Taylor Hebert looked at her reflection in the mirror, surprise visible on her face.
She had woken up feeling better than she had ever did all her life.
Her whole appearance seemed to have been air brushed, no longer was her mouth too wide, no sign of acne on her face, her hair seemed a lot more healthier and most of all… she could see clearly without her glasses.
But that was not where the changes ended, her once skinny frame is now toned as if she had been visiting the gym all this time.
And yet the most unbelievable change that she seemed to have gone through is…
She cupped her breasts… yes breasts.
Because she woke up with honest to god C cups.
No longer was she too tall, too lanky, mouth too wide Taylor Hebert.
Now she was Taylor Hebert but with bigger boobs.
And above all, she felt powerful, like she could punch a hole through the wall and wouldn't hurt herself from it. Like she could run ten laps before she breaks a sweat. It felt amazing.
She really did become a Cape.
The last thing she remembers from last night was Z's— his name was Z, right?— glowing staff.
So it wasn't a dream huh.
The weird guy that appeared from a glowing blue portal in her room in the middle of the night really gave her powers.
She has questions, like, why did Z give her powers? How did she summon him? And most importantly, what are the consequences of gaining powers like this?
"Taylor, you've been there for a while, are you okay?" The voice of her dad rings out to her.
Ah! She had been so taken aback by her appearance that she didn't realize she had spent about 15 minutes just watching herself.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll be out in a bit!"
Putting those questions at the back of her mind, she decided to get ready for the day.
She took a bath humming to herself, perhaps today would be a good day.
It's a new school term after all.
•••
Walking towards the school building, Taylor doesn't feel the usual trepidation that comes just from being in school. Normally at this point, she would be wondering what sort of unholy concoctions the trio would get up to but now she just feels unbothered.
Walking through the halls, she realized that she was turning heads.
She's wearing baggy clothes in order to hide her new physique and obvious traits, she did do away with the glasses though.
Not used to such attention, she withdrew into herself and practically speed walked to the direction of the lockers.
Once there, she saw the trio standing around in the corner along with some of their hanger ons, giggling to themselves. As Emma spotted her, she stared at her with wide eyes which prompted the other girls to stare at her as well.
Sporting a condescending smile, Emma waltz to her. "Well, well, well, Taylor. It seems like all those money you earned from selling yourself has finally paid off."
The other girls followed Emma's steps, giggling like rats.
Taylor didn't respond.
"Wow, to think you would go as far as doing surgery… for shame Taylor." Madison adds in a cutesy voice while Sophia walked behind her, effectively trapping her around the girls.
"Tell me about it…" Emma says with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "What would your mom think about it? Her dear little Taylor selling her body in order to get self modifications… she must be rolling in her grave right now." Emma finishes with a victorious look on her face.
Taylor lets her mind drift amidst the laughter of the girls surrounding her.
Those are words that should make her cry, words that should make her angry and snap but she feels eerily calm.
Yes, she is angry and wants to punch Emma on the face but that would not be wise and besides… Emma's words does not bite as she thought it would.
She wonders why… is it because she now has something that they could never steal from her? Is it because she had powers now so something as trivial as Emma's taunts no longer matters?
She went back to that thought.
Since when did she consider Emma's taunts as trivial?
She looks at Emma, her once-upon-a-time best friend.
"What, Taylor, not gonna say anything? Cat got your tongue?" Emma sneers.
Looking at Emma like this, Taylor realized something.
Emma looked… pitiful, as if she was running from something.
How did she never notice it before?
Ah, that's right, because she was never looking. Whenever Emma would start insulting her, Taylor was always looking down at her feet.
"Emma, is it fun living life like that, always putting others down?"
"Wha…" Emma looks baffled.
"And you guys… think about it, she betrayed me, her once best friend, you guys who are not as close to her would probably have it worse than I did, you know?" Taylor says to the hanger ons who are now wearing a complicated look on their faces.
"Fucking Hebert!" Sophia turns her around and grabs hold of her collar.
"Getting physical, are we?"
Sophia growls. "Watch your mouth Hebert."
Emma puts a hand on Sophia's shoulder as she looks at Taylor with mischief in her eyes. "Why don't you go use your locker, Taylor. That was where you were heading right?"
Her locker?
Did they do something to it?
Sophia lets her go by pushing her backwards but she easily rights herself as she fixes her clothes.
She looks back at the girls, Emma is smiling, Sophia looks irritated and Madison looks nervous. The other girls seem like they don't want to be there anymore.
"What are you waiting for? Go on." Emma encourages.
Taylor sighs and then walks to her locker as the girls stalk closer.
She might as well get it over with.
