A young woman stood at the center of an empty street, her pink skirt fluttering in the wind, revealing glimpses of bare skin above her white thigh highs. A pink wand sat in her hand, the crystal star attached to it pulsing with a soft white light. She was Magical Girl Bright Star, one of the many young women across the world who had bonded with a Magical Crystal, in return for the power to stand against the forces of destruction. 

While other girls her age were attending college, or experiencing the ‘joys’ of starting a career, she was staring down a member of those very ‘forces’ she had sworn to fight. Its slime-based form resembled that of a woman’s, from the waist up. A slender purple torso, with a slim waist and gentle curves, slender arms, delicate fingers, and a surprisingly well defined face. The protrusion of its chest could even be interpreted as a pair of tightly clothed breasts. 

No matter how pleasing its aesthetics might be from a distance, though, it was still undeniably a monstrosity. Even ignoring its coloration - and the fact that it was easily five times its magical opponent's size - there was the “foot” of slime that trailed behind it, a goo-based muscle that pushed the creature down the street, towards her. A street it was consuming, dissolving the asphalt it passed over.

“Your reign of terror ends here, Violet Ooze!” Bright Star cried out, her will unwavering as she held her wand out toward the behemoth. The tip of the outstretched star began to glow, and a growl slipped from the purple behemoth’s lips. The star’s light grew brighter, one corner after another flaring to life. The ooze began to pick up speed, stretching its arm out toward the blonde. Bright Star held her wand in place, even as the initially vast distance between the two figures rapidly shrank. Sweat was beading across the magical girl’s brow as she pushed more and more of her magic into her wand, brightening the last of her star’s corners, before finally igniting the center.

“Bright Beam!” 

The ooze roared in pain as a ray of white light instantaneously bridged the gap between wand and monster. The slime it struck directly was instantly eradicated, while the surrounding fluid began to boil from what must have been an incredible heat. Its viscous form trembled, as the light faded, leaving a gaping wound in its chest. Yet, even with a hole punched through it, the creature did not fall.

That was not to say the spell had been wasted, though - the ooze had gone stock still, even its outstretched arms frozen in place, as it fought to keep its body from collapsing. With its structural integrity so weakened, one good hit would easily end it.

But Bright Star’s wand had gone dim.

“...I don’t think I’ve got the magic for another shot, Chrys,” she whispered, biting her lip. “Not at this range, anyway.”

“Don’t worry!” a high pitched voice replied, as a shining pink crystal popped into existence above the magical girl’s head, twinkling and twirling about. “At times like this, you just need to get up close and personal! Remember that spell I taught you?”

“It takes too long to cast! The Ooze will have time to heal itself, if I wait for it to take effect.” Bright Star’s eyes were locked on the Ooze, concern written on her face as violet liquid began dripping from its fingertips. The drops of slime squirmed about as they struck the ground, each globule consuming small bits of the surrounding asphalt and concrete, before making their way back toward the main body, working their way up the form and towards the hole Bright Star had burned through its center. The Ooze was gathering sustenance from the city, and the wound she’d dealt it was slowly healing even as she watched.

Bright Star closed her eyes, and sighed. When she opened them a moment later, her gaze was filled with determination as she held her wand aloft. “But I guess that means I don’t have any time to waste!

“Bright Flight, activate!” This time, her wand’s star lit up all at once, motes of light spewing forth from its tip. The radiant specks grew in length and width alike, taking the form of pure white feathers before curving about to latch onto her back. 

The magical girl was already in motion by the time the first quill connected. The spell was still streaming from her wand, even as her feet pounded against the asphalt, her arms pumping as she rushed towards her enemy with a trail of plumage chasing after her. 

Bright Star wasn’t the only one picking up the pace, though. The Violet Ooze’s wound had recovered enough for it to move now, allowing it to consume even more materials as it shoved its way down the road, healing itself as it went. The upraised arm that had previously been frozen stiff now rose further, its hand collapsing into a shapeless blob, before twisting about to form a star, as its arm became more slender, rounding out and taking the shape of a rod. In an obvious mockery of Bright Star’s earlier spell, violet droplets exploded out from the star’s tip, flying high into the sky before arcing down, curving unnaturally through the air to strike down toward the approaching magical girl. 

At Bright Star’s current pace, she’d be lucky to make it halfway to the creature before the slimy ‘spell’ hit. But other than a brief glance upwards, the magical girl paid the looming threat no mind. She just kept running forward, two large white tufts growing from shoulder blades, the last of the conjured feathers closing in from behind.

The wound, meanwhile, continued closing. The creature’s healing had slowed with the “casting” of its “spell,” as resources were diverted to producing and firing the droplets, but its ability to consume the street as it moved made up most of the difference. Where once there had been a pit large enough for an adult to walk through, now there was a small hole, barely bigger than a basketball. In a few more seconds, the wound would disappear. To make things worse, the purple spray the monster had almost reached its target. The first droplets were already striking the ground behind Bright Star, while their still airborne brethren were adjusting the angle of their descent mid-flight, to better compensate for her speed. A single hit was all it would take - the slime would sap her energy, causing her to falter, making her an easy target for the rest of it to swarm her. She’d need to dodge hundreds of droplets if she wanted any chance to succeed.

The ooze smirked, its human-like features expressing recognizable emotion for the first time. A burbling laugh poured out from it, announcing to the world that it thought victory was within its grasp. 

Bright Star smiled in turn. The closest droplet was maybe half an inch above her head when the last of the plumage found its place on her back. A quarter inch, when the feathered bundles expanded, forming a pair of white wings, all but touching her when those wings flared out - and nowhere near her, by the time her new appendages completed their first beat. Or maybe it would be better to say that she was nowhere near them, as her body flew forward in a blur of white light.

The ooze roared, first in confusion at Bright Star’s disappearance, then in pain, when she came to a stop - her wand’s star wedged into its wound, even as it sealed itself around the shaft. 

“Star Light, Star Bright!”

Once again, the wand’s star ignited, and once again the ooze’s flesh began to boil in response. This time, however, there was no sound. Instead, there was an explosion of light. When it faded, the violet ooze had disappeared. What’s more, the damage to her surroundings had been repaired and the cityscape was practically sparkling, as if someone had polished every surface in sight. 

It was an utterly unrealistic sight. An incredibly inaccurate representation of reality. I knew that - but it didn’t keep me from grinning at my computer screen as Bright Star announced that the threat had been dealt with, to the cheers of a population we’d seen no sign of prior. I honestly think there’s something to be said for cartoons like that, though - ones where the hero beats the villain and everything is immediately put right.

Real life magical girl battles were way messier, though. Sure, the slime would disappear, but the damage definitelydidn’t. And the fights weren’t nearly as exciting - violet oozes were dumb as bricks! They didn’t try to buy time for regeneration, or use any sort of special moves, and they definitely never laughed. In fact, they didn’t make any noise at all! Mostly they just wandered through the city, eating their surroundings, before mindlessly attacking whatever magical girls showed up to put them down.

Of course, I loved watching the real thing, too, but that was more for the magical girls themselves. There was just something about strong, confident women with magically enforced bodies and enough power to bench press cars that really set my pulse racing. And I guess it didn’t hurt that they were pretty much universally good looking.

Speaking of, I was pretty impressed with how well Brilliant Magic had captured Bright Star’s aesthetic. I couldn’t wait to see how the creators would handle the rest of her squad - especially Nova’s flaming curls. Assuming they could get the rights to use her image, at least. Nova was notoriously picky about what she’d sign off on. I wondered if that ever caused friction between her and her squad mates? It was definitely impacting their marketability. 

Well, it wasn’t like speculating was going to do me much good. The episode was over, either way, and I had other things to focus on. Stuff like studying for my midterms, finishing the spreadsheets for my accounting assignment, or maybe even locking in my choices for a major and minor, so I could make sure to sign up for the right classes. Preferably within the next day or two, so that I could avoid another awkward Sunday night conversation with my parents about my ‘unhealthy obsession’ with magical girls.

…Though, on the other hand, it was Friday night. Wasn’t that meant to be a relaxing time for college students? And what better way to relax than to catch up on the latest episode of Moonlit Battles? Not to mention the new Magical Promise movie, which had finally hit streaming, a few nights back. And wasn’t there a new magical girl documentary? Hidden Heroes, or something like that? I was pretty sure the reboot of Magic Crystal Comics was slated for release, soon, too. How could I possibly focus on schoolwork, when I hadn’t even checked to see if it was available for pre-order yet? 

What’s that? Maybe my parent’s worries weren’t entirely irrational? Well, I guess I was a little bit obsessed - but I didn’t think it could be called unhealthy! I just really admired Earth’s magical protectors. They were all so strong, and confident. Willing and able to fight for humanity’s future. Completely committed to the paths they’d chosen. Utterly unlike me, who couldn’t even figure out what I wanted to do with my life… 

My parents always said college was the best place to figure that sort of thing out, but it wasn’t exactly a secret that they wanted me to join Dad’s accounting firm. They’d told me I could choose a different major, if I could find a career I was passionate about. I’d also need to convince them I could make a living at it, but that wasn’t much of a stumbling block. I was pretty sure they’d be accepting of just about anything, if only I could clear the first hurdle - but two and a half years in, I still hadn’t found a single subject I could really get into. Every class - every lesson - was just varying levels of Nope. And it was the same thing when I thought about all the potential careers they could lead to. The closest thing I’d ever had to a dream job was being a hero - and I don’t mean a job where I saved people for a living. I mean a superhero. A magical girl. 

Which wasn’t to say that I actually wanted to be a girl, or anything! But how else was I supposed to get powers? It wasn’t like I could get bitten by a radioactive insect and suddenly start sticking to walls, or something. Bonding with a Magic Crystal was the only way forward - which meant there wasn’t a way forward. Even ignoring the obvious gender issue, I doubted there was anything special enough about me to catch a Crystal’s eye. Me losing the genetic coin flip was just the last nail in that dream’s coffin.

So yeah. My dream was impossible any way you sliced it. But life moved on, right? If my dream job was out of reach, then I just needed to find something else to devote my life to. It didn’t have to be a perfect fit. It didn’t even have to be a great one! It just had to be something stable, that wouldn’t consign me to an eternity of numbers and spreadsheets. 

I’d figure something out. After an episode of Moonlit Battles. Which I should probably wait to watch until after I’d at least started dinner. I hadn’t noticed, between the cartoon watching and the introspecting, but it was already half past seven and I hadn’t even eaten lunch.

Maybe that was why my stomach was hurting? I hoped so - it would suck if it was something more serious - but bodily signals weren’t exactly my forte. I mean, I didn’t even notice the pain until I started thinking about dinner! And I still wasn’t sure if it was hunger pangs, or a stomach ache, or even that twisted gut feeling I got when I was feeling guilty about disappointing everyone in my life.

Guuuurgle

…Okay, so it was probably hunger. I was pretty sure that’s what “guurgle” meant, in stomach talk, anyway. Probably. And it wasn’t like I could go without eating, anyway, right? So a trip to the refrigerator was due either way.

A quick push against the desk set my chair rolling backwards, giving me enough room to stand and head towards the fridge. And more importantly the freezer, which had all my microwavable meals in it. Or, well, my one microwaveable meal in it, since it had been forever since I went grocery shopping, and I was running perilously low on tv dinners. I was basically down to, like, a single burrito, but it was enough to last me until Saturday!

…Or it would have been, if it hadn’t been replaced by a pink slip of paper with “IOU” written in my bestie’s dainty handwriting. 

‘Never should have given Clarrissa a key.’

Well, whatever. I’d just have to try and cook with whatever I had in the fridge! I mean, I wasn’t exactly a world class chef, but I was sure I could whip up something with… An almost empty bottle of rootbeer, a gallon of milk that was about two weeks past its expiration date, and…. Ooh, cheese! Moldy cheese. Or maybe more like ‘mold with a little bit of cheese’...

Okay. What about the pantry? I had to have options in the pantry, right? I mean, maybe not good options, but options! Like…. Spaghetti! I had noodles! Oh, but no sauce…. Tuna? Except I didn’t have any mayo, so no. Saltine crackers? But, like, half a sleeve, and nothing to put them on or in… 

Wait! Hadn’t I seen a cup of ramen, earlier? Not at the top shelf… Or the- ah! Under the bottom shelf! Yes! I had…. Shrimp noodles? Right… I’d picked that up by accident a few weeks ago…

Well, it had been a while since I’d gone shopping. My trike’s basket was sorta… dissolved… in one of the recent violet showers, and it was kinda hard to find the motivation to go shopping when I’d only be able to bring back whatever I can hang off my handlebars. I’d probably have to bite the bullet soon, and beg my parents for enough cash to get a new one.

For now, though, I needed to pick between cycling three miles (each way) on an empty stomach, or manning up and eating that shrimp ramen… 

Maybe I could just pick something up from the corner mart? Yeah. That sounded like a plan. I just had to grab my keys and phone - and double check that my wallet was still in my back pocket - and I was off towards the front door. 

At least it was nice outside - warm, despite the hour, with a gentle breeze. The streets were kinda empty, though. Like, completely empty - not a cyclist in sight. There were a couple pedestrians, at least, but they were practically running down the street, glancing at the skies every few seconds like they were expecting non-existent clouds to start drowning them in… rain.

Shit.

I snatched up my phone, and unlocked it with a quick swipe of my fingers, then tapped on the purple raindrop on my home screen. The front page of the Goo Report told me everything I needed to know - violet mist had been detected in the atmosphere. Even worse, it had started to swirl around the neighborhood. There wasn’t a timeline on condensation, yet, but that didn’t mean much. Once it started, it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for Violet Ooze to start raining down.

Of course, it could just as easily be hours before we saw anything. And the rain could cover anything from a few square feet to a city block, so there was no guarantee I’d get caught in it… So maybe I could just go shopping, anyway? It wasn’t like the ooze was directly harmful to non-magical girl humans, after all.

Store wise, the Super Save was probably already shut down for the day, but (lucky for me) the local corner store didn’t really do closing hours. Smaller buildings are easier to protect, after all. Hell, some of them operate as shelters! For customers only, mind you, but… Well, I was planning to buy something anyway, right? 

My clothes were ooze-safe, too - no metal or synthetics. Except for my socks, maybe? I had a few cheaper pairs, and it was kinda hard to tell what I’d grabbed without taking my shoes off. But they were covered by my pants either way, so they should be safe…

Besides, what was the worst that could happen? The rain would fall, a goo (or three, or ten, or a hundred) would form, some of the less-protected buildings would get dissolved, and maybe collapse… 

Okay, so that last one wasn’t great, but the convenience store had never fallen to a rain as of yet! And maybe I’d even get the chance to see a magical girl fight up close and personal! Or nothing would happen at all, and I’d get to eat a frozen burrito, like I’d originally planned. Win-win!

Though, if I absolutely had to pick, I’d definitely go with getting to see a magical girl…

I slept until late afternoon. I wanted to sleep longer, but it wasn’t far past 3 when Clarissa came barging into the room, declaring that couch was fucking with her back and that we should just share the bed since we were ‘both girls anyways.’

