Have you ever thought that two particular people would look good together? Like, maybe the goth and the poet might enjoy a nice evening at a poetry slam. Or that those two cheerleaders would just look adorable sharing a sundae as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Or perhaps that lonely widow might find solace with gentle divorcee!

It was only natural to wonder, right?

Evelyn Love knew that feeling well. She was a matchmaker. Born to help people make a connection! It was her calling, her duty, and her pleasure. There was nothing in life that she loved more than helping people find that special someone. It was such a delight to make the world just that little bit brighter. And she was good at it! Her pairings stayed together, and she still got thank you cards on the wedding anniversaries of people she helped get together in high school.

People knew it, too. When it came to love, they sought out Love! If you were looking for the perfect partner, just find the lady with smooth red hair like a love heart, always carrying her pink bag full of elegant stationary and a merry glint in her baby blue eyes. They called her the 100% natural cupid for a reason, her arrows of love never missed.

Was there something wrong with that? She didn’t think so. People were meant to be together! Humans were a social species – isolation was genuinely harmful to them! Every man and woman out there was only half of what they were supposed to be, if you asked Evelyn. After all, didn’t everyone deserve someone else? Someone on their side, someone at their back, someone to help them take on the world?

Although, right now, Evelyn might have privately admitted she wasn’t really feeling it. Not today.

She’d gotten home from work – she was a barista at a local coffee shop, getting just as many requests for relationship advice as she got orders for hot drinks - not an hour ago, getting changed out of her uniform for more a more comfortable t-shirt and slacks combo, and thrown herself onto her couch. There, she’d pulled out her phone, about to call her friends to see if any of them wanted to hang out… When she saw it.

A photo. A photo that had probably been sent to her by accident. A photo that must have been taken just a few minutes ago, at the movie theatre in the garnet district – they were having a romantic movie marathon event this week.

A photo that showed her best friend, Kayla, tongue deep in Rian Caul, the Evelyn’s boyfriend of three months, draped over three seats in the middle row.

The redhead slumped a little, her shoulders drooping as she considered the picture. Emotions swirled through her heart like water sloshing through a spin cycle. Pain. Heartbreak. Regret. Anger. All the usual suspects were there – but first and foremost was just… disappointment.

‘They don’t even make a good couple. I give them two weeks.’

This kind of thing wasn’t new. Evelyn tried not to let it show, but she’d been here before, far too many times to count. Despite numerous attempts, there had only ever been one person she’d failed to find a partner for. Just the one! With a record like hers, one failure was practically a glitch, an anomaly, it barely counted.

So why did the glitch have to be her? Didn’t she deserve love too? Was that her curse – to only ever find partners for other people, never for herself?

That wasn’t fair. All she wanted was…

Something stirred in her heart. Something comforting and sweet. An urge that she’d always been aware of, brushing against the edge of her mind, waiting for the right moment to let it in.

She just wanted…

Energy buzzed down her spine, tingled in her fingertips. Her glum frown thinned into a flat line on her lips. The hand around her phone tightened. The screen cracked.

She just wanted love.

Deep in the depths of her soul, Evelyn felt that familiar power, straining against the shackles that held it down. It reached for her, begged for her, offered her everything she Desired…

Then why refuse it?

Why indeed?

The thin line faded into a smile. The redhead sighed, the tension in her chest unwinding. The troubled quiver of her heartache stilled. All would be well.

Then the crackling energy she’d just unleashed into her soul shot down her arm and crushed the phone into pieces.

There was a straining, popping sound as the woman’s t-shirt ripped and her jeans tore - as her curves suddenly began to swell, bursting through the fabric of her clothing. She rose to her feet, discarding the scraps of her old life with gleeful ferocity, kicking off the denim remnants left pooled around her ankles, leaving herself completely naked.

That was fine. She didn’t need clothing anymore. All she needed was… Aha.

Smiling, the growing Desire reached out, plucking her pink bag off of the counter. There, held in her hands, it morphed into a beautiful pink quiver, filled to the brim with perfectly sculpted arrow shafts, tipped by pink heart-shaped arrowheads. Excitedly, she went to slide her new accessory over her shoulder – and then paused.

A moment later, and three white pairs of wings burst out from her back, unfurling behind her as pure as driven snow, like petals of a flower. At the same time, her hair grew longer, flowing like a wild red river around her otherwise naked body, and shielding her eyes from view, even though the gleam of glowing blue light could still be seen from where they should be.

Now, with her transformation complete, the new Desire gently slid her quiver into place on her back. There. Much better.

“Ahhh…” CupidCutie sighed with relief, her massive chest bouncing proudly. “That’s such a relief.” She giggled, revelling in her new self, spreading her wings wide – and knocking a few picture frames off the walls in the process. “I can help so many couples now!”

Grinning, she summoned her golden bow into her hands, giving the drawstring an experimental pluck. A high note rang out through the apartment. Perfect. It was just what she needed to spread love to the world. And she knew exactly where to give her debut.

