Music with a powerful drumbeat played as a generically handsome man with short brown hair turned to the camera from behind a news desk. “Welcome to Headline News, with me Casey Hellafella…”

“And me, Nicole Glassman.” The camera swung to the green haired woman sitting beside him, raising a single perfect eyebrow at the audience. “In the top stories tonight, ‘I was a Teenaged Crimefighter’ – One woman’s claims about life as a magical protector of Emerald Cove: Fact, or fiction?”

Casey shuffled his papers. “’Desire and You’ – A new report from the Ministry of Science claims studies show you can reduce your risk of becoming a Desire infectee by as much as 10% by following this simple method…”

“And ‘Sapphire Summer’.” Nicole shared a nod with her co-host. “Top tips on how you can enjoy the upcoming summer months here in Sapphire City! Everything from weather advice to the whens and wheres of all the hottest summer events.”

“All this and more on Headline News – coming up!”

The screen winked off.

“Sooo…” A woman with long brown hair, casually styled into a lazy ponytail, settled back into her chair as she got all four of its feet back on the ground, having leaned it way back to turn off the TV. “Who do you think went for the payday?”

“Do we have to talk about this?” The blue-haired woman on her left, about a quarter way around the study table, was flipping through a thick library book titled ‘Strategy, Tactics, Logistics – Warfare in the Modern Era’. “You know it’s none of our business.”

“Sunset, definitely.” The blonde on the far side of the table practically spoke over her, grinning as she leaned on her elbows. “It’s gotta be. Did you see what Morning did to her?”

“Lexi!” Blue hair glared.

But alas, she was ignored. The brunette leaned in. “Wait wait, Morning? I thought it was Midnight – that’s what all the fan sites said.”

“Oh sure, if you’re listening to MagiWatch, which, ugh, way too many ‘fans’ are.” The blonde rolled her eyes, adjusting her glasses on her nose. “Clout chasers, the lot of them. Just because she’s had a few magical girls on her show from time to time. But no, it was definitely Serenity Morning, it had her fingerprints all over it.”

Brunette snapped her fingers. “You’re right. Damnit, you’re totally right, I should have caught it. Midnight never made any sense, she’s way too quiet to pull off that kind of stunt.”

“Exactly – that’s why MWatch and all of them are going crazy hyping up their conspiracy theory. They know Midnight won’t push back.”

“Ugh.” The brunette leaned her head back in her chair. “Freakin’ drama whores.”

“Look, does it matter?” Blue had fixed her eyes on her book, even as she protested. “This conversation is pointless, odds are none of us are going to remember it tomorrow.”

Brunette grinned. “So we should get our gossiping in now~”

“Yeah.” The blonde nodded in agreement, before pausing, stroking her chin. “And I dunno, we might remember more than you think. This whole saga’s gotten plenty of media saturation. The more second-hand sources you hear the story from, the harder it is to erase, you know?”

Blue straightened her book against the table, shaking her head. “No way. If any magical girl gives direct compromising details that could lead to her secret identity being uncovered, the United Serenity Foundation comes down hard. This entire stupid story’s going to get scrubbed from the history books, and whoever actually did it might even get drummed out of the service.”

Lexi half shrugged, acknowledging the other woman’s points. “Okay, true. Sunset’s pretty powerful though. I don’t think they’ll scrap her. She’ll get a warning and some stink eyes next time a Desire pops up, and then as long as she buys the rest of her group some sundaes with the payment she got for selling her story to the press, everything’ll be forgiven.”

“I’m just saying,” the blunette muttered, turning a page, “don’t be surprised if you wake up tomorrow, and Emerald Cove has four Serenities instead of five, okay?”

“Aw, that’d suck.” The blonde slumped a little. “The Daylights are a great team. They’ve got some of the best combination attacks in the country. Like, did you see their solar cycle blast? Sunset and Dawn get on opposite sides of the Desire and just bounce their attacks back and forth between them, it’s so pretty!”

“Emerald Cove is one of the safest cities around,” the brunette agreed, opening a soda can from the table and taking a swig. “Sapphire City is a warzone by comparison. I’m with Lex. She gets a slap on the wrist at best.”

“…” The blue haired woman stared at the brown haired one. “Rosa, that’s my cola.”

“Mine now~”

Blue squinted at her. “This is exactly how all these team ruining drama incidents start, you know.”

Rosa just snorted, while Lexi reached over to pat the bookworm’s hand comfortingly. “You take things too seriously, Sophia. It’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

“Will it?” The blue haired woman sighed. “I don’t know. I just- I wouldn’t want to be in Dawn’s shoes right now. It’s got to suck to see her friends fighting. Especially since it’s her job to keep everyone together.”

“Dawn is a bitch.”

“Rosa!”

“Hey, she is!” The brunette shrugged, taking another swig. “I respect it. She demands results, not friendship. Half the reason her team is so dysfunctional is because she’s a complete hardass.”

Sophia frowned, looking uncomfortable. “She’s one of the best team leaders in the USF though…”

“She demands results, she gets results.” Rosa finished off the can. “Her numbers are really good. But I’m gunna be honest, Soph – she’s a terrible leader.”

“It’s true.” Lexi nodded, pulling out her phone and scrolling through a well-worn database. “Her team’s got five hundred successful Desire extinguishments on their record, with only a 40% corruption rate. And Dawn herself has almost never been corrupted herself – it actually says 0 corruptions here, but that can’t be right, so I’m going to say ‘almost’. But no one who works with her ever has anything nice to say about the experience.” She smiled up at Sophie. “I much prefer Serenity Winter’s leadership to hers.”

The blunette’s cheeks turned just a touch rosy. “… I think Serenity Winter wouldn’t mind some of Serenity Dawn’s stats, though…”

“Hah!” Rosa grinned, slapping her bookworm friend on the shoulder. “Well so would Serenity Summer, but give it time! The Daylights are old pros – the Seasons are new on the scene. We- Uh, they’ll get up there. You’ll see.”

“I’m sure Serenity Spring feels the same way,” Lexi giggled, pleased to see her friends getting along.

“Well… good. Great! Yeah.” Sophie smiled too… Then gave the other two an irritated frown. “Now can we please get back to studying? That’s why we met up in the first place.”

“Fiiiine.” The other two grabbed their books, with Rosa looking up at the clock. “But only for a little. I’ve got volleyball practice in an hour.”

“Just remember you owe me another cola before you leave.”

“Damnit.”

-

The foundation of civilization is Desire! Through want, greed, gluttony, and voracious hunger, humanity has risen to the coveted position of the dominant species of Earth! Satisfaction is not the flame that lights the fire of progress, only a need to see if the grass truly is greener on the other side of the next wall can drive the gears of ascendancy.

Desire is core. Desire is key! Desire is Evolution.

