Crimson Glory ch.1

"Shine on!" she cried out, lifting her face and raising her arm and closing her eyes, and a beam of light poured down upon her. She lifted, floating slightly off the ground as the light seemed to grow, engulfing her from all directions. She lifted her other arm too and started to turn, slowly twirling as the light grew brighter and brighter. In moments it was too bright to see anything more than the shadowed outline of her slender and voluptuous figure, and in moments more not even that. Then the light faded even more suddenly than it appeared and there she was, floating over the grass, beautiful. "Here they come, Crimson. Keep everyone back." she called back in a confident tone, her voice breathy and somehow ethereal as always, ever so beautiful.

"Right," Crimson hopped in place, spinning her wheels and glancing from the line of trees over to the street. The last of the civilians were already mostly clear and hiding behind the cars there, with just a few of the braver ones peeking out to watch. And of course there were the camera drones.

Then there was a thudding noise from the trees and it came crashing through, roaring. It was a big one, almost twice the size of the one she faced by herself the other day. It was shaped mostly like a wolf on two legs but with long curving tusks like a boar and hooves like a bull that carved out chunks of dirt with every thudding step. When it saw the two of them it grunted and lowered its snout and charged.

Crimson Spark took off and charged too, leaning forward and gaining speed down the little slope, aiming right for it and watching to make sure its little eyes were focused on her. She got almost close enough for the creature to reach her and as soon as it started to lift its paw she veered away, whirling to fling a wheel backhand at its shoulder. The solid hit drew a fresh roar and left a patch of singed fur, but after an irritated glance in her direction it kept charging. Big and smart enough not to try chasing her down; it was a good thing she wasn't fighting this one by herself.

She circled around, flung the wheel from her other arm and got another pair spinning and threw them both at once. It staggered a little as they crashed into its back but didn't look her way or miss a step, and she paused a moment to aim and kick the wheel from one leg to skid across the ground and bounce up into the scorched patch under its neck just before Glory was ready to fire.

She raised one arm gracefully over her head and a searing column of light engulfed the charging monster, which roared and flailed and tried to shield itself. She rose up slightly and her gleaming pure white gown billowed open around her while her shining golden hair floated about her head, so beautiful, both rising and rippling like they were being blown by a steady gentle breeze. The monster kept charging even as its roars turned into screams of pain and its fur started to blacken and burn away. It was almost close enough now and wound up for a ferocious overhead swipe, only to smack face-first into the gleaming curtain instead.

It shimmered like morning sunlight at the ground, and stretched up and up into the sky where it looked almost like some daytime aurora. Behind it Shining Glory just floated serenely, her hair and her gown rippling and billowing freely all about her and gradually rising a little higher. She stretched out her other arm and the pillar of light narrowed, focusing its blazing fury upon the trapped and helpless beast, which gave a last groaning roar as its furious blows began to weaken, then falter as it slumped before finally collapsing.

Crimson couldn't watch the last of it, because she had to turn away to confront the things that were oozing out of the treeline. They were all smaller, just as dark as the big one but less solid, and instead of roaring and charging they chittered and scuttled up the hill. Most seemed to be scampering toward Glory up there, but a few were moving in her direction too. It looked like there were maybe 10 or 15 of them, and most of them weren't even as big as the ones they fought just yesterday. She revved back up and zoomed at the nearest one. It saw her coming and tried to shrink away, and when it turned to run she nailed it with a forehand wheel and turned toward the next. Now that she was up to full speed they barely even had time to see her coming before her wheels caught one and then another and another square in the midsection. She made sure to only throw them from her arms this time, just in case. When there were two of them left upright and moving she noticed the brilliant light fading back to its usual glow and called over "All finished over there?"

"Yes," came the reply, still beautifully melodious. "She's unhurt. The civilians all seem to be safe as well." Once those last two were finished she looked up. Sure enough, the wolfbeast was gone and Shining Glory was kneeling with her gown spread out on the ground around her, still beautiful, so after finishing the last of the shadowy things and cleaning up what was left of them Crimson Spark rolled up beside her. "You should probably tell everyone that it's safe now," Glory gestured at the crowd by the street while tenderly examining the head poking out from under her gown. Crimson paused for a quick look herself before she checked on the people cautiously emerging from their hiding places. The girl had shoulder-length brown hair and looked perfectly ordinary now, without any trace of the monster she was just moments ago.

They called it an infection mostly, even though they could never find any kind of germ or anything that was causing it. So they mostly called anyone who transformed like that an 'infected'. They even came up with a long scientific name for the disease, but she never used it or called it that, because she knew better. What transformed girls and young women into violent monsters wasn't really just some disease, it was magic. The same magic that transformed her, and Glory, and every other magical girl in the world. People everywhere usually called them magical girls, even though not everyone quite believed it was really magic they were using and they came up with other names for them too like 'defenders' or 'protectors', or some other variation of 'warriors' or 'soldiers', and stranger ones like 'sweepers' or 'enforcers'. Most of those were different in different places, though, so 'magical girl' was just about the only name that was the same everywhere. But plenty of people still thought they were using some kind of advanced technology and not really magic, since the only ones who really knew the truth were the magical girls themselves and a few world leaders, the kind that an alien from an old movie meant when it said "take me to your leader!" And of course the aliens themselves.

They explained the situation to those leaders as soon as they arrived and all of it started, and apparently they all agreed to only tell the rest of the world about it slowly, starting with the most important parts like the magical girls and the things that the magical girls would have to fight, and without too much of the kind of detail that would cause trouble, like just how the magic worked. So the simple version of it that everyone knew was that she was a 'magical girl' who protected everyone else from things like 'demons' and 'infected'. Those weren't the only kinds of threats there were, but they were the most common and the most significant ones that everyone had to deal with. Demons were only a nuisance most of the time, like insects. But like insects they could become dangerous if they weren't exterminated soon enough and grew into a major infestation. So it was the transformed monsters that were the biggest danger, especially since as soon as they transformed they almost always starting attacking everything and everyone in sight. It could happen just about anywhere, and it happened somewhere almost every day and it usually sent people fleeing and created a trail of destruction just like this one did right here until a magical girl arrived to put a stop to it, just like they did right here.

The trail of destruction that ended here seemed to start at the office buildings on the other side of the park, according to the emergency signal that brought the two of them here to intercept her. Office buildings and schools were some of the most common places for a transformation, because office workers and students were some of the most common victims. Fortunately, that meant they also had the best safety measures, and at least this victim hadn't hurt anyone before they got here to stop her, according to the message from that signal.

