Into the Vanessaverse

It was uncharacteristic of Agent to sneak out of the manor, Vanessa knew, especially when he was usually content to curl up in the library with a good book, until she bothered him. The fact that he wasn’t in there was a strong red flag in her book, doubly so when he couldn’t be found every Friday night. She was concerned for his safety, and also slightly jealous.

It came to a point that, one such night, Vanessa took special care to shadow Agent, via literally blending in with his shadow. She copied his movements through the streets, with him nary the wiser, carting his watcher ever closer to his destination. Not even the darkness would keep her away-although she did feel awkward taking upon Agent’s modest shape, compared to her flawless curves. At least her face wasn’t visible.

She didn’t recognize the streets they walked, unfamiliar from Agent’s typical adventures out of the manor. Ironically, most of those trips were to another library, as if hers wasn’t good enough for him. Once he went to a coffee shop and got stood up by a would-be date, she recalled. Instead, however, they were in a nondescript part of a city she didn’t recall.

They did briefly stop inside a fast-food restaurant, however. Agent gave a friendly greeting to the wait-staff, requesting a dozen quarter-pounder burgers. Far beyond the amount he could possibly eat on his own, and it certainly wasn’t for Vanessa-she had been banned from most fast-food places after a certain incident she was a part of, between herself and her rival. The order was to-go, and the burgers were placed inside a bag that Agent graciously accepted, and with a smile and a wave, he was off again, further down the street.

Curiouser and curiouser, Vanessa thought. This was definitely behavior she was not familiar with seeing Agent act with. Surely, he had a plan…

She was eventually met with the destination Agent was seeking, a moderately-sized sporting arena. “Underworld Wrestling Federation” was the name of the venue, rather unique. Vanessa did hear of this organization in the past, as a passing mention. The ultimate name in sports for any and all demons, monsters, and otherworldly creatures. The question then became: Why would Agent, a shy nerd with no sports interest, go to a show like this? He certainly wasn’t there to participate.

Vanessa tired of overshadowing Agent, leaping away from his silhouette at the next available opportunity. She waited from afar as Agent showed off a ticket to the desk clerk, receiving a confirmation nod and a wave inside. It wasn’t until Agent was completely out of sight that she approached closer. Time to investigate herself.

She silently cursed herself upon realizing she could have just hitched a ride with Agent the whole way and avoided having to pay entry costs.

…

After passing the front desk a fair number of gemstones as payment, far more than necessary, she was in. It wasn’t a big facility from the outset, the lobby merely containing a couple of vendors for snacks and some merch related to the UWF’s prime fighters. It’s possible she dated one or two of them-but she didn’t have time to consider that. Through the double-doors ahead, she could hear the roar of a crowd. The show, it seems, had begun.

She thrust open the doors, seeing the arena proper. The crowd was deafening, the cheers for both competitors equal in volume. At the center was the ring, where two fierce opponents were going head-to-head. One looked like some sort of oni, red skin and all, muscle-bound and wearing a unitard that looked like a loincloth. She was charging at her foe, who looked mostly human, but with a significant addition of dog ears and a small tail. The latter sported muscles galore, a real powerhouse in the ring, yet she also sported a significant gut. Vanessa couldn’t help but be impressed by her physique, it was truly admirable.

She glanced through the crowd, picking out Agent from the crowd with ease, as he was the mildest one there. He seemed to be cheering with the rest, but especially for the dog-girl. She looked back at the wrestlers in bemusement; at least he had good taste.

The oni’s charge was intercepted by the dog-girl, who had suddenly leapt into a drop-kick, slamming into the oni’s chest with a loud slam. The oni fell in a heap, trying to regain her footing after having the wind literally kicked out of her; all the while, the dog girl was then climbing up the corner post nearby, giving a pose to the crowd, really riling them up. The cheers intensified, especially when she leapt off of her perch, flipping around to slam against the oni with her entire body, knocking her flat.

