[Tonberry TF, Haughtification, Brattification]

If there was one type of monster that served as the ultimate bane of adventurers, it was the Tonberry. At first glance, nobody would blame you if you thought it was harmless, despite the knife in its hand. It seemed very unassuming with its cute brown robe and its short stature, but looks can be extremely deceiving.

Tonberries, by nature, are attracted to malice. The more you fight, the stronger they become. Because the wishes and regrets of all monsters are gathered inside them, letting them take out the collective anger on you and you alone. That was the cause for their reputation. And why many wanted to take them out preemptively, not realizing that those actions were the same reason why they became so powerful.

And every time one was struck down, another would be born. One way or another.

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“See? Told you they weren’t a problem.”

A boisterous voice resounded through the deep caverns, as the owner looked towards their companions. The owner in question was a blonde woman with thick plated armor, giving her more protection than one would ever need. Combine that with the enormous axe hoisted over her shoulder, the kind that only Warriors like her could handle, and her casual reaction to the challenge in front of them suddenly became rather warranted..

“You say that, but you were on the verge of getting hit by their Karma.” The black-haired Black Mage standing not far behind the leader of the little party adjusted her hat, narrowing her eyes a little as she looked back towards the final member of their party. “Then again, a certain somebody decided that she didn’t want to heal you. Be glad I had an Elixir on hand.”

The last member of their party, a meek looking pink-haired White Mage, just quietly looked at the floor as she clutched her staff. She knew that the Black Mage was right, but that didn’t mean she had to be so blunt about it. “T-They’re… They’re fueled by m-malice, so it… It’s not good that we fight them like this…” She muttered, attempting to put up a rather weak defense for her actions.

“Yeah, and?” The Warrior said as she looked back at the shy healer. “So what if they’re fueled by that stuff? They’re the ones coming over to try and stab us in the shins. So we deal with them, rid the world of another monster, and get rich doing it. That ain’t a bad deal at all, you know.”

The Black Mage nodded as she adjusted her hat, quietly looking down at the charred remains of the last Tonberry they fought. Not even its knife remained. “Malice begets Malice. But stamping it out prevents it from being a cycle.” She muttered, as a few flames started to ignite at her fingertips. “As long as they live, we’ll continue hunting them down when they become a problem. Nothing more than that.”

“Don’t you see..? That’s… That’s how they end up coming back. That ruthless approach…” The White Mage muttered, a little tear running down her cheek. She didn’t like it, even if she knew it was effective. Because it made the two magnets for those little things. And if she had to keep healing them from wounds they could’ve avoided…

The trio didn’t get much longer to dwell on the matter before they heard the ground underneath them rumble, and a faint light slowly moved towards them from the distance. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was approaching, nor that they probably didn’t have time to escape.

“Eyes up front, White!” The Warrior shouted as she swung her axe, grinning at the sight of a new challenge. “This one seems a bit angrier than the rest!” She laughed as the golden gleam of the creature’s headwear shone in her direction, illuminated by the faint flame.

The Black Mage sighed as the flames on her fingers started to intensify. “A Tonberry King. No wonder so many of those vermin were roaming these caves.” She muttered, the flame growing stronger yet remaining perfectly safe within the palm of her hand.

As the Tonberry King approached, and it's regal attire compared to its contemporaries started to become visible, a powerful sense of fear started to fill the White Mage. If the normal Tonberries could carry that much malice for her and her friends… Then how much would a King be carrying..?

It was a question that she didn’t get to dwell on for long. If there was one thing that her allies were good at, it was killing. And even a King carrying enough malice to devastate an entire kingdom wouldn’t be enough to stop them.

“Flare.”

Especially since the Black Mage had taken the time to learn all the spells available to her. The flame inside her hand grew bigger and bigger, before she shot it off towards the kingly creature. Almost immediately it was engulfed in a river of flames, yet it didn’t seem to budge. It walked through them, enduring the damage as it set it on fire…

It had its eyes firmly focused on the Black Mage, its eyes filled with the malice that she had struck down time and time again. But it was this laser-like focus that left it incredibly vulnerable.

