The Serenity App – through which the Serenity network was accessed – worked in mysterious ways that Rosa didn’t really want to think about. She was in the awkward position of knowing just enough to know she didn’t know anything, and that all the answers to her questions were terrifying.

 

To most people, it was a normal App. Open it to receive alerts of suspected Desire activity near you, to receive instructions on what to do if you thought a Desire was nearby, or, most importantly, to report Desire sightings to the Serenity network.

 

(There were more traditional methods of reporting Desire sightings, of course, websites, phonelines – rumour had it that the Foundation HQ still maintained a specific department for sightings reported by mail, even. But even the power of the Serenities had to bow to modern times.)

 

To Serenities, and those trusted by the Foundation, however, the App was an active alert system, compiling detailed information about the city, the reports flowing through it, and Desire sensor readings on request. You only got to see that side of things if you were one of the chosen, as it were. This was one of the things that Rosa didn’t really understand. It was Serenity magic, like Miss Morgan’s files.

 

And since she was a Serenity, Rosa could see that reports of a new Desire had started trickling in fifteen minutes ago, first one at a time, minutes apart, before slowly gathering speed, hitting a big burst forty seconds ago – enough to trigger action. Enough to trigger a scan of the area – and when a Desire signal was found, to alert all Serenities in the area, along with anyone else who had access to that part of the network.

 

She could also see that the reports had stopped dead almost immediately after hitting that trigger.

 

Which was why, twenty seconds after the alert had hit their phones the Serenity Seasons were landing on the rooftop of the building just across the way from Heartman and Manhart Accounting and Business Consultants. Serenity Summer warily watching for immediate threats, Serenity Spring scanning for signs of the Desire itself, and Serenity Winter…

 

“Thanks for the lift.”

 

… Was gently setting down the woman she’d carried half way across the city. “Are you okay? Teleporting’s supposed to be pretty rough on civilians…”

 

“I’ll be fine. Far from my first time through the portal grid.” Miss Morgan adjusted her hair, sweeping in back over her suited shoulder. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, girls. So you can forget about me, and focus on the real problem here.”

 

“Right.” Winter nodded, before turning to her team. “How does it look?”

 

Summer was already frowning. "It looks quiet.” It had been bothering her from the moment they’d arrived. A business in the middle of the day should have been thriving, even if everyone inside was just professionally getting on with things. There should have been signs of life through the windows, people moving about on the street. But instead, everything was silent. Still. It set her on edge. Rosa hadn’t been a Serenity for all that long, but she was quickly coming to associate this kind of silence with Desires.

 

Spring was nodding at her side. “No obvious signs of reality warping. Might not be a Sovereign. Vagrant’s the most likely, I think.”

 

Winter’s eyes narrowed, scanning the building herself. “Too soon to tell,” she said. “We could be in another world as soon as we set foot inside. Or it could be a false positive and some workers just panicked when Jane from accounting had a bad day.”

 

They’d had a couple of callouts for stuff like that over the past few months, true. But Rosa didn’t think this was one of them. All of her instincts said that they had a real Desire on their hands. Well, all of her instincts, save one…

 

It was Spring who gave voice to that uncertainty. “I don’t feel the presence of a Desire…”

 

Yeah. Having transformed into Serenities, all three of the girls had become something more than human. They were stronger, faster, and far, far more powerful than even the strongest of athletes out there – this, Rosa knew from first hand experience. And that wasn’t even getting into the magic they now had access to. But everyone knew about that – that was just what ordinary people thought being a Serenity was.

 

They didn’t really talk about the other stuff. Stuff like the weird boost to your mental fortitude, how all those little dramas that haunted your every waking moment as a civilian suddenly became utterly unimportant the moment your uniform materialized around you. Stuff like how you’d find yourself forgetting to breathe from time to time, simply because you needed less oxygen. And stuff like that awkward sixth sense that every Serenity had that detected when a Desire was nearby. To Rosa, it felt like a tingling behind her eyeballs. Lexi said hers felt like something hot behind her teeth. Sophia’s was apparently a certain kind of ringing in her ears. It was just kind of like that.

 

But right now, the only reason Summer was hesitating to contain the entire building behind a Serenity Seal barrier was because her eyes felt distinctly untingly right now. And it looked like Winter wasn’t hearing any bells, either.

 

“Me neither,” the team leader nodded. “We’ll have to go look for ourselves. Keep together, low profile, no weapons until we have confirmation that there’s a Desire on the scene. Got it?”

 

“Got it.” The other two nodded, used to the routine. Most Desires announced themselves pretty clearly, but that wasn’t always the case. The last thing you wanted to do was cause a panic by going in swords swinging. People were already going to be worried when they appeared at the front desk. If a Serenity showed up at your work place, you took an extended lunch break, just in case. Weapons would just make the situation worse.