Desire is danger. Too much want and any one human would be overwhelmed. And if the bounds of need become overwritten, if greed consumes the human heart, disaster is sure to arise. When one person’s hunger overwhelms even their sense of self, that is when a DESIRE is born.

DESIRES, monsters of the human Id. Humans transformed by their own desires, their forms warped and twisted, invested with power beyond mortal limits, DESIRES are the prime threat to civilization! With their incredible supernatural powers and ability to warp others to their needs, DESIRES represent the folly of mankind!

Humans lay helpless before DESIRES, for the only thing that can counteract Desire is SERENITY! Secret magical warriors chosen for their belief in good and justice, protectors of the people, defenders of the weak, sealers of greed, SERENITIES are mankind’s greatest, best hope for peace!

Save us, SERENITIES!

Only you can protect humanity from itself!

And try not to get warped by your own desires in the meantime…!

-

Sally Celeste, silver-haired fashionista and perfection incarnate, had only ever wanted one thing in life. For people to listen to her. Obviously.

Why wouldn’t she? She knew what was best. She was a smart, reasonable, insightful woman. If people would just listen to her ideas, then they wouldn’t have so much trouble in life, would they?

“Enough is enough, Sally.”

It wasn’t like any of these people could take care of themselves. They were all incompetents. Clowns. Pathetic, really. They should be honoured that she was willing to invest her time and effort into guiding them. Into helping them. Improving them.

But they never were.

“I- I- You always do this. You always belittle me, nothing I do is ever good enough for you…”

She sipped her coffee, her face carefully blank, trying not to show any of the frustration she felt inside. Across the table from her, sitting in the booth and barely trying to meet her eyes, her old friend Kathy was clearly trying to take the lead on this conversation. It was painful to listen to, quite frankly.

“It- It’s my life! I’ll live it the way I want to live it! And who cares if my clothes aren’t the most fashionable, or my boyfriend isn’t rich? These are my choices to make, not yours!”

Kathy was a sweetheart, really. A cute brunette, mousy, but not off-puttingly so. She wore old lady sweaters and knee length skirts, but if you could look past that she had potential. Potential that Sally had tried to bring out.

But no.

“I know you think you’re justified, but if you’d just think of the consequences sometimes…”

It always came to this. Kathy had taken her time – oh, she’d been so very happy to have Sally’s attention at first. But in the end, she just didn’t have what it took to be what Sally wanted to make her. She couldn’t perform. And now she wanted to blame Sally for her failures. Typical.

“This last thing, though… What you said to my boss… He might fire me, Sally! I worked so hard for this job, and you just… You just…!”

This one did sting though. It was the same tired old beats. All of her so-called ‘friends’ did this eventually. They could never take constructive criticism. Never understand the things she did to make them into their best selves.

“I get that you’re lonely, but you can’t just make my life revolve around you!”

Why didn’t people just listen?

A memory popped into her head. One from long ago, back in her childhood, when her parents had taken her to see a show the night that the circus had been in town. There had been acrobats and clowns, lion tamers and magicians, spectacular shows of all kinds…

And in the middle of it all, presenting the show to the world, commanding every wonderful performer, the ring master. Oh, people had listened to them. Everyone had listened to them.

“Just… Just tell me you understand…? That- That you’re sorry? Maybe we can still work this out…”

Sally was barely paying attention. Her heartbeat was drowning out everything else, thundering in her ears. She could feel something twisting in her heart. She could feel something dark trying to take shape. She could feel a question whispered in the depths of her soul.

Why didn’t she make them listen?

“… ally…? … ou lis…ning…?”

There comes a point when anyone who felt that dark, primal urge inside them has the chance to step back. To retreat from the threshold. This is the point of no return – past here, only desire remains.

Why should she put up with them and their best selves, when she could just decide what they should be?

Sally smiled, closed her eyes, and inside the walls of her own heart, she accepted the offer. She crossed the threshold into desire and felt its power flood into her. She never looked back.

No one ever does.

“Actually,” she said, her eyes opening to reveal an unearthly glow, her fashionable dress morphing into a fetching red jacket stretched over a white blouse. “I think it’s time you listened to me.”

The change was swift, happening right in front of the brunette’s stunned eyes. The silver haired wonder seemed to grow in her seat, gaining almost a foot in height. The rest of her body grew with her, too - Her figure, always competitively curvy, grew to knockout proportions, her white blouse left a few buttons open to show off her incredible chest. Her short skirt wasn’t left behind, unravelling itself so that it’s black material could weave into a pair of long, dark slacks.

The finishing touch – a tall, black top hat appeared, balanced preciously on her silver hair, brim pulled so low that it covered her glowing eyes, just as her skin turned a delectable crimson.

Oh, that’s so much better.

“S-Sally…?” Kathy stammered, unable to understand what she was seeing. Around them, people in the coffee shop were starting to look up in alarm.

“Not anymore, silly,” the former Sally giggled, reaching over the table to bop her friend lightly on the nose. “It’s RingMistress now. But don’t worry.” Her lips pulled up into a smug smirk. “I’ll make sure you remember it.”

The brunette might have wondered what she meant, but she was busy looking down, her eyes crossing in confusion as she stared at the red orb now stuck to the end of her nose.

For some reason, she felt the urge to chuckle…

-

Desires were never subtle. That went against the point. Once you became a Desire, you wanted what you wanted, and nothing was going to get in your way. Anyone who tried was going to find themselves wrapped up in your vision real fast.

It wasn’t long before people noticed reality starting to twist, saw the local coffee shop trade its charming wall windows and inviting décor for red and white striped tent sides. Certainly, as the door warped into a balloon lined arch, and the shops on either side of the building began to change too, people were starting to run.

Not everyone was fast enough.

A pair of sweethearts out on their third date dashed for the mall exit, but a whip of bright multi-coloured streamers shot out and snatched them both up into the air. Screaming and struggling, the pair had been unable to break free as they were wrapped up in colourful cocoons – and then a moment later, the cocoons burst open to reveal a pair of busty acrobats, giggling and smiling vacuously as they flipped and spun through the air, back into the expanding circus.

A businessman on the second floor put on an impressive turn of speed, deflecting a second whip of streamers as he sprinted for the exit, but just feet from the door the ground morphed underneath him, turning into a gigantic slide that sent him shooting backwards into a ball pit on the ground level. He disappeared under the plastic waves – and the woman who popped out when said waves parted wasn’t wearing a business suit.

Instead, her incredibly curvy frame was wrapped in a red tuxedo and white pants, her hair now long and luxuriously blonde. And of special note was the keyboard strapped to her waist, which she began to play as she merrily marched around the transforming mall, the tune for ‘Entrance of the Gladiators’ her eternal song of choice.

