By
Morpheus
A young man finds himself in for a devilish surprise.
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There is a stereotype that says all hard core gamers are overweight men who live in their parents' basements, though that is certainly not true. For one thing, I live in my Mom's attic not her basement, and for another, I am certainly not overweight. I'm actually quite fit and make a habit of running several miles a day.
My name is Desmond Rogers, Dez to my friends. I graduated from college a couple years ago but found that the job market wasn't quite what I'd hoped for. I'd originally returned home to my Mom's house, intending to stay for a couple months at most, just long enough to find myself a job. Unfortunately, things didn't go the way I'd intended. It looks like that degree in psychology I'd earned wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.
Of course, I had been able to find a couple jobs since then though none of them lasted long enough for me to be able to move out on my own. The last one had paid the most, though unfortunately, it hadn't worked out. For one thing, I'd been completely bored off my ass the entire time and for another, my manager had been a complete dick. That was a bad combination for someone like me. One day he'd left his office door open when he'd run off to talk to someone so I'd taken the opportunity to send an email out to the entire company from his account, announcing that he was coming out of the closet. Needless to say, he was pissed, and once someone told him they'd seen me leaving his office, I was out the door.
At the moment, I was sitting in front of my computer playing World of Warcraft, a game that I was somewhat addicted to. I didn't have a lot of ambition in most aspects of my life, a fact some would say was proven by my being 25 years old and still living with my mom, but when it came to leveling my character I was willing to work hard to level him and earn achievements.
My main character was a troll rogue, a fact which always amused me since I not only thought of myself as a bit of a rogue, but also because one of my favorite things to do was troll other players on the game. I grinned and looked at the vicious argument raging on general chat, an argument I'd started when I'd made a pointed statement on a controversial political topic five minutes ago. I added new comments ever once in awhile in order to throw more fuel on the fire but most of the fun was watching all the other players screaming at each other. Sometimes, it could be fun just to get the ball rolling and then just watch everyone else do the work.
I absently scratched at my arm, feeling itchy and uncomfortable as I had been for the past two days. I wasn't quite sure what was causing it but suspected I was having an allergic reaction to something. It was probably the result of mom using a different brand of dryer sheets or something like that.
Just then, I heard my Mom calling my name. "Are you decent Dez?"
"Am I ever decent?" I called back with a grin.
Mom came up the stairs into the attic with a plate of food in hand and set it down in front of me. She was a good mom, probably a little too good in some ways. She was always nice, sweet and friendly, usually coming off a bit like one of those old TV moms like Mrs. Cleaver. Unlike most of my friends growing up, I never really got yelled at since she usually took the attitude of 'boys will be boys'.
"Thanks," I told her, grateful for the sandwich. Mom was always so thoughtful about this kind of thing so I could never bring myself to say no when she asked me to perform chores around the house.
Mom noticed me scratching my arm and gave me a look of concern, asking, "Are you all right Dez?" She put her hand on my forehead and exclaimed, "You've got a fever..."
"I feel fine," I told her, "Just sort of itchy."
"Feeling fine or not," she responded in a firm tone, "I'm getting you some chicken soup."
"But that's just an old wives tale," I pointed out. "Chicken soup doesn't magically cure anything."
Mom just smiled at that and told me, "Perhaps, but it certainly can't hurt either."
Once mom was gone, I looked at the general chat on my game and sighed. It looked like the argument had finally died down and I'd been too distracted with my mom there to keep it going. That was all right though as I was getting a little bored. Maybe tomorrow I'd try it again with some religious comments. Those were always good for stirring emotions. Then with a shrug, I logged off the game so I could spend some time in the real world.
I leaned back in my chair and considered calling one of my friends to see if we could hang out for a bit. Unfortunately, I couldn't call my best friend Pete. He was still pretty pissed off over what had happened with his girlfriend. Sure I slept with her, but it had been completely willing. Of course, she'd been completely drunk at the time and had called me by Pete's name, suggesting that she thought I was him, but that was beside the point. Unfortunately, Pete had taken it pretty personally and had damn near broken my nose.
"Maybe Mark," I mused, then paused to remember that he was still pretty unhappy after that peanut butter incident.
After a minute, I realized that I no longer had any friends who were even moderately close to me. I'd screwed all of them over in one way or another, often with practical jokes that had gone a bit too far.
I'd never thought of myself as a bad guy but I couldn't help but feeling a strange pleasure at being able to mess with other people. I was pretty sure I wasn't a sadist since I didn't like causing physical pain, but being able to make to make other people angry or conning them into doing something they might not do otherwise always did it for me in a way that even sex couldn't.
"Damn," I muttered in annoyance, feeling angry at myself for the way I'd sabotaged nearly every relationship in my life. I think the only person I'd never really done that to had been my Mom, and heaven knows, I've certainly caused her enough grief over the years.
Since I was tired of gaming for the moment and had no friends to hang out with, I had no excuse not to do some more job hunting. After all, it would be nice to make some cash again and get out on my own, even if it did mean that I wouldn't have my Mom's home cooking.
Several minutes later, my itchiness grew stronger and I was even starting to feel warm. I was beginning to get concerned that I really was coming down with something and that it wasn't just some kind of allergic reaction. After scratching at my arm a bit more, I looked down and was startled to notice that my entire arm was red, like I had a really bad sunburn. A quick glance revealed that my other arm was the same way.
"What the hell?" I demanded.
I quickly got up and ran downstairs to the bathroom, pausing to stare in the mirror. My face looked just as red and sunburned as my arms, and in fact, a quick look revealed that my entire body did. Strangely though, I didn't feel sunburned, just itchy.
