The gym was far bigger on the inside than it seemed from the hallway, with multiple floors all filled with a variety of people and targets. I caught Andrew turning a rapidly regenerating target into dust with lightning as Aria looked on. Dr. Watson was cutting apart a terrifyingly realistic looking human-shaped dummy as Adrien healed it. Alyx seemed to be providing a safe puddle for Anna to land in as Aurora threw her higher and higher into the air. 

The entire scene before me was incredibly intimidating, and none of them were even in their Magical Warrior outfits. 

More intimidating, however, was Alys as she addressed everyone. Her voice seemed to take on an entirely different tone, her voice more akin to a drill instructor than the concerned woman helping me a moment ago. “Alright, everyone! We’ve got another newbie, so line up in front of me, single file! Last one in line gets to be target practice, that includes you, Doc!” 

Within a moment Anna appeared in front of her, but I could have sworn she was just in the air only a second ago. I shook the thought away, I must’ve been confused. Right, she had stopped when she saw me walk in, so I never even got to see her get thrown.

Andrew arrived shortly after, surrounded by the slightest hint of an aura of lightning. Aubrey and Alyx got in line next, followed closely behind by Aria. Adrien made it just before the doctor, who had a much cockier smirk on her face than ‘target practice’ should have had.

As soon as Alys saw the look on the doctor’s face she sighed, but I couldn’t figure out why. Was this a common thing between the two of them? And what did target practice even entail?

“Alright, Doc. Get in the middle of the room. Andy, Alyx, Aria, and the new girl will be your threats. Dodge them all for three minutes and you get the usual reward. Andrew, Alyx, Aria, newbie, you all are expected to give everything in your attempt to incapacitate the doctor.” My face morphed into a mask of horror, which got a chuckle out of Alys before she continued. “Oh, don’t worry. The doc is a lot sturdier than she looks.”

I didn’t have any time to respond before a massive green timer appeared on the wall on the other side of the room. All three of my partners responded by changing into their Magical Warrior forms. I recognized Alyx’s from experience, and Andrew’s forest green park ranger gettup I knew from the posters, but Aria’s form was completely new to me.

She seemed to grow at least a foot taller, and her body was covered in massive golden plate armor. In her hand was a sword covered in heavenly fire. On her back sprouted a pair of beautiful golden wings. Her hair was a bright gold, and almost looked like it, too, was covered in the same flame. She looked extraordinary, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

“Newbie, you know how to activate your magical form, yes?” Alys’s eyes were on me once again, and I realized that everyone was waiting on me. Shit.

“Nat?” I called out to my demoness guide in the hopes that she was around again. I tried not to sound desperate, but, well, I was.

For a terrifyingly long time I was met with nothing but silence. I felt the stares of everyone around me as I closed my eyes, trying to envision a form that wasn’t so obviously demonic. Fuck’s sake, my best friend resembled a literal angel, going demon in the room with her sounded like a reciepe for disaster. 

Thankfully Nat finally answered, but I was fully aware of the concerned things the people around me were saying. Fuck. Okay, sorry, was busy. Just. Fuck. I’ll come up with something, give me a second.

In the time it took her to do something I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Aria and holy fuck she was tall. Normally we were almost the same height, but in this form she towered over me, and by God was I terrified. I couldn’t stop myself from flinching away from her touch. It was her, sure, but I was… something else. The church, if they had their way, would try to kill me. Would Aria?

“Hey, hey. It’s okay, Natasha. No one here is going to hurt you. We all struggled to transform our first few times. Take your time.” As soon as she finished speaking, Aria pulled me into a hug, and too quickly I felt myself melting into her embrace. I missed being close to her; we barely even casually hugged ever since high school. I felt terrible for essentially letting her hug a lie, but I’d longed to be close to her for too long to want to let go. 

She was so warm, like a perfectly heated blanket. The height difference should’ve been odd enough to throw me off, but that only made her seem more approachable. I didn’t want to let go, but I knew it’d look weird if I didn’t. 

Eventually and reluctantly I pulled away, only to be met with a shocked expression immediately followed by a grin on Aria’s face. “Looks like the hug worked.” Her voice, slightly deeper than normal, sounded smug as she looked me up and down. “Pajamas, huh? They look cute on you.” 

