[Tokusatsu Themes, Brainwashing, Corruption, Seduction]
“Where is she?!”
An anguished voice echoed through the deep darkness. A voice that belonged to a young girl with a lion emblazoned on her shoulder, her eyes twitching the longer she spent inside this choking darkness.
“Young Leo, what is ailing your soul?”
The lion-marked girl yelped as she turned around, only to stare straight first into the chest of a woman with long billowing locks of watery hair, her entire outfit formed from the falling rivers that seemed to branch off from her hair. A woman who commanded an air of holy radiance, just through a single glance.
“A-Aquarius.” Leo, the youngest Cosmos Queen, muttered as her hair cast her eyes in shadow. “Lady Andromeda. Our leader. The one who gave us this chance… Where is she? Where has she gone..?!”
Aquarius closed her eyes, a somber tone leaving her lips. “She has decided to test our faith. Not uncommon, yet no less frustrating.” She said, as the faint lights that decorated their ‘home’ lit up. And yet five of them remained dim, each belonging to a Cosmos Queen that had left them as well as the empress herself.
“But why..? Are we not…” Leo choked back her frustrated tears as she balled her fists up. “Are we not good enough for her?! Why does she have to do this!?” She shouted, trembling as she barely held her rage back.
Aquarius shook her head. “Even during the days when she was just spreading her influence and allowed me under her wing… She did things like this. This is but a test to ensure we stay loyal, while she plans her next grand plan. You have to endure, Leo. That’s all I can say.”
The two allies grew quiet as one of the lights, the light of Sagittarius, quietly dimmed. Yet another one of their allies had taken off towards the world they were supposed to tame. The others were still inside this expansive realm, no doubt plotting their own plans.
“...Aquarius. If she ends up falling as well… I’m going down there. I have to avenge them… I have to stop them from falling..!” Leo grit her teeth, the fury burning in her eyes.
Aquarius solemnly nodded, as her own light started to fade. “Legendary Leo. As the Empress’ closest aide, I give you but one order.” Her visage vanished just as the last few words left her lips, letting her ally dwell on them while stewing in her emotions.
“Do what your heart thinks is right.”
---
“Mikai Fushimi?”
Mikai blinked as somebody called out to her. And she didn’t recognize the voice either, prompting her to quickly turn around to try and figure out who was talking to her.
Standing at the gate leading into Mimoto Highschool was a girl not much older than her. Her hair was short and jade green, the same color as her eyes. The uniform she wore, decorated with gold trimmings with what seemed to be stars woven into them, was different from the kind that the other students wore. It made it easy to tell that she was from some other school, but Mikai’s eyes gravitated towards the girl’s expression. A happy one, as if she had found exactly what she was looking for.
“That’s me! Who are you?” Mikai, the happy girl that she was, quickly replied with a spring in her step as she got closer to the jade-haired newcomer. “And how do you know my name?”
Her mysterious new friend just smiled a little more. “I asked the students about a girl with a bright smile and a helping heart. And they pointed me in your direction.” She explained very plainly, before carefully brushing the girl’s cheek. “I can’t say they were wrong, I can feel the way your heart shines brightly…”
Mikai nervously giggled as she blushed. She was used to meeting strange kinds of people, whether her fellow students or the other people in the city who got turned into Jõtaijin thanks to the troubles that overwhelmed them, but this was a bit abrupt. “W-Well, I’m glad! But, uh, you didn’t give me your name.”
“I did not?” The girl said, tilting her head slightly. “Yes, I suppose I didn’t. I apologize, I was captivated by your adorable smile.” She said, not a lick of dishonesty in her voice, before she carefully bowed with one arm folded over her chest. “My name is Medae Nembus. I’ve recently arrived in the city, and I’ve noticed that there’s been quite a few incidents. So I wanted to see if there were somebody that could keep me safe while I get accustomed to living here.”
The sandy-blonde young girl nodded along to her new friend’s explanation. “Yeah, I think I can do that! Buuuuuut…” Mikai’s smile widened into a bit of a cheeky grin. “You mind doing me a favor in return, Medae?”