"Is it over? Did you beat all of them?" Crimson looked up at the voice and saw the girl climbing out of the bus and running over. "Oh wow, that was soo cool! You two were totally awesome!!" she was gushing and grinning as she came up. After every fight with some spectators there were always a few like this that would run up all excited wanting an autograph or something, especially teenage girls. This one looked like she was probably in junior high. A few of the others that had been watching from the bus or hiding behind the cars were coming over too, and of course the camera drones were still there.

"Yes, it's over now," she raised her voice so they could all hear, "so it's safe to come out. If anyone's hurt, the ambulance should be here soon." She gestured at Shining Glory and the unconscious girl covered by her gown. "And please try to be respectful." After almost every fight with some spectators there were always a few that would treat the situation as an opportunity, so she always tried to discourage that. Those camera drones were bad enough. The girl was still standing there, probably waiting for her autograph.

"Oh wow, it's really you. Crimson Glory, the defenders of District Five. I've wanted to meet you for so long and I was really looking forward to meeting you today." She giggled and continued to gush. That 'defenders' was one of the more common other things to call magical girls, and around the city it was probably the most common. Crimson herself kinda liked being called a 'defender' better than a 'magical girl' or most of the other common names, anyway. She wasn't quite so sure about 'Crimson Glory' as a team name, but at least it fit better than some of the names that fans came up with for other teams. "I was actually just on my way when the bus stopped and I saw- oh right! I'm Lillia." the girl drew herself straight up like she was standing at attention or something, and Crimson realized who she was.

"Oh right, Lillia. You were going to meet us today." She glanced nervously toward the bus where a little crowd was starting to form while everyone waited for the ambulance, but it looked like they were too far away to overhear anything.

"Uh-huh!" she grinned even more, "When the bus stopped and I saw the attack I was kinda worried I might have to do something until you got here. I mean I maybe could've tried to-" She was interrupted there, fortunately, by the ambulance's siren.

Crimson went to meet it, letting her wheels vanish as she approached the street and stepping up to the driver's window. "A single code 10-D, fully subdued. No other injuries that I've seen." She had made sure to learn the proper procedure for reporting one of these, and she must have got it right because the driver just nodded and finished parking. Then a medic got out from the other side and she showed him to where Shining Glory was still sitting and waiting with the subdued 'patient'. They didn't use a stretcher or anything for a simple code 10-D, but he at least brought a blanket.

Glory took that and slipped it over the girl that was under her gown, careful to keep her covered the whole time. Even though most of the bystanders were already wandering off or driving away or getting back on the bus there were still a few 'casually' waiting around nearby and trying not to act too obvious about it. And of course the camera drones were still there, and now they were moving closer for a better view. Once the blanket was in place Glory gently scooped up the unconscious girl and floated to the waiting ambulance while the camera drones moved to surround them.

At least a few of those seemed to show up at just about every fight with an infected, unless the fight was over before the emergency signal went out, which usually only happened when someone happened to be close enough to detect the transformation for herself and stop the rampage before it got started. They usually kept their distance from any actual fighting, since drones that got too close tended to get smashed up or blasted to bits. But the risk of a broken drone or two during the fight was apparently an acceptable level of loss in exchange for the footage that the drones were almost sure to get after the fight, when the defeated monster transformed back into an unconscious and totally naked young woman.

Those young women almost always ended up on camera, since almost nobody but Shining Glory ever bothered to protect them from the camera drones and the spectators until they were in the ambulance. Even when a victorious magical girl stayed around to wait for the ambulance she would usually just carry the naked defeated transformation victim over her shoulder, and there were other girls that would rather just run off without even waiting at all and leave the girl lying there on the ground until the medics arrived. Crimson tried not to do that when she could help it and most of her friends didn't either, but there were always a few who did and there were always videos of the girls they left helpless and exposed like that.

But not this girl, whatever her name was. Shining Glory carefully kept her covered as she placed her gently into the back of the ambulance, then curled up and alighted beside her. She usually liked to go with a transformation victim to the hospital when she could, to help her with the ordeal of treatment and explain everything she would need to know. They could meet up later. "So I guess we can meet up later, then?" Crimson said to the younger girl, who was watching the scene at the ambulance along with everyone.

"Oh! Of course!" She looked up, her eyes sparkling. "Just like we planned." She giggled and added "I made sure to leave early just in case something like this happened." That was probably a good habit to have, under these circumstances. "I'll see you then! Bye!" They waved to each other and Crimson went to make a last check of the rapidly disappearing puddles of shadow that she'd left strewn around the park, then headed to the ambulance. Lillia watched her get in and watched the ambulance pull away as she got back on the bus and took her seat, checking that her bag was still where she left it. She'd expected to meet Crimson Glory today, but she hadn't expected to really see them in action, even if it was just a quick little fight like that. She watched it in her mind again during the ride, focusing on a few of the best parts. Crimson Spark always looked impressive in a fight, charging in fearlessly and zipping back out, throwing her flaming wheels, and today she took down so many phantoms so fast she made it look almost effortless. And Shining Glory was always even more splendid, calling down pillars of brilliant light and gleaming curtains, all while beaming beatifically and looking positively radiant in every possible way. They were both so beautiful and so powerful and they worked together so well.

They'd been together for almost a year now, and they'd been both active individually before that too. Crimson was a little newer at it, while Shining was one of the most well-established defenders in the city. She was one of the most powerful too, and she was still improving. They sometimes said that she might even have the potential to become the most powerful pure energy-type active anywhere. Energy-types were overall the most common, but any pure typing was considered pretty rare. Pure energy users in particular always had trouble dealing with phantoms by themselves, especially when they were starting out, but Shining Glory had done just fine as a solo defender before she teamed up with Crimson Spark. She wasn't quite as powerful, although they said she hadn't reached her full potential yet. Her fire wheel powers were classified as summoning/transformation/energy, or sometimes transformation/summoning/energy depending on which standards they used. Triple typing like hers tended to have its own disadvantages, but in her case the focus on speed and mid-ranged offense allowed her to mostly avoid the usual difficulties even if she couldn't match the sheer destructive power of a more focused style. The pair usually didn't use any name for their team, but the fans had been calling them Crimson Glory almost since they started operating together. And today she was going to join them. She wondered if someone would come up with a new name.

The pair had worked together with other defenders before now, but she was going to be an official member. The 'Department of Exigent Treat Management' that organized the activity of magical girls in the city had assigned her to District Five along with them, and today was her first training session, when they were supposed to meet each other in person. Responding to the attack just now meant they might be a little late, since they'd definitely want to take that corrupted to the hospital and stay with her while she went through initial treatment. Lillia knew about what that was like, although she had never seen one herself. Maybe soon enough she would be the one riding along in an ambulance to comfort a confused girl like that.

