Sunday, 9 September 2012

Story: Magical Girl Conspiracy

A different continuation of the same thread as my last post, simply continuing from a different option. Continuing from here.

I did not change much of the first scene. Most of the changes are in the second scene.

The audience gasped as Sailor Princess let out a cutesy shriek upon realising that her breasts were uncovered by that last attack. “D-don’t look!” she cutely begged, crossing her arms over her chest in a manner that almost managed (if not for its complete and abject failure in the intended objective) to cover herself up. “Kya! This is so embarrassing! Please don’t look!”

But Audrey was not done yet. Her back arched and in the next moment she pounced with claws outstretched and fangs bared. Sailor Princess ducked underneath the airborne adversary, who sailed over and landed expertly on feet padded by the feline costume. In an instant she bounced back around and began to stalk the downed magical girl, relishing in the moment.

“N-now now, miss Audrey!” Sailor Princess pleaded, backing off on the ground - and incidentally flashing her panties once again to anyone so much as glancing in her direction - “Don’t let your hatred consume you like this! Do -Do you really want to be controlled by him like this? You can fight it! You can win!”

Audrey hissed. “That isss what I hate about you! You really are ssssuch a ssssilly little bimbo! Look at you! Flashing your panties and your breasts, pretending to be embarrasssssed! You make me ssssick!”

Suddenly, the bunny took centre stage. “Come on everyone! Sailor Princess needs your encouragement! Give her all your support, and she can overcome this latest threat!”

Asmodeus scooped up the bunny by the ears and casually, cruelly tossed him aside. Behind him, the magical girl and the catgirl stood frozen, in a manner somewhat akin to characters from a beat-em-up game waiting for the announcer to call for the start of the round.

“Feh! Foolish bunny! Can none of you see how trite this so called heroine is? She encourages brainless behaviour, perpetuates stupidity in girls as an admirable trait. Audrey is right to think she’s little more than an airheaded bimbo! I am not the villain and never have been! Sailor Princess is the true villain! Cheer for Audrey! Cheer for her with all your heart and soul!”

The audience began to boo rather loudly as Asmodeus left the stage with his head held high. Once he was out of sight, the boos rapidly transformed into loud cheers for Sailor Princess.

“You can do it!” one would cry out.

“Sailor Princess, save that poor girl!”

“Help my girlfriend!” Tim added. “Don’t let that - that monster use her feelings for evil purposes! Don’t let him twist someone’s honest opinion around to make them something they’re not!”

Audrey turned to hiss at the audience, while Sailor Princess stared at them with tears forming in her eyes. “You believe in me that much?” she whispered (though let’s not analyse how everyone in the room heard it loud and clear). “Then... Then I can’t give up so easily either!”

“Rowr! Give up, Bimbo Princess! I’m too quick and too powerful for you to beat!”

But the magical girl would not stand down. If anything, quite the opposite. She stood up with fierce determination in her eyes. “I’ll find a way to save you, Audrey. No matter how much of a - how much of a female dog you are! Which is weird, given you’re a cat, and stuff...”

“And how do you intend to do that?” Asmodeus chuckled. “You can’t use your friendship force if your hands are so occupied. Face it! For all your bravado, this is one enemy you cannot overcome!”

Sailor Princess stood her ground and a pink spotlight shone down upon her. The crowd fell hush in awe and wonder, knowing all too well what they were about to see. Wind picked up as if from nowhere, lifting and swirling Sailor Princess’ tiny, tiny skirt up around herself. Not that she noticed. Not that she would have cared if she had.

“In the name of love, in the name of courage, in the name of hope -”

“This is impossible!” Asmodeus screeched. “Impossible! She can’t do this! Attack her! Stop her! Kill her!”

But his new minion was rooted helplessly to the spot.

“I grant unto thee an eternal gift! Not given lightly! The bond beyond bonds, the strength beyond strength! I grant unto thee friendship everlasting!”

Sailor Princess brought her hands into a heart shaped gesture in front of herself, discretely pressing several buttons embedded into her gloves that caused a series of pink lasers to fire directly into Audrey’s forehead. The transformed girl slumped to the ground, her eyes closed.

“Audrey!” Tim gasped. Was she - was she alright?