 

Granted, Rosa’s weapons were her fists, so she couldn’t really go without them, but, you know, she could hold them behind her back or something. Good enough.

 

“Alright. Then let’s- ah.” Winter paused, just before giving the order to start, glancing back over her shoulder instead. “Will you be safe out here?”

 

“I’ll be fine, girls,” Miss Morgan chuckled, taking a seat on the otherwise empty flat rooftop and waving her phone at them. “I’ll be monitoring your progress through the App. But seriously – focus on your jobs. For now, just pretend I’m not here.”

 

Summer rolled her eyes. Yeah, people always said stuff like that, but it was a ridiculous request, right? How exactly were they supposed to forget that they were being marked on their job here? Rgh, this entire thing was bothering her more and more the longer it went on…

 

But Winter just nodded, turning back to the job at hand. “Then let’s go girls.” And she jumped from the rooftop to the road below, landing just outside Heartman and Manhart’s offices with practiced grace. Summer and Spring landed behind her a moment later – slightly less graceful, but at least they’d stopped leaving cracks in the pavement now. That was progress!

 

The pride that the brunette felt at that achievement soon melted away, though, as they walked into the offices. If it was silent outside, then that left no words to describe the sheer absence of sound that greeted them in the reception area. It was so quiet it felt like even their footsteps were being muted, like any attempts at speaking, at making noise at all, would just be swallowed by this soundless void.

 

It wasn’t definitive proof of a Desire’s presence, but Summer wasn’t holding her hands behind her back any more either. Something was absolutely wrong here.

 

And naturally, Winter didn’t break her stride, crossing through the entrance hall calmly, barely even giving a sign that she’d noticed the oddness. It was a cool look, but… she doing her usual thing where she’d quietly reassure her teammates as they entered dangerous territory either. Just like Summer thought, the presence of a judge was clearly weighing on their leader’s mind. It was like-

 

“Hi there! How can I help you today?”

 

All three Serenities jumped in shock, Summer’s fists rising, Spring slapping a hand against her heart, as the silence was suddenly pierced by a chipper greeting. Even Winter’s determinedly professional stride turned into a stumble for a moment before she caught it. Then, as one, the trio turned towards the source of the sound.

 

Standing behind the front desk was a smiling secretary. And you could tell she was a secretary, because she was the most stereotypical secretary anyone had ever seen.

 

A blonde woman with an incredible chest, wrapped in a white blouse so tight that at least three buttons had popped off the front, exposing a small glimpse of a frilly white bra. Her ass was equally fine, somehow squeezed into a black pencil skirt, from which long black stockings descended, clinging to the sides of long, smooth legs. She wore a bright smile, thin rimmed glasses, and a name tag pinned to her blouse that read ‘Tina’.

 

Just looking at her was enough to set off a faint tingle behind Summer’s eyes. This woman wasn’t a Desire, but she was definitely the result of one. As if the curves hadn’t given that away already…

 

“Do you have an appointment?” She asked as the three approached, still smiling as though nothing was wrong.

 

“Uh. No. We’re conducting an inspection.” Winter was the one who spoke, naturally. “Official Serenity business. We-”

 

“Oh! Oh wow!” The woman clapped her hands with ditzy excitement. “That’s so cool! I’ve never seen a Serenity inspection in person before! This is the best first day ever~”

 

Hoo boy. Summer wasn’t dumb enough to drop her guard, but this girl did not feel like a threat. She was a minion, that was as clear as the unclouded sun, but… Well, minions came in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, people transformed by Desires became monsters in their own right. In six months on the job, Summer had fought her way through vicious clowns, murderous robots, psychotic mole people, the whole spectrum of evil, all trying to defend their Mistress Desires. But sometimes minions were just like this. Regular people in a slightly different shape and a slightly different mindset. They could still be dangerous in their own way, but they weren’t an actual physical danger.

 

And they could be useful for information, which was why they were wasting time talking to her in the first place.

 

“It’s your first day?” Winter glanced around. No one else in sight. “Do you remember how you got hired?”

 

How she-? Oh. She was probing for details on the Desire, Summer realised. If this woman had just been ‘hired’ then it was a safe bet she’d had a direct encounter with her. Okay, fair enough. This wasn’t a part of the job the brunette was all that used to yet.

 

But the blonde surprised them by shaking her head.

 

“Oh, I didn’t get hired,” Tina giggled. “I, like, inherited, or whatever?” She pouted for a moment, twirling a stray lock of hair, before shrugging her confusion away. “My daddy used to own the place~ And when he left, I got his old job! And y’know? I did such a great job that I already got promoted!”

 

Summer blinked. Wait, hold on, didn’t that mean….?

 

“Promoted?” Spring was the one who put words to the problem first. “Promoted from being in charge?”