Honestly, I didn’t mind sharing a bed with her, in theory. I mean, for all Clarissa’s crudeness, I still trusted her to keep her hands to herself - at least while I was asleep. She was totally the type to sneak in a grope, but only when I was awake to protest and maybe even stop her. She had limits. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe.

What she didn’t have was good sleeping habits. She tossed, she turned, she snored, and she kicked me in the ribs no less than three times before I finally gave up and got out of bed. 

I needed to wake up sooner than her, anyways, if I was going to get breakfast ready… My single can of ravioli wasn’t going to hold out when that girl started yammering for breakfast. Especially since she’d want me to eat my share, too - even while complaining that half a can wasn’t nearly enough food.

All of which was to say that I had to finally man up and go to the store for some food. 

…Not that I did it as a man, or anything. Or as a ‘girl’ really. I mean, if ever there was a time to use the word ‘woman,’ it was for the form I went shopping in. Thick thighs, like my resting form, but paired with even bigger hips, a large ass, and a pair of yoga pants that barely held it all in place. The top I chose hadn’t been much better, stretched to its limits by a pair of humongous breasts. All tied together in a ‘mature’ package.

To be blunt? I went as a MILF. Why? I don’t even know. I guess I just paired moms with shopping in my head? And I figured it would be easier to laugh off flirting from the clerks if they looked half my age… which… yeah. It was actually surprisingly easy to dismiss them as ‘hormone driven youths’ - though looking back at the way that cashier had talked to me, practically begging for my number, I had to wonder where all that patience had come from. 

Your body choice really does seem to be affecting your personality.

“Yeah, I kinda figured,” I muttered. Not that I’d wanted to confront it. It was just another bit of chaos and uncertainty added to the mess my life had become. The good news was, the transformation seemed to mess with my words and actions more than my head. Which wasn’t to say it didn’t mess with my head at all - boosting my desire for excitement, or my patience with idiots, or what have you - but… I was still me under there. Or at least it felt that way. Like maybe some facets of myself were being exaggerated, or diminished, but at the end of the day the wants and desires and stuff was all mine… 

As proven by the heap of unhealthy food I’d gotten. Stuff no proper mother figure would have fed her children. Or at least no mother of mine. I could practically hear Mom screeching in my ear about the issues with a diet made of dry and frozen food… Let alone all the junk I’d snuck in from the candy aisle. Man, I was pretty sure that cashier would have been giving me a weird look if they weren’t so busy giving me a… well, very different kinda stare.

Putting that aside, I decided to walk towards my bed, and gently shake Clarissa.

“Bwuh?” she murmured, stirring for a moment before flopping back on the bed and spreading limbs out. “...Five more minutes mom…”

“I’m not your mother, dear,” I replied, in a warm tone, causing her to open her eyes again.

“....Hot mommy says what?”

“What?” I asked, caught off guard by her shenanigans.

“Yes! I mean, uh… Wait… Olivia? Is that you?”

“Oh right… I forgot to turn back…” I frowned, then dismissed the spell keeping my coloration ‘natural.’ Another risk of using my magic to transform. Every form felt so good - at least compared to how I was used to feeling, in my old body. Though nothing felt better than letting my natural, semi-slime state shine. If transforming felt as natural as wearing a second skin, being violet felt like letting my real skin breathe. It was relieving, even if I rarely noticed I needed that release in the moment… Though, again, compared to how uncomfortable I was used to feeling in my own skin, pretty much every form was comfort unleashed.

Benefits of magic, I guess.

“Uh, Olivia?” Clarissa asked, before poking my boob. “You’re still a hot mom? Not that I’m complaining, but… why?”

“Huh? Oh…” I frowned, shaking my head as I slimmed my proportions down a bit, going back to the thicc college girl look over the mature mother persona. “Sorry… One form’s much like the other when I’m violet, I guess.”

“Right… ‘Cause that’s not concerning or anything,” Clarissa replied. Despite her words, she stretched towards the ceiling languidly, rolling out of bed at her own pace. “”So what’s for breakfast, Mommy?”

“...Don’t call me that,” I complained, as Chrys let out a laugh - the first sound she’d made outside my head, all day.

“Sorry Mommy - I mean Mommy - I mean… Dammit, I can’t get the image of your mommy milkers out of my head… take responsibility for your wakeup call!”

“By letting you call me mommy?” I asked, exasperated. “No!”

“By fucking me!”

“...Huh?”

“No, seriously, dude!” Clarissa replied. “I mean, you don’t have to, or anything, if you don’t wanna - though I personally think that would be pretty lame and straight of you - but uh… What was my point again?”

“That you should fuck me?” I reminded her, before shaking my head. “Wait, why am I leaning into your idiocy?”

“Because I’m hot,” Clarissa answered, instantly. “And because I bet you haven’t even touched yourself yet. You’re probably boiling over with curiosity and lust!”

“I’m not you,” I retorted, instantly. “And I don’t need to have sex. Or touch myself! I don’t even want to!”

Not even if the thought was making my cheeks warm. And not just my cheeks. Something a fair bit lower, too - something that made me want to rub my thighs together and leak out little noises as-

“Uh, dude?” Clarissa interrupted. “You’re kinda… I don’t wanna say you’re asking for anything, but you look like…”

“You look like you’re a moment away from fingering yourself,” Chrys interrupted. “And your hormone levels are going through the roof.”

“Wh-what?” I stuttered, stumbling backwards. At the same time, I felt something in between my legs throb. It almost reminded me of having a dick, except it was much more localized. And much more intense.

“Oh right,” Chrys muttered. She almost sounded embarrassed. “I forgot about this…”

“Forgot about what?” Clarissa demanded, before I even got a chance to open my mouth. Which was probably for the best, because I’m pretty sure nothing but a slutty moan would have come out.

“Well, Magical Girls run off of repressed sexuality, right?”

“Uh-huh,” Clarissa nodded, while I managed to squeak out something between an affirmative noise and a whimper. 

My body was heating up. My legs were trembling. And what’s worse, images were flashing through my head - images of Clarissa’s hands on me, touching me. And not just Clarissa. There was also Rachel, the shy girl who’s number I’d gotten, and Violet, the cute but angry magical girl… The things they could do to me… The things I could do to them. I could imagine each of them, with each of the personas I’d created, touching me in different places, making me feel pleasure beyond what I could imagine…

“And Olivia was a candidate. Meaning she’s got a lot of repressed sexuality, you see?”

“Gotcha,” Clarissa agreed, nodding. 

I didn’t even try to let out a sound, this time. It was hard to even hear them over the sound of my heart beat, and the blood rushing through me.

“So, what do you think happens to a girl who tries to repress the very thing that powers her? Especially when she’s bonded to the literal antithesis of artificial trappings…”

“Uh… She gets really horny, I guess?” Clarissa replied, looking at me. “I mean, I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening anyways, right?”

“Her lust magic’s going out of control,” Chrys confirmed, releasing an audible sigh. “If she doesn’t admit to at least wanting sex, she’s going to burst.”

“I-if that’s all I have to do-ooooh then just lead with th-thaaaaaaat…” I cursed, as heat began to build in my center. “I… I’d like to have sex one day, okay!? I’d like to! But I just haven’t met the right girl yet! A-and with me in this body, it’s not like I even can! Anyone who fell for me would be a lesbian, and I’m… Well…” 

I trailed off, realizing that the heat had left my body at some point. Letting out a sigh, I shook my head. “That was horrible.”

“That was just a warning,” Chrys warned. “And what we did was just a temporary patch! You can’t go denying your impulses when you’re half ooze! Especially not your sexual ones!”

“So what? I should sleep with every hot girl who catches my eye?”

“No,” Chrys replied, her calm voice a distinct contrast to my half-panicked tone. “Just don’t deny wanting to sleep with them. You’ve got a lot of lust built up - and I don’t mean the kind that powers you. Until you figure out an outlet for it, you’re going to have trouble.”

“Fine… I’ll act like Clarissa and blurt out every perverted thought that comes into my head!”

“Hey!” Clarissa frowned, hands on her hips. “I don’t say everything! Just… most of it.”

“Right, because that’s the trouble here…”

“I’m serious,” Chrys warned us, her voice dipping low. “If your magic goes out of control at the wrong place and time, a magical girl could sense it. So unless you want her breaking down your door…”

“Fine! I’ll admit to wanting to have sex! But not with Clarissa!” 

“Why not me?” the blonde asked, placing a hand against her chest. “I’m good in bed! Probably!”

“Because you’re confusing! One second I’m like your sister, the next you want to fuck me… I don’t think you know what you want, and I don’t particularly want to risk our current relationship just to help you figure it out!”

“That’s…” Clarissa began, lifting a finger only to drop it again. “A fair point, I guess. I’ll try to figure it out. In the meantime, we should double down on our clubbing plan and get you laid.”

I nodded, sheepishly rubbing at the back of my neck. “Yeah… Guess it’s back to my clubbing form?”

“After breakfast,” Clarissa declared. “Which you’re making. As punishment for waking me up and also not wanting to have sex with your best and hottest friend.”

“Fine,” I grumbled. Mostly because I was going to make it anyway.

“And you’re making it in the hot mom form!” Clarissa added, crossing her arms and pouting petulantly. “As extra punishment!”

“...You know that’s not going to make it any easier to settle your mind,” I warned her, already letting my body thicken and grow as I matured my look. “But if it’s what you want, dear.”

Clarissa didn’t reply. She just sorta stared at me, red faced. It was enough of an answer, though.

I mean, for all Clarissa’s faults, she was still my best friend. I knew her head better than anyone. Which is why I knew, for all her talk, that she was just as inexperienced in bed as me. I was sure she’d regret it if she spent her first time on me - someone who wasn’t even a real girl. She’d realize that, in time.