When the bus arrived she took her bag and got off and circled around behind the office building and crossed the caution tape where the defender was waiting for her, leaning up against the wall by the cracked glass doors. "Hey there," she called out. "Lillia, right? I heard from those two about what happened. But you're just about on time anyway, so if you're all ready we can get started here while they take care of things." She was already transformed, so Lillia recognized her immediately. Passion Crush was another well-established defender assigned to District Eight, and she'd offered to help the neighboring District's team with today's training. She was tall and solidly built, with long powerful legs and magnificent hips. Her costume was in the usual style with a miniskirt and a tight top, all red, matching her deep red hair in big fluffy twintails. She went inside and started up the stairs, and Lillia had to hurry to avoid being behind her. "Are you excited to be joining the team?"

"Of course! I've been totally looking forward to it. Shining and Crimson are both so awesome and I just know we're going to get along great and we'll make the best team." Passion snickered a little at how she was gushing. They got to the second floor and the big open-plan office room, and Lillia drew up short as she saw it. "Whoa," she murmured, "this was where the attack started, isn't it? The corrupted must have been right there when she transformed." Most people just called them 'infected', but she didn't like calling them that anymore since she found out the truth so now she liked to use 'corrupted' instead. "And then she went down those stairs and out the side door, toward the street. Was it the other day? That fight on the highway?"

Passion nodded. "Uh-huh, that's the one, with me and Magnum together. We got there at the same time so it went down really easy, but then we had to split the drop." Magnum Chrome was assigned to District Seven, and its border with District Eight was the stretch of highway between them. Normally a defender was only supposed to fight something that appeared in her own district unless she got another defender's call for help, in which case she could share in the credit. Some liked to help without being asked, but in that case the official assigned defender still got full credit for the fight. It was only in unusual cases like that one when two defenders engaged a corrupted at the boundary between their districts, or sometimes when a corrupted crossed the border during a fight, that they were required to share the credit for the victory and the energy that came from it. "So if you're ready to get started, then let's go." She gestured in the direction of the window on the opposite wall and started picking her way there over the debris.

Broken or overturned desks and chairs and cubicle divider walls were strewn all around, some of the overhead lights were cracked and a lot of the ceiling panels had been knocked out. Looking at it all now while the crossed the room together Lillia could just about imagine the scene. Some office worker lady suddenly transforming, everyone else at first just watching in shock and then fleeing in barely suppressed panic according to a well-drilled evacuation route, knocking things over even as the monster roared and smashed everything in reach. At least office buildings like this always had evacuation drills for when something like that happened, so injuries were usually minimal. And all the damage would be repaired too, soon enough.

But until then the building was abandoned, and that meant for now defenders could use it to train in private. When they got to the window Passion pointed again. From here Lillia could see the wall of the next building over with what looked like some kind of big circle on it.  "There's your target," she said, "so just let me see what you can do." Looking closer, the target was really a big circular crater, and embedded in the middle was the twisted remains of something unidentifiable that probably used to be some office furniture. She remembered what she'd seen of that fight on the highway the other day, and how the corrupted kept trying to throw things at the two defenders when it couldn't get close enough to swipe at them. They just kept their distance and dodged the flying street signs and sections of guardrail, and from the looks of that wall it was a really good thing neither of them took a direct hit.

But the crater that thrown office furniture had left on that wall made it into a perfect bullseye for her to use right now. "Alright, here I go," she said with a grin, and set down her bag and stepped forward. She gripped the ornament on her bracelet and held it up in front of her. "Match Point!" she shouted out the trigger command, and the light enveloped her as she lifted off the floor and twirled. Her light was pale blue, and when her transformation was finished most of her costume was a slightly darker blue that complemented the deep sea blue highlights streaked through her dark hair. Instead of the baggy shorts and plain jersey she came in with, now she was wearing a pleated miniskirt that was a lot like that of lots of other magical girls, and a strappy tank top. It looked a lot like a tennis outfit, really, especially along with the tennis racket she was holding. The trinket from her bracelet was attached to the end of the handle now, still in the same form of a miniature tennis ball. It usually worked like that for summoning types, at least at first. The girl turned and tossed her head in a way that made her hair swish pretty nicely and declared "Wild Ace!" with that same grin and a little giggle.

Now transformed and with her magical girl name properly announced, Wild Ace turned back and started showing off her powers. She held out a hand to summon a tennis ball and hit it right out the window at the target. Forehand, backhand, overhead, again and again, ball after ball bounced off the debris in the middle of the bullseye and vanished in midair. The way she swung her racket looked just like a real tennis player, which really she probably was. A magical girl that had sports-themed powers had usually been training at that sport for years before they awakened, including Crimson Spark if she remembered right, and it usually gave them a nice head start on training to use her powers too. Of course, no matter how skilled she was with them, Wild Ace here with her tennis-themed powers was just going to be really mediocre in a serious fight. Having demonstrated her accuracy, now she switched to power, and the next tennis ball struck with a pretty impressive resounding *clang* that left the metal bar of what was probably a table leg or something impressively dented. Most physical types could at least manage something like that at first, and so could most summoning types if they could control their summons properly.

Wild Ace was a summoning/physical type, according to the usual reckoning. She was summoning these tennis balls, so she simply changed that last ball's weight or mass or density or whatever before it impacted. Sometimes it took a summoning type a little while to learn tricks like that, so she was at least ahead of the curve. And she was enjoying herself, too, still grinning happily and looking completely comfortable and completely confident in every swing she took. She was just finishing up with power when Passion noticed something bright red outside the window, which turned out to be a glimpse of Crimson's hair. She went over and waved out and the two of them waved back up as they arrived. "go ahead and finish up here," Passion said to Ace with a nod toward the window. "I'll show them the highlights and then we can review your technique together. The girl nodded and showed her two last and most impressive shots, one tennis ball bursting in a flash of light on impact that left a nice big scorch mark, and the other that detonated in a nice big fireball that scorched the entire crater. Some of the alternative ways to reckon it would classify Wild Ace as a summoning/physical/energy type, although the difference was mostly a matter of interpretation.
//
The other two came in then, Crimson storming eagerly up the stairs and Glory floating behind her. "Hey there!" Crimson called out first, waving and picking her way across the room. "Nice to meet you again, for real this time." Ace waved back and started over to meet her halfway.

