusEx: Hearing noises outside. It’s starting.

Finally! Derrick typed back quick as she could.

DoubleDerU: holyshit dude you need to stream this it’s like the bggest moment of your life! Lemme see!

MateusEx: Recording it for later. Might have to edit if I rip my clothes. Don’t worry, I’ll show you once it’s ready.

BorderLion: Laaame.

MateusEx: I think my neighbor’s a cricket now.

WarBird: haha, too bad for them

MateusEx: shit

MateusEx: its happeg

MateusEx: happeninG

DoubleDerU: are you okay? do you need help? whats it doing??

MateusEx: I’M okay. Just

MateusEx: Hard to type

MateusEx: With webbed fingers. Okay. I’m good. Ugh, there goes my shirt. Figures. Getting… scales? Hair’s falling out now. All of it. Looks like I’m going to be a Gillman or something? Got spines coming in on my head, scaly all over, and my hair’s gone. Feel fine, though. Better even.

DoubleDerU: oh hell yes! congrats bud!

MateusEx: It should get to you in a few seconds. Brace yourself.

BorderLion: So do fish have dicks or what?

Derrick heard the house begin to creak around her, old wood and stone adjusting as magic flowed through them. She quickly propped up her phone on the table opposite from her bed so she wouldn’t drop it or wander off camera during the changes. The hyperreality crept in through the wall behind it, inching towards her. It was just as surreal and beautiful as she’d heard.

“Guys! It’s here!”

BorderLion: RTing this now.

MateusEx: Good luck, Derrick.

WarBird: here we go

She couldn’t see it, but in the next few minutes, Derrick’s stream gained hundreds of viewers.

--------------------

Oh god, it was finally here. Derrick nearly melted in the magic’s embrace, ready for years of built up tension and anxiety to be wiped away by the soothing touch. She felt the hum of an altered reality seep into every bone, every cell, something like a heated blanket in the dead of winter, the chills of a song overwhelming you, and the embrace of a pool in summer all at once. The magic probed at her mind, reaching past the nerves and chemicals to touch the soul itself. Searching for answers about what she was deep down. What she should become.

The energy filling Derrick pulsed.

The wave had decided.

--------------------

Mateus was glued to his tablet’s screen as his friend started changing. Never mind exploring his new fishman body, that could wait until later. He didn’t want to miss a second of his friend’s change. They were already breathing heavily, their nose darkening and teeth turning sturdy and sharp as a short sturdy muzzle grew out from their face. Mateus winced at the creaking of his friend’s bones. He knew it didn’t hurt, but still, that sound just wasn’t right.

He watched Derrick’s ears draw out into rounded points, a soft layer of curly white fuzz filling their insides, while the skin around them was slowly consumed by short tan fur, before dark brown splotches faded into being over their face, cute patches of shading that emphasized the animal roundness of it. They twitched cutely, which drew an oddly soft giggle from what Mateus now recognized as a hyena in progress. He watched as Derrick reached up to touch them. They flicked at the touch and their friend giggled again, more of a cackle than the first.

That same dark shade leached into their hair as they fiddled with their new pointy ears, their growing curls shining luxuriously. The fishman felt a slight pang of jealousy, since he had just lost his hair in the change. Fins were still better, of course.

He watched Derrick shifting on their bed to get a better look at their transformation.

Wait a second. Were their hips getting… wider?

----------------

Derrick was in heaven. The changes were caressing her from the inside, tenderly stroking every part of her in ways that probably weren’t even possible. She wiggled her hips in place on the bed, relishing in the sensation as invisible forces pushed them ever wider, her thighs and butt thickening to fill out the growing space between them.

It felt so gooood.

        Thank god the wave had retracted her penis inside of her almost immediately. While she was plenty proud of her equipment, and glad it hadn’t changed into something else, she didn’t feel like having an erection in front of everyone watching the stream. She preferred it tucked inside for now, thank you very much. No matter how amazing the changes felt.

Her toes curled, and didn’t uncurl, instead turning to paw pads with powerful claws set in a foot absolutely covered in soft fuzz. Derrick wiggled her new beans to feel the fuzz shift around between her toes, It made her laugh again. This time it was unmistakably the cackle of a hyena, and god if she didn’t love how she sounded. Her tongue, already turned flat and long, lolled out of her increasingly powerful jaw, capping off her zoned out expression. She probably looked ridiculous, but she didn’t care.

Especially when her spine hooked up to her tailbone and pushed it out into a long black tuft that slipped out from under her butt and wagged back and forth in sheer joy. By now the fur had covered her entire body, black spots dusted over gorgeous gradients of tan, and she couldn’t be happier about that. She raised a hand to run through the copper-colored mohawk that trailed down her back, but got distracted as her hands twisted and grew, fingertips turning into dextrous but powerful paw pads and nails turning to mighty claws that she retracted and extended again in sheer wonderment.

But she quickly recovered her train of thought and started running her new improved fingers through her mohawk and fur. The motion made her shoulders pop and chest muscles tense, with that lovely creak of a tense powerful body, so the wave took that opportunity to pop her shoulders a bit thinner and start laying the foundations of her new chest. Proud hyena muscle was slowly covered by growing breast tissue, cradled in soft fat and capped by jet black nipples that matched her spots and her tail. Derrick’s stomach muscles tensed over and over, pulling her waist tight and building a firm six pack in her stomach’s place. All over her body, muscle knit and rebuilt her into an unassuming lithe powerhouse, distinctly feminine and unmistakably athletic. Her feet tapped at the floor unconsciously in sheer joy. Derrick rolled her now limber shoulders in a test of strength and motion, and grinned at the result. She felt amazing.

She was finally herself.

--------------------

Mateus couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His friend wasn’t just becoming a hyena, they were- she was- becoming an absolutely ripped lady one. So many little things about her he’d dismissed suddenly made so much more sense. Tiny slip-ups in her language, the jealous looks she’d made at other women, the way she drooped a bit every time her boss called her “sir.” How could he have been so blind to this? Of course Derrick was a woman. Now the outside matched what he’d been too dense to see before. And much to his confusion, he found her cute as hell.

Yeah, they definitely needed to talk after this.

Maybe more.

By now the stream had gathered hundreds of viewers, many of them other trans women, quite a few of them furries. The occasional reporter poked out of the chaos with a blue check mark, asking for permission to use the footage for a story or requesting an interview with the hyena woman. But nearly everyone was shouting words or emoticons or images of encouragement and celebration. Mateus was overwhelmed with vicarious happiness for his friend. Yeah, his own fishy change had been great, but this was something else altogether. Something utterly magical.

Derrick let out a sigh, and slowly stood up from the bed. She ran her fingers through her hair with a smile, then finally reached over and picked up her phone. Her finger dominated the view as she scrolled through comments, her smile growing wider and wider. Small happy tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks, soaking into the fur under her eyes.

“God, all this attention for me? Well, I hope you enjoyed the show.”

Heart emojis cascaded over the screen. The chat rushed by with messages of congratulations and sympathy. Her toothy smile shone even more. Derrick spoke again, her voice soft and joyous.

“It’s nice to finally meet you all.”

“I’m Gittsy.”

FIN