Chapter 44 by Gambio

Next Episode: 24th May

A fin(e) challenge

“Have you gone completely crazy?! You can’t do this!”

Ashley stared at the large screen that depicted the carnage with eyes wide as saucers. “You’re going to kill them!”

“No, the sharks are going to do that. Or the water”, Ora corrected, casually sucking on a penguin sucker. “Aren’t you supposed to be into that?”

“OF COURSE NOT!”, Ashley screamed exasperated. Quite frankly he had no idea what he was supposed to be into, but it was most certainly not that! “Dahlia can’t even swim! This isn’t fair!”

The little host shrugged. “I’m sure her huge boobs will keep her afloat.”

“That is not…”

Ora zipped Ashley’s mouth shut. She really can’t stand whiny brats.

Besides, shows about to get good.

…

“What is the meaning of thiiiiis!”, Sahara screamed as she desperately dove under a table to escape the torrential downpour.

“That won’t save you!” Dahlia shouted while looking towards the door. Half the contestants have fled already. The only reason she herself remained was because the other half wasn’t moving. “We have to leave right now!”

“LEAVE? I CAN’T LEAVE! THIS IS THE ONLY GARMENT I HAVE! IT WILL GET POSITIVELY DRENCHED! DO YOU KNOW WHAT SEAWATER DOES TO CLOTHING?”

“You can always take a page out of Miss Hedgehog’s book and strip naked”, Shizuka was bent over an **** Megan. The NEET pretty much dropped **** the moment the water rushed in. It’s amazing that girl made it through college without having a heart attack.

“And why are you so calm?”, Dahlia asked with a glare to which the doctor only shrugged.

“Someone has to.”

“WAN-WAN!”

Liz was bolting frantically between the door and Sahara, barking loudly the entire time.

“NO, I DO NOT CARE, ELIZABETH! I WILL REMAIN RIGHT HERE AND WAIT UNTIL DADDY SAVE M...”

Then something else dropped down

Something big, phallic and flopping.

A shark.

…

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

“WAN-WAN!”

“You make a compelling case. Let’s bounce.”

The group(led by a screaming Sahara) evacuated the communal eatery.

…

Carol Summers rushed into the kitchen and slammed the door shut, preventing any more water from pouring in. It would only save them a bit of time, the redhead knew but it was better than nothing.

“Mistress, what is the meaning of this?”, she asked, the immense terror she felt even overpowering de Sade’s aura of fear.

Mistress de Sade looked...strange. Just for a brief moment her face betrayed her usual calm facade before she quickly slipped back into her usual expression.

“You forget yourself, Miss Summers.”

“M-My apologies”, Carol stammered. “But this...this wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Never mind that, more importantly…” the teacher glared at the third person that escaped with them. She was currently raiding the pantry. “What are you doing here?”

When the masses of water came crushing down on them, utter panic broke out. Some rushed to safety while others remained, completely petrified.

De Sade was the first who reacted, slipping out of the communal eatery almost immediately. Carol would like to say she acted calm and rational but in truth it was pure fear that caused her to follow her Mistress.

Only one other person had joined them and she did so as if it was the most normal thing to do in the world.

Kikki Peshkova had just helped herself to a strawberry shortcake and showed them an impish smile. “Oh nothing much. I just decided to join your party. I think you have the greatest chance of survival, Auntie.”

A shiver went through Carol’s body. They were standing in ankle deep water. How can anybody remain this calm given the situation?

De Sade however only fixated the young girl with her icy blue eyes. “You appear to handle my aura of fear remarkably well.”

“Oh, it was very scary at first!”, Kikki said, her eyes watering. “Buuut I tried my very, very best and now I’m used to it. We can still be friends, especially since tonight is my night with Big Bro.”

“What are you insinuating?”

The younger girl plucked a strawberry out of its socket. “I want to come in second today. Help me achieve that and I take you up to the suite tonight.”

...

They are about to drown and this girl is still in a calm enough mental state to make plans.

What a monster, Carol thought.

“Am I correct in the assumption that you have no issue with me taking first place?”, de Sade asked.

