Becoming Monsters: in the Mirror

This is still a story of the Becoming Monsters Universe, by Ai Loves, setting used with permission. All canonical and mechanical errors are my own. The yarrb is the creation of FelisRandomis, used with permission.

Another note: some have indicated varying experiences with hysterectomies, mentioned here. Author, being a cis male, has no direct experience, but the end effect is... close enough, according to research. Still, CW for oblique references to it, and period problems.

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Chapter 26: Inside Straight

There was one more detail, later that night after we were in bed. Lucy had me nude on my back, my painfully erect dick engulfed in her amazing boobs, pumping them with focus and precision. She never stopped as she looked up at me. "Love, forgot to mention earlier. We all have tomorrow off. Emily called the hospital and cited major Status concerns, so we will have time."

I was, understandably, having some problems focusing. I will say that her and Whitney's concentration training was paying off, because it only took me a moment to do the math on the statement. "Just in case something odd happens?"

She smiled, leaned down to kiss the tip, then continued her boob-based assault. "And if nothing unexpected happens, then a day off. Now, cum for me, love. We have a

big day

tomorrow." Of course, she could absolutely back up this command, and moments later I was coating her breasts with my essence as I Fed upon her. "How is your Hunger doing, love? We've been pouring it into you as fast as we could."

Huh, it was a good question. I hadn't checked my levels in a few days... a

very active

few days. "Love! I'm at 95%! I didn't even realize how much you all had been giving me."

She looked shocked. "Wait, what? That doesn't sound right, I thought it would take three or four more days to get to that point even with everything we were doing."

"Well, the Status Screen doesn't lie. I'm really excited, but let's get some sleep. I'm not going to get all of the rest of that from you tonight." We did manage to get some sleep that night, though settling wasn't easy. Like my wife said, it was a really big day.

One which, as it turned out, started around midnight. A few paltry hours after my eyes had finally closed, I suddenly awoke to searing pain. My muscles, and it felt like

all of them

, were seizing up into an entire herd of Charlie Horses. Each nerve in my body seemed to be individually lit on fire, my skin as though a legion of red ants had fought a bitter decade of trench warfare across its surface. My choked scream drew people at a run, Lucy running to get Emily as soon as she realized who was screaming.

It calmed, very slightly, before long. It wasn't endless agony, merely the feel of floating in a nice pool of boiling oil. I could focus, I could hear and respond. Emily's power reached into my body, and she shook her head. "Lucy, I don't know what's going on. I tried pulling his wounds from him, and he feels almost exactly like yesterday. I'm going to ask something exceptionally difficult from you. Leave the room. Wake up Whitney, just in case, then try to scan the area for foreign magics. Amber, I need you to grab my kit and help set up, use your power to get the details. Bring me the Batteries, too, I don't know how long this is going to go."

I attempted to concur, I really did. The sound that emerged was somewhat croak-like and not very affirmative. She gave me a glare the likes of which I had rarely ever received, and given the kind my wife could give that was saying something. "

And you

, I thought I told you to

take it easy

."

Whitney's muffled voice: "hey! I kept him at a moderate load!"

Emily gave the door a Look that would have burnt it down if she had been anything other than our Healer, but said nothing. Emily used her ability to Borrow Pain from me at least twice, cleansing it with divine magic each time. She and Amber had an IV stand up and ready to use, but she paused before getting it started. "Jay, this is going to hurt. Pull up your Status screen, I need to know your readouts."

I complied... and recoiled. All four of my meters were under a

third

. Health, Stamina, Mana, and even Hunger. I was full four hours prior, and I couldn't remember getting into a duel to the death in my sleep. I felt like I had, and lost. Then the Status headache hit. It felt much like a hammer that had somehow been coated with low-grit sandpaper, applied to my forehead.

I must have somehow conveyed this information, though how I did so I would never be able to recall. Much to my shock, I saw Emily breathe... a sigh of relief? What? "Well, Jay, I have to say that I'm glad my hypothesis was proven right, but man is this data point going to be an oddball in medical literature. I think you just managed to clear your Critical Injury. What you are feeling is what your body has actually been trying to report to you since the Black Cat almost turned you into graveyard fertilizer."