Just as it was about to cast the signature Karma, the malice manifesting at the tip of its knife, the Warrior’s axe came crashing down on the knife. And just as she managed to make the King flinch, she spun the axe around and delivered an equally powerful swing that outright bifurcated it.

“Hah! Even a King’s no match for my axe!” The Warrior laughed as the monster started to dissolve, just like its cohorts. It didn’t help that it had been struck by such a powerful spell prior, which was no doubt eating away at it from the inside as it burned away on the outside.

The White Mage whimpered as she watched those two powerhouses destroy the King, closing her eyes and making a silent prayer. Those two were going to be the death of themselves, if they kept angering monsters that would strike back harder and harder with every individual they killed…

‘Our malice…’

A shiver ran down her spine as she heard a voice inside her head. Had her prayers been answered, just by a malicious entity? Was she going delusional thanks to what she had seen? She couldn’t know…

It was only once she opened her eyes that she noticed something off. As both the Black Mage and the Warrior chatted about the ease of defeating their last opponent, neither of them noticed that their companion seemed a little off.

And the answer to that feeling? Why, it was on her head. The golden glow from before had now transferred to her… Because she was wearing the Tonberry King’s crown.

“W-Why is… Why did…” The White Mage muttered as she tried to reach up towards it, wanting to get rid of it as quickly as possible.

But the second her fingers made contact, a shock rushed through her body, and she let out a powerful cry. Her cheeks flushed red as a thousand voices started to overwhelm her mind, as she quickly fell onto the ground from the strain.

“Hm? White?” The Warrior said as she heard her companion collapse, scratching the back of her head. “What’s the matter? Running low on energy? Sheesh, we didn’t bring any food, you could at least tell us before you have an episode.”

The Black Mage narrowed her eyes as she lightly elbowed the armored girl in the side, the strike delivering the impact through the thick steel and causing the latter to stagger as a result. “Use your eyes. This isn’t normal. Far from it.” She muttered, frost gathering in her palm as she steeled herself.

Slowly but surely, the White Mage started to stand back up, the golden glow from the King’s crown consuming her outfit. All while she kept mumbling and muttering like she had been put under a spell. “Our malice… our malice… our malice…”

“It’s uncommon, but I’ve heard stories about this.” The Black Mage explained, shaking her head. “The Tonberry Kings are practically immortal. How? Easy. They take control of the creature with the most vulnerable heart in the nearest vicinity, and from there slowly return to normal. It seems like White’s worrying has earned her a one-way ticket to becoming our enemy.”

The Warrior didn’t looked too pleased with that explanation, but she still readied herself, bringing her axe up as she waited for the White Mage to attack…

“Aaaaah! Why do you two have to be so stupid!”

Neither of the two girls were prepared for what left the former healer’s mouth, especially not with such bratty inflection in her voice. They were prepared for her to be mostly incomprehensible, and maybe as dull as the King that seemed to reincarnate through her.

So of course they weren’t prepared for the White Mage to stomp the ground repeatedly, shouting out her frustrations.

“You keep fighting bigger and badder people and you never think about what that might do, and you just keep burning them too! You’re both the worst! The worstest of the worst!” The White Mage shouted as the glow from her crown grew brighter and brighter…

Until it snapped in two. And instead of being a cute crown, it turned into a pair of cute tonberry-shaped earrings that quickly attached to the White Mage’s ears. The first of many changes that would emphasize her new role.

The other main change happened to be her outfit. Gone was the conservative white and red robe that characterized White Mages. No, it was swapped out for a bright red dress with fur lining every frill, making it look like she took the Tonberry King’s cape and made it a sign of her own regality.