Kikki nodded. “Uhu. That’s perfectly fine by me. I was taught to respect the elderly.”

But no.

The real monster was de Sade.

Minor differences aside, this was essentially what her mistress told her would happen.

If de Sade were to gun for the position of manager she would almost certainly be blocked by either Peshkova or Dr. Hayabusa.

Far better would it then be to aim for first place directly and have a person of her own choosing become manager instead.

A group of three was already providing them a strong advantage, but Peshkova also held sway over Watson. Add to the fact that they could command Marvelous to do their bidding and this alliance was able to essentially dictate placings.

Her mistress did not agree to the truce immediately. She appeared to mull it over and Carol too had to play her role. “Mistress, I must protest. This woman can not be...”

De Sade fixated her with a cold glare and Carol immediately shrunk back down again.

“Very well”, the teacher agreed. “I accept your proposal.”

“Yay!” Kikki grinned eagerly and gulped the strawberry down before tossing the rest of the cake away. “Now, any ideas where we should go to maximize our chance of not drowning?”

De Sade gave a small imperceptible nod.

“Down.”

…

Dahlia was moving swiftly through the hallway, the sound of splashing water painfully noticeable beneath her feet.

She wasn’t the only one running for her life. Shizu, Liz and Sahara were all with her. All trying to escape the impending flood.

Well, there was Megan too. She and Shizu were currently carrying her **** body. Luckily, the girl was very light.

Dahlia did not know where the rest of the harem went. It was a miracle already that five of them managed to stick together.

“Why are you even wasting your time with her?” Sahara, moving in front, sniffed. “She is slowing us all down:”

“We are not leaving people behind”, Dahlia declared with a glare.

“Sides, she’s the guide, we will need her to navigate this manor. Feel free to press on on your own though”, Shizu added.

“Hmph! Are you sure the little gremlin is even alive? She seems rather deceased to me.”

“Yep.”

That was a small blessing at least. Without Megan as their guide, it would be considerably more difficult to find their destination.

It was the doctor’s idea to move upwards, but not just to escape the water.

The Hayabusa clinic had oxygen tanks. Using them, they could avoid drowning for a long time.

Not forever of course. After all, seven of them will have to die in order to end this horrific challenge.

The thought filled Dahlia with a slow dread, but she couldn’t think about that. All she could do was keep going. Keep them safe. For now, the water was only high enough to cover their ankles but it was rising steadily. They have to get to the stairs fast. But with Megan **** they were basically running around blind.

She should have taken the map of this manor with her, Dahlia thought. But it never felt quite needed as manager…

…

“Uhm, Shizu?”

The doctor glared at her. “What is it?”

“Shouldn’t you know the way to the Hayabusa clinic? You are working there after all.”

…

“Well damn.”

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”, Sahara screeched.

“Chill, Blondie. I just kinda forgot about it.”

Order received: Chill 0.5VP (halved to 0.25)

Immediately, Sahara’s demeanor changed and she became a lot calmer.

“I would appreciate if you would not do that”, the rich girl complained, glaring at the nurse.

“Oh right, I forgot I can do that. Here, carry Miss Hedgehog for a bit.”

Chore received: Carry miss Hedgehog 2 VP (halved to 1 VP)

“This is ludicrously unfair”, Sahara complained as she took over Hedgehog carrying duty.

Now that Shizu remembered the way, the group was able to move more deliberately. The water level was rising, but it shouldn’t be too long until they reached the stairs.

And sure enough, after one last turn the coveted stairs up finally appeared. From here the worst was over. Now all they have to do is climb…

...

“Oh fuck.”

“What is it?”, Sahara snarled. “Please do not tell me these are the wrong stairs.”

They were in fact not the wrong stairs.

This was worse.

For what greeted the girls at the bottom of the stairs was a floating wall of water.

It was a bizarre sight, something that completely defied the laws of physics. Nothing was stopping the water from pouring at and yet there it remained, as if frozen in place.

Perhaps they all choose to ignore the maddening realization up until now.

But the water level wasn’t rising from below.