The dog girl remained atop the oni, keeping her restrained long enough for the referee to approach, dropping to their knees. The ref slammed the floor once, twice, three times, and a bell rang out that same number. The crowd went wild again, as the dog-girl removed herself from her prone opponent, mugging for the fans and flexing her muscles, only driving the audience wilder. Through the cheers, she then approached the oni, offering a sportsmanlike hand up, which was graciously accepted.

Vanessa had seen enough, she felt. This woman…She was a peak specimen, no doubt, and in any other circumstance she would be pining for her with everything she had. But with Agent’s interest in her, beyond anything she had seen prior? She didn’t feel very comfortable. This was…jealousy? It was certainly strange, but it made sense; she could do everything this girl could herself, surely.

She glanced back at the crowd. Agent had gotten up, walking down the bleachers towards the ground level, towards another set of doors, no doubt for the athletes to pass through after a good match. Mayhap he was approaching to meet up with the wrestler behind the scenes, and with all those burgers in tow to boot.

She simply had to see what all the fuss was about.

…

Vanessa stayed around the corner, just out of sight, watching as Agent made his way through the back rooms. Evidently, this was where the competitors rested between bouts, showered, and possibly napped. It was also supposed to be closed to the public, yet Agent was able to walk in with ease, and without anyone stopping him. If anything, he was politely greeted by the otherworldly female wrestlers, of varying lineage and species.

Eventually he came to see the muscular dog woman walk out of the locker rooms, patting down her face with a towel to dry herself off-from sweat or just water, it was unclear. She seemed to recognize Agent, and gave a toothy grin.

“Hey, it’s the shrimp!” she greeted, the nickname spoken affectionately rather than with malice. She even gave Agent a small noogie in greeting, which he responded to with an amused chuckle and a blush, rather than squirming. “I bet you saw that last match, right? Rocked it as always.”

“You sure did, Pixie,” Agent agreed. He held up the bag of burgers he had picked up earlier, offering the whole contents to the wrestler. “Oh, I brought you a gift to keep your energy up. The whole dozen.”

“You’re too kind,” the wrestler, evidently ironically named Pixie, took the bag with surprising gentleness. She then just as quickly started ripping into the burgers with a ravenous hunger. Eleven burgers fell victim to her gaping maw-but she generously saved the twelfth, passing it back to Agent. “For your trouble. We have got to get you some more protein, shrimp, get those gains going.”

“You know, I’ve said the same myself?” Vanessa finally said, stepping into view. She kept on a confident smirk as she watched the scene. Agent was briefly surprised, but gave a small wave. Pixie, meanwhile, scowled somewhat.

“Can I help you?” Pixie asked, unamused.

“Hey, Vanessa,” Agent greeted. “You, ah…I guess you followed me here, huh? The shadow-walking thing?”

Pixie looked down at Agent, curious. “So, you know this goth?” she asked.

“Pixie, this is Vanessa, the witch I told you about,” Agent said, ever the diplomat. “Vanessa, this is Pixie. She’s one of the finest wrestlers in the known universe.”

Vanessa scoffed. “Oh, I’m sure I could do better,” she remarked. All the while, she took better stock of the newcomer, now that she was closer than the grandstands. Pixie was a solid two feet taller than herself, three feet more than Agent. Her spandex two-piece left a small window for cleavage, stretched farther than it was originally designed for. She also had two cuffs with spikes around her wrists, plus a collar that was also spiked around her neck. Her hair was thick enough that it covered her eyes-yet Vanessa could feel heat, the sensation of having someone glare daggers at herself.

“Where do you get off?” Pixie demanded. “I worked hard for my title. You can’t just come in and–“

“And you can’t swipe my Agent from me,” Vanessa insisted. Her ego was on full display now. “I declared dibs on him ages ago. He should be admiring me.”