For a second I didn’t quite understand what she was talking about, but an answer came to me the moment I looked down. I was wearing the same owl-themed pajamas from earlier, though in their current state they shined with a golden glow. I couldn’t hide my surprise at seeing the same tank top and pajama bottoms as earlier, before a blush rapidly crept up my face. How silly did I look to the others?

As I looked to the others, however, it seemed they didn’t find my outfit humorous. Everyone but Anna seemed shocked at what I was wearing. Alys was the first to recover and speak, her voice cutting through the tension in the air. “Okay, so she’s with a Greater, that doesn’t mean we can put this off. Start!” 

As soon as she heard Alys shout, Doctor Watson was on the run. The massive timer at the back wall began ticking down as my three companions ran (or flew) after her. She didn’t look close to capable of standing up to them at first glance, but as I watched the others try to attack her, I realized just how wrong I was.

Alyx’s water seemed incapable of even touching her, and they seemed laughably slow when compared to the speed of their opponent. Every time it looked like they were about to get a lucky blow, it seemed the Doctor would get even faster, if just for a moment, and the attack would miss entirely. 

Aria was incredibly reckless as she swung her massive sword, and it didn’t seem to be working in the slightest. Every attempt at striking Dr. Watson was met with open air, and the doctor more than once offered a response in a slight shove or kick. Of the three of them it looked like she had the worst stamina, and I couldn’t tell if that was because of her massive weapon or because she seemed barely trained. Either way it didn’t look like she was being taken seriously.

Andrew was having slightly more luck than either of his partners as he threw small shots of lightning from several yards away. I watched him land two hits on the Doctor, but it looked like she would willingly let him hit her if it meant avoiding Alyx or Aria. Their dance lasted until she broke off from the others to close the distance with him. She must not have expected him to try attacking with his fists, as he landed a solid lightning filled punch to her stomach. As she recoiled, she said something to Andrew that I couldn’t hear and he collapsed to the floor.

The instant he fell, the fight turned. Dr. Watson elbowed Aria in the stomach as she held her sword up for an attack, knocking the wind out of her. Before Aria could recover, I watched the doctor’s hand grip her neck and slam her into the floor, causing the wooden floor to crack and wooden chips to scatter all over. I found myself short of breath as I watched the small, unassuming form of the doctor dust herself off as if she’d done  nothing more than some light cleaning. 

It was obvious that Alyx was not remotely ready to fight someone as obviously strong as the doctor alone, and they seemed as aware of that fact as I was. They made a desperate swing with their staff, only for their opponent to grab it and tear it out of their hands. I could barely catch it, but I knew she was grinning as she smashed the staff into their face, instantly knocking them out. 

I froze in terror as her gaze reached me, still frozen right where I was when the fight first began. She was slowly walking towards me, her steps in perfect sync with the giant timer behind her. A timer that had only just reached two minutes left.

So all-consuming was my panic that I didn’t notice when she stopped moving, and only barely heard the words that left her mouth. “It doesn’t look like I’ll be breaking any time records today, sadly. What do you say, Natasha? How long do you think you can last against me? One second? Ten?” 

I didn’t have any way to respond. I shook my head and took several steps back, barely aware of the fact that I was muttering “No,” over and over and over. She was horrifying, a monster in human skin. How could anyone fight her? How could anyone beat her?

As she approached, still walking at that same, terrifying pace, I looked at my rapidly shaking hands. How strong was my fire while just a normal human? Could I even use it? I had to try, had to do whatever it took to stop that evil, horrible monster.

I raised both of my hands and concentrated as hard as I could. I needed to be safe, to burn that monster away until there was nothing left. Just like the one that almost killed me. I needed to be safe, Aria needed to be safe. She was a monster, she needed to stop, to die die die die die. 

Those words were like a light switch. As soon as I thought them, an inferno escaped from my palms, covering every inch of ground in front of me in a beautiful sparkling blue flame. The air around me heated up to a degree that many might have called unbearable, and I could feel beads of sweat drop down my face as more and more fire covered the area in front of me. 

I felt a wave of exhaustion as the last bits of heat left me, and fell to my knees as the fire and smoke slowly dissipated. I was safe. She was gone. She couldn’t hurt me. 

“You’re lucky I like you, girl.” I felt a hand grip my throat before I could react to the voice of Dr. Watson, and as more of the smoke cleared I caught a full view of her. Her blouse and pencil skirt were gone, replaced by a purple two-piece suit. Her once human face had also changed, leaving her looking more like a fairy from storybook illustrations than a human. “Because. That. Fucking. Hurt.”