Then I noticed something else that surprised at worried me. I had two bumps on my forehead, each about as wide around as a quarter. I gasped and hesitantly touched them, finding that they were both hard, almost like it was bone right beneath the skin. Now I was really getting concerned about what was wrong with me.
"I think I need to go to the hospital," I called to my Mom as I went to the kitchen. "There's something seriously wrong with me."
"I'm sure it's nothing that some chicken soup won't cure," she responded, setting a bowl of soup on the table. "Now eat up."
I just sighed and sat down, knowing that it was pointless to argue with my mom when she was like this. She was usually very sweet and patient but she could be oh so stubborn in her motherly way. I'd learned long ago not to confuse her normally kind and easygoing nature with being a push-over.
Mom put her hand on my forehead again and then pulled it away with a yelp, "Ouch... You're burning up..."
Suddenly, my hand caught on fire or at least a flame appeared and danced across my fingers. I could only stare in surprise and confusion, not feeling any pain or burning at all. I dunked my fingers into the soup to put the flames out but then another flame appeared on the back of my other hand.
"Oh dear," Mom muttered from beside me.
I jumped up and staggered back as the flames quickly spread over my body, burning through my clothes but not seeming to actually be hurting me any. I held my hands up and stared at them in stunned confusion as my skin actually started to blacken and flake away, all without hurting in the least.
"If you're going to do that," Mom said with a sigh, "please do it outside so you don't burn the carpet."
It figured that I was spontaneously combusting but my Mom was more concerned about the carpet. My clothes had already burned off but for some reason, the flames weren't spreading beyond my own body. Mom would be happy that her carpet and drapes appeared to be safe.
I felt a strange mixture of horror, confusion, and curiosity as I continued to burn. Not only was I not feeling any pain from this but all the itchiness was going away, being satisfied almost as though I was getting a full body scratch. As my burned and blackened skin flaked away, fresh new skin was revealed beneath. However, this new skin was bright red, not like the sunburned red from before but like a fire engine red. Moments later, the flames all died away and the rest of my burned skin all crumbled off as well.
It was immediately obvious that my body had changed far more than just turning a bright red. For one thing…or more accurately two…I had a big pair of tits jutting out from my chest, each one about the size of a volleyball.
“Holy shit,” I exclaimed, staring at my hands which were now more slender and feminine, with black fingernails that were sort of long and pointed almost like claws.
Then I felt something bumping up against my leg and looked down, surprised to see that I now had a tail as well. It was long and thin with a sort of barbed triangle at the end so that it looked like a classic devil’s tail.
I stared at the tail for a moment and then reached up to my forehead with a bad feeling. Where I’d had the two bumps on my forehead, I now had a pair of horns that stuck out about two inches and had sharp points.
Since my clothes had all burned off, I got a full look at my naked, red, and obviously female body. From what I could see of it, I had some damn nice curves.
As shocking as my suddenly transformation was, the most surprising thing was that I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable. In fact, I felt pretty damn good…better than I could ever remember feeling in my life. I felt…right.
The only comparison I could think of was that I had been wearing a set of clothes that were uncomfortable and just didn’t fit right. However, I’d been wearing those same clothes for my entire life so didn’t realize that this wasn’t how clothes were supposed to fit. Now it was like I was suddenly wearing a set of clothes that were not only a perfect fit but were also more comfortable than I’d ever been able to imagine clothes being.
There was a decorative mirror hanging on the living room wall so I went straight to it, pulling it off and using it to get a look at myself. What stared back was a beautiful and sexy looking face, though one that certainly wasn’t quite human.
Of course, my skin was all red but that wasn’t the only thing that was odd. I had pointed ears, black horns on my forehead, and eyes that had become black and gold. My lips were puffy and very kissable looking but also looked almost as though I was wearing black lipstick. And then there was my hair which had grown down to the middle of my back and had changed from its previous brown color to a raven black.
I ran my hands over my big boobs and then into the empty spot between my legs. I made my tail wave back and forth, finding that I could control it quite easily. This was extremely strange to say the least.
"What the hell happened to me?" I demanded.
Mom just sighed and shook her head. "That certainly looks to be the right question."
"No kidding," I blurted out, looking down at my bobs and frowning. "I look like some kind of devil chick."
"I always said you took after your father," Mom said as she looked me over, frowning just slightly. "I just hadn't expected it this much."
"What?" I responded, feeling more than a little confused.
My Dad had taken off long before I was born and mom almost never talked about him at all, though she had mentioned once or twice that he was hung like a horse. The fact that she was bringing him up now really caught my attention.
I gestured down at myself and asked, "What does my dad have to do with this?"
Suddenly, another voice said, "Everything."
I snapped around and saw a man standing a short distance away, wearing an expensive looking black suit with a red tie. However, what really caught my attention was the fact that he had bright red skin, pointed ears, and a pair of horns on his forehead, not to mention a tail very much like the one I now possessed. For a moment, I could only stare at the newcomer in surprise but what happened next surprised me even more.
Mom suddenly snapped, "You promised that you'd call me..."
The red skinned man had looked confident but suddenly became a little uncertain looking. "I meant to," he responded awkwardly. "I just kind of got distracted..."
"It's been over twenty-five years," mom pointed out with a steady glare, the kind that had made me immediately stop misbehaving when I was a kid.
"But Maddy...," he started to protest.
"You're the Devil," I finally blurted out, confused by the scene playing out in front of me.
The Devil gave me a quick look of thanks for the timely distraction and then responded with a grin. "Why yes I am. But you can call me Daddy."
I just choked at that and then glanced to my Mom who nodded confirmation. "Yes dear," she told me with a sigh. "This is your deadbeat father."
"Madelyn...Maddy," the Devil protested again. "It's not like that..."
