I stared down my opponent from across the battlefield. Turn 10. This was it. Our boards were both empty after a trade of two back-to-back board clears. I shakily ran through the calculations one more time. As long as the computer didn’t defeat me this turn, I’d have enough damage in my hand for lethal.

An evil laugh emanated from my moon cultist opponent. “Foolish worshipper of the Sun Goddess! Your life is forfeit! Come forth, loyal servants of the moon! Bear witness to my ultimate attack! I summon Moon Tiger Beastkin to the battlefield!”

Uh oh.

A piercing roar shook the battlefield as the 4 mana 7/7 entered the fray, claws gleaming in the moonlight.

The cultist laughed louder. “You’re through! I cast Radiant Moonlight, giving my Moon Tiger Beastkin +2/+2 and curing its summoning sickness! Then I cast Midnight Illusion, summoning a 1 health copy of my Moon Tiger Beastkin! Ahahaa! Brothers! Destroy this heathen!”

“NO!” I stood up in my chair, slamming my hands on the keyboard as my SSO character took 18 damage to the face, ending the match with my loss. “Ugh- I hate this game!”

The voice of reason, also known as my roommate Shay, brought me out of my Soulseeker Online TCG rage. “Chill, Morgan. You’re gonna get us kicked out.” 

“Huh? Oh crap- I totally forgot we were in public!” I hastily sat back down as color rose to my cheeks.

“How the hell did you forget?” Shay countered. “It was your idea to come here in the first place, ditz.” 

“Ouch. Deserved, but ouch.” The college we attended had a small gaming cafe in the student center, and I was the one who suggested we come here to relax after finals. Gaming in our dorm room was often more stressful than fun, thanks to the ego of roommate number 3.

“Yooo! Morgan, Shay, you’re here too?” Ugh. Think of the devil and he appears. Not that he’s a bad guy, per se. He’s just… a lot.

Shay jolted in surprise, akin to a cat discovering a cucumber behind themselves. “S-Seth! Hey. I thought you left for Winter Break already.”

“Nah, I have a final on Friday, so I gotta stay here the whole week.”

“Ah. Our last final was this morning, so Shay and I decided to chill here for a little while.”

Seth frowned. “Why pay for game time here when you could just play in the dorm room?” His frown deepened when he saw the big bolded ‘Defeat’ displayed on my screen. “Especially when you can’t even beat an AI. Are you still using your sun deck, dude? I told you, moon cult is meta! You can get through all the adventure content in a day if you stopped being so stubborn.”

“The story is literally about reclaiming Amaterasu’s temple from worshipers of Tsukiyomi,” I countered. “It’s more fun to play a thematically appropriate deck, even if it’s not that good.”

“Yeah? I think it’s more fun when you win and unlock better cards. Come on, move over.” It was more of a statement than a request, seeing how Seth pulled my rolling chair away before I had a chance to protest.

My struggle did not go unnoticed, and Shay stood up to mediate. “Hey, come on, Seth. his deck is fine, it was just a bad round.”

“Pfft, what do you know? You don’t even play SSO that much,” Seth said, deleting my hand-crafted sun deck. Great. I’d have to remake that later.

“I’m in the top ten of the Soulseeker Showdown TCG Leaderboards. Pretty sure I know my way around the card game.”

“Yeah, well-”

“Brother, don’t do this!” The goddess Amaterasu’s cry interrupts their argument as a cutscene begins to play.

The handsome moon god’s face twists into one of animalistic frenzy. He knocks her sword to the side and attempts to thrust his spear into her chest. Amaterasu’s ethereal robes tear from the sharp blade as she twirls elegantly out of the way of the attack. Tsukiyomi lets out a howl of frustration.

“Silence, you heartless wretch!  For too long the moonlight has been concealed by the blinding sun. You claim to uphold peace and prosperity while my followers and I are made to be the laughingstock of all the realms!” He gestures upwards towards the sky after his outburst. “You are nothing but a pathetic manipulator, and I am done with you false gods sitting upon your heavenly seats made of hypocrisy.” As he finishes the last word, Tsukiyomi flies towards his sister who has done nothing so far but defend and dodge her tumultuous brother’s attack, her face showing signs of weariness from the battle. Is this cutscene playing because I lost the match? I glanced to my right, seeing another SSO player watching the same scene. A world event, maybe?