With a heroic effort of will, I managed to two words past my lips. "Pain killers?" I coughed from the struggle of saying even that much. Emily and Amber both stopped and stared.

It was Amber who spoke up. "I didn't even hear him ask for that after the Balar. We can probably take him seriously."

They didn't have anything truly strong, but a trained medical professional combined with most of the standard over-the-counter options meant I got a much more effective dosage plan than most. The pain receded a couple of hours later, aided by warming pads and Sarah's hands. I fell back asleep without any awareness of having done so.

When I woke up again, it was to my normal alarm. I had, apparently, forgotten to turn it off. I found it hard to get to it to shut it off, since my face was lovingly buried in my wife's chest. Pleasant, yes. Comfortable and comforting, very. Good for mobility, not so much. I had to peel myself away from my favorite place on Earth to get to my phone, sit up, and stab the screen.

Much to my intense shock, I could do so nearly without pain. I looked at my hand, flexed it. I could feel the muscles moving, and the normal pull of them. The simmering agonies of the last week and a half, which had been so constant I hardly noticed them anymore, were no longer a part of me. Tears ran down my face, pure relief. I could be me again.

My wife rolled over in bed, looking tousled in a sexy kind of way. "I see you're doing better than last night, love."

I stretched out, hard. More than I had been able to do recently. It sounded like every joint of my spine, my knees, elbows, shoulders, and possibly some of the smaller joints of my hands and feet all decided to pop simultaneously. It hurt, a bit, but felt

good

. I could move. "A lot better, Lucy. I didn't even realize how bad I had been doing."

She stood, still nude, still wearing it well. "The rest of us all did, Jay. Even the ones who never got to see you before it happened. I'm glad you seem to be on the mend, but next time? My heart will have an easier time of it if you stop getting yourself this hurt. Now come on. We have a lot to do today."

Paige got to sleep in. Gloria experimented with some deviled eggs for breakfast, which tasted like they had leveled up to Demon Lord. We all were slow that morning. Something about sleep being interrupted. Can't imagine why. Thing is? Even the coffee smelled better, and that one wasn't because of Gloria. I was doing better, and that more than anything told me so.

My thoughts in order, we were just starting to plan the day when there came a timid knock at the door. Amber was out of her chair and sprinting there so fast that Whitney had to catch her cup, and seconds later the young Nathan Nichols was in his sister's arms, safely inside. He proceeded to enjoy many more hugs and introductions, though Lucy certainly helped keep things smooth. She was the one who spotted him getting overwhelmed, and asked everyone to give the kid some space to breathe.

He and I sat in the living room alone (other than Nibbles, who was graciously accepting more pets from our guest), taking some time. Even Amber went back to the kitchen to finish her coffee. "Nathan, I am very glad to see you. Is this a social call, or are you here for training?"

"Can it be both, sir?" I arched my eyebrow. "Jay! Sorry, sir. Jay. Sir."

I laughed a bit and shook my head. "Okay, that's going to be the first thing we work on. You are fifteen years old and already level three, Amber tells me. That puts you well ahead of most of your peers, and you can take comfort in that fact. Can I get some of your build details? You are too young to consent to a Scan, so I will go by what you tell me. I arranged for a tutor of sorts, but I'd like to get to know your abilities better."

"Sure! I'm a level three Rogue with the Specter subclass choice. Agility and Dexterity are nearly 30 due to Racial bonuses, but I have very low Luck and Health. Major Damage Reduction in my racial abilities, too. Um, no weapon specialization, only basics for lockpicking and theft skills, but I have Phantom Dodge and Phase from the subclass."

So, in other words, he could hide with the best of them, was incredibly evasive at base, and if he saw an attack coming it didn't matter if it was physically possible for him to get out of the way. If one got him anyway, it would barely scratch him. Oh, and neither walls nor chains could stop him if his mana held out. Good. GRIEF. "We can work with that. Your defenses are set, for sure. I'm fairly certain my entire guild could come at you and hit nothing but air. Not that we would," I hastily added at his fearful look. He calmed a hair. "Let me get your tutor on the phone."

