Fitting Room Rampage: Stitching the Reverse Scale
Churros, gotta get some churros. Is this the Mental Theme? I wiggled my fingers experimentally. I couldn't really feel much of a difference.
Something had definitely changed, though. My costume was still the standard Neff one, not Prism Neff.
The one thing I was sure of was that my mana, which had been nearly depleted just moments ago, was now fully charged for some reason.
And right now, it was draining out in a looong stream.
At that instant, Bital's claws came flying at me.
My reflection gleamed on the sharp surface of his talons, mirrored back from an invisible looking glass.
The figure in the mirror... was wearing Flora's costume? Squish squish!
"...Oh?"
Dozens of wooden vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around Bital's body.
This was Flora's magic. It wasn't Prism Neff or even a Dress Code swap—Flora's spell had activated instantly.
Before Bital could slice through the vines, I dove into his embrace.
Encasing my right hand was Terra's rock fist.
Bam!
"Guh!"
I slammed my fist into his solar plexus, and for the first time, Bital was pushed back. The problem was, none of this had been under my control. It felt like someone was shoving me from behind.
This is weird. My body doesn't feel like my body anymore.
My body felt light. Lighter than usual, even though it was already pretty light.
I kicked off the ground like tapping a drumbeat.
"Magical Girl Kick." Wham!
I rocketed upward and nailed Bital right in the jaw.
Boom!
The moment my foot connected, an explosion rang out, snapping his head back.
"Grah!"
A kick that hadn't even scratched him before now jerked his head around. Sure enough, Bella's mana had gathered at my toe, and that blast was Ignis's doing. Prism Neff could use multiple attributes at once, but it always involved gathering and manifesting mana.
Above all, Prism Neff's output was lower than wearing the actual costume.
But right now, I was way stronger and faster than even Prism Neff.
It was similar to Prism Neff, but enhanced. In this fitting room, it seemed like I could just imagine a costume swap and freely wield the corresponding mana. "Fun."
Bital realigned his jaw and counterattacked.
A massive gust of wind pressure! I flung open my wardrobe, and the costumes I wanted flew out on their own.
I grabbed Dr.ruk in one hand and started instant alterations.
Using Ignis's cyberpunk costume as the base, I layered on Aqua’s over it.
A bat appeared in my hand—Ignis's weapon.
I condensed water with Aqua's mana into high density, then smacked it like a baseball.
Crack!
A crisp hitting sound echoed as the water ball broke the sound barrier and slammed into Bital's scales.
Pop pop boom!
Another explosion erupted.
In this space, I can do instant costume tailoring.
And it wasn't just tailoring. I could even summon dedicated magical girl weapons, like now. Whatever my imagination touched.
This was the second effect: Layered Look. I switched my upper body to Sword's miko outfit. Dr.ruk began moving on its own at my command.
"Unpredictable. But still shallow. Doesn't even sting."
"Then how about trying this on?"
Dr.ruk spat out thread, and hundreds of strands bound Bital's joints.
"You thought this would work on me?"
"Maybe?"
I changed the outfit's color to Pluto's black.
The threads gained viscosity and started melting into Bital's body.
For the first time, Bital's eyes narrowed. Proof that the attack was landing.
But he whipped his tail in retaliation right away.
The moment I thought dodge, a new costume layered over mine: Terra's.
Bam!
His tail smashed into me full force, but Terra's defense absorbed the impact—no internal damage.
"You planning to keep that up? All those different manas tangling could make you self-destruct."
"It's the latest trend."
I wiped the blood from my mouth and grinned.
"If you don't like it, I'll go thicker."
I glanced back at the mirror.
Bella's costume as base, Aurora's layered on, and finally Sword's mixed in.
The strongest triple-layered look from the powers of the mightiest magical girls I knew.
I kicked off the ground in that state.
"Magical Girl Punch."
Kaboom!
My fist crashed into Bital's chest.
"Guh!"
The scales covering his chest blackened and cracked faintly.
"...Not bad."
Bital brushed off the soot with his hand.
"Definitely intriguing. Ignoring mana constraints to mix attributes. Impressive."
"Thanks."
"But it's still magic. My skin rejects magic. That level of power can't even touch it."
"...Hmm."
"All that ingenuity for just playing dress-up? Too frivolous for a Mental Theme, don't you think?"