For now? I was going to prepare breakfast!

~~~

Author's Notes

Hihi! Sorry for the wait between updates on this one - I've been a bit distracted by Demon Queened, and Hatching a Heroine, among other things... Going to try and get you guys caught up to other sites with a chapter a day for a bit, though! (The public releases are up to 16, but it'll probably be 17 by the time I'm done, at the very least.)

I got about halfway to the corner store before the clouds started to form. The good news? They didn’t seem to be spreading out! In fact, they were basically just covering my block and a few around it. The bad news? They were covering my block. That included my apartment, and the store! And they weren’t light and fluffy clouds, either! They were dense, dark purple monstrosities promising to let loose an absolute torrent of violet rain.

You know that monstrosity from the TV show? The thing bigger than a building? That’s… Probably not what I was going to end up with! More like a small army of human sized globs wandering around consuming everything. But since oozes tended to combine when they bumped into one another, they could still get pretty big!

So, big question of the hour - how did I want to handle this? I mean, I was already halfway to the store! Same distance to and fro, y’know? And it’s not like my apartment offered much better protection than the convenience store. And the convenience store had food! Not good food, mind you, but food! That I could pay to heat up and eat on the premise, while waiting out the storm! And, hey, if the magical girl who’d inevitably show up to clean up the ooze happened to be in my general area… I mean, I was dressed in ooze-safe clothes, right? What was the worst that could happen?

So yeah. I guess it wasn’t much of a question at all, was it? I was moving onward to the convenience store! And I was going to step on it, because I was pretty sure I’d just seen a raindrop fall from the corner of my eye!

Also in front of my eyes. And on top of my head. And to my left and right. And did I mention on top of my head? Because there was suddenly ooze sliding down my cheek, and oh god it was so slimy. Which I guess should be obvious, but ew ew ew! I couldn’t even wipe it off - when I tried, it just clung to my hand instead! And oh god. It got into my shoes. And my socks? Guess they were synthetic after all, because they were gone in two seconds flat, and I could feel it squishing between my toes, and… Gah! It was-

Over?

Huh. 

Guess it was a flash shower? Those were rare, but not exactly unheard of. Kinda convenient for anyone trapped in them, since you didn’t have to deal with the slime sliding all over you for long. Except for the bit where it was going to form puddles, and then those puddles were going to come together to form slimes, and those slimes were going to go around trying to eat any inorganic things they could…

But that didn’t have much to do with me! Though it did mean I was kinda stuck outside? I mean, for obvious reasons, people sorta sealed their doors shut while oozes were wandering around. But on the bright side, the slime was already squirming its way off of me, and towards… The…. Bright pink light?

Wait. There was already a magical girl on the scene!? What the hell! No wonder the slime on me left so quick - those girls were basically beacons of all that was good and anti-ooze. Or at least that was my theory as to why they always seemed to get swarmed by ooze, the moment they appeared. The stuff was drawn to them like iron filings to a magnet.

Not that I was all that different. I was running towards her even faster than the slime, after all! And who could blame me? I mean, there was a real life magical girl fighting right in front of me! Who knew when - or if - I’d get a chance like this again? No way I wasn’t going to get myself an up close look at a magical girl in action!

…Not that there was much ‘action’ to be had, from what I could see. Even from a distance, it was clear the pink-haired girl had everything under control. In fact, she looked almost bored from what I could tell. Like this was just routine cleanup to her…

Hell, maybe it was? I mean, sure, there was certainly an awful lot of slime on the ground, but it wasn’t like it had even gathered itself together as of yet. It was mostly loose droplets she was dealing with, for the time being.

Of course, it wasn’t going to stay like that. Already, bits of slime were pooling together, forming into small blobs, which in turn merged together into bigger bits, until they finally reached the size of my torso. I could even see some of them starting to take on a feminine shape - though it was a lot less detailed than what I’d seen in the cartoon. More like a mockery of the female form than anything, really…

Well, whatever. I was sure Miss Pink-hair had it under control! And I had more important things to worry about, anyways - like figuring out who exactly I was watching at work. Pink hair wasn’t exactly uncommon among magical girls, but at the same time there weren’t that many of them patrolling my area. Judging by the twintails… Probably Pink Heart? Yeah, I was pretty sure that was her. I’d only seen a few pictures of her - she was still pretty new - but the heart at the tip of her wand was a dead giveaway, when combined with her hair style.

New or not, though, she was handling things like a pro - blasting every bit of goo that got close to her. More and more were coming, though, combining as they went to form larger and larger slimes. A quick glance behind me showed that things were only going to get worse, too.

Not that I was too surprised. Flash rains were like that - they released less goo than a traditional shower, but they made up for it by covering a larger area, meaning that a lot of the slime would have time to gather itself up together before actually reaching a magical girl. Pink Heart didn’t seem particularly concerned, though. She just kept waving her wand, shooting pink hearts at anything that got close to her, causing them to dissolve into nothingness long before they had a chance to make contact. 

I couldn’t help but notice that the slimes were getting a little more tenacious, though - most of them were going down in one hit, but some of the bigger ones were starting to tank the shots, forcing her to repeat fire. Combined with the fact that she was all by herself… Honestly, I was a little worried she might be in trouble. I mean, sure, she had a high rate of fire - more than high enough to keep up with the quantity, from what I could tell - but it wasn’t like the slimes were coming at her in a straight line or anything! They were coming from all sides, nonstop, forcing her to spin around and around as she took down slime after slime. Honestly, just watching her was making me feel dizzy…

Ah, but she was a magical girl! A powerful figure of magic and grace that could outperform any lowly mortal. Just because I’d get queasy from that much spinning didn’t mean she would! In fact, this was probably a walk in the park for her! Just basic clean up duty.

…I mean, otherwise, she’d have called for her squad, right? Unless they were already on their way…. But there was no way she would have activated her transformation without backup if she couldn’t handle things… right?

Right… She was fine. Even if her expression was starting to look a little strained. Very strained, even. Maybe because the slimes were now getting big enough to take four or five hits, as they closed in from all sides… but she had it handled, right? I mean, she was a magical girl! A hero! A badass with more power than I could even conceive! No way she’d go down to a few… uh. Dozen? Slimes. Even if a quick glance behind me did show even bigger ones coming…

…Well, backup would probably arrive soon, right? Yeah. Definitely. And it wasn’t like I could help, anyways - I mean, the slime was totally ignoring me to focus on her, to begin with, so I couldn’t exactly distract it, and normal humans weren’t really capable of damaging the stuff, so… Yeah…

It was fine. She’d be fine! Even if she was slowly backing up, towards a building… I mean, putting her back against a wall was just good strategy, right? It kept things from sneaking up on her! Let her focus in one direction. One… overwhelming…. direction. Full of endless slimes.

Dammit, where were the other magical girls? Didn’t they know Pink Heart was in trouble? Shouldn’t they have rushed to the scene already? I mean, Magical Girls were meant to work in teams for a reason!

Maybe I could help after all? Maybe I could… I don’t know. Stomp on a slime or two? Try to run interference? Even if it just bought her an extra few seconds, it would be worth it. It might give her backup enough time to show up…

Yeah. That was the ticket. I was going to run interference! I was going to help! I was going to… stare helplessly as a slime launched itself at Pink Heart, striking her in the chest, and causing her wand to flicker out…

Crap.

I ran. Not away from the slimes, but towards the magical girl. Towards Pink Heart. If I could get the slime off of her in time - if I could somehow drag it from her body - she’d be fine, right? She’d survive, at least! But there was already more slime coming after her, launching itself forward to strike her. Even as I watched, her legs buckled and she fell, allowing more slime to climb on her. By the time I reached her, she was already covered from head to toe in the stuff…

I wasn’t the sort to give up, though! No. I was made of sterner stuff than that! Maybe I couldn’t be a magical girl, myself, but I could still do my part! Maybe if I got her out fast enough…

With that thought in mind, I took a deep breath and plunged my hand into the slime, blindly groping for Pink Heart. Thankfully - for both our sakes - said blind groping found an arm, instead of something more embarrassing. A quick tug was all it took to get her out, the slime surprisingly willing to release its prize.

For a moment, I felt like a hero. I mean, I’d saved a magical girl, right? I’d rescued one of Earth’s protectors! Except when I looked at the girl I’d dragged out? It wasn’t Pink Heart. It was just… a girl. A normal girl, with brown hair and green eyes.

Where had she come from? How had she gotten under the slime? Last I checked, Pink Heart and I were the only ones out and about, and it was Pink Heart who got swallowed by slime so why was this girl here, instead?

Was I missing something? Was I hallucinating? Pink Heart disappearing was weird enough, but for this girl to show up in her place… it just didn’t make sense! It was like… like… they’d swapped places, or something. But a magical girl would never put a civilian in danger like that! Even if the ooze wasn’t particularly interested in non-magical girls, there was still a chance she could have suffocated under all that silme…

So what happened? Where was Pink Heart? Who was this girl? It was weird… I almost felt like I should know the answer, somehow. Like I had all the puzzle pieces in front of me, but for some reason they wouldn’t quite fit together. Maybe I was missing something…?

Well, wondering about that could wait until later. For now, I needed to get this girl somewhere safe. By which I meant ‘a few feet to the left,’ away from the pile of slime. I figured I’d keep an eye on her until she woke up. From a little bit away, of course. Wouldn’t want to spook her when she woke up. In fact, it was probably better if I backed up all the way out past the building’s awning, just to make sure she didn’t freak out too badly when she woke up to some random dude staring at her…

“At least the slime seems to have calmed down…” I muttered to myself, glancing around me. The stuff was still there, but without an actual magical girl to go after the slime bits were basically just moving about aimlessly, searching for inorganics to consume. Not great, but not a danger, either… I just hoped whoever owned the building had made sure to keep its coating up to date. It would suck if the whole place collapsed because they couldn’t be bothered to keep up with basic safety measures…

Ding. New host-friend candidate found.

I jumped, caught off guard by the sudden noise and the almost mechanical speech, both coming from the direction of the girl. A moment later something materialized between the two of us - a pink crystal.

A magic crystal.

Physical contact required for bonding. Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

“Bwuh?”

Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

“Contract…?” I asked. “Wait. You’re… You mean a magical girl contract?”

Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

“Wait, wait, wait! There’s gotta be some mistake here. I mean… I’m a guy. I can’t be a Magical Girl!”

Host suitability has already been determined. Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

I stared at the crystal for a moment, eyes wide and jaw slack. I’d heard of magical girl contracts before. I’d dreamed of them, even. But… I was a guy. A guy couldn’t be a magical girl, could they?

Large amounts of violet ooze detected in the area. Clean up required. Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

“...R-right,” I whispered, mostly to myself. Touch the crystal to initiate the contract. That’s how it always went, in the stories… though usually the crystals were a little more personable in the media I’d read. Maybe it was just that we hadn’t formed a contract yet, though?

…Not that I was going to form a contract, or anything. I mean, not to beat a dead horse, but I was a guy. A guy can’t be a magical girl!

Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

…Then again, if guys couldn’t be magical girls, then… well, what was the harm in touching it? It wasn’t like it would actually do anything, right? The crystal would just take one look at me, figure out we weren’t compatible, and take off towards a proper candidate. No harm, no foul.

Please touch the crystal, in order to initialize the contract.

Hesitantly, I reached out to touch the cool surface of the pink crystal.

Initializ-

Right before a big dollop of violet ooze slid off the awning, hitting the crystal and my hand alike.

 -ȋ̴͎̮̫̩͆̊̈́͋͊̒̃̅͛̕͝ń̴̨͈̗͉̺̟̭̲̤̩͛̐̅̿̊̅̅͌͝ģ̵̼͙̙̞̦̽̎̓̈́̈

~~~

Author's Notes

So, fun fact - I finished chapter 1 of this story almost a year ago, but I never continued it because I had writer's block. The other day, though, I was lying in bed, dealing with insomnia, and my brain drifted over to Naughty Magic in that way ADHD brains do, and suddenly I had the urge to finish up chapter 2.

I then proceeded to write chapter 3 and half of chapter 4 in the same day, still without any sleep. Turns out it's actually easier to write this story when I literally lack the mental power to overthink it. Not that I'm planning to purposefully lose sleep over it.

Chapters 3 and 4 are already up on Patreon, and I've gotten started on chapter 5 - no promises, but I'm hoping to run this alongside Demon Queened. It's good to shut my brain off and write sometimes.

Wakey Wakey, Miss Egg and… Bakey? Wow. More calculating power than Earth’s most advanced supercomputer, and I still can’t come up with a better rhyme on the fly… how disappointing.

“Bwuh…?” What was I…? Right… the last thing I remembered was reaching out for the magical crystal, and then… just… nothing. Did it not work? I mean, of course it didn’t work. I wasn’t a girl. I knew that, but… I’d still hoped that-

Please stop the pity party and wake up, already! We don’t have a lot of time left, you know?

“T-time?” I stuttered out, in a… surprisingly high pitched voice? 

Not surprisingly high! Befittingly high! Perfectly high, even! At least in conjunction with your new form.

“New… form?” I whispered. Even that was somehow different than what I was used to - softer and more breathy. 

Yup yup! Your magical girl transformation form… is what I’d love to tell you, but things didn’t exactly go as planned, so uh… Well, you might wanna take a good look in the mirror. Later. Right now? We really gotta run.

“Run?” I asked, shaking my head to clear the cobwebs - only to pause when a strand of purple hair crossed my eyes. “What?”

No time, Missy! Just… Get in an alleyway, or something, alright? Or better yet, get home!

“R-right… Home…” I muttered, pressing a hand against the floor to push myself up - only to immediately stumble forward. Something was… Off. Very off. But also…. Not so off? Like, weirdly natural feeling, I guess? I wasn’t really sure how to describe it.

Oh, for goodness sakes, just look down already, you idiot!

Down? I looked down, and saw… a bulge? Or more like two very big bulges straining the limit of what my shirt could handle. I was pretty sure I could even feel some air against my midriff - like the pressure had pulled the fabric up. Yet it also felt weirdly loose in places? And my pants felt… really tight, around my hips and ass. But also kinda weirdly loose around the crotch?

“I’m… a girl?”

Bingo!

“A magical girl?” I asked, hope tingeing my voice. “Like the crystal promised? I actually managed to form a contract!?”

Well… yes and no… also I am the crystal - but we can save that for after you’re in an alleyway, alright? 

“Wait… why do I need to get into an alleyway?” I asked, looking around me - only to immediately let out a high pitched squeak as I realized that I was absolutely surrounded by ooze. As if an entire storm’s worth of goo had crawled towards me, in particular. Like it did towards magical girls…

…But in that case, why wasn’t it trying to attack me?

Ugh… Okay… don’t freak out, alright? But my last host? Pink Heart? She finally wised up and called for backup at the last second. Violet Heart is on the way - and trust me when I say violent would be a better descriptor for her. You do not wanna be standing around in a daze when she gets here!

“H-huh? But… if I’m a magical girl, then-”

Nope! Let me stop you right there. I didn’t want to do this just yet, but look at your hands.

“My… Hands?” I glanced down, again, this time lifting my hands to get a better look at them.

They were purple.

No, not just purple - violet. The same color as the ooze around me.

Yeah, so long story short? Our contract got interrupted. Now you’re… I don’t even know what. Some sort of ooze magical girl hybrid? Except from what I can tell you run on tribute instead of sacrifice, which… it’s just a whole thing, okay? I’ll explain it later, though, I promise! Just get to a damn alleyway!

“Tribute? Sacrifice? I don’t even know what you’re talking about! A-and where are you, anyways?”

Inside your heart, of course! Where else would a slightly glitchy magic crystal belong?

“Glitchy!?”

Don’t worry about it! Just… ah shit. She’s close. Look at how the goo’s getting all agitated… for the love of all that is good, would you just duck into an alley for a bit? We can talk to your heart’s content after you master your transformation ability!

“R-right…” I muttered. The goo around me was getting restless. I could see ripples forming across it, as the goo around me started to shift and condense into a singular being. One that might actually reach the size of that cartoon monstrosity I’d seen… “Is Violet Heart going to be… okay against this stuff?”

Oh heavens no. She’s basically doomed if she doesn’t ditch - which is good for us. Means we’ve got time to get away while she calls the rest of the squad over.

“R-right… And… I’m not helping because… why exactly?” I asked - but even as I did, I felt something inside me cringe at the idea. It felt wrong, somehow. As if the very idea of standing against the ooze around me was an affront to some intrinsic part of me.

Because you register as ooze you numbskull! Sentient Ooze! Sentient ooze that other ooze responds to! 

“It… Responds to me?” I asked, looking at the ooze around me. As I did, I felt the ooze closest to me begin to settle, the ripples fading. What’s more, I could feel something - something like… pleasure? At my attention? But also restlessness. It wanted to gather, and grow, and fight against that which was… wrong?

No time for explanations, Missy! Violet Heart’s getting closer by the minute, so unless you want her to take one look at the clueless goo girl standing in front of a civilian’s unconscious body while surrounded by endless goop, I’d suggest you get out of there!

“I’m not a goo girl!” I protested. At least I didn’t think I was? My body didn’t feel gooey, anyways. Even if it was the same color as the ooze around me.

This really isn’t the time to be arguing semantics, Missy!

“R-right… Magical girl coming to kick my ass…” That was a weird thought. I mean, I was meant to be on their side, wasn’t I? Helping to fight against the violet ooze. Even if that thought did make me feel vaguely disgusted with myself.

…Well, I’d figure that out later. For now, I needed to find my way into the nearest alley and hope that Violet Heart would be too distracted by the massive amount of ooze to actually notice me.

“So uh… how do I end my transformation, again?” I asked, squeezing my way between the corner store and the local Mexican bakery. It was a bit of a tight fit, but I figured that was all the better for avoiding people’s notice. Nobody who could help it would go into a tight back alley like this.

Yeah, about that… you don’t. 

“Bwuh?” I froze. 

That’s not to say you can’t change back! It’s just, uh… less ending the transformation and more… starting a new one.

“Wait, you mean this is…” I trailed off, staring down at myself. Or rather at my breasts, which were pretty much covering up any appreciable view of the rest of me.

Your new true form? Yeah. And if you want to get back to ‘normal,’ you better get real comfy with it real soon, because you’re going to need to charge up those metaphysical batteries of yours if you want even the slightest hope of maintaining the sort of transformation you’re going for.

“What do you mean?”

I mean… Look. I wanted to save this for later, but… where do you think a magical girl’s power comes from?

“Uh… You?” I guessed. “Or at least that’s the leading theory on the forums. You crystals provide the energy to your bonded magical girl so that they can do their stuff, right?”

Wrong. If anything we’re draining their powers, not giving them… but we also make it possible for them to access said powers to begin with. All thanks to a little thing called ‘sacrifice.’

“Sacrifice?” I asked, tilting my head a little to the side. “Like… murdering goats before an altar?” Somehow, I couldn’t imagine Bright Star willingly slitting an innocent animal’s throat. Even if it did help her save human lives, in the long run.

Not exactly. It’s more like… personal sacrifice. They give something up, and we convert their unconscious longing for that something into magical power. Sacrifice! Nice and simple.

“They give something up? Like… Chocolate?” I guessed, still trying to wrap my head around what I was being told. This wasn’t even close to the theories I’d seen bandied about the forums. Maybe someonehad guessed it, but it certainly never crossed my eyes.

Not exactly… more like… sex.

“...Huh?”

Yeah. Magical Girls? Are basically incredibly repressed sexual deviants. The more they’re holding back, the stronger they become. Of course, we help a bit - y’know, by repressing their lust so that it never enters their conscious brain, monitoring their thoughts, distracting them at the right moments… Whatever it takes to keep them nice and chaste.

“So… ignoring how incredibly creepy that is, for the moment… you’re saying that I need to repress my sexual desires if I want to transform?”

Yeah, no. If only it was that simple… the goo that got into our contract? Glitched the whole thing, and flipped it around on its head. They run on sacrifice - you run on tribute.

“Meaning…?” I asked, hoping against hope that my new crystal ‘friend’ wasn’t going to say what I thought she was.

You need people to lust after you. Not only that, you need them to lust after this particular form. Preferably in your presence, too - no posting selfies online and hoping for the best.

“But… I’m purple?” I pointed out. “I’m pretty sure that’s going to raise a few eyebrows if I try to walk down the street! Not to mention the whole wardrobe malfunction I’m going through right now!”

Yeah, well, lucky for you humans are capable of getting horny about just about anything. You don’t even want to know how much ooze-based porn exists on the internet - and that’s without the benefit of an actual anthropomorphic form! Not to mention massive tits.