Deflecting a near-fatal blow, Amaterasu pleads to her brother in a desperate attempt to calm down the situation. “Whatever ill will you harbor towards me, you know it to be wrong to involve the lives of the innocent-”

“There are no innocents! Not anymore! Those Earth-siders continue to vilify me even after thousands of years!” Amaterasu lets out a winced grunt as the spear manages to graze her left side.  Tsukiyomi’s face contorted into a wicked grin as he flew back away from her. “Hah. ‘Light shall always prevail over darkness,’ or so they say. But now it is time for the tides to change. Today, the darkness will envelop the world and bring about a never-ending night!” His piercing eyes flash to the screen, seeming to stare right at me.

I jolted backward from surprise, my headphones slipping off and clattering to the floor. Even then, Tsukiyomi’s voice seems omnipotent. His voice projects out of the screens of several computers in the cafe, as if speaking to every person individually. In sync, his deep voice speaks with a startling calm demeanor in comparison to his earlier explosive tirade. Earlier, his features seemed more animalistic and inhuman, but like this, no one could deny how handsome Tsukiyomi was. He points to the screen. “Today, I will grow my followers by force. Yes… this will do nicely. I think I’ll start with… that one.” I flinched. Did he mean me? The voice is speaking through every screen- this is getting a little too real.  

The sun goddess’ eyes widen in fear, and she lunges towards her brother in an attempt to stop him. But the fatigue slows her too much. “Everyone! Watch out!”

With a raise of his spear, Tsukiyomi shouts, “Darkness! Consume them!”

The next few moments were a blur. A black fog enveloped the room, covering everyone in complete darkness, so thick that even the sound around me seemed to get blocked out. Then, a burning sensation began to assault me from every angle. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound escaped, suffocated by the darkness. My mind started to go numb from the overstimulation, but just as quickly as the suffering started, it stopped, replaced by a gentle beam of light peeking through my prison of darkness. I heard windows and shutters open, and sunlight filled the room again, returning my vision to me.

The gaming cafe was in shambles. Desks were overturned, papers were scattered everywhere, and a lot of people looked hurt or out cold. Many of them now had animal appendages, blue skin, or other fantastical features.

I pushed my way out of the wreckage, struggling to my feet. What are you supposed to do in an emergency? Evacuate survivors. Right. A quick look around found me a tiny pink-haired catgirl lying face down in the wake of my former computer chair. I leaned down, trying to nudge her awake.

“Hey, um, you alright? Can you walk?”

The girl groaned, taking my hand and pulling herself up. “Yeah, for better or worse. Thanks, uh, cute fairy girl.”

“You’re welcome, tiny catgirl.”

“Huh?”

“Wait.”

“But I’m a guy?” We echoed to each other. Adrenaline started pumping through my veins again as I gave myself a proper look over. I’d been so stupified by the absurdity of the situation that I failed to notice the wild forest green hair framing my face and body. Well, forget the hair- I had boobs! They were a little small, but they were there. Am I wearing a bra? I don’t even own a bra! At least I was still wearing the jeans and t-shirt combo I’d put on this morning. Just what was going on here? And the weird muscle feeling on my back must be-

“I have wings!?” I exclaimed.

“Nyaaahhh!?” The catgirl shouted. She had her hands on her new ears, a panicked expression on her face. “I have- does that mean…?” She did a full 360 spin, then another, then another as she chased her new tail, trying to catch a glimpse. I couldn’t help but stare. She was wearing this super oversized shirt dress that swished around with her. Oh, god. Very strong urge to headpat the smol floof. Don’t do it, Morgan, don’t-

“Hey! Don’t just pat my head! This is nyo time to mess around!”

Whoops.

“S-Sorry, you just looked-“

“Hisss.”

“Very manly and not at all adorable!” I stuttered. “Uh, I’m Morgan, by the way. Help me look for the others?”

The girl blinked, eyes going wide. “Morgan? Dude, it’s me, Shay!”

“Shay? Holy shit. Did the whole cafe get turned into anime girls?”