Of course, changing her outfit wasn’t enough. The slight green tint to her skin, the fishy tail that grew from her rear and poked out underneath her short and cute skirt, as well as the yellow glow from her eyes? All of them were evidence of how she had become a Tonberry in human form… Though, considering her bratty nature, she seemed more like a Tonberry Princess rather than a King.

“Hmph! I know what to do with idiots like you who never listen and never think about others!” The Tonberry Princess shouted as she pulled out a jewel-covered knife that didn’t look like it could do much. Really, it didn’t look sharp at all. “I’ll MAKE you listen!”

The Black Mage rolled her eyes as she returned to channeling her spell. She had already cooked one Tonberry royal today, what was another going to do?

“White, are you serious? You’re not just doing a bit, right?” The Warrior, however, really couldn’t believe what she saw. So naturally, with her guard lowered, she approached the knife-wielding Princess.

And naturally, her disbelief earned her a quick stab at the hands of the Princess. One that didn’t leave a wound, but rather poured all of the malice from the Tonberry Princess into the muscled Warrior’s body. Leaving her with little time to react to what happened.

In the blink of an eye, all of that armor was transformed into a simple brown cloak, with the cute girl shrinking until she stood a little shorter than the Princess rather than towering over her. A lantern and a knife appeared in her hands, as she was demoted to a common Tonberry, the yellow gleam in her eyes shining brightly as she forgot everything but serving her Princess.

The Black Mage remained silent for a brief moment as she saw that transformation, before steeling herself as her magic finished charging. “Blizzaga.” She wasn’t about to let the soft-hearted White Mage get one over her, even after she got corrupted into this… strange form!

Frost consumed her fingertips for a moment before it shot off towards the Tonberry Princess. While it wasn’t the strongest spell at her disposal, it would probably serve to freeze the two in place. So she could retreat and document what she just saw.

At least, that’s what she would’ve done. If the Tonberry Princess didn’t casually slash through the ice like it was nothing. “Ohohoho! All that power, and you still won’t listen!” She shouted, pouting as her mood swapped from confident to annoyed. And so she stepped. Slowly, but firmly.

The Black Mage felt the shivers run down her spine. How was she able to… How? It didn’t make sense. The White Mage couldn’t grow this strong in such a short amount of time. The King fell so quickly, so how did she…

Her train of thought slowly started to drift away as the Princess came closer, as her eyes gravitated towards the Princess’ earrings. Those cute Tonberry accessories were glowing. Like the little flame in their lanterns was slowly flickering. It was distracting… And kind of pleasant.

So pleasant in fact that the poor girl couldn’t do anything once the Princess came close enough to poke her with her knife. She could easily turn her into another minion the exact same way she turned the Warrior…

But the Tonberry Princess didn’t do that. No, she went the much more direct and controlling route. By kissing the Black Mage, pouring her Malice into her that way. Quickly transforming her into yet another Tonberry, with that silly hat flying off the black-haired Tonberry’s head as her robes turned a nice and comfortable brown.

The newly remade Tonberry’s mind was completely captivated by the Princess. So much so that she immediately kneeled down, her fishy tail waving back and forth. The Princess was her everything, and she would do anything to make her happy. It was such a powerful feeling that even the Malice was silenced. Only while her Princess was near, of course.

“Ohohoho! That’s a much better look for you two!” The Tonberry Princess giggled as she snapped her fingers and leaned back, only for both of them to catch her and carry her like their lives depended on it. “Now! Let’s show the others their new ruler! So I can get as much worship as I need, to handle all this Malice!”

The haughty Princess didn’t care about her servants, not compared to how much they cared about her. Yet it didn’t matter. Her word was law to the green girls that had once been her allies. If she wanted them to worship her without getting any love in return, that’s what they were going to do.

It didn’t take long before the Tonberry King became little more than a forgotten presence in the world’s eye… And the Tonberry Princess, and her constant need to be spoiled, took center stage as her Malice consumed more and more awful murderers to add to her army of obedient servants.

This was why Tonberries were to be feared. And why the Princess should eternally be worshipped...