Episode 1: A Flood of Foes

“Rose!” Eloreth’s voice violently pulled Rose from her slumber. She leapt, naked and panicked, to her feet and hurriedly glanced around her room. As her brain slowly caught up with her body, she realized that there was no immediate threat, and she groaned.

“What is it, Eloreth? It’s…” She glanced at her alarm clock, “Five in the morning.”

“Disaster doesn’t sleep, girl. Hellbeasts are incoming.”

Rose sighed, “How long do I have?”

“Half hour. Maybe less. South Side.”

Rose shook out her arms and took a deep breath, “I should have time for a shower, then. Anything else I should know?”

Eloreth didn’t respond until Rose was in the shower, glistening wet and enjoying a moment of peace before the day’s work began. Even these rare peaceful moments weren’t entirely untouched by Rose’s new lifestyle. Her nipples eagerly responded to even the briefest of touches, and her hands left little electric trails of subtle excitement as they glided along her soap-slick form.

“I can’t tell how many are going to arrive.” Eloreth finally said, “At least six, all relatively small. It seems like a larger disruption split before it could manifest.”

Rose processed the information. Handling a large group of foes was not her specialty. She could lock down a powerful target and wear it down over time, but she couldn’t be in two places at once. Unfortunately, if even a small Hellbeast got away from her, it could wreak considerable havoc. The civilian authorities had been slow to adapt to incursions from the demonic realm, and their Supernatural Containment Unit was still relatively new and untested. Not the sort of thing Rose really wanted to rely on to make up for her own shortcomings.

Exiting the shower, Rose wiped the condensation away from the bathroom mirror and examined herself. Perhaps it was all the fighting and flying around she’d been doing lately, or perhaps it was the demonic lust energy that now coursed through her body, but she had never been in better shape. Her eyes traced over her round face, full breasts, and flat stomach, appreciating just how much weight she had lost since becoming Starlily. Turning sideways, she admired her profile for a moment, nodding approvingly at her round hips and healthy thighs, before letting out a sigh. No matter how good she looked, she knew that she would never quite measure up to her alter-ego.

Closing her eyes, Rose drew upon the power within her, and began her transformation. Light erupted from her body in beams and sparkles, and a tingle ran all along her skin. Becoming Starlily was always more dramatic than transforming back. She hovered a few inches off the ground and stretched her arms out, allowing the cloth and frills to wrap themselves around her limbs as they materialized. She gasped lightly as the ribbons fastened themselves, squeezing everything tight against her form and subtly shifting her flesh into the shape of Starlily. Higher breasts and cheekbones, a thinner waist, brighter hair and flawless skin: Rose’s alter-ego was an enhanced, idealized, and fantastic version of herself. When Starlily touched down, her transformation was complete. The pink-haired heroine checked her perfect reflection in the mirror just once before zooming away. There was work to do.

Zooming through the air and impossible speeds never lost its charm, and it came to Starlily as naturally as breathing. She arrived near the predicted breach at the city outskirts just as sparks began to crackle and fizz into and out of existence all around her. Hoping to strike quickly and eliminate at least one or two Hellbeasts as soon as they appeared, Starlily summoned her energies into the shape of a large hammer. Taking aim at the center of one of the spark clusters, she channeled more and more energy into the head of the weapon, prepared to drop it as soon as the Hellbeast materialized.

A flash of flame and heat announced the arrival of Starlily’s foes, and she wasted no time diving into the inferno to bring down the hammer. “Meteor Strike!” She called, swinging the energy weapon towards the nearest Hellbeast, detonating all the stored energy as soon as it made contact. The of the explosion sent her somersaulting backwards, but it did worse to the Hellbeast, who died before Starlily could even get a proper look at it.

One down, though, still left several more to go. The other Hellbeasts had all arrived, now, and Starlily counted at least six. They were each roughly identical lizard-dog monsters with six legs and a short, eyeless face ending in an oversized maw. The Hellbeasts stood at about waist-height, and didn’t seem particularly threatening, but there were a lot of them, and they were fast. A couple of the closest ones growled up at the hovering Champion as she summoned her next weapon, a large sword.

Wasting no time, Starlily twirled towards her nearest foe, who hopped out of the way of her sword at the last second. Planting a heel, Starlily adjusted her grip and whirled the sword into a vicious backswing, cleanly slicing through a surprised hellbeast who tried to attack her from behind. There was no time to rest or celebrate, though. The beast directly in front of her lunged forward, and Starlily brought her sword forward to block the attack. At the last instant, the beast leapt into the air, leaping over the blade and reaching for her face with sharp, malformed claws. A reflexive blast of energy sent the beast soaring away before it could do any damage, but also dispelled the sword and put Starlily on the defensive.

Or it would have, if there were any other Hellbeasts still attacking her. A quick check confirmed that the only enemy still in the vicinity was the monster she had just sent flying, which had began righting itself and was preparing to make another charge. “Shit,” Rose muttered, summoning up a lance and preparing to intercept the attack, “How many got away?”

There was noone there to answer, of course, and after skewering the Hellbeast before her, the champion allowed herself a moment to catch her breath. Using so many different abilities in such a short succession had her blood pumping quickly, and her skin was hot to the touch. Even the act of wiping the sweat from her brow sent shivers down Starlily’s spine. Even if she did track down all the remaining Hellbeasts, would she have the endurance to defeat them all?