"Don’t Maddy me," Mom responded, crossing her arms, raising one eyebrow, and tapping her foot on the floor. "Go ahead and explain... And while you're at it, what about the all the back child support you owe...?"
I was still a bit flabbergasted by their exchange, feeling almost like I'd stepped into the middle of a surreal dream. Then I looked at the Devil and asked, "You're really my Dad?"
"Of course," he responded, looking almost a little hurt.
"You do have his eyes," mom offered.
"Not to mention all the rest of this," I muttered, swishing my new tail back and forth. "Then, does that mean I'm the antichrist?"
"Not quite," the Devil responded with a chuckle. "Your half-brother is a banker in Hoboken. He makes these fabulous mojitos like you wouldn't believe." He paused to lick his lips before adding, "And that subprime mortgage thing he started really does a father proud."
I just stared at him for a moment and then at my mom, still having a very hard time absorbing the idea that the Devil was my Dad. Of course, almost as difficult to believe was that my nice and sweet 'Mrs. Cleaver' type Mom could have possibly hooked up with the Devil.
"Um...how did you two meet?" I asked awkwardly as I tried to gather my thoughts.
"It was a dating service," Mom answered, giving the Devil an almost dreamy smile as well as a look of appreciation. "He was so handsome..."
"And you were so beautiful," the Devil said, staring straight into my mom's eyes. "You still are you know..."
If things were weird before they became even more so as my Mom and the Devil made goo goo eyes at each other. I was getting a bit queasy just watching it, not to mention frustrated. After all, I had some serious problems that neither of them seemed to be concerned about.
"Um, excuse me mister Devil," I said, trying to get his attention again.
"I already told you," the Devil reminded me with a gentle smile, "Call me Daddy."
"Okay...Daddy," I responded carefully then gestured down at myself. "Why did you do this to me?"
He gave me a blank look before saying, "I didn't do anything to you. That's just who you are."
"No," I told him, giving him a cold glare as I insisted, "An hour ago I was a normal guy. Now you've turned me into some kind of busty devil chick. Why?"
The Devil...Daddy shook his head and let out a sigh. "I told you, I didn't change you. This is just who you really are. This is who you've always been."
"Well she certainly didn't look like this before," Mom pointed out, giving me a speculative look. "Not that I really mind you understand. I've always wanted a daughter and you make such a lovely devil girl."
"Mom," I gasped in protest.
"Perhaps I should explain a little more clearly," Daddy said with an amused look. "You were both with a demon soul which was buried inside mortal flesh. Your demon soul is the real you...your true self. That mortal flesh was just a costume you wore to keep you safely hidden while you grew up. Now that you've finally grown strong enough, that mortal was no longer able to contain you and your true self burned through it."
"But I'm a chick now," I exclaimed, grabbing my naked breasts.
“And a very lovely one,” Mom added pleasantly.
"Deep inside, you always were," Daddy told me. "Remember, that flesh you just burned off was just a costume...a protective layer. This is who you were underneath it. Now you've come out of it like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon." He paused to give me a look of pride.
"Oh shit," I whispered. Then I hesitantly asked, "Does this mean I have to go to hell?" I gulped. "Is that why you're here...to take me there?"
"You will have to go eventually," Daddy told me. "Just not today. You see, the reason I'm here is to both see my daughter’s coming of age and to explain your situation to you. Being who you are...being what you are...you will eventually go to hell regardless of your behavior. You could spend decades living like a saint and it still couldn't change that. Fortunately, hell isn't what you think it is and I assure you it's not nearly that bad. In fact, things can be quite pleasant when you're in management...and as my daughter you will be."
I was a bit shaken by the casual way that he'd just told me I was going to hell regardless of how I behaved. I know I'd done some rotten things to people but I'd never thought of myself as a bad guy and I sure as hell didn't think I deserved to go to hell. Then again, I couldn't help but remembering some quote about some famous person wanting to go to hell because that's where all the interesting people were.
"You said eventually," I pointed out.
"You were conceived and born on Earth," Daddy explained. "That means you have free passage here until you die. And since you don't age, can't get sick, and can heal from injuries far faster than any mortal, that can be quite a long time. Of course, the more powerful you become the faster you'll heal and the more resistant to damage you'll become."
"More powerful?" I asked. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, so you're interested in power," Daddy said, looking pleased. "Ambition is good. It will help you adjust much better." He paused for a moment and then put a hand over my shoulder. "Desmond...or perhaps I should call you Desdemona from now on. It is more appropriate."
"Dez," I corrected him.
"Dez," he agreed pleasantly. "Since you are a gamer, I'll explain this in terms you might understand. Don't be offended, but at this moment you are a noob."
"Don't go calling her names," Mom told him with her firm motherly tone. "It isn't very polite."
"Noob just means I'm a beginner," I explained to mom, though most gamers did look on that as an insult since calling someone a noob also suggested that they didn't know what they were doing.
"As a...beginner devil girl," daddy said, "you start off with some powers that are useful but of limited strength. As you gain experience, your power level increases, strengthening your abilities and even allowing you to develop new ones."
That immediately caught my attention and I asked, "What kind of powers?"
One of the things I loved most about playing video games was exploring the abilities a new character possessed and then leveling that character, gaining new abilities and making them more powerful. The thing that gave me the most satisfaction, other than trolling the other players, was to level my character as high as possible, get the most powerful gear, and then show it off to everyone who hadn't gotten there...usually by kicking their asses in PVP...player versus player. It was a bragging rights thing.
"Immunity to fire and a small ability to create it," Daddy began with a proud smile. "You also possess a limited ability to create illusions around yourself so you can hide what you really are. This isn't very strong though and the illusions all fade when exposed to strong light, especially sunlight. There are other things too but I won’t go into them at the moment.”