Who better to spice up a romantic movie than cupid, right?

-

“I am way too single for this shit.” Rosa Haywood buried her face in her hands, hoping, praying, that when she lowered them, this hell would be over. She’d never asked for this!

“Hey, it’s your own damn fault.” Next to her, Tamara Kayell, Volleyball Team Captain and only other single woman in the theatre, sipped at her slushie. “You agreed to this. I saw your vote when the team was deciding what we’d do for this month’s team bonding exercise. I wanted to go ride rollercoasters.”

On screen ahead of them, a handsome British man was charming the panties off of a meek American woman, to the clueless obliviousness of her boorish American boyfriend. It was cute, and sweet, and it definitely made the brunette’s heart pang that she had no one of her own to seduce her away from her woes. It was just…

“I thought I’d be able to get a boyfriend by now!” She muttered, still rubbing at her face.

Tamara snorted. “I’m too busy making sure our team makes it to the state finals to worry about getting a date. What’s your excuse?”

Rosa grumbled, slumping back in her seat. At least talking with Tammy meant she could ignore the teammate on the other side of her seat – the one currently giggling into her date’s neck. “I was busy,” she answered, all to aware of how pathetic that sounded.

Her Captain shook her head, grinning as her black hair twinkled in the theatre lights. “Of course you were. Aren’t you always?” She took another slurp. “Honestly, I’m surprised you made it at all. Normally you have a family emergency or something whenever we throw these events. I was starting to think you weren’t a team player.”

Eep. No, no, she didn’t want her Captain thinking that about her. She absolutely couldn’t risk losing her spot on the team. “What, me? C’mon Cap, I love these things!” She grinned… And then paused, side-eyeing the rest of her team down the row. “Usually.”

Of course Rosa couldn’t tell her friend the real reason that she normally missed these meetups. The same reason that she’d struggled to get a date for this stupid movie marathon. It was difficult to balance that kind of stuff around a life where, at any moment, you might have to teleport across half the city to beat up a giant boob monster intent on turning every civilian she saw into milky cowgirls. Really messed with your scheduling!

But that was just how things were for Serenity Summer, guardian of Sapphire City – and it was probably the same for every Serenity in the country, at that. It was just part of the burden of being a secret magical girl, charged with protecting humanity from its own desires. They all struggled with it in their own ways.

Except maybe Lexi. She was kind of a shut in.

“Well, you’ll just have to put up with it for now,” Tamara said, chuckling. “And hey, count your blessings. Maybe it’s for the best you didn’t get a date. Boys are so needy, you know?” She shook her head. “Don’t bother with ‘em unless you gotta.”

Heh. Did she know? Rosa wondered. It was kind of hard to know anything about the unfairer sex when you spent most of your time jumping around rooftops and throwing fireballs around in a miniskirt. Her main interaction with men was getting catcalls…

The brunette sighed, rolling her eyes and stealing popcorn from her next-door neighbour. Whatever. Maybe this was hell, but at least she was actually spending time with her friends. It was nice to do some ordinary girl stuff without having to worry about fighting Desires.

She was just going to sit back and enjoy herself. Yeah.

So, of course, that was when something crashed through the roof.

“Hello, sweethearts~” A shadow fell over the screen as a figure dropped to hover in the light of the projector. The silhouette of a flying naked woman with white wings and red hair that somehow managed to just barely preserve her dignity – which just made her look lewder than ever. “Oh, it’s so wonderful to see so many potential couples here today! It really makes my heart soar!” She giggled, flapping her wings. “But some of you aren’t very good matches for one another, you know? Well don’t you worry. CupidCutie is here to fix that…~”

Rosa stared up in horror, along with the rest of the audience. A Desire? Here? Now?!? Of all the-

Damnit, she’d been warned about days like this during training. She’d thought they were joking. Now she had to work out how to deal with this problem and protect her friends without the protections of her Serenity transformation. Could she slip away…?

A few other people were clearly thinking the same thing, but in a much less subtle fashion. Before Rosa could even think up a plan, people from all over the theatre were bursting out of their seats, screaming and running for the exit at the back of the room. And before any of them could cover even half the distance…

“I’d prefer you remain seated until I can get to you, but if you must rush...”

The Desire suddenly had a golden bow in her hands, a small swarm of pink-tipped arrows already nocked. With a musical twang, she released the string, and sparkling pink shots sliced through the air, striking each of their targets in the back and knocking them from their feet.

Swallowing, Rosa glanced about, making sure all of her team had stayed seated, before peering over the back of her seat. She’d fought enough Desires to know that escaping like that was never going to work. But what had those shots done? The people she’d hit didn’t look hurt…

… No, something else was happening to them. As the brunette watched, she saw each person look about, confused – and then go still, staring at someone else. The first person they laid eyes on, in fact. Then there was a weird flicker, a flash of pink light…

… And suddenly, the person hit by the arrow was gone! Standing in their place was someone completely different – different in height, weight, looks, face, hair colour, even gender! The only thing that seemed the same about them was their eyes – all glowing pink. In fact, it was difficult to see from over here, but had their irises become heart shaped…?