 

“Yeah! That’s what Miss Pleaser said~”

 

Oh, there wasn’t a brain in this pretty little thing’s head, was there? But Pleaser was probably the Desire – Desires always had weird names like that. Summer had asked about why, and Winter had just shrugged.

 

“I started as, like, boss person this morning, and by lunch Miss Pleaser thought I’d already done ‘more than enough’ to be promoted to intern secretary! Isn’t that awesome? She said I needed to learn how this company works from the ground up – she stamped my paperwork, like, twenty times or something!”

 

Ah. Summer’s eyes widened just a little, sliding over to look at Winter, who was grimacing. Oh dear.

 

… Well, it was probably nothing. No need to worry about that right now.

 

“That’s… great…” The blunette nodded, trying to smile – not that Tina seemed to notice her sudden discomfort. “So, uh, where might we find Miss Pleaser? So that we can, uh, tell her what a good job you’re doing down here!”

 

The brunette winced. Surely there was no way that-

 

“Oh, I bet you’ll find her in her office!” The blonde tittered. “She said she had to get back to work just as soon as she fixed all of the personnel files for everyone in the building. It’s on the fourth floor.”

 

Winter breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. And, um. Sorry we weren’t here in time.”

 

Tina blinked. “Huh?”

 

“Nothing. Spring?”

 

“Got it!” The blonde Serenity stepped forward and leaned over the front desk to offer the secretary a gift. “Here – flower!”

 

“Oh!” Tina took the offering, a large purple blossom – a rose, maybe? Summer wasn’t that great with flowers - that Spring had just grown in her hand the second before with a bright smile. Compelled by centuries of tradition and automatic instinct, she lifted it to her nose to take a sniff – and a purple cloud immediately puffed into her face. Instantly, her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed backwards, slumping in her chair in peaceful slumber.

 

A little mean, maybe, but it was a harmless way of making sure that she didn’t cause trouble while they dealt with the Desire. She’d wake up in an hour or two, refreshed by her short nap, and be none the worse for wear.

 

“Nice work.” The leader nodded, glancing to her friends. “And I think we’ve confirmed all we need to. Ready to Seal?”

 

The other two nodded. Time to get to work.

 

Serenity Seal was one of the most powerful moves that the Serenities had in their arsenal. Summer had yet to meet a Desire that could withstand a hit from it, or could break the barrier it made when it was used to quarantine an area. But power always had a price, as her old coach used to say. And in this case, Serenity Seal took a massive amount of energy from the one who used it.

 

It was a lot. A lot a lot. Hell, Spring had passed out the first time she tried to practice the move. And though Summer hadn’t been hit quite so badly, even she wasn’t sure she could use it twice in one day – and that was after training with it. Serenity Seal was not a technique that could be used freely. The burden was just too heavy.

 

But fortunately, heavy as it was, it was still a burden that could be shared. The three of them linked hands, pooling their power, the power of Serenity, together. Then, each one of them focused on maintaining the connection, they stepped back, separating. Moving quickly, the trio spread out, each heading to a distant side of the building, magic building within them. Then, as they reached their positions, their hands lifted as they turned to face one another again.

 

“Serenity Seal!”

 

Beams of white light shot from their extended palms, connecting with one another, before shooting upwards in an expanding sphere, walls of shimmering light materialising and enveloping the space. In the rush of a moment, the entire building was wrapped up in their joint power, a perfect barrier sealing it off from the rest of the world. The seal was complete.

 

All three of them took a breath. Even if it wasn’t as bad as doing it solo, that power was still intense. They all needed a moment after casting it.

 

Then their leader raised her hand to her ear, activating her communicator.

 

“This is Serenity Winter in Sapphire City, reporting to confirm Desire activity and request a purification squad on stand-by. The building has been sealed but no direct sighting as of yet. Will keep you informed as we progress.”

 

Summer tried to keep an awkward smile off of her lips. The senior Serenity really was trying to do this one by the books, huh? That kind of call-in was usually only reserved for unusual cases – generally, you assumed that someone at HQ was keeping track of your signal, there wasn’t much point in telling them what they already knew. But this was what exam day did to people. It made them far too concerned about looking like they were doing the job properly, rather than doing it well.

 

But whatever. Winter could do what she felt she had to. And if it went wrong, Summer was here to cover for her. That’s what friends were for.

 

The Serenities advanced into the office building proper quickly, walking in formation, eyes sharp, opting to take the stairs at the back of the entrance hall instead of the elevator. Small metal boxes held up by strings made a fantastic ambush point for Desires, it turned out. Plus this way it let them get a proper look at the offices themselves as they climbed on the way up to the fourth floor, to see how bad the situation here really was.

 

And it was bad. No, no, it was outright freaky. Everything was… fine. Quiet. Orderly. People were sitting at their desks, silently typing away, filing forms, reading reports. No one was worried at the sight of a Serenity, no one was even giving them a second glance. Everyone was just getting on with their work.