“You said I’d get more powers with experience,” I urged him to continue.
Daddy just grinned at that and responded, “Oh, a few things like full illusions, teleportation, creating a raging inferno and even shape shifting. But of course, you have to build up to those powers.”
“How?” I asked with a burning curiosity. “How to do I get experience?”
“Just by doing the same things you already do,” Daddy told me with a shrug. “As a devil, you gain strength by tempting mortals into doing things they wouldn’t do otherwise. There are plenty of ways of doing this, making them angry, jealous, or tempting them with things like sex or money. Every devil has a different way of doing things though I have noticed that you have a particular talent for pissing people off.”
“This certainly is a lot for you to learn,” Mom said, giving me a worried look. “But I’m confident you can do it.”
I looked at Daddy and frowned. “It would have been nice having some kind of warning.” I grabbed my boobs and added, “Maybe some warning about these.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I meant to come by and have a little talk with you but I’ve been so busy in the office and it never seemed the right time.”
“You had twenty-five years,” Mom pointed out with another raised eyebrow.
“Maybe,” Daddy responded. “But you have no idea how much paperwork I have to go through. It used to be pretty easy but then they formed the Damned Souls Union… Do you have any idea how much trouble they cause when they go on strike?”
Mom gave him a sympathetic look, exclaiming, “Oh you poor devil. You look like you could use a nice relaxing massage…”
“You always gave great ones,” he told her with a wink.
“I still do,” Mom winked back.
I just blinked at that then tried to get the conversation back on topic. “About these new powers…” I said.
“Oh yes, of course,” Daddy responded with a chuckle. “I don’t have time to teach you more at the moment. I’m afraid I have a racquetball game scheduled with Bill Gates in just a little while. But these should help.”
With that, Daddy snapped his finger and couple books appeared in his hand. He gave them to me and read over the titles, ‘Tempting Mortals for Dummies’ and ‘Evil Made Easy’.
“Those should answer all your questions,” Daddy told me. Then he looked me over with a proud expression before adding, “Oh yes, one more present.”
Daddy snapped his fingers and suddenly I was wearing clothes again, though certainly not like anything I owned before. I was now wearing a pair of tight black leather pants, a black shirt…if you could call it that which just barely contained my boobs and which left my midriff completely exposed. I was also wearing a pair of black stiletto heeled shoes, a black choker around my neck with a big ruby sitting at my throat, and there was even a gold bracelet around my wrist.
“Just a little something modest to get you started,” Daddy told me.
“You call this modest?” I asked wryly, giving him a look with one raised eyebrow which I’d learned from my Mom. “I’d hate to see your idea of slutty.”
“Well, I have to get going,” Daddy said. “I have a tycoon to meet on the court.”
Daddy was just about to snap his fingers when Mom exclaimed, “Oh no you’re not. You’re not going without me this time.”
A moment later, Mom threw herself at Daddy, wrapping her arms around him firmly right before he vanished in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there was no sign of either Mom or Daddy.
I just stood there for a moment, staring at the empty spot where the two of them had been. It looked like my mom had chosen to go to hell with the Devil. And knowing my Mom, I couldn’t help but feeling just a little sorry for him.
“Sorry Daddy,” I mused, “but whatever bachelor pad you’ve been living in is bound to have throw pillows and new curtains before you know it.”
Then I looked down at myself, at my big boobs and my sexy red body. Daddy had said that this was just my true self, what I’d always meant to be. And after considering how good I felt and how comfortable, I had to say that I believed him.
“I wonder what Amelia would say,” I thought aloud as I considered an ex-girlfriend of mine. I could just imagine the look of shock on her face when she found out that I had bigger tits than she did. “It might be worth telling her about this just for that…”
I glanced to the books Daddy had given me, knowing that I was definitely going to have to read through them when I had a chance. However, I’d always preferred figuring out a new game by myself with a little trial and error.
“This is one hell of a new game,” I muttered, holding out my hand and concentrating. A flame appeared in my palm, enough to light candles and maybe get a fire started but not much more…at least not yet.
A moment later, I grinned as I considered my new powers and what I was going to have to do to make them strong enough to really be interesting. All I’d have to do was get people pissed off enough to act on their anger, something that I’ve always been good at. Now I was just going to have to step up my game a bit and go professional.
“Where should I start?” I mused, my mind already swirling with ideas of nasty jokes I could perform which would really piss off a lot of people.
While I was considering my options, I went back to my computer and logged onto a couple of chat rooms and began posting controversial and inflammatory comments. It only took a minute before I had several flame wars already started.
To my amusement, I could feel something…a sort of tingling inside of me that told me I was already earning experience points towards my advancement. It wasn’t much, but if a couple flame wars could do this, I knew that I was going to be doing a lot more trolling online than ever before.
“Now it’s time to really go level up,” I said with an evil grin. After all, this was almost like a video game and I’d just started as a new character. I’d always made a point of leveling my characters as fast as possible and didn’t see why this should be any different. “This is gonna be fun.”
THE END
By Morpheus
Dez goes out for a night of fun and mischief at a bar and meets some new friends.
Author's Note:
When I wrote the Devil Inside, I fully intended it as just a tongue in cheek quickie and never had any intention to write a sequel. However, I thought it might be fun showing a little more of that universe so decided to write this one. I have no specific plans for another sequel but might write one if my muse hits me with the right humorous material. The TG elements aren’t focused on much and I don’t think it came out as well as the first but I hope you enjoy.
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I stepped through the door of the bar and paused to look around, well aware of the looks of admiration and straight out lust I was getting. At the moment, I looked like a sexy and busty blonde, though the truth was, this was just an illusion created by my magic. Underneath the illusion I was still sexy and busty but had raven black hair, bright red skin, and of course horns and a tail.
