#I also love writing alt and glitches and the panthers bonding lol

[huffle-dork]

Alt’s Transition (SwapBoys JSE AU: Impulse/Villain Arc)

Masterpost | Last Chapter | AO3 Link

(AN: hey guys I finally got to the story y’all voted for me to work on after almost a month! Stuff has been crazy for me but it’s so nice to get this story done!

Things to keep in mind though! As much as I did research and checked with my trans friends, this is still a magical transition Alt undertakes. If you’re okay with that please enjoy! If you don’t, this might be a story you need to skip. While the relationship between Alt and Mag is important in this chapter, his transition can be supplemented with whatever you’d like to imagine 💚 I completely understand this kind of transition narrative isn’t for everyone! Overall though I did my best to keep this respectful and it’s gonna be a wholesome story exploring Mag and alts partnership and alt’s transition. With that being said please enjoy!)

Magnificent stretched much like a cat as he exited his study den from his latest magic session. Hm… he hadn’t heard from his cub today… nor his actual panthers. Where could they be?

The masked magician strode through the catwalk of his latest hideout, cape billowing behind him as he observed his base from on high. Everything seemed in order.

Finally, he came across the large former loading dock. And there he found what he was looking for.

Alt seemed to be practicing his sparring with Mag’s panthers. Magnificent felt the edges of his lips curve up into a private smile. How quaint… His apprentice seemed to be bonding well with his pets… that could prove useful in the future.

The pickpocket skid back as one of the panthers threw him by his arm. He grinned and landed on his feet with practiced agility. His arms buzzed with electricity and he sprung forward, using his momentum to glitch in and out in a zig zag before he barrelled into an unsuspecting panther and sent it skidding across the floor. Said panther gets to their feet and shakes themselves off before licking their paw like a housecat.

Alt, a bit out of breath, rolls his eyes, “C’mon Glitches! If you wanna practice you gotta act like the other guys! Right Lucky?” The panther with the pink spotted nose chuffed slightly then pressed her head against Alt’s side. The glitch flinched a bit at this.

Glitches let out a very cat like meow, very much giving away that she’s just a cat in a big panther body. Alt sighs and shakes his head. “At least say focused girl, alright?”

He shakes out his hands then holds out his fists in front of him, smiling at the other panthers. “Alright, Rogue, Circut, Koda and Siri! Come at me and show Glitches how it’s done!”

All the other panthers roared at Alt before diving at him. Alt stayed still until the first one, Circut, seemed about to grab him with his claws. He glitched out of the way and managed to slide under one of the others, Siri, pushing a charged hand against her stomach and sending her flying. Rogue tried to attack his back while he was turned but Alt glitched away. He was breathing rather heavily now and gripped slightly at his side.

Magnificent narrowed his eyes down, trying to figure out if one of the panthers managed to hit him. But… there was no blood or visible tears in his clothes.

Alt doesn’t let this keep him down for too much longer though as he rushes to try to throw Koda back, using his magic to try to boost his strength just enough to toss the panther away.

This appeared to be too much for Alt as after the throw, he cries out and grips at his chest, sinking to his knees as he gasps in breath after ragged breath.

The panthers pause their pursuit of him and Glitches is quick to bound over to his side and sniff at him, mewling in concern.

Alt tries to push her off, but he’s breathing too hard to actually tell her so. Lucky also slinks up under his other arm and tries to hold it up on her back. Her ears flatten back, trying to rub up against him more.

Magnificent has seen enough. In a wave of static he appears in front of Alt with a disapproving frown.

Alt looks up and then tries to stand to attention, “M-Mag!” He then groans and holds his side again, nearly falling back down but Lucky and Glitches keep him doing so. “I… I’m fine I.. I swear-”

“How long have you been training with your binder on?” Magnificent asks with a cool voice.

The younger boy looks up at Mag with wide, slightly scared eyes. “W-What? How… how did you-?!”

Magnificent waves him off, “Please, pet. You expect me to not notice such a critical detail about my apprentice?” His expression falls flatter as he nods his head towards Alt. “Take it off. Now.”

Alt stammers and tries to stand straighter, despite how it seems to pain him. “N-No! It’s okay, it's fine- I'm just fine! I.. I can keep going!”

“Do not make me repeat myself, Alt.”

Alt’s eyes glow slightly as he bares his teeth and backs up, covering his chest with one arm. “No! Not…” He mumbles the last part, turning his face away so Mag won’t completely hear, “Not in front of you…”

Magnificent sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose before striding forward, making Alt back up with slight fear in his eyes. “Go take it off now, or I will rip it off myself!” His clawed hands glow slightly with his magic and Alt flinches even more. Magnificent's intense expression softens. He then adds a softer, “…Please, Alt.” Though it comes out a bit strained, like he’s not used to sounding so gentle.

He looks down and then finally bites out a defeated, “ Fine.” And he glitches away.

