Moonstrike 5: Magical Girl Transformation

The rest of training was a sweaty mess of early mornings and carefully managed schedules. She got better, and fast. Ji Min got a vicious sort of satisfaction out of tossing Hodge and then later Alex around in the gym.

He hadn't been exaggerating, though. He was a lot better than she was at hand-to-hand. That made every time she got the drop on him so much more satisfying.

Her list of skills to acquire was getting pretty long, and not much had been crossed out. She'd scratched a line through "anatomy". She wasn't exactly ready to tap in as a phlebotomist, but she had a better sense of where to hit and where to be careful to avoid, that sort of thing.

One of the areas she'd been told to consider was transportation. Her sensible black hybrid car was probably not the move. Her powers didn't include flight and she wasn't lunatic enough to try grappling and swinging her way around a city. She had been enjoying the urban running sessions, so that was on the table for short distances. She was also considering getting a motorcycle license.

'I need to make the government buy me a crime bike,' Ji Min thought longingly. She paused. Then she amended, 'A crime-fighting bike.'

It was so hard to remember that sometimes.

The third day before Alex left the building was the long-awaited styling consultation.

When she walked into the reserved room, a team of three took turns shaking her hand and launched into a spiel designed to part the government from a significant portion of its crime-fighting budget.

"I need a whole designer outfit?" Ji Min repeated, suspicious. "I've been wearing sports clothes and it's fine."

Two of the three stylists winced. The third, a middle-aged Hispanic man with a soft face, leaned forward intently. "It's not fine," he said, so quietly that she almost missed it. "It looks amateur. Unless you're aiming to do partnerships with sportswear brands, your outfit is the wrong place to save money."

Wow, she hated hearing that. She hated hearing accurate criticism.

Ji Min gave a reluctant nod.

"We can keep your color scheme, but I was thinking about pushing it a little bit with something like this." He flipped open his art book to show a color story.

Her eyebrows shot up. It was black and blue, with hints of purple and silver. Sketches of a woman in a glossy black suit flung silver moons against a night sky. Her accessories were blue with silver detailing.

"There's this alternative option that I like as well." The page flipped to show a blinding white costume splayed against the night sky. Bands of black and dark blue broke it up but somehow the overall effect was even more disorienting.

"What." Ji Min said. She wasn't being snarky. She was unfamiliar with the genre of thing that she was seeing.

'What did they use to make it shine like that? I thought this was done in marker.'

Baffled, she leaned in closer to peer at the paper.

"The moon reflects light, so I was playing with the idea of a reflective suit." He was faintly smiling, sheepish. "I played around with glitter, but I like the reflective quality of something much stronger."

She raised her head to look at him speaking.

"Like the safety vests people put on their dogs to walk at night," a junior stylist added helpfully. She had a slight upturn at the corner of her lips, like she was trying to hide a smile.

'Who would think of this? They're like a foreign species,' she marveled. 'Designers aren't like generic humans.'

"It could be dangerous," the third stylist said, sounding mildly apologetic. "You might present a visual hazard."

"But the aesthetic!" cried the young woman. And she was right.

"I want to blind people with my reflective white ass," Ji Min said immediately. The black look was cooler but this? This was insane. She grinned at him and it came through her voice. "I love it."

"Excellent," enthused the female stylist. "Perhaps we should adjust the color for your accessories. The samples are silver at the moment."

Still grinning, Ji Min asked "We're leaning into the moon theme?" She tapped the silver orb on the sketch with a finger. It looked like she was throwing it.

One of the stylists bobbed her head in a nod. Her pink afro swayed ever so slightly with the movement. "A few projectiles with various non lethal usages," she explained. She seemed more excited about Ji Min's heroic career than Ji Min was. "Your accuracy is good for a beginner, so I was imagining like- someone pulls a gun, and you disarm them with one of these." She made a demonstrative throwing gesture with an imaginary ball. If she'd had something in her hand, she would have accidentally spiked it on the far end of the table. She shouldn't take up a career in darts.