“But of course. It’s only fair to repay kindness with kindness. What do you seek to see fulfilled?” Medae said, her voice and mannerisms remarkably formal, despite her age.
“I wanna know about where you came from. It’s gotta be someplace neat!” Mikai giggled as she threw her hands behind her head. “My Dad always sent pictures from where he went, so I kinda wanna see what other places in the world are like. So me, Mom and Dad can go on a big trip when he finally gets back!”
Medae blinked a few times as she listened to that remarkably benign desire, before nodding and giggling herself. “I suppose I can share some tales about my home, once you’ve shown me around the city. Shall we-”
Before she had the chance to finish, Mikai’s chest started vibrating. Just a mild amount for a few seconds, before the vibrations turned violent. That could only mean one thing.
“Sorry, gotta take this!” The sandy-blonde girl chimed as she stuffed her hand down her shirt collar, yanking a compact mobile phone out of it. “Sorry, Hiro! Do we have another Jõtajin on our hands, or-”
“Shut up and find a safe place to change. We have something to do.”
And with that, the call ended as abruptly as it begun. Leaving Mikai mildly speechless, and her new friend rather confused as she tilted her head to the side. “Who, pray tell, were you conversing with?”
“Just a good friend of mine!” Mikai chimed as a bit of sweat ran down the side of her head. “Sorry, Medae! I gotta help her with something, but I promise I’ll help you later. Just call me when you’ve got time!”
With that, she disappeared into the distance. Despite her short frame, she was surprisingly light on her feet. Rather quick too, since it only took a few seconds before the jade-haired girl couldn’t see her any longer.
Medae merely sighed, rubbing her own cheek with her hand. “Such an adorable little thing…”
---
“Hiroooo! It’s not nice to call somebody and then tell them to shut up!”
It had been barely half an hour since the two had last spoken, but Mikai wasn’t dumb enough to the point of forgetting what had just transpired. Especially considering the partnership that had been forged between the two.
Hiro, the black-and-white-haired heroine that fought alongside the much shorter girl in the fight to save the city from itself, nodded as she rubbed her temple a little. “I know. But this is a bit of an emergency.” She started, before clearing her throat and flicking through a couple of articles on her phone. “You’re aware of the Capricorn Casino that popped up a little while ago, yes?”
“The one I technically own?” Mikai said, prompting a slow and deliberate nod from her older partner. She didn’t pick up on the fact that her ownership was a bad thing. “What about it? Did Capricorn do something bad when I wasn’t looking?”
“Not beyond what we agreed was sensible.” Hiro explained, as she pulled out a transcript from her other pocket while still flicking through articles using her main hand. “I had a long high-stakes game with her after you gained ownership of the joint. Thanks to that, I managed to haggle her down and avoid any potential risks that come with her magic. And I made sure that a certain somebody can’t end up stumbling in there and get transformed again.” She muttered, a mild blush covering her cheeks. Why’d that boy have to be one of the prior victims anyway?
Mikai blinked a couple of times as she tried to understand what was being talked about, before she eventually just tilted her head. “Soooo… She’s not doing anything bad? Then what’s happening at the Casino?”
“This.” Hiro said as she finished flicking, showing her phone to her partner. And a single video played on the screen.
The video was muted, which was more than annoying because the video displayed a woman clad in a dress that was more than a little extravagant. It showed off plenty of her matured body, while an arrow seemed to have been cut out in the middle of the dress allowing for her stomach and some of her cleavage to be displayed even better.
Sure, she was sexy, but that wasn’t why Hiro showed her that video. She wasn’t Tsubasa trying to explain why he wrote what he did. No, there was a very important element in the video…
Namely the way that her audience slowly but surely started to grow just as sultry as the woman singing on stage. Their hair grew until it obscured their eyes and left their deep black plump lips as the only identifiable part of their face. Combine that with dresses that were just as revealing as the songstress’, and the way that they joined her on stage and added to her beat with their constant humming… They were being turned into minions. Just like…
The gears inside Mikai’s head turned and turned until the information all clicked into place. “She’s a Cosmos Queen! And she’s kind of like Virgo, except with less of that icky latex that keeps people controlled!”