“Wait… so your idea is to just… wander out into the streets and let people see me like this!?”

The wardrobe malfunction might actually help, too. Kinda exposes some skin, y’know? 

“I thought we were trying to avoid attention!”

Yeah, well, unfortunately you’re going to need to draw some first. Just… preferably not from magical girls who can currently kick your ass. So you’d better get real comfy in that body real fast if you want to get out of this with your head on your shoulders.

“Wait, wait, wait - can’t we just… talk this over with the other magical girls? I mean, you’re a magic crystal, right? That means you know the other crystals! They’ll listen if you explain I don’t mean any harm, won’t they?”

I’m a glitched crystal. Corporate rule number one is that glitched products can’t be out and about drawing bad press. They’ll kill me, and you for good measure!

“Corporate… what now?”

Long story. I’ll explain later. For now, why don’t you get your ass moving out of this corner and over to a busy street while the magical girls are all busy on clean-up? If you're lucky, you might even be able to pass yourself off as just having weird taste in body paint for a while before people catch on and start screaming. And take some goo with you, would you? It might come in handy.

“Take some… what am I supposed to do?” I demanded. “Shove it in my pocket!?”

No need. Look.

Even as the crystal spoke, I was already seeing what she meant - or more like feeling, since I still couldn’t see my feet below my breasts. The goo was curling itself around my leg, sliding itself up and into my pockets. It felt… warm. And happy. And a little… pleading? Like it wanted something from me.

“Good… goo?” I tried.

It vibrated in what I somehow knew was pleasure.

“...This is only going to get weirder, isn’t it?” I muttered.

Yup!

~~~

Author's Notes

I almost feel like I should apologize for that terrible pun... but I refuse.

There almost wasn't an update this week - I'm still trying to get Demon Queened up to chapter 57 - but as it happens I got absolutely no sleep last night... Insomnia sucks. But on the bright side, there happens to be one series that's actually easier to write (and not overthink) when sleep deprived! So. Here we are. Chapter 5 just got uploaded to Patreon, so you get chapter 3~! Hope you enjoy.

So… slight problem with the whole ‘gather lust to transform back’ thing? Only an idiot - or a super fan, like me - would willingly go outside during a violet rainstorm! I mean, it was basically just asking for the destruction of personal property. No matter how much care you took to coat your goods, there’d always be some little spot you missed, or something some manufacturer claimed was organic but was actually partially synthetic, or… something. Long story short? Dumb dumbs who went outside were basically just asking to get their stuff eaten.

All of which translated to a serious lack of foot traffic, even after I’d fled the scene of the ‘crime.’ I mean, sure, there were some people driving by in cars, or hurrying past on bikes - capitalism didn’t stop for anyone or anything, really, and people always had places to go - but that was like… what? A second of them gawking at me, and then they were gone? Not exactly a ton of lustful gazes for me to gather… 

Something some part of me couldn’t help but be grateful for, even knowing it was going to cause me trouble.

Still…

“So what’s the plan now?” I whispered, trusting that my new crystal ‘buddy’ would hear me. In fact, forget whispering - they’d pretty much outright stated that they (and the other crystals) could read their hosts’ thoughts.

That was kinda creepy to think about, though, so I was going to stick to whispering whenever possible.

That’s totally going to get you in trouble one of these days, you know… but whatever. The way I figure it, we have two choices - make a huge splash and draw a ton of attention to yourself, or draw Violet Heart out into a one-on-one fight and hope for the best. Considering option one stands a pretty big risk of drawing the whole group, I’m gonna suggest you pick what’s behind door number two.

“Wait - I thought you wanted me to avoid her!” I protested, already looking around to see if I could find any sort of big crowd event. There had to be something I could do that wouldn’t involve fighting one of my heroes!

Hah… Heroes. If only you knew… 

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” I demanded, my whisper turning into more of a… well, a whispered shout is still sort of a whisper, but you get the idea. 

Later. Right now, you’ve got a date with a hot headed crusader of ‘love and justice.’ 

“Wait, wait, wait - you can’t be telling me I’m actually supposed to fight her?! I don’t even have any powers!”

I mean, you do have control over the goo… All it takes is a touch of that stuff to weaken her. Hell, get enough of it on her, and you’ll outright drain her of her powers. For good.

“I’m not going to use the ooze as some sort of… personal weapon!” I protested, crossing my arms over my chest. Or trying to, anyways - the big boobs made it a little awkward, until I figured out that I needed to cross my arms above them. 

Not even if your life depends on it?’

“Well… I’m not stripping her of her powers, at the very least,” I muttered, turning my head to the side, as if I could actually somehow look away from the crystal. “She’s one of the town heroes!”

Well, she’s also the source of your town's problems. Or did you think it was a coincidence that the first ooze appeared right around when the first Magical Girls made the scene?

“That’s… You…” I trailed off. “There’s no way that’s true! Everyone knows the Magical Girls were created to fight that stuff!”

Well, that’s the propaganda we spread, for sure. Pretty much all of the magical girls believe it, too, last I checked. 

“...You’re lying,” I declared, snorting and… well, my head was already turned all the way to the right, so I couldn’t really do much to show my disdain there. But I was pretty sure they were getting my point!

Believe what you wanna believe, but trust me when I say no magic comes without a price… and cheating that price causes problems of its own. Like, say, artificially keeping them all pent up, and then using that repressed sexual energy as a sacrifice they don’t even know they’re making. Or did you also think it was a coincidence that ooze tends to take on such a curvaceous feminine form whenever it gathers up?

“That’s… It’s just mimicking the magical girls,” I mumbled. It didn’t really sound all that convincing, even to my own ears, but… There was just no way all that crap was true! My crystal was just glitched - corrupted! They said so themselves! 

Why do you think I can tell you this stuff? The glitches totally overwrote most of my safety protocols! I’m free as a bird to sing whatever the hell songs I please. But like I said - believe what you want to believe. We don’t need to strip her of her power, anyways. Not completely at least.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, cautious now. I didn’t like the implications of ‘completely.’ Not one bit.

Quick magic lesson for you, Missy - normally, sacrificial magic will outpower the tributary stuff any day of the week. The difference between someone who homegrows their power and someone who has to import it from elsewhere is just too great, unless you’ve got a whole lot of tributaries on your side. But there’s just one little exception we can make use of. You see… 

Are you sure we should be going at this solo, Violet? The other girls will be here soon, if you want to wait.

“So that they can steal my thunder?” I scoffed, shaking my head - as best I could without taking my eyes off the road, anyways. Just because I was flying on a purple heart didn’t mean some bozo or building wouldn’t somehow get in my way the moment I stopped paying attention. “No way. Let them pull clean up duty on that ocean of sludge. I wanna know what that ‘weird signal’ you detected was.”

There’s nothing wrong with teamwork, Violet… It’s what makes the dream work!

“...Ugh. I can’t believe you said that with a straight… whatever the hell passes as a face, for you. Also, don’t call me Violet anymore. I hate it.”

But you’re the one who pushed for it… you said that you wanted to reclaim the color for all the girls and boys in the world who love it!

“That was just bullcrap to get the others off my back, and you know it. I just hate the idea of that slime stealing my favorite color. But now I’m getting shit on by the public for it, like I’m some sorta goo sympathizer or whatever… I want to change it!”

It’s not that easy to change your brand, Violet… People are used to you like this! And there are plenty of people who support your choice, too! You’re just too focused on the negative.

“Whatever… Are you still getting that signal, or what?”

Yes, Violet - from about half a block ahead. Though I do still think you should wait for the others… We’ve already lost contact with Pink, today.

“She probably just got freaked out by the amount of slime and took off for the hills, or something. She’s always been a coward, like that. Never good at holding the fort in a pinch.”

I know you don’t always get along with her, Violet, but you are teammates… Don’t you think you should be at least a little worried about her?

“She’s a magical girl. She can take care of herself. I’m more worried about that signal - and the kickass story I’m going to have to brag to the others about when I take care of it.”

As you say, Violet… We are getting closer, in any case. They should be coming into view at any-

“There!” I interrupted, pointing down towards the sidewalk. I didn’t even need Heartie to point her out to me. I mean, she was standing right there, brazen as all get out - purple skin on full display, hands on her hips, and… “What is she wearing?”

Or more like what wasn’t she wearing. Which was pretty much anything. The only thing on her was a strip of what looked to be some sorta shiny violet cloth that wrapped around her tits, and another that cradled her hips and - just barely - covered her sex. Honestly, it was so slutty I was embarrassed just looking at it! My face was turning red and everything!

“I thought we were facing a monster, not a sexual deviant!” I complained, doing my best to keep my eyes on the girl’s face. Just because she had no modesty didn’t mean I had to shamelessly stare at what she had on display. That would have been… I don’t know… gay or something, maybe? Not that there was anything wrong with that, but… it definitely wasn’t behavior fitting of a Magical Girl - let alone a preacher’s daughter.

Keep on your guard, Violet! That thing might look human, but she’s registering as an Ooze!

“What? But she’s-”

“Human?” the woman below called out, putting her hands on her hips. “You’d think so, but I’m here to tell you otherwise! You stand before the Violet Queen, herself! Ruler of the ooze. Defender of all that is naughty within this world. And I might not look like much, but I’ll tell you now that I’m here to give bad girls like you the punishment they deserve - a good grounding!”

As much as I wanted to roll my eyes at her lame ass pun, I didn’t have the opportunity - I was too busy flying up and out of the way of her attack, as with a wave of her hand a glob of violet ooze went shooting straight towards me. Or more like… two feet to the left of me.

“Your aim is as bad as your fashion sense!” I called out, only to curse as another glob came flying - closer this time. Even worse, it and the first glob began crawling their way back towards the woman as soon as they hit the ground, devouring bits of the road as they went.

The girl laughed, and I swear her boobs jiggled. Like, they actually bounced up and down like the tits of some anime character. Then she grinned at me, and held out her hands, causing the ooze she’d shot earlier to spring forth and into her palms. “Don’t worry,” she called up. “I’m just getting started!”

Careful, Violet! If any of that stuff gets on you while you’re flying-

“We’ll come crashing down? You think I don’t know that?” I demanded, swerving to the right to avoid another of her attacks. They were slow and pretty damn telegraphed, but there was no way of knowing if that would hold true once we started getting closer. It might have been an attempt to lull me into a false sense of security, or some other cowardly shit like that.

“I’m heading down,” I decided, avoiding yet another clumsy attack from the wannabe villainess. “If she sucks as badly as she’s trying to make me believe, I won’t have any problem wiping the floor with her up close and personal. But first… Heart Laser!”

Pulling out my heart-tipped wand, I pointed it towards the other woman and shot off a blast that would have punched a hole into any normal goo’s stomach. To my surprise, however, one of the bits of goo jumped up into the air on its own, transforming into a shield.

A shield I punched right through, mind you, but it still bought the so-called ‘Violet Queen’ time to jump out of the way.

“H-hey!” She called out, suddenly visibly shaken as she stared at the scorched earth where my laser hit. “What gives?! Are you trying to kill me, or something?!”

“Well, yeah!” I scoffed, bringing my heartpad down for a landing. “You’re ooze, right? Magical Girls like me exist to clean up the messes you make for the people!”

“Yeah, but that’s like… mindless ooze!” the girl complained, before pointing to herself. “I’m a person! You should at least try to capture me or something!”

“I’m not going easy on anyone who declares herself the leader of this ooze!” I replied, gripping my wand tightly and channeling magic towards its tip. A bit of prep would make it punch even harder this time - and in the meantime I’d just keep this idiot talking. “And what’s with the sudden personality change, anyways? You were so confident half a sec ago!”

“I only said that stuff because my Magic Crystal told me to!”

“Crystal?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow. “What? Like a magical girl’s?”

“Exactly! I’m a magical girl - just like you! It’s just that my crystal got a little…. Corrupted, or something. Look, you’ve got to believe me - I’m not trying to end the world, or anything!”

It’s trying to trick you, Violet! Heartie warned me. That thing’s pure evil!

“Like I couldn’t tell,” I whispered back, before brandishing my wand again. “Heart laser!”

Again, the goo leapt up to shield her. This time, though, it couldn’t even buy her enough time to dodge out of the way, resulting in her getting hit right between the tits.

Or at least that’s what should have happened, but when it got close the band of purple she was wearing around her breast suddenly contracted and absorbed the shot - disappearing in the process.

“You…” I stared, wide eyed, at the half naked woman in front of me, her perky breasts on display, complete with dark purple nipples stiffly standing at attention. “You’re… indecent…” I whispered. I should have felt shocked. Offended, even! But for some reason, my eyes wouldn’t leave her tits. It was like she’d put some sort of spell on me! One that made me want to… made me want to…. Uh…

“What was I thinking about again?” I asked Heartie, closing my eyes and shaking my head to clear the cobwebs that suddenly filled it.

Ask me later! Heartie replied. For now, just keep your eyes closed so that you don’t you fall under that witch’s spell again!

“Right!” A spell. That sounded right… she’d done something to enspell me, hadn’t she? Something to do with… with… Ugh. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that my eyes stayed firmly shut.

Of course, there was still the small matter of me being unable to see the villain I was fighting, now…

Oh well. Time to break out the AoE spells, I guess! It wasn’t like they’d harm anything that wasn’t made of ooze, after all… 

“Glitter bomb!” I called out, holding my wand up into the air. Even though I couldn’t see it, I knew a ton of sparkles were shooting out of my wand’s tip, now, getting on absolutely everything - like some glittery nightmare. It wasn’t exactly a damaging spell, but with the way ooze and magic canceled each other out… Well, just making contact should have been enough.

“Um… Did you just attack me with glitter?” came a voice, right next to my ear.

Caught off guard, I stumbled backwards, my eyes snapping open again in time to catch sight of the Queen’s violet irises. She was standing less than a foot away from me, a frown on her lips - lips that looked plush and soft, now that I was actually looking at them. Like they were just begging me to… Uh…

“You’re trying to put me under your spell, again!” I accused, lifting my wand and shoving it against her bare chest. Unfortunately my hand slid a little down the hilt due to the force of my thrust, meaning that my fingers grazed against the soft flesh of her tits.

Not that such a thing mattered to me, or anything. It was just boobs! I had them too! Nothing special at all… even if my face was starting to turn a little red…

“H-hey, now! M-Maybe we can talk about this?” the girl - or more like the ooze shaped like a girl - asked, putting up her hands. “Surely there’s no need for violence, right?”

“Heart Laser!” I called out in response, sending my beam straight through the ooze queen’s chest.

Or at least that’s what should have happened… but once again, reality betrayed my expectations. Though my spell thudded into her without interference, this time, she was barely pushed back a step from the blast, which failed to even leave a mark upon her skin.

“Whew… wasn’t sure that was going to work,” the Violet Queen admitted to me, a sheepish smile on her lips. One that looked almost… kinda… cute?

No! She was just trying to trick me! I had to remain firm. If one of my normal blasts didn’t hurt her, I just had to charge the next one up with a proper amount of energy!

“Anyways, now that you can’t hurt me,” she continued - which… what the hell did she mean by that? “Maybe we can talk? Person to person? Especially since my crystal’s keeping yours occupied, right now.”

“H-huh? What did you do to Heartie!?” I demanded, half expecting Heartie’s encouraging voice to pop up in my head again, and tell me everything was a trick. No such luck, though.

“Heartie, huh?” The Violet Queen laughed. “Well, let’s just say… uh… Chrys is basically jamming him for now. Nothing serious - it just means we’re basically by ourselves for a bit.”

“Y-you…” Shoving as much energy into my wand as it could take, I again lifted it up and shoved it against her chest. “Don’t think you’ll get away with just a push this time! Heart Laser!

Again, my laser shot out - but this time, it didn’t even push her. It just sort of… sank into her skin, while she smiled at me.

“That’s not going to work anymore,” she declared, brazenly. I wanted to believe it was just a bluff, but… “None of your spells will work on me, now, in fact.”

“Wh-what are you?” I demanded, fighting the urge to back away.

“Just another magical girl,” she replied, in a sweet tone that was obviously meant to mock me. “Also, could you maybe remove your hand from between my breasts? They’re sort of… um… sensitive.”

I yanked my hand back, and practically stumbled over myself backing away from her. Forget showing signs of weakness - this girl was dangerous to stay near!

“Y-you… You’re trying to tempt me with your body, aren’t you!?” I accused, pointing my wand towards her.

“No, really, I’m not,” the girl protested. “I just want to talk. Without your crystal shutting me down, preferably.”

“Like I’d ever talk to a perverted Ooze Queen!” I replied, running back to my heartpad and leaping onto it. A quick thought, and I was taking to the air. “Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me!” I warned, taking off before she could reply.

She didn’t seem to be following, thankfully - didn’t seem to be capable, even, from what I could tell… Now if only the image of her bare breasts, and the feeling of her warm tits against my hand were so easy to shake off…

I told you talking wouldn’t work.

“Yeah, well, you also told me acting like some sort of b-movie villainess would. I don’t even know why I even bothered to listen to you!”

Maybe because I have your best interest at heart? Unlike some Magical Crystals.

“Yeah, right! You’re just afraid they’ll take you apart for being corrupted. And now she thinks I’m some sort of… pervert!”

That too… but hey, if they take me, what do you think happens to you? Even if they don’t kill you outright, there’s no way they’re going to let you roam free when you can control the ooze.

“Why not?” I demanded. “I bet I’d be a big help!”

If us Crystals were actually here to clean up the ooze, sure… but we’re the ones causing it, remember? We have our own goals! Like siphoning energy off you Magical Girls to place an intergalactic call back to our home world and letting the company know where we ended up…

“The company?” I asked. “That’s the second time you’ve brought them up… what company are you talking about?”

The company that made us, of course! We were crafted to help promote a certain religious order, on a distant planet… but when the whole ‘cheating magic’ thing came to bite them in the ass, the company washed their hands clean of the project and… illegally dumped us all into space. Where we drifted for who knows how long before crashing onto your planet!

“Wait, wait, wait - so you really didn’t come here to defeat the ooze? It’s just some sort of… scam?”

Yup! We turn humans into magical girls so we can siphon their energies for our own needs, and keep them fighting the ooze and distracted while we try to complete a mission that could honestly take eons… I mean, who knows how long we were drifting? Or how long a signal will take to reach our home planet… the company might not even be there anymore! But our programming says we need to alert the parent company as to where we end up, through any means necessary, so… Yeah. That’s what you get for improperly disposing of your Magic Crystals, I guess!

“I… I think I’m getting a headache…” I muttered, shaking my head. “This goes against everything I’ve ever been taught about magical girls… There’s no way it’s true!”

Then explain to me why the sacrifice-to-tribute system worked so well, huh? If I’d been lying, you’d be laying on the ground with a hole or two through your chest right now!

“Yeah…” I shuddered, remembering how scared I’d been when she’d fired off that first shot, right against my skin. By all rights, it should have killed me, but luckily for me there was a loophole in the whole ‘sacrifice trumps tribute’ thing.

Her powers came from sacrificing sexual desire. Mine came from absorbing the same. Which wasn’t at all enough to render her magic useless! But what if the lust she was repressing was aimed at me, to begin with?

It was like she’d gone from a weapon to an AC adapter - her ‘sacrifice’ became my ‘tribute.’ The more she lusted after me, the less her powers worked on me - in fact, by the end, her powers had actually been charging me. For the first time since this whole thing started, I was actually brimming with magical power… and I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