 

Of course, some of that work was pretty unusual. Reports were being filled out so quickly that the paper was starting to smoke. Files were being thrown between desks with pinpoint precision, and caught without their recipients even looking up. The entire office complex was filled with the clattering cacophonic chorus of keyboards under constant, unrelenting assault.

 

There was no gossip. No slacking off. No one chatting by the water coolers. No one gossiping or playing with their phones. Everything was orderly. Neat and tidy. Not a hint of life anywhere to be seen.

 

Oh, and, yeah, every worker was a very busty looking lady in rather tight office-garb, but that part was so common in the Serenity business that it honestly took Summer a few minutes to notice it. Should… Should she be worried about missing that?

 

Oh well.

 

It didn’t take them long to climb up towards the fourth floor – but the closer they got, the more troubled everyone’s expressions became. Winter’s eyes were getting sharper. Spring was pulling on the inside of her gloves. And Summer was grinding her heel more and more with every step. All three of them knew there was a problem here. There was no tingle, no heat, no ringing.

 

None of them could sense the Desire.

 

“Maybe a Vizier?” Spring whispered. “They’re the stealthy ones, right?”

 

But Winter shook her head. “This close, we’d still be able to sense them. No, something’s definitely wrong.” She took a breath as she quickened her step, starting to run up the stairs. “I’ve screwed this up somehow…!”

 

Summer muttered a curse as she took off after her, Spring yelping and following not far behind. Much as she wanted to get on her friend’s case for being so down on herself again, this wasn’t the time. They needed to work out what was going on here.

 

The Serenities burst onto the fourth floor – the supposed heart of this Desire’s operation – only to find it looked exactly like all the others. There was no sign of fiendish schemes or monsters from beyond the id. Just more ludicrously efficient workers.

 

“Can I help you?”

 

The trio spun around. It was the same kind of chirpy, brainless voice they’d heard out of Tina, down in reception. But while this woman looked similar – blonde, busty, revealing clothes crackling with desire… this one’s name tag read ‘Dotty’. And was otherwise pretty identical.

 

Winter glanced at the others, and then shrugged. Hey, it worked last time. “Serenity inspection. We’re looking for someone who works here – a Miss Pleaser?”

 

“Oh! Sure thing! So cool to meet some real life Serenities!” She smiled a plastic smile. “Miss Pleaser has been one of my best employees for years! Not very social, but y’know, a very hard worker! You barely know she’s even here half the time!”

 

Oh, this felt wrong.

 

“What’s up with this Desire?” Spring whispered. “Shouldn’t she be in charge of this place by now? Isn’t that how this works?”

 

Summer shrugged, just as confused. Desires were supposed to be ego driven monsters – driven by shameless lust for power and respect, in whatever form suited them. Finding all of these minions who didn’t seem to care what happened to their Mistress was… It was bizarre.

 

“Must be an unusual case. They happen – not everyone’s Desires are the same,” Winter whispered back – but even she sounded uncertain. She was off balance here. Trying to cover, she raised her voice to ask Dotty, “Where is she now?”

 

“Now? Lemme see.” The manager bimbo checked her watch. “Oh, she’ll be on her break.”

 

Summer could see it. The instant that her leader’s mind screeched to a halt. “On her… break?”

 

“Yeppers!” Dotty nodded confidently, her chest adding a little extra bounce for good luck. “She always likes to get coffee down the street at lunch – same time, every day, like clockwork! I bet she’s over there right now!”

 

Ah crap. Summer knew what the other Serenity was feeling. That today, of all days, with an assessor out there watching their every move, they’d made a mistake like this. Of course, in Sophia’s brain, it wasn’t ‘they’, it was ‘she’. There was no way she’d be able to forgive herself – not without a push to get her going.

 

She stepped forward, clapping a hand on Winter’s shoulder, “Hey, it’s just a small mistake, okay? Don’t worry about it.”

 

But if she thought her words would reassure the team leader, she was sorely mistaken. Instead of nodding, Winter broke into a run. “It’s not a small mistake,” she yelled, slamming her shoulder into the fire-escape door and vanishing through it. “She’s outside the seal!”

 

Oh.

 

Okay yeah, no, that was pretty bad.

 

-

 

PaperPleaser was having a fine day, after a rather rough beginning. Once she’d sorted all of that unpleasantness – cleaning up all of the files that Ted- Tina had gotten wrong, and fixing all of the employment records – everything had felt much better. She’d gone back to her desk, and gotten right back to work, even doing her part to fix the Pendleton contract after being delayed for so long. That had taken some doing, but she was a very, very efficient worker – and once she made sure everyone else was as well, things had gotten a lot better at Heartman and Manhart!