Meanwhile, Glory simply glided up, her beautiful bare feet passing right over all the obstacles, and got there first. "Yes, it's so nice to meet you." Even her voice was so beautifully melodious that hearing it was like slipping into a nice relaxing bath. "I've been really looking forward to working together, and I'm just sure we're going to get along just fine." She added a giggle that was even more melodious, and Ace giggled back.

Crimson, hopping over the last of the debris to join them, added, "Oh yeah, totally. And I heard you just awakened the other day? Don't worry, we'll teach you everything you need." She chuckled, grinning happily. "But anyway, you've been training here already, right? Well come on, let's see it."

So they all found some mostly intact chairs and sat down in front of the nice big mostly undamaged screen, with Ace sitting in the middle. Passion gave the screen a tap with her thumb ring and for a moment it glowed the same shade of deep red as her costume before the scene appeared, with Wild Ace herself getting ready for a shot. It was like earlier, when she was on the bus and replayed the fight in the park. That was one of the little things that every defender could do using her conduit. Hers was the tennis ball accessory that attached to either her bracelet or her racket, and Passion's was her thumb ring. They were used for all sorts of things, but especially for memory and communication abilities, and of course for the transformations. They said the conduit somehow 'stored' a defender's costume, and stored her other clothes while she was transformed. That's why they were sometimes called 'transformation trinkets', although they had other names too, like 'interfaces' because they could connect to each other and share information, and because they could connect to ordinary electronic devices like Passion Crush was doing right now.

And right now Passion was using that to show everyone her memory of Ace training earlier, so everyone was watching her on the screen there in perfect clarity as she gave her first serve. She was really hoping it would make for a good first impression with her new teammates, and sure enough the ball went sailing out the window and straight at the bullseye. But what Ace herself noticed about the shot wasn't her accuracy or her form or anything else like that. *Uh-oh* she stiffened as she saw it and realized. The memory-scene cut to her serving a second shot, just as accurate as the first, but she wasn't even looking at the ball. *Oh no* she glanced down, then caught herself and jerked back upright and glanced nervously at the others instead. *did they see it too? Oh I hope they didn't see. And I really hope they couldn't... tell.* On the third shot she was watching even closer for it and it was just about impossible to miss the quick little glimpse of her butt.

Her costume's skirt was just like an ordinary tennis skirt except just a little shorter, so just like an ordinary tennis skirt the movement of her swing would make it swish and lift up just a little. And when she was demonstrating her swing just now Passion Crush had been watching from right behind her and most of that time she was sitting down, so of course she would end up getting a glimpse or two, and of course now they were watching just what she saw so of course they were going to get that same glimpse. *It was really quick though. They totally must have noticed it but maybe they at least couldn't tell...?* The next shot gave her another glimpse that wasn't quite so quick, and the one after that was even more obvious. It seemed like every shot made her skirt flutter a bit higher and reveal a bit more than the last. This really wasn't what she had in mind for a first impression. Still, she tried to tell herself while she squirmed uncomfortably with her hands folded in her lap, maybe that was just how it seemed to her, and maybe if the others weren't looking quite as close as she was it might not be quite as obvious to them. *Maybe they can't quite tell. Maybe they're still wondering. Maybe they even think I might just be wearing a-*

That hopeful thought was interrupted by what she saw next, when there on the screen she leaped in the air for an overhead smash that sent her skirt flying, so that as she came back down it went all the way up, lifting right past her hips to float about her waist and reveal absolutely everything underneath. There was no way any of them could miss it, no way they could even imagine that she might just be wearing a thong. Because now it was as obvious as could be to all three of them that she wasn't wearing anything whatsoever under her skirt, and she had just totally flashed her completely bare butt. "I... um..." she started, her cheeks brightening and her voice trembling. This was definitely not the kind of first impression she wanted to make and she had to at least try to explain it somehow. "I didn't- I mean I wasn't- I mean I- I-" she glanced back and forth at their vague and unreadable expressions without quite meeting their eyes. But before she could stammer anything more the screen cut again, to another view of another serve made with another big leaping overhead smash.

And just like before she jumped up and just like before it made her skirt fly up and just like before it completely revealed her completely bare butt, and just like before she watched and trembled and quailed at the sight. But it didn't end there, because this time her leap was just a bit more energetic and her landing just a bit more heavy. And as she landed and bent slightly at her knees and her waist the scene seemed to slow down, so that just there and just then, just before her skirt could fall back into place, her thighs came open just enough and suddenly she was looking right at her own... private part.

For a long moment she just stared, frozen in shocked silence at the motionless image. The memory had paused right at that moment so the image was still there on the screen in front of her and everybody else. When the shock receded enough for her to react she did with a huge gasp, bringing one hand over her mouth in an almost theatrical expression of shock while the other clutched at the hem of her skirt as if trying reflexively to cover herself far, far too late. "That was a total accident!" she burst out in emphatic protest, her eyes and her hands now upon her lap. "I never meant to... It's just I was so excited... and I wasn't even thinking... and I guess I just forgot... about my..." she trailed off. She was so excited to show off her new powers for her new team that she never even thought about what it would do to her new costume. And she ended up making just about the worst first impression she possibly could.

"It's ok," the voice beside her was kind and sweet, and when she looked up Crimson smiled sympathetically and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to feel bad about it or anything. I mean, it happens to everybody."

Ace sniffled and returned a trembling smile of her own. "Thanks. I know, it's just..." She knew all about what could happen to a defender that got a little careless. "It's just, I was trying to be extra careful about it. Especially today." She had seen it happen so many times to so many girls. She knew that it could happen to anybody and she knew that it could happen to her too, which is why she made sure to be prepared so that it wouldn't happen to her. "Since I wanted to make a good first impression and everything, you know? So I made sure to pack-"

"These, right?" Passion Crush spoke up and everyone looked her way and saw what she was holding. "You were planning to put them on as soon as you transformed," they dangled from her finger, and she showed a rueful smile. "But you didn't quite get the chance, huh."

"Oh! That's..." she said with a start, then nodded and looked back down. "That's right. I guess I got so excited that I kinda forgot-"

"I made sure you did," Passion declared, and Ace looked back up, uncomprehending. "And in case you remembered anyway, I took them out of your bag when you transformed." The rueful smile turned serious as Passion got to her feet with her hands on her hips. "You're a magical girl now, Lillia. You've got to learn what that means, and you've got to learn to deal with it. And not by wearing something like this." With that she tossed the shorts on the ground Ace's feet. Her safety shorts, the little tight black shorts that she made sure to pack this morning and then completely forgot to put on, that could have saved her from flashing her new teammates if only she remembered.