In an instant, the theatre aisles filled with panicking movie-goers were now filled with busty ballerinas, bountiful bunny girls, bottom-heavy maids, and more. What the hell had the Desire done to them?!

“Ahh, true love.” The bow dissolved into pink motes as CupidCutie clapped her hands with glee. “Isn’t it magnificent? I’m so happy you get to experience it! But you know, before I get started with everyone else, there’s some very special lovers present here today that I really do need to make a special exception for…~”

That sounded bad, and as the Desire began to circle the theatre overhead, Rosa had to hope that she didn’t mean her. She’d already slammed the emergency button on her communicator, alerting the system to the presence of a Desire, just in case it hadn’t been reported already. Seemed impossible, but you never wanted to be the Serenity who didn’t bother and got the whole city corrupted. Now, the main objective had to be getting out of here and transforming…

“We need to go,” she whispered, keeping her voice as low as possible as she looked around at her team (and their dates).

“How?” Tamara had a very fair objection to the plan. “She’ll see us if we run!”

Rosa shook her head. “Yeah, no, don’t run. Just get low in your seat, quietly, and I think we can crawl out under the stands.” She looked up, frowning. “As long as she’s distracted, we might have-”

“Aha!” She was interrupted as the Desire’s voice filled the room, the curvy cupid hovering up towards the front of the theatre. “There you are, Kayla~”

Okay. So CupidCutie wasn’t looking for secret Serenities. Good. The brunette felt bad for whoever Kayla was, but right now, she had to focus on her team, and on escape. “Go. Now. We might not get another chance.”

“And is that you, Rian? Did you really think you could hide behind her? See, this is why he’s a bad match for you, Kay.” There was something simmering under the Desire’s cheerful voice. Something Rosa didn’t hear very often out of the monsters that sieged the city she was sworn to protect. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but peek over the seats to see what was happening, even as she guided the rest of her team towards escape.

CupidCutie was up at the front of the theatre, hovering over the screen. The projector had long shut off now, so it was just her up in the light – well, her, and two people that she had pulled up with her. Now, the two humans – a man and a woman, both clearly terrified of the naked Desire focused on them – could do little more than cower as everyone in the theatre was forced to watch.

Rosa bit her lip, ducking down and crawling under another row of seats as the rest of the volleyball team advanced towards the back of the theatre. There was quite a long distance to go. If she could get out and transform then maybe she’d be able to save those two, but as it was, all she could hope was that they kept the monster distracted.

“Don’t worry,” the brunette heard as she slid past another row. “I know just what to do with him. He’s always so into sports, right? I’ll give him a first-class invitation to every team locker room ever! Those guys are gunna love you, Ria~”

Rosa couldn’t help but look back. She quickly wished she hadn’t. She was just in time to see the Desire lean in close to the man, one hand grabbing his collar and yanking him into a smothering kiss. There was another flash of pink light, and then…

… Then the brunette blinked, trying to clear her eyes. Up on stage, there was no longer a strapping six-foot-tall young man with short dark hair, wearing a sports jacket and jeans. Instead…

“Two four six eight! I’m in love I just can’t wait!”

Oh no…

“Bouncy, horny, always wet! Why’s my team not fucked me yet?!~?!”

… There was a four-foot-five blonde with hair down to her exceptionally large ass – almost as big as her massive tits, in fact. She was wearing a white and blue cheerleader outfit, complete with a far-too-small top that exposed her nicely toned belly, and a short skirt that flipped up with every bounce.

Why did Desires always make cheerleaders? Rosa was starting to have trouble on the court at big games now – she kept expecting the cheer-squad to try to mob her.

“Oh, you’re so much better like this~” Well, CupidCutie certainly didn’t have any objections, drawing the new blonde into another kiss, wrapping her arms and wings around her latest creation. The cheerleader seemed very appreciative of the attention, kissing and grinding right back against the angelic monster…

Damnit. The secret Serenity swallowed, and ducked back down. She had to get to the exit. Just get out, disappear into the bathroom, and then come back and start blasting. The thought gave her enough determination to keep crawling, shuffling her way towards the back of the theatre. The rest of her team was up ahead, Tamara just in front of her. They were going slow, but they were going – the first of them were even starting to reach the exit now.

But the stage had gone silent, and that was worrying. Once again, Rosa found herself peeking over the back of the seats she was crawling under, squinting to get a better look at the stage.

The cheerleader had vanished somewhere – sent off to ‘love’ some sports team, no doubt. And that just left the other woman, Kayla, up with the Desire. As Rosa watched, she was trying to crawl away, but a pink arrow striking the stage just in front of her stopped her dead.

