July 3, 493 U.C.

Earth, the birthplace of humanity, is a truly amazing planet. A soft breeze rippled. Small clouds decorated the sky with light cotton candy. The sun beamed down, lighting the place and glinting off windows.

Maskless people walked down the streets, scurrying about their activities. Drones and shuttles whizzed by overhead. The air was filled with the song of the city, and it didn’t include blaring sirens.

Stopping, I looked up at some towering building of metal and glass. Wow. It had to be at least fifty stories, towering up into the air. I enjoyed the sight and then grinned as I saw Times Square. Call it cliche, but I’d always wanted to visit New York. I was enjoying my visit.

Walking forward, I followed the stream of people past the massive screens. They blared ads. Guardians of all sorts were showing off various products. The smell of pizza mingled in the air.

Walking forward, my black and purple dress swished. To my happiness, people were not fleeing or calling the authorities. You’d think that being a villain would have had more consequences. Then again, they didn’t exactly know I was one. That was part of the reason for this activity. They simply regarded me as some magic girl wannabe. That was something we needed to correct. After all, we needed some panic.

But the people weren’t panicked yet. Instead, they seemed to ignore me, all except for one.

“That’s not a magic girl costume!” a thirteen-year-old yelled at me.

“It’s a villain costume, little rotk!” I yelled back. She just looked at me in confusion and muttered something. It was then that I realized my error. She likely didn’t know about rotk.

Walking into a shop, I smiled. Video games lined the walls. The new console was here. Don’t even ask me which version it is. They messed up their counting at the very start. That was hundreds of years ago. I plucked the last console from the wall. Then I grabbed three games.

“Hey! I called that!” some guy with a bit of scruff protested as he approached in his t-shirt and jeans.

“No.” I joined the line, ignoring the guy whom I have named Grabby.

“Give it here,” Grabby said. “Go get the magic girls’ game. You can dress them up.”

I turned and flipped him off. “This is a villain costume. I suggest that you do not tempt me.”

“I don’t care. Just hand it over.”

“No.” I turned back around. Then I felt him grab my shoulder. I jerked back around. “Do not touch me!”

“Hand it over,” Grabby ordered, reaching for it again.

“Leave her alone,” the boy in front of me said. “She had it first.” He mussed with his brown hair and waggled his brow at me.

I smiled at him. It wasn’t needed, but I appreciated the backup.

“Shut up,” Grabby said. “Give it to me now.”

I spun back around. “I have mace. I will use it. Leave me alone.”

Then the horrible fellow reached over to rip it out of my hands. That was when I triggered haste. The world around me failed to keep up. Reaching into my purse, I pulled out my makeup kit. Carefully grabbing some disposable brushes, I turned to the statue in front of me. Then I got to work!

I plucked his eyebrows and nose hair. Then I applied a nice coating of makeup, complete with eyeshadow and black lipstick. Stepping back, I contemplated and added blush.

Truthfully, my work was hasty and shoddy. But it would be enough. I dropped the spell and ducked his attack. Blowing a kiss at him, I smirked. “Simply gorgeous!”

“What the hell?” Grabby asked, reaching up and smearing his lipstick.

The boy in front of me started laughing hysterically. “Did you just put makeup on him?”

I nodded. “He deserved it.”

“You bitch!” Grabby lunged. I sidestepped and pulled on his arm, sending him to the floor with a whump.

I rested my foot on him. “Stay down.”

“Bitch!” Grabby said and put his arms underneath him.

“If you call me that again, I’ll do far worse.” I shoved him back down. “Don’t fuck with villains.”

“Get off, bitch!” Grabby yelled, drawing the attention of everyone.

I kept him pinned and wished that I had a flashier spell. He glared at me. I batted my eyes and pushed him back on the ground using a boost of strength.

“Do you really have magic?” the teenage boy in front of me asked with a grin. His blue eyes shone with excitement.

“Yes.” I used haste and kissed the cheeks of every person around, leaving black marks everywhere. Then I returned and dropped the spell.

“Awesome,” the boy in front of me said with wide eyes. His smile grew as he looked around.

“I’m reporting you to command! Who are you?” Grabby asked as he stood.

“I’m the Viper. I’m not a guardian. I’m a villain.” I smiled evilly at him.

