Dressed for the Occasion

"Master? Rick? Where is Brad?!"

"That... fool," he coughed weakly, "is your master no longer! Now, you belong to me."

"What!? He's not a fool! Wait, what are you going to do?"

Amanda didn't know what to feel. She had only had one master in her young genie's lifespan, and it had been nothing but carnal joy. What would new master be like?

"First things first, I wish to be fully healed," Rick stated.

Amanda's eyes glowed. "Your wish is my command," her voice thrummed.

Reaching out with a finger, she emitted a soft pink trail of energy that enveloped Rick's body. The constant drip of blood from his nose finally stopped, and his legs regained their strength and stopped wobbling. His spine straightened after years of hunching over dark tomes, crafting and perfecting his art for this very moment. He felt his magical reserves swell, as if he were pleasantly full after a large meal.

He stood up straight for the first time in a long time and inhaled deeply. Yes, it worked... it had really worked! All his study, all his sacrifice, and now, he had the ancient, ultimate power of a genie in his grasp.

Amanda broke him out of his reverie.

"Rick? You know magic? What are you going to do? What will you wish for next?"

He opened his eyes and looked upon Amanda's glorious body. A shudder of arousal, quite an unfamiliar feeling, coursed through him. He hadn't felt such desires ever since he had traded so many parts of his humanity in exchange for his unnatural powers. It was... pleasant. Very pleasant. But he would have time to explore that later.

"Amanda."

"Yes, Rick?"

"I wish for unlimited wishes."

Amanda's eyes glowed violet as an ominous rumble shook the mansion. "Your wish is my command."

A naked Brad lay shuddering on the bed after his superheroine genie girlfriend had suddenly vanished. He struggled to put himself together after such an intense and draining five minute lovemaking session, calling upon his army reserve training to get up and keep moving despite his exhaustion.

"Amanda? Amanda, your master is calling you. I still have one wish, don't I?" She didn't appear in the usual puff of smoke.

The mansion was dark, and he could hear screaming and other horrible, unidentifiable noises echoing. Grabbing his rifle, he cleared both corners before exiting the room and moving into the hallway, weapon at the ready. He traced his attached flashlight along the path as he walked, occasionally getting spooked by what he swore were ghosts flying behind him. But when he turned, they were never there.

He came across what looked to be a corpse. No, a re-dead corpse. Its brains had been blown out, but its body was necrotic, its flesh rotten. What the fuck was going on here? Surely Amanda had to be okay. What could be more powerful than a genie? Wait, Amanda probably could have caused this... did he wish for this?! No way! More sexual endurance, being a sexual god to Amanda, and a zombie apocalypse?

Suddenly, the entire mansion started to rumble. Doors in the hallway opened and slammed shut by themselves as the quake intensified. As Brad struggled to retain his footing, it looked as if a thin veneer of reality was being peeled back. The zombie corpse before him seemed to fade away, its smelly, rotting flesh turning back to human skin. He watched in relief as it looked like the body was being healed, until the process traveled all the way to its head, where the damage still remained. Before Brad could retch at the sight of it, he felt that tug of reality against his own being as well.

His rifle which he had assembled and disassembled, fired, and cleaned in training time and time again, turned to plastic. His memories of being enrolled in ROTC vanished, a distant memory that seemed like a dream.

Amanda? Why did he think his girlfriend was some sort of superhero genie? It was just a costume! Right?

Rick watched in shock at the unexpected side effect of his wish. He wasn't some cartoony villain who would get foiled by some do-gooder when he held the omnipotent power of a gorgeous genie in his hands.

Still, the power to receive unlimited wishes from a genie had its costs. Amanda began to absorb the power of Rick's forbidden spell in order to potentially fuel his twisted desires, but it wasn't remotely enough. The earth, the galaxy, the entire universe shuddered as its magical energies seeped into her beautiful form, granting her the power to complete whatever wish would be asked of her.

It almost looked as if the world were wilting away, its colors less vibrant, its materials shriveling, as she soaked it all in.

Amanda looked on in horror even as she grew in power. It was hard to keep this well of unfathomable energy inside. She took on an otherworldly outer glow as she bent in half and clutched her stomach for fear of bursting. But the tendrils of magic never stopped flowing.

"Why are you doing this!?" she cried.

"Because I've earned it," he smiled wickedly. "My whole life, I've been weak and sickly, teased and tormented. Bullied for a cursed fortune, which I didn't earn, born into a broken body, that was unable to defend itself! The universe is a sick joke! And now, I'm going to fix it."