“Trying to squirm away early, Kay?” There was that vicious simmer again. Some old grudge left over from the Desire’s former life, probably. That happened from time to time, though usually Rosa wasn’t close enough to see it. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you.”

“P-please…” The poor woman, a blonde in a casual jacket and skirt, tried to scoot away from the winged woman, but her back bumped into the arrow and halted her in her tracks. “E-Evelyn, I didn’t mean…”

“Didn’t mean what?” The Desire regarded her cooly. Even though her eyes were hidden, you could feel the intensity of the disdain in her look. “To break my heart for some cheap fling? To betray years of friendship for a sample of that little slut? To deny me all the love that I’ve always given to you so freely?”

“I…!”

But then the redhead smiled. “Well relax, Kay!” She giggled, her intensity evaporating instantly. “I’m not mad. I’m not angry. I’m not even Evelyn!” Her wings fluttered, and she spun around on the spot, showing off her glorious new form. “Not anymore~ You’ve shown me the way to true Love, babe, so of course I’m going to share it with you!”

Shockingly, this didn’t seem to make the blonde feel better. “N-no, Evelyn, I don’t want-!”

But the Desire silenced her, sealing her lips with the tip of a wing. “Don’t worry, Kay – you will. You’ll want everyone – and everyone is going to want you back.” She drew her bow again, this time nocking it with a dozen arrows at once – a one woman love-heart barrage. “I’m going to make you the most loved lady in the city!”

Kayla raised her hands to try to shield herself. “N-!”

Twang!

“Oooohhhhhh!” The arrows hit home, barely having any distance to cross – and all of them somehow hitting the blonde clean in the heart. The woman’s eyes widened, and then shone with pink light, her entire body starting to glow. In moments, the glow had grown so bright that in engulfed the entire theatre, and when it cleared…

Rosa caught a glimpse, just a glimpse, before she ducked back down again. But what she saw left an impression on her mind’s eye that didn’t want to clear.

Long hair, as black as midnight, marked with deep red streaks. Thick, smiling lips coated in smoky red lipstick. Deep blue eyeshadow around lusty, glazed blue eyes. A tight red halter top, just barely holding in a bountiful bosom – a chest so round and large that just once glance told you those tits were fake. An even tighter red miniskirt hugging her ass so hard you could see the outline of her thong. Long fishnet stockings and pointed black heels.

The Serenity tried to calm her racing heart, feeling flush as she crawled after her team. The image of that whore – oh, there could be no doubt that she was a whore – wouldn’t leave her alone. And what a whore! Oh man, if Rosa had a few dollars on her, she wouldn’t have minded-What was she thinking?!

Swallowing, she shook her head, trying to shake out the Desire’s influence. ‘Loved by everyone’ clearly wasn’t a joke.

“Perfect!” CupidCutie’s voice rang out over the chairs. “I think we’ve managed to bring out the real you at last, Kay. Do you have anything you’d like to tell all the nice people in the stands?”

There was an airy, brainless giggle. “Like, ten dollars a hole for the first thirty clients~”

That was a good- No!

Rosa gritted her teeth and kept crawling, trying her best to ignore the sudden stampede of footfalls coming from the front of the theatre. The more people up out of their chairs and distracting the Desire, the better.

She knew this couldn’t last much longer. They were almost out of time. But they were there, they were at the exit, just go, run already, they had to-

“Ah, what’s this?” Shit! “Trying to sneak away while I’m busy? Naughty.” CupidCutie set the whore aside and drew her bow. “But I can fix that.”

Twang!

Time slowed down. For someone who’d taken part in dozens of life or death (or worse) fights, that was nothing new. The sensation of her brain speeding up to try to find a way to protect her from the coming attack was all too familiar.

But as her head turned to spot the incoming arrow, the brunette realised that there was something very different today. Something disastrously different. Because the arrow wasn’t coming for her. The angle was all wrong for that.

It was shooting straight at Tamara.

Why was that a disaster? Sure, it was bad for Tamara, certainly, but it gave Rosa a free shot at the exit. She could get out, roll for cover, get to the bathroom and transform, just like that.

Unfortunately for this moment right here, being a Serenity required a certain kind of person, a particular sort of soul. A heroic one. Not just anyone could pick up a broach and don the knee skirt of justice! No, you needed to be the kind of person who would unhesitatingly throw yourself into danger to save others – to sacrifice your own well being to protect an innocent.

And Tamara might occasionally be a pill to work with, but she was absolutely an innocent.

“Get down!” The brunette slammed into her Captain, bowling her through the theatre doors-

And felt a sharp sting in her rear end as a reward.

“No!” She hissed, trying to reach back and pull the arrow out – but her hand met only air. The magic was already inside her. Okay. Okay, she just had to-

“Rosa?”

