Chapter 21.2 – The New Look

I can’t believe it. I’ve seen strange things in my time as a vampire, but this is a first. This is the Doc, but as a woman. If I look at him closely, he looks almost exactly like Dominica. Put them together and they might be mistaken for twin sisters.

“This has to be some kind of joke, or a dream, even!” I look at Gran, still not believing what I saw.

“It is what it is. That’s the side effect.” Gran smiles, seeming to enjoy my expression of disbelief.

“If you don’t believe me, I have some x-rays of his bone structure. See for yourself.”

I look at the x-rays and notice the difference in bone structure. The wider hips confirm it.

“Now if you excuse me, I’ll be getting some rest.” Gran says as she leaves the room.

“H-hey, Doc?”

“Is that any way to greet your Archon after such a long time, Antonio?” Doc says with a voice that I am not familiar with. The Doc’s voice is usually a low, gentleman-like baritone. But his voice now is like what you’d hear from old-fashioned, upper-class aunties who live in mansions.

“You’ll have to pardon what I’m wearing. It’s what the hag could find on such short notice.”

“By hag, I guess you’re referring to me.” Malefica says as she heads for the machine to make a few more calibrations. “You’ll have to tough it out in that first until I can get you some decent clothes. Those are just some old clothes I found lying around in the car trunk.”

“I guess you’re the one who lacks style then, Margaret! Your underlings probably lie when they Mirror for you.”

“One more insult and I’ll dress you in the most uncomfortable piece of lingerie I own.”

The Doc seems to stop ripping on her after that.

“How about you let your student here Mirror for you first? To help him adjust to your new look and all.” Malefica gets feds up and seems to be packing away her alchemy set.

The Doc looks at me, smiling and waiting for me to perform a Mirroring for him– or her now, I guess.

“Well, how do I look?” the Doc smiles and flutters her eyes in a comical manner.

I try to say something, but I still can’t believe that the side effect involved the Doc turning into a woman. Now she wants me to Mirror for her, which is now awkward! I don’t think I’m in the right mental state for that now! The Doc is a woman! The Doc is a woman!

“Um… y-you’re a woman now?” I felt my brain fart as I say that.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious. But tell me how I look!”

The Doc looks at me as Malefica also seems to stop what she’s doing, waiting for me to say something as I stammer.

“Y-You are… w-w-wearing a t-trashy-looking t-top…”

“Yes, it is indeed trashy. Go on.”

“That has a hideous p-pink color with animal stripes…? And um…”

“Come on, Antonio! You can do better than this! You’ve done Mirroring countless times when I was a man.”

“Y-you also have those two um… uh…”

Before I could say anything more, the Doc stands up from the bed.

“The word you’re looking for, Antonio, is breasts.” the Doc says with a deadpan expression and squeezes them together as Malefica brings out a newspaper to whack the Doc on the head from behind.

I just black out after that.

---

It felt as if I woke up from a long slumber. I was aware that my consciousness was inside the body of a child, but I could not do anything as it acted on its own. But eventually, I felt something calling out to me, bringing me back to consciousness as I awoke as my adult self again and in control of my own body, but there was something unfamiliar on my chest. The old hag whacked my head with a newspaper when I poked my chest multiple times while Gran seemed happy but also shocked to see that I am now a woman. My lack of an Adam’s apple confirmed it as I touched my neck.

After getting dressed by both Malefica and Gran, they let in Antonio first to see me, and just when I was so excited that he would Mirror for me, he fainted. I guess he’s not used to magical effects like this one yet. I stayed in the medical room for a few more tests with Malefica after that. Gran said that she would visit me again on another night, when she’s fully rested.

When one of Malefica’s henchmen came over with some better clothes for me, I got up from the bed and headed for the lavatory to change. They dressed me at first when I was unconscious, but this time I have to learn how to put on women’s clothing… again. This isn’t the first time I’ve turned into a woman, and the previous experience was just for laughs with a few mischievous Archons.

Opening the shopping bag from V&M, the first thing that entered my mind is that this outfit is something that my daughter would wear. I thought about wearing my usual formal suit, but they’re tailor-fitted to my male proportions, so it would probably look too big on my current feminine form.

After wearing the outfit provided to me, I head back to the medical room to see that Antonio has been placed on the bed, still unconscious from shock.

“So, how do I look?” I ask Malefica.

“Like a hooker ready for a night out.” she gives a cynical reply.

“Very funny, old hag. Nevertheless, I am grateful that you restored me back to normal… somewhat.” I look down at my outfit again and think that these shorts are too short. My legs are exposed! Isn’t it unladylike to show this much skin?

“But seriously, you look great! I’m glad that this was the only side effect and not something more horrible.” Malefica replies, sounding more sincere this time.

She then brings out a magic mirror and places it in front of me so that I can see myself as a woman for the first time.

I still almost look like myself, but with a woman’s body. What surprised me was how the whole ensemble fits me well. Maybe Malefica does have an eye for style.

“It’s not exactly formal, but it’s all right, I guess. Why this outfit, though? It’s as if I’m wearing underwear for my bottoms!”

“You dress like an old fop as a man, so I wanted to see how you’d look in that. Luckily, we’re both the same size, so I’m lending you some of my clothes until the genderbending wears off.”