"I know it's embarrassing and everything," Crimson offered. "And I'm sorry that we sorta tricked you like that. It's just, you have to get used to stuff like this, or it'll be so much worse when it happens for real. And it *will* happen to you, just like it happens to everyone."

"After all," Glory added gently with a shrug, "magical girls don't wear underwear."

"But..." Ace picked her shorts up off the ground. "But I saw them. I definitely saw them, at the tournament last year, you were wearing shorts just like these." She held them up, clutching at them and at the memories flowing through her mind now. She watched that entire tournament, the regionals where Crimson Spark made it all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated by Steelwing, and she remembered it all perfectly. It worked just the same for memories from back then before she was a magical girl, although she hadn't really tried remembering anything from more than a few years ago. That tournament, however, she could definitely remember, and she definitely remembered Crimson's safety shorts.

"Well sure, at tournaments and stuff," Crimson shrugged as well. "And for photoshoots and publicity events like that. But in a real fight you'll almost never have a chance to transform and then put anything else on. So even if you're trying to be careful, sometimes you just can't help, um, you know... flashing." Sighing and blushing slightly, she reached out to the screen. "So I guess you'll need to see this now." Crimson's conduit was her bracelet with the wheel motif, and when she touched it to the screen the unpleasant scene there finally disappeared, replaced by a new and different memory, this time one of Crimson fighting.

She looked just as impressive as always, just like today in the park, except that in the memory she seemed to be having a little more trouble because she was fighting a whole lot more phantoms. They oozed and slithered all around, too many to count from this distance, creeping a little closer to Crimson whenever she looked away and sliding away when she picked one to chase. They were trying to keep her busy long enough to surround her, like they usually did, and if it worked, they'd all attack at once, hoping to overwhelm her. Phantoms were so weak individually that almost none of them could seriously threaten even a newly awakened defender except in large groups like this, and a group always seemed to gather when a defender used her powers nearby, especially energy-type powers. They were usually called 'demons' but Ace had never liked that. They didn't have anything to do with classical mythology or anything, except for being dark and kinda creepy, so she preferred 'phantoms' or sometimes 'shadows'.

These ones fighting Crimson on the screen were a little bigger than most, and in a group this size they could even be dangerous. But Crimson Spark knew how to fight phantoms, and when one of them behind her crept close enough she wheeled around and charged it at full speed. The thing turned to run, but when she flung a wheel backhand it had to jerk to the side and she was ready and kicked another wheel that caught it square in the back and scattered it to pieces on the ground. And just like always, the sparks vanished right before impact.

Phantoms fed by absorbing energy, especially the energy that defenders used for their powers, which was why pure energy-types usually had so much trouble fighting them, since they could absorb energy attacks just as easily. Mixed-types like Crimson or Ace had it easier, but they still had to make sure to avoid using any energy attacks. For Ace that wasn't hard at all, since her tennis balls were normally purely physical attacks unless she charged them up, but Crimson had to actively extinguish the sparks that drove her wheels at just the right moment to make sure the physical part of the wheel hit but the energy part didn't. Still, she had plenty of practice, and in the memory she was doing just great with it.

The phantoms tried to regroup and surround her again, but Crimson kept after them, chasing down one and then another and another. It really was impressive to watch, the way she zoomed around and maneuvered and whirled to use her momentum for her splendid spinning kicks. She always seemed to have much better control of the wheels on her legs than the ones on her arms, and after every kick she could reform the wheel and have it spinning again in time to keep rolling without even losing any speed. And the sparks flying from her wheels seemed to perfectly complement the flames that rippled and flowed all the way up her legs.

Those were only flame patterns, really, red and yellow patterns on her bright orange thigh-highs, but they really were rippling. Some costumes did things like that, and Crimson's whole costume was red and orange and yellow patterns that flowed and danced when she moved and used her powers like she was wearing flame itself. It was a really impressive costume, and the most impressive part of it was those thigh-highs that went so far up they were almost leggings. But not quite. When she was standing still it was easy enough to imagine that they really could be leggings, since her miniskirt was just barely long enough to keep the top of her thigh-highs covered. But as soon as she started moving and especially rolling around her skirt would rise high enough to reveal more than enough bare thigh to show that she really wasn't wearing leggings, and fighting like she was in this memory made it rise even higher and reveal even more than that. In fact, with the tide of the battle turning in her favor Crimson seemed to be getting more excited and her kicks were getting more energetic, and before long it was getting very hard to miss the quick little fluttering glimpses of her butt.

And at the same time the memory's perspective seemed to be getting lower, so that when one quick twirl sent Crimson's skirt flying all the way up to her waist, everything underneath was fully exposed for a few long moments until it floated back down. Ace had to stifle a gasp at the sudden sight of her slightly plump yet very firm and well-toned butt. By then the fight was almost over, the few remaining phantoms regrouping as they seemed to realize they would never surround a defender who could move as fast as this one, and instead trying to simply close the distance for a direct frontal attack. Crimson sneered and charged right at them with an exultant grin and when they lunged she ducked away and veered to the side, exactly like earlier in the park except her whirl turned into a spinning kick and the wheel caught one of them in midair. She backed up and stopped and launched another wheel with a magnificent high kick, taking out another just as it was landing. Then there was only one left, and she leaped into the air and sent her wheel crashing down right through it.

On the screen everything was silent as Crimson Spark surveyed the field of carnage and fading shadow-splotches, and in front of the screen everyone was silent too. For a moment Ace just stared in open-mouthed amazement, until eventually she managed, "That was..." only to trail off into silence again.

"I know." Crimson muttered. "I was super careless. I got way too excited, and I never even noticed there was a camera drone right there." Of course that was just video from a camera drone, Ace realized. It explained the low angle and the quality. The camera drones that roamed around searching for corrupted and phantoms and other monster attacks and gathered to record fights always used high definition video, of course, but the memory of Crimson watching that video still wasn't quite as clear as a memory of something a defender witnessed firsthand. "I only realized afterward, and then when I saw it for myself it was-"

"It was amazing!" Ace burst out, cutting her off. Crimson gave her a weird look. "I mean, uh. The fight, I mean," she corrected herself. "You looked so cool there. I've seen you fight so many times and you always look cool, but that was just on another level, like, as if you were more dancing than fighting."

