Chapter 32:
One of the worst things about cities in the pure world, whether the town I'd lived in, or even one of the larger cities I'd visited on occasion, was how suspicious everyone was, myself included, of everyone else, of every corner, every alley, every object, and especially every woman. You wouldn't often see women out walking alone, not because it was dangerous for them, although they were targets for monsters as well, sometimes moreso; but because a lone woman looked like a potential threat. Even two women together was somewhat less threatening, because two monsters agreeing to hunt together and remaining friendly was much less common.
This is really fascinating - just, like, the thought that went into this, about how a world full of sex-hungry monstergirls would have some very different cultural assumptions than our own.
I'd started to be able to sense it in the others, the energy that burned in all of us, that connected us. It was an immediate commonality as I moved through the streets. Any one of these people would be willing to talk to me, to chat, and maybe even to blow off some steam, if I'd not had so many outlets for that already. I could feel the ones who were emptier, who hadn't yet completely embraced what we had to offer as they moved through town, freshly fucked men and even women not yet transformed, and I ached to show them in a way which might have frightened me, had I not lived through what I had, not known how right and natural it could be. How kind the process was, when guided by the right hands.
You know, in hindsight it is
really obvious that Lyle was going to become a Demon. And much like with Faust and Mad Science, I really like that Lyle's particular brand of monsterification evangelism is unique and distinct.
33:
[...] and Sally always barged into the house to give me whatever she'd prepared, which was never unwelcome, because it only ever happened if I'd not had to barge into her place first, to help her 'unprepare' it.
Come now, Lyle; think of all the adventures you two had! The bonding experiences! The life-or-death struggles against monstrosities of culinary science the likes of which mere mortals were not meant to know!
34
I leaned back against the tree. If there was a Dryad in it, she didn't seem to be home, or she was ignoring me. There's only so many times I could knock on tree bark saying; 'Hello, anyone home? Mind if we eat here?' before things got too silly, even for me. It might have been a bit like sneaking into an unlocked house when the neighbor happened to be out, but… at the end of the day, it was a tree. I was only so willing to be accommodating to foliage.
I'll point out that a
house is, essentially, an unusually shaped tree with a big air pocket in the middle.
Although I feel like this is a bit more like sneaking onto your neighbor's porch swing while they're out, which is ... less trespass-y. Though given that I'd be upset if any of the neighbors decided to have a picnic in my front yard without asking I guess it's still probably a bad thing.
35
If I ever endured this kind of hardship for something so mundane as a tree, I'd have had Sally blow it up.
Lyle! What if a Dryad lived there?!
In fact, there was still, years later, a burned spot where a bramble bush had been on the way to the market from my house. I hadn't asked her, specifically, just complained about it one day, and it was gone the next morning. Strangely, the morning after that, all the brambles around town had been mysteriously uprooted, including those in the garden of a spiteful old hag, who'd bade me investigate which entitled child had done something so 'heinous'. I shuddered at the thought of a child so dedicated to trespassing on her hideous property that they'd do all that work in one night, and I never did find one that had, which didn't shock me, though with what I know now, I wonder if that was actually Beeps?
Honestly, it's probably for the best that the whole Faust-Beeps rivalry got out into the open, otherwise -
Like -
Look Faust is rapidly ticking off boxes on her list of Mad Science Crimes Against The Chief God. Do you really
want to contemplate what would happen if Beeps felt the need to
outdo her?
37
We just needed to show people what we were offering in a way that didn't frighten them. The Chief God and the church were problems, but probably solvable ones. We were stronger. We could come back from the dead, and bring their dead back with us. And, most importantly, it didn't have to come to that. Churches were ultimately made of people, and people could be convinced. That left the Chief God, and her angels. I knew already that Angels could be convinced, some even lived in Morningwood, so… really just the Chief God. If she really loved humans so much, seeing them thrive ought to be enticement enough, and weren't monsters her creations too? Shouldn't she love them also? But even if not, if neither was really true, should one person be allowed to stand in the way of everyone else, whatever their power or position? Put that way, the answer was clear.
Lyle, casually getting sidetracked by plotting world domination.
