Darkside

Tsukino Moon, the sworn protector of Minato City, had to fight to suppress a yawn as she walked through streets and alleys in search of the monster that had been devouring innocent civilians. She would always remember the lessons that had been drilled into her as a naive young magical girl, of course. She was the defender of everything light and good, and the enemy of everything dark and sinister. Evil lurked in every shadow, and it was her duty to remain ever-vigilant against all its perils. But, after all these years, that didn't make her patrols any less boring. She had fought world-ending threat after world-ending threat, and she was still standing. One more little monster wasn't much to worry about.

Still, it was hurting people, and that meant it had to be stopped. According to the reports she'd heard, the monster manifested as some kind of strange, malevolent doppelganger that preyed on those who crossed its path. Tsukino wasn't sure where to look for it, so she was just patrolling the streets and waiting for it to strike.

Or, perhaps, stumbling across its lair.

Rounding a corner, Tsukino found herself facing a small alleyway that should not have been. It was darker than dark, and the deeper the magical girl peered, the more it seemed to collapse into something almost organic. The walls of the adjacent buildings became like solid shadow, illuminated only by odd, jagged crystals that reflected the night sky above into infinite shards of light.

Creepy. But not, Tsukino decided, the creepiest she'd seen. She wasn't afraid. Stepping forwards, the magical girl raised her enchanted scepter and smiled as it glowed with a warm, familiar light, keeping the unnatural dark at bay. Over the years, she had learned to work her magical sailor outfit into a slightly more tasteful lolita dress, something more appropriate for the physique she had grown into: toned, tough, and a little scarred. She kept the scepter the same, though, tacky as it was, with its big, pink, heart-shaped crystal. It was a nice reminder of things past.

She kept her old hairstyle, too. Twin, blonde buns on top of her head, and long, flowing pigtails behind. It was a signature look.

The deeper Tsukino went into the shadows, the darker and more encompassing they grew. She was no longer in an alley, but an expansive cave. The sky above her was gone, as were all the lights of the city, but the cave remained dimly illuminated by the crystals that jutted from every surface. Tsukino was no longer sure it was the night sky that they reflected. They seemed to glow like they were filled with stars, but were tinted with a sinister, purple hue.

Perhaps this strange place - this pocket dimension - was like a spider's web, Tsukino mused. She could easily imagine that civilians would find themselves hopelessly lost in the darkness, and become easy prey for the doppelgangers lurking within. Not her, though. She was far too strong for that.

"Oh? What do we have here? How interesting..."

Tsukino stiffened at the voice. It was uncomfortably familiar but it distorted slightly as it echoed throughout the strange, dark cave, and Tsukino couldn't quite place it. She knew, though, that nothing good would sound so at-easy in a place like this.

"Stop!" she called out. "In the name of the light, show yourself!"

The only answer she received to her command was a resounding and mirthful laugh. "Oh? It's you? That certainly is amusing."

"Show yo-"

Tsukino's lips froze when the other presence stepped closer, into the dim light. She recognized them at once, of course.

It was her.

Not really, of course. It couldn't have been. It was a cheap, poor, mocking imitation, but the resemblance was still striking enough to give Tsukino a moment's pause. The doppelganger, along with all its clothes, seemed to made of the same shadowy substance as the rest of the cave; it was all night sky and shimmering purple. As unnatural as it looked, though, it was clearly meant to be Tsukino. The silhouette was unmistakable, and there was a telltale familiarity in how it moved and carried itself. Those similarities were all the more repugnant, given the equally marked differences between the doppelganger and Tsukino.

The doppelganger carried no weapon, but it was wearing what Tsukino could only think of as a whorish parody of her own magical girl outfit. It had the same ribbons, the same folds and the same patterns, but it seemed to have been ripped to shreds in a way that had to be deliberately suggestive. The top barely covered her breasts, and the skirt had been cut so short it barely deserved to be called one. Everywhere, the outfit was raked with tears that allowed alluring flashes of soft, purple, corrupted skin to show through. The only part of the outfit that had been added to were the boots, which had metamorphosed into tall, impractical, fuck-me heels. This shadowy clone of Tsukino looked like something between a succubus and a streetwalker.

And the most unnerving thing of all was the too-wide grin, stretched across her otherwise featureless face.

Tsukino sniffed. She wasn't impressed. "What are you, some kind of shape-shifter? Stealing people's faces as you attack the innocent? If you expect this embarrassing display to unnerve me, you're sorely mistaken. In the name of the light, I will punish you!"

