Chapter Text
Hiiragi Utena turned her eyes up, towards the clash unfolding above the city. One creature flew towards Magia Sulfur, then crashed as she summoned a shield into its path, its imp-like shape splattering into ooze. Magia Magenta's spear impaled another one, leaving it, too, to splash down to the street below.
But Magia Azure was outnumbered. In the same instant her sword slashed through one of the monsters, another one dragged its claws across her stomach, cutting through her dress and drawing blood from the skin below. Utena inhaled, her heartbeat quickened - the times when the magical girls got hurt were always so... exciting.
Azure made quick work of her other foes, but they, too, left their marks. Utena's eyes darted around to check for skin or underwear exposed by the damage - then looked away when she realized what she was doing. She was here to admire them, not to ogle them!
"That's the last of them!" The voice of Magia Magenta brought Utena's focus back to the sky. "Tres Magia, withdraw!"
The three magical girls flew away, to wherever they would return to their civilian forms. Utena wondered what they might look like the rest of the time, without the dazzling appearances bestowed by their magic.
It was hard to imagine someone looking ordinary yet holding that kind of power. Utena let out a sigh as she walked away, through the field around her school.
"I wish I could be like them..."
"You totally can, you know."
Utena whirled around at the sound of the voice. There was no one else around, no one except... what looked like some sort of black bat plushie, floating behind her. A fairy. A magical girl mascot.
"Are you... here to give me magic powers?" Utena whispered.
"You bet!" The fairy held out an object shaped like a four-pointed star. "I'm Venalita, and I couldn't help but notice the power you've got. This will let you transform - give it a try!"
Venalita tossed the star forward, and Utena caught it. It began to shine, and light filled the area around her, wrapping her in a warm updraft. Her clothes vanished, and odd sensations spread across her chest and between her legs until new clothing appeared to cover her.
Not that she felt very covered. So much skin was showing, and her pants - if they could be called that - were impossibly tight. How much had she changed?
The light faded. Had anyone seen that? Was that really all the clothing she was supposed to get?
Something disappeared from Ventalita's hands before Utena could get a good look at it. "Congrats! How do you feel?"
"I..." Utena glanced down at herself. "Why is my outfit so... weird?"
Venalita's tiny mouth smiled. "It's pretty standard fare for a villain outfit. You didn't think you were going to be one of the good guys, did you?"
Utena's blood went cold. "I-I don't want to be a villain! Turn me back!"
"You know I'm a villain too, right?" Venalita floated closer until its face touched Utena's nose. "What you want isn't my problem. You've got some real juicy potential for evil, and I want to see what you can do."
Utena took a step back. "N-No way! I can't just..."
"You sure about that?" The object reappeared in Venalita's hands - a phone. "What if I were to... no, wait. I can do better than that."
Venalita tapped the screen a few times. Was it... typing something?
"...Huh?" Utena asked.
Venalita glanced back up. "Oh, nothing to worry about. Go ahead and head home. The transformation's like a clenched muscle, you can release it by unclenching it."
The fairy returned to texting, leaving Utena unconvinced by the assurance. But... if it was letting her go, she wouldn't waste the chance.
She looked away and did her best to relax. Breath in, out. In, out. After a few breaths, something loosened inside her, and in a flash of light, she was back to her old clothes. Back to her body feeling... normal. The star appeared in her hands, and she let it fall to the ground as she dashed away.
It didn't take long for her to tire and slow down. Venalita didn't seem to be following, so there was no rush. She made her way home, trying to put the encounter out of her mind.
The door was unlocked. Her mother's shoes were here, but something felt... off. Was it just that the talk with Venalita had her looking for things to worry about?
She could hear breathing. But it was... weird, too heavy. She followed the noise, towards...
There were two people in the kitchen. Only one of them was wearing clothes. Her mother, in contrast, was wearing... other things. Ropes crossed her otherwise-naked body, holding her in place. A blindfold covered her eyes, a ball gag filled her mouth, and headphones obscured her ears.
"MOM!" Utena shouted, her feet carrying her-
"Stay back there." A star-shaped dagger appeared in the other occupant's hand, resting against her mother's throat. "You want her to live, right?"
The girl threatening Utena's mother wore her own strange outfit - what must have been one of Venalita's examples of typical villain attire. Hers certainly covered more skin - her hood even covered most of her hair - but the sides of her robe were open and almost completely bare.
"She can't hear you, either." The girl tapped the headphones, and Utena's mother flinched. "So let's just have a nice, calm chat, yeah?"
Venalita floated out from behind Utena and into view. "You sure work fast. Well done, Leberblume."