"Whoa," Crimson grinned and chuckled at the effusive praise. "You liked it that much, huh? I guess I really did get a lot more into it back then. See, that was back when I was still solo, and I wasn't quite so used to being careful, especially when I got excited." She looked down again. "After I realized what happened that time I started trying really hard to be more careful and to not get so excited and to not to rely so much on, um, you know... kicks." Ace nodded somberly. Doing a spinning kick like that in a miniskirt was pretty much a perfect recipe for flashing something just like that, and doing a high kick was a recipe for flashing everything, especially if a camera drone happened to be in position for a low angle shot like that one. When Crimson spun around and her skirt flew up it exposed practically everything, and when her leg shot up she exposed just about everything again since the camera happened to be in just about the worst possible position right at that moment. And then when she leaped in the air she happened to point her wide-open legs in the worst possible direction at the worst possible time, so that for just a moment her private part could not possibly have been any more exposed. It was terrible, at least a hundred times worse than the 'first impression' that Ace herself made when she was practicing just now.

"Oh, but it doesn't happen like that anymore." Crimson must have noticed her expression. "Not usually, anyway. Especially since we teamed up." She grinned again. "And I'm really glad we did. Fighting and everything with a team is a lot easier, and it's way more fun!"

"Oh, it really is!" Shining Glory added with a giggle. "And we make a great team. I'm sure you're going to love it with us too." She sounded so eager and earnest that Ace found herself giggling right back.

"Yeah, I'm really glad, this is really the best team I could have hoped for." She wasn't just saying that. Almost since they formed, Crimson Glory had consistently been the top-ranked team in the city, and near the top of the entire region. Ace herself wouldn't appear on the individual power rankings at all at first, but she didn't really expect to be ranked anywhere close to these two. After all, Shining Glory had been among the top of the individual rankings since even before they teamed up, although Crimson Spark was only sort of above average. She'd even heard that Crimson was lucky to be selected for the team in the first place, and that Glory must have accepted it out of a sense of charity or something when she would have been smarter to keep operating solo and hold out for a better partner. "And I really wouldn't want to have to start out solo or anything like that."

"Oh, I know. It's really not fun having to fight solo, especially not when you're starting out." Glory sighed and reached for her conduit. It was hanging from her necklace, so she had to reach down into her gown's plunging neckline to withdraw the big teardrop pendant from where it was nestled deep in her plentiful cleavage. "So you'll need to see this next." Then she touched the pendant to the screen, and instead of a scene of fighting like before the memory showed only confused shadowy darkness, and screaming.

The voices were distant and shrieking in terror, while nearer there was hysterical sobbing from someone too scared even to scream. And as they watched the darkness congealed and figures took shape and slid forward, a group of phantoms emerging from the shadows. The things were grotesque and terrifying enough when a defender was fighting them. Like this they were something from a nightmare, oily blackness in a mockery of human shapes with faces eyeless and featureless until they split into mouths that glowed dull red. One of the things reached out with something almost but not quite like an arm, and watching it Ace couldn't help but imagine the fear that whoever was there must have felt. But only for a moment, until the light appeared.

It erupted from the side of the screen and covered everything, washing over the three shadows like dawn driving away the night, and when it cleared enough to see again there she was, standing over one broken and dissolving phantom with her gown billowing and glowing all around her. The other shadows skittered and lunged, and she whirled to knock one aside with a backhand blow while ducking away from another. In the moment of respite that bought Shining Glory looked up and called out, "All of you, just stay back. They'll come at me now." before she threw herself into the fight.

The creatures were all rushing and diving at her headlong, with none of the caution or coordinated tactics of the ones that had fought Crimson. Glory just darted from side to side, smoothly dodging every attack and leaving her foes swiping at the fabric of her gown as it too fluttered away and out of reach. Then when she saw an opening she lunged in herself to catch one at the peak of a leap with a rising thrust that used the thing's own momentum against itself and just about impaled it. Floating in her personal shining nimbus, she flicked the liquid shadow from her arm and turned to face the rest.

She was always floating when she was transformed, of course, and especially when she was fighting. Almost every energy-type could float as a sort of side effect of their powers, and some like Glory tended to start floating whenever they used their energy powers, just like earlier in the park. Ace had seen Glory float like that lots of times, but she had never seen Glory float like this. Most energy-types and especially pure energy-types could hardly fight shadows at all by themselves, because they couldn't use their energy powers at all. But even without using any of her actual powers, just floating gave Glory enough speed and agility that she could fight a whole group of shadows like this almost like a physical-type would. And with her hair and her gown both billowing all around her and glowing, she looked absolutely beautiful doing it.

That glowing wasn't just a side effect of her powers, she was doing it on purpose. Because shadows consumed energy it meant that they were attracted to releases of energy like an energy-type defender's attacks. That was why a few of them always tended to attack when an energy-type was fighting, just like in the park earlier, and it was why they tended to focus their attacks on an energy type who was using her powers. Being close enough to strike at her when she was using her powers like this must be what was driving them into a mindless frenzy like that, even if she wasn't doing anything more than just glowing.

And that was part of how she was fighting them so easily, when even an actual physical-type might have had a bit of trouble with this many phantoms at once. As long as they kept trying to rush her in a frenzy instead of organizing and surrounding her like usual, Glory could control the fight and keep dodging until she saw an opening to strike without leaving herself open when she did. It was slower than the way Crimson fought them, but so far none of the shadows had hit her at all and even her costume was completely undamaged. Although now that she looked a little more closely, Ace did notice that as Glory went on floating and fighting her costume seemed to be floating and fluttering higher and higher.

Shining Glory's costume was a pure white full-length gown, or maybe more of a robe, like the kind you'd see carved on a classical statue of an ancient goddess or something. And when she used her powers and floated it always made her gown billow open and start floating too, like in the park earlier. With her hair and her gown both billowing around her like that she always looked just beautiful, like the goddess from one of those statues come to life. In a fight like the one today it usually ended up floating around her knees like that, or occasionally as high as mid-thigh, and Ace always had to admire the sight of her beautiful long slender bare legs. Right now that sight was making her nervous, however, because on the screen now Glory's hemline was already at mid-thigh, and it was still rising.

There were only a couple of the shadows left now, but they seemed to be way tougher than any of the others, and their attacks maybe a little faster too. Glory was weaving through a flurry of flailing tentacle-limbs from one when the other lunged at her from behind and she whirled and backhanded it away, but it just got back up. And all the rapid vigorous movement of darting around like that and especially spinning like that was making her gown ripple and swirl more freely than ever, always fluttering higher and higher and never floating back down at all. In just a few moments the rest of her beautiful thighs were bare, and in the next moment she countered yet another lunge with a quick kick that presented a brief but quite clear glimpse from the side of her magnificent full hips.