The Serenity looked down, and saw the love of her life. Tamara was staring up at her, confusion and concern writ large over her face. Their eyes met, and Rosa’s flared with pink love hearts.

It was a strange feeling, falling in love. Everything else suddenly felt so unimportant, so insignificant, next to this. She’d thought she’d known what it was like before, thought she’d felt the rush of love – but now she knew that everything before had been nothing, mere crushes or fancies. None of it compared.

Now she knew that Love was hot. That Love was fire. Love was an inferno! It burned in her heart, blazed through her soul, and reduced everything that wasn’t about her Love to cinders.

She needed this woman beneath her, needed to be hers and hers alone. She needed to be whatever Tamara wanted her to be! Sure, she had no idea what that was, but that wasn’t a problem. The power of Love would handle that! She could already feel it going to work, feel the heat inside her melting her down, mind, body, and soul, to reforge her into what her Love needed her to be…

Her skin grew pale, her hearty complexion fading into grey-ish white. Black lipstick spread over her lips, her lashes curling out long and thick, her nails growing out and taking the same shade. Her hair grew longer, styling itself into ringlets as it turned black as pitch, draping itself down around her shoulders and chest. Muscles slimmed, the toned figure of an athlete melting away into simple smoothness – and then her chest swelled, all of the mass from her muscles redistributing itself into her breasts, which quickly grew soft and heavy. Around her, her entire casual outfit dissolved into thread and fabric, before restitching itself into an elegant black dress, complete with a corset and tons of white lace. Elegant ribbons wove themselves into her hair, long stockings stretched up her legs, her sneakers morphing into ribboned heels. Her eyes probably would have turned red, were they not already glowing pink.

Rosa Haywood? Who was that? She was Selphina Eclipse DeBoix, heiress to the DeBoix fortune, and quite proud of the fact. Naturally, she was no volleyball star, she’d never set foot on a sports court in her life. That was such a jock activity, far too active for someone like her. She preferred more intellectual pursuits, like reading, and poetry – the darker the better.

The transformation took less than a second, but to her, it felt like an eternity. An eternity of being something she was not, of being some creature that her Lover didn’t want. But as the pink light faded, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, her chest stretching the hem of her bodice. At last, she was her true self – the self her Lover decided she should be.

“My Love,” she said, her voice low and sultry. “At last, I am yours~”

“Wh- Wha…?” Tamara sounded confused for just a second – and then her eyes glowed pink as well. “Oh. Oh! Oh my… You’re… beautiful…”

“I am but the rugged, worn charm of a plain maiden before the beauty of the Queen of Midnight, compared to you, my love,” Selphina purred, her voice a soft cadence as she stroked her Love’s cheek. “But if my looks please you, then I should rather be no one else…”

“Wow… Um…”

Oh, she just couldn’t resist! Diving down, the gothic girlfriend pressed her lips against Tamara’s, losing herself in true Love’s first kiss. It was everything she’d ever dreamed of. She could feel her better half’s warmth, her gentle caress, her sweet taste…

“Come,” she gasped, finally rising up again, and helping her Love to her feet. “Let us leave this place. The tales they show here are too schmaltzy for me. There was a horror marathon next door, was there not? Let’s watch that instead.”

“I…” Tamara sounded incredibly tempted, but hesitant as she rose up. “Wasn’t there… something I was doing…?”

Selphina smiled, leaning close, voice dropping to a whisper. “I’ll let you play with my boobs~”

The volleyball Captain blushed, looking down – straight into the grey canyon of cleavage on the goth’s chest. She swallowed, hard. “D-deal.”

A genuine smile of delight found its way across Selphina’s normally dour face, and she linked hands with her Love. The pair all but skipped away, vanishing out of the theatre, off towards their new lives together.

“Awh.” Forgotten, back near the screen, CupidCutie giggled to herself. “What a sweet couple~”

Then she dodged backwards as twin blasts of green and blue crashed down where she’d been hovering.

“Glacial Cascade!

“Canopy Labyrinth!”

“Ah.” The Desire looked up, her wings spreading fully. “I was wondering when you three would- Oh? Only two?”

“When the hearts of mankind forget justice, when darkness threatens to snuff out the light…!”

From above, a pair of women dropped down. One, the one with blue hair and wielding a sharp looking sword, landed gracefully on top of the line of chairs below. “When hope has been lost thus we promise…!”

And to her left, the blonde swung down as well, landing on the central staircase. “We’ll be there to set everything right!”

“Cool judgement, Serenity Winter…” The blue heroine extended an arm dramatically.

“… And refreshing hope, Serenity Spring!” The blonde heroine waved with cheer.

“It’s Desire hunting season!” Together, the two hit the final line, flaring with power as the captive audience cheered.

Winter hopped down to the front of the aisles, holding her sword defensively to protect the people behind her from the Desire’s attacks. “So if everyone who hasn’t already been corrupted could leave us to it, that would be much appreciated.”