In spite of how I looked to everyone else, I was actually a devil girl. In fact, I'd discovered just a week ago that my father was actually THE Devil. I still had a hard time wrapping my head around that or the idea that my sweet and innocent seeming Mom had actually been lovers with the Devil. But even though I was the daughter of the Devil I wasn't actually the Antichrist...not quite. That title went to some older brother whom I'd never met. He was welcome to it since who wants that kind of pressure.
The last week had been unbelievably strange, not just because I'd discovered who my Daddy was either. Just a week ago, I'd just been a human guy playing online video games, and then the next thing I knew, I'd turned into a totally hot and sexy devil girl. A sudden and completely unexpected sex change might seem shocking but for me it was actually strangely liberating. Being female felt completely right and natural, as though this was what I was always meant to be. Of course, my newly discovered Daddy had told me that this was what I'd always been inside and that the entire being a guy thing had all been some sort of camouflage to hide my true nature.
After everything that had happened, I definitely needed a drink. I went to the bar and began to order a beer before I suddenly realized something. Since I was a woman now, that meant I could order all those girly froo froo drinks that I'd never been able to seriously consider before.
"Give me something fruity and girly," I told the bartender, holding out a drivers license which said I was Desdemona DeVille. Of course, the license was no more real than my current appearance and was created by the same illusion power. I had a feeling this illusion power was really going to come in handy.
I took a sip of the drink that the bartender had offered, considering my illusion power. It wasn't very strong and I couldn't even use it during the daytime since exposure to sunlight would cause the illusions to fade away. However, it let me pass as a mortal during the night and offered some interesting possibilities for mischief, not that I'd taken much advantage of that yet.
A few seconds later, I made my way towards an empty table and took a seat. I glanced over at the table next to me and saw a woman who was obviously drunk. What really caught my attention though was the fact that there were two tiny copies of her sprawled out on the table in front of her. They both looked almost exactly like her but were about four inches tall. One of them had horns and a devils tail while the other one had white feathery wings and a halo. They suddenly made me think of those little devils and angels that you sometimes saw on people's shoulders in the old cartoons. But since this pair were busy having sex with each other in the middle of the table, that made me wonder about the state of this woman's conscience.
Ever since I'd changed, I'd been seeing strange things that I'd never noticed before, things that had been hidden behind the shroud of illusion before but which were now perfectly visible. I've seen a yard gnome just get up and walk away and I've seen a shadow that was moving around on its own even though there wasn't even anything there to cast it. However, the sight on the other table took the cake, especially when the tiny angel noticed me looking and gave me the finger.
"If you don't want people to stare, you shouldn't do it in public," I muttered as I looked away. Of course, no one else in the bar seemed to notice their little display at all.
Then I looked around, noticing that several men were staring at me with looks of interest. I glanced over the other empty seats at my table and sighed, realizing that I wouldn't be alone for long even if that was what I really wanted. Of course, I couldn't blame them since I was extremely hot looking at the moment, wearing a pair of tight jeans, stiletto heels, and a t-shirt that said 'Daddy's Little Devil' right across the front. I hadn't bothered making my clothes look any different when I'd made my illusion.
I frowned for a moment, not quite sure what my own intentions were. After all, a woman who looked the way I did normally didn't come to a place like this unless she was looking for company. If I really wanted to be left alone and ignored, I should have at least created an illusion of looking ugly. Perhaps that was just a matter of female vanity or something, but my presence suggested that I was either on the prowl or just being a total cock-tease. Unfortunately, I didn't really know which myself.
The fact that I was completely comfortable and happy as a woman didn't mean that I'd suddenly become an expert on actually being one. My breasts hadn't come with an instruction book and having a snatch didn't mean that I suddenly knew how to put on makeup or that I had all the social skills that other girls learned while growing up. The first-twenty-four years of my life had been as a guy and that was what I knew, though I was definitely working hard to learn the new skills that I'd need.
One of the most awkward things about my change was that I no longer really knew what my own sexual interests were. As a guy, I'd been completely straight but as a girl I wasn't quite sure yet if I still preferred girls or if I'd switched over to preferring guys. Since I found myself paying attention to both, I suspect that I might even have become bi but I still wasn't certain yet.
I might still be learning some of the things that came with being female but being a devil was natural. Being a devil was like playing a video game character in that I could increase my level and get more powerful by earning experience points, and fortunately for me, I'd always been good at leveling my video game characters. As a devil, I didn't get experience points by doing bad things as one might expect but by getting mortals to do bad things instead. Every time a mortal did something they shouldn't because of my actions, they'd put themselves just a little further down the line towards Hell and I'd earn some points. I'd already earned enough to become a level 2 devil and was well on my way to level 3.
I took a sip of my drink and smiled as I considered my last week, most of which had been spent inside the house and on the computer. The instruction book I'd been given on being a devil read like stereo instructions but it did say that there were 7 motivational factors that we could use to influence mortals to misbehave. These were greed, anger, jealousy, pride, laziness, lust, and gluttony, the things that mortals called the seven deadly sins. Any of these things could encourage mortals to misbehave though I had a particular fondness for anger. After all, I'd always had a knack for being able to piss people off. It was a talent.
For the last week, I'd been going on countless online forums and chat rooms, making controversial statements and saying things that were guaranteed to stir people's emotions. I'd taken every e-mail address I could get and posted them in places that would guarantee they'd be buried under crap spam. I'd even taken home and cell phone numbers and mailing addresses and done the same.
One thing that I'd been particularly proud of is that I donated twenty bucks to the Jehovah's Witnesses under the name of my atheist neighbor, guaranteeing that they'd be mailing him pamphlets and trying to get more donations from him for a long time to come. That was bound to really piss him off.