I was beginning to dial when Paige walked out. Tall, blonde, statuesque... and wearing precisely panties and a light tee shirt. Nothing else. Her sizeable boobs might not be out and free, but they weren't precisely

constrained

. Nathan's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets, which was quite a trick considering he didn't technically have bones. He spluttered a bit. Paige didn't even seem to notice her state. "Oh, is this Nathan? Glad you came!" She walked over and gave him a hug I'm more than slightly sure some of her patrons would have paid a hundred bucks to receive. She let go and went over to the kitchen.

Nathan, for his part, was so discombobulated from the experience he actually lost coherence. I had to wait a couple of minutes for him to turn himself from a pile of metallic goo back into humanoid form. I heard a commotion from the kitchen as

everyone else

realized that Paige had walked past Nathan in that state and yelled at her to go get dressed. Especially Amber. I decided to not tell them about the hug.

Nate got himself back together eventually, around the time Paige got a shirt and pants on. I got around to dialing the tutor. "Trent here."

"Trent, it's Jeremiah. Got the kid here if you want the phone intro. If you're alone, we can start giving you the good parts."

"You got about ten minutes to get me the deets, then, planning session."

I gave the initial information, but then Trent started asking specific questions I'd never have thought to. Nathan's Ten Attributes. His emotional responses to a few stimuli. Equipment and sparring partner availability (I had that covered). It went by quickly.

"Alright, kid, bad news and good news. You already locked yourself out of some Race-specific options down a different subclass, but from the sounds of it you won't need it. If you were older I'd be asking to take you to the Labyrinth as a grease man already, and that's not a low bar. You're too young to carry the good weapons. Jay, think you can get him a couple of those batons you like to use? Especially if your Enchanter can work out something that uses that freaking absurd Agility of his?"

"Sure. Couple of pound-and-a-half ones should be perfect for his build once he's used to it."

"Read my mind. You can give him the basics, but he needs to research Escrima until I can get a good trainer for him. Nate, my man, you've got more potential underground than I do as long as you are sticking to access and skirmishing. Once you're up you need to find a good home you can trust. I know I'll be contracting you if you let me, and so will Jeremiah."

Nathan couldn't speak from shock. I spoke in his stead. "I will add his name as a Protectorate to my own rolls, though once he strikes out I'll have to take him off. He's my Ingeniator's little brother, and that's all the world needs to know for the next three years."

"Good idea. Let anyone who can't take down greater demons in the streets know what they're messing with if they try to cash him out. I gotta dip. Good talk. Nate? Call me any time. Seriously. Once you get some confidence ain't nobody gonna be able to lock you up anywhere, so we'll always be able to get to each other when you need help. I'm out."

He hung up. "Alright, Nathan. Let me get some practice sticks out of the gear closet. I'll show you the basics, and the sticks are yours to practice with for now." The others came out and helped move some furniture before sticking around to watch. My first lesson was a light thwap upside the kid's head to remind him to

pay attention

, no matter what the view was like. I mean, I get it, but still.

We stopped after about thirty minutes. He wasn't the absolute most talented student of all time, but he didn't need to be. He was quick, and good enough that he'd be able to meaningfully defend himself before long. Donning his hoodie and backpack, now with new additions (including two training sticks and a 5-pound weight Amber provided), he left to go home. I turned to the others, as Sarah was setting up the cot and Paige was stripping back down.

"Sarah, got anything good for batons in an Agility build?" She nodded. "Good, we'll talk about the specifics later. For now, though, I think it is time for what we are here to do." The ladies nodded, Paige shimmied herself into place. "Sarah? Go ahead. I will watch for any major changes."

She leaned down and started giving Paige the same treatment, actively relaxing her and tapping into her Aura. I could feel it start to come together as she worked the Dancer's firm behind, but it finished with a nearly-audible snap as she worked the shoulders and wing muscles of a writhing Paige. The energies of the seven ladies began to flow freely. "Sarah! Need you to stop!"

Paige's disappointment was immeasurable, and quite visible on her face.

I could feel the power of my own Hunger flowing out of me, balancing and equalizing with the seven women who had made themselves a part of my life and family. The ripple and flow distorted the room, and it seemed for a moment I could hardly see the surrounding room. It settled rapidly, like the surface of a pond after stones had been dropped into it. In a few moments, it was smooth. In my mind, I could hear a sound.

*PING*

—-

Full unity achieved!

Jackpot class feature unlocked!

Bonuses intensifying!