It was rising from above.

“T-This is hopeless!”, Sahara wailed out, dropping Megan in the process. “We are all going to die here!”

With the situation feeling utterly bleak, Dahlia let her gaze wander across the assembled four girls.

She wasn’t aware where the rest of them were, but the split felt almost intentional.

She had an obligation to the girls here.

Taking a deep breath Dahlia fingered out the perfume and doused herself in it.

Perfume of Beguiling (1 dose) – When applied, the effect of the perfume lasts 1 hour or upon orgasm, whichever occurs first. For the duration, Dahlia has advantage on all Charisma checks directed at humanoids. Those subjected to the perfume’s effect are not aware that any resulting checks have been influenced by magic.

“LISTEN TO ME!”

Dahlia’s voice thundered through the corridor with so much **** it almost felt tangible.

“Take a long deep breath and calm down!”

The effect was near instantaneous. All eyes landed on her. Her voice was powerful enough to bring Megan back to life. Even Shizu, who treated her so coldly couldn’t help but stare.

“All hope is not lost! We will survive this!”

Dahlia proclaimed boldly.

“Follow me lead! That’s all you need! For I have a plan!”

They listened! At last she managed to convince them!

“What is your plan?”, Shizu asked. Her voice was still skeptical but she sounded more accommodating than she ever had since arriving here.

“Right!”, Dahlia nodded.”First things first!”

She pointed towards the wall of water.

“Who says the upper floors are flooded? I bet that’s not actually the case! The current is not that strong either! We can swim through it! I know we can! All we have to do is take a deep breath and...”

A large shadow approached from the curtain of water.

“The word maul is only ever reserved for a particular viciousness of nature. That of one creature whose pure strength completely eclipses another.”

~JerkGently

Dahlia did not even have the time to scream before a large tiger shark emerged from the stairs and mauled her torso.

…

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!”

“WAN-WAN!”

Liz was upon the shark immediately crushing her teeth into its side. There was still not enough water for the shark to swim, so all it could do was flop around.

That won’t be the case for long however.

“SHE’S GONE!”, Shizuka shouted, yanking a terrified Megan upwards. “EVERYONE ESCAPE!”

…

PLOP!

Dahlia still had a haunted look in her eyes as she appeared sitting in a light blue kiddie pool with ankle deep water.

“And the first one out is Miss Black! Wow, who would have seen that coming?”, Ora crooned from atop a penguin floatie.

“DAHLIA!”, Ashley shouted as he joined her in the pool. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yes…”

“Of course she is”, Ora rolled her eyes. “We can’t really show gore here, (stupid excessive **** rule made by those stupid executive penguins) so the moment one of those disgusting fishes chomps down on one of the contestants they are immediately teleported here. It happens before they even have the chance to feel pain.”

“T-Then what’s that?”, Ashley pointed towards the large viewing screen were a REDACTED was floating next to a severed REDACTED and all manners of REDACTED and REDACTED were drenching the water a deep REDACTED.

“I mean, I have to somewhat keep it believable”, the little host explained. “Don’t worry, that’s just a very realistic looking flesh puppet.”

Ashley felt sick.

“I’m sorry Ash”, Dahlia cringed. “I was supposed to protect them.”

“N-No it’s fine.”, Ashley quickly responded. “You did great.”

While he wasn’t looking forward to Dahlia getting a punishment transformation, he was almost happy she dropped out early. This will prevent her from coming in second and switching places with De Sade, essentially eliminating one of the two worst case scenarios. And as long as de Sade doesn’t end up getting eliminated next they will be able to avoid her becoming manager.

Based on that conversation Kikki had with his teacher, that didn’t seem likely to happen. The idea of Kikki as manager gave him a queasy feeling too, but she could at least be reasoned with.

…

Something else bothered him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Umm...why are you in panties?”, Dahlia asked with a blush.

“N-nevermind that!”

Ashley hurriedly glanced back at the screen with a tense expression.

…

“I hate this stupid mansioooooon!”

“WAN-WAN!”

Sahara shouted as she rushed through the half flooded corridor with Liz hot on her heels.