And every time someone I pissed off took their anger out on someone else by getting verbally abusive online, yelling at their family, or even hitting someone else, I'd be getting points. Most of the time I didn’t get very much from any one person, but with the sheer numbers of people I was pissing off it was really adding up. I'd been able to level as a devil without even leaving my house.
Then I suddenly realized that this was one of the reasons I'd come out tonight. I'd been getting a little bored of just pissing people off remotely and wanted to do it a little more close and personal so I could see their faces and get some real satisfaction. I looked around the bar and immediately spotted several likely opportunities.
At one table there were two guys who were obviously a bit drunk. One of them was lighting a cigarette while the other was paying attention to a cute waitress off to the side. With a grin, I concentrated on the man who was watching the waitress. Suddenly, the sleeve of his shirt caught on fire and he jumped up in panic and then put his hand into the pitcher of beer on the table. Only once the fire was out did he notice his friend sitting there with a lighter in his hand and a moment later he'd punched his friend. As the two men fought, I could feel my experience points coming in.
"Very nice," I mused, thinking that this was much more fun than trolling people online in order to grind out experience.
Suddenly a voice behind me said, "Not bad at all."
I snapped around and saw a woman standing there with a drink on her hand, watching the fight that I'd started. She was barely over 5 feet tall but had breasts the size of basketballs. However, as noticeable as her breasts were, even more noticeable was the fact that her skin was bright red and she had a pair of horns on her forehead. I was a little startled to see a devil girl like myself here.
"I'm Lily," she said, holding out a hand for me to shake and then taking a seat beside me without waiting for an invitation.
"Desdemona," I responded. "Dez to my friends."
"I'm a little surprised to see you here," Lily told me, giving me a curious look. "I mean, there aren't that many of our kind around that we normally just run into each other like this."
"I'm a little surprised too," I admitted. "You're the first other devil that I've met..." Then I paused to remember my father and corrected that, "Make that the second."
Lily gave me a look of surprise. "Really? You must never have been to Vegas then."
"I'm kind of new to being a devil," I explained with a shrug.
"Really?" Lilly asked, looking at me with even more interest. "You mean to tell me that you're a baby?"
"Yeah, I'm a noob," I admitted reluctantly. "I only discovered what I was last week..."
"Discovered...?" she started but then paused a moment later. "Oh, I get it. You're mortal born... Wow, we don't see many of you..." Then she looked to the two men who were now being hauled out of the bar by a bouncer and added, "Keep that up and you'll reach level two in no time. I mean, I worked hard and it only took me two months..."
"Two months?" I asked in surprise, not sure I wanted to tell her that I'd hit level 2 in less than a week. I guess that working online was a lot more profitable than I'd realized. As a gamer, I normally loved to brag about leveling but I'd make an exception this one time...at least until I was able to outlevel her, whatever her level was.
"I know you're new and all," Lily said, leaning over and whispering almost conspiratorially, "but did you hear that the big D has a new girlfriend."
I blinked at that. "The big D?"
"You know," Lily responded with a roll of the eyes. "The boss."
Then I realized who she was talking about and bit my lip to keep from revealing that I was the boss's daughter. "I think I may have heard something about that," I said carefully.
"They say she's making all the demons read Miss Manners," Lily said, her voice still low and conspiratorial.
I considered my Mom making demons learn etiquette and wasn't really surprised. After all, she might be sweet and easygoing most of the time but whenever she really wanted something she had a way of 'nicing' you until she got it. In fact, knowing my Mom I wouldn't be surprised if Hell was soon covered with throw pillows and scented candles. The Devil didn't stand a chance.
Lily then shook her head and said, "I heard she even picked out new curtains for the pit..." I couldn't resist laughing at that. Oh yeah, Daddy definitely didn't stand a chance.
"So, what are you doing for a living?" Lily abruptly asked me. She grinned as she said, "Baiting mortals may be fun but it usually doesn't pay well."
"I'm...between jobs," I responded carefully. The truth was, I'd spent most of my time 'between jobs' since I'd graduated from college a couple years ago. "Employment and I don't seem to get along well."
"I know how that is," Lily agreed. "And at your age it has to be difficult since you can't even go out in daylight...at least not until you're powerful enough that daylight doesn't destroy your illusions. It's pretty dangerous being a baby devil since you're not powerful enough to do much yet."
"What about you?" I asked. "What do you do?"
"For the last few centuries I did a lot of waitressing and stripper work," Lily told me with a wink. "You know, jobs that gave me a lot of access to men so I could seduce them into cheating on their wives and that sort of thing. Then I got a bit bored with that and decided to try something a little different. Now I work at the DMV."
I blinked at that. "You work at the DMV?"
"Oh yeah, it's great," Lily told me with an evil grin. "I make people wait for hours then tell them they have to get the right paperwork and come back. You'd be surprised at the number of ways I have there to infuriate people."
I just stared at Lily for a moment before shaking my head and saying, "Well, that does explain a few things."
"And one of my favorite things to do," Lily continued with a chuckle, "is to change a few details when I'm making new licenses. I like to add fifteen to twenty pounds to a woman's weight on the official record. Honestly, that usually only makes it a little more accurate but it really upsets most women." I nodded at that, definitely seeing how that would piss off women since most of the ones I knew were very touchy about their weight and their age.
"I've mostly been busy online," I told her. "You'd be amazed at how many people you can piss off with minimum effort that way..." Then I paused, noticing that Lily wasn't paying attention to me but was looking off to the side.
"My boyfriend just arrived," Lily told me with a smile.