He had a point. No matter how many layers, my base specs were still B-rank.
Against an A-rank dragon with max magic resistance, the damage output was lacking. But where were we? The fitting room. And dress-up wasn't just for me.
I reached out and gripped the air. In my mind, I clearly seized Bital by the collar.
The essence of a Mental Theme was power to manipulate reality. From the moment we entered this space, he was just my mannequin, no matter who he was.
And designers have the right to critique and adjust a model's outfit.
"Coordinate."
Dragon scales? Scales that repel all magic? Nice outfit, for sure. High-end stuff.
But perfection is boring. "How about adding a pop of color here?"
Sizzle.
My mana burrowed into Bital's nape.
"What is this...!"
Bital panicked for the first time and staggered back.
Around the vital spot on his nape, I forcibly ripped off the scales and engraved a red pattern in their place.
The dragon's sole weakness: the reverse scale.
"Guh, hack...?"
Bital clutched his neck, red light leaking between his fingers.
I held up the mirror toward him.
"What do you think? Not bad, right?"
"...!"
His eyes changed. The leisure and arrogance vanished, replaced by killing intent.
"Insolent."
As his pupils slit vertically, mana erupted from his entire body, crushing the Mental Theme world.
No matter that it was built by my will, it was still made of mana.
He planned to overwhelm me with sheer mana volume.
Smashing a Mental Theme by brute-forcing mana without strategy? Dirty.
"My mercy ends here."
Bital soared into the sky, gathering massive mana in his mouth again. Another breath? Yep, another one.
The problem was it hurt like hell, and the bigger issue was that his mouth wasn't aimed at me.
The waterpark. Still in chaos from Mantis, full of people who hadn't evacuated.
If that hit there, we'd be counting casualties for days.
Above all...
That breath's output is stronger than the last one!
"Signature Move." Bital's voice rumbled through the sky.
"Azure Light Blast."
The blue mana in his mouth shot straight toward the waterpark.
Whoosh boom!
What now? Block it, duh.
I kicked off the ground and intercepted the breath's path.
Kaboom!
The collision shattered the mana forming the fitting room. This is insane.
Maintaining the fitting room was already draining mana like a receding tide, and tanking his attacks meant swapping costumes every second.
I turned my gaze to Bital. The weakness on his nape. Piercing that would win it, probably. But Bital was cunning. He kept me pinned with overwhelming firepower, never letting his nape enter my range.
So it was me taking breaths, him firing them. First to run out of mana loses.
Meaning I'd lose.
"What's wrong? Where'd that cocky attitude go?"
Seeing my grimace, Bital sneered like he'd seized victory.
"Think a little scribble would let you take me down? Naive."
Yeah, what's the point of a weakness if I can't hit it?
No.
I spat the blood pooling in my mouth onto the ground.
I can hit it.
There was one way: Break through this breath, charge with gritted teeth, and go all-in.
Fail, and I might die...
But I don't wanna die.
But.
I hate running away even more.
The moment I resolved and moved to act—
Rumble rumble boom!
The ground flipped, and a massive stone pillar burst from beneath Bital's feet.
"...?!"
Bital's eyes flicked downward.
"Don't ignore me!"
Terra erupted from underground and uppercut her fist toward his jaw.
Crack!
Bital's head snapped back, and the building breath exploded inside his mouth.
"Grk, ugh...?!"
The internal blast staggered him.
In that split-second the breath stopped, his reverse scale was exposed.
Now!
I kicked off without hesitation, using Ignis's explosion for propulsion to close in on his face.
"Dr.ruk!"
I jammed the summoned Dr.ruk into his nape.
Signature Move.
"Overlock!!"
Dr.ruk! Dr.ruruuk!
Dr.ruk roared and grew massive, its mouth gaping wide.
It swallowed Bital's nape whole. He thrashed to grab me, but my foot hit the pedal a beat faster.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The sewing needle stabbed his reverse scale at invisible speeds.
Then—
Shatter!
Like breaking glass, the reverse scale crumbled, and Dr.ruk's needle plunged deep into the fissure.
"GRAAAAAAAH!!"
With Bital's agonized death cry—
Whoosh!
The fitting room lost cohesion and collapsed.
The mana blanketing the space vanished, revealing the forest as sunset slowly faded.
Purple blood fountained from Bital's tattered nape.