“Exactly. It’s bad enough that the Casino’s run by one of those, even if she is more amiable than her two cohorts, but to have another one in the very same building…” Hiro muttered as she pocketed the phone, adjusting the gauntlet on her arm ever slightly. “With her there, it’s only a matter of time before Capricorn ends up swapping sides. And should Golden Freedom choose to strike when that happens… We’ll be stretched thin.”
Mikai nodded. These Cosmos girls were one thing, but if they had to deal with a Jõtaijin at the same time? No thanks, that just sounds like an explosive problem waiting to blow up! “Right, so we go check out her show, we figure out if there’s a way that we can stop her, and then we make sure she doesn’t hurt anybody. Right?”
“I’d prefer if we just incapacitated her.” Hiro replied very dryly, her eyes growing dim for a second. “They’re from some other world. They’re more dangerous than you probably think.” She muttered, as if she was intimately familiar with what they could do.
“But they’re still people!” Mikai argued, as a bit of annoyed smoke started to rise from the black-and-white-haired woman’s head. “I could convince the others to stand down. Saggi won’t be different!”
“Sagittarius, Mikai.” Hiro corrected her, as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine. As long as you make sure you don’t get converted. The energy that the Cosmos Queens use is different from the kind that Jõtaijin use. Different from the kind that we exert when we’re transformed. Stay on your toes, and I’ll let you handle what we do with her.”
Mikai’s brief pout turned into a smile and then a grin as she hugged her bigger ally. “Thanks, Hiro! You watch out too, okay?” The little girl, despite the many times that she had gotten to blows with her taller partner, just wanted her to be safe and sound more than anything.
Hiro smiled back at her as she patted the girl on the head. “As long as you stay safe.” It was their mutual trust that had let them overcome their differences. And it was that very same trust that would carry them through this next encounter. No matter what happened.
She just hoped she wouldn’t get turned into something humiliating, should she end up on the receiving end of something awful.
---
Hiro was instantly recognized by the former owner of the Casino, but the time for pleasantries had passed. The two heroines needed to deal with the Cosmos Queen hiding out in the depth of the Casino, preferrably before she claimed any more victims.
Including her former ally as well, as Croupier Capricorn was barely able to stay conscious, her body covered in smoke as she muttered the singer’s name over and over. It seemed like allies would happily tear themselves apart if it meant that they accomplished their overall goal.
“You know, she looked happy to be like that. You think they were close?” Mikai asked as the two heroines descended down the stairs leading into the Casino’s basement.
“Possibly. But that’s exactly why she fell victim to her charms.” Hiro replied, narrowing her eyes. “She opened her heart to her. And had it exploited as a result. We’re lucky that she didn’t turn into one of those seductive minions, because then our descent would just be a pain.”
Mikai nodded along, as she ran a hand along the side of her belt. The Jõtai that she had once been gifted, the one that blessed her powers after synchronizing with the ancient predator inside her mind. It seemed like it was time to utilize those powers again, and probably beat somebody kind to their senses.
The second Hiro opened the door leading into the basement itself, a waft of erotic smoke poured over her. Mikai was thankfully a bit too short for it to make direct contact, so she just got a front row seat to the older woman trembling as she held back the effects of the smoke.
“Great. She’s got another few tricks up her sleeve. Mikai, stay alert.” Hiro muttered, clenching her fist as she stepped inside. “Jouchaku..!”
Mikai nodded as the white-suited heroine’s armor appeared and snapped onto her form, prompting her to thrust her hand forward like she normally posed. “Henshin!”
The flames of her passionate heart burst forth and wrapped around her, crystalizing and solidifying into the form of her usual armor. The Jõtaiders, PAWN and Mimoto, had arrived.
Mimoto looked around as her suit served as great protection against the smoke. Even if she breathed some in, the natural heat inside her body would incinerate any little bad part of it to make sure she didn’t get affected. “You see her, Hiro?”
PAWN remained quiet. Primarily so she didn’t have to breathe in any of the smoke. Unlike her fully suited partner, the part of her armor that covered her head was little more than a visor. She was left more vulnerable compared to her shorter companion, in exchange for greater strength. All she could rely on was Huanglong, her on-board AI, doing the work for her.