“You’ll pay for this!” Asmodeus snarled. “I’ll get you next time! You hear me? Next time!”

Sailor Princess and her pet bunny watched the villain depart, then waited a few seconds before turning to the audience to deliver a cutesy curtsey and the simultaneous lines “Thank you for coming! I hope you enjoyed the show!”

The two then turned to one another as the lights dimmed. “That’s my line!” Sailor Princess whined.

“No, you idiot! You were supposed to tell them that love and friendship always triumphs over hate!”

“Wah! My pet bunny called me an idiot again!”

“St-stop crying already! Call yourself a hero?”

The audience chuckled, knowing that these two characters were always going to be like this. The closest of friends, and yet the two of them couldn’t stop arguing. This was what made them such a strong team, after all -

Ah, but not every member of the audience was thinking that. Tim was pushing his way towards the front, trying desperately to reach the stage to make sure his girlfriend was unharmed. On reaching the stage, he scooped her up into his arms. Her eyes flickered open and Tim let himself breathe easily again.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I- I’m alright,” Audrey whispered, suddenly realising how tight she was clinging to him and exactly how many people she was doing so in front of. She pushed him away, then looked down at herself and jumped behind the nearest piece of scenery she could find.

“Are you okay, miss?” Sailor Princess asked, bouncing over towards the frustrated former foe.

“I’m a little flustered, and more than a little angry at that creep Asmodeus... But... Thank you, Sailor Princess. You saved me from that man’s control Maybe you’re not such the brainless bimbo I thought you were.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sailor Princess smiled sweetly.

Audrey rolled her eyes. “Look, is there... is there some way I can make it up to you? I mean, mind controlled or not, I did attack you and you did set me free from that control. I really don’t want to feel... In debt to you or anything. Got it?”

“Oh, well that’s easy enough! All you have to do is... watch season two of my show! Starting this coming Monday at half past six in the afternoon! Only on MGC!”

Tim sheepishly handed Audrey’s clothes back to her, pretending that he didn’t rather enjoy the little outfit she’d been made to wear. Oh, he’d pay for that later on. For now, she took them back and held them up in front of herself as she slunk off. “Alright, I’ll be sure to tune in. If that’s all it takes to pay you back, I’ll just... I’ll watch it with Tim.”

It would be a small cross to bear, all things considered. What a weird damn day it had been!

<hr>
Monday night. Seven on the hour. Tim reached for the remote to turn the television off and turned to his girlfriend with no small amount of trepidation. “Wasn’t so bad as you thought, was it?”

“Actually... You’re right. It was pretty good.”

Tim fell straight to the floor and decided that pinching himself was not in fact necessary because that was likely to bruise up. In addition: Ow.

“I’m sorry. Did you just say that an episode of Sailor Princess was pretty good?”

“Don’t know what you’re so surprised about,” Audrey rolled her eyes. “Well written is well written. There was plenty of drama, and it established the tone the rest of the season is obviously going to go in. I liked it.”

Tim stared at her, and wondered exactly when his girlfriend was replaced with a pod person. Well, that was his first thought. The second was if he should bother trying to rescue her.

“What about the skimpy outfits? Gratuitous fanservice? That stuff didn’t bother you?”

A look of anger rose in Audrey’s eyes, and Tim wondered exactly what he’d said wrong. His girlfriend rose to her full height - which if her aura of intimidation could be believed interfered in air traffic - and stared at him until he backed up a step.

“Gratuitous?! Skimpy?! How dare you! Don’t you see how hard poor innocent Sailor Princess has to work with what she’s given? I thought you were a fan!”

“H-Hey, I’m just using the same words you used!”

Audrey sniffed in disgust. “Well, in that case... I was being a major bitch. Come on, put on your DVDs of the first season. I want to see what I’m missing out on.”

Tim needed no further invitation. In record time, the disc was in his hand, then in the player, then he was back on the couch. He’d always known Audrey would come around on magical girls, if only she’d give them a chance! Though... he didn’t expect it to be quite so quick. Nor did he expect her to snuggle up to him on the couch as the opening credits hit...