Both Pixie and Agent blinked in unison. They looked at each other briefly, then at Vanessa. “Is that what this is about?” Agent asked. “Vanessa, she’s just a friend. We met while gaming. I’m just trying to show support for her interests and talents, same as I do for all my friends.”

“He’s in my book club,” Pixie added.

“Whatever,” Vanessa said, dismissive. “Bottom line is, I’m the most powerful between the two of us. Ergo, Agent is mine, simply put.”

She was putting a lot of weight behind her tone and her pose, trying to look intimidating despite the size difference. It was like she had something to prove, to herself if nothing else. Pixie, of course, was unimpressed.

“You know, the next match is gonna start soon,” she said. “And they usually kick out trespassers just before the show. So, I’d make like a broom and fly, witch.”

Pixie walked away, barely paying mind to Vanessa’s wounded look, shocked by the blatant stereotype inflicted. First, she rode a Dyson, and secondly, she was trying to comprehend the sheer audacity.

Not even Agent said anything, mostly confused at Vanessa’s latest behavior. He simply gave a pitying glance, before walking out of the hallway, back to the stands. She was left standing, alone, with her thoughts and her rapidly increasing paranoia and anxiety.

Surely, she was the better of the two, she HAD to be. For Agent to want to spend time with another so frequently, it was…it was unthinkable! She was a witch, a goddess, perfection incarnate, and if a mortal spurned her so easily…She had to win him back.

There was no question, then, as to what she had to do. Her mind was made up. She would fight for love, and she would win.

…

The next match wasn’t long to start, with Pixie marching into the ring, throwing up her hands to rile up the crowd into cheering. She flashed a fanged smile to the adoring crowd, basking in their adulation, soaking in it. Eventually she went to her corner, slamming her body against the pole so hard it groaned trying to maintain her body weight. The sound gave her pleasure; everything she did, everything she received, it was by her own power. She earned it.

Then she waited. The next opponent would be sauntering down the aisle and into the ring in due time. Admittedly, she hadn’t paid much attention to who she would be facing. Maybe it was the gorgon, Sadie? Ooh, or Callie the gator-woman; she did enjoy their last bout quite a bit.

Or perhaps, as she soon found out, the arena would be giving her a curveball.

Vanessa herself was the one sauntering down the aisle, to modest acclaim. Most of the crowd didn’t know her too well, but they felt her aura. It was…off, to put it mildly. Agent, from his seat, expressed surprise and bafflement at what she was planning.

Pixie continued to be disinterested. “We’re not doing this,” she said to the witch, when she climbed into the ring. “Why are you still here?”

“I came to challenge the reigning champ for her title, darling,” Vanessa chuckled lightly. “Maybe then Agent will come back to my side.”

“Are you still on about that?” Pixie demanded. “Look, I’ve told you, we’re just friends. You’re blowing this way out of proportion.”

“Oh, you’re just saying that because you’re afraid of losing,” Vanessa dismissed, scarcely listening. “By the time I’m through, the whole underworld will know who the best is.”

Pixie sighed. There was simply no getting through to the witch via words alone. It seemed that there was only one way for her to listen to reason: by dashing her megalomania in the ring. She spread her legs out, putting her hands into prime grappling position. “Your loss,” she said. “If you want to get snapped like a twig.”

“Oh, I won’t be getting snapped, darling,” Vanessa laughed louder, her confidence showing. Her eyes glowed, her hands shimmered with eldritch energy that made the entire arena darken from the raw power. Pixie was forced to take a step backwards, uncertain what her opponent was planning.

Then Vanessa suddenly exploded.

The witch seemed to grow several feet within seconds, her body bulging and rippling from the effort. Her arms and legs flexed and swelled to intense sizes, becoming pure muscle. Her luxurious gothic dress couldn’t keep up with the combined effort, and promptly tore into shreds, leaving only scraps to cover the extremities. She lifted one foot, then slammed it down to produce a shockwave effect, as she grinned menacingly at Pixie.