It was that music that washed over the crowd of shoppers who had yet to escape, sliding in through their ears and hazing their thoughts. Some, those too young to hear its siren cry, or those of strong enough will to resist it, managed to cover their ears and keep running. Most, however, stumbled to a stop, and then slowly, with an unthinking inevitability, turned, and began to walk backwards to the ballooned arch. As they went, every step their individuality seemed to melt away, their bodies becoming vague and uniform, their faces vanishing into blank slates. By the time they stepped into the tent and took their seats in the stands, they’d become exactly what the Desire wanted - a faceless, thoughtless audience. Each and every one of them ready to applaud every act and cheer the RingMistress’s show from now on into eternity.

But even though most were swept up by the change, as the mall itself rippled and transformed into the biggest of tops, there were still those that escaped. Those who raised the alarm. And across the city, the signal went out. A chirping beep rang out from three special smart phones, resting in three separate bags…

… In the heart of Sapphire University library, as a blue haired woman looked up from her text on ‘Leadership and You: How to earn your Team’s trust’, her eyes narrowing…

… In the changing room at the Shooting Stars Volleyball club, as a brown haired woman paused just as she was about to pull her uniform top on over her head…

… In the student residence of one Alexandria Locks, as a blonde woman hit enter on her latest post comparing the stats of all the latest new arrivals on the Magical Girl scene for the past year, snapping her fingers smugly as she grabbed up her phone…

… And together, in the same moment, all three women stood up, and made quick excuses to step out. Then, the instant that they were alone, confident they weren’t being watched, Rosa pressed a hand to the yellow gem on her bracelet, Lexi pinched the green gem in her earring, while Sophia touched her fingertips to the blue gem in her necklace.

“Saver Serenity – Synchronize!”

-

By now, the mall had been completely converted, and the circus was spreading out into the city proper. A Desire can get out of hand quickly if she’s ambitious enough, and most are. The walls had all been replaced with red striped tarp, and the streets were starting to fill with carnival games, all staffed by busty clowns or curvy carnies, and the swell of music was luring more and more passers-by helplessly into the audience stands.

But then, just as it looked like the growing circus was about to envelop the entire district…

“Serenity Seal!”

Three voices cried out, and walls of energy, glowing with a mix of yellow, green, and blue light, formed around the corruption in a gigantic triangle, cutting it off from the city proper. The people cheered. The Serenities had arrived.

The uniform of a Serenity was a striking thing. A white top with shoulder pads and long, silken sleeves, leading into arm length coloured gloves, leaving the hands covered and the stomach exposed. And beneath, a flowing skirt that ended just above the knees, followed below by stockings that matched the gloves and shoulder pads in colour and pattern, before being capped off by shoes of varying degrees of practical sense, depending on the wearer's flare for fashion.

When three young women jumped from the rooftops, uniting in front of the sealed zone of desire, there could be no doubt as to who they were. But none the less, there were some traditions that had to be upheld anyway.

“When the hearts of mankind forget justice…” The blue haired Serenity with pale cyan highlights in her uniform began, stepping forward to shield the crowds behind her.

“When darkness threatens to snuff out the light…” The brunette Serenity with red highlights was already cracking her knuckles as she stepped up on blue’s right.

“When hope has been lost thus we promise…!” The blonde Serenity with green highlights continued, a joyous smile on her face as she took her place at blue’s side.

Then, together…

“We’ll be there to set everything right!”

The blonde dashed forwards. “Refreshing hope, Serenity Spring!”

The brunette wasn’t far behind. “Burning strength, Serenity Summer!”

Then finally, the Serenity in blue finished the formation. “And cool judgement, Serenity Winter!”

“It’s Desire hunting season!”

As one, the three heroines plunged through the barrier, seemingly heedless of the cheers and applause from the people they’d protected. Such things were a regular part of any magical girl’s duty, after all.

On the inside of the triangular dome, however…

“Nailed it!”

“Just like we rehearsed!”

“Who’s awesome? We’re awesome!”

Well, Summer and Spring were maybe a touch more appreciative of the adulation than they’d let on. But it was hard to blame them. The Serenity Seasons were a relatively new team, formed after the previous protectors of Sapphire City had left their post – it was important that they made as big a splash as possible so that the people of the city knew they were still protected.

Still, there was a time and place for celebrations, and this wasn’t it. It was down to Winter to get their focus back on track. “Okay girls,” she said, already scanning the world inside the barrier. “We have an unknown Desire corrupting Glitter Mall. Unknown abilities at the moment, but…”

“But I think we can assume the circus theme isn’t an accident,” Spring finished, finally looking up as well.

It was a daunting sight. The corruption may have been sealed off this area from the rest of the city, but in this zone, it reigned supreme. The world had been completely distorted in this space, reality rewritten to suit the whims of its new owner.

The sky had darkened overhead, attention seeking spotlights shining up on the clouds, projecting the images of clowns and planes overhead. Barely beneath them, a gigantic circus tent dominated the landscape, stretching off into the distance despite the sealed zone not being big enough to contain such space. At its front, it contained a grand entrance that led into the blackest shadows ever seen – the combination of balloons and bunting flags making it look more like a grinning mouth than anything.

The path towards the circus was lined with stalls, advertising sugary foods and rigged carnival games. Each one was manned by a circus worker, all of them competing with each other for attention from the shadowy audience wanderers who drifted through the fairgrounds on their way towards the queue into the big tent.

Most victims of a Desire ended up female, for some reason. No one was quite sure why, but whatever the reason, the transformation was fully on display here. The figures manning the stalls or wandering the promenade were all incredibly curvy, and happily showing off their charms in every slutty way imaginable.

And over it all, bombastic circus music played. The greatest show on earth had nothing on these guys.

This was why Desires were so dangerous. It was rare for one to grow so powerful so quickly, but all of them were capable of transforming the world around them to a degree. If left to fester, who knew what kind of trouble they’d cause.

But thankfully, that was why the Serenities were here.

“Okay.” Winter nodded, taking a breath. This was it. This was the moment her team looked to her. Dealing with this mess was her responsibility most of all, and she wasn’t going to let anyone down. She had a plan, and she was confident in it. “Our main target is the Desire herself, and she’s probably in the middle of all of this. So, Summer, I want you to-”

Suddenly, a scream rang through the night. All three heroine’s heads shot up.

“A survivor?” Summer stepped forward, craning her neck to try to spot the source of the call.

“In here? It’s unlikely…” Spring frowned. “Without the protection of Serenity magic, this Desire’s corruptive effects are incredibly potent. Surely everyone who didn’t get away has been transformed by now…”

But the brunette was already running. “We can’t be sure of that! If someone can still be saved, I’m not leaving them behind!”

“Summer, wait-!” Winter reached after her friend – but the red Serenity had already vanished into the crowds.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Spring was quick to assure her leader, summoning her weapon, a lengthy gymnastics ribbon, to her hand. “I’ll establish an overwatch and keep an eye on her!” Her hand shot out, ribbon shooting through the air and wrapping around the highest tent spire.

