"Well… this wasn't how I expected my day to go," muttered a girl with long blue hair and vibrant green eyes.
This girl was once a boy named John. How did he become a familiar-looking girl? It all started… when John died.
---
"Get on your knees!" the robber barked, gun trembling in his hand.
"That's what I told your mother last night!" John shot back, smirking.
BAM
John's bold taunt had been worth it—especially since he actually had been with the guy's mother the night before. As his vision faded, he grinned. "Heh, totally worth it."
John expected to wake up in either heaven or hell. He wasn't evil, but he wasn't exactly a saint either, so it was a coin toss depending on which religion got it right. Instead, he found himself in a void, greeted by a disembodied voice.
"If you could have anything, what would you want?" it asked.
John paused, actually thinking it over. "True freedom. To be anything I want, go anywhere I choose."
Silence stretched for what felt like minutes. Then, a vial materialized in his hands, filled with an iridescent liquid. A tag dangled from it, inscribed with text:
Essence of the Shape: [By taking this Essence, your form will become a suggestion rather than something rigidly defined. You'd no longer have a default form, everything about you is mutable at your whim. You can shapeshift into any form, without mass restrictions, including inanimate objects. You can split off pieces of yourself and shapeshift those. You can shift into anyone and gain their powers, and can combine multiple beings. Finally you may transmute any matter, energy or living beings around you into anything.]
John's jaw dropped. "If this is real… this is broken levels of OP!"
He hesitated for a moment—could he trust this? Then he shrugged. "Screw it, I'm already dead." He downed the liquid in one gulp.
A surreal sensation washed over him, as if he was everything and nothing all at once.
---
John awoke in a dense forest, the air thick with the scent of pine. Catching his reflection in a nearby puddle, he froze. He was no longer he—he was she, and she looked almost exactly like Konata Izumi from Lucky Star, an anime he loved watching when he felt down. Her blue hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her green eyes sparkled with smugness.
"Guess it's cause I was watching Lucky Star earlier today," she mused, realizing her new powers likely pulled from her subconscious. Konata had always been his favorite character. "Man… I'm cute as hell right now."
She tried to shift back to her original form but hit a wall. "Wait… what did I look like?" No matter how hard she tried, her old appearance wouldn't come to mind. Panic crept in until she noticed a sticky note on her shirt. Plucking it off, she read:
"As payment for this gift and second chance, the memory of your old form has been taken. You can be almost anyone or anything now, but never your old self again. Have fun."
"DAMN IT!" Konata tore the note to shreds, ranting. "Stupid divine con artist or whatever you are!" She took a deep breath, calming herself. "Could be worse. At least I remember my name, my family, my old life."
Looking down at her new body, she grinned. "Screw it. This feels like fate. I'll stick with Konata's form as my default for now—and her name, too, until I pick something else. Hope she wouldn't mind."
Eager to test her powers, Konata rubbed her hands together. She imagined a new form and willed it into being. Her body shifted like liquid clay, reshaping into a massive dire wolf. She let out a mighty howl, reveling in the thrill.
"This is awesome!" she thought, before morphing again—this time into a dragon. With a roar, she unleashed a jet of fire into the sky. Unfortunately, she forgot she was in a forest. Flames caught on nearby trees, sparking a blaze.
"Crap! Gotta put that out before I torch the whole place!"
Recalling an old cartoon, she focused and transformed into a red, mollusk-like alien—an Orishan, or as she knew it, Water Hazard. She felt the form's capabilities surge through her. Aiming her palms at the fire, she fired jets of water from the holes in her hands, dousing the flames.
"This form would dominate a water gun fight!" she laughed.
With the fire extinguished, Konata reverted to her blue-haired girl form and plopped onto a nearby rock. "This is so cool. I've never felt so… free. So powerful."
Then a thought hit her. "Wait, where am I? I doubt this is my world."
She stood, morphing into a falcon. Taking to the skies, she laughed, the wind rushing past her. For the first time, she knew what it felt like to fly—and it was incredible.
---
Konata soared through the sky as a falcon, the wind whipping past her feathers until the forest gave way to an old-fashioned village below. Her sharp hawk eyes spotted humans bustling about, dressed in traditional clothing that screamed "Old fashioned village."