"Damn right I do." Leberblume grinned at Utena, her face a wall of pointed teeth. "So you're our new junior, huh? Hiiragi Utena. Venalita says you're trying to turn down our generous offer to join the winning team, so here's how it's gonna go. You're gonna go back out there, transform, find the magical girls, and fuck up their pretty pastel asses. 'Cause if you don't, I get to have some fun with your dear mother here, then slit her throat, tie you up, and have fun with you until you're ready to do your damn job. You get me?"
As she finished talking, Leberblume's free hand squeezed Utena's mother's breast. Her mother made a sound, and Utena's shaking became a shudder.
"So... I just need to hurt them a bit, right?" she asked.
"Oh, a few scratches won't cut it," Venalita purred. "The best thing would be for you to kill one of them, but-"
Utena's eyes widened. "N-No way!"
Leberblume barked out a laugh. "I told you she wouldn't be that dumb, Vena!"
"Well, I had to try." Venalita tittered. "In that case... leave a mark. Something they won't be able to heal from."
Utena swallowed. She'd heard a few tales of things that happened to magical girls of other cities when their fights didn't go well, but Tres Magia had never fared poorly enough for that. Even if she tried, she probably wouldn't succeed. And yet, at the thought... Her heart rate quickened again, joined by a feeling stirring between her legs. She couldn't do something like that, but if she did...!
Venalita glanced down at Utena's skirt. "I see you like the idea. Well, then. Get on with it!"
The fairy withdrew the four-pointed star and tossed it back to her, and against her better judgment, Utena caught it. She turned back to the other pair.
"Y-You won't hurt her while I'm gone, right?" she asked.
Leberblume licked the side of her mother's neck, resulting in another unpleasant noise. "I won't kill her as long as I think you're staying on task. Other than that... Don't take so long that I get bored, yeah?"
A chill ran through Utena's body. "I-I understand."
"Good." Leberblume tossed a small object towards her - a wireless earphone. "Put that on, so we can stay on touch."
So Leberblume would know what she was doing. But... at least she'd know if Leberblume became displeased.
"Okay. I-I'll... get to it, then."
Utena staggered out of the house, clutching the star and hoping no one would look at her too closely. She couldn't just burst out of her house in villain form, but... she couldn't transform somewhere she might be seen, either.
After a few blocks of distance, it felt safe enough, and she held up the four-pointed star. She recalled a phrase - the one magical girls apparently said when transforming.
"Trans Magia!"
The star flared to life. Once more, her clothes vanished, and - this time she looked down in time to see that her body was definitely changing. Which meant she wouldn't have to worry about people seeing that, at least.
Her villain attire appeared, and the transformation concluded. Venalita floated into view.
"I'm glad to see you're on board! As long as you maintain your villain form, you'll light up in magic senses like a beacon, so those magical girls will be over here soon. Better get ready!"
Venalita held out something that looked like a riding crop topped with the same four-pointed star, and Utena took it.
"Wh... what's this?"
"It's your weapon!" Venalita replied. "I call it Frusta Dominazione. You can hit things with it to turn them into monsters. Give it a try!"
Creating a monster... Well, she did like flowers. Maybe a flower monster would be nice?
She raised the whip and swung it at the closest flower. It glowed, then multiplied in size, erupting into a mass of vines wrapped in an odd harness.
She was supposed to fight Tres Magia with... this? And... it felt like something was approaching her. Was that her magic sense?
Would it let her sense the girl at her house? She turned her mind homeward, and felt... maybe a faint blip, one that seemed too faint to be just a few blocks away.
Magia Magenta's voice rung down from the sky. "There it is! Take that thing down!"
"N-Not so fast, Tres Magia!" What am I even saying? "You will be the ones to fall!"
Magia Azure floated to Magenta's right. "Is she a new enemy general? She doesn't look very confident..."
"Be careful!" Magia Sulfur replied. "If anything happens, get behind me!"
"Remember what I said," Leberblume snarled. "Make them hurt, and make it count. Or else...!"
The three of them flew down towards the plant monster. Please, Utena silently begged it. Fight back!
Vines leaped up towards the magical girls. A shield appeared in front of Magia Sulfur, and the other two joined her in safety as the strike crashed against it. Vines that tried to crawl around its edges fell to the weapons of Azure and Magenta.
"Sulfur's shields are pretty sturdy, huh?" Venalita remarked. "Better find a way to deal with that!"
Utena looked down at the riding crop. She still felt magic brimming inside her, but not nearly as much as before making the monster. Was it enough to make a second one?
She ran below Tres Magia, over to a spot on their other side, and struck another flower. It burst out to form a second plant monster, and unleashed its own array of vines at the sky.