“No, hold on, we should stick…” Again, Winter protested, but before she could finish the green Serenity had already swung away towards the rooftops. “… Together. Great.”

For a moment, the team leader’s shoulders slumped. Then she clenched her fists, rallying. “Okay! Okay. We do it this way instead. That’s fine. They know what they’re doing. In that case…” She raised her hand into the air, summoning her own weapon, a blue tinted sword. “I’ll cut us a path inside, and they can follow when they’re ready!”

It was a bit of an awkward plan, to be honest, but she didn’t see a way around it. A Desire had to be dealt with as quickly as possible – they grew more powerful over time, as they absorbed more and more people’s desires into themselves. This one had already managed to catch a lot of people, so although the barrier would prevent her catching more, she was still getting stronger by the second.

Thus, the Serenity in blue charged in as well, moving swiftly up the path to weave her way through the crowds and stalls. She could tell everything here was laced with a Desire’s seductive charm magics. The games were traps, the food was transformative, the music hypnotic… None of it had any effect on her as a Serenity, not unless she let her guard down, but it all spoke of how controlling this Desire wanted to be. Something to keep in mind.

She reached her destination, the main door into the tent, the one all of the shadows were queuing up for, easily. There were guards, of course, bouncers who didn’t take kindly to Winter cutting in line. It looked like they were part of the weightlifting act when they weren’t on watch duty, with muscles thicker than their heads – almost as thick as their chests, honestly. Against a normal person, they might have put up a bit of a fight, but against a Serenity…

“Artic Gale!” Winter gestured with her free hand, summoning up a swirl of freezing wind that rushed through the grounds. It froze the trio of guards in solid prisons of ice right where they stood.

She always felt a little bad about using magic on the Desire’s minions – they were just ordinary people transformed, after all. But she knew that Serenity magic had no effect on normal people. Once the Desire was defeated, they’d be free and unharmed. Until then, it was best they stay on ice.

The line of faceless shadows that had been waiting at the door while the bouncers looked them over immediately began to stream inside. Not even the fully powered magical girl who’d just frozen three people in place deterred them. Winter couldn’t help but wince – the Desire’s control of them had to be powerful indeed.

Well, hopefully they could put a stop to that.

With the group’s way in now open and unguarded, the blue haired warrior took a moment to wave up towards the highest spire, signalling to Spring that she could hold this position until Summer returned…

… And that was when things started going wrong.

Just as Winter turned to wave, the ground under her feet, a red carpet she’d thought nothing of, suddenly bucked, knocking her feet from under her. Surprised, she landed on her ass with a startled “Oof!”, and tried to look around for what had tripped her. Alas, before she could realise the danger she was in, the entire carpet snapped backwards into the open gateway, rolling itself up like a tongue, and pitching the shocked Serenity straight into the dark maw itself.

When the world finally stopped spinning again, the magical girl found herself laying in darkness. She was inside the tent, in one of the maze-like passages that were supposed to guide the audience to their seats. Groaning, she got to her feet - but the gate she’d been pulled through nowhere to be seen.

So she reached for her communicator – a blue gem embedded in her left earring. “Hey, guys, do you read me?” She got an electrical crackle. “Spring, Summer, respond?”

Static was her only answer.

“Great. Just great.” Winter shook her head at her own carelessness. Of course comms were blocked this deep in. Now she was on her own in enemy territory. Hopefully Spring had seen her get pulled in – she really didn’t want to have to fight the Desire on her own… But either way, she couldn’t just remain here in the dark. She had to try to find a way out.

The passages beyond the entrance were long and twisted, the red and white stripes spiralling around the walls enough to make it feel like Winter was walking through the inside of a candy cane. It wasn’t long before she was disorientated and lost. Even when she tried to turn around, the tunnels only ever seemed to lead deeper in.

Ugh, stupid Desire Lairs. Why couldn’t they obey the laws of dimensional space like everyone else?

She had hoped to emerge quietly into the stands, a place where she could gather intel and plan out the next battle, and indeed, she had ascended several sets of wobbly metal stairs on the path that she thought would lead her to that very destination. But the blue haired warrior couldn’t truly be surprised when she finally emerged from the tunnels out into the centre of the ring, the main stage itself, a spotlight shining down on her.

And there was someone there waiting for her.

“Welcome welcome, one and all, to the most spectacular show you will ever see…!” A silken voice boomed through the gigantic tent, and its source? The tall woman in red and black in the middle of it all, her arms spread wide, a sinister smirk beneath her tall top hat – the subject of the other spotlight on the stage. “The defeat of the Serenities~”

Winter scowled, lifting her sword defensively. This woman was the Desire, no question about it. Now, what abilities did she have…? “So you’re the ring master of this nightmare circus, I assume.”

“RingMistress, if you please.” The silver haired woman said with a theatrical bow. “And this, my dear, is a circus of pleasures. My pleasures to be precise. Isn’t it delightful? So nice to see what’s possible when people actually listen to me for a change.”

“I’m not sure you know what ‘Delightful’ means!” The blunette glared. “Now put an end to this and let these people go, before I have to get serious.” She meant every word. Sure, she didn’t like the idea of fighting an unknown Desire on her own, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do so.

Sadly, her confidence didn’t intimidate the RingMistress – it just made her laugh. “Such a brave little pup. But hold on now. Aren’t there normally more than one of you? I thought Sapphire City had three Serenities on call. Did the others have a more pressing engagement?”

The Desire actually sounded quite offended at the notion. For a moment, Winter considered playing along with it as a taunt, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. She didn’t want this creature thinking that her friends weren’t here to back her up…

“The- They’ll be here soon…” She managed, stumbling with unexpected uncertainty. They… They would be here soon, right? They wouldn’t just leave her in here alone…

“You don’t sound confident.” The Desire honed in on her insecurities like a missile. “Oh my. Can it be that they left you on your own? Against me?” She pressed a hand against her voluptuous chest, her grin growing wider. “Oh my dear, I guess they must not like you very much, am I right?”

“Sh- Shut up!” That- That definitely wasn’t it! Her teammates respected and- And didn’t always listen to her, but that wasn’t because they didn’t like her! “Enough of this! Have at you!”

“Have at me? And here I thought I was the theatrical- Oh my!” The Desire dodged to the side, just in time to dodge Winter’s thrown lance of ice. “Well, dear, if it’s a fight you want, I have people that can accommodate. Send in the clowns, girls!”

Screeches pierced the air as a pair of colourful cars skidded out of the shadows and came to a stop on either side of the Desire. Their doors popped open, and from out poured a horde of white-faced clowns, a sea of red noses, baggy pants and floppy shoes. Dozens of cream pies filled the air, sprays of water from shaken seltzer bottles and fake lapel flowers lancing out between them, searching for a target.