Watch out, though - keep this up, and Fran Tastic might have to stop you! She is a stalwart heroine of justice and can doubtless contend with
two nefarious nemeses if it comes to that.
38
"My love, what has your mind so troubled?" Faust asked, "Your performance did not suffer, but I can tell you are distracted by something unpleasant."
Beepatrice put her hand on my head. "Healthy."
[...]
A loud thumping echoed from behind the sheets covering Faust's workplace from view.
"Well," I said, "On the one hand, I'm getting a little bit concerned about whatever that is. It keeps coming back again faster, louder, and more violently."
Faust pointedly ignored my implied question.
Pay no attention to the abominations of science behind the curtain!
"Lyle, Magenta was natural born, so she may be an exception, but for a human woman to become a Demon, rather than merely a Succubus, she must be indoctrinated! Made to believe that Monsterization is best for not only her, but for everyone, and then taught to aggressively pursue that goal. There is a reason the radical faction of Mamono are so feared. Demons are temptresses, whispering salacious words into the minds of the unwary and making Mamono of entire villages! Such a mindset is the difference between a Succubus and a Demon. It's a rather extreme position by itself, to say nothing of the way they generally treat their men as property."
...as opposed to Lyle, who is increasingly coming to believe that Monsterization is, in fact, best for everyone.
If Magenta weren't so monofocused on her particular methodology, I think she'd really have no choice but to consider her work with Lyle an unmitigated success. With a few years to, like, adjust and settle down a bit, I fully expect Lyle to be quite successful at encouraging humans to immigrate to mamono-controlled territories; because the whole soft-sell "Oh hey here's some
actual reasons to come to the sexy side" pitch seems like it would work on a lot of people.
Like, I find sex
physically repulsive and I still think it's honestly a pretty attractive pitch.
39
"I think the only thing that really bothers me about all this is the itching."
"Itching?" she asked.
"Yeah, my skin's been getting steadily healthier, but I still get acne, have some minor blemishes. I assume that stuff is kind of forcing its way out of my system now that I'm so close to the end. It's manifested as this full body itch. Especially on my forehead, and a couple… other places. I always got acne the worst under my hair, it's naturally greasy. It's been maddening."
She pulled me in for a hug, scratching my back. Ahhh… that's nice~
*head, meet desk. Hello, desk!*
Okay admittedly it's been 31 chapters and some weeks in-story since Faust mentioned this, so maybe headdesking is uncalled for, but-
Itches. On the forehead. And, let me guess: a couple spots on the back, and at the base of the spine.
Oh, what could that possibly be?
She was clothed in all red, a large robe keeping her modesty, which was unusual for a Mamono.
Then, as Amy began to shake, I realized why she was dressed that way.
...huh.
Mamono must have, like, a society-wide taboo against large amounts of the color red. Red outfits have to be broken up with accents of other colors. Awnings for shops can't be in red. Cloth merchants presumably must keep bolts of
red cloth in the back, out of sight of passerby.
...this also means that it's really not Amy's fault, if Red Feather keeps
deliberately provoking her like this. So, why was
Amy the one who evidently suffered the worst of the fallout from these incidents? Red Feather is, like, obviously the guilty party here. You'd think the merchants and passerby would be angry at
her.
...
...
sorry, I was just struck by the idea for, like, a buddy-cop comedy where one of the cops is a Holstaur and goes full chuuni whenever she sees blood.
Chapter 40
"Why don't you see what Akubra made you? …I'm sorry again that I got Sally something first."
"Forgiven," she said, as she held up the box. Her eyes glowed for a moment.
"Hat," she announced.
I snorted. She must have known I actually wanted her to open the package, she was trying to cheer me up. Simply scanning it and announcing the contents was her idea of a 'joke'; 'See, Master? I followed orders, aren't you proud?'
...okay seriously
Did the human civilization of however-long-ago
deliberately program their combat automata for comedy routines, or is this just a skill Beeps has picked up on her own in the intervening millennia?