“Yooooo, bros, I’m jacked as shit!”

Shay’s ears flattened as a now very buff and very shirtless version of Seth swaggered over to us. His facial features didn’t change much, other than some odd ritual tattoos. He actually looked a lot like the lunar tiger beastkin that had just ended my TCG match. Minus the tiger appendages.

“Oh great. Seth’s a four mana 7/7,” Shay hissed. “How come you get to be like, peak masculinity when Morgan and I got turned into girls?”

“Skill issue,” He replied smugly, continuing to check himself out. “I bet you I can get so many chicks with this bod, don’t you think? Wanna take the guns for a spin, ladies?”

“Ew. Hard pass, man.”

“Psh, not you two, dumbass! Real girls, not some weird gender-swapped guys.” Wow. I’ve never seen someone backpedal faster in my life. What a jerk.

Shay flinched, his ears folding down as he made himself small. “Well- that’s…”

“Hey, it’s not like we asked for this,” I said, stepping between my roommates. Lay off, man. Why don’t you put your muscles to use instead and help us look for anyone who might be hurt?”

“Whatever,” Seth replied, brushing past me towards the door. “I’m sure everyone here is fine. I’ve got more important things to do now. Later, nerds.”

Seriously? He’s just going to walk out of here like he didn’t just become some jacked fictional cultist. To flirt with girls? Ugh. And he used to be so cool in high school. When did he get to be so self-centered?

“Thanks for the save, Morgan,” Shay squeaked out. “I just- I dunno. He was starting to scare me.”

“Don’t mention it. He was starting to piss me off, too.”

“Mmm…”

“Forget him. Let’s make sure everyone else is okay. Somebody’s gotta have seen something, right?”

Shay shook his head and slapped his cheeks, refocusing himself. “Yeah. Let’s try the bunny girl that’s awake,” he said, pointing her out. True to Shay’s claim, the girl had floppy bunny ears that adorned her violet-haired head. She was wearing a dress that matched her hair and had this far-off look in her eyes. Signs of a concussion, maybe? Only one way to find out.

“Hey,” I called, making my way through the wreckage over to her. “Are you alright?”

The bunny girl jolted, her eyes focusing on me and Shay. “Um… Uh-huh. I’m alright. What about you two?”

“Yeah, Shay and I are fine, other than the transformation stuff. I’m Morgan, by the way. What’s your name?”

The girl’s eyes glazed back over, looking far off and glassy again. “Lunabella…? Yes. Luna for short.”

So she was a girl before the transformations? Why did only some of us get gender-swapped?

“Um, are you sure you’re alright, Luna?” Shay asked. “You seem kinda dazed. Did you hit your head on something?”

Luna shook her head. “Oh, no, I’m fine, really. Do you know what happened to us?”

“We were hoping to ask you the same question,” I replied. “You’ve got nothing either, huh? For now, we’re trying to get everyone evacuated since we can still move. Are you able to help?”

“I… don’t know anything. But, I can help. I think.”

I smiled. “Great! In that case-”

“Hey, hi, uh, sorry!” Another voice interjects. I turned to see an elf with black hair and blue undertones coming our way. They were dressed in a full cottage-core outfit that seemed way too clean given the fact that we just survived some kind of magic explosion.

“You’re evacuating people, right?” The elf continued. “I called for an ambulance, but I didn’t really know how to explain the whole…” They trail off, gesturing at Shay and Luna’s new animal additions.

“Yeah, you’d sound insane if you tried to explain this without anyone seeing this,” Shay agreed. “They’ll just have to see it for themselves.”

“Yeah. Do any of you know what happened?” The elf asked.

We all shook our heads no, which caused Luna to stumble. I was starting to think our guess about the concussion was right, after all. 

Thankfully, our new elf friend caught Luna, steadying her before she completely lost their balance. “Woah! You alright?”

Luna nodded meekly. “Uh, yeah. S-Sorry.”

“Just take it easy for now. I’m Holly, by the way. They/them.”

“I’m Morgan, and this is my roommate Shay. Um, he/him, I guess. We were guys up until the whole transformation happened. Only our other roommate got to stay male, and of course, he chooses to run off without helping anybody.”