<hr>
It was a perfectly ordinary boardroom, the kind you might find in any company. Men and women in business atire sat around a gleaming table, staring in interest at a monitor on a particular wall. The monitor showed the interior of a seemingly ordinary home, and while some might have believed it was little more than a set for an advertisement, that could not be further from the truth. This was material marked for viewing only by these executive figures. In particular it was only for use by the man seated at the head of the table. A man with a remarkable similarity to the villain of a particular magical girl anime. A man that sometimes, when he had to, went by the name Asmodeus.

On the screen, a doorbell sounded. Tim staggered towards it, signed for a package of some sort and took it in while wondering what it was.

“Audrey, did you order something?”

Audrey stepped on camera, and the image froze for a moment. Then it split in two with one half showing the same Audrey from the convention. Frustrated, impatient, a little bit arrogant and looking down upon the other convention goers including Asmodeus himself. The other half...

The other half was virtually unrecognisable. This Audrey was not scowling, was not rolling her eyes or bored or disinterested or otherwise in a bad mood. If anything this Audrey was happy. Genuinely and honestly happy. But the changes didn’t end there. The Audrey from the convention had stuck to intentionally dark clothing, save for her brief period as an unwilling catgirl. She had worn a baggy jumper and unflattering trousers, a deliberate statement that she was not simply eye candy.

In contrast stood a new Audrey, who was frozen onscreen mid-skip in bright colours adorning a halter top and a tiny pair of shorts. This incarnation of Audrey was indeed a complete contrast. A full transformation as compared to herself from a few scant weeks ago. Almost as though she was an entirely new woman.

“This is all very impressive so far,” one of the executives said. “But a sudden alteration in atire and attitude is not quite sufficient proof for your claims.”

“Asmodeus” simply smiled, and allowed the video to continue playing.

“Yes dear!” Audrey said, taking the package while delivering a loving kiss to her boyfriend’s cheek. “Now, why don’t you sit right there? I’ve got a surprise for you.”

Tim shrugged and did as he was told, taking a seat in the living room while staring after his girlfriend with a mildly confused expression on his face. Audrey seemed to notice his attention, and deliberately wiggled her rear end at him.

The video lurched forward as the speed rose to ten times the normal rate. During this time, Tim sat still waiting for Audrey’s return, clearly lost as to the nature of this surprise. He fidgeted in the seat, considered standing up only to settle back in place - ah! And then the video returned to normal speed, moments before Tim reacted to something offscreen.

“Oh... Oh wow.” Tim gasped, performing an excellent goldfish impersonation as he stared at... whatever he was staring at. It was still not onscreen yet.

“You like?” Audrey practically purred. Tim nodded enthusiastically. “Good! I went to a lot of trouble to get this, and it would be a shame -”

The video paused as Audrey reappeared onscreen. Attention fell upon “Asmodeus”, who rose to his feet and began to address the room.

“As you can see, the process has performed exactly as intended. This young woman despised the magical girl genre before my treatment, and now? A complete transformation. She watches it religiously with her boyfriend. Her lucky... lucky boyfriend. With this new treatment we shall be able to reach the 30% that proved resistant to our other methods.”

“In other words,” another executive interjected. “We shall be able to turn the Magical Girl Channel into the most successful network in the history of the world.”

“Everyone will be transfixed by the antics of one of our magical girls or another,” a third executive said. “Males will be enchanted by fanservice both gratuitous and subliminal, while females will be entranced by the can-do message and pseudo-feminism! Just as we had intended.”

“Are there any side effects to the technique, I wonder?” the first executive asked. “It would not do to expose the general public to something so untested without being certain.”

“That is why we continue our observations,” Asmodeus said, smirking with teeth bared. “And we continue experimenting on other troublesome elements. Like Miss Meadows here, they will soon find their minds rather changed on the subject. Like Miss Meadows, they will soon find themselves massive fans of our product! Like Miss Meadows, they will spend their spare time and money cosplaying as their favourite magical girl.”

  1.     There is a side effect: Audrey is now a magical girl herself.
  2.     There is a side effect: Audrey randomly turns into a catgirl with her old personality intact.
  3.     There is a side effect: Audrey believes she is Sailor Princess!
  4.     Another subject is selected by Asmodeus and the Executives. Deal with side effect issues later.
  5.     Something else

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