"I'm... sorry... this happened... to you..." Amanda choked as her power escalated. "But... you can't..."

"I wish you would enjoy this."

Amanda's eyes glowed. "Your wish is my command." The pain subsided, and she felt almost elation as the universe withered while granting her its power.

"Wow..." Amanda revelled in the serenity of the world growing still.

"See? I can be a gentle Master. I could wish for you not to fight me on this, but I respect you too much. You were the critical piece that could bring my plan to fruition."

"Me? I don't... what are you talking about? I led a normal life. Then I came to this party. I was only born into existence as a genie under an hour ago."

Rick laughed at how she accepted the absurd series of events caused by his spell.

"No, Amanda. You were the most passionate of everyone here, besides me, of course. Your dedication and effort into your costume is what made you a vessel worthy enough of containing such power."

"What are you talking about?"

"The spell I cast manifests the effort and passion that every person puts into their craft. And I know how much effort you put into yours. Unlike your idiot boyfriend, who takes everything you do for granted, I understand you."

"I'm, I'm just a genie..."

"I wish you could understand the whole picture of what I am telling you."

"Your wish is my command," her voice echoed. Followed by a sudden, normally pitched, "Oh my god! I wish I'd never told you about any of my cosplaying stuff!"

"So now you know. And I liked hearing about it, just like you like talking about it, right? I can appreciate it, what you do, who you are. I appreciate you. I'd make a much better partner for you than Brad." He spit out the name venomously.

"Brad wouldn't use me to destroy the universe!"

"I thought I told you to enjoy this."

"I still have a brain, Rick!"

"Well, no worries. With you by my side, I'll just make a new one. You... you are beautiful, you know. I thought so even before you became... this. Now, your beauty is matched only by your power. And what a power it is."

"Fuck off, Rick. Are you trying to sweet talk me? I'm never going to go along with this. Why don't you just rape my mind with your wishes then? Not the same, is it?"

Rick sighed, a genuine expression of sadness on his face. "No, I'm afraid not. Of course you're right. Beautiful, powerful, and brilliant. In time, you'll see that we belong together. There won't be anyone else around, anyway. Certainly not your worthless Brad."

"Arrrrrrrgh!!!!" Brad screamed as he hurled his plastic toy rifle at Rick. It bounced weakly off the back of the warlock's robe. As Rick turned, sceptre in one hand and lamp in the other, Brad leapt forward, intending to tackle Rick to the ground as hard as he could.

He found himself frozen in midair as Rick pointed that damn wand at him.

"Brad!!" Amanda screamed.

"What a moron he is! That might have actually worked if he didn't throw his stupid toy at me! How do you stay with this guy?" Rick taunted.

"Brad... Brad... I'm so sorry! I can't help you!" she wailed, tears streaming down her face.

"Let... Amanda... go! Freak!" he managed to utter despite his immobility.

"This universe isn't going to last long, but I'm going to enjoy blasting you to pieces," Rick's morbid face took on a sinister grin. Aiming his staff, he cast another destruction beam, completely effortless this time thanks to his restored vitality.

Brad watched in slow motion as his life flashed before his eyes. That beam was headed right for his head.

Amanda moved faster than the spell could resolve. Her body blurred as she sped into action, appearing in between Brad and the beam of death. Her blue and gold cape fluttered from her superhuman movement as she crossed her wrists, bringing her bracelets together, the cape-bracelet attachment forming a cocoon of protection in front of Brad.

The purple destruction beam struck Amanda's mystical bangles, absorbing all of the impact. She held her ground--well, air--as she hovered in place. The shockwave and the deadly energies of Rick's spell caused her cape to billow back violently.

"Amanda!?" Brad yelled over the deafening roar of the spell.

"Brad! Are you safe?"

"Yeah! How are you doing this? I thought he was controlling you!"

"I... I just... had to protect you! I feel like I have a duty to protect people!"

"Thanks babe!!! But what can we do now?!"

The beam suddenly stopped, and Brad collapsed onto the floor with a clumsy thud.

"Amanda?! What is this? How can you defy me?" Rick was flabbergasted.

She struck a superhero pose.

"What the hell kind of a genie are you supposed to be!?" he continued.

Brad dashed out from behind Amanda's protection and made another charge at it. Rick swept his sceptre horizontally, disintegrating a wide swath of the mansion, but Amanda shielded Brad yet again, deflecting the beam into the sky with her bracelets.

