A villainess has a close encounter with Izanami - and while she escapes, she finds herself enamored with the villainess, to the point of going to extremes to be with her...

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There was a lot for a Villainess to like about Matsushita City. It was one of the most magic-dense regions in the world, allowing for free use of your powers without any real limits on mana consumption, as well as making it generally more likely to acquire such powers in the first place. It’s local police force wasn’t really adequately armed to handle minions, meaning that you could just about always get yourself established and make a few minions or rob a few stores or whatever your plan was without opposition significant enough to stop you. With the constant expansion of the city, there were always new places to set up a secret lair. These reasons and more made Matsushita a hotbed of villain activity.

Shiori Tsunoda, AKA The Black Queen, was one of those Villains who acquired their powers due to Matsushita’s immense magical energies, and thus it was the place she first chose to rampage. She had planned her first attacks carefully! She had started with some low ranking minions who would be her Pawns. Once she had a good set of those, she’d worked her way up to Knights when people with a bit more magical energy had come in. She had a pretty good number of minions now!

Her powers were well suited to the theme she’d decided on, she thought. You couldn’t be a proper Villain if you didn’t have a theme. Being able to force others to play by her rules felt quite appropriate to chess, even if the brainwashing part wasn’t entirely. Thus, she’d arranged her look and that of her minions to be appropriate to the theme; her black hair was in the kind of elegant curls you’d expect on a rich girl, she wore an armored dress with a checkerboard pattern on it’s pleats and a dark polish on the metal, and all her jewelry was shaped as chess pieces. Her minions, meanwhile, had similarly appropriate looks - the Pawns were dressed in simple armor with face concealing helmets. The Knights had equine inspired armor and boots. All of them, naturally, being pieces sharing her color.  She was looking forward to the first heroines who would try and stop her~ She needed some Bishops and Rooks to fill out her set, and mundane people just weren’t strong enough for it.

Her wish was soon to be granted, as it turned out. She was collecting her latest Pieces when a young lady flew down from the sky and landed across the street from her and her minions. Oddly, while she was clearly a Magical Girl - your average college girl didn’t exactly fly around with a glowing magical staff - her clothes were very… mundane. All the woman wore was a grey hoodie, a white dress, and boots! If she hadn’t floated in, the White Queen wouldn’t have even realized she was a Magical Girl! The only fanciful thing about her was her hair, which had a broad white streak going through it.

“Hey, leave these people alone! Are you going to back off, or am I going to have to make you?” The woman shouted across the street. She seemed more… annoyed than angry. God, was she even taking this seriously? Was this really going to be the first Magical Girl she fought? She could do better for a nemesis surely.

“I imagine you already know the answer to that, foolish Magical Girl! You face the Black Queen!” The Black Queen said smugly. Just because her opponent was half-assing it, didn’t mean that she was going to! What was the point of being a Villain if you didn’t have presentation? “Come at me, then! I needed some more toys!”

“Alright then! I gave you fair warning.” The Magical Girl said.

Shiori, unfortunately, had to stop posing dramatically and instead duck - because the damned Magical Girl had, instead of rushing over, blasted a beam at her! “Rude! At least give your name first! There are protocols you know!” She responded by casting her own magic, aiming at the ground. The exact form of her zone of control was up to her; naturally given her theme, that meant a chess board, the street and sidewalks going black and white checkers.

“Oh, right, uh, I’m Hikari, hi?” The Magical Girl said awkwardly, before renewing her attack. “Now hold still!”

That was even more annoying - she didn’t even have a proper Magical Girl Name! Black Queen finished her spell as she dodged another attack. There! “Rule set! Wait your turn!” she declared - and that wasn’t just flair, she had to say what the rule was in order for it to work properly.

On cue, one of her Knights charged towards Hikari, launching into another attack with their spear. Hikari had little trouble with the foe - it was just a minion, even if a bit tougher. She blew them away easily, sending them flying back across the sidewalk with a beam of magic. However, she encountered trouble when she stepped onto the chess field and aimed a blast at one of the pawns. “Huh?” she asked, when the beam didn’t materialize. Instead, a glowing red X appeared on her chest.