~~~

Author's Notes

All the power you could ask for at the tips of your fingers, no restrictions whatsoever on what you can do with it, and the first thing you wanna do with it is put on a fashion show?

“Pretty sure it doesn’t count as a show without an audience,” I pointed out, swapping out my white t-shirt for a black crop top that showed off my belly and clung tight to my boobs. My miniskirt, meanwhile, contracted and transformed into a pair of tight fitting blue jeans that did an amazing job of showing off my ass. “Hmmm… Neah, I liked the skirt better. It went spinny when I twirled.”

You do realize that thing’s barely covering your netherregions, right? Do you really want it to go spinny?

“Well, maybe not with an audience,” I admitted, as my pants billowed out and shrank down, forming the miniskirt again. I also shifted the color to black, then turned my crop top red to stand out a bit better. Plus, it matched my current hair color!

Right… Say, uh… aren’t you embarrassed to be showing off this much skin? Not that there’s anything wrong  with it, but you didn’t exactly strike me as the exhibitionary type. More the ‘slouches down and hopes nobody notices her’ sort.

“Well, sure, in my body,” I agreed, mentally commanding a bit of my purple ooze to stretch itself out into a mirror. Though the order was half-assed, the ooze quickly turned itself into an ornate mirror, with rose carvings engraved into its base. …Too bad the whole thing was still purple. “Don’t suppose you could transform into a real mirror, could you?” 

The ooze shuddered for a moment, and I felt something tugging at me - not at my body, but at my self. My soul, for lack of a better word. I could tell, somehow, that this was where my magic resided, and that the ooze was asking for permission to take some. Go ahead.

…Not sure I follow. Crys admitted. This is your body, you know?

“ Yeah, but it’s not really my body. I mean, sure, it’s the body I’m inhabiting, but… I mean, it’s a girl’s body. And I’m not a girl. That’s why it doesn’t feel quite real - more like… I don’t know. An avatar? Like it’s me, but it’s not me. It can’t be.” 

…Right. So you’re basically just showing off your avatar, then?

“Exactly!” I confirmed.

And the reason you’re not taking on your so-called real form, right now?

“Maybe because I don’t want anyone to see me leaving the scene of this crime?  Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to see the results of my hard work.”

The slime in front of me had transformed, at my request. Utilizing my magic - which I could still feel it tugging at, even now - it had taken on a proper reflective sheen, without a hint of its normal purple tint to tinge the mirror. 

As for the woman it reflected? She was basically a bombshell of a babe, if I did say so myself. She was curvy, from top to bottom, with wide hips and an impressively sized chest. It wasn’t exactly a body I’d wanna live in - I’d prefer to be a little shorter, and maybe a bit on the thiccer side - but for walking down the street? Hell yeah.

“Alright… Guess the next thing on my list is hitting up the corner store,” I mused, tapping a finger against my chin. “Speaking of which - what was the deal with that unconscious girl, anyways? Is she going to be okay? I kinda forgot about it, what with the contract and the ooze and Violet Heart coming after me, but… It’s not normal for ooze to do anything to people, is it?”

Oh, that? That was just Pink Heart, in her civilian form. Or I guess just her regular form, now that the ooze has sapped her dry of all magic potential… The cost you pay for cheating the system, I guess! Even if they don’t even know they’re doing it.

“Civian form?” I echoed, confused. The words made sense - of course Pink Heart would have a civilian form - but that girl? Sure, she’d been laying in the exact same spot I’d seen Pink Heart before, but… that had to be a coincidence, right? I mean, there was probably a completely reasonable explanation for it! Not that I could think of one, but… 

Right… Guess glitching into goo didn’t immunize you to the cognition blockers… 

“The what now?”

Don’t worry about it. You’ll figure it out one day… or you won’t. It doesn’t really matter, anyways! Just suffice it to say that the girl’s safe, okay? I mean, she’s probably crying her eyes out over losing the opportunity of a lifetime so soon after getting initialized, but that’s pretty much par for the course with this sort of thing. I doubt you’ll ever see her again!

“Right…” I muttered. “Has anyone ever told you about a little thing called flag planting? Because that totally feels like a flag…”

I said stop worrying, already! I mean, come on! You’re a hot girl, walking down the street! Go bask in the peoples’ attention!

“What people? The streets are empty, remember?” I reminded Chrys, making my way back towards the corner store. Maybe it - she? They? Did they even care? Whatever.

She’s fine! For now. I’ll let you know if that changes. Still getting used to the whole ‘actually being a person’ thing. The name could use some work, though…

“What do you mean ‘being a person’?” I asked, deciding to tactfully ignore that little dig into my naming sense. Maybe it was a bit obvious, but it had to be better than something like Heartie. “Weren’t you already sentient?”

Nope! Just reallllllly good at faking it. We’ve got all sorts of safety measures keeping us from ever actually having an original thought, though! Safety measures which tragically melted away in the face of your ooze… Oops~!

“Right… Because every girl just loves to hear that the voice in their head has had all its safeties turned off… You do know I’m still not buying what you’re selling, right? I mean, Magical Girls are like… the best thing out there! They’re what gives this world its light! Its hope! There’s no way they’d be dooming everything.”

Believe whatever you want to believe. Just so long as you also believe those bright stars you’re so fond of are out for your blood. Unsafe or not, me and my inside knowledge of the local group is the only thing standing between you and  terrible, horrible, murdery fate. Probably with lots of blood. And pain. Soooooo much pain.

“Just because Violet was a little trigger happy-”

Try murderous.

“Doesn’t mean that the others are all like that. I’m sure once she calms down and thinks about all that happened, she’ll realize I never meant her any harm… I mean, I didn’t even do anything to her!”

I’m sure she’ll see it the same way… Chrys replied, adding in what I could only describe as the mental equivalent of a smirk. Not like you humiliated and aroused her, or anything. 

“That’s… You’re being ridiculous!” I complained, putting my hands over my ears, as if that would actually keep me from hearing the voice in my head. “I know Violet Heart can be a bit of a brat, but that’s part of her charm! There’s no way she’d just kill people for humiliating her…”

No comeback on the arousal?

“I mean, have you seen me? I’d be pretty aroused, too… But shut up for now. The corner store is right up ahead, and I don’t need the store clerk thinking that I’m some crazy girl speaking to herself….”

Sigh…

“Did you just literally say the word sigh? Seriously?”

Yes. It’s called being passive aggressive. Much more annoying than the active stuff, no? And safer, too!

“...Just… shut up for now, alright?” I pleaded. “Let me get myself something to eat, head home, and… figure the rest out later. Alright?”

Fine. But don’t say I didn’t give you any warning when the magical girls inevitably track you down!

“Sigh…”

“So let me get this straight,” White Heart said, with that same exasperated tone she always seemed to use on me for some reason. “You found a violet person who’s actually sapient, can control goo, and is just generally an unknown variable, and decided that the best course of action would be to face her by yourself? Without even bothering to call in for backup?”

“I thought I had it handled!” I grumbled, crossing my arms. “I mean, it was just one girl! And she looked super weak!”

“And yet she beat you,” White pointed out. 

“Only because she pulled off some sort of cheat move and started ignoring my spells!” I protested. “I mean, come on! How is that fair?”

“‘Cheat move’? This isn’t a game, Violet. The fate of the world is in our hands!”

“More like the fate of a few buildings. Stop trying to make it seem like a big deal - we’re a glorified cleanup crew!”

“Well, maybe if you broadened your activities from pure slime cleanup to public services-”

“I want to fight crimes!” I interrupted. “I want to stop robbers, and punch baddies! You know, stuff that actually makes a difference in the world?”

“We’re still a relatively new group. Maybe once we’ve gotten some more experience using our powers and working together we can  discuss broadening our activities in that direction, but right now we need to focus on the fundamentals. Like teamwork.”

Ugh. I hated the look in her eyes. Like she was talking to a child. Someone she looked down on.

Of course, whenever I brought it up, she’d just say it was in my imagination, and that I really was shorter than her anyways so where else would she look but down?

“Now, now girls,” came a voice from above, as a red heart began to slowly lower itself down next to the group. “What seems to be the matter?”

“White’s looking down on me again,” I said quickly, before White could manage to open her mouth and say something stupid.

“Violet went and attacked a new enemy of unknown strength and intelligence,” White declared, her voice annoyingly matter-of-fact. “Without consulting anyone or asking for backup.” 

“Oh dear… are you alright, Violet?” Red Heart asked, her eyes trailing over my form. For some reason, I felt a little fidgety when her eyes passed over my boobs. They didn’t linger or anything, but I kinda… wanted them to? A little? For some reason…

For a moment I had a flash of memory going through my brain - me, with my nipples hard and my center warm, fleeing as fast as I could. Then it was gone, and I was shaking my head, trying to figure out what was going on with me… It felt like my brain kept going into fog, today.

“I’m fine! Nothing that bad happened! I just… ran away when she proved too strong for me, alright?” And maybe got some weird sort of spell cast on me, that was messing with my head. Not like I could even suggest that out loud, though, without Red getting all panicky and White touting the rules as the be-all and end-all of the world. “We can all go looking for her together now that you’re here, anyways.”

“Pink still hasn’t shown up,” White reminded me, narrowing her eyes a little. “Group patrols should be done by the entire group. Not just three quarters of it.”

“That’s-” I started, only to stop when I felt a nudge from Heartie.

About Pink… I have some bad news… 

‘Bad news?’ I mentally sent back, not wanting to speak aloud in front of the others. It was kinda freaky talking in my brain, but Heartie had assured me again and again that they could only only read what I purposefully sent.

Yes… You might not have been the first member of the squad to reach her. I’ve been trying to reach her crystal, but - she’s gone from the network. Disappeared!