Spring nodded as she bounced to her side. “Take care not to trip!”

The people were only too happy to heed their advice – hemming closer on Winter’s side than Springs as a small stampede charged out of the theatre. CupidCutie pouted.

“Come on guys,” she whined, folding her arms as she floated in front of the screen. “I’m just spreading the Love – why are you getting in the way? Don’t you have real monsters to fight?”

“Anyone who tries to corrupt and control other people is a monster we have to fight, no matter their intentions!” Winter was firm. “If you surrender now, and release the ones you’ve converted, we can take you in peacefully until a way can be found to restore you to your old self. Otherwise…” Her sword twisted, sharp end glistening towards its flying target. “We will show no mercy.”

The Desire snorted. “Rude.” Then her bow appeared in her hands, arrows shimmering in her quiver. “But I kind of figured you’d be like that. Don’t worry – you’ll come around once you let some Love into your hearts!”

And then the battle was joined. Golden arrows and pink bolts rained down across the theatre, beaten back by icy blasts and green growths. The Desire’s defences weren’t strong, but she was quick and nimble, her wings giving her the chance to slip away from any attack the Serenities threw at her. And the Serenities themselves were distracted…

“Did you see her?” Winter whispered to her companion as she parried away another salvo of Love bolts. “Do you think she made it out?”

Spring was frowning, messing with her transformation device/phone. “Her communicator’s not responding… I’m not reading her signal.”

The blue haired warrior flinched. “Damnit. Were we too late…?”

Both magical girls looked glum. It was inevitable, in this job, that you’d end up corrupted by Desires from time to time – but falling victim to one when you were out of costume was just plain harsh. When they’re realised that Rosa’s signal was coming from directly on top of the enemy, both Serenities had rushed over as fast as they could – but they’d still been too slow.

“…” Winter bowed her head, and then looked up, glaring at their winged opponent. “Then we’ve no choice. We have to defeat this woman – and then tease Summer about getting taken out early all week!”

At her side, Spring gasped, a smile slowly spreading over her face. “Yeah… Yeah! Hah, she’s gunna hate it~ Okay.” She fired off another blast of green energy, leaving a sprawling patch of ivy over the ceiling as the Desire dodged away. “How are we going to get this girl?”

“I have an idea, but...” Winter threw out another ice blast from her palm to keep their opponent distracted. “She’s reliant on her bow – she’s a ranged fighter, not melee. If I can lure her into close combat, then…” She hefted her sword. “But those wings are quick. I can’t think of a way to pin her down long enough…”

The blonde grinned. “Oh, that’s easy. We just have to make her too mad to fly away! Here, watch.” She stepped forward, twirling her ribbon to get some attention. “Hey, lady! Aren’t you kind of late with all this?”

The Desire, n the midst of weaving around a hail of icicles, paused to shoot the Serenity a confused look. “Huh? Late how?”

“Well, I mean… The arrows, the wings, the hearts… Pretty clear what your theme is, but…” The blonde shrugged, as if it should be obvious. “… It’s April, lady. Valentine’s day was months ago. You’’re waaaay out of season.”

The pause grew longer. Silence became heavy. Beneath her veiled brow, CupidCutie’s eyes began to shine with anger.

“Love isn’t just about Valentines,” she snarled, wings flaring. “It’s every day! All day! All the time! Love is eternal! Love is all! Love is-!”

“About 10 months that way?” Spring jabbed a thumb over her shoulder towards the exit. “I mean you can try to moonlight as other holidays on the way if you like, but I think the kids are going to notice you aren’t the easter bunny.”

The Desire’s teeth ground against one another, an audible growl echoing from her throat. “You- How dare you- I’ll show you!” A second golden bow appeared in the air next to her. Then a third. And a fourth. All of them loaded with arrows. “Cutie Love STORM!”

The air filled with pink and gold.

“Thank you so much for this, Spring!” Winter spun through the air, her sword twirling as she tried to protect herself from the onslaught.

“Hey, it worked didn’t it?!” The blonde was shielding herself with a plant canopy, just barely managing to keep it growing as it was constantly cut down. “Go get her!”

“Tch…” Well, the blue haired Serenity couldn’t argue. The Desire was indeed rooted in place, firing an unending wave of ‘Love’ at the two magical girls. Now it was time to do her part. “Alright then… ICE NOVA!”

A wave of could washed through the theatre, knocking the stream of arrows off course and tossing them aside. It only created a small window, a brief gap in the storm, but that was enough. Winter charged forwards, weaving around the last few attacks that had survived her counter, and ducking under the bow’s range just before the Desire could reload.

This was it! Her chance! Sword in hand, she jumped, power flaring as she prepared her sealing attack. “Serenity-!”

“Winter, look out!”

“Huh?” She looked up, and saw CupidCutie’s frustration suddenly turn into a victorious grin. The monster had shifted, just a little, leaning back so that the empty quiver on her back was now pointed at her. Much, much too late, she realised that the Desire had another weapon besides her bow.