I open my mouth to object that I would have preferred a long dress to hide my legs, but the old hag tells me that I need to dress with the times. I resign myself to this outfit, still feeling a bit embarrassed.

“You should thank Antonio for turning you back, you know.” Malefica tells me.

“So he wanted to turn me into a woman right from the beginning?”

“No, I meant turning you back into an adult. He worked hard along with the sentient armored fart and foreign lackey that you have.”

“And it did a fine job, giving me these wider hips.” I say with sarcasm.

“It was the best we could do, okay? You’ll turn back in a week or a month, but we don’t know yet! Gran’s suggestion was to turn you back into your male self but you’d be in a coma for who knows when.”

“And now I’m a girl for who knows when.” I gesture at my own figure. “Antonio went with your plan over Gran’s?”

Malefica nods.

“I’m quite grateful that I’m back in control of my body, but being in this body is completely undesirable. He should’ve gone with Gran’s plan.” Antonio took quite a risk with this one. I would’ve stayed in a coma as my male self instead of getting used to this new feminine body. I’ll have to punish him for making such a rash decision, but now is not the time. I look at myself in the magic mirror again to see how prominent my rear has grown.

“Then again, maybe this isn’t so bad. At least I can resume my duties immediately.” I comment as Malefica grins.

One question remains, however. Why did Malefica agree to help me like this all of a sudden? Gran only told me that Malefica lost to Antonio in a duel earlier, but what if she was just faking it? This old hag already has a dubious reputation in the community, so taking her offer for help should have been the last resort.

Perhaps…

“There’s one thing, though.” I speak again.

“Yeah?”

“You were planning to turn me into a woman from the very beginning under the guise of turning me back into an adult, weren’t you? It’s highly unlikely that a vampire of your caliber would lose a duel so easily to a minor vampire like my student.” I make a guess, which shocks Malefica for a moment but calms down again.

If I’m nearing my 300th year, Malefica is five decades older than I am, which is why I usually address her as old hag. Given her age, her ability level is almost the same as mine, which means that she probably lost to Antonio on purpose in that duel.

“As expected of a genius doctor like you. I guess there’s no use hiding anything from you, Domingo. All right, I’ll come clean.” that hit the mark as I cross my arms for Malefica’s explanation.

“That side effect was just some bullshit I made up. I actually had a better cure than Gran’s, but I thought of messing around with you, which is why I added another little ingredient to pass off as a side effect. Just think of it as a little payback for being mean to me. You’ll turn back into a man in time, that I can guarantee since I don’t want the Association to get involved. I just couldn’t let the opportunity to get back at you pass so easily.” Malefica laughs.

“Fair enough, you clever hag. I’ll admit, I’ve said some demeaning things to women. But I must say, I applaud you for being able to manipulate my student like that.”

She seems to like the compliment.

“Being called a clever hag is actually more flattering than what you usually address me.” Malefica chuckles.

“You mean a dry bush?”

“Shut it, you old fop!”

Both Malefica and I laugh at the exchange of insults. Unknown to many in the Association, we share quite a history together. If Preston were to see this, he would probably call it one of the strangest friendships that he has ever seen; being friend-enemies, is what I think it was called.

“Anyway, think of this as your punishment for calling my lady parts a dark abyss. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like being a woman. I can even make it permanent if you end up liking it. The League needs more female Archons, you know.”

“I’ll pass.” I reply, thinking of the amount of paperwork to be submitted for a simple sex change to be amended in my record, and it’d take an eternity. Vampiric bureaucracy at its finest. “And I prefer to wear suits over dresses.”

“Pity. I always wanted to have another female Archon around to chill with. You know, getting our nails done, binge-watching chick movies on Simflix, plasma fruit cocktails, the works.” Malefica crosses her arms.

“In any case, let me take the opportunity to say sorry.” I apologize like a gentleman, even though it comes out as more ladylike.

“Just stay as your pretty little self for a month or two, and all is forgiven. But remember this, if you tell Gran or the others that I lied about this being a side effect…”

I gulp, realizing that I am currently at the mercy of this horrid woman.

“…I’ll make that change permanent.”

“It’s a deal, then. Don’t worry about it, I won’t squeal.” I agree, thinking that I won’t be able to do much. Looks like I’ll have to face Don Antares in this form. I resign myself to Malefica’s conditions and think about what Antonio did. That Antonio! He should’ve acted in a more pragmatic manner.

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way now. Have fun being a girl while it lasts. Ta-ta~”

After throwing a pack of feminine pads at my face, Malefica then finishes packing her tools and exits the medical room, leaving me with an unconscious Antonio in the room. But I cannot wait any longer, so I slap him to wake him up.

*slap*

“Wake up!” I shout.

Antonio opens his eyes, looks around to orient himself, and then turns his attention to me again.

“So it wasn’t a dream.” he concludes.

“Of course it isn’t, you fool. If this were a dream, then I wouldn’t have these two lumps on my chest now, would I?”

Antonio makes this awkward expression as I remember what I woke him up for.

“Now go get Preston and Park.” I help Antonio off the bed and send him on his way.

“We’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”