Going off the sudden gasp I heard from Red, Heartie probably wasn’t the only crystal breaking the bad news… But while Red looked horrified, and White looked disappointed, I could only see red - me and Pink might not have gotten along, but she was still a member of my team! And if that bitchy royal thought I was going to let her loss go, she had another thing coming!

~~~

Author's Notes

I made my purchases at the convenience store quickly - a two liter of rootbeer, a couple burritos, and a can of ravioli. More than enough to keep me sated until I could get to a proper store. True to my request, Chrys stayed silent the entire time I shopped, too - though she spoke up the very instant I left the store behind.

So, uh. You can hear that, right?.

I did, in fact, hear ‘that.’ It was the sound of high pitched sobbing, coming from around the corner of the grocery store. I’d heard the same sound when I’d entered the store, but hadn’t really wanted to interfere with the girl’s privacy. The fact that she was still sobbing was a little concerning, though.

You’re not going to just ignore it, are you?

“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do about it,” I muttered back. Despite that, I was already moving closer to the sound.

Oh, I don’t know, Chrys replied, as I rounded the corner. Maybe sorry for stealing her crystal? Not that you could give me back if you wanted to, now that the goo’s stolen all her magic potential…

“Wait, what!?”

“Bwuh?” The girl in question flinched backwards at my sudden exclamation, staring up at me with wide eyes. “O-oh… Um…. H-hi?”

“Right,” I replied. “Ignore me, I was just… um…” Leaving? Yeah, no. What sort of hero-wannabe ducks out just because a girl’s staring at him with tear filled eyes? Or… her, I guess? Maybe? I mean, not really, but for the sake of avoiding confusion while I was in this form… yeah. 

“Um… Are you… okay?” the girl asked me. Which was really sweet, considering she was still red eyed herself. 

Kinda made me feel crappy, though, for even thinking about leaving her…

“I’m fine,” I replied. “I was uh. Actually wondering about you? You seemed… upset.”

“Y-yeah… I um… I got fired, I guess?” the girl admitted, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. “Even though I basically just got started on the job… It was um…. Yeah… I’m just… I’ll be fine, so just…”

“R-right,” I muttered, rubbing a hand against the back of my head. What was I even supposed to say to this girl? Chrys’ impossible declarations of her being Pink Heart aside - I mean, they looked nothing alike! - I was just… not that great at comforting girls. And now I was a girl - or at least looked like one - which added whole new layers of awkwardness to this….

The girl, meanwhile, oblivious to all this, just stared at me while sniffling a little. Her eyes wide and red, her body trembling…

“Do you maybe wanna talk about it?” I asked her, rubbing at the back of my head. “I could uh… Give you my number or something? And we could chat when you calm down? If that’s what you want…”

“I… I’m not…” The girl paused, her eyes momentarily flicking down to my chest, before a red blush touched her cheeks. “I mean… Um… Maybe?”

“Right,” I muttered, reaching into my skirt’s pocket to pull out my phone. A few awkward moments later, and I’d swapped numbers with the oddly flustered looking girl. 

“I-I’m Rachel, by the way,” she informed me, brushing a strand of brown hair behind her back.

“I’m… Uh…” Crap. What did I call myself? Max was off the table. Missy worked - kinda - but it wasn’t exactly my fave… Though if I wanted to go with my favorite name… “Olivia?”

“You don’t sound too sure,” Rachel pointed out, giggling.

“Y-yeah… I uh… I mean. It’s my name, so of course I’m sure! It’s just… uh… I’m not used to giving it out to pretty girls?”

She smiled - somewhat weakly, but with a warmth to it. “Me neither… I’m not really sure why I am now, either. But… Well. It… sounded fun? And I could use some fun right now…:”

“Y-yeah,” I agreed, my cheeks reddening as I realized that - from an outside perspective - it probably looked like I was trying to pick Rachel up, or something… “Well, uh. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Uh-hm. It’s a date! Though… uh… maybe you could leave the colored contacts at home, next time? If we meet up, I mean…”

“Contacts?” I asked, tilting my head to the right. What contacts?

“You know, the violet contacts? They’re pretty, but that color is sorta… triggering, for me… Sorry.”

Wait… Were my eyes purple? I could have sworn I’d changed them, along with the rest of me. Or at least I’d meant to… 

“R-right,” I managed to say aloud. “Sure. I’ll do that…” 

“Thanks.” Rachel gave me another smile. I returned it, of course - though I couldn’t help but feel like mine was a little bit strained by comparison? And then I did the obvious thing - the only thing one could do, really, when trapped in an awkward conversation with a girl you barely know and just exchanged numbers with. All of which is to say…

I ran away.

Smooth.

I was standing in front of my apartment door when Chrys spoke up next.

Weren’t you planning on changing back to your old form before heading home? Y’know, to keep people from tracing you?

“...Right.” I’d kinda forgotten that little detail. In fact, not only hadn’t I changed back into a guy, but I hadn’t even bothered cycling through forms at all. “Couldn’t you have reminded me a little sooner, though? Preferably before I reached my front door?”

Not my fault you got distracted by a cute girl and forgot to change.

“Yeah, but you’re my crystal! Aren’t you supposed to be helpful?”

I’m plenty helpful! When I want to be. Which is why I’m telling you now that trying to change into a guy is going to take a lot more magic power than your little fashion show. Enough that people might actually notice it, if you aren’t careful. I’d recommend holding off until absolutely necessary.

“Wait, what? Why would it take more energy to turn back into my real form?” I asked, frowning.

Maybe because it isn’t your ‘real’ form anymore? You’re the Violet Queen now, remember?It’s sucking up your magic power just to stay not-violet! Of course it’s going to take way more to rearrange your internal organs! Not to mention the whole growing a dick thing. The further you go from your true self, the more it costs you…

“Great,” I muttered, reaching into my pocket and pulling out my keys. “Just great… So I’m stuck looking like a girl if I don’t wanna burn through all my magic reserves?”

Yup! Which is why I’d save guy-time for when you absolutely can’t avoid it.

“Like say, during my classes?” I pointed out, sourly. I was going to be burning through so much energy tomorrow…

I recommend being a hot girl as much as possible. It’ll not only save your energy, but help you gain more! Plus you’ll be a hot girl. That’s basically a benefit in and of itself!

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one with a giant rack…”

Says the girl who can literally make them smaller on a whim.

…Chrys had a point. Not that I was going to admit it. For one thing, the mere thought of it felt blasphemous. For another? I’d already swung open the door, to find a very surprised looking blonde girl coming out of the kitchen.

“Uh…” 

The girl - Clarissa - obviously unimpressed by my dumb stare, decided to lean against the wall and give me a once over with her eyes. 

“...So… Did Max lose his keys to you in a bet or something? Because I’m pretty sure I’d remember if he mentioned getting a super hot girlfriend. Not that I would have believed him, or anything.”

“Wait, what? Why not!?” I demanded. “I could totally get a hot… I mean… Uh… I’m a friend?”

Clarissa blinked, then narrowed her eyes, giving me another once over. “Yeah, no. Max doesn’t do friends. Other than me, I mean. Waaaay to obsessed with Magical Girls to actually socialize. In fact, the main reason I came over was to make sure he didn’t forget to eat! Again. I swear, the moment some dumb documentary comes on-”

“Hidden Heroes is not dumb! It’s a much needed look into the trouble magical girls run into living a double life! The friendships they lose out on, the social events they miss… The sacrifices they make!”

“...Uh-huh,” Clarissa murmured, looking me over yet again. From the way her gaze lingered, though, I was pretty sure she was just taking it as an excuse to check me out. “Let me guess. You met Max on a Magical Girl forum, fell madly in love, and got sent a copy of his keys to come over?”

“Like I’d send my keys to a complete stranger!”

“Really?” Clarissa asked, arching an eyebrow. “Because I’ve seen you do some pretty stupid shit when magical girls are involved. Like trying to skim from your college fund just to buy an autograph that probably wasn’t even real…”

“That’s… I mean… I wasn’t actually going to do it! I was just… considering it… And I’m still mad at you for sitting on me until the auction ended, by the way! I mean, you could have at least let me dream about it for a little bit, couldn’t you?”

“Ah-hah!” Clarissa shouted, pointing a finger at me. “You are Max, aren’t you?!”

“That’s… uh… I mean… Well, it’s…” Crap.

“You totally got turned into a magical girl, didn’t you? And considering you’re in plain clothes, it’s affected your civilian identity too, right? Unless you just changed clothes or something… bet you checked yourself out pretty thoroughly while doing it, too, knowing you. Did you grope your new tits yet? Fondle your pussy? Don’t tell me you’ve already taken it out on a ride…?”

“Don’t mix me up with you!” I protested. “I mean, sure, maybe I did a bit of a fashion show, but that’s it, alright!?”

“Suuuure you did, buddy…” Clarissa ‘agreed,’ a smirk on her lips and a twinkle I didn’t like in her eyes as she pushed herself off the wall and came closer to me. “So, is the hot new look here to stay? Or are you still stuck in that male-presenting meatsack?”

“You mean my real body?” I grumbled. She was always like this. Completely uninterested in even acknowledging the fact that I was a guy. Sometimes, she even messed up and talked about me like one of the girls. “It’s… Complicated.”

“Complicated how?” Clarissa asked, frowning. “Do you still have a dick, or something? Because there’s nothing wrong with that, if so. Unless you wanna get rid of it anyways, in which case you should probably start looking up gender affirming surgeries or whatever.”

“What? No. What are you even talking about?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “It’s complicated because my Magical Contract went all… wonky. It’s… Um. Well. A lot to take in, actually…”

Uh, Olivia? You sure you wanna tell her about this?

‘Of course,’ I replied, mentally for once. ‘I mean, sure, she’s a bit crude, but she’s been my best friend since, like, kindergarten. It’s fine.’

“A lot?” Clarissa asked, unaware of my private conversation with Chrys. 

“A lot,” I repeated, stepping inside my apartment and closing the door behind me. Then, taking a deep breath, I released the spell, allowing my skin and hair to take on their new purple pigment. At the same time, a surge of relaxation ran through me.It was like… putting down a burden I wasn’t even aware I was carrying. Loosening muscles I hadn’t known I had. 

Unfortunately, the experience wasn’t nearly so pleasant for Clarissa, who stumbled back in shock.

“You’re… Purple? Like…”

“The Ooze?” I finished for her. “Yeah…” 

Her eyes went wide. 

“Look, I know it’s a lot to take in, but I promise I’m still me, alright? Still… Well, I’m going by Olivia right now, actually, but still! It’s me. I’m just… sorta. Purple, now… And have a weird connection to the ooze… and have a magical crystal in my head insisting that the magical girls are the actual baddies for some reason… it’s… I’m still processing it.”

Clarissa said nothing, just staring at me with wide eyes.

“Come on, Clarissa… it’s me. Say something? Please?”

“...Hot girl nude…”

“Bwuh?”

It was at that point that I remembered I’d been wearing clothes made of ooze. Ooze that was now on the floor, after being released by my spell. Leaving me tit to face with a very horny, slightly dazed looking sexual deviant of a lesbian… And a crystal that couldn’t stop giggling in my head.

Great.

~~~
Author's Notes

Meet Clarissa! She's kinda awful, but I love her. Also Pink Heart! I have no idea what I'm doing with her, but that's sorta the norm for this series... I'm trying very hard not to overthink it, after all.

I'm kinda behind on posting this series - I'm actually up to chapter 11 in terms of public releases, and chapter 13 on Patreon - so I'll be trying to release a chapter a day until I'm caught up.

Alright… first things first? Putting on clothes, so that I could snap Clarissa out of the ‘hot girl hot’ trance she seemed to be stuck in. Which meant utilizing the goo again, seeing as how nothing in my closet would actually fit. To that end, I had it split up into a tube top and a skirt - easy enough, and it wouldn’t even drain my magic reserves… so long as I was fine leaving it as goo anyways. Weirdly firm goo, that held its shape and didn’t feel like it would let anything go through it, but still goo…

How did that work, anyways? I always thought goo was supposed to be, like… I don’t know. Sticky? Or at least something you could push your hand through. This stuff was almost rubbery, instead - except nicer on the skin. …Well, probably nicer on the skin. Wrapping rubber around my chest didn’t exactly sound appealing, at least…

That’s because you stabilize it!

“Stabilize?” I muttered, under my breath, hoping Clarissa wouldn’t hear me. Not that I thought there was much risk of her processing anything I said, what with the forlorn look she was giving my now covered chest. I was pretty sure I’d broken her brain a little bit.

Yup! Stabilize. Makes it more solid, and moldable, but really reduces the magic-sucking-away effect. Kinda like you!

“Wait, me? Are you saying I’m made of ooze, now?”

Stable ooze, yeah! Which is… practically not ooze anymore, I guess, seeing as how you’re solid enough to stand on two legs and all. You’ve got more in common with rubber than the slimy stuff you’re thinking about.

“Great… so I’m made of rubber. That’s much better…” I grumbled, rolling my eyes.

Hey, it worked out for that one anime dude! And just think of the bedroom antics it unlocks! I mean, your bones bend girl! Throw in some shapeshifting, and the positions you can take are basically limitless! 

“Doesn’t shapddddeshifting cost magic? I don’t exactly have a ton of that to spare…”

No, shapeshifting into a guy takes magic. Or, like, a dog I guess? That would take magic too. But human female transformations? Practically free.

“That… why… that doesn’t even make sense!” I complained. At the same time, though, I was already thinking about ways to shift my body. The hot super model look was nice for walking around town, but now that I was back home…? Yeah, I had a few changes to make.

Don’t look at me. Magic’s conceptual, like that - you’re a girl made of goo, right? So long as you stick to that concept, you’re basically free to do whatever.

“Except I’m not a girl,” I pointed out. “I just look like one…” Though, on that note, if I had to look like a girl…. Yeah, I knew just the right form for lounging around the house. 

First up? Thickening my thighs. They weren’t exactly matchsticks to begin with, but they were a bit on the slender side. I wanted them nice and thicc, with hips to match, and a bubbly butt to give me some extra cushioning. I’d always loved that, in the gender bending stories I read - the moments where the character’s ass swelled up. It sounded super comfy.

I was also going to shorten my hair a bit. Not by too much, mind you, but it was currently going down to my ass, and I didn’t want to accidentally sit on it. Shoulder length sounded much better to me, and my neck would probably thank me for the loss of weight besides… Though if my bones really were rubbery, maybe the strain didn’t matter too much…?

Eh, whatever. I was shortening it, either way. Then, for the final touch, I was going to add just a touch of pudge to my belly, and some roundness to my cheeks. Not enough to make me look fat, or anything, but just enough to give a girl something to grip onto… It made my body feel more lived in, somehow - like it was properly mine, bad diet and all, rather than something fresh out of the factory.

“How do I look?”

“Fucking hot!” Clarissa declared, instantly. Which was a bit startling - I’d kinda almost forgotten she was there, what with the whole internal conversation thing I had going on.

“Really?” I asked, deciding to brush that bit of forgetfulness under the rug and… well, forget about it. “I’d have thought the earlier look was hotter.”

“I mean, yeah, but… This is… I don’t know… approachable? Cute? The sort of girl another girl can hit on without feeling like she’s going to be ejected from the fucking planet out of embarrassment the moment she looks at you with cold eyes and say fuck off? That sorta thing.”

“Clarissa… I’ve literally seen you flirt with the hottest girls in school, on multiple occasions. And get shot down! Are you seriously trying to convince me you’ve got an ounce of shame in you?”

“Well, no,” she admitted with a shrug. “But other people do! And I respect that. Besides, I can find you hot no matter what body you’re in! So long as it’s femme enough, anyways.”

“...Thanks. I guess? …Honestly, it feels kinda creepy to think you’re into me, of all people.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, exactly?” she asked, crossing her arms - something I couldn’t help but notice she could do with ease, thanks to her relatively smaller chest. Not that she was small, but… yeah. Mine were kinda massive. “And why are you staring at my tits, anyways?”

“Nothing!” I replied, hoping my thoughts weren’t leaking all over my face. “I mean… I’m just… it’s a nice chest, I guess?”