Sulfur formed a new shield on the opposite side - but as she did, the first one shattered, leaving the original volley free to seize her, to pull her down to the original monster. The second shield crumbled a moment later, and the other vines took hold of Sulfur's partners.
The vines gripped Sulfur's wrists and ankles, holding her limbs splayed several feet in the air. Could Utena float like the magical girls? She willed herself to, and it worked, bringing her up to meet Sulfur face-to-face.
"Let me go!" Sulfur shouted.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Utena's voice sounded so much calmer than she felt. "You have your job to do, and I have mine."
"Exactly. Now show her what you're capable of."
Utena's hand settled on Sulfur's flat chest, then took hold of her left breast and squeezed. Sulfur let out a gasp, then composed herself. Familiar feelings stirred in Utena's body - but the ones between her legs were different.
"So what are you gonna do?" Sulfur's tone and expression shifted, as if a mask had crumbled away. "Rape me? Is that what you fuckers are after? And here I was worried that you might try to kill me."
Utena laughed. "Oh, I won't kill you. Certainly not from such a close distance. I'm just here to... weaken you a bit."
She took in Sulfur's face. Piercing blue eyes stared back - how beautiful they were. Utena tapped her right index finger against the outer corner of Sulfur's left eye, her pulse quickening once more.
"You have such impressive defenses. You think you're invincible, don't you? But you're wrong."
She jabbed the fingernail into the edge of the eye socket, then shoved the finger deeper, along the side of Sulfur's eye.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Sulfur howled.
Utena pressed her thumb against the other side of the eye as it bulged out from its socket, and pulled. Nerves and vessels snapped, and the eye came free.
"You BITCH!" Blood poured out from the empty eye socket, down Sulfur's face, into her mouth. "I'll fucking kill you!"
Utena brought Sulfur's eye to her mouth and licked the blood from its back. What was she doing, Hiiragi Utena would never act this way - only a monster would.
The monster wearing Utena's face turned Sulfur's eye around, to face its front to her lips, and kissed it. The blood, the tears, their taste was so harsh, but there was a sweetness in the excitement of knowing they came from this piece of Magia Sulfur.
Or... was it still a piece of Sulfur? The eye had dulled, no longer a match for its sister. Which suggested it had lost its transformation, and was now just... a piece of the girl who could become Magia Sulfur.
Utena's stomach churned. She tried to retake her body, but it slipped out of her grasp.
The monster brought its eyes to meet Sulfur's, both the empty socket and the eye that remained. "You can't heal something like that, can you? Now, let's just do this one more-"
Pain exploded through Utena's back and stomach. The spear of Magia Magenta protruded from her, covered in blood and scraps of flesh. It didn't touch Magia Sulfur - but the blood spray did.
"Khhhhhhhgk!" Utena gasped.
The vines fell loose from Sulfur. She bellowed with rage, and her arms blazed with golden light.
A hooded figure flew up between them, and drove a star-shaped dagger into Sulfur's stomach.
"You're a fast learner, junior!" Leberblume called out. "But we'd better get out of here, yeah?"
Sulfur reeled backward, her arms returning to normal. Leberblume's shadow fell on Utena, rolling across her like water, and she dissolved into it, flowing around Utena and behind her. Magenta's spear ripped out of Utena with another awful squelch, and her shadowed face spread into Leberblume's grin.
Magenta hurled her spear at the approaching Magia Azure, who raised her sword to block, deflecting the spear but shattering the blade into ice. The shadows on Magenta congealed back into Leberblume, and she flew back up to Utena.
Utena clamped her left hand over her stomach, over the blood and guts trying to escape. Below, both plant monsters were crumbling, their bodies covered in the slash marks of Azure's blade.
Leberblume grabbed her free hand. A portal appeared next to her, and she flew towards it, pulling Utena after her.
They tumbled out into a strange wasteland. Purple clouds filled the sky, and above them loomed a building with nonsensical geometry. The portal closed behind them, leaving no one else in sight.
Utena coughed up blood - some dribbling down her chin, some remaining in her mouth, some falling back into her lungs. "M-Miss Leberblume, I..."
Leberblume grabbed her shoulder. "Look, newbie, you're gonna be fine. All the important pieces are still there, probably. We heal pretty well, our magic knows how to put us back together. Same with what I did to Magia Sulfur. What you did, though..." Leberblume laughed. "Job well fuckin' done."
Utena's gaze returned to the slimy thing clutched in her right hand. It was no longer completely round, but it was still recognizably an eye.
"Anyway!" Leberblume took a step back and gestured to the building. "Now that we're here, I may as well show you around. Welcome to Nacht Base!"
Utena dropped to her knees and vomited.