"Amanda! You cannot do this! You belong to me!" He waved the lamp.

"I shall never serve evil!"

"But you will serve me! I wish..."

Amanda blurred once again, charging at Rick far more effectively than Brad ever could. She placed her hand over his mouth and gripped, lifting him off the floor. Rick squirmed as Amanda squeezed him tightly to prevent his speech.

"Brad! Do something! I... there's a conflict inside me! I need to fight evil, but I can't deny his power over me forever! Hurry!!"

"Can you just, I dunno, kill him!?"

"How can you say that!??!"

"Just look at what he's done!!!"

"Yeah, I know, but if I kill him, I'm no better than a villain. I have a code to maintain! I... can't...!!!! ARRRGH! My head!"

Rick's midnight eyes blazed with fury. Amanda began to wilt at his imperious stare. It was becoming harder to maintain her silencing grip over him. Her superhuman strength was more than enough to keep him suspended forever, but her willpower was fading. Her mind was draped in molasses. Thoughts fuzzy, unclear. Protect innocents. Fight evil. Obey master. Enjoy the gradual death of the universe. Slowly, she began to lower him to the ground.

"No! Amanda! Don't let him go!" Brad cried.

She released his mouth from the steely grip of her slender fingers.

"I wish for no more ridiculous heroics from you!" Rick forced her will upon him.

"Your wish is my command," Amanda's voice echoed.

"Give me that!" Brad was suddenly upon Rick. They fought over his sceptre, Rick attempting to fire it at Brad point blank, but Brad shifted his weight at the last moment and twisted, sending a shearing beam of energy through the roof, firing far off into space.

"You useless human mortal!" Rick hissed.

"Freak! Put everything back the way it was!" Brad had nearly wrested control of the staff away from Rick.

Holding on tight, Rick began chanting a terror spell. With a gleam in his hollow eyes, he completed it, staring straight into Brad's soul. Brad let go of the sceptre immediately and scurried away to cower against one of the mansion's only remaining walls. He whimpered, trying to scuttle back futilely as Rick advanced on him, sceptre aimed and ready.

"Yes, Brad. Know your place. You are not worthy to wield my magicks. You are not worthy of Amanda. It's people like you, you idiots who don't appreciate what they have, that made me the way I am today. You are given everything and waste it, while I had to suffer this joke of a life I was handed. You make me sick. And now, I will take everything from you."

Still terrified, teeth chattering, Brad displayed the lamp.

"H-h-h-how ab-b-bout t-t-this?"

Brad rubbed the lamp furiously with his uncontrollable, shivering hands. How did this damn thing work!? None of today made any sense! He was so fucking TERRIFIED!

"No! Give that back!" Rick screamed. His sceptre began to glow.

"I w-w-w-wish... f-f-f-f," Brad stammered. "F-f-ff-fuck! I w-w-w-wish f-f-ffor..."

For the second time in five minutes, his life flashed before his eyes again. The beam of death was traveling right for him, and Amanda's face was frozen in a soundless scream. She wouldn't be coming to his rescue this time.

He just wanted to be away from here. Away from Rick. Not to be scared anymore. He could wish for himself to be immune to Rick's purple beam. He could wish to be away on some tropical island. He could wish for this day to have never happened. No more time. No more thinking. Just imminent death. So scared. He wasn't even aware of what he was saying.

The beam struck him squarely in the chest as he locked in his wish. "F-f-f-ff-freedom..."

And then the lamp rattled to the ground. There was nothing left of Brad but dust.

"Brad!! Oh no oh no oh no! Brad!!!!" she sobbed.

"Now now, there'll be no more of that," Rick condescended her as he cradled his treasured lamp. "I've had a change of heart about letting you come around. Clearly, you are too powerful for me to be taking these indulgences. I guess I will have to satisfy myself with just having your beauty and power, if not your mind." He licked his lips lasciviously.

"Don't. You. Fuckin. Dare." Amanda's eyes glowed as they radiated immense heat, causing her flowing tears to sizzle.

"Or what? The all powerful genie will have to obey her master?" he chuckled. "Let's see..."

He approached Amanda's floating form, tracing a finger across the magnificent swells of her chest. Amanda shuddered in disgust.

"I wish..." he grazed her cheek with his own, "for you..." he whispered in her ear, dragging it out.