“You broke the rule.” Shiori said smugly. “You only get one warning. I’ll repeat it, for the idiot Magical Girl. Wait your turn.”

“What do you mean ‘wait my turn’? That’s not how real life works.” Hikari said.

Another attack came towards Hikari, this time from a Pawn. They were even weaker than the Knight, not being any kind of real threat to Hikari - but in this scenario their point wasn’t really to hurt her, it was to bait her. A minion easily dispatched encouraged a follow up against another, and Hikari once again broke the rule Black Queen had set as she attacked another Pawn.

“The rule was broken again!” Black Queen laughed, “And that means, I get to punish you~!”

Before Hikari could get so much as a complaint out, chains lashed up from the ground to wrap around her arms and legs, holding her in place. “H-Hey, let me go!” she shouted, trying to fly upwards and out of the reach of the chains, but swiftly being dragged back down to the ground.

“Of course I won’t!” Black Queen said, “Rulebreakers like you must be punished for daring to imagine that you can face me. A brute like you will surely make an ideal Rook, don’t you think?”

As she spoke, magical energy rushed upwards from the ground, wrapping around her like the chains did, and beginning to transform Hikari’s clothes. The white and grey cloth began to stiffen and harden, darkening down to black as it changed. The dress became armor plates, covering up Hikari’s struggling figure and expanding down to form armored leggings and boots, while her hoodie morphed into a cloak.

“This is really heavy- h-hey, I didn’t say you could do that!” Hikari was talking, but oddly, Black Queen had the feeling she wasn’t talking to her anymore. In any case, the chatter ceased quickly as the magic snaked up to her head and slipped inside. Hikari’s eyes glowed with black and white spirals as she slumped in place, a dumb grin forming on her face. There! No more struggling and complaining, just obedience with a smile.

The transformation rapidly continued, as Hikari was covered in armor plates - big enough that she’d stand over all the other pieces, and spikey and intimidating, the finishing touch being the helmet that would cover her dumbass face! Shiroi was looking forward to breaking in her new Rook - but when the chains broke, the new minion didn’t kneel.

“What is the meaning of this? Kneel to your Queen!” the Black Queen demanded, but Hikari didn’t budge. She was glowing again instead?

Suddenly, the armor wasn’t so big and intense. It was bleaching back to it’s white color as it shrunk down, becoming more form fitting, even having bits of cloth come out of the gaps. “You- you can’t do that! You can’t counter my spell like that!”

“I can.” Came Hikari’s voice, but there was a new edge to it. “You fancy yourself a Queen? Well, what is that to a Goddess?” she said.

The transformation continued, and Shiori realized what it was changing into - the new armor matched her own set as a Queen, but in white. She stumbled backwards, mind scrambling for how she could do this after her mind was so thoroughly shackled.

The helmet shifted, shrinking and becoming a crown. As Hikari’s face was revealed, the Black Queen had her answer. Hikari was still brainwashed - but this wasn’t Hikari anymore. Her eyes were red and glowing, while her hair had gone a stark white except for a single black streak. The expression of smug superiority was at once both alien to the girl’s face, but somehow fit perfectly - she knew she was better than whoever she was looking at.

This was not the Magical Girl she’d chained up, and Black Queen was pretty sure she wasn’t a Magical Girl at all. That kind of expression belonged on a Villainess.

“Who are- what is-!?” Black Queen stammered, struck speechless by the shock as the new villainess finished overwriting the transformation.

“I, dear fool, am Izanami. And I’ve decided that I’m showing you what a real villainess is like.” The new Villainess said with a smug grin. She had taken the role of White Queen, in this chess game.

This was salvageable - Izanami was still bound by the rule Black Queen had set. At least, that’s what she thought, but when she moved to take her ‘turn’, lunging for a Knight, she didn’t blast them away like Hikari had. Instead she summoned a mask into her hand, and after using her magic to rip off the Knight’s helmet, put it in place - and it completely overwrote the Knight’s brainwashing, converting them to a White piece under Izami. And then, rather than make the same mistake Hikari did and act again, she paused to wait.