As she spoke, Tsukino made a familiar with her hands. As she did, the doppelganger, which had been slowly sashaying towards her, bent double in laughter.

"Oh my god! That's how it looks? And those words... ah, the naivety is thrilling! It's been so long."

Tsukino scowled. She was in no mood to let a demon mock her. "Are those your last words, fiend?"

The doppelganger's laughter died. "Last words? I hope not! Maybe instead I can correct a few of your misconceptions, hm? I'm not a shapeshifter. And I haven't attacked anybody."

"Ridiculous!" Tsukino pronounced. "I won't be fooled by your lies."

To her surprise, the doppelganger visibly cringed. "Ugh. So stuffy! I had forgotten how bad it was... well, tried to forget, anyway." She laughed. "Tell me, do you actually think I'm dangerous?"

That sounded like a trick question if Tsukino had ever heard one, but she had to admit that she sensed nothing from the shadowy being in front of her. No power, no hidden weapon. Nothing. "You're a monster."

"Didn't think so," the doppelganger tittered. "Next question: what do you think this place is?" She gestured at the cage around them.

"Some kind of pocket dimension you created," Tsukino growled. She was tired of being spoken to like this. "A way for you to lure and trap your victims."

"You're so dead set on being wrong," her doppelganger replied. "And I'm getting tired of explaining, so I'll just tell you. You've got it backwards. I didn't create this place. It created me. Or summoned me, I should say. This cave, it's like... a bubble of evil in the world. A bubble that went 'pop', leaving a scar on the face of reality. A rupture."

"And it... what?" Despite herself, Tsukino wanted to understand. "Copies people?"

"Closer!" the doppelganger said approvingly. "But I said it summoned me, remember? I believe this cave is a rupture between realities. It manifests an alternative version of anyone who encounters it. The worst version, from across every timeline it can reach, made real and solid in living shadow. That's why people keep getting attacked, I'm sure. Probably, the worst possible version of your average Joe is some kind of crazy, violet psycho." She laughed mirthlessly. "We've been seen how far people can unravel under the right strain, I bet."

"Then you're..."

Tsukino had to remind herself to keep her guard up as she was drawn in by the doppelganger's explanation. This, this being, was the worst possible version of her? She could scarcely imagine what that might mean, but she knew it had to be bad news. In all her years fighting against evil, all manner of beings had tried to corrupt her and lure her to their side. Which of them was the worst? Queen Detaria? The Black Star Clan? Lady Galaxia? Tsukino dreaded to imagine the kind of dark powers promised to a version of herself that had succumbed to their evil. The divine powers of a magical girl, married to the boundless darkness of those devils? The strange thing was, though, that this doppelganger - this Shadow Tsukino - didn't seem powerful at all. She seemed disheveled and undignified. She had no weapon. She seemed weak. What did that mean?

Tsukino straightened her back and held up her scepter. It didn't matter. All that mattered was her duty.

"Listen to me, fiend!" she cried, in the voice that had given hope to the hearts of thousands. "I don't care what you are. I don't care of you really are an alternate version of me. It won't matter. I don't care what dark bargains you made, or what corruptive powers you drew upon. It won't be enough to triumph over my goodness, kindness and love! In the name of the light, I vow to cast you down!"

Shadow Tsukino was just a few paces away from her now, but as Tsukino made her vow, the doppelganger threw back her head and laughed an odd, shrill laugh. "Oh, you just don't get it, do you? You can't even imagine what I really am."

"I told you," Tsukino insisted. "It won't matter what kind of evil deal you made, or who you made it w-"

Shadow Tsukino's laugh just rose in volume, cutting her off. "You don't get it," she retorted. "You don't see. My other self, I'm not the version of you that fell. No, not at all. I know all the temptations you've faced and resisted, but I'm here to tell you that there's something worse than all of that."

"What?" Tsukino was tired of all this grandstanding.

The doppelganger's next words sent a frigid chill down the magical girl's spine. "I'm the version of you that lost."

"What-" Tsukino paused - as much as anything, to reckon with the strange feeling that was racing through her body. "What does that mean?"

"You know." Shadow Tsukino giggled. "I was weak. I was beaten. I wasn't good enough. I lost."

There it was again. That ominous shiver. "You're lying," Tsukino said quickly. "If I'd lost, I'd be dead."