 

Like she said, she fixed their employment records~

 

In fact, the day had been going so well that she didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt taking her normal lunch break. Everything was well in hand and back on schedule. She was sure Dotty could handle any more problems – she’d made sure to pay her employment file some extra attention with her stamp – so there was nothing to be concerned about. Her early afternoon coffee was one of the highlights of her day, she wasn’t going to skip it.

 

Now if people would just stop making such a scene around her. It was all very irritating and it was going to disrupt her schedule if they kept it up.

 

Like that woman who’d bumped into her as she turned the corner down the street. Very rude! Even moreso when she started screaming. So loud. If she’d kept that up she would have gotten everyone looking at them!

 

Fortunately, PaperPleaser had tools to deal with this kind of thing now. One smack and click from her label maker to the chest, and the screaming lady found herself becoming something far more appropriate for someone loitering on a street corner.

 

Her bust had swelled, her hips had curved, her professional white pants had shrunk and tightened into booty-shorts, hugging a booty that was far bigger than they were. Her tidy neat jacket strained for a moment, before hardening from beige cloth to black leather, while the shirt under it melted into little more than fishnets over a neon-pink bra.

 

Black hair turned blonde as though it had just been washed through with bleach five minutes ago, save for a few dirty roots. Cheap golden rings glinted in the light as they appeared dangling from her ears. Her shoes gained three extra inches of heel. Even the label merged with woman’s skin, become old, slightly faded tattoo ink, reading ‘Street Walker’.

 

The look of terror on her face had twisted into one of surprise, just for a moment – and then even that had evaporated into breathless stupidity and lust. She giggled and struck a pose. “Hey lady, wanna fuck? I’m, like, so stupid cheap~”

 

Huh. Papers was kind of surprised at how she’d turned out, but that must just be how whores were. She’d never really spent much time around one before. Still, if that was how her label maker made her, then it must have been right. A street walker for a street corner. Everything was in its proper place once more. Another job well done.

 

And so she’d continued on, pushing past the whore and heading down towards the mall. She was still on schedule, everything was fine.

 

But then more people kept making a scene and getting in her way.

 

Screaming. Running. Terrible driving, that person reversing down the street away from her surely couldn’t have their license. Oh, they were all making such a scene. There was an entire crowd starting to develop, maybe even a stampede.

 

What was the matter with all of these people? Had they never seen a silver woman with robot arms before? So annoying. So disorderly. Once upon a time, she would have tutted and checked her watch, wondered how this was all going to affect her schedule.

 

But now?

 

Her label maker clicked as it reloaded, her approval stamp twirling in her other hand.

 

Now she knew exactly what to do.

 

-

 

Winter landed on the street below already running. She didn’t know this part of the city as well as other parts she spent her time in as a civilian, but she did vaguely remember there being a coffee shop of some sort around here – a mall of some sort, maybe?

 

There had to be a sign, there had to be some- where was everyone? Why was this street so empty in the middle of the day?

 

“Hey honey!” A bleached blonde in little more than her underwear waved at her as she rounded the corner. “You’re looking stressed! Like, wanna have a good time and relax some? I’ll give a cutie like you half price~”

 

Oh no. No no no…

 

Serenity Winter sprinted around the street corner, giving the street walker a wide berth, and found herself skidding to a halt in front of a scene from a nightmare.

 

Billboards full of posters of smiling blondes and brunettes in swimsuits. Shop windows full of mannequins showing off lingerie. Hordes of busty women walking up and down the sidewalk, with no destination in sight, never bumping or jostling one another as they passed.

 

Maybe it seemed idyllic if you didn’t know better, but she knew what she was looking at even without the help of the ringing in her ears. This could only be the result of a Desire going on rampage – a rampage she had utterly failed to stop.

 

“Winter!” The others finally caught up, Summer dropping out of a sprint next to her. “Damnit, you’re the one always saying not to run off like tha-Woah.”

 

She stared in shock at the display in front of her, obviously recognising exactly what her sister Serenity had. Her moment of shock gave Spring the chance to catch up as well.

 

“Why are you… so… fast!” Being a Serenity came with a lot of benefits, but you could still push your limits, as the blonde was currently finding out, staggering up behind the other two. “That was… Oh… Oh no…”

 

“Vagrant class,” Winter growled. “Has to be. They’re the only ones who wander like this. I should have confirmed it the instant I saw her minions being so passive.”

 

Of the three classes of Desire, Vagrant, Sovereign, and Vizier, Vagrants were probably the strangest to deal with. While Sovereigns claimed territory and defended it with zeal, and Viziers crept in the shadows, controlling others to do their bidding, Vagrants often simply… just did whatever they wanted. They moved according to practically random whims, often chasing objectives that only made sense to them. Hell, they didn’t always take minions, even if they were capable of it. And when they did, they rarely had any real control over them. It made them almost impossible to predict.