Acquired Demons Locked!

Demonic Hungers Shared!

—-

"Everyone! Out of your clothing, another transformation is coming!" In a rush, all of them were nude, standing around me. I felt the power once again flow from me, empowering my entire network. One more time, a change came to us all.

My eyes were drawn again to my wife, first of them all. Her horns and eyes shone and her body grew. Her hips broadened, her breasts expanded once again, her muscles firmed and toned, and she even got taller by a slight amount. Around the circle, this was repeated again and again as the same crash of power that took them when they first joined me passed through them all once more. Strength and beauty, all finding themselves greater than a moment before. Whitney's muscles looked enormously powerful and smooth, Amber's movements more coordinated. Everyone gained again.

I finally felt it come back to me. I had shed my clothes as quickly as the others, they got to witness as I broadened and bulked, I saw the world come into sharper focus, felt my limbs move more easily, drew more air into my lungs. It felt good. It felt real. All seven of them looked at me, and I saw hunger in their eyes.

I was suddenly buried under a mountain of delicious female flesh. Every inch of me seemed covered by someone. Lucy was flexing her internal muscles around my dick as my tongue was buried up Emily's snatch. Paige straddled my chest, making out with Lucy, and Gloria was sucking on my balls with intent and intensity and Whitney ate her out, holding down my legs. My hands were occupied by Amber and Sarah. It took bare seconds before we all came together, and I could feel our Hungers snap together.

We all came to ourselves a few moments later, in our cuddle pile on the floor. We noticed that it was much less comfortable than the bed. Disentangled. Stood, dressed. As one, we all looked unfocused as each and every person there leveled up. I was glad we had all day to do this, there would be a lot to do. Step one would be lunch.

We all got our research together. I didn't have any decisions to make this level. I would normally have opened more slots on the Acquisition list, but that didn't happen. It seemed I was now locked, there. Paige learned a new Step, one she said would greatly boost our movement speeds for a few moments. Gloria learned a new Trap, a mist of acid. We might need to experiment with that one.

Amber gained two points of Wisdom, helping her analysis. Sarah gained two of Dexterity, stating that she was plenty lucky enough just being with us but needed to do more fine details on her works. Emily put hers into Intelligence, to better help heal and boost her mana pool. I wasn't complaining.

Lucy and Whitney, though, had big choices. "Jay, let's see. First two are Spell Flurry and Succuboost."

"Um. Flurry lets you rapid-cast several spells at a cost of efficiency. Notes that you could burn out your entire pool with it if you're not careful. Succuboost does something similar, Race-locked, but it uses fuel from your Hunger to fuel its speed instead of losing efficiency. Varies per spell depending on its potency."

"Fun!" She grinned. "Third is Dual Specialization. That sounds strong."

"It can be. You pick another specialty to get the power and efficiency bonuses, but it degrades anything outside of the two specialties plus your Improvised casting a bit."

"So if I boost Force, I lose out on Darkness. That's rough. Fourth one is... um. Jay? My fourth choice says Mirror Shield."

I dropped the notebook. The words. They each were individually words. Taken together? In that order? The statement made no sense at all. Mirror Shield was not a Sorcerer ability. It was nowhere in her book. It was in mine. An ability I had leaned on for years to survive. "Um. Mirror Shield usually has to lean on Acquired abilities, I don't know if it would work on one's you have natively. I mean... at best, it will make you resistant to fire, force, and darkness effects right now."

"I have to think about this. I don't want to risk Mirror Shield, so it's either Succuboost or Dual Spec."

"You have an asterisk on both that they're prerequisites to further abilities, too."

"So it is whether I want to push down a Racial tree or Hybridizations. Alright. I don't think I want to be messing with my Hunger right now, might think about it at 12. Dual Specialization it is, for Force. Any objections? Accepting now."

Whitney, for her part, also had some hard choices. With Emily on the team, Enhanced Regeneration didn't appeal as much. Her mana pool wouldn't often support her own Racial choice of Destructive Slash, either.

"So my choice comes down to Warp Spasm, which is a major Rage boost that can be self-destructive if held too long, or Extradimensional Space. Spasm is a really common choice for dedicated Delvers, it's incredibly powerful if you're supported right and time it for critical tasks."