For a spoiled rich girl, she sure can run fast, Shizuka had to admit. She herself had considerably more trouble keeping up.

It wasn’t because she was out of shape(although that played a role too) but the fact that Miss Hedgehog was basically catatonic.

Usually, when presented with an **** stress situation, fight or flight response kicks in.

Megan however belonged to the rare third category. Freeze up and hope you don’t get eaten.

Unfortunately, that strategy will not work against sharks.

Right now, Shizuka was dragging her along but the two were starting to lag more and more behind. She probably missed her chance to order Blondie to slow down as well.

And...she was pretty sure she saw what was a Dorsal Fin coming up behind them.

Well, fuck.

Despite the terror of the situation, Shizuka felt eerily giddy. Even now, her transformation was active and while she absolutely should be terrified, her arousal counteracted these feelings.

I guess this is what they call scaroused?

Perhaps this transformation was a blessing in disguise.

She opened a door and shoved Hedgehog inside. “Stay there and don’t come out”, she told her before slamming the door shut.

Then she faced the rapidly approaching dorsal fin.

Could she take the shark with her martial arts? Unlikely, she doesn’t know a tiger shark's pressure points.

Guess it was time to see if this thing was of any use.

Shizuka brandished her whip and gave it a test strike.

She liked the way it felt. Sharp. Powerful.

“Alright, you overgrown guppi, time to turn you into sashimi.”

Shizuka put herself in a fighting stance and waited. In response the shark seemed to pick up even more speed. Then he rose out of the water and lunged, rows upon rows of teeth bearing down on her.

Shizuka didn’t miss a beat. Her whip snapped forward and hit the aquatic monstrosity in the eye with pin point accuracy.

The shark let out a violent roar.

But was otherwise unaffected.

“Oh.”

In hindsight, she probably should have seen that coming.

CHOMP!

PLOP!

“SHIZU!”

Ashley rushed over as the nurse groaned and rubbed her head. “Guess that didn’t go as planned. Yo, Ashy-ko. Sup.”

The master looked her over with a worried expression. “Are you alright? You aren’t injured, right?”

Shizuka nodded lazily. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She looked around and spotted Dahlia. “Oh...she’s alive too, huh?”

“Y-yeah…”, Ashley nodded. “Shizu, I’m sorry..yesterday..I…”

“UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!”

Ashley’s apology was interrupted by a loud whine.

“Are you planning to do this song and dance with EVERY contestant?”, Ora complained. “Do you know how suuuuper repetitive that’s gonna get?”

“What else am I supposed to do?”, Ashley asked frustrated. “They are terrified! And my panties can calm them down! I have to show them off!”

His pink maid Cherry raised a brow. “You sure got used quickly to that prospect.”

“S-shut up. It’s not like I have a choice! I have an obligation to the girls here!”

“Oh, that’s what this is?”, Shizu chuckled. “Didn’t want to say anything but...nice.”

“Well, I guess this is a pretty fucked up challenge”, Cherry sighed and glared at her employer. “You know, correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t these challenges supposed to be erotic?”

“Eh? You don’t think this is erotic?”

Cherry flatly stared at her. “This is shit, even for your standards, you shitty little brat.”

“S-silence. I’m a master of the erotic arts! This is super erotic!”

“Uhu.”

Ora gritted her teeth. She’d never admit it but her foolish maid did have a point for once. This wasn’t very sexy. But to be fair, who would have thought that busty beach babes getting mauled by giant sharks wasn’t sexy?

Crud! Was this all according to that nefarious Ghost hosts plan? Just how deep do her machinations go?

…

No, she can still salvage this.

“My femboy.” Ora snapped her finger towards her master. “Your incessant whining has moved me.”

“T-they have?”

Ora nodded. “Let’s give you an opportunity to cheer your girls up, shall we?”

Ashley did not like the grin on Ora’s face.

…

“Ha...Ha...Ha…”

Sahara’s sides hurt like crazy. For a while now she was operating on pure adrenaline.

But she made it.

Outside.

