Setting her monitor deep within the House of Mirrors, Amanda felt the power of the machine click into place. Her mind thrummed with energy she'd never felt as she admired herself on the mirrored screen. Her pupils had gradually become tainted with a shade of yellow, and her sclera was now black as pitch. She now looked nearly identical to the modest character she had created, so long as you could discount the blackened claws that grew from her hands and the demonic eyes.

  She was just too cute.

  "I'm surprised the process doesn't hurt! My precious face wouldn't be able to stand the pain if it did..." Amanda was over the moon about the change that had overcome her. She couldn't imagine that this could be her, that she could ever get away from her previous life and start anew.

  “A talent for evil…? That doesn’t sound like me, Calico. I’m a good person,” Amanda lies, casually concealing her criminal history. The time she stole from her mother to purchase figurines? Water under the bridge. Stealing candy from a baby? She did take her sister’s Halloween candy, but let’s be honest with ourselves; that kid was never going to eat it. She’d never jaywalk when there were cars around. See? A regular person like her couldn't possibly be a villain.

  "That seems a little overkill." Amanda presses her finger to her cheek. "You can beat your victims black and blue without exposing their weaknesses. Take fighting games, for example! I love to corner my victims and spam an aerial combo to keep them juggled. That doesn't rely on any trickery! Simply mastery and consistency. Then, when they cry, you can tell them to 'get good'!"

  "I've been meaning to ask… I haven't done anything wrong! Who would come for my core?" Amanda looked around for curtains in the House of Mirrors, examining her environment. Strange, wobbly surfaces of all shapes and sizes distorted her cute little face, inducing her to cackle and grin. "You would almost think I'm some kind of villain, the way you're talking about me."

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  "Starkeepers?" Amanda sucked in a deep breath. "The Starkeepers want to meet me? Oh my gosh! I love the Starkeepers! The way they chant in their fight against evil: 'In the name of the Universe, I smite you!' And then they make these cute little poses, pointing fingers and casting all kinds of fancy spells!"

  "That doesn't sound like the Starkeepers I know. They're charming and adorable girls, you know? If you adjust their clothes, they even have matching pastel underwear! That's adorable!" Oops. Amanda wasn't supposed to say that part out loud. "Why would they want to crush my core? Unless... are they jealous of my cuteness?!"

  "The Tyrant Mangleweave, you mean. How do I access it? Do I say 'menu'?" Amanda's words forced a new window to open in her peripheral vision. Amana could see herself now, with a black screen representing everything she was and could be. A circular core sat in the center of the diagram, glowing with two words. [Amusement Box]. From there, her potential abilities branched outwards. An infinity of possibilities unfolded before her eyes. Thousands of words flitted past in an instant; the letters bled across her yellow irises before her black pupils widened and focused on a single skill.

  "My aspect? What is that, Calico?" Amanda could feel herself reaching for the window, cradling it carefully between black and grimy claws.

  Amanda took a deep breath. She had to think about this logically; this investment was significant, and she wouldn't get another opportunity to— whoops! Her finger seemed to have slipped. With the tap of a button, the text became less solid, gradually fading. A black mirror etched itself into her menu screen, and the House of Mirrors began to shudder.

  Amanda could feel a thrumming now. All these mirrors were calling out to her, begging her to join them in an unholy union. The warped and distorted reflections of herself in every shard of glass cried out, pressing against the confines of their mirrored prisons. Black and hot wax began to spill from the gaps and cracks of the mirrors, molding themselves into candles on the ground.

  Lights, potential, waiting to be lit. The sound of a distant bell signaled that her prey was here. The hammer had struck. The candles began to flicker, burning bright one by one. As the House of Black Mirror became one with her, Amanda could feel the perverse violation of someone crawling across her skin.

  The Starkeeper had arrived, and they were headed right her way. The first battle for the life of the dungeon begins.