Pixie was no longer disinterested. Now, she was outright furious. “Oh, we are DEFINITELY not doing this!” she shouted. “You don’t get to waltz in here and take any titles! You’re making a mockery of the sport!”

“I’m not making a mockery,” Vanessa said; her voice was deeper now, the sheer power behind her words now audible. “Just history.”

The bell rang, the officiates starting the match before anyone could protest. There was no turning back, Pixie left facing a suddenly muscular and somewhat delusional witch. But she never backed down from a fight, least of all for her dignity. She gritted her teeth, coming at Vanessa immediately.

The two clashed instantly, Pixie’s grip matching Vanessa’s blow-for-blow. The grappling was intense, the pure fury behind both competitors increasing the arena’s literal temperature as they vied for control. Pixie kept her steel glare; Vanessa kept her wicked smile, too confident in herself to think about dropping it.

With a twist, Pixie aimed to throw Vanessa to the side-but the witch had other ideas, clinging to Pixie ever tighter. The dog-girl’s own strength caused them to tumble together, landing on the mat in a heap. Vanessa recovered first, rolling upwards, diving at Pixie with an extended, massive elbow primed to drop.

Pixie suddenly rolled out of the way, with Vanessa’s elbow slamming into the floor so hard it tore a hole in the material. It also had the effect of pinning Vanessa in place as she struggled to remove her arm from her own destruction, leaving her in place for Pixie’s sudden tackle against the witch. Vanessa was sent sprawling, Pixie on top, restraining her arms as tight as possible and locking her down on the ground.

The referee suddenly ran in, getting the cue that a pin was in effect. He slammed the ground once. Twice.

Suddenly, Vanessa’s body melted into the ground, and Pixie fell onto the then-uninhabited space. She looked alarmed at the development, certainly not expecting such foul play. Her shadow was still there…and then it slipped away towards the other side of the ring, a pool of living darkness slinking to safety. It soon reformed, only much larger than it started, with Vanessa’s recovering body three times as large as she started.

“Oh, you’ll have to do better than that, darling,” she taunted, her voice echoing through the venue. Her foot was a fourth of the ring’s size, and her muscles were even larger now. The sheer weight of the newcomer made the crowd nervous, with many slinking back towards the walls, or even fleeing outright, sensing the danger.

Pixie’s mood soured further. “Fine,” she said. “If you’re going to cheat, I’m going to meet you halfway. You’re not the only one who can grow; the difference is that I trained myself.”

She concentrated, pulling from all of her years of practice for this one moment. She began to feel tense, her skin stretching and flexing, before she started to rapidly increase in size herself. Her muscles increased in mass, and especially power, her innate abilities taking hold. Shortly, she was matching Vanessa’s height once more, their heads only mere feet away from the ceiling.

Vanessa charged at Pixie, with the dog-girl catching her attack and spinning her around, shoving her away and into the wall. There was a loud crash, the brickwork falling apart upon impact, Vanessa struggling to pull herself out. It didn’t take long, however, before she did remove her body from the new crater-and with it, several more bricks. The ceiling rumbled, the foundations struggling to keep up with the new strain.

Again, Vanessa charged, and Pixie moved to counter. This time, Vanessa feinted, ducking under Pixie’s outstretched hands to collide directly with her solar plexus. She gasped for air, unable to regain her footing in time to prevent Vanessa from forcing her backwards like a freight train. They collided into the other wall, clear through it and out onto the city streets. The arena, fraught already, was no longer able to withstand the continued punishment, and so it loudly collapsed into itself, smoke bellowing from the force of the implosion.

Pixie was knocked flat on her back, Vanessa atop her, gripping her arms tightly. She could see the witch’s manic grinning face, and…were those eyes of hers multiplying? There were six now, and her skin was flaking off from the force of effort, exposing a sort of void underneath. Endless nothingness. Vanessa may have been more than a witch after all.

