Jackie was always a fan of Sailor Moon. Ever since she was a kid, she’d dreamed of twirling in a flash of light, ribbons wrapping around her body, and emerging with the powers of a magical guardian. She used to daydream in class about lifting her hand to the sky and shouting a transformation phrase, summoning a wand or tiara to banish evil. If only, she thought, magic could be real.

So when she stumbled upon a strange, handwritten ritual in an obscure occult forum—one that promised the chance to manifest the powers of a favorite fictional character—Jackie didn’t hesitate. It sounded silly, sure, but part of her still carried that childlike spark. She gathered candles, chalk, and a laptop to play a video clip as the ritual demanded. Tonight would be the night she finally reached beyond reality and touched the magical world she had always loved.

She drew the strange symbol on the floor with white chalk, surrounded by flickering pink candles. With her laptop open, she searched Sailor Moon transformation scene on YouTube. Her heart raced. She imagined her body glowing, her outfit shifting into a sailor uniform, her hair streaming like golden ribbons.

But Jackie never bothered to watch the full video clip. She didn’t notice that it was not Sailor Moon’s transformation at all—it was a battle, one where Sailor Moon fought against the bizarre villain Pooko.

As soon as she pressed play and began the chant, the symbol beneath her feet pulsed with light. The candles flared. Jackie’s breath caught in her throat. A sudden pink beam erupted from the symbol and shot straight into her chest, knocking her back. Her body seized, glowing faintly as the air around her warped and shimmered.

At first, she thought it was working—her skin tingled, her body lightened, and her chest swelled as though filling with magic. But then she realized something was wrong. Instead of a graceful ribbon-wrapped transformation, her body began to puff outward, inflating as though someone had pressed a pump into her lungs.

“W-what the—no, no, no!” Jackie cried, grabbing at her arms, but they were already thickening, roundness spreading across her limbs. Her legs ballooned, her hips vanishing into a wide, rubbery curve. Her fingers puffed up and wobbled as if made of latex, until she could hardly flex them at all. Her whole body quivered with each swelling breath.

Her skin flushed pink, shiny and smooth, almost like polished rubber. A dark purple stripe split her body down the center, running from the top of her head to the tips of her bloated toes. She gasped as her reflection appeared on the black screen of her laptop. No longer Jackie, the hopeful girl dreaming of being Sailor Moon—but a living balloon, a humanoid parody of the villain Pooko.

Her voice squeaked unnaturally high as she tried to speak. Each movement made her body wobble and bounce slightly, the air inside her shifting. She had no idea how to stop it, no clue how to reverse what she had done.

Jackie clutched at her chest, trembling. Her body wasn’t just inflated—it was inflation. She could feel every pocket of air, every stretch of her skin, taut yet somehow alive. Even standing still was strange; she felt lighter than ever, yet her center of gravity was unstable, threatening to tip her over with the slightest push.

“Th-this wasn’t supposed to happen…” she whispered, wobbling as she took a few unsteady steps.

But then a thought struck her, almost absurd enough to laugh about. If she could control this, she’d never have to worry about airplanes again. She could just float.

She smiled nervously, rubbing her swollen, rubbery arm. She wasn’t Sailor Moon. She wasn’t even human anymore in the same way. She was Jackie-with-Pooko’s-powers now… and she had a lot to learn before she could decide if that was a blessing or a curse.