Ji Min stared, unsure. "I disarm them by using a moon painted ball to break their hand?" She checked. It seemed a little unhinged as Plan A.

"Yes." The stylists all nodded.

Wild.

'I don't know if I can be out in public in this persona without dying of shame. But I like these people. These are the only good people in this building. The rest of us are straight garbage by comparison.'

So maybe she should trust them. What did she really know about public relations? It wasn't like she'd ever had success on social media other than what Hammer had done to her. He was a rancid weasel, but he was right. People thought her heroic persona was cool so far.

"I'm fine with that," Ji Min decided tentatively. She leaned back in her chair. "You've sold me on that. It's on theme and it's doable." She flexed her foot under the table, hiding her nerves.

"Just let us know about any skill sets you develop proficiency in and we can figure out a way to work them into your design." The third stylist flashed a brilliantly white smile at her. Their eerily perfect teeth were their only defining trait so far. They weren't pale or dark, young or old, masculine or feminine.

They were sort of eldritch, actually, Ji Min thought. That level of ambiguity seemed purposeful and beyond normal human capability.

'I choose to believe that's one of the old gods.'

That was why she kept any skepticism off of her face when they moved to show her the kooky moon-themed tools. "We have samples, so I'm glad you're interested." They opened a case and showed her five neatly aligned balls in a padded case.

It was gimmicky. It really was. The part of Ji Min that knew to protect herself by being cool and aloof cringed, hard.

'But it's funny,' she thought rebelliously. 'And it plays to my strengths. I don't have many skill sets yet. I can't turn my nose up at something that would work.'

Unbidden, she remembered her shock and indignation when she realized that Hammer had pinged her upside the head with a gift shop toy.

Yeah… She'd like to return the favor.

She picked a ball up to check the weight. Then she blinked and held it closer to examine the paint job. "It does look like a little moon." She was impressed. "Surprisingly heavy."

Maybe too heavy for launching at someone's skull.

"This one is the lightest." The female stylist tapped another one with a purple-manicured finger to indicate. "There's also the vacuum -sealed ones."

Her oldest coworker shot her a glance that told Ji Min that they had decided against the vacuum sealed …balls…?

"Wait, like, gym balls?" She clarified as she checked the lightest moon. Ah, yeah. She could throw that at Hammer. "You're suggesting equipping me with balls used for children's recess?"

"But vacuum sealed so you can transport them unobtrusively," the rogue stylist agreed serenely. She pretended not to see the meaningful eye contact that her peers were giving her.

This whole thing was honestly really weird and embarrassing. Some latent self consciousness reared its head. It was much safer to wear conventional things and to use the same tools that other heroes did.

'But it's not," she corrected herself, stomach churning with a mix of nerves and excitement. 'They were right about the sports clothes and they're right about using unconventional weapons. If I start carrying guns or lasers, other people are going to shoot at me. And you can't avoid killing people when that's what you use.'

Ah. She felt warmer about the soft ball already.

Ji Min leaned back in her chair. "You can't really injure someone with one of those," she said thoughtfully. "They hurt, though." That was the sort of grey area that she was comfortable in.

"With how hard you throw, you could probably knock someone over," agreed the oldest stylist cautiously. "And it wouldn't be good for villainous morale to be taken out with toys."

"They hate that," came cheerful agreement from the eldritch stylist.

She threw her hands up. "I'll try it. What else do you have for me?"

The eldritch stylist perked up and flipped the page. "As you know, there's always the issue of unbalanced equipment between heroes and villains." They brushed hair out of their face unconsciously. "It's difficult to defend against lethal measures without approaching that level."

Ji Min read the air. "Protective equipment?" She asked.

"A shield you'd wear on an arm," they said. It was nearly a squeal. They showed her a sketch that honestly looked more like a pictionary attempt to convey the passage of time. "It expands- you'd carry it as this crescent, but when you need it, it unfurls into a full moon."

Ji Min frowned. "I don't know anything about structural integrity or design, but isn't that going to make it a lot weaker than it would be if it was one solid piece?"