I looked to where she was staring and saw a tall and athletic man with long blonde hair and several days worth of beard stubble walking towards us. He wasn't a devil but the large pair of white feathery wings coming out of his back made it clear that he wasn't human either. He casually sauntered over to our table and when he was close enough I could see a faintly glassy look in his eyes and caught a strong scent of marijuana.
"Whoah," Lily's boyfriend exclaimed as he looked me over. "Another devil chick. Quite a hottie too."
Lily laughed at that and told him, "This is my new friend Dez. She's a newcomer to our ranks."
"The names Ambrosius," the angel said with a grin, holding out his hand for me. "Everyone just calls me Bro."
Bro gave Lily a kiss and then slid into the chair beside her. I was a little startled by the idea of a devil dating an angel...and a stoned angel at that. Still, they weren't really any stranger as a couple than my parents.
"You're not quite what I'd expect of an angel," I told Bro carefully.
"No problem," Bro responded with an easy grin. "I've heard it my whole life. I mean, my old man always gives me an earful..." Then in a voice that was obviously meant to mimic his father, he said, "When I was your age I had to fly to Babylon everyday through a hurricane both ways... And don't make me tell you about how I used to smite the Leviathan..." Bro rolled his eyes and continued, "And I said, dude, what's with all the smiting. Can't we all just get along?"
I couldn't resist snickering at that and then asked, "So, if you're not into the whole smiting thing, then what is it that you do instead?"
"Oh, I like...keep people from giving into temptation," Bro answered with another grin.
I blinked at that while Lily giggled beside me. It was very strange seeing a sexy devil girl giggling like that.
"So how do you do that?" I asked with a laugh. "Smoke all their week before they can?"
"No way," Bro protested with a look of mock hurt. "I'd never do that... I mean, I wouldn't steal another guy’s stash. Besides, weed is good for the soul."
"Really?" I asked skeptically.
"Sure," Bro responded with a broad grin. "It helps you mellow out and being mellow keeps you out of trouble."
I stared at Bro for a moment, seeing how being stoned might reduce how often someone got angry but I figured the increased sloth and gluttony would balance that out. However, I didn't bother saying anything about that since as a devil I certainly wasn't in any position to judge.
"I'd imagine it would be awkward," I said, "I mean, seeing how your jobs conflict..."
"We have an understanding," Lily explained, putting her hand on Bro's and giving him an appreciative smile. "He doesn't interfere with my clients and I don't mess with his."
"The hardest part is dealing with our families," Bro told me with a roll of his eyes. "My old man is like, you should smite that foul spawn of Hell, and I'm like, oh yeah, I smite her all night long..."
Lily laughed at that and then leaned over. "My mother isn't any happier about my dating someone from the wrong side of the track." She shook her head and sighed. "Every time I see her she keeps nagging me to settle down with a nice devil boy and give her grandchildren to terrorize the house."
"Speaking of families," Bro started but then paused long enough to wave a waitress over and order a beer. Once she was far enough away, he continued, "The rumor mill says that the big bad D man has a new squeeze." He gave us both curious looks, obviously fishing for more information.
"I already heard that," Lily responded with a shrug. "I just haven't heard much about her…other than that she’s like, the housewife from Hell."
"Well," Bro continued, leaning back with a smug look, obviously pleased at knowing more gossip about this subject than Lily in spite of being from the other side. "Jen from accounting told me that she's his baby mamma and that they had this mortal born daughter awaken last week..."
Bro continued to talk but Lily blinked and then exclaimed, "Wait a minute? Mortal born? Last week?" She suddenly turned to stare at me in surprise while I gave my best innocent look, which admittedly probably wasn't very effective since my horns were showing.
"It looks like the entertainment has died down," I said, trying to change the subject since I wasn't comfortable talking about my odd family situation when I was still absorbing it myself. "Maybe we should look for more..."
"That was good for an amateur," Lily said with a devilish grin. "Let me show you how a professional does it."
Lily looked around the bar for a moment before settling on her target. I could feel her calling on her magic though I couldn't see what she was doing at first. It seemed that being a devil meant that I naturally saw through illusions which was why I saw Lily and Bro as they really were and not the way that the mortals around us did. I had to concentrate to see the illusion that Lily was currently creating.
There was a large and somewhat dangerous looking man standing up against the bar and drinking a beer. He had tattoos all over his arms and an unkempt beard on his face, making me think that he might be a biker. That might just be a stereotype but that was what my mind came up with, probably due to watching too many movies. Lily created an illusion around him making it so that he looked like a sexy and very busty woman. I nearly laughed, especially as he didn't seem to notice.
Lily had timed her illusion casting for when no one was actually looking at the big man though it only took a few seconds before other guys began to take notice of him. Less than a minute after the illusion had been put in place, another man came up to him and began to hit on him rather outrageously. Several seconds after that, apparent biker punched the one hitting on him and then a real brawl broke out, spreading to two other men nearby. The illusion had vanished when the punch was thrown so the man who'd been hit was probably feeling pretty confused.
"Dude," Bro exclaimed, staring at the fight and then shaking his head. "That was totally wrong." He paused for a moment to grin before adding, "Funny...but wrong."
"Very nice," I told Lily, feeling quite impressed. Having the power of illusion certainly did open the door for entirely new ways to fuck with people.
We sat back and watched the fight until it broke up a few minutes later and all the participants were thrown out of the bar. I frowned, glancing to Lily and considering how I could one up her. I'd always been competitive so couldn't just leave it there. It didn't take me much longer before I had an idea.
"My turn," I told Lily as I stood up and finished downing my drink.
I'd already spotted my targets awhile ago but now was the perfect opportunity to make my move. There was a couple sitting at the other end of the bar though I didn't know if they were married or just dating. Considering this was a bar, I was leaning towards the latter. The woman, a very attractive brunette got up and went to the bathroom leaving her man there alone which was just what I wanted. I concentrated for a moment and changed the illusion that surrounded me so that I now appeared to look exactly like the brunette and then I made my way towards her boyfriend.