"Nuh-uh." Shadow Tsukino leaned to one side and tilted her head, peering at Tsukino with a crafty expression. "You're the one lying - to yourself, if that's really what you believe. There are worse ways to lose. After I lost, all kinds of things came crawling out of the dark to use me." She closed her eyes and started running her hands up and down her body, seemingly lost in the debauched memory. "Things with tentacles, and claws, and all kinds of other wicked, wicked things to force inside of me."

Tsukino took a step backwards. She didn't know how to handle this; those lewd, lusty words, coming out in her own voice. All those tears and rips in her doppelganger's clothes suddenly made sense. They were evidence of how she'd been defiled - evidence she seemed to wear proudly. Had someone - or something - forced her to wear those heels? Or had it been her choice? Tsukino didn't want to think about it.

"Y-you're disgusting!" she cried. Her answer was yet more rich laughter, echoing unnervingly from cave walls that seemed to be getting further and further away.

"I'm disgusting?" Shadow Tsukino mocked. "But I'm you."

"Shut up." Tsukino spat. She knew she was losing her cool, but she'd never faced anything quite like this before. "I'm nothing like you!"

"Oh, don't be silly!" Shadow Tsukino chided. She took a step forwards. "Of course you are. You know... it would feel good for you too, if you lost."

"Shut up!" Tsukino tried to steel herself. She couldn't let this demon get under her skin. She couldn't let herself forget that this place - whatever it really was - was her enemy. "You're just trying to undermine me. I've heard it all before, from a thousand different evil mouths, and I've made them all eat those words. I've never lost. A pathetic husk like you won't be the first to get the best of me!"

It felt good to hurl those words at the doppelganger, but Tsukino shuddered when Shadow Tsukino let out a faint moan at her abuse. Was there any depravity she wouldn't sink to?

"We'll see," Shadow Tsukino purred. "But I'm not like the others. I know you, inside and out." She licked her lips. Her tongue was longer than it should have been. "Do you remember our eighteenth birthday?"

Tsukino gripped her scepter so hard her knuckles started turning white. "Stop talking. Now."

"My, my." Shadow Tsukino put her hand over her mouth, even though her grin was far, far too wide to be covered. "I wonder if you already know what I'm about to say. See, I was going to remind you about when your friends - our friends - took us bungee jumping."

"I don't remember," Tsukino insisted stiffly.

"Liar," Shadow Tsukino shot back playfully. "You remember the feeling when you dropped perfectly. The fear. The tension in your stomach. The feeling of anticipation, combined with that sweet, sweet sense of weightlessness as the world rushed past you. We were this close to using our powers to stop ourselves in mid-air, weren't we? The temptation was all but irresistible. It doesn't matter how sure you are that the rope is going to pull you up short, it still feels like you're going to hit the ground. But you held back. You let yourself surrender to the fall. That sweet, sweet surrender..."

"You're just... just babbling!" Tsukino couldn't hold back anymore. She lashed out. A bolt of pink sparks flew from the tips of her fingers - and missed. Her shadowy doppelganger danced effortlessly out of the way, and the pink light Tsukino had conjured faded into the distance.

"Tell me you don't still think about it!" Suddenly, Shadow Tsukino was very, very close to her. Tsukino was stiff, ready to defend herself against whatever came - but there was no attack, only words. "The fall. The surrender. I know you do. I did, too. You think about it at night, when you're alone. When you're touching yourself. You wonder if that's how it feels to lose. Tell me I'm wrong."

"I..." Tsukino's mouth was completely dry. The words wouldn't come.

"It does." Shadow Tsukino licked her lips again. The sound was wet. "Well, almost. The real thing is better. Better than you can imagine." She arched her back, shivering rapturously. "The problem with falling is that you always hit the ground, sooner or later. But loss? Loss is forever. You can never forget it. It's part of you. The shame... oh, it can last forever. No matter how far I fell, there was always a demon or monster ready to show me that I wasn't at rock bottom. There was something worse. Something better."

"W-what are you-" Tsukino was conscious of her heart beating very, very fast. The overwhelming desire she sensed from her doppelganger made her feel dizzy.

"It feels so awfully, wickedly good to lose," Shadow Tsukino whispered. "But what about to betray? Just for the pleasure of it. Just because the dark side owns you now. Fuck, it's good. Just as good as it is in your sordid little wet dreams."