She darted in to strike one monster and then whirled back away from its flurry of swipes, and when she spun her gown swirled and rippled, rising slowly so that with every flutter it revealed a little more of the incredible view from behind those incredible hips. Then the other monster leapt and she ducked underneath and suddenly there it was, uncovered for just a quick moment, and Ace's mouth dropped open and she had to stifle a little gasp at the sight.

Once again Glory caught the leaping phantom with a rising thrust, and this time when it flopped to the ground it finally lay still and began to melt. There was a hesitant smattering of cheers from somewhere nearby as she calmly faced down the last of the shadows. It lunged, as mindless as ever, and she slid smoothly to the side, whirling and rising into a spinning kick that landed square on the phantom's blank face, and that was all it took. Just like that Shining Glory's last foe went down, and just like that Shining Glory's gown went all the way up.

This time Ace couldn't even try to hold it back and she let out a huge gasp at the spectacular sight of Glory's completely bare and totally luscious butt. So smooth and so full and round, firm and taut with her leg outstretched yet still jiggling just slightly, it was absolutely incredible to see like this and yet incredibly terrible for it to be seen like that. And Ace's open mouth and wide eyes only widened even more as the spin continued and Shining Glory's naked backside rotated away, replaced by her equally naked front.

"Oh!" she cried out as soon as she saw it, a sound of total shock tinged with just a bit of sheer awe. So lush, so sleek, so tender, and ever so beautiful, the sight was simply unbelievable, and at the same time it was unbelievably awful for Glory to have her private part completely exposed in public. There was cheering, and laughter, and Glory had a serene smile as she floated back down to the ground, even though her gown was still floating about her waist and everything underneath was still on display. After a long moment she glanced down and at last realized it and thrust a hand between her legs to push her costume back down and cover herself. "That's..." Ace murmured, then slumped back, her head spinning. "That was..." she trailed off again, unable to even come up with words for what she'd just seen.

"I know," Glory beside her said with a sigh. "And with all those little kids there, too. I'm just glad they weren't traumatized or anything." Ace looked back up at that and sure enough there they were on the screen, a whole bunch of little kids rushing over and crowding around their beautiful savior. It was them cheering before, and they were cheering even more now, and giggling and squealing with delight and the euphoria of sudden intense relief. "I made sure to explain how it was all a total accident, so I don't think they got the wrong idea or anything. But still..." she looked down, her cheeks brightening just slightly in a way that made her look very much like the Glory on the screen looked just now, "they totally saw everything." Ace could only nod and grimace in sympathy. It was so terrible, about ten thousand times worse than her 'first impression' from just a few minutes ago.

"See, normally I would never try to fight demons directly like that," Glory explained. "Especially not by myself, and especially not with, um, you know... an audience." Ace nodded again. It was bad enough to end up flashing a camera drone that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ace could hardly even imagine how much worse it would be to end up flashing a crowd like that. "It's just, they were already attacking and there was nobody else to stop them and when I saw the daycare with all those poor helpless little kids, I just didn't have a choice!" Ace nodded again. Most pure energy types had a hard time fighting shadows solo and almost always tried to avoid it, and for an extraordinary pure energy type like Shining Glory it could still be... risky. "Oh, but it all worked out!" she brightened, noticing Ace's expression. "They were super understanding once I explained everything." She gave a little giggle. "Ever since then they all wave and cheer whenever they see me, and Gale still keeps in touch too."

Ace found herself smiling at Glory's cheery tone despite everything. "Hmm? Gale? You mean, um, one of those girls, or?"

"No, it was Wonder Gale. She was working at the daycare that day, and then she awakened just a couple months later. I helped her out a little when she was getting started, and ever since then we make sure to get together sometimes. That's how I got the memory." Ace nodded, understanding now. She had thought that memory was too high quality to be from an ordinary video, and the perspective was all wrong to be from a camera drone, but it would make perfect sense if someone who was there and saw it for herself had awakened and become a defender. "You remember her, right?" Glory was saying, "From the last tournament? I heard she got pretty far for a first appearance." Ace remembered the tournament, of course, which is how she recognized the name, although all she really knew was that Gale predictably had wind-themed powers that probably meant she was an energy type, and that she got eliminated in the second round. "We didn't get a chance to meet up there, although I heard she got a new partner after that." She giggled again. "I think at first she was actually hoping she might end up being my partner, except by then I was already partners with Crimson." Ace nodded once again, now with a new perspective on that too. Of course Glory would team up with Crimson as soon as she got the chance, and of course Crimson would fight shadows so that Glory wouldn't have to move around like that in a fight. If operating solo meant risking something like what they just saw every time some phantoms attacked, there was no way that Glory would ever have wanted to try holding out for a 'better' teammate.

"Maybe we can watch a bit of that tournament too, if you like," Passion interrupted, standing and crossing to the screen, "but right now there's one more thing you'll need to see." With her mouth set in a determined line and her eyes still fixed upon Ace, she reached out and tapped her thumb ring to the screen again. The memory there disappeared, replaced with another dim scene of some kind of darkened alley, and after what she'd just seen Ace watched with uncomfortable apprehension wondering what she was just about to see. But there was nothing there besides the empty alley. She peered closer, her apprehension growing along with curiosity, and then a suspicion that this was maybe the wrong scene or something. After several more seconds of anxious silence she was about to ask about that when the corrupted fell out of the sky.

It landed right in the middle of the alley in front of the camera, with a crash and a thunderous roar of pain and fury. It was huge, with vicious claws that flailed at the air and a long snout full of jagged teeth. All corrupted were monsters but this one was even more monstrous than the others she'd seen, with scales instead of the usual fur and a row of serrated spikes running down its arms. Still roaring, it started to rise, only to be driven back to the ground by a crushing two-fisted blow to its chest, and Ace's mouth dropped open at the sight. It was Passion Crush, dropping down and landing on her opponent's chest to finish the monster off in spectacular style. But more than the stylish and impressive finishing move Passion used, what was truly shocking about the sight she presented on the screen, and what left Ace in open-mouthed stunned silence, was simply the camera drone's position at the end of the alley... directly behind her.