This was the castle gardens.

There was no possible way for her to drown here!

“Ohohohohohoho!”

“WAN-WAN!”

Sahara looked down at her companion. Her only companion that is. She had no clue where the nurse and the nerd vanished to.

…

No matter.

There can be only one survivor and she was intended to be that one. This would be a pretty bleak story if the Heroine were to perish.

Of course that meant she will have to sacrifice Elizabeth.

…

“D-don’t look at me with those puppy dog eyes!”, Sahara complained. “It is only natural for a bodyguard to give her own life for her master!”

“Wan-Wan!”

Her thoughts went back to that horrid letter. Abusing her servants. Ridiculous. She was doing Elizabeth a favor. And it’s not like she will leave her for ****. With all other contestants perished, Sahara will win automatically and use her wish to bring her back to life. She may even revive the rest of them if she feels particularly generous.

Whatever. She will not waste any more thoughts on this trivial matter.

For the nonce, they should be most safe here. The place was so large, it was utterly impossible for a substantial amount of water to fill it up.

Just as the blonde came to that conclusion, a loud rumbling heralded a torrential downpour.

...

Rather than downpour this was more akin to a waterfall! The water came down with so much **** that Sahara had trouble to stand.

Within seconds the ground began to be flooded

“W-what?”

Sahara gasped as the impossible was happening. The immense garden began filling up like an outdoor swimming pool. And at an alarming rate as well. Before long the girls were treading water.

“Oh this is positively absurd!”

But before long, her annoyance gave way to horror. Sahara found staying afloat becoming more and more difficult.

The culprit was easily identified. Her prisoner shift came with an iron collar, not to mention that infernal metal chastity cage. Normally, that alone would not substantially impede her ability to swim but the run had exhausted most of her strength

N-No way.

She had to get to land. Somewhere…

And suddenly she was underwater. She tried to paddle back up but felt so weak. Air escaped from her lips and before long her lungs were screaming to breathe.

She can’t…

She can’t die here.

She needs to take care of Cinderella…

“WAN-WAN!”

Then Elizabeth had grabbed her collar.

The girl was absurdly strong, even in her dog form. With just her teeth she lifted Sahara all the way up to the surface.

The blonde gasped for air and managed to clutch herself to a floating penguin statue.

The rain had transformed the courtyard into one giant stormy sea. The waterfall rain had slowed down to just a regular downpour and it looks that at least the water wouldn’t raise any further.

“You...you saved me…”

Sahara stared incredulously at her eagerly barking doggie companion.

“WAN-WAN!”

...

Huh?

Something flashed through her mind.

What?

But as fast as it came it was gone again.

Sahara did not have the luxury to be confused for long.

Elizabeth was loudly barking and snarling, following her gaze during the rainy gloom Sahara spotted something in the distance.

An impossible large dorsal fin.

Sahara **** herself to remain calm, which was easier said than done.

“E-EVERYONE! LISTEN TO ME!”

The two gazed up in the sky where a giant Sky-Daddy looked down on them.

…wearing a cheerleader uniform with Pom-pom’s and a skirt that did nothing to hide the golden panties beneath.

He also looked very embarrassed.

“L-Listen!”, Daddy stammered out while sheepishly waving his Pom-Pom’s around. “If you die, you immediately get teleported here. I was also assured it’s painless.”

“Just the sharks. Drowning is very, very painful”, a voice from the off announced.

“A-anyways. The worst case scenario has already been avoided. From this point onward, please just try your best.”

…

Her best.

Daddy wants her to do her best.

He even went as far as wearing that silly outfit just to cheer her on.

Sahara’s heart was filled with determination!

“WAN-WAN!”

Elizabeth’s barking snapped Sahara back to reality. The dorsal fin had changed direction and was now rushing directly towards them, bringing a large wake of water with them.

There was no way they could escape that thing.

But Sahara had no intention of doing so in the first place.

Elizabeth looked at her with a frightened expression. Sahara gently patted her head.

“Have no fear, Elizabeth”, Sahara smirked daringly.

“I have an angle.”

……………………………………….