A few minutes later, Alt glitches back in, out of his impulse uniform and into a large hoodie. He curls up against one of the warehouse’s walls and starts to sulk.

Magnificent looks up from where he was checking over his panthers. Glitches mewls and is about to bound over to Alt to jump on him, so Mag acts quickly to break her other spell so by the time she climbs up on him she’s in her kitten form again. Alt hardly pays her any mind, even as the kitten tries to lick at his face.

The magician studies Alt quietly before he sighs and walks over. He leans up against the wall next to Alt and they sit there in silence for a little bit.

“...you hardly look different, you know,” Magnificent starts quietly, briefly looking down at the sulking apprentice.

Alt bares his teeth and then hides his face behind his arms, “But I feel different. I hate it… I hate that- that I’m not made right! That I can't even train or exercise or… just be without feeling wrong.” He sighs miserably and presses his head against his arms.

“...binding is the closest I can get but… it’s not enough…” He looks up and very gently presses a hand against his chest. “... T has helped enough to at least make me pass… and… I-I know I’m hurting myself but… It’s better than feeling wrong.” He grabs at his hair and angrily looks away. “I’m so fucking close but i-... I can’t get what I want… not yet.”

Magnificent is quiet while Alt rants, but he does nod to him to let him know he understands. Eventually, the dark magician pushes himself off the wall and waves a glowing hand. Alt’s backpack flies over and lands in front of him.

“... our plans are canceled for tonight. Go home and get some rest, kitten.”

Alt jumps and then looks up at Magnificent in protest. “What? But wait i-!”

Mag looks down at him with a harsh expression. “No buts, I’m not risking you getting more injured by that bumbling hero on top of this. Any plans we have can wait a night. Go home, Alt.”

Alt stares up at Mag then looks at his bag. Glitches walks over and mewls before rubbing up against him, purring quietly. Alt finds himself smiling. Okay… maybe a night in wouldn’t be so bad.

------

A few days later, Alt is feeling better, having gone to the Dooms to get some advice. It was hard admitting to them and exposing himself but… they weren’t judgy. And Alt… actually felt safe with them. I mean- he did get an earful from that Dr. Google. But… it was… almost nice.

He walks into the warehouse, Glitches perched on his shoulder like a parrot. She sees the panthers and bounds off his shoulder and over to them, mewling excitedly and butting her head against their legs. The panthers were always so gentle with her, giving tiny licks to her head and lightly bapping her around. Alt smiles and pets a few of them, calling them all by the names he gave them. Why Mag never named them he’ll never know… or maybe he just didn’t care enough. They were probably just tools to him… like he was.

Alt frowns and quickly tries to push that thought from his head. It wouldn’t matter later… this was all to reach his goal.

As he starts to walk forward to set his stuff down he’s suddenly met with a glowing bottle being thrust into his face.

He blinks at it then looks up to see Magnificent is holding out the bottle to him.

Alt tilts his head and squints at it, “Uh… what’s this?”

Magnificent shrugs and presses the bottle into his hands. It’s warm, a swirling mass of white, with flecks of blue and pink floating inside. “It’ll solve your problem.” Magnificent says simply. “It will give you the body you want.”

Alt feels his heart leap up into his throat as he looks back up in surprise. “R-Really?!”

Magnificent just barely smiles as he nods. “With some consequence, of course. It will leave some magical scarring.”

“I mean… so does top surgery-” Alt mumbles, inspecting the potion.

Magnificent shrugs again and sticks his hands in his pants pockets. “It’s also technically illegal.” He waves one of his hands, “That is- if you use it without a witch’s circle or magical professional. It takes a massive amount of energy… and is usually done with light magic. However, mine will work just fine. I guarantee.”

Alt thinks on this and then laughs slightly, “Isn’t everything we’re doing illegal right now?”

Mag grins, showing off his canines. “Touche~!” He lets his expression fall again and gives a bit more a serious face. “Just be weary… It’ll be a very big drain on both of us. So, give yourself the proper time to recover.”

The pick pocket looks ready to explode with excitement. His form can hardly stay together as it fizzles and pops with random pixels and glitches.

Letting out an amused chuckle, Magnificent nods his head towards the door, signaling Alt can leave.

Alt still looks up at him with confusion and hesitation. Mag rolls his eyes and then jerks his head to the side. Purple surrounds Alt for a second before it turns him around and nudges him towards the door. Alt yelps in surprise but he stays still for one more second looking at Mag.

Magnificent sighs and walks back up to him, “Don’t worry, Alt. I can’t have my apprentice continuing to injure himself like this. So, this will get you back into top condition.” He lightly shoves Alt forward again. “But, it’s not just out of the kindness of my lack-of-heart, this is to both of our interests.” He nods towards the door again. “So, go. Or I’ll have the panthers chase you out.”

