If they see you, you know they'll entreat you, to come and join in their small friendly dance~ If you do then your soul will go too, you will lose it with no second chance~

Nick wore a tense expression on his face as he sat rooted on the throne. Dakota sat on the armrest, leaning against him, her elbow on his shoulder and her cheek almost pressed against his.

It was close. Intimate, even. Like when they used to watch movies together as kids.

But this wasn’t a movie he was watching.

9 screens hovered in the air in front of the stage. Each one displayed a different series of events, involving each of the women in his harem. All of them were determining what to do to their targets, and he watched it all in detail, not missing a single moment of it, like consecutive scenes of a play, or the chapters of an erotic web story written by an author growing very fatigued with updating daily.

“What do you think?” Dakota asked, rubbing her fingers against his pecs. “I’m quite surprised… some of them, those transformations… they’re rather sadistic!”

She giggled, even though she knew that would only make things angrier for Nick. But she couldn’t help get her emotions out.

Holly watched from the sidelines in silence. Dakota had brought her here to take part in things, even though she was just fanning Nick with a large palm leaf.

“Dakota… I thought Sylvia had an amazing change,” Nick said, turning to look at her. He felt her fingers freeze in place on his chest. “Using her gun that way… I think that was really touching, don’t you agree? Helping your past self out like that?”

Dakota stared at him, eyes wide with shock. Her mouth opened slightly, and a breath escaped from her lips, but then a shadow returned to her face and she snarled.

“What do you know?” She snapped, sliding off of the chair with a huff. “If you think any of that was the type of scintillating sight our audience wanted to see, then you’re deeply mistaken.”

“I’m not mistaken at all,” Nick said, sitting upright in his chair and staring intently at her. He could see a war fought in those golden eyes of hers, but what the sides of that war were, he had no idea. “Tell me, Dakota, if that’s what you wanted, were you intentionally sabotaging Sylvia’s performance, by making her target a child? You, maybe, but still you as a child. Or do the producers not draw a line for something like that?”

The war had come to a conclusion. Fury and scorn claimed their rightful place as the victors in the struggle, and a shadow crossed her face.

“Or are you just upset because Sylvia didn’t do what you expected of her?” Nick pressed. If he could get through to her, if he could make her see that Sylvia was making choices for herself, then maybe this quest against her could finally end.

Then, the fury left Dakota’s face, and amusement took its place.

“…Who’s to say she didn’t?” Dakota purred with a voice as soft as silk. Nick froze, and a shiver ran down his spine.

But he didn’t falter.

“No… no way! You wanted her to do something deranged and perverse, that’s why you put her there!” Nick declared. “Don’t pretend that was all according to some scheme of yours. “Sylvia was set up, and you intended her to fail, but she didn’t. So just acknowledge she’s a person already!”

He was pleading with her at this point.

But her face was a stony mask.

Then she raised her cane with a smirk. “And it looks like that’s the end of it, then!” She declared, holding the cane aloft as it began to glow with dark energy.

The women all returned from their other dimensions at the same time, mostly landing in their chairs, while Marley landed on top of her sister.

Sylvia face-planted in the sand, as expected, but she quickly rushed to her feet and gazed defiantly up at Dakota.

There was more than frustration in her eyes, though. There was sadness and sympathy, too.

If that affected Dakota at all it sure didn’t show on her face.

“Welcome back, everyone!” She clapped her hands together, wearing a jovial smile on her face. “It’s so good to see you all! And I can tell you were all hard at work today, using those guns! What a show! The audience loved it, and I’m sure your master loved it as well!”

The troubled expression on Nick’s face told them all what he felt.

Dawn winced, but remained calm and defiant. Mary just turned red and stared at the same. They were among the more tame responses, though.

Dani had a complicated expression on her face that the other girls couldn’t read. Like she was upset, but relieved at the same time.

It was a little like the look on Gina’s face. Gina looked frustrated, but also sat up a little higher in her seat, like a burden had been lifted off of her without her even knowing about it.

Rose bit her lip, and looked fretfully at the others. She knew what she’d done probably wouldn’t win her any points, and was already thinking about the next steps. She was looking at Carly in particular, wondering if she’d ranked higher than her buddy.

Carly looked just as pained, if not moreso. She looked like she was about to cry, even as she tried to smile. Marley looked gently at her sister, seeing she was almost on the verge of tears.

Which was nothing compared to Morgana. The goth looked liable to start bawling. She was trembling and her pale face was even whiter with guilt as the weight of her actions sank in.

Most surprising of all, however, was the expression on Kim’s face. She stared coldly at Dakota, showing no sign of guilt or remorse whatsoever. Nothing but firm, harsh defiance. It wasn’t a look that was familiar to her, and as the others took peeks at her frosty expression, they wondered just what had gone down.

Amused, Dakota leapt from the edge of the stage with the grace of a ballerina and touched down right beside Sylvia, barely disturbing the sand at all. She twirled her cane in her hand as she approached the other girls.

“Oh, yes, we had quite a display, didn’t we?” She purred, looking from one face to the next. “First, we had cute little Mary here! Our adorable little moo cow, who was tasked with a rather difficult target- her best friend, Holly!”

