#mentaltf

Pride season.

There's something in the air this month.

In some cities, even streets far removed from major events like the Pride parade, such as the one Ryker is walking in right now, are decorated to celebrate the occasion.

Ryker isn't stupid.

He knows that many people who decorate their shops or homes for Pride would feel uncomfortable next to a gay person any other month, but he doesn't want to get upset, so he prefers not to think about those things and just enjoy the atmosphere.

"Wow...!"

Ryker turns around to see whose voice he just heard.

On the steps of the back entrance of a small apartment building, Ryker sees a man in his fifties, sitting with his cell phone in his hands, staring at him in a daze. Apparently, that expression has been an involuntary reaction to seeing Ryker.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?" Ryker asks casually.

"Huh?! Er... All good, mate, thanks." He answers, surprised. "What... what about you?" It is clear that he didn't expect Ryker to pay attention to him.

"All good." Ryker responds with a cocky but also sincere smile. "What are you up to? Are you ready for this afternoon's parade and the crazy parties afterwards?"

"Who? Me? Hahaha. No, man, that's not for me."

The man seems more comfortable talking to Ryker now.

"Really? Why? Name is Ryker, by the way."

"Hans. Nice to meet you." Hans introduced himself, to which Ryker responded with a nod. "I've always found it a bit… fake to go to a Pride parade."

"How is that?" Ryker asks, curious.

"Don't get me wrong." Hans responds with his hands raised in a conciliatory gesture, so as not to offend anyone, and standing up before continuing. "I carry the Pride in my soul, but I can never celebrate it the way I want… or rather, the way I'd like to be. My true self."

"Interesting!" Ryker says this as he moves very close to Hans, leaning a hand against the wall behind him and completely invading his personal space. Although it's obvious Hans doesn't mind. "And your true self… what is it like…?" He asks in a deep, seductive voice.

"Ah... hahaha... you see..." Hans is obviously excited and enjoying Ryker's closeness. "Although it might not seem like it… I like being the strong one around others… the dominant one… the boss… having the upper hand…"

Hans' intense gaze shows that he really means it. Then his expression becomes less cheerful and more somber as he shifts his gaze from Ryker's eyes to his own body.

"When I look at my body… it doesn't match what I carry inside…"

"That's all? Ok." Ryker says with an optimistic tone." We're going to fix this. It's time to get you out of there." He adds casually, as if he were saying the most normal thing in the world, while tapping Hans's chest with his finger.

"What do you m...?"

But Hans's question is interrupted when Ryker claims his lips, catching the surprised man completely off guard. It's not an unpleasant surprise, of course... Hans has had a rock-hard boner almost since the moment he laid eyes on Ryker… he just hadn't expected it.

The kiss is gentle at first, but soon becomes intense…

Demanding...

And Hans gives in to passion.

It's not a kiss out of kindness or pity.

It is authentic and full of desire.

Hans hasn't felt like this in a long time, and he's giving it his all.

After a few amazing moments that felt like an hour, Ryker gently broke the kiss, staring intently into Hans' eyes, without abandoning his cocky grin.

"It's time, bro. Get out of there."

"Hah... what do you... WHAT THE...?!"

Suddenly, smoke begins to seep from Hans’s pores… literally. Billows of dense, musky cigar smoke curl around his forearm, not burning, but melting his old skin. It’s not painful, quite the opposite. It is an intense, pleasurable release... the exhilarating relief of shedding an excruciatingly tight suit.

As the smoke lifts, Hans gasps. His arm is still there, but remade. It’s thicker, harder, carved from dense, powerful muscle. The transformation is ruthless and electric. Everywhere the smoke passes, it consumes his former self and leaves behind this truer, dominant form.

Even his civilian clothes cannot resist. They don't fade, they transmute. The weak cotton of his white t-shirt and the coarse denim of his jeans surrender, dissolving into the air and hardening into polished, heavy-duty black leather. He is no longer Hans, he is a man wearing authority. Hans isn’t afraid, he’s not shouting… instead, he’s reveling in it, fully surrendered to the dominant power filling him.

As the smoke seeps into his mind, the mental shift takes hold. The mind must match the body. Gone are the doubts, gone is the shame of his hidden desires. Now, there is only raw strength, absolute authority, and unyielding passion... above all, passion.

He celebrates it with a guttural roar.

The transformation is complete.

He is the same man, yet an entirely different beast.

Hans is no more. Hammer is born.

"About time..." Ryker exclaims, satisfied with the results.

"Fuck! That was... intense!"

"Ready to celebrate or do you still feel like staying home?"

"Staying home?! Fuck, no! Lead the way!"

Deep down, Hammer knows he is still Hans. He is fully aware of the power that just rewrote him, but there is no horror, no rejection, and no regret. Instead, he embraces his new reality with a fierce, burning gratitude.

"Move it. The world is ours for the taking."

Through Ryker's absolute power and his own buried desires, everything has finally clicked into place. His mind doesn't fight the leather or the massive muscles, it claims them. This is what he always wanted to be… stripping away the weak exterior to let the dominant predator step forward.