Turning the dial and using the right combinations, the lock opens and she removes it.
With one final glance at the girls behind her, she opens her locker and then.
"Huh? What the fuck?" Sophia says from behind her.
The other girls walk closer, everyone's eyes fixed on the locker.
"Emma, the hell is this?!" Sophia yells looking at Emma who looks bewildered.
The other girls look nervously at Emma as well.
Decorating the inside of Taylor's locker is rose flowers and small lights of varying colors but what has everyone's focus is the teddy bear sized Taylor inside the locker, beside the teddy bear is a decorated portrait which has "I love you, Taylor. From Emma ♡" written on it.
"Wow, that's definitely Emma's handwriting. I didn't see this one coming." As Madison fans the flames, the other girls starts whispering amongst themselves.
Taylor doesn't know what to feel in this situation. Is this supposed to be some sort of joke? A prank?
"What the fuck do you mean? I didn't do this! Why in hell would I be in love with this… thing." Emma says, pointing at Taylor.
"Emma, this frame is the same one your mom bought the last time I was over, wasn't it?" Madison says holding the framed letter and teddy bear.
"Madison… shut the fuck up." Emma says with anger in her voice and Madison clamps her mouth shut.
"Really, what the fuck, Emma. Is this what this has always been about?" Sophia says, annoyance on her face.
"You know that's not true!" Emma replies.
Taylor tunes them out as she reaches into her locker and takes out some books she would need while dropping some from her bag into the locker.
Closing the locker, she walks away leaving the girls arguing amongst themselves.
It seems they had done something to her locker but then Emma changed what they did? Honestly, she doesn't understand what is going on.
Emma loves her? No way. The only way that would be true is if maybe "love" now has a different meaning in the dictionary.
As she walks to class, the bell rings, signifying the start of homeroom.
She hopes the day doesn't get any worse.
•••
She might have spoke too soon.
Opening the door to the roof and locking it behind her, Taylor stands before a small bipedal amber eyed, white cat in a black robe with a staff on his hand.
Just before the bell of last period, she received a message in her head telling her to come to the school roof, which is why she is here now, she had a feeling it was Z.
"Ummm… did you call me here?" She asks.
"Yes I did." The cat replies.
"That voice…" She says as she crouches before him. "You're Z, aren't you?"
"I'm surprised you remember how I sound like." He replies.
"Yeah but you look… different." Taylor says.
"Well, duh, I'm in mascot mode." He says, raising his nose to the sky.
"Mascot mode?" She repeats.
"Yes, yes, mascot mode. We are about to go fight off a monster invading after all."
What?
"What are you talking about? What monster?" She asks, a little panicked, she has never heard anything about monsters before.
"There is a monster currently attacking the commercial district and as a magical girl, it is your duty to purge it." The cat says as if it should be something obvious.
Taylor looks skeptical and bewildered.
She got powers and all of a sudden a monster is invading? Where the hell did it come from? All this seem very suspicious and besides.
"No way, there is no way I could fight. I just got these powers yesterday right? I don't even know how to use them yet." She says.
There is no way she can battle monsters, at least not yet, besides, there are heroes in the city right?
"Taylor, how long are you going to hold back?"
That question was like a whiplash to her which made her stand up and take a step back.
"Are you going to wait until someone gets hurt? Or do you think because there are other heroes in the city, you don't have to do anything? Yes, normally you would be right but these creatures are different… only a magical girl's power can truly stop them. They would keep regenerating until a power with magical elements put an end to them."
What?
"Are you going to quake in your feet as a child gets hurt today? Are you okay with the fact that a father would not make it home to his family today?"
Stop it, that's not fair.
She shouldn't listen to him but yet, but yet.
"Are you going to let a child cry because no one could save their mother? This is your town Taylor! Are you going to sit back and let it rot? Answer me Taylor!"
His voice keeps resonating within her, filling her with an overwhelming surge of determination. With every word, it feels like he rattling every chain that has been holding her back and then breaking them.
Right now, she has the power to save people, she has the power to make a difference. But would she be able to save anyone? Would she be able to make a difference in this god forsaken city? This city that her father and mother love(d) so much?
"You can do it!" Z yells and Taylor can somehow see the conviction in his eyes.
Why? Why does he believe in her? Just yesterday she was nobody, so why does he have such faith in her?
Stop it, don't make me believe in myself.
"This fire burning in your eyes, this pounding from your chest. What do you think they mean?"
She feels her heart racing, as she grabs the chest of her hoodie.
"What did you ever want power for?!" Z asks.
"I want to make a difference, I want to help people, I want to become a hero!" She says as she lets herself be drawn into his vibe.
