Laurens Hell: Part 3 (Transformations)

Azure

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!" Azure screamed as a gigantic monster appeared before her in the castle hallway.

The beast's countless snakes flailed about and smashed the surrounding stone pillars while the floor slowly melted from her demonic aura. Her dozens of arms grabbed and slashed about, except for two that fondled its bodies lactating breasts pervertedly.

"Oh my god, is that Lauren?!" she asked, sensing traces of the contestant. She turned her attention to Alison. "YOU IDIOT! WHY WOULD YOU BRING THAT INTO THE CASTLE?!"

"You said to bring her right to you," Alison reminded.

"I HATE YOU!" Azure snapped as the beast charged at her.

---

Tomoko Nakaya

Tomoko and Elina screamed in surprise as they heard the thunderous sound of smashing stones and monstrous roars from a few floors beneath them. The two women had just finished their swimsuit shopping, with Tomoko also purchasing an additional 'adorable' outfit she elected to change into. They were about to return to their rooms to prepare for the pool party before hearing the pandemonium.

"Sounds like trouble. Let's check it out," Tomoko expressed after screaming.

"Check it out? Are you crazy?" Elena asked incredulously.

"No, listen, I think I hear Azure yelling," Tomoko offered, faintly making out the sound of their host swearing every profanity known to man.

"Yeah! That's more of a reason to stay away!" Elena shrieked.

"But what if someone needs our help?"

Elena laughed in disbelief. "Have you seen all the godlike crap that happens here? What are we gonna do?"

Tomoko looked uncertain as she weighed the options in her mind. Elena was going to push the topic further before witnessing, to her horror, a purple mist leaking through the solid floor beneath them. Laurens's dark aura was spreading from below.

"OH MY GOD! RUN!" Elena shrieked, convinced the dark smoke would curse her beyond recognition, if not worse.

Tomoko was about to comply before hearing the cry beneath them again.

"Heeeeellllllpppp Mmmmeeeeeee"

Tomoko couldn't help herself. The guilt of abandoning someone crying for help was too intense.

"No, I won't ditch someone who needs me!" Tomoko declared, looking at Elena with defiance.

The other girl would have argued, but she was far too terrified of spending even a second in this smoke. "I'm sorry," she cried as she ran the other way towards some stairs to get to higher ground.

Tomoko turned and raced through the mist towards the voice's source. The smoke grew thicker with each step as it flooded the narrow hallways. Tomoko tried her best to run without breathing it in. However, as the darkness grew denser, she could not see where she was going, and what should have been a quick journey down the stairs left her horribly lost.

Unable to hold her breath any longer, she instinctively gasped in a mouthful of air, only to cough wildly. Lauren's dark aura was far enough from its source to no longer inflict curses upon Tomoko, but it was still toxic smoke suffocating the poor woman.

She felt herself growing light-headed as the fumes spread through her body.

'Damn it... maybe this was a bad idea,' Tomoko thought, as her legs grew weak and she fell to her knees.

'Why... am I so... stupid...' she thought as her mind grew sluggish before falling into unconsciousness.

---

Azure

Azure leapt back, barely avoiding the maw of Lauren's snakes. As her heels skid to a stop, she cast a shield constructed out of light, parrying a beam of darkness from the monster's eyes. The redirected ray missed Alison by mere inches, though the maid barely responded, simply observing the battle in boredom.

Azure flung a volley of command spells, wishing to control Lauren like she had that morning. However, the girl was no longer a powerless human, and even if she didn't know how to wield her overflowing magic, it was still enough to make Azure's hex ricochet off harmlessly.

"Heellllllpppp MeeeeeeeAAARRRRORRRRR!" Lauren begged before being cut off by her own bestial roar as she charged again. The girl had no power over her body, which persisted in mutating and attacking without her consent.

"It's attacking," Alison offered unhelpfully.

Azure was nearly crushed by the charging nightmare, but she narrowly avoided it by hurdling almost twenty feet into the air, right over the monster. As Azure sailed above, multiple arms and snakes grabbed for her, but she evaded each of them in midair, having entered a magical trance to heighten her reflexes.

Landing on the stump of a shattered pillar, Azure wiped her long hair from her face and stared daggers at her foe. "You think your tough shit?! I own you BITCH!"

She held out her hand. Screaming in exertion, she forcibly drew the paranormal energy from the muscles in her body, concentrating it all into a radiant ball of light.

"KNOW YOUR FUCKING PLACE!"

With a roar of effort, Azure flung the enhanced hex. Lauren's dark aura absorbed most of the blast, but a small part of the curse breached through, and that was enough.

The monster's body froze mid-flail before dropping to its four knees. The demonic aura also became suspended, no longer dispersing into the surroundings.

"You got her," Alison stated, once again, unhelpfully.

Azure wiped some sweat from her brow and approached the rigid beast. She touched the monster and closed her eyes to sense the magic inside her defeated enemy.

