A Visitor from Beyond the Fourth Wall

Commission for TheGuyNoOneRemembers

Grant awoke with a jolt. He only vaguely remembered the dream he'd just had. Something about a Latias and a magic store... It was all fuzzy. He brushed it into the back of his mind as he prepared for a weekend of relaxation. By which I mean he rolled into his side and tried to go back to sleep, 'cause it was freaking two in the morning.

However, the powers that be were unwilling to let Grant rest, for a persistent banging on an inconveniently-placed window kept him from slipping back into unconsciousness. Disgruntled, Grant crawled from his bed to investigate the banging.

Much to his surprise, an extremely familiar dragon was the one banging. Specifically Yuki, an extremely cute Ice Dragon that Grant formerly believed to be merely an imaginary character of his own creation. A character he loved, but a character nonetheless.

The baffled Grant stared open-mouthed for a good five minutes before noticing the look of frustration on Yuki's snout, and thus he opened the window.

"Finally," Yuki said in a relieved tone. "I was almost worried you'd freak out. But I knew you wouldn't~" The dragon entered the building, and sat down on Grant's bed.

"You're... real?" Grant asked redundantly.

"Pretty sure I'm real, Harrison." Yuki curled up on a pillow.

"Grant."

"Eh?"

"Harrison's my middle name," Grant explained.

"...Right. Guess things can be different here..."

"Speaking of here, how did you even get here?" Grant was still in awe over the existence of his own character.

"I dunno, really. I just kinda woke up by the window. Think there was a guy named Sinzu there, too. It's all kind of a blur..."

"...The fourth wall is softer than I thought," Grant said under his breath.

"Anyways, I also found this thing," Yuki continued as she produced a bone-white mask from seemingly nowhere. It was mostly featureless aside from the wire-crossed mouth, and had a distinctly reptile shape. "I think I'm supposed to give it to you. It has a very 'gift' vibe."

Grant picked up the mask. "I think I've seen it somewhere before... Guess it's not too important." With that, he put on the mask.

Immediately, he felt his skull stretch and distort to fit the reptilian mold of the mask. His hair shrank under his scalp, blood-red scales taking its place. A pair of beige horns pushed out from his elongated head, and his neck began to stretch out several feet.

His shoulders bulked up as the scales reached his torso, and his entire form grew more muscular. His hands cracked as they reformed into three-clawed feet. Meanwhile, his legs grew even more muscular, and his feet ripped apart into massive talons.

Two bony limbs molded off from his back. They wormed upward and branched off before leather red skin grew in, making a distinct pair of wings. Finally, his spine grew out from his back, and grew and grew until it was a long, thick, scaly tail.

"Amazing..." Grant curled his long neck around to look over his scaly form. He waved his impressive wings and stretched his tail. "I'm actually a dragon..."

"Good for you, then," Yuki chimed. "But, uh, I probably need a way home... Can you help a pal?"

"I think it's pretty obvious. You said you woke up here, right? I bet you'll wake up in your world next time you go to sleep."

"That makes sense. Mind if I spend the night with you, then?"

"You're the guest of honor."

With that, the two dragons curled up, and went into an undisturbed sleep.