"Then say the word Taylor! Manifest your passion!"
She knows it, she knows the word that she must say, the word that had been at the back of her mind since she woke up in the morning, telling her that all she had to do was say it and her world would change.
Perhaps it's okay now to let herself be more than just Taylor Hebert.
She took a deep breath and then screamed at the top of her lungs.
"HENSHIN!!!!!!!"
•••
Damn, I could definitely pull off being a cult leader.
A little pep talk and I had Taylor like putty in my hands. Man, even in my mascot form, my charisma skill is still broken.
I watch as Taylor goes through her transformation sequence, a ball of darkness with little white lights covering her.
Darkness wraps around her shoulders to her thighs and disperses leaving a black short skirt and a jacket that hugs her form, the black jacket has a pair of white buttons on each sides with a white line adorning the base of it.
What follows next is a white belt on her waist and then a white collar with a black tie. Following that is white leggings that has a black star on both thighs. Her shoes consist of a black and white color scheme as well.
Then, a yellowish golden gem appears in front of her neck, creating a black bow around it which continues to form a long jacket that looks like a cloak around her. The jacket has white stripes and stars decoration on it with a symbol of an owl at the back.
Black bands style her hair into twin tails and then completing her ensemble is a black staff that has a crescent moon shape at the top with an eight point star shape containing a purple gem floating in the middle of it.
As she lands on her feet, purple eyes shine where she used to have brown ones.
"Wow." She says breathily as she takes in her outfit.
Yeah, I won't lie, she is rocking that shit.
"I have never worn anything like this before…" She says then looks at her left hand. "I feel powerful… even more so than before."
Then she jumped, perhaps trying to test how light she felt, only that, she jumped really high.
"Woaaaahhh!!!."
This girl really likes screaming doesn't she? I know I have a barrier in place since that is basically second nature to me now but she should at least be aware of her surroundings.
As she landed back on the roof, cracks appeared where her foot rested.
I looked at her. She looked at me.
"Err… the school will fix that." She says sheepishly.
"A-anyway, you said something about a monster."
Oh right.
"Yes, we have to go now… the heroes would not be able to defeat that monster." I say as I walk to the edge of the roof.
"Do we run?" She asks, standing beside me.
"Taylor, you are a magical girl, you should be able to fly." I say to her and she looks at me with wide eyes.
She looks into the distance and closes her eyes, after a few seconds, wings that looks like bird feathers made of darkness appeared on her back and she leaped.
Well damn, she got the hang of that quickly.
Making myself invisible to everyone and everything except Taylor, I appear beside her floating in the air.
"Wow, I'm flying, I'm really flying." She says with a big smile on her face as she starts laughing to herself.
I feel you sister, the first time I flew, I had that reaction as well.
After six months though, it's not as novel as before, especially since I can teleport anywhere I want.
Taylor continues to soar in the sky, rising her altitude and dropping back down.
"Over there, Taylor. That's our target." I say to her, nodding my head towards it.
"What is that? Trees? I've never seen anything like that before." She says.
"Those are vines, it's a type of monster that will continue to regenerate unless the core is destroyed using an attack that contains magic." I explain to her.
Green vines of thick tree branches are covering everywhere in the street, lashing around.
Creating this monster was very easy, I added some special effect that mundane weapons won't work against it and if it somehow gets injured without an attack containing magic, it would just regenerate that part instantly. I created this monster for Taylor's debut after all, it wouldn't make sense if someone else was to defeat it.
Right now it has covered about four city block as it wraps around the buildings in the vicinity, trying to pull them down.
"You mentioned that before. Magic. Is it really magic? Nobody believes magic exists." She says.
"Taylor the fact that you are flying with wings made of darkness is proof that magic exists… and right now you are the only one who can put an end to this disaster." I say to her as we stop above the chaotic scene.
She grips her staff with both hands, looking down at the scene.
"So, what do you want to do, Taylor?"
Man, she really needs to pick a name soon, even though she can't be recognized by anyone, it wouldn't do to keep calling her Taylor, she needs a name that really fits the magical girl theme.
Looking at the sight below, I can see some heroes from here.
Miss militia is on a roof, shooting rounds after rounds but they are not really doing any damage, the vines have impact absorption as well.
Oh! There is Armsmaster, whoahhh, it seems like even though he doesn't have nano-thorn added to his halberd yet, he is still dealing damage… only for the damage to heal instantly. Poor guy.
Ah, I can't see any of the wards though. Let's see what they are doing.
[Clairvoyance]
Oh, it seems like they are en route, they just picked up Vista. Well, it's true that Taylor came to the roof before the school bell rang.