"Was I sent to a fantasy world? Sure feels like it," she thought, gliding lower.
She landed in a secluded alley, ensuring no one was watching, and morphed back into her Konata form. To blend in, she shifted her clothes to match the villagers' simple, rustic garments—a plain kimono with a subtle pattern. Her blue hair, however, drew whispers from passersby.
"Odd hair color for these parts," one villager muttered.
Konata winced. "Oops, forgot about the hair. Oh well." She wandered the village, taking in the sights. The architecture screamed feudal Japan, yet she understood every word spoken around her. "Must be a perk of my mutable brain. Or maybe I don't even have a brain in the classic sense anymore?"
Eavesdropping on the villagers' chatter, Konata pieced together where she might be. To confirm her suspicions, she left the village and headed toward a lake mentioned in passing. After a short flight as a falcon, she arrived and spotted a girl with icy wings and pale blue hair—lighter than her own darker shade. The girl was gleefully freezing frogs in blocks of ice.
Konata's eyes lit up. "No way. That's Cirno."
She was in Gensokyo, the fantastical land from the Touhou games. "Sweet! I love those games, and the fanart—er, I mean, the character designs," she corrected herself with a grin. Gensokyo was the perfect playground for her new powers. A thought struck her: "Could I visit other worlds? Maybe if I transform into something that can hop across the multiverse… but I can't think of anything like that right now." She shelved the idea for later.
Cirno's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Can you hear me, human?" The ice fairy was poking Konata's cheek.
"Oh, yeah, I hear you," Konata replied, smirking. "Are you the fabled Cirno I've heard so much about?"
Cirno blinked, confused. "Fabled?"
"Yup!" Konata leaned in. "Word is, there's an amazing fairy who's the strongest in the whole world. That you?"
Cirno puffed out her chest, beaming. "Y-Yeah, that's me! The strongest, just like you heard!"
Konata chuckled. She'd always liked Cirno's over-the-top confidence. "I'm Konata. If you're really the strongest, how about a quick spar? I wanna see the mighty Cirno in action!"
She also wanted an excuse to test her Essence of Shape powers further.
"You're on!" Cirno declared, eyes sparkling. "I'll show you how strong I am!"
They squared off near the lake, and Konata grinned before morphing into the towering, spiky-shelled form of Bowser, the Koopa King. Cirno's eyes widened, but she stood her ground. "A big turtle monster? Won't matter—I'll still win!"
Cirno conjured a barrage of icicles and launched them at Bowser. Konata, as Bowser, tucked into his shell, spinning to shatter the icy projectiles. He retaliated with fireballs from his mouth, which Cirno barely dodged, her wings fluttering frantically.
Steam rose as Cirno's next wave of ice attacks met Bowser's flames. Konata remembered the vial's note about transmutation and decided to experiment. As Cirno fired a massive icicle, Konata waved a clawed hand, transmuting the ice into harmless bubbles that popped against Bowser's scales.
"Now that's cool," she said, grinning through Bowser's toothy maw.
Cirno pouted, undeterred, and crafted a giant ice hammer. "Take this!" she shouted, swinging it down.
Bowser roared, smashing the hammer with a powerful punch. He grabbed Cirno, swung her around, and slammed her into the ground—gently, by his standards—a few times. To her credit, Cirno staggered to her feet, panting. "I… I can still… take you down…"
Konata morphed back into her blue-haired human form, feigning exhaustion. "Oh nooo, I'm out of juice! I can't transform anymore—you totally beat me," she lied, throwing in a dramatic slump.
Cirno's eyes lit up. "I-I did? I mean, yeah, I did! Told you I'm the strongest!" She pumped her fist, already celebrating.
"That was fun," Konata said with a wink. "I'll catch you for a rematch sometime, Cirno." She waved and strolled off, leaving the fairy to bask in her "victory." Crushing Cirno's ego just didn't feel right… not like this anyways.
Konata's mind buzzed with excitement. "I gotta meet Reimu or Marisa next… ooh, and the Scarlet Devil Mansion! There's definitely some folks there I wanna meet." She gushed and practically skipped at the thought, eager to explore more of Gensokyo.
