[X] I'm a Magical Girl
[X] Yes, but you want to do a magical girl transformation too.
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"Sure," you say to Lilith. "You can get a do-over."
She relaxes with relief. You think that if Nico were here, he'd shoot her. Hit her when her guard was down.
But that's not very Magical Girl. And you're a Magical Girl now.
You hold up a finger. "On one condition."
Lilith looks worried. "You aren't going to make me your slave if I lose, right?"
"Work slave or sex slave?"
Lilith shudders. "Both."
You shudder back. "Ew, no. I wanna do a magical girl transformation. I'm a Magical Girl."
Lilith nods approvingly. "I see you are a fellow woman of taste. Magical Girls are warriors of love and justice, worthy of trading blows with a Dark Lord."
Your face brightens. "I know, right? A bunch of weird stuff happened, but this is how things should be. Fair and square, protagonist to antagonist."
Lilith brightens back, riding your geeky wavelength. She crosses her arms over her chest, radiating power. Her hair floats on an unknown wind, glowing red. "As it should be! Heroes and villains should follow decorum." She shudders again, hugging herself. "Unlike these...Isaac beasts."
"Um, do these 'Isaac beasts' go after fellow Isaacs?" You cover your chest, your partner covers the rear. You're suddenly very aware of your assets.
"Most don't. Some do. Rake-Hell Luxuria makes a point of enslaving beautiful female Isaacs."
"Do they have one of those weird weapons you were talking about?"
"They do," she says. "A cat o' nine tails. Each tail of the lash can ensnare a heart desired."
You file away the name Luxuria, make a note to ask her about the other Sinners' Arms. "Hey, does Luxuria take Isaacs because of their cheats?"
"Because they're a challenge," she says. "More fun to break in."
You choke on your words. A part of you wants to apologize for your fellow Isaacs, but you don't feel like you have the authority. "Can we do the fight thing now? Or should we both wash the ick off first?"
"I find a good fight to be a cleansing experience," Lilith says. "And it wouldn't be very Magical Girl to pause before the Dark Lord."
"Good point. Magical Girls don't quit." You offer her a handshake. "Let's have a fun match, 'kay?"
Lilith eyes your hand warily. "This is a mortal duel between darkness and light."
You smile guilelessy. "Doesn't mean we can't shake hands."
She reluctantly takes your hand. Her hand is fresh ramen hot. "Fine. To an honorable duel."
You shake.
She tenses, waiting for a trick or trap. There is none.
"You are a strange one," Lilith says. "From what realm do you hail?"
"Japan, same as most," you say. "Although I wasn't born there."
Lilith takes her hand back, quick like she's still expecting a sneak attack. "A stranger in a strange land."
Your smile turns strained. "Ehehe, yeah..." You realize you're a foreigner twice over.
Lilith waves you off. "Very well. Make your preparations. I shall make mine."
You scurry off outside of the cave, imposing green iron doors slam shut behind you. A wooden sign saying "Abandon all hope, normies who enter here" clatters against them.
Now that you've decided to transform, you realize you don't know how. You search yourself for an instruction manual, don't find one. You press your choker on an educated guess, a display screen appears in front of you.
ASHLEY CAMPBELL
CLASS: ISAAC
CHEAT SKILL: MAGICAL GIRL
SKILL RANK: LV1
PERSONAL SKILL: KEMONOMIMI-MICHI
SKILL RANK: LV1
FOR: 60 GRA: 40 INT: 70 RES: 50
EQUIPMENT:
WEAPON: [CHAINSAW]
ARMOR: [HEXENDRESS]
ACCESSORY: [DIVINE STOCKINGS]
MAGICAL GIRL GARMENTS:
MAGUS CONJUROR THEURGE
[LOCKED] [LOCKED] [LOCKED]
[LOCKED] [LOCKED] [LOCKED]
[LOCKED] [LOCKED] [LOCKED]
You don't remember your stockings being named items before. You slip off your sneakers and take them off. They're green and dark grey now, Ariel's colors.
[DIVINE STOCKINGS]
Stockings blessed by the Goddesses. Quells hostilities when offered in good faith. Grants +10 to FOR, GRA, INT, and RES when working towards the aims of Inanna and Ariel Ialdabaoth. Never run, never tear, never pinch no matter how absolute the territory.
"Neat." You stretch them out, they're soft as silk and strong as steel. Something compels you to kiss them and offer a small prayer to the Goddesses. They glow with a golden sheen as warmth floods your hands. When you put them back on, you feel lighter, stronger, sharper and more determined.