 

But like any Desire, they were inherently destructive – and they only grew moreso, the longer they were left to their own devices. While Sovereigns became more entrenched, and Viziers extended their reach, Vagrants literally grew stronger, becoming more and more powerful as they fed their desires. And they did so very quickly.

 

As a Serenity, one sworn to fight and defeat any and all Desires that came one’s way… You really always hoped you found Vagrants near the start of their monster careers, rather than towards the end.

 

“This is Serenity Winter.” Again, she reached for her communicator. “Confirmed Vagrant loose in Sapphire City, starting from Gold Boulevard and heading north west. Seasons are in pursuit.” Then she looked back at the others, nodding towards the trail their quarry had left them. “Come on!”

 

“Winter!” Summer called after her as she took off at a dead run once again. “Winter, this wasn’t your fault!”

 

“It really… Oh god more running… It really wasn’t!” Spring started jogging after them again.

 

Her friends were nice. They were the best friends she could ever have asked for – even if it turned out she had no idea who they actually were. But they were wrong. And it didn’t matter. Mistakes, assessments, none of that was important.

 

She had a city to protect. That was the only thing that mattered now.

 

-

 

Hmm. Wasn’t she supposed to be on a break? So much work she had to do. Surely someone else was supposed to be handling all of this. Ah well, PaperPleaser didn’t mind. It was easy to correct, and no one was complaining once she’d finished. This was surely a one-time fix. Once she had all of these people sorted out, none of them were going to bother her again.

 

And she was keeping great time, despite the distraction! She was on a roll today. She’d already made her company as efficient as efficient could be, and now she was doing the same for the mall! Ohh, if she kept this up, maybe she could sort out the entire city! Once she’d done that, she was sure no one would ever bother her again!

 

Definite food for tho- Ah, that shop was supposed to be open! Why were they closed early? Hmph. She typed out a new label and fired it at the store name over the gated door as she passed it by. Instantly, ‘Terry’s Books‘ became the ‘Teri’s Pornoz’, and changes began to spread out from there. A wave of transformation spread through the shop, and over everyone trying to hide inside it…

 

The rooms darkened, generating a seedier atmosphere, the book cases shrank back into magazine racks, the tomes they held thinning into flimsy paper, words shifting into pictures of beautiful women in various stages of undress. Of course, this left plenty of empty space on the walls, filled by unsteady looking shelving, ready for content.

 

Content that would soon be provided! Because when word had spread of the approaching Desire, plenty of people had tried to hide amongst the stacks – and now they were becoming quite stacked themselves. Even as they all began to shrink, their chests expanded with jiggly flesh, their tops ripping and their pants popping as their hips fattened up – before all of them flattened down…

 

Soon, former customers were flying around the shop and sliding into place on the shelves – now a collection of DVDs with lewd to obscene covers, promising a very fine evening’s private entertainment. Some older patrons even set themselves into place in a glass cabinet behind the counter as VHS tapes - though their age certainly didn’t show on their covers…

 

Papers didn’t really notice any of that, of course. She was already moving further on into the mall, striking out towards her destination. Yes, no, come hell or high water today, she was going to get her coffee, nothing would distract her from-

 

Hey! No running! Rude!

 

She sighed and fired off another label, then continued sauntering on her merry way as the unfortunate runner found themselves slowing down into a walk - a street walk, in fact (this one in brunette). Always more corrections to make. At this rate she really was going to fall behind sooner or later. People just kept finding ways to delay her. And there were so many people around! Cowering, fleeing, crowding… Such a strange day. If only there was some way to sort all of this out at once.

 

Her gaze rose towards the ceiling, where a sign hung over the main mall throughfare. ‘Welcome to Stardust Mall’, it read.

 

“Ah,” the Desire said, reloading her label maker and pre-stamping her next shot to give it more oomf. “This should do it.”

 

She pulled the trigger – but at the last instant, a strange shadow flashed through the edge of her vision.

 

The shot went wide, label fluttering to the ground in two pieces, one reading ‘Stary Str’, and the other reading ‘ip Mall’. But Papers had no time to focus on that, as she was too busy trying to block the insanely sharp sword suddenly slashing at her face!

 

Her metal hands proved up to the job, if only just barely, catching the blade in a cross just before it could connect. And on the other side of the attack, burning blue eyes glared so intensely into the Desire that she thought she could physically feel their stare. It sent shivers down her spine.

 

What… What were these words…? She’d heard them before, hadn’t she? On the news, or… somewhere. It was at the edge of her memory. But now they filled her with a strange, unfamiliar emotion.

 

Fear?

 

Unsure for the first time since her transformation, Papers jumped backwards - just in time to dodge a flaming kick.

 

Now two women in white stood in front of her, sword and fists raised, back to back. The one on the left with the sword in blue trim, and the one on the right in red. Serenities.