The basement itself seemed like it had been recently renovated. There were marks of heavy machines being dragged around on the ground, and several carpets that were blissfully soft rolled over the marks in an attempt to hide them. It wasn’t quite perfect in terms of hiding the problematic areas, but it only served to emphasize that the two had arrived earlier than expected.
Combine that with several couches that seemed to be missing, as well as a stage that stood in the middle of the massive basement lacking any more than a single pole, and they might just be in time to save more citizens than expected. Then again, these Cosmos Queens couldn’t inflict a lasting need to be transformed, unlike the Jõtaijin inflicting the infamous Pawn Syndrome, so therapy wouldn’t be nearly as complicated for those that needed it.
“While I’ve been unable to detect the Cosmos Queen’s signature.” Huanglong’s gentle voice echoed through his partner’s ears, his small visage appearing on the stage as he let his short legs hang off the edge. “I’ve detected heat against that pole. Somebody has been here within the last hour. Not to mention there’s certain wet spots all across this-”
His commentary was shut off as PAWN turned him off. She didn’t need to hear more. Especially not what that seductress got up to when she was all alone. “She’s still here.” Hiro muttered, as she turned to her ally and slowly reached towards her gauntlet, the panel flipping open to reveal the dial of the Saint System.
Mimoto took a few seconds to understand what her ally meant, before nodding as her arm started to catch on fire. “Ready when you are!”
“SAINT ON - SUZAKU!” The Saint System shouted as PAWN’s hand glowed red hot. And in that split second, tiny vents opened on her armor as she shouted out.
“DESPERADO!” “KING’S ERUPTION!”
The two heroines unleashed the fiery powers of their armors, incinerating every little bit of smoke lingering in the air. And yet their flames were so controlled that they burned nothing else, leaving the room more illuminated, and at the same time safe to traverse.
PAWN twitched a little as the red glow from the Saint System died down. She had let the brunt of Desperado transfer onto the system to lessen the impact on her overall performance, she just hoped this would last.
“My my. You ruined the atmosphere of my little stage. And you two call yourself heroines?”
Mimoto’s eyes widened underneath her armor as she looked towards the stage, and all the embers left in the air slowly but surely collected themselves into a feminine form, wrapping around the pole on stage.
The ashes carried by the embers solidified into the shape of the same woman from that video, complete with a set of fiery wings. Not unlike a phoenix. She had turned herself into that horny smoke..?
“I bid you welcome, heroes of this world.” The seductress chimed as she carefully caressed her cheek. “I am Seductress Sagittarius. And you two… You did something to my dearest Capricorn. For that, I will not forgive you.”
Hiro twitched a little as warning signs started to appear on her visor. What now?!
Mimoto jumped onto the stage, letting her helmet retract. Since there was no smoke in the air, even if that’s what the Seductress was, she wasn’t in danger of being affected by whatever it did. “Listen! I just did what she told me to, and she’s the one who gave herself to me! You can’t just try to hurt people because of what somebody else wants to do!”
Sagittarius shook her head as she carefully lifted her fingers, only to blow a heart mode of smoke through the gap between her pointer and middle fingers. Aimed not at the helmetless Mimoto…
But at her ally. Who was powerless to stop it, because of her suit locking up at the exact worst time.
Hiro let out a pained moan as the smoke made contact with her, and whatever power the smoke had slowly started to overwhelm her. Her armor dissolved into the same sort of smoke that Sagittarius was made of, before it clung to her and pressed her form inward.
Another moan left her lips, a melodic moan, as the armor had turned into little more than a seductive dress. Not unlike the one that Seductress herself wore. It even emphasized the woman’s torso, which was a little more chiseled and well-trained than any of the other women that had fallen prey to the ashen-winged Seductress.
“Hiro!” Mikai cried out, before closing her eyes and turning towards the threat at hand. Dealing with her should solve this!