"You sure got back fast," he told me in surprise.
I just shrugged at that, not saying a thing since I was certain that I couldn’t pull that off successfully, especially when I had no idea what her voice actually sounded like. I remained with him for several minutes, keeping a close eye on the bathroom door.
When I saw the woman coming out of the bathroom, I grabbed her boyfriend and gave him a passionate kiss. Of course, he kissed me back, thinking I was her
To my surprise, I was really getting into the kiss with my whole body responding. I started to really nip out and get wet below. It was a different sensation from the hard-ons I used to get as a guy but it all felt oh so very nice.
It looked like this settled the question of whether I was into guys now or not, though I had to admit that I still liked women a bit too. After all, I’d been staring at Lily’s tits quite a bit while we were talking.
Then I grabbed hold of my emotions and reminded myself why I was here. I changed the illusion around me so that I no longer looked like the absent girlfriend and instead looked like a sexy red head. That was who the woman saw kissing her boyfriend.
“WHAT THE HELL?” the woman yelled as she stormed over. Her boyfriend looked at her in surprise and confusion and then at me, his confusion growing even deeper. “I’m gone for five minutes and you’re already cheating on me!”
“Lisa,” the man exclaimed, his eyes going wide, obviously having no idea what was going on.
I just smiled and quickly slipped away while Lisa really went off on the poor bastard. Once I was sure no one was watching me, I changed the illusion again back to the blonde one I’d been using previously and then went back to my seat.
“Oooh, that was well done,” Lily told me with a broad grin.
Bro just shook his head and said, “You know you’re going to Hell for that, right?” However, he was chuckling as he said it.
“I thought that was a forgone conclusion,” I responded with a wink.
“True that,” Bro answered with a big grin of his own. “But that’s beside the point.”
I turned and watched the fight that I’d started, curious as to how it would turn out. Lisa slapped her boyfriend and I felt the tingle of energy that I thought of as experience points. I’d been getting some of that with every profanity and insult she yelled at him but got more with the physical contact.
At this point, her boyfriend had gotten angry to, partly in response to her going off on him and probably as a way to deal with his own confusion over what was going on. He was yelling back at her, bringing me even more experience points.
For a brief moment, I felt a little guilty over the fact that I’d probably just destroyed their relationship for good, but it quickly passed. After all, there was nothing to say it wouldn’t have been over tomorrow anyway. And besides, that had been a lot of fun.
“I totally pawned you,” I mused to myself as I chuckled evilly. I hadn’t had this much fun since I’d put itching powder in an old buddy’s boxers, right before his big date.
“I just feel sorry for that poor bouncer,” Bro said with a shrug. “The dude is really earning his pay tonight.”
“Then we’re doing him a favor,” I said, grinning at Lily. “We’re providing job security.”
Lily just laughed at that and told me, “Very impressive for a first level.”
“Actually,” I responded rather smugly. “I’m level two.”
“Bullshit,” Lily exclaimed, giving me a look that was more than a little skeptical. “No one who just awoke as one of us a week ago could get to a second level of power so fast.”
“I was busy grinding XP,” I told her, thinking of all the time I’d spent online.
I didn’t get a lot of experience points from each bit of mischief but I got to a lot of people and it all added up quickly. Of course, grinding might be a good way to level a video game character but it just wasn’t as much fun as leveling with other players, which is what I’d been doing tonight with her and Bro.
“It looks like her hotness has got a bit of get up and go going on,” Bro mused with a grin. “You go girl.”
Lily nodded at that, giving me a speculative look again. “Now,” she started, her eyes narrowing. “About your parentage…”
“Not important at the moment,” I answered with a shrug.
“I can definitely understand not wanting to live in your old man’s shadow,” Bro added. Then he muttered, “Like I’d even want to tip over the Tower of Babel. I mean, what’s the point?”
After this, we just sat back drinking and talking for a bit longer. Neither Lily or I caused any more mischief since we didn’t want to push our luck by causing any more here. Fortunately, she let the subject of my parents die down for the moment, though I knew she’d be asking again sooner or later.
Eventually, Bro said, “You know, this is fun and all but I’m getting bored…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of weed and began rolling himself a joint right there.
“I take it you have something in mind,” Lily said.
“Well,” Bro began and then paused to give a look of innocence, which looked much better on him since he actually had a glowing halo appear above his head while he was doing it. “I’d normally never suggest something like this…”
“Of course not honey,” Lily responded with a roll of her eyes.
“I mean, I might totally get busted,” Bro continued. “So of course, all I can say is that there’s this totally rocking club that could use a little excitement so it would be best if you didn’t like…cause any trouble there.”
Lily and I both turned and grinned at each other. “It looks like our night isn’t over yet,” Lily told me. “I’ll show you how a ninth level devil does things.”
“Sounds good to me,” I agreed with a chuckle. “I can’t wait.”
“Oh well,” Bro said with a chuckle. “I guess I’ll have to go along to keep you two out of trouble…”
A minute later, the three of us left the bar though Lily stopped at the door and winked at me. A moment later, she created an illusion of money which she threw into the air. In seconds, every patron in the bar was fighting with each other as they scrambled to get the ‘money’.
I watched the chaos with a shake of my head, feeling a bit jealous. “I so can’t wait until I can make illusions like that.”
“Give it time,” Lily told me, putting an arm over my shoulder. “I have a feeling that you’ll be leveling up in record time.”
“You bet your red ass I will,” I answered, deciding to take that as a challenge. “Now come on, I’ve got a lot of leveling to do…”
The End?