“Y-Yeah… he/him for me too,” Shay adds, his little ears flattening and his tail swishing angrily. Maybe the gender stuff is a sore spot for him?

Luna suddenly perked up again. “I’m Lunabella, but you can call me Luna,” she says confidently.

“Preferred pronouns?” Holly asks.

Luna gestured to her chest. “Uh, isn’t it obvious?”

Holly stares at the bunny girl for a second. “Uh, yeah! Anyways, I can check the back of the building. Morgan, Shay, could you two handle the left and right sides of the front? And Luna, make sure everyone gets outside okay. It’ll be safer out in the front, and you seem a little worse for wear than the rest of us.”

We all agreed to Holly’s plan and split off into our respective zones. Most of the people were starting to come to their senses by the time I found them, and nobody looked seriously hurt. However, the people I helped were decidedly not human. I pulled a fox boy out of a toppled ficus decoration, helped an angel who’d gotten trapped underneath a desk, and untangled an oni from the mess of cables that got thrown around. By the time we got everyone out to the front, the wailing of sirens could be heard in the distance. The beastfolk and elves covered their ears and groaned in pain as the sirens grew louder and louder. Next to me, Shay let out a sound I could only describe as a whimper. I put my hands on his ears to help dull the sound but I’m not too sure how much that helped. He tightened his grip until the first responders were on the scene and turned the sirens off. 

From then on, it was a whirlwind of movement as medics began checking vitals and rushing in to look for any other victims. I lost track of Holly and Luna in the chaos, but Shay managed to stick with me by hanging onto the hem of my shirt for dear life.

One of the first responders tapped me on the shoulder out of nowhere. “Excuse me miss. You were one of the first people to help with the evacuation, right? May I ask you a couple of questions?”

“Go ahead,” I answered. Great, now was the time to get some questions answered.

“Did you notice any strange smells when you were inside before the accident? Our team thinks the cause of the building damage was an earthquake that ruptured a gas line.”

Earthquake? Gas line? What was this guy on about? “Uh, no? It seemed pretty normal in there, up until a black fog enveloped the whole room. I am concerned about the changes that seemed to affect everyone, though.”

“Changes?” The first responder asked. “What kind of changes are you referring to?”

I blinked. Does he not see what kind of crowd he’s in right now? I glanced over to the site designated for checking vitals. None of the first responders were even batting an eye. Weird. Well, maybe he only saw me from the front and somehow missed the big giant butterfly wings on my back?

“Well, I think I turned into some kind of fairy, and my friend here got turned into a catgirl,” I tried.

The first responder stared back at me. “Excuse me?”

“Uh, there are butterfly wings on my back, and my friend has cat ears and a tail?”

“Ma’am, could I have you wait in that line over there?” the first responder said, pointing to the line for medical checkups. “It’s possible the gas leakage induced a hallucinogenic effect on you.”

“Now hold on,” Shay interjected. “Are you telling me you can’t see the bird girl over there getting her temperature taken?”

“Both of you, get yourselves checked for a possible concussion before you leave, please.” The first responder escorted us to our checkups as Shay and I stared at each other in disbelief.

Holly found us shortly after we finished our checkups. “You two had a clean bill of health too, huh?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Nobody else seems to think anything weird is going on.”

“The lady checking me shined a light into my cat ears and still didn’t think anything was weird!” Shay complained.

Holly nodded. “Same here. It truly is bizarre… I can’t make heads or tails of this.”

Shay hissed.

“No pun intended!” Holly quickly added. “I wanna get to the bottom of this. Would you two be interested, too?”

“Definitely,” I said, and Shay nodded as well. Let’s trade contact information, and we’ll let you know if we find anything.”

Holly nodded, pulling out their phone and trading numbers with us. “Luna ran off before the ambulance got here,” they said. “I tried to stop her, but the first responders sat me down for a medical inspection right away. The sounds must have been really painful with those big bunny ears.”

Uh oh. She’s the one I was the most worried about, too. “I hope she’s okay,” I say.

“Not that we’re in much better shape,” Shay added quietly.

“Yeah. We can investigate starting tomorrow,” Holly agreed. “For now, I just wanna go back to my dorm and sleep.”

“Same here. We’ll keep in touch.”