Then she felt a sudden yank as an incredible suction pulled her up into the air, and then, before she could react or even try to defend herself, straight down into the quiver – which suddenly felt a lot bigger to her, as though it had become a black hole, and she the only stone caught in its well. Her mind raced, trying to think of a spell to use or a plan to escape, but before she could come up with anything her body passed through the quiver’s mouth, and everything went black.

From Spring’s perspective, it was completely unfair. The quiver turned into some kind of vacuum cleaner in the Desire’s hands, and her friend was just sucked up with almost no warning. It didn’t look like the stupid pink thing should have been big enough for that, but Winter seemed to shrink in the air, growing smaller in a flash as though the tornado she was caught in was sucking the height right out of her. The blue haired magical girl had no chance to resist, shooting straight down into the quiver, momentarily pausing half way for her legs to wiggle and kick for a moment, before they were slurped in like noodles, and the suction stopped.

“H-Hey,” the blonde complained weakly, “what the hell was that? You’re not a maid or something, that attack is totally off theme!”

But CupidCutie shook her head, her grin growing even wider as she shoved her hand down into the quiver, rummaging around. “Oh no it’s not~ This used to be my bag, back when I was the old me. Now it’s where I keep stuff! Arrows are one thing, but what kind of angel of Love would I be if I didn’t have…” She trailed off, sticking out her tongue as she focused on her search, before finally pulling something out of her bag. “Valentines day cards!”

“Wha…” Spring stared at what the Desire was holding – no, was proudly showing off to her. It was a pink, heart shaped card, surrounded by a lining of white lace. And there, on the front, was the flat image of a smiling, glazed-eyed Serenity Winter, her blue hair pooling around her shoulders as she held her hands clasped to her chest. Beneath her was the stylised image of a scroll, unrolled to reveal the words ‘Will You Be My Valentine?’

CupidCutie winked. “She’ll feel a lot better once she finds her true Love, don’t you think?”

“You…!” Now the rage was entirely on the other side of the equation. A bright green aura surrounded the Serenity of Spring, her eyes glowing as plants around her began to grow up through the floor. “Let her go!”

“Sure thing!”

That caught the blonde off-guard. “Huh? Really?”

“Of course!” The Desire giggled, releasing the card. It hovered in the air, lace forming into little wings at its side to keep it up. “She can’t find her Love if I keep her here! But that’s the great thing about cards – you can send them to their destination!”

Her wings suddenly all flapped at once, generating a huge gust of wind – and sending the Sealed Serenity flying on the breeze!

Spring gasped, jumping up to try to catch her, but the card fluttered away on tiny white wings, and vanished out through the hole in the roof. “Winter!”

Too late – she was gone.

“And then there was one…” The curvy cupid turned to the blonde, who swallowed hard. “That’s not a very romantic number, but don’t worry! I already know exactly who your partner should be!”

The battle was rejoined – but even Spring had to admit that the tide had turned in the Desire’s favour. Oh, she tried to fight. She drew on all of her power, channelled everything she had. But this was a terrible matchup. Her plants offered a lot of support options, but pure offense and defence required a greener environment than this. Here, she had no access to soil or natural foliage. Her plants grew and then withered in seconds with no water or light. While CupidCutie seemed stronger than ever, no longer having to split her focus against two opponents. The magical girl was only able to block the arrows coming for her, and just barely at that.

Disaster was inevitable – but she really would have preferred it coming about in any way other than the way that it did: Her heel slipped on a discarded tub of popcorn.

The Serenity crashed down, falling flat on her ass, and before she could get back up, the Desire was on her, pinning down her arms and weighing down her body with her chest. “Got you!” The redhead giggled, looming over her prey. “You know, Serenity Spring was always my favourite…”

“O-oh, really?” The blonde blushed a little, even as she struggled. “Then maybe you’d consider letting me go?”

Unsurprisingly, the Desire refused, shaking her head. “Oh no – but I can give you a gift that I’ve been saving for that special someone…~”

Leaving Spring well and truly stuck beneath her curvy frame, CupidCutie reached up into her quiver once more, and pulled out…

… A box of chocolates?

“Here,” she said, smiling as she opened the box and pulled a small heart-shaped sweet out of its wrapping. “Won’t you be my Valentine?”

“Wha-?” The question was just enough of a surprise that the blonde magical girl made the critical error of opening her mouth to respond. The Desire’s fingers struck like a snack. “-Ghak!”

Incredible sweetness flooded Spring’s mouth, and before she could stop herself she was chewing and swallowing, senses captivated by the medley of dark chocolate and strawberries. Her mind cried out in panicked warning, knowing all too well that you should never take any ‘gift’ a Desire offered you, least of all food – but her body had elected to ignore her on this call.

