Aziza stood in what had formerly been the gym of Glendale high. Dressed in the filthy remains of a cheerleader's uniform was an emaciated blonde woman in her early twenties. She radiated as much power as Aziza had ever felt coming from anyone, except a deity. Aziza knew that this pathetic wreck was the sorceress supreme of her dimension, and that she was both utterly insane and corrupted by evil.
Since her transformation, Aziza had made a number of contacts with a number of deities, and had semi-consciously avoided the religious implications of what she was doing. But she had grown up a boy in Saudi Arabia, where Islam was in the very air she breathed, and faced with this terrifying monstrosity only one invocation seemed appropriate.
"There is no god but Allah" Aziza whispered to herself "and Mohammed is his prophet."
++++++++++++++++++
"How was briefing of President?" asked Katerina when Savannah stepped back through the portal which closed after her.
"Tough to keep my mind on the job." said Savannah "She kept staring at my tits."
"President of Russia new woman, not born-woman like President Rodham. But much the same." answered Katerina philosophically. "When I was young, would have thought world of beautiful, horny women constantly lusting after each other and no men was paradise."
"Oh?" answered Savannah. "So what do you think now?"
"Young Katerina very smart girl." answered Katerina.
+++++++++++++++++++
Kylie felt that the core of her territory had been invaded by another sorceress. She struck out with a wave of transformational force designed to turn the invader into a hideous monster like the others than inhabited the former town of Glendale. Kylie hated the idea of other people being happy or beautiful. The initial, particular resentments that she had felt when she had first acquired the curse had long been forgotten, and now all she felt was a generalized hate for the universe.
Aziza knew that she was dealing with a sorceress of equal power to hers on her opponent's home ground. She couldn't overpower Kylie and the subtle differences between the magic of this universe, which seemed more malevolent somehow, and that of her home universe, made it unlikely that she could outthink her magically. She was going to have to outthink her psychologically and strategically.
She started by ducking, channeling the transformational energy outward while altering its nature. Just tweak it a bit, turn a negative bit of code into a positive. The energy struck a different target, a perpetually weeping statue of a hunchback girl that had once been one of Kylie's fellow students. The statue changed into a living person, a healthy young boy. Kylie screamed.
That was it, Aziza thought. She can't stand to be surrounded by anything other than ugliness and pain. Rather than directly attacking the powerful sorceress, Aziza kept her distracted by transforming the monsters Kylie had created back into their true forms, or when their true forms were unrecoverable into beautiful maidens and handsome youths. Staying on the offensive and giving Kylie more targets meant that the sorceress was unable to focus on Aziza herself while Aziza drew strength from the people she had saved. Kylie grew more and more distracted, trying to reverse Aziza's spells and sometimes succeeding, but overloaded by the new beauty of her surroundings and the joy and relief that the newly transformed people felt. In a fit of incandescent rage and horror, she passed out. Aziza quickly performed a spell that would prevent the rival sorceress from recovering consciousness until Aziza allowed it.
"Uh, thanks, ma'am."
"Alḥamdulillāh" gasped Aziza.
+++++++++++
Regina Chung looked at the wall Ophelia had set up around her house. Formidable, she thought, but nothing a Sorceress Supreme couldn't handle.
++++++++
"Mom-mom" said Cat. "Can you give me a ride to Hannah's?"