Seductress Sagittarius smiled from ear to ear as her wings spread out as far as they could, before she let her voice echo out. A melody was pouring out of her body, the seductive melody that had turned everyone else into those alluring seductresses…
As she sung, the transformed Hiro listened and obeyed the subtle commands. Each step letting her new heels clack against the ground. “Let us sing…” She muttered, her eyes spiralling as if there was more smoke stuck inside them, as she joined in on the song. Her voice was not as trained, but it harmonized and amplified it. She wouldn’t be able to escape by backing away from the singer, as it would just land her in her corrupted ally’s arms...
Mikai trembled a little as she felt the song washing over her. She could feel it creeping deep into her body. Creeping through her soul, ensnaring her and making her wish to listen to it until the very end. But she had to stop this before it got any worse.
‘Chimeraaaa! Need a haaaand!’ The young girl shouted into the depths of her mind, her body struggling as the armor nearly dissolved right then and there from the wonderful song.
Until it solidified and her eyes turned wild for a split second. “You owe me for this, Mikai!” The ancient predator, Chimera, shouted with the young girl’s voice as she set herself ablaze, ignoring the smoking song as she dashed straight ahead.
With that switch, she gave the girl the moment to breathe that she needed. Even if the predator was busy coughing up a storm inside her mind after that little stunt. And with her momentum..!
Seductress Sagittarius let her hymn bellow out further. Little by little, the smoke formed from her song coalesced into the form of arrows, as each and every single one aimed straight towards the heroine, ready to be let loose.
But it was too late. That one second Mikai got to breathe was what she needed, as her flames covered her completely and intensified until they were bright blue.
“KING’S THRUST!”
Like an arrow let loose as it flew through the air, the fire surrounding the heroine let her pierce straight through the offensive defense that the Seductress put up. Incinerating her smoke, and leaving her vulnerable to an attack.
An attack that she took without hesitation… Or she would’ve, if the attack landed as intended. But instead, the only thing the seductress felt was a head pressed up against her cleavage window, and a cold steel bar brushing against her back.
“What are you..?” Seductress Sagittarius muttered as she looked down at the girl wrapping her arms around her. She was dead to rights, and yet she didn’t pull the trigger? She just… she just hugged her..?
Mikai smiled a little as her armor burned itself away, leaving her lacking any offense. “I didn’t want to make Capricorn sad because I hurt her friend.” She said, before twitching a little. “But you can’t just hurt people either, Saggi! I don’t care if you’re from another world, they’re people just like you!”
The Seductress looked down at the young girl, And for the first time since she had become a Cosmos Queen, for the first time since she partnered up with Capricorn and staked her heart in the bet of her life… She felt as if she had been swept off her feet. Instead of the other way around.
A soft laugh left her lips. The laugh grew louder, as her hands met her face and she slowly but surely slid down the pole…
“W-What? What’s so funny?” Mikai said, falling down with her enemy as she let her head land straight down on the bigger woman’s lap as a result. She didn’t even blink, the soft thighs cushioning her fall.
Sagittarius reached down, and carefully petted the girl. “No wonder our Empress took an interest in you, little girl…” She mused, her heart pounding against her chest. “A caring soul, as pure as this, still trying to turn ones like us towards the light…”
“Who is she, anyway?” Mikai asked, as she flipped onto her back and looked up at the woman who accepted her defeat. “You all care so much about her, even though it sounds like she enslaved you and made you all bad…”
“You’ll find out. We all found out, and we all ended up hers. You might not even be an exception…” Sagittarius muttered, before closing her eyes a little. “For now, I think I need to rest my voice. Then, after I have a long talk with my dear Capricorn.. Would you mind joining us for a spell, little girl?”
Mikai nodded, before her mind caught up with what was happening. “What about Hiro? Could you fix her?” The poor woman was still singing. Ineffectually so, considering the main source of the song had come to an end.
“Haha… Let her serve as the backing track for our afterglow. She’s rather good at singing, more than she’d like to admit.” Sagittarius explained, carefully playing with a bit of her new lover’s hair. Such a rough, yet sweet color… Just like the color of her loving soul.
The younger heroine nodded, as she quietly laid there on that lap. Wondering which Cosmos Queen would come to her next. And who exactly that Empress could be, and how she had managed to make them all love her.
And if Hiro could sing for her again some other time. The Cosmos Queen was right, it was actually really nice.