And because smashing the monster as she landed like that meant she was in a sort of half-crouched position at that moment, while dropping down to land on the monster meant that her skirt had flown straight up and was way above her waist at that moment, that meant that right at the very moment of her triumph Passion's rear end was both completely uncovered and pointed directly at the camera. Her lusciously round and smooth and magnificently firm and toned butt, its cheeks jiggling just slightly and totally wide open so that even that most personal little spot right between them, right along with her private part right beneath that... all of it was on display. Right on the screen all at once absolutely everything was absolutely completely exposed, and it was absolutely unbelievably awful. For long seconds Ace could only stare, unable to even gasp or exclaim and far too shocked to look away, while Passion's skirt fluttered ever so slowly back down until at last she was covered once again.

Then Ace could breathe again, and she felt like she should say something. But what was there to say after something like that? It was just so terrible, infinitely worse than any first impression she could have made herself today. The silence stretched on until Passion beside her said, "I still have no idea what that stupid camera drone was even doing down there." She had looked away from the screen the entire time, but her expression and her voice somehow seemed more annoyed than embarrassed. "All the rest of them were up on the roof watching the fight. It was a pretty intense fight and it lasted a while, but they didn't see anything at all. I made sure of it." She sighed with what seemed like irritation along with resignation, "I guess I just never even thought there might be another one just... waiting like that." Ace could only nod in sympathy and shudder as she imagined it, being so careful for so long only to have all that effort completely undone by a single drone lurking in the worst possible place at the worst possible moment.

There was another long awkward silence, and Shining Glory must have noticed her expression. "Oh, but it's really not quite as bad as you might think." She reached out to place a comforting hand on Ace's shoulder. "I mean, sure it's embarrassing and all, but we're always here for each other. And together can handle whatever happens, no matter how embarrassing it is." The compassion in her voice and on her beautiful face made Ace cheer up for a moment, even though when she looked at Glory's kind expression right now she couldn't help but think back to her shocked expression from the memory earlier. She managed a slight smile, and when Glory added "So, um, I hope you still want to..." she didn't even hesitate.

"Of course!" she burst out immediately. Glory and Crimson both grinned happily at her response, and she grinned confidently back. She had already made up her mind, after all, and she had already known to expect the occasional embarrassing incident. Even if what happened to Crimson and Glory was way more embarrassing than she ever expected, and even if what happened to Passion was way way more embarrassing than she had ever imagined, she couldn't let herself get discouraged over something like this. "I mean, there's people counting on us, right? I can't just let them all down."

"Glad to hear it," Passion got up with a wry grin of her own. "Come on then, if we're done here it's time to show you around the district." They all got up to leave, and seeing the way that Crimson's skirt and especially Glory's gown fluttered at their thighs as they did brought her thoughts back once again to the uncomfortable memories from earlier.

"We're going to get along great, I just know it," Glory was saying as they started down the stairs. "And like I said, we'll both do whatever we can to help you, no matter what happens." Ace looked up with a smile, then hurriedly looked back down again to politely avert her eyes. The way Glory was floating down the stairs while her gown billowed open and floated around her meant that she was descending just a bit faster than it was, so that her hemline seemed to be steadily rising. It was already all the way up her thighs, and although the shimmering fabric wasn't quite high enough to reveal anything above that, it was close enough that Ace just couldn't help picturing it.

"That's right, we're all in this together,"  Crimson was saying. "So if there's anything you need to know, just go ahead and ask, alright?" Ace smiled and nodded happily at her. There was something, in fact, but it took her a few moments to decide how to put it.

"Is it, um, always... like that?" she gestured awkwardly, trying to get across what she meant. "For everyone?"

"It's always embarrassing," Crimson answered with a nod. "I mean, the first time it happens is totally the worst, and eventually you start to get used to it, at least a little. But mostly we just have to help each other deal with it. Well, and help each other be careful about it, of course."

Ace smiled and nodded back. "Uh-huh. It's just... I mean, is it always so, um..." she gestured again in the direction of her skirt before finishing "fuzzy?"

This time Crimson paused and brightened before she nodded. "Um, pretty much. It's not always exactly the same, but... everyone has at least, um, a little." She looked down and trailed off, clearly picturing the same thing that Ace was just now. It was really quite a bit more than 'a little', as well as a bit too much to be 'fuzzy' and getting a bit closer to 'fluffy'. And of course it was bright, bright red.

"There's nothing anyone can really do about that. It works just like our costumes, you see," Glory added gently. Her hand was holding her gown in place now, so Ace didn't have to look away again. "Whatever happens to them, they're right back to normal the next time we transform." She gave a little smile. "It's nice not having to worry about that, at least. Oh, and of course it's the same for our hair too." At that she ran her hands through her own lush golden mane. Ace smiled back, but then she had to avert her eyes again. Because as soon as Glory removed the hand between her legs, her billowing gown lifted that last little bit, and this time Ace wasn't quite fast enough to avoid getting a little glimpse.

Bright red on one side and gleaming gold on the other, and now Ace couldn't help picturing both of their little tufts together. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Glory paused to smooth her costume back down while Crimson trotted ahead to the door, with Ace right behind her. As soon as she stepped outside the cool air that slipped under Ace's skirt made her stop short with a shiver, and suddenly she was picturing three little tufts: one bright red and just a bit fluffy, another fine and feathery and golden, and the one between them very dark and very sleek and streaked with little blue highlights.

She was standing there at the door like that, still picturing them, when Passion came up beside her. "Oh right, uh, you can put these on if you want," she said, not unkindly. Ace looked down and reached out to take them, keeping one hand on her skirt as she did.

"I know it's uncomfortable at first," Crimson Spark said, hanging back for a moment. "You'll need to get used to it pretty soon, but we don't want to rush you or anything."

"Uh-huh. Especially not today, when there's so much to get used to already." Shining Glory added, coming outside to join them. Ace looked up at their kind expressions, then back down at the pair of shorts she was holding. Her shorts, the shorts she brought today, that she planned to put on as soon as she transformed, that she forgot to put on when she transformed. She really did want to put them on now, because she was pretty uncomfortable like this and she didn't really want to just go around like this all day, especially with the chilly breeze. But...

"Um, that's okay," she shook her head gently and put the shorts away. "If I have to get used to it anyway, I might as well start now, right?" She smiled nervously as she looked around at everyone, still picturing them. Those three tufts were together now, side by side like they belonged that way, with a fourth one beside them, deep dull red. She did want to just get it over with and get used to going around like this as soon as possible, if she was going to have to anyway. But even more than that, she didn't want to just be the only one who wasn't. They were a team now, the three of them. And it just didn't seem right that one of their three little tufts could be safely hidden by safety shorts while the other two had to remain bare.

"And besides," she concluded with a resigned shrug, "I'm a defender now. A magical girl. And it's just like you said..." she gulped and took a deep breath. "Magical girls don't wear underwear."