“You are actually a villain?” the boy in front of me asked while digging into his pocket. Grabby was muttering something, probably to Guardian Command.

Ignoring him, I nodded at the boy in front of me. Well, Dad will be happy. I looked at my console and smiled. And I can play!

“Can I get an autograph?” the boy asked with a grin. Failing to find something in his pocket, he just stretched out his console.

“Sure.” I pulled out a stamp and stamped his box with a lovely Viper.

“Why not join the guardians? How are you a villain?”

“That’s a whole story. And while this isn’t a fast line, it’s certainly not slow enough for that.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“But only guardians have magic.”

“Only guardians had magic. Times are changing! We can get it in other ways! Mwahahahe hee hee, hee, hee…” My maniacal laugh turned into giggles. Please don’t let Dad see this.

“Hello! I’m a reporter with Galactic News!” a woman said as she raced into the store, heels clicking all the way. “I’d like an interview.”

I shrugged. “I’m buying a game, not giving interviews.”

“Are the guardians aware of your abuse of position?” the woman asked. Her camera drone zipped around, filming everything.

“I’m not a guardian.”

“Then how did you get magic?”

“Sheer willpower,” I lied.

“And how did you keep a human appearance?” Reporter asked.

“Sheer willpower,” I lied again.

“Can you clarify that?”

“Yes. The fae claimed that we need them. It’s a lie. We don’t. There are other ways to get magic.”

“What are those?”

I chuckled. “Nice try. You’d have to pay me a fortune to learn that.”

“And you said you got it without the fae?”

“Yes. They are working to their own ends; make no mistake about that.”

“And what would you have us do?” the reporter asked.

“They need to go! They are the true villains! They will destroy humanity!” I proclaimed loudly. That got Ela riled up.

“They’re not!” Ela scowled at me. “Stop being mean!”

“Do you have proof?” the reporter asked.

I nodded. “Look at me! I got it without them, and I don’t look like a fae. They are liars!” Yes, that was a lie. But we were on a noble quest to rid humanity of the terrible overlords.

“They aren’t! Stop, Casey!” Ela yelled at me.

The reporter poked her microphone closer. “And you believe that we should distance from the fae?”

“Yes! They are policing magic horribly. Their familiars report everything. I believe they are working to take control over humanity!”

“Mean!” Ela flew off and pouted. Her face scrunched up as she sat there in the air.

“I see. And are there others that have managed to get magic?”

“Of course. The fae are lying. It’s the height -” Then I groaned audibly at the sight of a guardian along with some text.

Quest: Surrender. – The guardians need to meet with you. Rewards: 10,000 Reputation.

“Viper!” the guardian said loudly. I recognized him instantly. While he was new, Jackhammer was recognizable. Like a living version of Maui, he strode forward, bringing the scent of sand and surf. With a body to match, the people parted around him. I heard girls everywhere drooling at the sight. I should go get a guitar and sing while he walks. I giggled at my joke while a girl swooned.

“You are wanted for questioning,” Jackhammer said as he strode forward while ignoring the damage that he was inflicting on young teen girls nearby. Several were now in a comatose state. Some were chasing after him. Others were lying on the floor, twitching and moaning.

Turning away from his collateral damage, I looked at him. “Why?”

“Just come quietly.”

“Can I at least finish shopping?” Then I pulled out some lipstick. I applied a thick coat of purple.

“No. It’s confiscated as part of this investigation.”

I sighed, walked forward, and slapped the cash on the counter. Then I gave the most venomous look I could at Grabby. “I will have my revenge!”

“Viper! Don’t!” Jackhammer ordered as he stepped in closer. Then he began imitating a glacier as haste activated.

I picked up my things, skipped off, and planted a full kiss on Jackhammer’s cheek. It left a lovely purple mark. The girls were about to be livid. I wished that I could have stayed to watch that, but it was time to go. He was still moving, even if it was at a snail’s pace.

I invoked Plan C as I skipped off. Swapping boxes with everyone, I played a nice game of hide-the-serial-number. Then I bolted into the backroom. They had more in stock, which did not improve my mood a bit. I swapped things again. Then I dashed out the front door and onto the streets. After a few minutes, I darted into an alley and used Time Stop.