“Time to demonstrate what an eldritch being can really do,” Vanessa taunted. What she could ‘really do’ was interrupted, and thus her pinning attempt, when Pixie drove her knee into Vanessa’s stomach with one quick movement. She pushed the witch off of her, rolling back to her feet. Looking behind her, Vanessa was still on the ground, trying to get up. Nearby, there was a taller building she could climb up. An idea formed in Pixie’s head; absent of a typical ring, she just had to improvise.

She clutched the brickwork tight, hearing the building groan and creak from the additional weight added to its structure. She clambered up the side, high enough to gain enough gravitational force to make a difference. She looked back again; Vanessa was starting to get up, her giant body proving a liability more than an asset currently. Pixie took a deep breath. Then she leapt.

Her entire body slammed into Vanessa’s, knocking the cosmic witch down once more, and forming a massive hole where the two met. Glass shattered from the force; smaller buildings were leveled within a twenty-block radius. Once more Pixie had the advantage, atop her foe. In lieu of an official ref, she used a free hand to slam the ground herself. One strike. Two.

As she was about to slam down a third time, her hand was suddenly gripped by Vanessa’s. Pixie’s eyes were wide under her mass of hair; that was impossible! She was holding onto one hand herself, and the other was pinned under her own knee. So how–?

Her answer came in the form of another hand. And another, and another, a total of six developing from Vanessa, two extra on each side, taking hold of Pixie and shoving her off with ease. Vanessa sat up, her laughter echoing through the city, and through Pixie’s head, ringing enough to cause a headache. Some blood dripped from her nose, the consequence of hearing something mortals, and most immortals, should not ever hear.

“It’s been some time since I’ve really let loose,” Vanessa teased, sitting upright, then standing, all the while growing ever larger. Her voice was multiplied by a hundred, all in surround-sound, and she was difficult to even stare at. She was really tapping into her eldritch powers now, pulling out all the stops to win. “But you leave me no choice, darling.”

Pixie was panting from the effort; this was the biggest threat she had faced yet. She wasn’t done, far from it, but if she was going to keep up, she had to grow larger. Once again, she concentrated–

“Uh-uh!” Vanessa said, sending all of her arms to strike Pixie. She caught them all at once, feeling the witch push against her with the strength of the universe itself. “Not this time.”

Unbelievable, Pixie thought. She wouldn’t even let her keep up! It was certainly irritating to be smaller than someone for once. The strength was overwhelming, her body straining to break even. It wasn’t enough, she thought. Already, her feet were sliding across the ground, Vanessa’s relentless assault forcing her backwards with ease, crashing her through building after building, tearing apart the roads, destroying everything.

This was it, she thought. If she was to win this, it had to be now, or never.

Pixie focused hard, channeling everything she ever learned over the years of wrestling training, all into one desperation tactic. She dug her heels in firmly, pressing against the ground as hard as she could. She skidded across…but slower, before outright stopping. She pushed against Vanessa’s grip as hard as she could, surprising even the monstrous form of the witch.

“Still resisting?” Vanessa asked. “Maybe if I apply a bit more pressure…”

Pixie could feel Vanessa start to give some more shove into her grapple, her weight shifting tremendously. She grinned; this was exactly what she expected, and it was exactly what she wanted.

With a deft movement, Pixie simultaneously let go of Vanessa’s six-armed assault while ducking underneath the outstretched hands. She dived against her chiseled body, wrapping her arms around the waist.

Vanessa looked down in alarm and confusion. “W-what are you–?” she said, before everything changed in an instant.

With all of her might, and with a fierce yell, Pixie leapt into the air with Vanessa in tow. She flipped backwards, forcing her opponent to do the same-and with her larger size, the eldritch witch would be hitting the ground first. Vanessa could only widen her eyes in shock and fear as the aerial suplex did its job, striking the ground with the force of a meteor, and with it came the ripple effect of one, sending every single remaining building in the entire city tumbling down.

