Why Should I Be a Magical Girl? I'm Overworked As It Is! — Chapter 22: Transformation Sequence

Maya had never thought the day would come. She’d wanted to see what the wand was capable of. Who wouldn’t? But she would have bet on Carmen’s stubbornness beating Shuli’s, hands down.

She’d apparently forgotten to factor in a baby.

Maya was sure that if it hadn’t been for this crazy scenario, Carmen still would have said no and Maya would be tucking the wand into her bag. Then, they’d both be hightailing it out of there, leaving it to the government employees, or as Carmen said, animal control.

The baby changed everything. Because despite Carmen’s sarcastic, cranky exterior, on the inside, she was a marshmallow. Even though Carmen avoided babies at all costs and complained about them when they cried in her vicinity, she wouldn’t let a giant hamster eat one, not when she could do something about it.

Maya was the same way. She was scared, but she’d never stand by and watch an innocent baby get hurt.

She’d mustered up her courage and had been about to yell and start running, to distract the hamster from the baby and make sure it didn’t head toward Carmen and Shuli, when Carmen snatched the wand out of her hands.

“Fine! Whatever! I fucking accept!”

Maya’s jaw dropped. The pink light swallowed Carmen. It was so bright she had to cover her eyes.

Darn. She wanted to see.

Screw it. Maya wasn’t missing out on this. She squinted and peeked through her fingers.

Ribbons of light spun around Carmen’s wrists, her ankles, her waist. The thread in her clothing re-wove itself, forming the outline of a new outfit.

“Please have shorts, please have shorts, please have shorts,” Carmen kept repeating with her eyes clenched shut.

“Don’t worry, I can barely see anything!” Maya said. “I think you have shorts!”

Carmen’s shoulders sagged with relief.

The ribbon thread—Maya wasn’t sure what to call it—became a fitted top with shorts. Then a skirt formed over the shorts. Metal buckles with straps, bows, and a headband with a bow on the side made her look badass and cute.

Her outfit was black with pink accents.

Maya wanted to take pictures and videos so badly.

Boots laced themselves up to Carmen’s knees as fingerless gloves with metal plating on the knuckles formed around her hands.

There were sparkles. So many sparkles. They popped and fizzed around Carmen as the light died down.

“I knew there’d be sparkles,” Maya whispered, slowly putting her hand down.

Carmen’s brown hair flooded pink, all the way down to her ends. The wand also changed, becoming longer and sleeker. It was way cooler than the cheap-looking plastic toy it used to be. The design actually matched Carmen’s outfit.

Then, the light disappeared.

Carmen opened her eyes. They were pink too.

Maya couldn’t find the words.

She’d imagined this a hundred times since the day Carmen first told her about a talking cat and the pink wand.

Meeting Shuli had made it worse, because Shuli put the word sidekick into her head. Granted, Shuli never called it being a magical girl. She used the term ‘chosen one,’ but gosh darn it, if this wasn’t the very definition of a magical girl, transformation and all, then Maya would give up french fries for a month.

Maya was a creative person. None of the versions in her mind had come close to what she was witnessing.

Next to Carmen, Shuli’s tail curled around her paws. She didn’t say anything. She just watched, monocle glinting.

Carmen looked down at herself. She turned her wrist. She lifted one boot and examined it.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “The boots are kind of—”

A pink strand of hair swung into her face.

Carmen grabbed it and stared at it, cross-eyed.

“WHY IS MY HAIR PINK?”

“The transformation is tailored to the chosen one and the artifact,” Shuli called from the planter. “It’s supposed to be a symbiosis of both.”

“IT’S PINK!”

“It’s so cute!” Maya gushed. “Wait, pause that thought. The hamster! It’s stunned, now’s the time!” She pointed.

Across the plaza, the hamster had stopped. Its purple eyes were dazed, yet fixed on the planter and Maya.

The planter had luckily hidden Carmen’s transformation from view. Including the phone cameras, which, Maya disdainfully noted, were on her now.

“What a bunch of cowardly custards,” Maya huffed.

The baby wailed again.

The hamster’s attention swung back toward the stroller.

“Oh, no you don’t! Pick on someone closer to your size,” Maya shouted. She ran around the planter, made herself big, arms up, shrieking, “Over hereeeeeee!”

“What are you doing?!” Shuli and Carmen exclaimed at the same time.

“Being a sidekick! You’ve got my back, I know you do. Crawl along the planters. Get closer to the baby. Everyone’s looking at me.” Maya was dancing now, with big arm motions. “Make your entrance from over there. So they don’t tie me to you. I’ll explain the light somehow.”

Her legs were shaking, but she was determined. This was what sidekicks did. Every anime she’d ever watched agreed. The hero needed time, and the sidekick bought it.

If it came toward Maya, she could sprint and dodge. All those gym sessions she went to would finally pay off. She’d have to remember to thank her parents for the gym membership next time she saw them.

Shuli stepped out from behind the planter, beside Maya. Her fur puffed to twice her size.

“For the record,” Shuli said, “I hate this plan.”

“Me too! But it’s for the baby!” Maya jumped up and down. “OVER HERE!”

Shuli caterwauled.

The hamster’s nose twitched and its whiskers trembled. It looked like it couldn’t decide which way to go.

The baby let out a furious scream.

Welp. Maya couldn’t beat that.

The hamster flinched. It angrily bared its teeth again at the stroller, cheeks jiggling, and resumed its original course.

Maya’s arms dropped. “IT’S GOING FOR THE BABY!”