Heat poured into her belly like syrup, and from there it spread out through her body, rushing down her arms and legs with surprising speed, her limbs stiffening up and going still. That would have been worrying too, but it was hard to concentrate on with the sweetness still on her tongue, rolling up into her head and overwhelming her brain. Her thoughts were turning into crystalline sugar strands, her memories into gloopy treacle, and her panic was steadily massaged into flavoured fondant.

Another chocolate was pushed through her lips, just before they hardened. She licked and chewed automatically, more heat spilling into her from the cracked candy core. Her eyes fluttered and rolled up in her head as the heat tingled against the inside of her skin, baking her brown and shiny as her body stiffened completely…

… And the Desire finally rose back up to her feet, grinning down at the life-sized chocolate on the floor, shaped like a pinned Serenity Spring. “Aren’t you just the sweetest thing?”

Inside the chocolate, the heat was growing even hotter, melting the Serenity down into a gooey, sweet centre. Dark chocolate mixed with strawberry filling and sweet, sweet Love… And setting her into a new mold.

The shell began to crack. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, as the sweetened Serenity began to shiver and shake. The brown candy coating crumbled around her arms, revealing bright red skin, and then over her face, unveiling glowing pink eyes. There was one final shudder – and then the entire chocolate exploded, releasing its captive into the world!

Blessed with booty and curved of chest, the former Serenity rose from her chocolate cocoon, shaking flakes of confection from her long, black hair. With skin as red as strawberries, sharp, pointed horns sticking up from her head, a spaded tail curling up behind her, and, of course, a barely present leather corset as her only clothing, there could be no question as to what Spring had become.

“Of course I’m sweet,” the former Spring giggled, striking a pose. “I’m the SweetieSuccubus!”

“Oh, you certainly are!” CupidCutie gasped, immediately leaping into the delicious demon’s arms. “And you’re here just in time! Wanna help me spread the Love?”

Pink eyes shining, Sweetie drew her new partner into a searing kiss. “Let’s make every day Valentine’s day!”

It was Love at first sight~

-

Halfway across the city, far from the theatre where a demon and her Desire were getting hot and heavy, or from the room next door where a gothic girlfriend was enjoying smothering her beloved in her tits, Gerald Loam was grumbling about his latest defeat in online. His character – the super sexy dark-haired tomboy Palu-Mania, kickboxer extraordinaire – had been on the verge of winning, but alas, his game had lagged out.

Well, that was his story, and he was sticking to it.

A scrawny, inoffensive shut-in, with short dark hair and absolutely no other defining features whatsoever, Gerald didn’t have much in the way of things going on, so he clung to whatever victories he could get. He certainly liked to think he was good at his video games, even if that was currently being called into question. But he had to admit, he was getting a little bored of sitting around in his room all day, doing the same thing over and over. Wasn’t there supposed to be more to life than this…?

A sound caught his ear.

Turning around, he saw something had been slid under his door. Which was weird, because he should have been alone in his apartment.

Frowning, he got up and walked over, scooping it up off the ground. It looked like some kind of Valentine’s day card, complete with a blue-haired waifu and a valentine’s request – but hadn’t Valentine’s day already gone past-

Poof!

Gerald landed on his back as a puff of smoke went off in his face – and something heavy landed on top of him. Looking up in surprise, he saw…

… Tanned skin…

… Thick thighs wrapped in black shorts…

… Well-muscled arms….

… A bouncy chest under a white tee with no bra in sight…

… An absolute babe?!?

“Hey, Nerd!” The black-haired tomboy smirked down at him, her short ponytail flicking as she nodded her head. “What are you doing hiding in your room all day? Didn’t I tell you I wanted to go rock climbing today?”

“H-huh…?” He stammered, stunned… But as he thought about it, looking up into her pink, glowing eyes, suddenly he began to remember… Oh right. Yeah, Paula was always bothering him about stuff like this…

“I dunno,” he muttered, glancing away with a blush. “I’ve never been rock climbing before, and I’ve heard it’s pretty dangerous-”

“Ha!” His busty, brutish girlfriend laughed in his face, before yanking him up to his feet and dragging him out of his room by the hand. “Don’t be silly. It’s perfectly safe! If you fall off, I’ll just catch you!”

She grinned, and he could already tell he wasn’t going to change her mind on this. No one argued with Paula May and won. Her head was way too hard for that. “Fine,” he sighed – but secretly, he couldn’t help but be happy to have an excuse to leave his room once in a while…

Though, as they headed for the door, he couldn’t help but be distracted by the TV playing in the lounge.

“-News just in, we’re getting early reports of Desire activity in the Garnet district near the leisure park. Serenities have been seen on the scene, but all movie-goers are advised to-”

“Boring!” Paula May shut it off at the plug. “C’mon, Nerd, let’s go on an adventure!”

Gerald couldn’t help but smile as she pulled him out of the door. He really did have the best girlfriend ever!