 

“When… Oh… g-gimme a sec… When hope has been lost thus we promise…!”

And behind her, at the entrance to the mall, outright leaning against the gate as she tried to get her breath back, the Serenity in green. Papers was surrounded!

 

“We’ll be there to set everything right!” All three of them hit that line together as the crowds began to cheer.

 

“Burning strength, Serenity Summer!” Red clenched a fist!

 

“Refreshing hope, Serenity Spring!” Green took a breath and set her feet!

 

“Cool judgement. Serenity Winter.” Blue kept right on glaring.

 

And the silver Desire twitched with annoyance. This was absolutely going to ruin her schedule. “Girls,” she stated primly. “You are causing a scene.”

 

Serenity Winter narrowed her eyes. “Everyone,” she called, raising her voice even though she never looked away from PaperPleaser. “Please evacuate the mall in a calm and orderly fashion. After all.” She charged. “It’s Desire hunting season!”

 

-

 

Summer was worried. Not about the fight, no, she was pretty sure they had this. The Desire – a busty silver lady with too many arms – didn’t look half as scary as some of the monsters she’d had to battle. She was tough and quick, sure, but so were they, and she was outnumbered.

 

No, she was worried about Winter. Her friend – her leader was obviously furious about what had happened, and most of the fury was aimed completely inwards. She could tell the blue haired woman was constantly berating herself for letting things get this far. Every porno poster or wandering whore was another knife in her heart.

 

“Ice Nova!”

 

“Shining Cacophony!”

 

Blue and red light blasted through the mall causeway, driving the Desire into another frantic dodge.

 

Their job wasn’t to recriminate themselves right now. No, right now, their job, the two of them, was to keep up the pressure, test the Desire’s defences, and try to weaken her, lock her down. Meanwhile, their third…

 

“Canopy Labyrinth!” Spring slammed her hands into the ground, and behind her the floor erupted, a writhing wall of vines and flowers sealing up the exit. They would move, sliding just enough to allow people to escape to the outside if they dared approach, but for the most part, their purpose was to make sure the Desire couldn’t get back outside.

 

It was a hasty solution to an obvious problem – the problem being that this time they didn’t have a Serenity Seal to keep the Desire contained. Usually the trio knew that even if they were defeated, the Desire would be trapped for long enough for another team to be sent and hopefully finish the job. But this time…

 

This time they hadn’t had the chance to set up a second seal. Winter had been too worried about the people who the Desire might catch in the time it would take to set one up – and given how close this thing had come to converting everyone in the mall all at once, it didn’t feel like the wrong call. This Desire was already tough – if she’d converted that many people, she’dve been way more than they could realistically handle.

 

So yes, their third’s job was to handle support, protect civilians, and, when the moment came, when Winter and Summer had their opponent on the ropes, she was the one who’d be swinging in with the finisher. It was a strategy they’d practiced countless times in the simulator, and now they were putting it into practice.

 

And it was working.

 

The Desire tried to open up some room, the device on one of her arms – a label maker? – whirring… But Winter cut in, her sword flashing as she swung a side-swipe. And when the opponent blocked, Summer was already in place with a burning right hook to take advantage of the opening.

 

“Gah!” The silver woman was sent crashing down the hall, twin lights of red and blue in hot pursuit.

 

Honestly, they were in their element. Spring was more support-based than fighter, but Winter and Summer were completely at home on the battlefield. And after training together for months, they knew how to read each other well – they were in sync.

 

Which meant that Summer could sense better than anyone what Winter was thinking. And it wasn’t good.

 

She could feel it. The tension rising in Winter’s body. The grinding of her friend’s teeth. The uncharacteristic aggressiveness of her attacks. She was stewing in self-loathing, and only part of that was leaking out through her combat style. Most of it was just eating her up inside. And until this fight was over, it was going to keep doing so. She was going to keep on blaming herself for a stupid ‘mistake’ until it was put to rest.

 

It wasn’t fair. She hadn’t done anything wrong.

 

The fight was drawing near to the centre of the mall, where three separate wings converged into a small indoor courtyard area, where some architect had decided to include an ornate fountain (which hadn’t worked properly in years). It was a big space, and no one had hung around to watch the fight – if there was ever a time to end the fight, it was here and now, where they could bring out their biggest attacks.

 

But Winter was holding back. Summer could almost see the thoughts in her head. ‘Too risky.’ ‘Not yet.’ ‘Play it safe.’ ‘Don’t make another mistake!’

 

So Summer decided she’d do it for her, and put and end to this fight here and now.

 

Fiery red light roared around her as she gathered up her power, strength surging through her veins. Without a word of warning to her teammates, she swivelled on her feet and launched herself forward. “Pheonix Diver!”