Winter had all of half a moment to swallow in terror, before she was dodging for her life.

Cream pies rained down around her, splattering on the ground as she zipped around the ring at the top speed her magic allowed. She could feel the Desire’s power radiating from the projectiles as they just barely missed her. The protection from corruption she got from being a Serenity could shield her fine against passive effects like the music and stalls, but actual direct attacks were a different matter. Getting hit by one might not do much, but if it slowed her down enough to get by the two-dozen following it, then she’d be in serious trouble.

So in answer, she raised her free hand and unleashed another arctic blast, knocking the pies and water sprays away from her – freezing the later into harmless icicles – and knocking down a group of clowns like they were bowling pins.

Alas, her victory was short lived, as more clowns streamed in to take their place. And worse, more attackers joined in, acrobats cartwheeling through the air as they swung from a web of trapeze swings up above. Now it wasn’t just cream pies – Colourful ribbons were cutting down from above, all striking at the magical girl and slicing into the earth she’d been standing on a moment before. This was getting ridiculous!

“Lovely show, dear!” RingMistress was clapping, which was echoed a hundred-fold by the shadowy audience following her lead. “Are you sure you want to be on the good guy’s side? I’m sure I could fit an ice-skating act into my show~”

“I said…” Winter tried not to squeak, ducking under a thrown hula-hoop. “Shut up!”

There was so many. So many. Too many. She couldn’t- She couldn’t deal with all of this on her own! She had to make some space, she had to- Ah!

“Actually.” She paused, looking over towards the Desire. “That’s not a bad idea. Thanks!”

RingMistress’s eyes were hidden, but you could sense that she was blinking under the brim of her had. “Uh. You mean you want to-”

“ICE NOVA!” Blue light exploded around Serenity Winter, a cold wind and a wave of ice shooting out along the ground in all directions. In an instant, the entire ring was converted into an ice rink – and there was only one woman standing in it who had any experience skating on the ice.

In fact, the clowns were actually well accustomed to the opposite, tripping over their own feet and rolling into each other – and so they did exactly that. The hordes crashed together and slid across the ice in a chaotic (and hilarious) mess. The acrobats were less affected, but their leotards provided them precious little protection against the wave of cold, slowing their reactions enough that Winter was able to escape them.

Now she had a clean shot towards the Desire.

Or, she almost did. At some point, the monstrous control freak had summoned yet more minions – this time a horde of strong women like the ones at the gate were trying to bar her path. But they were slow and she was quick. With a blast of frost to give the ground a fresh coating of ice, she was even quicker, and they were flat on their asses. The minions were all down.

Which meant there was nothing standing between the RingMistress and her sword! She swung-!

Tink!

Only for her blade to be deflected at the last moment. From out of nowhere, the Desire had summoned a weapon – a silver ring – and used it to parry the strike.

“I’m loving the performance, dear,” the Desire said with a smirk at the two clashed. “But I think it’s time that the real star took to the stage.”

Winter growled and tried to push forward, spinning around for another swing, but another silver ring was waiting for her there, knocking her blow away. She spun around, skating on the ice to come at the woman from another angle, only to meet another ring, and another, and another!

The RingMistress was summoning the stupid things on command, barely even having to move to defend herself. She discarded each ring almost as soon as she summoned them, but she never seemed to run out. It was like trying to fight a magician who kept pulling more colourful handkerchiefs out of her pockets.

“What’s the matter? Out of steam already? I thought the show was only just getting started.” The Desire sighed theatrically. “If only your friends were here, right? I’m sure they’d put up a better fight.”

“I- I don’t need them to deal with you!” Winter snarled, trying not to let herself distracted. But her true thoughts slipped out in spite of her. “Not like they’d listen to the plan anyways…”

“Oh?” The showmanship monster stepped back, a grin spreading over her face. “What was that? Having trouble with your teammates?”

“Ngh!” The blue warrior’s face turned red. “N-no, I- I mean, shut up!” She jumped backwards, feet sliding expertly on the ice. “Enough of this! Try fighting me when your arms are frozen in place!”

Magic swirled around her as she prepared an all out blast – but the Desire still looked just as smug as ever.

“You first, dear.” She snapped her fingers.

Suddenly, the rings on the floor jumped up as one, shooting through the air and latching around Winter’s wrists and ankles. “Wha-?!”

Her concentration shattered, the magic that the Serenity had been gathering dispersed harmlessly. Unable to resist, Winter found herself being hoisted up into the air, her arms and legs pressed in against her, forced to hover in the air at attention in front of the Desire.

“RingMistress is a name with a lot of meanings, you know,” the woman chuckled, reaching out to stroke the blue haired warrior’s cheek. “I think you need a little more practice before you’re ready for prime time, my girl.”

The magical girl couldn’t do much more than grind her teeth as she struggled. The rings that bound her were solid metal, and they weren’t giving an inch. “My friends will…!”

A gloved finger against her lips silenced her as the Desire drew close. “Yes, yes, the power of love and friendship, we’ve all watched TV, Dear. But are you sure you want to be putting your faith in such unreliable allies?”

Winter blinked. She’d heard a few Desire speeches over the course of her career, but this was a new one. “Unreliable? I don’t…”

“You know exactly what I mean, my darling Serenity.” The RingMistress cupped her chin. “I can feel it. That sense of being surrounded by idiots who just won’t listen to you, even when you know what’s best. I hear it in your heart, loud and clear.”

The magical girl swallowed, her face heating at just how close this curvaceous woman was to her. “I- Th-that’s not…!”

But the Desire just chuckled. “There’s no point in lying to me. I can hear it in your heart even as you try to deny it. The need to be listened to is a desire I know very well indeed.” She lifted Winter’s chin gently. “I can’t help but see a little of myself in you, Dear. And you know, where I see a little of me – I can’t help but want to add more.”

The Serenity’s eyes widened. “Wha-Mhmn?!?”

Her confusion was silenced as the Desire’s lips covered her own, an electric jolt shooting down her tongue and straight up into her brain. For a brief moment, everything seemed to stand still, fading into the background against the warmth of those soft lips, and that tingling sensation.

There was something else, too. In that still moment, Winter felt a soft grip around her hand, something sliding around her finger. It was so gentle she almost completely missed it around everything else…

Then the kiss broke just as suddenly as it began, and all she could do was stare at the smug Desire in shock. “What- What was tha-?!”

“Shining Cacophony!”

“Canopy Labyrinth!”

Twin bursts of red and green energy exploded through the arena, their force enough to drive even the unshakable RingMistress back a step. That may not have seemed like much, but the disruption to her concentration weakened her hold on the rings binding Winter, and the Serenity didn’t waste her opportunity. She poured all of her strength into her arms and legs, shattering the shackles that held her, and jumped backwards – just in time to fall into formation with Summer and Spring as they arrived next to her.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Winter!”