Alt’s face breaks out into a giddy smile. He nods then whistles for Glitches, who looks up from the gaggle of panthers around her then runs over to scale Alt’s arm and perch back on his shoulder. Alt hesitates for half a second more before he looks back at Magnificent. He smiles gently and mouths, ‘Thank you’ before he glitches away.

-----

Back at his apartment, Alt sits on his mattress and reads the label on the potion in the dim light. Mag says to take it before going to sleep… and that’s it. That’s it?? That seems… too easy.

Then, again- he said it was supposed to be done with a magical professional. Alt didn't even know those existed! Then again, Mag had told him magical communities are very small and hidden. So, that’s probably why he’s never even heard that magical transitioning was even a thing.

Alt is too excited to wait for the evening. He’ll go to sleep now! He can hardly wait. So, he changes out of his street clothes and binder, puts on a comfy hoodie and shorts and settles back on his mattress. He looks to make sure Glitches is taken care of before he studies the potion again. He swallows, nerves making his heart beat fast. But… he wants this. God he wants this.

So, he braces himself and uncorks the bottle, going to knock the potion back as quickly as he can. The potion is sweet, almost like candy mixed with the fresh taste of rainwater. Then, it leaves a sour taste in his mouth. Alt almost instantly starts to feel the effects as the potion starts to drag him under into sleep. He falls back just as his eyes shut.

The rest happens in a blur that he’s hardly conscious for. He feels- heat… intense heat. Sweat all along his forehead, dripping as he feels like a fever is coursing through his veins. His blood feels like a live wire. It hurts for a bit, a dull ache that in one moment flashes into white hot pain. But, it doesn’t last long before Alt feels his entire body relax… and he fades completely into deep sleep.

Alt isn’t sure how much time has passed when he next opens his eyes. Except…. It’s dark. He did fall asleep during the day so… that makes sense. He groans, his body feeling weak and shaky. God, he was starving.

He rolls over to his side and hides his face in his pillow. But, then he realizes… there’s not that usual… padding he was used to. No it’s… it’s flat.

Alt quickly glitches to his feet, startling his cat to her feet as she hisses slightly at him. Alt doesn’t pay her any mind as he breathes heavily, hovering hands over his chest. Then, when he presses down against his chest… it’s true. It’s flat… completely flat. His breath hitches as he laughs, feeling wetness in his eyes.

He checks farther and uh… oh yeah that’s- that’s new. Gonna… take a while to get used to that. But, regardless, this was amazing! He’s… he’s a guy. 100% completely a guy.

He glitches around his room to try to find a mirror. When he can’t find one, he glitches down stairs to the shared restroom for the tenets on the floor below him. Luckily, it was the middle of the night so no one was down here.

He staggers to the mirror, god walking was really really weird like this. He almost falls but manages to stay upright by bracing himself against the marble countertop. He studies himself in the mirror and immediately notices his face. It doesn’t look too different, being on T meant he had gone through a lot of changes since he was a teen. So, he didn’t have that pudgy baby face. But, now… it’s not just the fat that changed. His bones have changed. He presses fingers to the new structure in awe. He still looks like himself just… male. A bit more angular in his jaw and nose and eyes.

Alt turns to try to look at his chest but his large hoodie is in the way. He desperately chucks it off and throws it to the floor. He feels his breath get taken away as he looks at himself fully in the mirror.

Now, he can see that it's true. A flat chest… breasts gone. Left behind are faintly glowing scars that show how the flesh disappeared. They kinda looked like tiger stripes.

“How fitting for a potion from Mag.” Alt chuckles to himself.

There’s not just marks around his chest, but on his arms and leading down his waist. His sides no longer had that feminine curve- they fell down straight and boxy at his hips. Alt can’t help but place hands on the skin, expecting it to feel foreign but… it just feels right. This is how he always imagined himself but now…. It’s real. It’s outside, a part of him, instead of stuck inside.

Alt feels tears in his eyes again but this time he lets them fall. He hiccups, stuck between laughing and crying, marveling at his new body. This felt too good to be true…

But it is- it is true. And Alt is stuck staring and crying and laughing for a while. Until he hears the door to the bathroom start to open. He panics and grabs his hoodie before glitching back upstairs.

Oof okay- that made him dizzy. He’s probably over-doing it. He tries to walk to his bed but he feels off balance- was that because of the changes too? He wobbles, trying to right himself and reorient himself. Doesn’t help with his vertigo though and soon he stumbles to flop backwards onto his bed.

He stares dazedly at the ceiling and then breaks back out into delirious giggles that come with more happy tears.

Finally, he feels… complete.

Glitches crawls over to inspect him. Alt almost expects her to not recognize his scent. But, she seems just fine as she purrs and goes to curl up against Alt’s side. Her steady breathing and warm body helps Alt’s heart start to calm down. He sighs happily and curls up with the kitten, being lulled back into a restful and happy sleep.