The rule was symmetrical; this specific ‘take your turn’ action worked only if Black Queen’s minions followed it as well. It relied on a Magical Girl seeing they have multiple opponents and trying to go from one attack directly to the next, breaking the rule and getting them trapped.

When a pawn unged for Izanami, she effortlessly masked them as well. Then she went for another of Black Queen’s pieces. One by one, she was not only dismantling Black Queen’s army, but taking it for herself - and doing it with style.

Shiori could only watch as she was defeated, unable to act because of her own rule. She found herself unable to tear her eyes away either, watching Izanami confidently move from foe to foe with the most smug grin on her face. It was as if she had already claimed victory, and was simply collecting her winnings.

It was a perfect example of a Villain, the kind that Shiori could only hope to achieve one day. She was staring, not even considering running until another arrival startled her out of her reverie. “Izanami! I should have known it was you!” A new girl, a blonde Magical Girl in an armored blue outfit, declared as she rushed onto the scene. “My nemesis shows her face once again!”

“Nemesis? I’m flattered you think so highly of me, Akemi, but you must not realize - to be my nemesis the feeling must be mutual, and I don’t see you as enough of a threat.” Izanami shot back, turning her minions to face the Magical Girl, momentarily forgetting Black Queen.

Shiori saw her chance, and she took it, fleeing the scene as the battle between Izanami and Akemi began. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Izanami. She couldn’t stop thinking about how, despite her best efforts and her impressive magic, she had been soundly beaten. She couldn’t just leave it at that. But luckily she had the beginnings of a plan forming…

— — — — —

Izanami was in a pretty good mood. It had been a nice couple days getting a chance to stretch her legs in control of Hikari’s body, and after beating Akemi she’d re-established herself in her normal clothes and gone to minionize Natsuki. She’d chosen to take today to rest now, before continuing on with any evil schemes, and even Hikari snarking in the back of her head couldn’t put her in a bad mood.

She had set herself up in her usual abode when she took her turn; using Natsuki’s resources (as it turned out, having an extremely wealthy willing minion was helpful) she’d managed to set herself up in a small, private building in the middle of a park, surrounded by magical circles generating an illusion spell to maintain it’s secrecy. It gave her a place to stay where she didn’t have to deal with either Hikari’s parents or general housing troubles - and a place to store anything she needed for scheming.

It was a private space - and supposed to be completely unknown. Which was why she was more than a little annoyed when, as she was lounging around reading a book, there was a knock at the door. There was, occasionally, the odd person could get past the illusion; they were wandering without a particular destination in mind or in some rare cases were capable of seeing through them naturally. It wasn’t common but sometimes it happened, and in that kind of case, it didn’t stop Izanami from brainwashing them.

Izanami sighed loudly and stood. “Natsuki. The door.” She said.

The brunette saluted eagerly. “Of course, Mistress!” Natsuki said, and rushed to the door to investigate. “Hello! We’re not taking visitors- whoa!”

Natsuki stumbled back as the new arrival barged in. “I am no visitor! I am a Villainess!” the visitor said. “Izanami! I have come for you!”

She certainly looked the part. She was dressed in a sort of techno-robes kind of look not dissimilar to Izanami’s own, decorated with stars. She matched Izanami’s height (or rather, Hikari’s height), which had the villainess at eye level with the new arrival’s golden yellow eyes. Her hair was midnight black, with a scattering of gold that gave her long braid a ‘starry night’ kind of look. It was capped off by a pair of quite large bunny ears on top of her head - which Izanami was fairly sure were artificial as well.

And moreover, she looked familiar. “Isn’t that the girl from when we switched?” Hikari asked - after Izanami had overwritten the change and Black Queen had fled, the brainwashing had unfortunately worn off; Izanami would have preferred the quiet. “Black… Empress? Black Baroness?”