“Yeah, it was a hell of a mess out there!” Summer grinned over her shoulder at her friend. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” The blunette wiped her lips, shaking her head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Did you find the people you went to rescue?”

The red Serenity shook her head, shrugging. “Nah, no sign of them. Maybe it was a fake or a distraction or something.”

“Well I could have told you-” Winter cut herself off, holding the side of her head, surprised at her own tone. It wasn’t helpful right now to scold her teammate. “Uh- N-nevermind. Come on, let’s take this lady down.”

“Right!” Spring jumped in, eager to help deflate the sudden tension. “It’s three of us and one of her – this’ll be easy!”

Easy… Right. Yeah. The blue Serenity nodded, sword returning to her hand in a flash of magic. “Alright, let’s try-”

“- Kicking that stupid hat off!” Summer shot in, already leaping forwards and out of formation to attack the Desire head on.

“No, not like that!” Winter tried to snatch her back, almost snarling at her teammate, but she was too slow. Instead, she just had to watch as the brunette launched a spinning kick at the RingMistress – only to get her leg caught in a silver ring in midair. The Desire even tipped her hat politely to the Serenity, before swinging her around and throwing her to the ground in front of her comrades.

“Summer!” Spring was at her side in an instant, helping her up.

“I told you!” Winter was there as well, though she didn’t extend any help herself. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Relax,” the red Serenity grunted, getting back to her feet. “I know how to handle a Desire.”

“Just like you knew what you were doing when you ran off outside, huh??” This time there was no restraining the fury in the blunette’s voice, the anger she felt at this meat headed idiot ruining all of her plans. “Why can’t you just listen?!?”

“Why should I listen when your ideas all suck!?” Now Summer was getting annoyed. “I don’t need you micromanaging me all the time, quit being such a control freak!”

“Control freak?!”

“H-Hey, hey, this isn’t the time to fight amongst ourselves…” Spring was still trying to play the peacekeeper, separating red and blue before things got even worse. “There’s a monster over there we can fight instead!”

“Hmph.” Summer rolled her eyes, but turned back to the fight anyway. “Yeah. Maybe try to focus on the Desire instead of your own teammates, Winter.”

“At least I’m actually considering my-!” The blunette started to bite out, before Spring covered her mouth and dragged her away before a real fight broke out.

“Winter, what’s going on?” The Serenity of hope looked up at her leader with real worry on her face. “You’re not acting like yourself. Are you okay?”

And normally, that would have been enough to snap the blue haired warrior out of her weird frenzy. The idea of upsetting Spring was just all kinds of wrong to her. But this was no normal outburst. The blunette couldn’t let this go. The heat in her chest wouldn’t let her. Months of worries and insecurities were all bubbling up at once, driving her into a burning rage she couldn’t escape, one that only got hotter as her so called friends failed to acknowledge her.

“This isn’t about me,” she hissed, gesturing towards Summer instead. “This is about her and you going off on your own and not listening to my commands. The two of you are acting like complete clowns out here!”

The blonde flinched a little – Winter even almost felt bad for a second – and then straightened up. “Well fine. Call me a clown if you like, but can we save the arguing for after the fight? We have a Desire to deal with – maybe focus on that instead of insulting your friends!”

With that, she turned back to the fight at hand, looking over to where Summer was off throwing fireballs at a still-smug RingMistress. Behind her, Winter’s eyes narrowed.

Neither of them noticed the silver shock of hair that now ran through the blue Serenity’s bangs. Spring was too focused on the fight, while Winter…

Winter had something else to think about right then.

She wasn’t even sure why the pie was in her hands. She remembered seeing it. Bending down to scoop it up. Feeling out the weight of it. But she couldn’t understand why she was doing any of it. It was like she’d been watching someone else moving in her body.

But suddenly, everything became crystal clear.

“Here,” she said, her voice echoing with a second, much more smug set of vocal chords. “If you want to play the part of a clown, let me help you!”

“Huh?” Spring turned around – only to get hit in the face with a Desire laden cream pie.

Splat!

Oh. Oh that felt good.

Spring toppled backwards, the silver pie tin falling to the floor as she landed on her rear, reaching up to scrape the cream out of her confused eyes. “Wha-?”

But it was far too late for her to do anything. Even as she tried to wipe the cream away, she just revealed pure white skin underneath – white face paint already covering her face from chin to brow. Indeed, her fingers were just uncovering more makeup. Little green dots on her cheeks. Yellow star patterns around her eyes. And, of course, big red lips painted to stretch in a happy smile.

“Wha…?” The pure power of desire surged through her, overwhelming her Serenity protections and dazzling her mind. It was obvious immediately as her chest bulged out, her breasts inflating like balloons hooked onto a pump, quickly becoming larger than her head. A moment later she rose up on the ground as her ass filled out equally. Her uniform grew tight for a second, almost to the point of ripping, before it too began to change. The green of her shoulder pads and gloves began seeping into the white of her uniform, with yellows and reds developing out of nowhere as her top and skirt merged into a clowinish halter-top and rainbow-skirt combo that hugged her figure provocatively.

“W-wha…?” Still stunned, the blonde could only look down at her feet as long, floppy shoes unrolled themselves on them, almost finishing the look. Green suspenders stretched themselves over her shoulders, a white flower dripping with corrupting ‘water’ attaching itself to her lapel. But there was only one thing that could signal an end to Spring’s transformation.

“WhaCHOO!” She sneezed, bright colourful streamers bursting out of her pockets as a red nose popped into existence in the middle of her face. And with that…

“Well gawsh,” the new clown giggled. “Guess you really made a fool outta me, hyuk!”

… Spring was gone, and the RingMistress had another minion.

Winter couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing, clutching her sides and almost rolling over on her back from the sheer hilarity. “Oh my god,” she roared. “You look ridiculous~!”

“Why thanks Ma’am!” The clown rolled forwards, cartwheeling to her feet. “Good to know I’m puttin’ a smile on people’s faces already, hyuk!”

She was perfect. The team leader reached out, ruffling that blonde hair fondly, before spinning the clown around and smacking her on the ass to shove her away. “Good girl. Now go get ready, you have a show in twenty minutes.”

And Summer, by contrast, was absolutely horrified, watching as the former Spring slapstick stumbled away. “What- What have you done?!” She yelled, drawing back from her fight with the Desire to stare at her teammates with wide eyes.

Winter was unrepentant. “I just gave her what she deserved,” she said, flicking her now fully silver hair back over her shoulder. A sick yellow glow was starting to shine in her eyes. “I warned you two that you should listen to me. It’s hardly my fault that you didn’t.”