I willed myself to a new location. I pulled a console and games out of spacetime. Then I placed the others back in. The game of hide-the-serial-code was still alive. I wasted a small eternity doing that. No, I don’t know how long it took.

After ensuring that it couldn’t be tracked, I willed myself home and popped back in. Then I placed my purchase on my desk and prepared to hook it all up.

“Did you have a fun trip? You’re on the news,” Dad said as he poked his head in.

“It ended horribly. I'm taking another vacation day to make up for it.” I pulled out the console and carefully began unpacking the black box.

“Your laugh needs real work,” Dad said.

I blushed as my stomach grumbled. “I’m embarrassed.”

“You should be. Come get some food. I’d rather not listen to your brass section.”

“It’s not my fault!” I protested. “Using magic makes you hungry!”

“I know. Go eat.” Dad followed me. “Can you use haste on another yet?”

“Nope. It just keeps getting stronger.”

“Unfortunate. Any new spells?”

“Not that I know about, sadly. Are we committing to the villainy bit?”

Dad nodded. “Yes. We need to drive away the fae. You did a good job with the interview.”

My stomach grumbled. I meandered to the kitchen and cooked up some quick sandwiches. Heaping on mustard, I added some dinosaur meat that tasted like duck. Then I started eating, handing one to Dad.

He took his meal to his room. Following his example, I did the same, rapidly eating while hooking up my new game system. Peering at my desk, I watched it come online. I grinned and swapped to it. Then I loaded in the game.

The title screen popped up, showing Fanged Fury shredding a grub. I grinned and took a seat. Then I hit play. The cinematic for the RPG flashed up, showing a panning view over Vuln.

Then the beautiful image shattered; pixels broke apart. A video of my grandpa appeared over it.

That surprised me. He never called on my birthday. “Hi, Grandpa!” A smile crept onto my face.

“We have some ready to Seed at my home,” Grandpa said.

My smile crashed down. I blinked at him repeatedly. The hell? It’s my birthday!

“Hello?” Grandpa asked.

“I can’t today,” I said sternly and contemplated hanging up on him.

“Don’t start. I need a dozen fish. And you need to aid them.”

I glowered at the man. “But today is my break day! We all agreed that today was my break! I get a break!” I yelled at him and then hung up, restoring the cinematic to its glory. Grabbing headphones, I put those on and ignored whatever Dad was saying. It was my birthday, and I deserved a break. I spent the time fake killing things as a guardian. The irony wasn't lost on me, but I enjoyed it all the same.

Current Level 10 Current XP 86.96% Current Max Mana 7649.81 Regen per minute 12.75 Reputation 1000

Tier Skill Cost Tier 10 User Time Dilation (Haste)

- User experiences 256 seconds for 1 earth second.

- Force transference limited to 12.5%. 2 mana per earth second. Tier 6 Pocket Dimension

- 128 cubic meters of pocket space.

- Rapid stash and rapid draw.

- You may tether objects to your pocket space.

- Your pocket space preserves items inside. 32 mana Tier 6 Time Stop

- Caster leaves spacetime. They may remove and place things back in spacetime.

- You may control the flow of time in the demiplane.

- You may summon in willing living creatures.

- This automatically triggers if you take significant damage. 200 mana to cast.

Variable cost to move items in and out. Tier 6 Teleport.

- Teleports the caster or a willing creature.

- You may cast this on an unwilling creature if they are within ten meters.

- You may teleport inside an object, causing the matter to push outward.

200 mana for the caster.

400 mana for a willing creature.

1000 mana for an unwilling creature with no resistance.

- Short range casts cost less mana.

Tier 3 Attire Swap

- Locked to a single outfit. Current outfit set to Magical Girl Uniform.

- Attire cleaned on swap.

- Attire repaired on swap. 20 mana. Tier 3 Enhanced Body

-Caster’s body is enhanced by a factor of eight. 2 mana per caster second. Tier 2 Enchanting.

- Enchantments last twice as long. Variable cost. Tier 2 Potions.

- Potions last twice as long. Variable cost. Tier 1 Free casting

- Cast any spell you can replicate. Variable cost. Penalty of 8x mana. Tier 1 Familiar Manifestation. 20 mana to cast. 1 mana for each additional minute.