 

Annnd now she could feel Winter’s shock and disapproval. It would be one thing for her to break formation because she saw an opportunity, but her team leader had never liked this move. Channelling her Serenity power through her entire body gave her enhanced strength, speed, and burned anyone who got close. But it burned out quick, and recovering from it took a couple of minutes – and in fights, you could rarely afford seconds on the back foot.

 

As far as Summer was concerned though, that wasn’t a problem if you won the fight with it!

 

She slammed through the Desire’s defences, overwhelming them with pure burning power, grabbing hold of her and hauling her across the empty mall causeway. Together they smashed into the fountain, reducing the stone structure to rubble and sending water pouring everywhere as clogged pipes suddenly found themselves ripped apart.

 

“Summer!”

 

“It’s okay, I’ve got her!” Summer ignored Winter’s alarmed cry. “Spring, get ready to-!”

 

And then it happened.

 

Even later, she wouldn’t fully be able to explain what happened. She was holding the Desire down, restraining her dangerous arms with her hands and her normal arms with her elbows. The light around her flickered, catching the monster’s silver mask. And suddenly the brunette found herself staring at her own reflection. Staring into a mirror…

 

The glowing fire around her winked out in an instant, weakness rushing through her, and she found herself thrown onto her back as PaperPleaser rose up to her feet.

 

“You broke the fountain,” the Desire stated, eerily calm as her label maker clattered. She was stamping her seal into the top of it, adding in extra power. “You will have to replace it.”

 

The Serenity stared up at her in horror, still burnt out, unable to move…

 

“Summer!”

 

And then a shadow covered her, grabbed her by the middle and threw her down the throughfare.

 

No. No no no no no…!

 

Gasping for breath, Summer finally managed to gather enough strength to rise to her knees – but all she got to see was everything she’d been dreading.

 

Serenity Winter, stood over where her friend had fallen, shielding her – and PaperPleaser’s stamped label, pressed firmly against her blue skirted behind.

 

-

 

It had been an instinct, rather than a thought. No decision had been made, no choice considered. She’d just seen what was about to happen, and acted. She’d saved Summer, grabbed her and thrown her as quick as she was able, gotten her away from the Desire while she couldn’t defend herself – but she’d been tagged before she could get away herself.

 

If she’d had time to think… No, she would have done the exact same.

 

But she didn’t have time to think, even now. The label stuck to her rear was filled to the brim with the power of Desire, and it easily breached her clothing’s defences, its essence pouring into her before she could even try to reach down and pull it off.

 

It rushed through her, instantly scrambling her thoughts. Even for a Serenity, a point-blank full power shot from a Desire was too much to handle. Her eyes widened as her head filled with warm, overwhelming pleasure, her muscles all stiffening for a moment before starting to relax,  small, hazy smile starting to spread on her lips, a blush colouring her face.

 

Scales, delightfully blue and shimmering like gemstones, were spreading out over her skin from underneath the ‘Fountain’ label.  They spread out quickly across her cheeks and began to drizzle down her legs, the flesh beneath them beginning to fatten.

 

Head still spinning, an odd compulsion grabbed her, leaning her backwards so far that she fell right onto her ass in the middle of the fountain’s remains – unknowingly hiding the transformative label in the process. Even the sudden drop wasn’t enough to spoil her good mood, though, her smile growing wider, even as her now kneeling legs began to merge together, her feet flattering into pointed fins at the tip of a long tail covered in shining sapphire scales, her thighs continuing to thicken even as they merged.

 

And said smile grew wider still as a strange, building pressure filled her chest, her breasts began starting to swell. It felt so delightfully good as they grew, pumping themselves up bigger and rounded, accompanied by a quiet sloshing sound with every burst of growth. Her white uniform began to tear, her top straining and ripping around her still expanding chest, her skirt finally snapping away, along with her underwear, as her legs finished their transformation into a fat-assed mermaid’s tail.

 

Soon, the busty blue maiden of the sea couldn’t help but strike a pose, leaning back, one arm down to support her, the other lifted to her breast as the pressure continued to build and build, as they grew larger and larger. Her ears tingled as they lengthened into little webbed fins, really completing the mermaid look.

 

Then, she froze, going completely still, as another wave of colour rolled out over her flesh from beneath her – from her hidden label. This time, instead of bright shimmers, the wave was one of blue-ish grey, quickly rushing over her from ass to fin, transforming her body from soft, sweet flesh to stiff, unfeeling stone, and freezing her silly smile in place forever more.

 

But still, the sloshing in her chest continued, even though her breasts could grow no more. The pressure just built and built and built and built, until finally-!

 

Water squirted from her nipples, arching out of her stone breasts into a dazzling pair of streams that caught the light at just the right angle, casting merry rainbows in the air, swiftly restarting the process of refilling the now repaired fountain.

 

And with that last burst, one final wave of pleasure rushed through her, carrying her into thoughtless, solid oblivion…