The warrior of fiery passion wasn’t an idiot. Even as she stared at her team leader in shock, she could see the former blunette’s uniform shifting. Her top was turning into a red jacket with silver trim, while her skirt was merging together into a set of black slacks. An obvious copy of the RingMistress’s outfit.

“What did you do to her?” She growled, looking to the Desire herself.

That got a smirk. “Oh, nothing too extreme. I just helped those inner tensions of hers to the surface. It’s so unhealthy to bottle things like that up, don’t you think?” The woman chuckled. “As for the rest – well, three verses one sounded rather unfair. Two of you verses two of me? Much more even. Though I guess your side is down to one now~!”

“Yeah?” The Serenity looked back to her former friend, who was looking more and more like their enemy by the second. “We’ll see. Damnit, Winter, snap out of it before I slap you out of it!”

“But I have snapped out of it,” the corrupted warrior said, her voice now completely replaced by the Desire’s. “I’ve snapped out of meekly accepting your defiance, and now I’m taking a firmer hand.” As she spoke, she adjusted her now white gloves. “Now are you going to be a good girl and listen, or do I have to discipline you as well?”

Summer couldn’t help but wince. She knew she’d played at least a small part in what had happened here – though the main blame was still with the RingMistress. “Well, if you’re going to put it that way,” she said, rolling her neck. “Then I guess I’ll just have to knock the Desire out of you the old-fashioned way!”

The red Serenity shot forward, leaping at her old friend with her fist drawn back, hoping to take the fight out of her in one quick strike. But judging by Winter’s smile, that was exactly the answer she was hoping for.

“Always too wild for your own good~”

The corrupted magical girl spun aside at the last moment, dodging the punch with effortless grace. But there was something else about her movement. Instinct grabbing hold, Summer ducked her head at the last moment, a flash of silver metal passing over her hair. At the same time, she hopped her legs upwards, that same flash zipping by beneath her. She landed uncertainly, skidding on the still slippery arena floor, and turned to look at her opponent, trying to work out what she’d just done.

The answer was obvious as soon as she saw Winter, though. The former team leader was holding a silver ring of her own, just like the Desire. But it was bigger than the kind that the RingMistress had been using. This one was practically hula-hoop sized, if not a little bigger. And Summer had just passed through the middle of it.

For a moment she let herself wear a smug grin, confidence boosted by her instinctive dodging of the attack.

Then she noticed the draft.

She looked down and balked, her hands instantly shifting to cover her chest and crotch. Where- Where had her uniform gone? She was completely naked! There wasn’t a scrap of clothing left, not even her shoes. Her face shone bright red despite herself, humiliation and rage warring for control of her expression.

“Don’t worry, Summer,” RingMistress’s voice echoed from Winter’s lips, drawing her attention back to the corrupted magical girl. “Now I know just how to turn wild things like you into good girls~”

“You-!” Rage won out. Embarrassment and modesty were shoved aside – she had no reason to care about anyone seeing her naked right now, as long as she kicked this girl’s ass! Roaring, she charged again, her fists glowing bright with fiery light.

But again, Winter was elusive, weaving backwards around every punch with a confident level of grace she’d never shown off before. Every strike met air, every thrown fist grazing through the empty space where her target used to be, every failed attack driving up the magical girl of passion’s frustration even higher… Until eventually, inevitably, she overextended.

Summer felt it the moment it happened, her body rolling just a bit too far forward, her balance tipping just far enough that she couldn’t retract for a second too long. And in that instant, she again saw a flash of silver.

The ring slipped down over her head, and already she could feel something wrong. A flood of Desire washed over her, swirling around her body wherever the ring went, sinking with it past her neck. It came with a strange, fuzzy feeling at first, a ticklish prickling in her cheeks, but then it all surged with real heat as soon as it reached her chest. She found herself gasping, confused about how good that heat felt inside her as it settled back into fuzz for her waist – and then gasping all over again as that same heat flooded into her ass. But weirder still was the same sensation in her hands and feet…

By the time the ring hit the ground she was already staggering away, letting it slide out from under her without a moment’s thought. What… What had just happened? Why did she feel so strange? Her skin felt hot, and so did she. Why was she so horny all of a sudden…?

Swallowing, Summer looked down, and almost screamed. What the hell had happened to her body?! Her athletic physique, the musculature she’d put years of work into, was gone – smoothed out and obscured by a thin layer of orange fur with black stripes that covered her skin from head to toe.

And speaking of her toes, was it just her, or did her feet look weird too. The shape of them had changed, becoming more rounded, and some of her toes had merged together, leaving her with four prominent little clawed digits on each foot. Just looking down was enough to make her balance wobble, but she bit her lip and lifted a foot anyway, peering under it to reveal a set of soft pink pads. And as she stared at them, she suddenly realised she could see the exact same transformation had happened to her hands as well…

It was all hard to make out, though, because all the while she was trying to see past her chest. Her curves had never been her proudest feature, so she really had no idea how to deal with boobs this big. They were almost as big as her head! Honestly, how was she supposed to fit these into her bra? And yeah, she was still naked, but it was hard to care about that with all the rest.

“What have you done to me?!” Summer finally growled, shocked to hear how throaty her voice had become. Each word sounded like a purr.

And Winter was clearly loving every second, drinking the sight of her transformed teammate in with a dark grin. “Just giving you an outside to match your inside, Dear,” she said, spinning her silver hoop around between her hands. “Tiger, tiger, burning bright, looks like you’re going into heat tonight~!”

This… bitch…!

Summer let out a roar – an honest to gods roar that echoed through the tent – and lunged, claws springing out of her fingertips, slicing through the air as she tried to maul her former friend. If she’d thought about it, she might have hesitated, but her emotions were rampaging out of control, and thus, so was she.

So, lost in an uncontrolled fury, it wasn’t long before she got caught in the hoop again.

“Alley-oop!” Winter slammed the silver ring down over Summer’s head, instantly stopping the raging Serenity in her tracks as pleasure hammered into her mind.

“Huah~!” Stunned, the orange furred woman couldn’t even react as her ears shifted to the top of her head, turning into dark-furred points poking up through her hair. Nor could she do anything as long thin whiskers popped out of her face, wiggling under her nose. Her eyes just rolled up in her head as they turned emerald green, developing thick, cat-like slits for pupils.

The ring continued downwards, getting stuck for a moment on the magical girl’s chest, but sliding down again after a solid yank from Winter. At Summer’s hips, though, it stopped dead – completely wedged on her ass.