"Holy shit, they really did a number on you," Azure muttered as she sensed the torrent of curses her test subjects had inflicted. "I'm almost proud of them."

Having discerned what she needed, Azure cracked her joints to limber up before casting another spell.

Black and orange smoke fumed off of Laure's body, slowly gathering into a cloud above her. Occasional moans of the damned were heard as the abhorrent curses extracted from Laurens collected into the shadow overhead.

Inch by inch, her transformation regressed. Her frozen snakes screamed in anguish as they burst red into smoke. Meanwhile, her arms retreated into her, one by one.

How did you find her, anyway?" Azure asked Alison, keeping an eye on Lauren's progress.

"I sense her call my name," Alison explained simply.

"That power was actually useful for something," Azure scoffed, looking back at Lauren.

The girl had shrunk considerably, now hovering in the air due to her lost height. Her bust had retreated to its usual size, no longer lactating. The snakes had been entirely removed, and her dozens of arms had regressed to only four.

"Was she alone?" Azure asked.

"No, she was with Nineteen."

Azure nodded, turning back to Lauren and sighing. "I thought so. In that case, the bitch is lucky to still have a soul."

"I'm surprised you even keep Nineteen around," Alison said. "Especially after she..."

"That was years ago, and was never proven," Azure snapped, facing Alison. She then turned back to watch Laurens progress.

The girls red flesh had returned to the pale skin of her goth transformation, and her arms were now two. Her horns were the last traces of her venture into the forest, and even those were in the process of regressing.

"Are you removing all of the changes?" Alison asked. "I expected you'd keep some of it."

Azure laughed at what she assumed was Alison's idiocy. "Oh yeah, great idea! The audience would love that they missed out on Lauren's transformation."

She extended her hands and put on a tone of sarcastic enthusiasm. "I can see it now: 'Hey everyone, you know that brat you've all been begging to see punished. Well, it happened while we were on break. We weren't rolling, so we don't have any footage, though, sorry.'"

"There are ways to get footage," Alison offered. "You can request a producer to turn back time and film her..."

Azure loudly stomped her foot, cutting the maid off. "Are you out of your mind?! The producers can never know about this!"

Alison raised an eyebrow. "Other hosts have experienced larger setbacks without punishment," she countered. "Skylar alone..."

Azure once again cut her off. "I don't care if those amateurs got off scot-free. I run things at a higher standard! Something like that cannot happen on my show!"

Alison did not respond. Instead, she shifted her gaze back to Lauren. The final change from her trip was undone as her horns retreated back into her, leaving only the transformations Azure herself had inflicted.

Azure raised her hand to the dark magic cloud and clenched her fist. The shadows howled in anguish as they became compressed into balls until finally crushed into a jet-black diamond.

It fell to the ground, and Azure waved her hand to construct a protective container around it, the size of a ring box.

After picking it up, Azure snapped her fingers, and the stasis around Lauren was lifted, dropping the girl to the ground like dead weight. Azure towered over the high schooler, looking down at her with enraged contempt.

"I hope you had fun, brat, because now you're going to..."

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Lauren screamed, her lungs finally working again. "HELP ME! HELP ME! GOODDD HELLLLLLPPPPP MEEE!!!!"

"Shut up. I haven't even..." Azure started, but Lauren grew louder, sobbing and crying without restraint. The naked girl flailed around violently, her hair flying everywhere as she banged herself against the floor. She had no capacity for rational thought or awareness of her surroundings. Her mind had been far too shattered by the endless hours of horror.

Azure's eyes narrowed as she watched the girl at her feet. The redhead's desire to rain hellfire onto Lauren rapidly dissipated as she watched her in this state.

It wasn't due to sympathy for the girl, such emotions being abhorrent to the sadist's heart. There was no satisfaction in tormenting someone who was already broken completely.

'At least, not if I wasn't the one to do it,' Azure thought.

"Just... calm down," Azure sighed, recasting the calming magic upon the girl. However, it was immediately evident that a single dose would not be enough, as the goth's screams of horror and madness were unaffected.

Only after Azure applied the spell nine more times did Lauren's shouts of grief grow quieter.

Finally, the girl grew utterly silent. She took in a deep and challenging breath as if she was remembering how to do so. After another long moment, she curled into a ball and averted her eyes from the others.

"Got it out of your system?" Azure asked spitefully. "In that case, why don't you tell me what the HELL you were thinking?!"

Lauren said nothing, continuing to stare off aimlessly.

"I'm talking to you!" Azure hollered.

Lauren gave no reaction.

Azure stomped her heel in vexation. "God damn it! She's insane. You fucking humans and your fragile psyche. This is exactly why..."

"Is... is this real? Am I alive?" Lauren asked softly, her voice horse and timid.

Azure's eyes widened slightly in surprise before scoffing. "Unfortunately for all of us, yes."

"Did... did you save me, Azure?"

Azure rolled her eyes and pointed a thumb at Alison. "Thank the doll. She's the one who found you."

Lauren turned her head slightly. "Alison?"