“Upset I stole your theme, ‘Black Queen’?” Izanami scoffed, as a platoon of minions - girls in simpler robes wearing bunny ears and face-covering masks - filed in after their Mistres. It wasn’t the first time Izanami had had a beef with another Villain; as it turned out, those selfish enough to take up the role tended to be a contentious lot. “You were lucky to escape when you did, but I suppose if you feel you must throw yourself to the wolves, I’ll oblige you.”

“Izanami, when you took control of that magical girl, you trampled all over my plans! I lost all my control of the situation, and even my minions! And you did it so effortlessly and with such style, I was thoroughly defeated!”

“I think she has a high opinion of you.” Hikari noted. “For some reason.”

Izanami blinked in surprise. “And? Where are you going with this. Is that why you’re mad at me?”

“I am forced to confess - you are a grand Villainess. A foe worthy of any challenger.” The former Black Queen continued.

“Get to the point, before I put a mask on you like I should have the first time.” Izanami demanded. Though, she didn’t much mind the flattery truth be told. Hikari rolled her eyes.

“I have come, Izanami, for you.” The Villainess repeated. “Such a grand villain is far beyond the likes of me. I pale in comparison to you, truly. Such a gap fills me with shame and anger. There is only one way I can resolve this!”

Izanami stood back, preparing for a fight - but rather than attack, the woman… dropped to her knees, bowing so low her head bumped the floor. “I must beg you to take me as an apprentice!”

“…Pardon?” Izanami asked.

“Excuse me?” Hikari echoed in her head.

“I would serve you and learn from you, Izanami! And I won’t take no for an answer!” The woman said.

“…Oh! She wants to be your friend!” Hikari said, nodding in understanding. “You could do with some friends. Then maybe you’d be less grumpy.”

Izanami shook herself out of her shock (and gave herself a rap on the head with her fist to shut Hikari up), before responding properly. “I… why should I take an apprentice, of all things!?” Izanami shouted. “What value do you have that I could not extract from a masked minion?”

“First! I have completely remade myself to fit with you, Izanami; named after one of the first gods of Japanese myth, I have taken on a fitting name as well, Tsukuyomi. It would simply not do to have an apprentice who one cannot immediately connect with their teacher.”

“…I respect the attention to presentation.” Izanami conceded. If you didn’t have style, you had no business being a Villain instead of a common criminal.

“Second! As a proper Villainess myself, I am able to operate without your direct supervision, allowing a number of additional options in schemes!” Tsukuyomi continued. “As you saw, I was capable of casting complicated magic capable of incapacitating even strong Magical Girls; however, it’s a type that needs me to be able to think clearly to properly use! As a further display of skill, I was able to discover your secret lair un-aided!”

“She’s a little dramatic, isn’t she?” Hikari mumbled.

“Third! As an offering, I bring all these minions. You may take any you please for personal use, but they are all in your service as I am!” Tsukuyomi continued. She bowed once again. “Please, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I met you! I simply must become your apprentice!”

Izanami rubbed her chin. Normally, she would reject this out of hand and just mask her up like a normal minion… but it was nice to hear such effusive praise. “Intriguing propositions, I must admit. But you’re aware of my other self. It’s a complicated situation. Are you willing to accept it?”

“Of course. You would be my Mistress and teacher. When that foolish Magical Girl is in control of your body, I shall remain at your beck and call if any requests are communicated to me, and otherwise, take steps to preserve your plans that you may pick up where you left off when you return.” Tsukuyomi said. “She must be quite a formidable will if even one such as you has not been able to fully claim your body.”

“Hey! This is mine! Not hers!” Hikari grumbled. But Izanami decided to just ignore her.

“…I do not, as a rule, take any who have not been brainwashed. Few of this world’s people are worthy of serving me. But… I suppose, with such recognition of your own flaws, I can… allow a trial period. You will serve me as an apprentice for now. I expect you to prove your worth soon if you wish to remain in such a position.”

“Of course, Mistress!” The bunny-villainess said, bowing even lower. “Thank you for this divine opportunity!”

“Stand, Tsukuyomi.” Izanami commanded as she walked towards the door. “I think it would be most enjoyable to begin your trial now.”

Tsukuyomi jumped to her feet, and commanded her minions to do the same, following after Izanami with an eager grin.