“You always have to be so difficult.” Winter rolled her eyes and smacked Summer’s behind, drawing a yowl from the confused catgirl and driving her through the hoop properly. “But I suppose that’s what makes you so fun to tame~”

Freed of the ring, Summer found herself falling to all fours, dizzy and unsteady, before struggling to rise back up on her feet again. It wasn’t hard to stand, she found – it just felt natural not to all of a sudden, like she was supposed to be lower down…

Her body was telling her a lot of things were natural, in fact. Things like her chest, which had somehow gotten even bigger, both breasts easily twice the size of her head now, framed in bright, soft orange and black fur. Things like her ass, which was just as big, balanced on powerful and thick thighs. Things like the tail that wiggled in the air behind her. And things like how wet she was…

She was hornier than ever! It was taking all of her willpower to stop herself from reaching up to squeeze her new titty tanks, and her thighs had been rubbing together since the ring had gone over her head. The heat inside her was so much, it was impossible to ignore it, impossible to think through it…

And someone was happy to offer her the relief she needed.

“Here kitty kitty~” In front of her, her… friend? Her enemy? The… The woman with silver hair and a silver hoop was extending her hand, beckoning her to come closer. “It’s all right girl. Come here – I know what you want~”

Her voice sounded so nice. Her hands looked so soft. She wanted… She wanted to… No!

No… No, she had to- she had to get away! She couldn’t think clearly, her mind was so hazy, but she knew that much. Growling, her voice low and rumbly, she turned on her padded paws and charged away, dropping to all fours for extra speed without a moment’s thought.

Behind her, Winter just laughed – loud and theatrically, performing for the audience of shades like the show-woman she’d become. “Oh dear, she’s become such a scaredy cat all of a sudden! But don’t worry, I know how to tame a pussy~”

As she spoke, she raised her hoop in one hand, spinning it around her wrist for a second, before tossing it forwards. It spun through the air, glittering under the stage lights, shooting unerringly after its target…

Before settling gently over Summer’s head, shrinking down into a silver ring wrapped tight around her neck.

Instantly power crackled between Winter’s hand and Summer’s new accessory, a black leash materialising out of thin air to link the two. With one yank, the charging catgirl found herself dragged backwards over the still icy ground, pulled right in front of her former friend, who reached down, grabbed her chin, and-

“Enough, Pet.”

Her words slammed into the transformed Serenity’s softened mind. Pet… Pet… Pet…

She was… a Pet…?

“You’ve given us a merry chase, but it’s time to settle down.”

N-nnnn… No, she… She couldn’t…

But she couldn’t stop the strength from leaving her limbs as she settled down…

“It’s time to admit the truth. You are Tamed. You are Owned. You are Mine.”

Tamed. Owned. Hers. All of these words sank into Summer, irresistible truths that wrote themselves into her soul. Yes… Yes, she couldn’t deny it. She was Her Owner’s Tame Pet…

“You’re my Silly, Pretty little Titty Kitty. My Playful, Obedient, Pet.”

Silly… pretty… titty kitty…

Summer giggled, her lips rising into a dumb smile as she gazed up at her- at her Owner… She was such a Silly Kitty… She was so lucky she had Wi-Win- Had her Owner here to look after her Pretty Titties….

So lucky Owner looked after her Playful, Obedient Pet!

“That’s a good girl. Good girl.”

She was a Good Girl~

“My pretty little Princess. Owner’s beautiful, sweet, Princess.”

Prin…cess? She was… Owner’s… Princess…?

Pleasure surged in Summ- Sum- In Ros-Ro-R… In Princess’s head as Owner reached down and stroked her hair. The tigress’s eyes rolled up in her head one last time as everything behind them melted out of her pointed ears, the panicking mind of a defeated magical girl smoothly, pleasantly replaced by the dumb instincts of a tamed beast.

Her tongue lolled out and she licked at Owner’s hand, nuzzling up against Owner’s leg, her fat tits brushing against the ground as Owner released her chin. The ring around her neck flashed, transforming into a bejewelled collar, a nametag hanging just above her breasts letting everyone know Princess’s name.

Dimly, she smiled as she realised that she wasn’t completely naked anymore! She wasn’t sure why that mattered for a silly pet like her, but it was still a relief.

And then applause rang out, the roar of the shadow crowd drowning out everything else. Winter rose up, bowing theatrically once more as Princess curled around her feet, licking thoughtlessly at her furred tits. “Thank you! Thank you!”

But there was one set of clapping hands that meant more to the former Serenity than all of the others combined. Slowly, the RingMistress approached, with Winter bowing to her most of all.

“Bravo, my dear! Bravo!” The Desire was smirking. “What a wonderful show. I knew you were going to make a fine addition. I’m glad my ring looks so good on you~”

“Your ring?” Winter blinked and looked down at her hand, seeing, for the first time, the silver ring on her ring finger. “Huh. How long has that been there?”

“Long enough,” RingMistress chuckled. “I’m not sure you need it anymore – you’re more me than you now~”

It was true! Aside from the face concealing top hat and dominating height, Winter had become a double of the RingMistress in practically every way. They even shared the same smile of delight as they considered the fact.

“But I should give you a proper role here! So, my Dear, welcome to the Circus – our new, delightful Tamer.”

The title settled over the former magical girl easily, and wiped every last trace of Winter left over away. Tamer grinned and bowed, heart overjoyed at her new name and role. “Thank you, RingMistress. I’ll make you proud.”

“See that you, do, Dear. Every show should be better than the last~”

There was another thunderous round of applause, the two silver haired menaces taking their final bows… And then the lights went dim, the spotlights shutting down. The show was over.

The audience didn’t move, of course. They needed to be ready for the next showing. They simply sat in darkness as the performers got to work.

It was time to tidy up and get ready for the next show. Steadily, the defeated minions got back up. The acrobats vanished into the rafters. The strong women went to collect their weights. The clowns retreated back into their cars – including a blonde, nameless clown who blended in completely with all the rest – and drove off.

RingMistress herself gave her duplicate a wave, before sauntering away to her chambers, looking forward to planning the next new acts. And as for the former Winter and Summer…

“I hope the Daylights come to the next show,” the Circus’s new Tamer giggled as she wandered away from the ring, heading towards the animal pens that she instinctively new were down this tunnel over here. She was stroking her pet tiger as they walked away, enjoying the beast’s heated purrs. “My act needs a few more girls in the menagerie~ The barrier should keep us contained in here for a few more days – so I’d best get ready to welcome them, hm?”

Princess could only purringly approve.

-

Is this the end of our beautiful savours? Has Desire triumphed over Serenity at last?

Perish the thought!

Have no fear, brave citizens of Earth, for the light of Serenity is never truly extinguished! Corrupted, brainwashed, enslaved, stupefied, sluttified, transformed, or controlled, yes, but never vanquished!

Believe in your heroes, humanity! They’re (probably) not out of this fight yet! Maybe. I’m sure you can imagine a way out of this one if you try.

So fight on, brave Serenities! Only you can save humanity from itself!

Or something like that, anyway!

Serenity – Out!