I braced myself to be crushed against the floor like Aria, only for an incredibly loud alarm to interrupt us. I heard Alys’s voice call out through the still thick smoke, and I thanked any and every god there was for the intervention. “Alright! Time’s up! Adri, get those three up. Doc, newbie, to me!”

I was let down slowly as the Doctor’s form seemed to shift back to her human self. Her old clothes returned, though they lacked a single scratch from the fighting. I waited for her to pass through the still thick layer of smoke before I tried changing my own outfit, this time successfully. Once I was back in the clothes I borrowed from Aria I hesitantly followed her to meet with the others.

Adrien was kneeling beside the three unconscious fighters, and his hands seemed to glow as he touched people’s injuries. Anna was looking at the gym floor, probably trying to see how badly it was shattered or incinerated. 

Alys aggressively pulled Doctor Watson aside just as I arrived, which left me alone with Aurora. I expected her to chastise me, too, but instead she nodded her head at me, like guys would do to other guys walking by them. That always made me uncomfortable, and even if her nod meant something different, I couldn’t make it feel distinct from my prior experiences.

So I didn’t acknowledge her action. I turned away to watch Adrien heal the others, all of whom had been knocked out of their magical forms at some point. One by one they got up, seemingly barely injured. I let out a sigh of relief at that; I was terrified that my paralysis at the start and Dr. Watson’s ruthlessness might have permanently hurt them.

“Your teamwork needs improvement, your combat paralysis is a huge burden, and you’re going to need a weapon for enemies strong against fire. Your form was also incredibly sloppy, and your attack was way too reckless. If we weren’t in this room, you might have killed the others. That aside, you did good, in the end. It’s rare that Wats can’t knock someone out in a fight.” I wanted to shrink and hide as Aurora broke down how terrible I was in the fight. It made me feel worthless, like I wasn’t good for anything, but I did my best to try and accept the criticism thrown at me. I was still new to everything, so every word she said made perfect sense, but it still hurt.

I nodded in sullen silence after she finished breaking everything down. I didn’t have anything to add, and she didn’t seem the type to pretend like I was better at this than I was. 

It didn’t take much longer for Alys to join us, thankfully lacking a certain doctor by her side. She didn’t wait a moment for Aurora to explain what she’d told me before speaking. “You did good, for a first fight. Or a second. I’m surprised you reacted the way you did. The bloodstains left in your fight with the feral demon implied you were a bit more ferocious, if I’m honest.”

I couldn’t hide my shock no matter how hard I tried. Even Nat probably wouldn’t have been able to keep a surprised expression from reaching her face if she were in control. My look alone must’ve been enough of a response, as she let out a chuckle. “Sorry to surprise you, but I did some digging on your fight the moment my sibling caught sight of you. Also on… other things, but that’s private.” She eyed Aurora, who didn’t hesitate to leave once Alys implied she needed to go.

Alys didn’t speak again until Aurora was on the other side of the room, which left me plenty of time to assume every possible thing she would say. Was she going to talk to me about my connection with Aria? Did she know about Nat? Did she know I wasn’t really a girl? Would she make me go back to the way I was? Why was that such a constant worry in my mind?

“Look, between your reaction to the news about your ‘uncle’ and the fact that nobody I’ve spoken to has heard of a Natasha Orlin, it’s easy to put two and two together.” I froze as I realized just how afraid I was of exactly the situation before me. “Don’t be afraid. Nobody here will hurt you, especially not me. Alyx went through enough hurt when we were kids; I won’t let anyone hurt you or them.”

I didn’t quite understand. What did she mean when she compared me to Alyx? Did she think I was...? No, that didn’t make sense. I just wanted to be a girl, that didn’t make me one. I made sure the next words that left my mouth were enough to clarify things. “You’ve got the wrong idea; I’m not trans like them, sorry. I just, y’know, don’t mind being in this body so much.” I could’ve sworn I heard a snort at the back of my mind, but I did my best to ignore it.

Alys raised an eyebrow so high and so quickly that I worried it was going to hit escape velocity. “If you say so, Natasha.” She enunciated my name and smiled as she said it, like she was in on some joke I didn’t get. 

She left me alone once she made her little joke, keeping me in the dark as to what she meant. Did she think I was lying to her? That made the most sense, but I knew I wasn’t trans. Wanting to be a girl didn’t make me trans.