Amanda clenched her fists and closed her eyes. She prepared to say goodbye to her identity, to everything. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she silently thanked Brad, the big dummy, for trying to rescue her.

"...to fall head over heels in love with me," Rick concluded. He smiled as he awaited her scripted response.

"Your wish..." Amanda started as she squeezed her eyes shut tight.

"Yessss," Rick hissed, enjoying her torment.

"Is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard!" Amanda yelled. "Wait, did I just say that out loud?"

"What?!" Rick shouted. "I said I wish for you to fall head over heels in love with me!"

"And I said you can eat a big fat dick!"

"No! No no no no!!!" He pointed his sceptre at the lamp he had just retrieved. "I will destroy this, you stupid girl! You know what happens to a genie without her lamp?"

"Hmm," Amanda mused. She snapped her fingers. All of a sudden, the lamp was in her open palm, not his. She closed her little fist around it, crushing it until it was molten and dribbled out the cracks between her fingers.

"Why don't you tell me?" she smiled triumphantly.

"You stupid wench! You're just like all the rest of them! You owe me everything!!" Rick wailed in agony. "Die!"

He poured his full energies into the spell, slamming her with a thick beam of destructive force. Amanda merely examined her fingernails as it smashed into her body, absorbing its energies along with the universe's.

"I wouldn't say I'm just like the rest of them. Wouldn't you agree?" She redirected his spell with a little twist of her hand, and it curved to flow right into her welcoming mouth. Pursing her lips, she sucked all of it up, taking more from his glowing gem than it could produce, licking her seductive pink lips when the beam finally dissipated. His precious magical gem had gone inert. Her tongue glowed with energy.

Rick collapsed onto his knees, unable to halt Amanda's easy siphoning. He dropped his sceptre with a loud clang, the rare, expensive stone now an inert rock, clattering out of its setting and rolling across the floor with a few soft thuds. His skin was clammy, his cheeks sunken. He looked even worse than when he had cast his reality warping spell.

"Look at me," Amanda ordered. "This is what you've made me. Do you like what you see?"

Rick had no choice but to obey her edict. He squinted against the brilliant white shimmer that her body was radiating. She had become even more powerful, more beautiful than he could ever have imagined. The sclera of her eyes glowed white, her perfect breasts and succulent legs were now visible through her genie outfit that had somehow become sheer. Her previously brown hair flowed in the wind, immeasurably long, all emanating a golden hue. As each second passed, her power grew ever more compelling as expanses of the universe winked away. His overworked heart began to drum rapidly in his chest as he drank in her ethereal otherworldly splendor.

"I love you..." he heard himself say.

"Did you know our universe is expanding? Or was, I should say." She straightened an arm, and a whole galaxy's power from billions of light years away rolled up into a little ball in her hand. She cradled it delicately, massaging and handling such unfathomable power so easily, before dipping a finger into it and swirling it into herself.

"Goddess!!" Rick cried out.

"You were right about some things, you know. Brad couldn't have appreciated this." She splayed her fingers, manipulating strands of visible energy. Tracing circles in the air, the rubble of the mansion around them began to rewind in time, reconstructing itself partially. But all the colors were still faded, as if the resolution of the world were going down.

"But Brad has something you don't. He has the heart of a hero. I think you understand that now, don't you?"

"Yes, goddess! Anything you say!"

"And you... are just an indignant mortal scoundrel. Not worthy of the attention of a goddess."

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, goddess! Please forgive me! Let me worship you!"

"You don't deserve to see me like this. Let me go back."

Amanda confined her endless power inside of herself, not letting it wash over Rick. Her eyes ceased glowing and returned to their scintillating ice blue. Her outfit became solid once again, though the effect of her beauty was still profound. Her hair stopped flowing, the strands winking away as they shrank back to her normal length, down to her lower back. She luxuriated at how wonderful it felt as she ran her fingers through her silken mane and tied it up with just a gesture of her fingers.

Rick stopped squinting and was finally able to take a breath in the presence of his goddess. How could he have been so deluded as to think that he should remake the universe? It clearly belonged to her.

"Amanda, I didn't mean for this to happen," he kowtowed before her.

"Yes you did. You just thought you would be in control of it."

"Okay... yes, but... I didn't think it would be this bad," he spoke honestly, knowing that anything else was futile. He gestured at his surroundings, all of which was shriveling and disintegrating before his eyes. "I felt so righteous about it at the time. I don't... I don't know how to fix it. I'm... sorry about Brad."