While I was distracted with that revelation, Beepatrice played with her crotch with both hands, and suddenly, the panel housing it popped off with a wet sound and a delighted; "oh fuck yes… master… master fuck, yes…"
As she tossed her vagina at me, I had a moment to think 'not what I meant by 'take it off'!' before I caught it for fear of it breaking. It twitched and writhed, although separate from her, and still spewed juices it had nowhere to store. My crotch and lap were quickly filled, and the liquid spilled down my legs as well.
o_0
Right, wow, okay.
...that's kinda neat, in a weird way? This is probably not a surprise to anyone in this thread, I suppose, but ...
Huh.
Chapter 41
"Don't you 'Now, Lyle' me, missy! I love you! I have loved you since before I understood what love was! Every morning in that stupid tiny, awful village, I waited patiently. 'This morning, this morning for sure, Sally will tell me we're getting married'."
She was obviously flummoxed. She started rocking back and forth on her heels.
"You… thought I was going to tell you?"
"Of course, you idiot! Who in their right mind would ever try to marry you without your express permission!? You might blow them up!"
It's not an entirely unreasonable fear, in fairness.
42
"So you are saying… you would like me to cease bending over, then?"
"If… you don't mind?"
"Of course not. By all means! I have been moving this body all my life, but you are doing a stellar and decisive job thus far, why would I refuse?"
I love reading these two bicker. It's great. They're - they're so easy with each other, you know? They know each other so well, and they fall into this really comfortable groove of mutual snark worn from years of good-natured sniping at each other.
43
Chapter Forty-Three - I'll Show Them
Uh oh.
But dangerous women were hardly unknown to me. I greeted the most dangerous woman I knew every morning in the mirror. I had no reason to fear.
Oh my.
That is ... that's
That's
*fans self*
Faust is very cool.
44
Chapter Forty-Four - I'LL SHOW THEM ALL
Oh dear, oh dear.
"Faust." Magenta said, blinking. "This is… your house?"
"Indeed."
[...]
Magenta turned to Akubra, "But you said…?"
"She lives here too," I said, tiredly.
She gave me a look as though I were quite mad. She was the one who showed up on my doorstep unannounced. And naked. It was obvious what she had planned with Akubra. Between the two of us, I thought her more 'mad' for that alone.
Just roll with it, Magenta. Wonderland. What can you do?
"We will have to…" I paused, swallowing, I was frustrated at myself for finding this so difficult. "We will have to talk about our feelings."
Dun dun DUN!
It'll be okay. Everyone here loves everyone else. You're all in this together.
Except Magenta I guess, who is in this together too but only because she's being held under duress.
It'll be okay.
45
You know, I can't quote Amy's entire section, so I'd just like to take a moment to reiterate that Amy is my favorite.
Truly, common sense is a dangerous forbidden technique.
Subject: Elite Unit: Blackberry
Designation: Loyal Steed
Designation: Adopted Daughter
Race: Monster
Subtype: Bicorn
Subtype: Automaton (Adopted)
Beeps' datalogs are always interesting, but I do want to pull put one line for emphasis, because it is really sweet -
that "Subtype: Automaton (Adopted)" bit for Blackberry -
I don't know, I thought it was charming.
Unit Logs Desire For Core Programing To Go Fuck Itself.
Heh.
Something to find out later. Right now, Lyle's looking more lively than he has since I got here. That maid of his gave us an opening. Time to capitalize.
"Honestly, I can't say I'm too surprised you ended up here, Lyle." A little confusion leaked into his eyes, and not the empty-headed kind. He was scrabbling his way out of this pit, I could almost taste it. He looked pretty stupid with that red handprint on his cheek.
"You fumbled around satisfying your wives for so long, one of them thought cuddling was risqué. You're pretty obviously not cut out for this. I'm not surprised you gave in and let your dick do your thinking for you."
The others in the room shifted uncomfortably. Oh, sorry. Did I hurt your feelings? Tough luck.
Well -
Maybe she doesn't want to be here and is only helping because Faust is holding a
gun pleasure spell to her head
But Magenta is
helping. She is
making an effort. She is trying her best.
And it works, too!
I dunno. I kinda like Magenta, even if she's got less of a moral vacuum and more of a moral black hole.
Sally floated her phylactery through the air towards Akubra.
Wait… really?