The man shrugged. "Not practically speaking." He paused and amended, "At least, not for your purposes, due to what we anticipate your needs will be and the quality of the material we intend to use. The material is expensive enough that we don't have a sample. If you don't want it, we won't make one."

"And if you make one, I really should use it," Ji Min finished. She rubbed at her chin with the back of a palm. It was getting sweaty under the mask. "It seems like a good idea, but how am I meant to learn to use that?" Her voice was skeptical. "It's probably not just instinct."

"That's not really our area," the young woman said cheerfully.

"You can practice in group training sessions." The man gave his coworker a slightly tired glance. "But I'd suggest you discuss that with your handler before agreeing or rejecting the concept. Is there any overall feedback or impression you have?" He asked Ji Min. "Would you like to ask any questions?"

She pursed her lips. "You're very sure that this outfit and aesthetic won't make me a laughingstock?"

The probably eldritch designer hid a laugh in their hand.

"We're certain," assured the young woman. She didn't hide her smile. "If anything, it's better for you to move more in the direction of being graphic and playful rather than sticking with your all-black and serious first draft of a persona."

"No one likes an edgy hero," added the man with a nod. "It seems like you're trying too hard to be cool."

The last stylist finished laughing and chimed in. "And it's not good optics." They ignored the sharp look the senior designer gave them. "So far you're known for being rather unfriendly and violent. The average person watching footage of you at work could be forgiven for mistaking you for one of the villains." They laughed out loud.

"That would be awkward," Ji Min said, seeing a very practical side effect of dressing in white. The visual coding of black= evil and white = innocence and goodness was stupid, but it was there.

She shook hands, made them promise to tell her if they had any more unhinged ideas, and went to have her week 2 check in with Ross in the training center.

It was very odd to be making post-training plans.

'It simultaneously feels like I've been here forever and like I just got here.'

"You'll need to continue practicing and learning, of course." Ross handed her a folder. "Let's talk about your options for that. If you were on open identity terms with us, we would pay for your membership in a gym or club of your choice."

She nodded, flipping open the folder to read through the list of recommended trainers and styles.

"As is, we are able to provide a budget for the average membership and joining fees. I see that Hodge is recommending that you continue with judo?" He checked.

"Yupp." Ji Min popped the p. "I'm enjoying that one."

"You must be doing fairly well at it." Ross circled something. "Start up costs for that… a few hundred dollars for the outfit and joining fees. Maybe 300, 400?"

She scrunched up her nose and didn't comment. "She also wants me to do something for tools or weaponry, right?"

"That's right, you need supplementary skill sets to get into the big leagues." Ross gave her an amused look. She hadn't been shy about aiming high. "Pretty much any skill you could develop might have a use, so you're on your own for that. The only other thing is that we're going to need you in a facility twice a week or more for team training." He leaned over to make marks by a few building names. "Any one of these places is fine, but it's obviously preferable if you can start to develop relationships with a few other heroes rather than come and go all the time."

"The government is mandating play time?" Ji Min rephrased snidely.

The trainer gave her a mildly disappointed look and ignored it. "If you're amenable to working with Alex, there's something coming up that the two of you could be deployed for. We decided it could count as a practical training exercise."

He had her full attention.

Trainer Ross smiled in a knowing way. "Yeah, your handler had us sign off on that, wanted to know if you were fit and ready."  He looked upwards theatrically to avoid the stare she was burning into his head. "I can't give you information, of course, but I have a feeling that you'll be interested."

Ji Min pressed her lips together into a thin line.

"I'll tell him to expect you." Ross shot a grin over his shoulder on the way out of the room.

She sat there for a moment, fighting with her impulses. She hated to be predictable. Her gut said to put her nose up. But if she really thought about what was on the table... A government sanctioned mission, before she was even finished with training? She wanted it. She didn't give a shit that she'd be partnered with Alex. A coworker was a coworker.

"I can work with anyone for a day," she said to the empty room.