---
Konata strolled through the forest, her blue hair bouncing with each step. A few youkai mistook her for an easy meal, lunging from the shadows with snarls and claws. She dispatched them with ease, morphing into a hulking Owlbear to swat them away. "Not today fodder," she quipped, dusting off her hands as she reverted to her Konata form.
Soon, the unmistakable gothic spires of the Scarlet Devil Mansion loomed into view, its crimson walls gleaming under the sunlight. "No mistaking that architecture," she muttered.
At the gate, she spotted a familiar redhead slumped against the wall, dozing. Hong Meiling, the mansion's gatekeeper, was even more striking in person—tall, athletic, and quite beautiful.
"Hot damn," Konata thought, eyes widening. "She's tall, busty, and HOT!" A moment later, she paused. "Wait, am I being gay thinking this as a woman? Nah, I'm technically formless now. My ego's still male, so… totally straight." She smirked, rationalizing further.
"Shame she's Chinese… though she's old-school Chinese, not the communist kind. So no red flags here."
Konata crept closer and poked Meiling's thigh. Once, twice. On the third poke, Meiling jolted awake. "W-What? Sakuya, I wasn't sleeping on the job—!" She froze, blinking down at Konata. "Oh… you're not Sakuya."
"Yo, call me Konata for now," she said with a grin. "I'm here to kick ass, chew gum, and kiss beautiful women. Problem is, I'm fresh out of gum."
Meiling raised an eyebrow. "Okay… I'm Meiling. If you're trying to get into the mansion, sorry, but I can't let you in."
Konata waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, didn't you hear me? I'm here cause I want you."
Meiling blinked. "…Want me how?"
"Sexually," Konata deadpanned, her grin widening.
Meiling's face turned beet red, and she stammered, "W-What?!"
Konata burst out laughing. "Haha, gotcha! Just wanted to see your reaction. Though…" She winked. "I wouldn't say no if you were down."
Meiling steadied herself, still flushed. "Thanks, but you seem a bit young for—"
"I'm 18," Konata cut in, puffing out her chest. "Very legal."
"Oh, my bad. You're just so… short and petite," Meiling said, scratching her neck.
Konata rubbed her chin, smirking. "Oh? Want something different? I can be whatever you like." She focused, her body shifting like liquid. Her form stretched taller, her dark blue hair and green eyes unchanged but now accentuating an hourglass figure with a super prominent chest and curves. Her voice turned sultry. "How's this? More your taste?"
Meiling's jaw dropped, her eyes lingering on Konata's new form before snapping back to her face. "You can shapeshift?!"
"Ara ara~" Konata purred, stepping closer and backing Meiling against the gate. "Glad my MILF form's to your liking."
Meiling's face reddened further, and she raised her hands. "H-Hey, not so close! I'm not into women like that."
"You sure?" Konata teased, noting Meiling's flush. "Your face says otherwise… but if you prefer…" She morphed again, this time into a male version of herself—tall, athletic, with chiseled abs and a deep voice. "I can be your daddy, too."
Meiling's knees wobbled as she stared up at him, speechless. "O-Oh… oh…"
No matter the form, Konata ensured she looked like a model straight out of a magazine—impossibly attractive and radiating charm.
Leaning in as if to kiss Meiling, Konata watched her close her eyes, only to pull back at the last second and revert to her petite, blue-haired female self. "Not yet!" she chirped playfully. "Gotta have at least one or two dates before a kiss."
Meiling snapped out of her daze, blushing furiously with an embarrassed scowl. "D-Don't do that! You can't just turn into… that and act like you'll kiss me! And what's this about a date?!"
"I wanna take you out," Konata said casually. "I think we'd have a blast."
Meiling crossed her arms. "I've got a job, you know. No time for dates."
"Hmm, that's a problem…" Konata snapped her fingers. "I'll talk to your boss! I'm sure we can work something out."
"Wait, what—?" Meiling started, but Konata had already vanished.
Unseen by Meiling, Konata had morphed into an Ectonurite, an alien that's basically a ghost. Invisible and intangible, she floated over the gate and phased through the mansion's doors. "Ooo, my voice is so spooky in this form," she giggled. "Man, Ben 10's got so many dope forms. Glad I binged that show."
Now inside, Konata set her sights on finding the vampire mistress of the mansion. She was definitely getting that date with Meiling soon.