Chapter Text
"It's different," Tara said, putting the game box down on the backroom table. She pointed to an "all-new and improved" banner that had appeared on the box--not a sticker, but an integral part of the images.
Buffy shrugged. "It's magic," she said, "and we were going to play again." She opened the box and checked the instructions. "They've changed the reward clause. It puts your mind back the way you started--except for memories--before giving you the chance to keep changes you like. Sounds perfect to me."
Tara sighed. "Better. Not perfect, though."
Buffy scrunched her face up into a frown. "I don't get it, Tara. What sort of thing have you seen online to make you think this isn't enough? If the new game puts us back like we were except for leaving us our memories...."
"Allow me to explain," Giles said. "Consider the best orgasm you have ever had. Absolute knee-buckling ecstacy, even for a Slayer.
"Now imagine that an evil demon were to transform you into something helpless and degrading. Ah...a blob of cunts, perhaps, in a perpetual state of such orgasms, not one at a time but multiples at once. And after an hour of cumming your brains out, he restores you to yourself and gives you five minutes to decide whether you prefer to return to your old life or experience eternal pleasure. I have no doubt that you would do the right thing *now*. But *then*? Can you be certain?"
"But nothing's perfectly safe," Tara said. "We came back from the original version. I'm willing to risk it if you are." She opened out the game board.
This time, a purple cube appeared above the board, divided into a grid pattern. "What's this?" Giles wondered. "Some sort of location marker, plainly, but--"
"Only one way to find out," Buffy said, and rolled the dice. "'Courage is a virtue that is not its own reward. Fortune favors the foolhardy so you don't grow bored.' I don't think this is the same game at all."
"No, but it seems to function on the same principles," Giles observed. "Quite astounding. Quite...ahh!"
"Giles! Are you okay?" Buffy grabbed him by the shoulder and guided him down into a chair.
"I'm...I'm quite all right," he said, trying to get comfortable on the hard wood seating. "Better than all right. Tara, if you'd like to take your turn?"
Tara eyed him suspiciously, but picked up the dice. The last time she'd played, she'd been left with a permanent and rather literal buff--she was now considerably more muscular than before. Would she be so lucky this time? Rather than a simple playing piece made from plastic or metal, Buffy's spot seemed to be marked as an icon within the cube. Was that a maze pattern of some sort? She tossed the dice. "'Sugar and spice and everything nice, be quick and clever and enjoy your...ice?'"
She stared down at her hands in confusion as they grew translucent, forming edges and facets. Was the game turning her into a frozen statue? She didn't feel cold, not even when she touched her hand to her unaltered face. Unaltered so far--the transformation was spreading rapidly up her arms. She clinked her fingers together. "I...I think I'm changing into diamond, Buffy." Her elbows flexed normally; for the moment, at least, she was still able to move. "This is pretty awesome."
"Roll in, Giles," Buffy said with a grin. "I like this playthrough better."
"Yes, well," Giles said, still adjusting himself in his seat, "I didn't join in last time at all and still had quite the experience." But he picked up the dice and rolled. "'Some of the youth may say that you're lame. Join in the fun and prove that you're game.' I must say the rhyme scheme leaves something to be desired, Buffy. Not to mention the ominous significance."
"Ominous?" Buffy didn't see the problem until Giles' legs began to stretch, eliciting a moan of pain. "Wait, what does it mean, 'game'?"
Giles struggled to remove his shoes, finally needing Tara's help. Underneath them, hooves had already pierced his socks. "Nothing good, it seems."