There, in the ruins of the metropolis, Pixie stood, panting, sweating profusely, thoroughly exhausted. Under her was Vanessa, even more exhausted-and more to the point, half-conscious, unable to fight back anymore. It was nearly over, Pixie noted. There was just one more coup de grace.

She climbed atop Vanessa’s mighty form, restraining what she could, and slapped a flat surface of her body for lack of reach to the ground.

One.

Two.

Three.

“It’s over,” Pixie declared, climbing off of Vanessa, stumbling when she hit the ground. She paused to catch her breath, examining the witch. “It’s over, do you hear me? I want you to concede.”

She was silent for some time, trying to recover from the absolute cosmic stun she had received. Eventually, however, Vanessa did nod, slowly, accepting her loss.

“Damn right,” Pixie said. She extended her hand to Vanessa, trying to be a good sport. “No hard feelings, witch, you put up a good fight.”

Vanessa, gradually, took a hold of Pixie’s hand. Her body shifted within her grip, the witch’s muscles and extra limbs melting into primordial sludge. It all seemed to condense within Pixie’s palm, solidifying into Vanessa’s original form, dress and all. Still weak form the showdown, she winced as she bent to one knee.

“How?” she asked. “I held nothing back…”

“Neither did I,” Pixie explained. “You’re all power, sure, but not much technique.”

Vanessa sighed. She looked away, embarrassed by the display. Nevertheless, she tried to keep a stiff upper lip. “Victory is yours,” she declared. “You win. You can have Agent.”

Pixie palmed her face with her free hand. “For the last time,” she said, as patient as she could get herself. “I’m not interested in taking anyone from you. He’s just a friend who wanted to show support for my hard work.”

Vanessa tilted her head. “So, this form of yours…” She gestured to Pixie’s kaiju-esque size and shape. “This wasn’t natural?”

“I had to work for it, yes,” Pixie nodded. “That’s why I got so pissed when you just snapped your fingers and claimed you could snatch the belt without putting in the time. When you can just magic your way to the top, what’s the point?”

“Huh,” Vanessa said, pensively. She looked down at the palm again. “And I guess Agent probably grew tired of that too…”

“I mean, maybe?” Pixie shrugged. “Look, I’m no relationship expert, but I bet he’d appreciate it if you actually put in effort to win him over in ways you both enjoy.”

She looked around, examining the rubble and wreckage around them, through the smoke and smog. “Where is that dork, anyway?” she asked.

Idly, Pixie felt a squirming sensation coming from her upper leotard. Something was climbing up; Agent poked his head from the cleavage, much to Pixie’s bafflement. He inhaled deeply, panting.

“Hey,” he said. “You fell on me back at the arena and I wound up here. What did I miss?”

Both Pixie and Vanessa looked at the citywide devastation around them both. From afar, an explosion could be seen and heard.

“Nothing major,” they said in unison.

“But I did learn a valuable lesson today,” Vanessa said, smiling. “Pixie, darling, I apologize for the hostility. And you’re right, there really is worth in making something from your own hard work and efforts.”

“That’s the spirit,” Pixie encouraged with a grin of her own. “Good on you.”

“And I know, with a bit of work…” Vanessa continued. “I can absolutely beat the tar out of you in a rematch.”

Pixie’s smile drooped a little, now cringing. “Okay, you’re overdoing it,” she said.

“Oh yeah, I can just picture it now,” Vanessa, lost in her excitement, rambled on. “Vanessa from the top rope, delivering a divebomb onto the reigning champ, taking the title–“

Pixie suddenly closed her hand on Vanessa, giving a clench for good measure. She briefly scowled, opening her hand to reveal a mass of ooze, bubbling across her skin, trying to reform. She glanced down to Agent, who in turn glanced up to his current benefactor. Pixie shrugged.

“Meh,” she decided. “She’ll be fine, probably.”

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