"Yes. But that's not important. You're about to pay for..."

"She's not!" Lauren said suddenly.

Azure blinked in confusion. "Pardon?"

"She's not a doll," Lauren said, looking Alison in the eye. "I'm sorry I called you that before, Alison. Please forgive me," she said, regretful tears trickling down her face.

Azure's mouth fell open. The girl in front of her was acting so differently from the campus bitch she knew that it might as well have been a different person.

Moments later, that disbelief turned to irritation. "Shut the hell up, you brat! Do you have any idea what you put me through! You could have ruined the whole fucking show! I ought to eliminate you right now and send you back to..."

Lauren screamed. She scampered to her knees and bowed naked at Azure's feet. "PLEASE NO! DON'T SEND ME BACK OUT THERE!" she begged. "I'LL DO YOUR SHOW! I'LL DATE LEVI! I'LL FUCK HIM EVERY DAY! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST NOT AGAIN!"

Azure raised an eyebrow at the sheer bizarreness of the situation. "My god, they really did break you, didn't they."

"I can't go back! I'll do anything. I'll let you make me like Jezebel! Just not again," Lauren sobbed.

Azure sighed, feeling the oxygen drain from her tank again. This was just too pathetic to be satisfying.

Leaning down, she patted Laurens's head awkwardly, unsure how such shows of affection worked. "Just calm the hell down. I'm not sending you into the woods."

Lauren looked up, her eyes red from tears. "D-do you mean it?!"

"Yes, and... god damn it... I'm not eliminating you. The show was technically on pause anyway, and the audience would never forgive an off-camera elimination anyway."

Lauren bowed her head. "Thank you. Oh Azure, thank you so much."

Azure recoiled at the sound of her would-be victim actually thanking her. It felt so wrong. "I'm not doing it for you, bitch. No one can know that any of this happened."

"I won't tell anyone about the... the..." She started shivering uncontrollably as memories flooded back to her. "Oh god! I can still hear them!"

"You really have been traumatized, huh?" Azure asked. Then, a familiar sadistic smile crept onto her face as she had an idea. "Want me to get rid of it?"

"Huh?"

“Your memory. I can erase all the torment like it never happened. Would you like me to?"

Lauren's first instinct was to say yes, but as she opened her mouth, there was a nagging feeling of doubt. Her experiences in the woods had made her realize how naive and idiotic she had been. She understood now how her stubbornness and pride had nearly doomed her.

To revert back to that way of thinking might spell her destruction. On the other hand, the trauma was nearly too much to bear.

"I... I... I don't know," Lauren stammered, but Azure held up a hand to stop her.

"Just kidding," the host laughed. "As if you ever had a choice."

"What?" Lauren asked, eyes widening.

"Say goodbye to your memories!" Azure cackled as she raised a hand to deliver her curse.

"You can't do that," Alison suddenly and loudly declared.

Azure turned to her in shock, having never heard Alison speak in any way other than softly. "What did you say?" she asked, sure she must have misheard.

"You cannot erase her memory. Doing so would invalidate her entire experience." Alisons face and tone were as blank as ever, but she was clearly more passionate than Azure had ever seen her before.

The host lowered her hand, dissipating her unused memory spell, and stared at Alison in disbelief. Laurens's change in demeanor was one thing, but seeing Alison caring about something was unnatural on a whole other level.

"So?" Azure finally contested.

The corners of Alison's mouth tightened, but she still did not change her expression. "So, doing this would be a betrayal of the shows core premise."

"The hell are you talking about?" Azure asked, totally lost.

"Contestants must experience the consequences of their choices," Alison explained. "Whether those be game penalties or emotional growth."

"You're not making any sense," Azure said, still thrown off by how bizarre it was to hear her assistant be so talkative. "I mean, I'm making her 'experience the consequences' right now," she added, using finger quotes.

"No, it’s not the same. You’re simply removing a contestants choice you don't want to deal with. It's just laziness. Reverting punishments is one thing, but rewriting the narrative to fit your preferences is unacceptable."

For Azure, the novelty of Alison's strange behavior wore off the moment she insulated her, replaced by a surge of irritation. "Who the hell do you think you are? You're just a glorified extra! A prop! Not to mention a failure at magic with only two spells!"

"A real professional would accept what happened and move forward," Alison warned in a flat yet weighty tone.

"Shut up!" Azure snapped. "Stop pretending you know what you're talking about, and let the actual artists do their job."

The host turned back to Lauren, looking down at her with sinister glee. "Now, let's get you back to the bitch we all love to hate."

"Wait! Hold on!" Lauren cried, but it was too late.

"Forget," Azure whispered. Lauren collapsed onto the cold marble floor at the sound of this word, instantly falling into a dreamless sleep.

Azure laughed joyously at her 'victory' as she cast a barrage of spells to repair the surrounding damage from her battle. Behind her, Alison's eternally expressionless face was broken by a momentary flash of anger.

"One," Alison whispered cryptically, before turning her back and vanishing.

---

Bonus Image