I was… was having a hard time keeping my eyes off of it. It was so pretty. I felt the echoes of that same religious feeling I'd experienced before start running through me.
"Hey… Faust~…" Magenta said, though there was something wrong with her voice… was she drunk? "Can I have that? I promise I'll take such good care of it~… Wow… It's so pretty."
It was really pretty wasn't it? I heard Sally respond, but I couldn't really focus on the words. I wanted to touch her soul again. My hand reached up, and…
And Akubra closed her fingers around it.
When did she start straddling me?
"What the fuck was that?" Magenta asked, out of view, "No seriously. What. The. Fuck."
My first thought was that it was interesting that Magenta genuinely doesn't seem to realize what just happened.
Then I thought about it for another second and realized that it's not like people just
leave souls lying around. She probably
hasn't ever seen one before!
...the other thing is that it's curious, but different demons seem to react to souls in different ways. Lyle experiences a sort of religious rapture, while Magenta gets
intoxicated by them. Intriguing.
"Ask her."
Hmmm?
"Ask her for it."
"Sally, please, I want it! I want it! Please!"
I couldn't hear her, not over the sounds of Akubra and I, over her whispers in my ear, the sounds of our bodies crashing together.
But somehow I knew…
She'd said yes.
...that's really sweet, actually.
...also just from a horrible munchkin standpoint I think the benefits of having your phylactery in the possession of another being who a) loves you and will never intentionally hurt you and b) is a demon-slime monsterperson who can fight back instead of, like, putting it in a box seem fairly obvious to me?
As my arm shrunk back to size, the color spread, creeping up to my fingertips and falling down my arm to the shoulder. As it covered the whole of my arm, the entire thing collapsed, like ice suddenly unfrozen, goopy blue liquid splashing down onto my chest. As I struggled to make to make sense of it, the liquid towered again, my arm reforming, still grasping the charm, but now smaller, slimmer. Curvier.
*fans self*
Horrifying? Yeah, maybe. I guess? Like, "I assume people find that horrifying" is probably a more honest way of phrasing that.
But, oh, the possibilities!
It sucks that we don't get to be mutable protoplasm monsters.
*pouts*
Science has thus far proved to be a real disappointment on the whole "horrifying abominations against all that is good and holy" front.
I felt as my new, fresh, smooth skin finished spreading over my face, and I cooed as my head collapsed, took a deep breath as it reformed, letting out little moans.
Okay,
that's a little creepy.
I pressed my hips up into Akubra, and as I did, Wings pushed out from where I been inadvertently pinning them against the table. Come to think of it… my wings and tail… their color, it reminded me of my clothes. My Shoggoth…?
The thought 'where did she go' never actually formed, though. I was her. We was me. I were both right here. Me much moreso than she, I thought, but that was how she would have wanted it. I could feel the connection to all the rest of myself… herself… myself, through the bits of me already finished. She was just a part of me, now. And admittedly, if my arms and legs collapsing into goo meant what I thought, she was probably the most useful part.
I felt a little warmth in my chest at that thought. I liked being useful.
You know K it's really rude of you to peek in my head and pull fantasies directly out of my subconscious.
...what? I'm just saying that being a a cute demon girl in symbiosis with a shapeshifting slime monster would be really cool okay.
Don't judge me.
But as the last ounce of flesh turned blue, I felt that satisfying sensation as my entire torso briefly collapsed, reforming lithe, curvy, feminine. A sizable chest. There was no doubt what had happened to me.
My dick was gone.
I'd Alped.
I wasn't even sure how, exactly, but I had. I felt amazing right now, but once I came down from the high, I wondered if that would change? I certainly had.
You know, this is interesting, because
well
Because Lyle's come at this all backwards.
Trans women, out here in the real world, have to work through a ton of emotional and mental baggage and social
bullshit before they can even
start having a go at changing their bodies.
But over here in
MGE Land, it's entirely possible for an Alp to have done basically none of that processing in advance. To suddenly and unexpectedly -
Also side question what determines what manner of cutie someone Alps into?
- to unexpectedly have a body they
want without, um, without doing the actual groundwork of getting around to
realizing that they want it.