"So that's what getting buffed feels like," you run a finger along your leg. "No wonder so many folks want to get Isaaced."
You check your display again.
FOR: (70) GRA: (50) INT: (80) RES: (60)
You pump your fist. "Awright! If level one stats are around 1-10, 50 has to be around in the teens. I'm already super stron-"
NOTE: Average pre-cheat skill Isaac stat level is 50. Average post-cheat skill Isaac stat level is 100.
"Oh come on!" You yell.
You hear Lilith roar loud enough to shake the cavern. "I'M GETTING CHANGED, DAMN YOU!"
"Not you!" you yell back. You rub your choker and pout. "I thought this was supposed to be a power fantasy."
You see a notification shine in your left eye. You poke at the air, opening the display console. Your eyes start to glaze over from the information scrolling past. You've never been one for reading manuals. Only the Intuition options are unlocked, the system says you'll have to find the other garments.
As far as you can tell, Theurge gives you Pokemon: an air elemental bird, a fire elemental lizard, and an imp in a very nice suit for Very Nice Men. You can have one of them out at a time, switching takes 20-30 seconds. With Kemonomimi-michi, you can take one of them into you and gain their powers. It makes you look like a Pokemon gijinka girl, too.
Conjuror lets you make and enhance stuff, weapons mostly. The schematics for a chainsaw are already loaded up in wireframe, you feel the knowledge in the back of your mind. You run your hand over your partner as you work through the other abilities: Six Flower Shield allows you to make a shield that can tank or negate nearly any attack, one for each petal. Kiss Devil...allows you to steal Aether and vitality through kissing?
You're gonna put that last ability to the side; virgin you still were, indiscriminate kissing was a bridge too far.
Magus allows you to overclock your body with Aether power, shoot raw Aether from your hands and feet, and downloads a magic-enhanced martial art into your head. You can shape the Aether into planes and blasts, like a superhero.
You scroll back and see that the TenCo console offers voiced support. With a few quick taps on the air, you shift the console's support voice from the choker to your partner.
You hear your partner speak aloud for the first time.
"Initializing...TenCo Reality Daemon v. 6.16 active. Would you like to give me a name?"
[ENTER PARTNER DAEMON NAME]
[ ] Partner
[ ] Bro
[ ] Love
[ ] Bruce
[ ] Write-In
You hug your partner to you. "How's that?"
"Understood. Let's begin, Ashley Campbell."
You tap some more with a free hand. "Call me Ash, partner."
"Understood, Ash."
You kiss your partner. "Groovy."
Before you can get situated, the green iron doors to Lilith's lair explode open. Hellfire and the screams of the damned herald your destruction. Emergency red illuminates you and casts Karloff shadows on your opponent.
Lilith looks nothing like the track-suited dork you met. Her glasses are off. Her hair flows wild and hungry around obsidian horns and an officer's hat. Her sclera are black with points of red and gold. A cloak of nightmares roils over her bone-white shoulders, failing to cover a brutal-looking bodice.
"They call me Witch-Queen. Archdevil. Lady of Ladies. I am the Great Lilith LaVey, Demon Lord of the Beautiful Country. Face me if you dare. Survive if I let you."
You look on in awe. After years of a dull and empty reality, you're faced with true fantasy. You weren't a hero, there were none left in Shura-cho. But you're in a hero's place, on a hero's journey, with a hero's power.
What you don't have, is a hero's speech.
But you do have a transformation trinket.
You press your choker, ribbons of gold and green light dance around you. You're pretty sure you're doing the shiny naked thing right now. "Alright you cute dork of a Demon Lord, listen up!"
"D-Dork?!"
"Sorry," you mumble, then clear your throat. "Take two. Alright you doll-loving Demon Lord, listen up! I'm Magical Girl Ashley Campbell!"
"Standing by, Ash."
"And this...is my Maj stick!" You rev your partner twice and lift him over your head, let him growl in triumph.
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[PLEASE SELECT GARMENT]
[ ] THEURGE - Unlocks [Summon Sylph L1], [Summon Salamander L1], [Summon Mr. Crowley L1]
[ ] CONJUROR - Unlocks [Projection Air L1], [Six Flower Shield L1], [Kiss Devil L1]
[ ] MAGUS - Unlocks [Raging Heart L1], [Burst Rondo L1], [Strike Arts L1]