Anyway, who else is around? Ah look, a kid is about to get injured. The vines are not actually going to kill anyone though, I made sure of it.
Before a part of the vine hits the little boy, a spear of darkness fires from beside me, cutting into the vine easily.
I look beside me at Taylor who breathes out.
She looks at me before asking. "You said there was a core right? Do you know where it is?"
I smile internally, it seems like she is finally getting down to business.
My form shrinks even smaller then I float to the top of her head, resting on it as I point towards the sewer. "I can sense the core in there." I say.
"Okay, let's go take care of it then…" She says. "And also, when we finish this, I have a lot of questions for you."
"Alright, I'll do my best to answer them all."
Which means, I'm going to bullshit my way through it.
Her wings of darkness flaps as she starts descending down.
I send a mental command to the monster to attack Taylor and prevent her from reaching the core.
As Taylor starts to descend, the vines starts shooting up towards her, I wonder how she would deal with it…
The gem on her staff starts to glows as a ball of darkness manifests on both sides of her, flying beside her.
Before the vines reach her, pure beams of darkness starts to fire out from the sphere, counter attacking each vine as they sear through it easily.
How cool! This girl definitely has talent.
Sure, I made it so that magical attacks to the vines is like butter to hot knife, but still, I think this image of Taylor doing danmaku is very cool. I should record this discreetly.
Armsmaster is looking at Taylor, and some people are recording as well. Oh, there is Assault and Battery evacuating the civvies.
Taylor continues to descend, changing her trajectory in the air as she moves from side to side dodging some of the vines that evaded her beams of darkness.
Surprisingly, her attacks disperses when they touch the ground. I wonder if she is doing that herself. Right now, Taylor is a T6 which is actually pretty strong, the only thing she is lacking is experience. She is doing good for someone without experience though.
The two sphere of darkness combine together in front of her as she shoots a bigger beam towards the sewage entrance, destroying it entirely.
…Okay, it seems like her inexperience is showing now.
Shooting more beams towards some vines approaching her, she flies into the sewer.
The place smells like plant honestly.
"Where do we go?" She asks me.
"Follow the vines and they shall lead you to what you seek." I advise.
"Why are you talking like that all of a sudden?" She asks.
"Huh, I can see clearly in the dark." She mutters to herself.
The attack intensity of the vines seems to increase as Taylor approaches the core.
Well, that is because I told the vine to fight with all it got after all.
"Is that…" Taylor says.
"Yes. That is the core." In the distance, a glowing red light is illuminating the sewer.
Taylor stops in the air before the core, looking at it. It's a very big red crystal floating in the air, it has vines wrapped around it and also protruding out from it.
"It definitely looks magical…" She comments.
"It is…" I reply, nodding.
Watching as Taylor holds her staff with both hands in front of her, oblivious to her surroundings, I watch as a vine crawl from behind her and grabs hold of her legs.
"Wha-"
The vine holding onto Taylor's leg throws her directly at the wall to the side, smashing her into it with great force that should smear a normal human on the wall.
"Oh no, Taylor!!!" I yell out, putting emotion into my voice.
Taylor pushes debris off her body as she stands up, her staff still on her hand. "That didn't really hurt…" She says.
I sigh, displaying my relief. "Thank god you're okay."
Of course it won't hurt. You are tier six right now, you know?
I watch as Taylor moves her staff to her left hand then looks at the core of the vines then looks down at her black gloved right hand.
"What is it?" I ask, curious.
"I think… I can do something like this." Taylor replied as she stretches her right hand towards the red crystal which has vines moving protectively around it.
As Taylor snaps her fingers, instantly, spikes of darkness pierces into the crystal from various directions.
I watch as the crystal starts to flakes away into dustings of red, the vines disintegrating along with it.
"What did you do?" I ask. I know what she did but it would help her confidence if it looks like I did not know.
"My powers is based around darkness right? That means I should be able to control shadows as well…" She says, smiling. "What I did was make spikes using the shadows of the vines protecting the crystal." She finishes.
I chuckled at that. "Good job Taylor… you have successfully saved the city."
"I… saved the city?" She asks, disbelief on her face.
"Yes, you did… if you hadn't done anything, a lot of buildings would have been ruined and lives would most likely have been lost as well. So it's okay to be proud of what you did today… you are undoubtedly a hero." I add.
"I…" She starts then tears starts to drop from her eyes.
Ah.
I sigh then change back to my human form as I walk over to her.
Yare, yare…
Resting a hand on her head, I start to pat her as she rests her head on my chest, crying.
"You did good Taylor."
Well, I guess this is fine, this is part of a mascot's job after all…