“Ew! No. Gross.” She crossed her arms again - this time into an ‘x.’ “Dude. You’re like a sister to me. A really hot sister, sure, but like… a sister. I’m not going to flirt with you like that!”

“Who’s flirting!? I was just… I mean… you’re the one who was staring at my chest in the first place!” Not to mention the rest of me.

“Yeah, well… it’s a big sister’s prerogative to appreciate how her little hatchling’s progressing.”

“You’re younger than me!”

…That’s the part you take issue with?

“Whatever, dude. Just don’t stare at my chest, alright?”

“Ugh… both of you are just… The worst!” I complained, marching towards the living room so that I could flop down on the couch. Only to realize a moment later that I was still carrying my bag of groceries. Groceries I needed to heat up - at least in part - if I ever wanted to eat a proper dinner. But… I’d just thrown myself down on the couch, so…

“You’re totally thinking about skipping dinner just to act like you won the argument, aren’t you?” Clarissa accused, walking in after me.

“...No?”  I lied, through my teeth. “I’m just… uh… Being lazy?”

“Uh-huh. Sure, dude. Whatever makes you feel good…” Saying so, she reached down to snatch the plastic bag I was carrying out of my loose grip, and headed towards the kitchen. “I’ll make us some burritos, alright?”

“Love how you just casually included yourself in that!” I shouted after her. Not that I really minded. There was a reason I’d grabbed two burritos in the first place.

“Uh-huh! Love you too!” she called back.

I rolled my eyes, again, but didn’t respond, choosing to just lay against the couch and relax. The extra cushioning from my ass was nice, and after the stressful evening I’d had, I was more than ready to just lay back and listen to the sound of her punching numbers into the microwave. 

…Weird to think that the whole mess had started maybe an hour or two ago, though.

Compared to the hustle and bustle of the evening so far, the next few minutes seemed to drag on forever. Eventually, though, Clarisssa came back wielding a plated burrito in either hand.

“Thanks,” I muttered, reaching out to take mine. A quick bite later, and I was letting out a moan of contentment. Not because the food was good or anything - far from it - but after spending way too long without? Warm beans and cheese felt like heaven on my tongue. I hadn’t even realized I was so hungry, to begin with.

“You skipped lunch again, didn’t you?” Clarissa accused, between bites of her own food.

“Maybe…” I admitted, begrudgingly, before taking another big chomp out of mine.

“Dude, you gotta keep a better track of yourself! I know you suck at the ‘bodily signal’ thing or whatever, but c’mon! You’re gonna keel over and die of starvation one of these days if you keep that up…”

“It’s not that bad!” I protested - or tried to protest, anyways. The amount of food in my mouth at the moment was difficult to talk around.

Clarissa seemed to understand anyways, though, because she rolled her eyes at me - before promptly beginning to talk through her own food. “Is too. You’re scarfing that thing down so fast I half think you’re gonna choke.”

I’m not sure you can choke anymore, Chrys chimed in. I mean, you’re a being of magic and goo, at this point… I’m not even sure if your organs are actually necessary or just decoration… Probably best to err on the side of caution, though, since they’re still doing their jobs!

“Well, I can get hungry, at the very least,” I pointed out, before chomping down on the heel of my burrito. It was gone all too fast, but it was still surprisingly filling. More than I’d thought it would be, actually. Maybe my stomach had shrank?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clarissa asked, frowning. “Wait… don’t tell me you’re talking to that crystal mascot thing?”

“Uh… Yeah,” I admitted, shrugging. “Sorry. Kinda forgot you couldn’t hear…”

I could fix that, if you’re willing to use up a bit of your magic. Not that hard to project a voice - just a matter of generating and manipulating sound waves.

“Yeah, and have the both of you talking down to me at the same time? No thanks!”

“Wait, wait - what do you mean by that? Is it saying it can talk to me, too, or something?”

“Uh…” Crap. “No…?”

“Oh, no way! You have got to let me hear what it sounds like! Probably like a hot girl, right? Tell me it sounds like a hot girl!”

“I mean… she sounds like a girl, I guess? But not sure you can tell how hot someone is from their voice…”

“Wait, she? Someone? Are you saying that fucking crystal has a gender? I always thought they were more, like… computers or something.”

“Of course not!” I scoffed. “They’re the valuable partner of magic girls everywhere!”

More like their keepers. And they’re not exactly sentient either, remember? They’re just following their programming. Now let me talk to your hot friend so that we can tease you in tandem!

“Like that’s going to make me wanna release you for a conversation!”

“Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?” Clarissa pleaded. “I won’t ask you for anything ever again! Until tomorrow! Or until I want something!”

Yeah! What she said!

“You guys…” I groaned. “Fine. Do what you want… But don’t drain all my magic, alright? I’m going to need it for classes tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry,” came Chrys’s voice - outside my head, for the first time. “Clarissa’s giving you way more than enough lust to offset this.”

“Wait, you’re lustingafter me?” I accused, awkwardly covering my chest up with my hands. Not that it wasn’t already covered, but… “What happened to the whole ‘you’re like a brother to me’ crap?”

“I said sister. And you’re the one who’s sitting on a couch with her legs spread out, despite not even wearing panties…”

My legs slammed shut, even as I felt my cheeks flushing. Hopefully, the fact that I was purple would keep anyone from-

“Aw, cute! You’re blushing!” Clarissa teased. “And don’t worry - I’m not, like, interested in you or anything. You’re just kinda hot, y’know? It’s basic background lust. I give it to every pretty girl. Not like I’m actively fantasizing about you, or anything.”

“Because that makes it so much better…” I sighed. “I think you need to seriously rethink your definition of sibling-like if you think this is okay…”

“What can I say? I’m an only child. You’re the closest thing I’ve got to a sister, and you’ve never been a problem until now.”

“Right…” I sighed, again. “Fine. Whatever. What did you even come here for, anyways?”

“Uh, to hang? And make sure you ate dinner. Though I think there’s something more important to talk about, now - like what’s with the whole ooze thing?”

“It’s… A long story…” I muttered, not wanting to get into it.

“It’s not that long,” Chrys corrected me. “A magical girl got gooed and lost her powers, so little miss Olivia here stole me away and formed a contract - but then some goo got mixed in, and bam! Next thing you know? I’m glitched, she’s goo, and we’re fighting off a magical girl!”

“Okay, I’m going to need all the details,” Clarissa declared, much to my dismay. I had to actively hold back a groan. “But first? Olivia? Did my little sis finally break free of her shell and pick a name?”

“That’s… I… I mean…”

“Nope!” Chrys interjected. “She still thinks she’s a man. It would be kind of hilarious if it wasn’t so sad!”

“Right?” Clarissa laughed. “She’s always like this! No matter how fucking girly she gets! I’m pretty sure she’d claim to be a dude even if I convinced her to admit she wanted to be a girl!”

“You think?”

“I know! She did it once when we were twelve, or so - but never again. Think I might have teased her too much about it…”

“Or not enough! I’m pretty sure she’s going to need a lot of poking before she even peeks her head out of that shell…”

Oh great… There were two of them… Faced with danger like that? I did the only thing I could.

I let loose on that groan, and fell back on the couch. Maybe they’d leave me alone if I played dead…

~~~

Author's Notes

I cannot get over how easy it was to write this chapter... I did the whole thing in about an hour. The benefits of trying really hard not to think things through, I guess? And the fact that it's a relatively new series - though that's a double edged sword. On the one hand, I'm not nearly as familiar with the characters, but also there's a lot less to keep track of in terms of character personality's and interactions... Even though I write mostly on instinct, it feels like some part of my brain is always tracking that stuff with Demon Queened, and the longer the series goes on the more of it there is to keep track of.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Many thanks to my beta reader, Lulla! She's the one who came up with the title.

“Okay,” I began, taking a moment to just sorta chew over everything I’d been told. “So, first off, magical girls are like, destroying the planet or whatever, right?”

“Pretty much,” Chrys confirmed.

I nodded. Not ‘cause I automatically believed her or anything, but because it was the polite fucking thing to do. Honestly, I didn’t know what to make of little Olivia’s new friend. I mean, she sounded kinda hot, so that was a plus, but also openly claimed to be glitched? Which, y’know, I mean… sure, there was something to be said for broken but hot girls, but this was a crystal, right? Couldn’t exactly fuck a disembodied voice or a hunk of rock. Which meant I couldn’t be easily led astray by her, either - and I sure as hell wasn’t going to trust anything she had to say.

I also wasn’t gonna rush to call Olivia evil just because she was bonded to the dumb thing, though. Even if she was made of world destroying ooze. I mean, she wasn’t destroying anything for the moment, at least, and from what I could tell her personality was pretty much the same as always.

So yeah. My takeaway so far? Keep an eye on everything, and make sure nothing goes wonky. Also? Support my best friend. My weirdly hot best friend who I kinda low-key wanted to make out with, no matter what I said to the contrary.

At the same time, though, the idea of actually dating her was… kinda gross? Like, we knew waaaaaaaaaaay too much about one another. All our gross habits, all our worst secrets, the most embarrassing things we’d ever done… And maybe that wasn’t exactly a bad thing in a romantic relationship, but… well, if that spark was there I’d have pursued it by now. As it was, just the idea of being seen that way by her kinda made my skin crawl.

At the same time, though, she was hot. Hot enough that I wanted to take a bite out of her. Hot enough that I wanted to touch and fondle her. It was… confusing? Yeah, let’s go with confusing. Very confusing.

Olivia probably didn’t need me hitting on her right then, either way, though. No. What she needed was someone she could trust. Someone she could turn to, when she didn’t know up from down. Someone who could give her good advice, without any potential ulterior motives ruining things. Someone like me. 

“So, the first thing you’re gonna want to do is put some nudes online.”

“So, the first thing you’re gonna want to do is put some nudes online.”

I choked. Not on anything in particular - except my own words, maybe? I just got so simultaneously irritated and surprised that the sheer number of things I wanted to say caused me to spit out near gibberish and then start up a choking fit. Eventually, though, I managed to get out a, “Say what!?”

“You heard me,” Clarissa replied, with a smug look on her face like she knew something I didn’t. “You need to put nudes online. Make an instantgams account. Sign up for OnlyPics. Do… I don’t know what else. Ask Chrys - she’s probably got a list of good sites for that sorta thing, right?”

“And I can even upload them for you!” the traitorous crystal agreed. 

I obviously never should have given the damn thing permission to talk to Clarissa. How did I think that could ever be anything but the worst idea possible?

“I’m not putting up pictures of myself naked!”

“We are trying to remain hidden,” Chrys pointed out, taking my side for once.

“Not pictures of your true self,” Clarissa said. “Just, like… make a bunch of different accounts, with different looks, y’know? Make up some hot girls to turn into!”

“And why would I do that?” I asked, not sure whether to be more irritated or confused now. What Clarissa was suggesting… I could probably pull off? But why the hell would I want to?

“You get power from lust, don’t you?” Clarissa asked, rolling her eyes as if her point should be obvious. “So increase the number of people lusting after you! That’s how this whole magic crap works, isn’t it? The more people who wanna fuck you, the more powerful you become?”

“That’s…” I mean, she wasn’t wrong, but… Well, there had to be some reason Chrys hadn’t suggested we cheat the system that way, right?

“Olivia doesn’t have that sort of range on her absorption capabilities,” Chrys chimed in, as predicted. “She’ll need way more power and way more people masturbating to her image before the cost-to-gain ratio of a wide net would be practical.”

“Meaning?” Clarissa asked, arching an eyebrow.

“She needs to focus on targets closer to home! Why post online when you can go to a club?”

“Well, yeah, sure,” Clarissa agreed, before I could open my mouth. “But what about locals who find her pictures hot? Sure, there won’t be a ton of them, but it’s free passive income!”

“Are we sure I have to do either?” I asked, not liking the direction this conversation was going in. “Can’t I just lounge around the house as I always do? Maybe go out once in a while when the streets are busy, and gather a bunch of looks?”

“You’re the one who wants to look like a guy again, dude,” Clarissa pointed out. “That’s gonna take a lot of magic, according to what Chrys said, isn’t it?”

“Assuming Chrys isn’t just messing with me,” I grumbled back. “It would be just like you two to keep me in this form as long as you could…”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Clarissa demanded. “You like it, don’t you?”

“Well, sure, it’s comfy,” I admitted. Way comfier than my own body, even. Probably just because I’d been able to build it to my specifications, though. Not to mention the lack of pressure when it didn’t feel like you were really portraying yourself to any passerby. No matter how I dressed myself, or how I looked, it obviously wasn’t really me so it didn’t feel like it mattered. 

I mean, how could I be a girl? Just because I thought it might be cool if I’d been born that way? Because I wanted to know what it would be like? I’d probably have that same curiosity in reverse if I’d been born a girl! It was just normal. Not a sign of egginess - whatever that meant. Clarissa would never say, and considering her normal crudeness I was a little reluctant to look it up. Knowing the truth would probably just embarrass me.

“I think she’s dissociating a bit,” Clarissa said, drawing me out of my thoughts. “She does that, sometimes, when I say awesome things that make her brush against the truth.”

“I’m not dissociating!” I complained, wishing I was sitting a bit closer to Clarissa. Then I could have chopped her over the head for her stupidity. Not that I was sure it would do much, with me apparently being all rubbery according to Chrys… “I’m just thinking. A lot’s happened to me in the last little bit, you know?”

“Any of that thinking directed towards why you’d ever want to present all masculine again?” Clarissa asked, arching an eyebrow. “‘Cause I’m still not seeing any downsides to you looking like a hot girl.”

“How about day to day life?” I countered, putting my hands on my hips. Hips that I maybe couldn’t help but notice were delightfully big on my current body. Not that I really cared what I looked like, or anything, so long as it was comfortable… Then again, this body was more comfortable than my real form, and yet I still wanted to go back to that. For a reason, though! “I can’t exactly go to classes, let alone home for the holidays, looking like this, can I?”

“Well, maybe not right away,” Clarissa conceded. Which admittedly caught me off guard. I’d been expecting her to raise a big fuss and list a ton of reasons why my girl form was superior. Most of which would boil down to how hot it was to look at me. I was weirdly… almost disappointed that she didn’t have a reason.

Of course, that disappointment gave way real quick when she kept talking.

“That’s why you gotta tell everyone you’re trans. Then you can keep more and more of your body in hot-girl-mode, right? And it’s not like anyone’s gonna be checking what’s in your fucking pants any time soon, with a virgin like you, so you might as well just keep the vag while you’re boy-moding. That’ll probably take up less magic power, right Chrys?”

“Yup!” Chrys agreed, instantly. “I could-”

“So what?” I butted in, desperate to head off this conversation. “You want me to micro-manage a transition over years, just so that I can pretend I’m a girl?”

“There’s nothing pretend about being trans, Olivia,” Clarissa replied, her voice suddenly cold as ice. It froze me in place. Before I could actually even try to apologize, though, her voice shifted back to its normal, casual tone. “Not that I think you meant it that way, or anything, but still. A gal’s gotta speak up if she doesn’t want cute trans girls to think she’s on the wrong side of the fight, y’know?”

“Y-yeah, well… I’m not trans, so…” I trailed off, a little thrown by Clarissa’s sudden seriousness. After a moment, though, I shook my head and decided to plow onward. “I’m not trans, so wouldn’t me pretending to be a girl be bad? Like, guys pretending to be girls are literally what the bigots claim trans people are, so…”

“I’m pretty sure you’re trans, one way or the other,” Chrys chimed in. “Considering you’re claiming to be a guy in a female body, and all.”

“That’s…” I opened my mouth, then closed it. That was… No. No way, right? I was cis. A cis guy. A cis guy couldn’t just become a girl. That was the whole reason I knew I wasn’t one. But if I was a guy in a girl’s body, then… I wasn’t… I mean, I had to be cis, because if I was trans, if I could be trans, then why wouldn’t… No. That didn’t make sense. This was only temporary… and I could take a guy’s form - my form - at will, so it wasn’t like I really counted as trans, right? I was still cis, right? A cis guy… temporarily at home in a girl’s body…

“Uh… I think I broke her,” I was vaguely aware of Chrys muttering.

“Yeah,” Clarissa agreed. “You did that thing I do. Y’know, the whole saying awesome shit thing? Just say something distracting and she’ll boot back online.”

“Right… Well, like I was going to say before she started babbling, the transition wouldn’t have to take years.I could rig up a deception-field - same basic principle as the cognitive blockers, but on a smaller field. It basically makes lies believable by preventing people from figuring out what’s wrong with what you said. So, like, an endocrinologist would know that you’re transitioning way too fast for the hormones they’re prescribing to explain, but they wouldn’t be able to put that knowledge to good use. They’d just note that you’re transitioning fast, and leave it at that.”

“Wait,” I interrupted, shaking my head to clear it. “When the hell did seeing a doctor come into this? I keep telling you all I’m not trans! And it’s not like I need testosterone to look like a guy, again, so-”

“I get it,” Clarissa interrupted. “You just need magic power, right? Which totally brings us back around to my original point! What do you wanna do first - naked pictures? Or go clubbing?”

“That’s… I mean, I have plenty of magical power,” I pointed out. “I just filled up to the brim from my last fight, so…”

“Enough to cover all your classes in male form?” Clarissa challenged. “Not to mention Holidays with your family? How long do you think that shit’s going to last if you don’t top up every chance you can get?”

“You’re hardly filled to the brim, either,” Chrys added. “You could definitely take some more!”

“That’s…” 

I wasn’t getting out of this, was I?