"Haa... haa..."
I straddled his still-breathing body, panting raggedly.
Mana was already bottomed out from the fight, my whole body screaming, but I had to finish him clean. Monsters could bolt if you slipped.
The moment I gripped Dr.ruk tight again—
"...Well done."
Bital murmured from the ground.
"To think... a mere three-month newbie could push me this far."
"...All thanks to Terra unnie."
Bital just smiled weakly. Even dying, his eyes held an odd peace.
Terra had come up beside us. Gazing at her, Bital spoke meaningfully.
"Long ago... I faced her myself."
"...Her?"
"The origin magical girl, Prima. She had a clear constraint: causality. But you... you're different."
His eyes pierced me.
"Of course. I'm not Prima."
I answered flatly.
"I'm the magical girl Neff."
"Neff..."
He mulled my name, then asked something chillingly.
"Do you know?"
"Know what?"
"What it means that you can use other magical girls' mana at will."
What it means? That I'm a genius, duh?
"It means with just you, no other magical girls are needed."
Terra's eyes wavered.
Psh. No way she's scared of getting fired, right?
"What are you talking about?"
I scoffed.
"That doesn't make sense. I've only got one body. I can't patrol the whole country 24/7 solo."
"..."
"If Terra unnie hadn't helped, I'd be dead right now."
"For now, yes. But if you grow and contain every magical girl's mana in one body..."
His voice dropped low.
"What would you become then? Humanity's savior? Or..."
Hmm. Just the strongest magical girl ever? Maybe solo an S-rank.
Oh.
Right, there were S-rank monsters.
Wow. I'd poured my soul into this A-rank, and there's higher? Soloing that? My chest swells just thinking about it.
"One last question. What's your goal?"
"My goal?"
"Yes. With that power, what do you intend to do?"
No hesitation. My answer was set from the start.
"Become the greatest magical girl and protect every citizen."
"..."
"World peace. That's my goal."
Bital stared blankly at my reply.
"...Swallow everything to protect everything. Contradictory... yet very magical girl of you."
Then Bital suddenly raised his hand and gripped my wrist.
Gasp. Self-destructing now?! As I yanked back in panic, he said—
"Then let's test the final hypothesis."
Mana bloomed from near his heart and forcibly flowed into me.
Wait, hold on?!
I tried to resist, but it sucked right into my body before I could.
"If the magical girls... have some plan around you, as a monster, it's my duty to ruin it. Gotta plant at least one variable for fun, right?"
"Wh-what are you doing!"
"I don't know what kind of vessel you are, but vessels can hold this too."
"Vessel...?"
This alien mana churning inside me.
Fundamentally different from any magical girl's mana I'd touched. Untamed, savage, rampaging wildly.
I felt a new hanger appear in one corner of the fitting room.
"...What the heck."
A magical girl absorbing a monster's mana? Never heard of that.
"Call it a gift from the gardener. Apology for wrecking the forest."
With that, Bital's form crumbled and scattered in the wind.
A-rank monster, Bital Cruise. The moment his breath fully stopped, a subjugation complete alert popped up on the Magical Castle app.
A-Rank Monster: Bital Cruise - Defeated
It was the first time something other than a magical girl's costume hung in my wardrobe: a monster's hide.
In the spot Bital vanished from, I blankly touched my chest.
I should feel grossed out, but this strangely reassuring heft...
Bosses always drop a unique item in games anyway.
That's how I'd rationalize it. Magical girl using monster mana? Whatever. If it performs, who cares.
Anyway, I survived, Terra survived, waterpark folks survived.
Bonus: Nabbed an A-rank for mad IP gains. Good results make everything good. Happy ending.
"Phew."
Tension released, fatigue crashed in hard.
I wanted to flop down and sleep right there, but no can do. Someone was waiting.
"Let's go, unnie."
No reply, so I turned. Terra was staring at me.
Her gaze lingered on my chest—probably fretting over the mana I'd just absorbed.
Her face full of confusion. But hey, I'm just as clueless.
"Unnie?"
"...Huh? Oh."
Terra blinked back to reality and followed behind.
We exited the wrecked forest, and far off, the waterpark lights twinkled.
Hasol-a's probably waiting on pins and needles. Whatever, gotta soothe her with some sugar first.
Gotta get churros on the way back.
Chocolate flavor.