Images forced their way into Tsukino's mind. She imagined herself betraying her friends and her comrades - betraying the very cause she'd always fought for. She imagined how they'd all look at her, with her proud magical outfit shredded, and a demon's hot cum dripping from between her legs. Her knees turned weak.

"Once you let yourself taste defeat, you get addicted to it," the doppelganger continued. "You lose and lose, until your strength slips away from you. Just look at what happened to my body." Tsukino looked down, and realized what she was referring to. Shadow Tsukino was soft. She had curves. Somewhere along the way, she'd let herself go and allowed all of her hard, toned muscles to melt away. All those hours in the gym, gone to waste. She looked so very weak. Tsukino couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to be that weak. "Then, even the most pathetic, worthless minions get to beat and mock and fuck you. I can't even tell you how good that feels."

The world around Tsukino was spinning, and she couldn't tell if the cave was really moving or if it was all in her head. Shadow Tsukino was all but touching her. She could feel the warmth of the shadowy being's body.

"But the best thing is when it gets made permanent," Shadow Tsukino let out another small moan. "Isn't that a delicious word? Permanent. I know that you know it is. Permanent, like this is." Suddenly, before Tsukino could stop her, the doppelganger seized her wrist and forced Tsukino's hand against her midriff, using it to push the tattered remnants of her clothes out of the way. Tsukino gasped at what she saw there: a shameful, erotica tattoo. It was in the shape of a florid, lurid heart, placed carefully right above her womb, with twin branches of ornamentation suggestive of ovaries flowing out from in. It glowed the same purple as the slit of the doppelganger's grin. Shadow Tsukino moaned even louder as she started to rub her body into Tsukino's hand. "With this tattoo, everyone who sees me knows. And their eyes burn the shame into my body over and over again."

"G... gghh..." Whatever protest Tsukino had been about to make came out as a wordless, strangled sound. The words that came out of her doppelganger's lips sounded like they were pouring from Tsukino's most secret, shameful fantasies. She had no defense against it. Most confusing and disorienting of all was the certain knowledge that everything Shadow Tsukino was saying had to be true. She'd never told anyone about those fantasies, or about the bungee jumping.

"I knew you'd understand," Shadow Tsukino purred. "See? See how good it feels?"

Abruptly, the doppelganger shoved Tsukino's hand downward. Tsukino gasped as she felt her palm rubbing against the demonic being's cunt. She was dripping wet, and shivering from the pleasure of the touch.

"And," Shadow Tsukino finished, "you could have this too."

That final promise made Tsukino shiver just like her doppelganger.

"No," she replied, with all the strength she had. She couldn't face this. She couldn't face wanting this. It was impossible. That was her shield. "I won't. I can't. I've... I'm too strong. I never lose."

"I know," Shadow Tsukino said. "I was too strong, too. Until I cheated."

Tsukino's eyes widened. Her concentration slipped, and suddenly her doppelganger was the one touching her; lips to ear, in the ghost of a kiss. "You can decide to lose, Tsukino."

The magical girl twitched violently in response to that. Losing on purpose? That was the same as giving up, and that was the one thing she wasn't allowed to do. Not her. She was a hero. She shook her head from side to side, but she couldn't shake her shadow self off. "Never. N-never!"

"Shh," Shadow Tsukino soothed. "Just listen. I'm not asking you to give up to me, my best self. I know you'd never do that. You don't have to. When you decide to lose, it's not really a decision. It's... an intrusive thought." The doppelganger was so close Tsukino could feel her breath on the side of her neck. She couldn't see her face, but she could hear the widening grin in her voice. "A virus that I'm helping to infect you with. What if I pulled that punch? What if I raised my guard a little too slow? What if I couldn't fight through the pain this time? The battles you fight are on a knife's edge. A split second of hesitation is all it takes. And just when you least suspect it, it'll hit you. It'll hold you back, as you ask yourself what you really, truly want deep down."

"N-nooo," Tsukino whined. The worst part was that she could picture it happening, exactly as her doppelganger said. The fantasy was weaving its way into reality.

"Yes," Shadow Tsukino insisted, and giggled. "And that's how you'll lose."

Tsukino's head was spinning faster than it ever had before. She needed to get out of here. She was in terrible, terrible danger, even though the doppelganger had done almost nothing more than talk. Indecision and anxiety, though, paralyzed her. Where would she go? Which way was the way out of this maze of darkness? And what if it was already too late? How was she ever going to stop thinking about what she'd just heard?