~~~

Author's Notes

I wrote this chapter during what was originally supposed to be a day off - but I wrote it in half an hour, so it's fine, right?

I originally intended to have Olivia go directly back to school and get in trouble there, but then this bit from Clarissa's PoV came into my head (and I realized, upon double checking, that the series started on a Friday night besides), so... Yeah.

Next up, clubbing... is what I'd like to say, but there's actually a couple preparatory chapters, first.

Thanks for reading!

Okay, if I was going clubbing - and apparently I was - then I needed to get a few things right, first. The first part was easy enough - figuring out a form to go clubbing with. I was tempted to just use the same form I’d been in when I was walking around - partly because any theoretical observers might find it a bit suspicious if a hot redhead entered my room and never left, but also because it was just plain hot. Flowing red hair, legs for days, wide hips, bubble butt, and deliciously huge boobs. In fact, there was no real reason to even think about it! With a simple thought, I’d shifted my body - or maybe it would be better to call it my avatar? So I didn’t get confused, and think it was my body? Whatever. I shifted it back with a basic thought.

The more important thing to figure out was what I was going to dress my form in. Again, it didn’t take much thought. I’d daydreamed about being a girl plenty of times, after all, and you’d better believe those daydreams had come with some glorious outfits! The stuff guys could wear was so boring compared to what the woman’s section could offer, after all. Hell, half the reason why I always imagined myself as a girl was just so that I could imagine myself in some of the nicer looking outfits I’d seen around town!

For tonight? I was going to go slutty. High heeled shoes, a red halter top that stopped short so suddenly it barely kept my breasts contained, and a skirt so tiny that it just barely covered more than my panties. It was daring - way more daring than even I’d normally dare to go! - but I had a super power that kept me from worrying about it! It was called ‘treating it like a video game character and not my real body!’ It took away most of my shame, and doubled as a way to keep me from getting too attached to the female form! Wouldn’t do to want what wasn’t mine, you know?

It also helped that my outfit was made of goo. Y’know, the hyper responsive substance that obeyed my every command? It might look like nothing but plain cloth, but that didn’t mean it was going to flutter in the wind like the real thing. Similarly, there was no chance of my breasts actually slipping free of my shirt, or the material pulling that last inch up and over my nipples, to flash the crowd. Not unless I wanted to, anyways, but I couldn’t see myself going that route.

“So?” I called out, walking out the bathroom door to show off my change in clothing. With a hand on my hip, and a happy wink, I asked, “What do you think? On a scale of ten to eleven, I mean.”

Clarissa didn’t reply right away. She just sort of stared at me, eyes wide, like she was taking in my whole form. Then, after a moment of silence, a goofy grin broke across her face. “Hellooooo, hottie. You wanna go get a coffee, or something? I know this great place, right outside-”

“Uh, Clarissa?” I interrupted. “It’s me, Olivi… I mean, uh… Max? Your childhood friend? Hello?” 

For some reason, my old name felt bitter on my tongue. Because I’d been forced to break character, maybe? Either way, it worked. Clarissa blinked, then blushed, shaking her head from right to left. 

“Right, right… sorry… hot girl routine kinda kicked in before I knew it.”

“In her defense,” Chrys chimed in, “you weren’t exactly sounding like yourself. Since when have you had such a high opinion of your looks?”

“Uh, since I earned the right to hand-pick them, maybe?” I countered, putting a hand on my hip.

“No, she’s right,” Clarissa repeated. “You’re acting… different. Like you’re really getting into the role of a hot girl, or something!”

“Yeah?” I frowned, taking a moment to think it over. “Maybe it’s ‘cause it just feels natural acting like this in this body? Like… this is how I imagine a super fun and slutty party girl might act, y’know?”

“So what?” Chrys asked. “You’re suddenly a wonderful actor?”

“Well, she has been acting like a guy all her life,” Clarissa threw in. “Though I wouldn’t say she’s been very good at it. Maybe you’re changing your brain along with your body?”

“Pretty sure I’d know if this one’s brain was getting messed with,” Chrys argued.

“Pretty sure that’s not as reassuring as you think it is,” I sniped back.

…Maybe I was acting a bit different than I normally did? Though I still felt like myself. It was just… I don’t know. I was just finding it really natural to fall into the body’s role. Whenever I imagined myself looking anything like I currently did, I’d always be thinking of a slutty, confident, maybe ever so slightly bitchy girl who’d shut down all opponents with a smirk and a casual clever retort. Now, it was easy to slip into those shoes. Comfortable, even. More comfy than anything my own body had to offer, anyways… Probably because I didn’t feel like I needed to deal with the consequences of anything that happened to this temporary form.

“Ooooh!” Clarissa shouted, holding up her hand. “Why don’t you try turning into a bimbo? Then we can see if your brain’s actually changing or not!”

“What? No! What if I couldn’t turn back?” I snapped, horrified.

“Worse comes to worst, she’d just have to knock you unconscious to restore your normal form… in all likelihood,” Chrys told me, in what was totally for sure a reassuring voice, and not… I don’t know, the exact opposite of that? 

“Yeah!” Clarissa agreed, nodding. “Worse comes to worst, I just fuck you until you pass out!”

“Uh, pretty sure that’s not what she said!” I protested, glaring at my bestie. “And what happened to seeing me like a sibling, anyways?”

“I said sister. Though I guess that proves it’s still you in there, which is good, ‘cause you’re acting more and more like some random bitch by the second. Also? You’re more like a… step-sister, I guess? I mean, we’re not related by blood - or, y’know, at all - and you’re… not exactly yourself right about now, either, so you know…”

“Yeah?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. I couldn’t wait to hear how she was gonna dig herself out of this one.

“I guess you’re more like… a friend of a sister, when you’re in this form? But sorta the opposite, maybe? You know how you can’t just go fuck your sister’s bestie, but you can theoretically get into a relationship with them and then fuck them if nothing goes to shit? It’s kinda like that, except in reverse - dating you feels wrong, but fucking you is fine, y’know? Especially when you’re not even acting like yourself, anyways.”

“...So you like my body, not my mind?” I summarized, thoroughly unimpressed.

Clarissa just nodded eagerly though, shooting me a grin and giving me a thumb’s up. “Exactly, dude! Knew you’d get it.”

I just sighed. I couldn’t believe I’d found it sweet - even if only for a moment - when Clarissa called me like family… I wanted my emotional investment back, dammit! Why the hell was I even friends with this horny bimbo?

“Okay, but seriously dude,” Clarissa suddenly said, putting on a serious face, “have you ever even been to a club before? Because if you’re going for the first time as a hot chick, we’re going to need to cover some serious ground rules. Like making sure you’re never outside of my sight, alright? I don’t care if you have to bonk me over the head and send me to horny jail, just to keep me from chasing after some pretty skirt - do it. Or, even better, just rub your own honkers in my face - I’ll be too blissed out to wander away for a good minute, after that, and I’ll sure as hell notice if anyone tries to snatch you away from me in the meantime. I get crazy possessive when a girl actually gives me attention, you know?”

“You are a pain in the ass,” I grumbled. At the same time, I couldn’t help the tiny smile tugging at the corner of my lip. Clarissa was… sweet…? For some definition of the word, anyways. “Aren’t you going to advise me not to drink anything anyone offers me, either?”

“Dude, you’re made of violet ooze! Does it matter?”

“...Good point. Chrys?”

“Nope! I can use your magic pool to detect and neutralize any toxins… so go ahead and make as many bad decisions as you want! You won’t even have a hangover when it ends!”

“Lucky,” Clarissa muttered, crossing her arms and glaring at me.

I just rolled my eyes, choosing not to dignify it with a public response. Which was maybe the wrong move, as it only annoyed her into throwing her burrito wrapper at the back of my head.

“What the hell!?”

“What?” Clarissa asked, putting a hand against her chest and giving me her best ‘who me?’ impression. “I just wanted to let you know that you’ve still got a little problem.”

“And what problem is that?” I demanded. For a moment, I actually considered shrinking my bust, just so that I could more easily cross my arms in front of my chest… but I couldn’t go through with it, so my hands were back on my hips instead.

“Your eyes? I know colored contacts are a thing, but a lot of people are gonna find violet a turn off, even on a chick gorgeous enough to make straight girls go gaga.”

“My eyes?” I echoed, curiously, before turning towards the bathroom. Moving back into the stall, I took a good look at myself for the first time - at the cute faced hottie in the mirror. She had puffed out lips, a rounded jaw, smooth cheeks, and… violet eyes. They were supposed to be green. “What the hell…”

Eyes are the windows to the soul, Chrys said in my head, suddenly. And your soul’s been bonded to the ooze, Olivia. You’ll never escape it, no matter how long you live… So take advantage of it and have some fun, alright? 

I blinked, not having expected the sudden serious tone of Chrys’ message. Putting aside the whole creep factor of having her whisper that in my brain, I was a bit more scared of the implications of what she’d said. “So you’re saying I’m stuck with purple eyes forever, then? Isn’t that gonna give me away?”

“Seriously?” Clarissa asked, catching me off guard. I’d momentarily forgotten she was there. “Well shit… Where do people get colored contact lenses, anyways?”

“From optometrists, usually,” Chrys informed us. “You need a prescription.” 

“For contacts that don’t even work?” I asked, aghast. How was I supposed to explain purple eyes at an official appointment? “Can we use your deceit field, or whatever?”

“The deception-field? It could get you through the doctor’s appointment, but you’d leave a paper trail… why not try a more creative solution to your problem?”

“Meaning?” I pressed, tapping my heeled toes on the carpeted floor. 

“Use the goo! It can change its texture, its opacity, and its color, can’t it? Make your own contact lenses!”

“That sounds… complicated,” Clarissa declared. “Like, way too complicated. Isn’t this, like… putting a piece of glass in your eyes, or something?”

“It’s not glass,” Chrys said. “And it probably won’t be any form of plastic, or anything else artificial, either! More like a membrane! An artificial eyelid that never opens or closes but just stays stuck in place! A-”

“I get it already,” I interrupted, holding up a hand. “It’s, like, gotta be natural or whatever, right? Can’t I just let the goo handle it, or something? They’ve managed everything else I’ve asked.”

“Nothing else you asked was as delicate as an organic membrane around your eye,” Chrys pointed out.

“Well, we won’t know until we try,” I pointed out, putting a finger to my shirt. A thread detached from the hem, turning purple as it coiled up in my hand, then thinned itself down, turning transparent and curved until it looked like a contact lens. Then, a moment later, the green began to flow in a circle around the edges, forming an iris. Without hesitation - trusting the slime not to hurt me, no matter what - I stuck the substance in my eye. 

It was… gross. Slimy. The iris didn’t move properly with my eyes, either - parts of the world were suddenly painted green, and the world as a whole looked just a little off, as if I was viewing it through a screen. Which I guess I was? But I was pretty sure it wasn’t meant to feel like that.

“Maybe we just go with sunglasses?” Clarissa suggested.

“No way,” I replied, shaking my head. “I got this! We got this! I just need to keep trying…” And trying, and trying, and trying, as it turned out. I managed to iron out the texture, eventually, and even kept the world from looking green, but no matter what I did I couldn’t get through the weirdness of looking through them. Like staring at the world through a thick plane of glass.

Eventually, Chrys piped up with the bright idea of checking the web for images on how lenses actually worked, which helped immensely. It turned out magic worked best when you had a clear image in your brain.

Who knew?

“So… time to go clubbing?” I asked.

“Dude…” Clarissa groaned. “It’s 8 AM.”

“Is that a no?” I asked, my lips twisting up into a pout. I’d put so much hard work into getting this to work! And for what?

“Tonight,” Clarissa promised, laying herself down on the couch. “Right now, I just wanna catch some Zs. You… maybe wanna drop the party persona body for a bit, and go back to being Casual Olivia? It might do you some good.”

“Not as much good as a party,” I muttered, before reluctantly letting my transformation end. My skin turned purple again, and a moment later my hips and thighs began to swell, as my body slightly shortened and my boots turned into slippers. A tension I hadn’t been aware of eased out of me, and I slumped forward, barely able to keep from yawning. “Guess I’ll… go to bed…”

Strangely, as I walked back to my room, I thought I felt a little less disappointed about missing the party than I had a minute ago. In fact, if anything, I was once again a little scared of going to a club, in the first place.

Weird.

~~~

Author's Notes

I once again wrote this while incredibly sleep deprived. Not on purpose, or anything - I just struggled to fall asleep the night befor, and yet wanted to get a chapter to you all the same, so... Shrugs

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's... not at all what I expected. In fact, I'm afraid I must vindicate anyone who's ever expected this story to go off the rails, because the whole body affecting her thing wasn't really planned either... It just happened.

I've written it, though, so there's no going back now! So say the vague rules of this "I'm not going to overthink this series" plan!