“What?” Rose’s eyes widened in surprise. “Mary, Holly was your target?”

Mary blushed and nodded sheepishly.

“I… it’s not what you think… she asked me to!” She looked desperately to the others. “I-I was just trying to help her, so…”

“Oh, come now, don’t be modest!” Dakota chirped. “You were filled with passion, targeting your dear friend like that. I must say, even if it was a consensual transformation, you certainly took your fill out of her, didn’t you? Turning her into quite the little minx!”

Mary blushed and hung her head in resignation. In the moment, it had gone well, and she’d done what she thought was right. But now that she wasn’t filled with pumping hormones, she was starting to doubt herself.

“I thought it was amazing!” Holly exclaimed. She set down her frond and climbed down off the stage to rush to Mary’s side, hearts flashing in her eyes. She threw herself into the sand at the redhead’s feet, staring up at her in adoration. “I got to watch the whole thing! You were perfect! You gave me so many transformations I couldn’t even begin to imagine… and Nick’s going to get to enjoy them all!”

She gazed past Mary as her eyes glazed over, thinking back fondly to the night before.

“I finally understand,” she confessed. “What it’s like, to be with the one I love… all those fantasies of mine, they couldn’t compare… and I finally realized, you see! This… this is what I was made for. I couldn’t have ever known what real pleasure was like, until I tasted it. And now I have… which will make getting denied it taste even sweeter!”

“What!?” Mary squeaked. Her eyes were wide, and she turned to Sylvia, who shook her head frantically.

“No, that’s not what I wanted!” Sylvia exclaimed.

“Thank you, Sylvia, you were amazing to me,” Holly said, standing up and turning to look at the blonde, her face bright with gratitude. “But now… seeing that other version of myself, I understand. If I had looked like that, if I had acted and behaved and thought like that, then I wouldn’t be this mess that I am now! I can just imagine the other me getting to enjoy Nick, in ways I never could… in ways I never deserved!”

Sylvia and Mary both looked crestfallen, while the other girls looked uncomfortable. Nick looked just as dejected, and Dakota…

Dakota looked amused.

“Well… that’s quite a start. I can see your decision has already had some unintended consequences!” She smirked. “But as for the others… well, I wonder just how they fit in?”

She tapped her chin thoughtfully and scanned the rest of the group.

“…Dani, that’s right. You had quite a little show, didn’t you?” She noted, approaching the tomboy.

Dani’s face hardened and she glared up at her with renewed strength. “That’s right, I did. So what?”

“So nothing,” Dakota replied with a shrug. “I just thought it was rather something, you working as hard as you did… you used your gun quite a bit, didn’t you? Quite a departure, I’d say, given your usual perspective on the matter of transformations, wouldn’t you agree?”

The blue-haired girl turned red, and glared at the wicked woman in front of her.

“Dani?”

Dani’s eyes widened and she turned to look at Carly, who was looking back at her with a concerned and worried expression on her face that Dani mistook as judgment.

“It-it’s not what you think, Carly!” She quickly exclaimed. “I used it on Joan because she wanted me to! And by the end of it, it was what she wanted, I swear!”

Dakota clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Outing a trans woman to her family, and forcing her to change at gunpoint? Then refusing to turn her back? I must say, Dani, I’m quite ashamed of your behavior. And after you so staunchly opposed having your own sexuality changed against your will… quite the hypocrite we have here!”

Dani glared up at Dakota with seething resentment. “If that’s what you think,” she snarled, “then why don’t you call Joan here and ask her yourself, how she feels about what I did?”

Dakota frowned. Clearly, she didn’t appreciate that line of thinking. But then her smile returned. “…Ignoring Joan for a second, shall we discuss the wondrous deeds you did to her family? My, my, such transformations-”

“They deserved it,” Dani snapped, cutting her off right there. “I’m not apologizing for anything those bastards went through.”

“…Right, right, so your position is now that ‘certain people’ who ‘deserve it’ should be transformed, I see,” Dakota said with a mocking tone. “Well, moving on…”

Dani winced as Dakota walked away. Her guilt was eating at her, and she couldn’t even look Carly’s way.

“Dani… it was Joan?”

But Carly’s voice didn’t hold any sternness or malice in it. Gasping, Dani raised her head to see Carly looking warmly at her with tear-filled eyes.

“I-I… I shot her… to bring her happiness,” Dani stammered, the ache in her heart lessening in light of Carly’s acceptance.

Carly smiled and nodded. “I’m glad…”

Dakota was quite done with that farce, though.

“And then there’s Morgana, our resident goth,” she sneered in amusement. “And my replacement in the harem. Oh, yes… putting aside the ethics of Dani transforming Joan’s family… what do we have to say about yours? Your cousin was one thing, but zapping the entire party, and turning them all into sexy goths? I’ve gotta say…”

“WHAT?!” Nearly everyone reacted to that with shock, as Morgana started to tear up. She buried her face in her hands.

“I-I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking!” She wailed. “I just got so mad, and I wanted to make them pay for always ignoring me and treating me like I’m nothing… I-I’b sowwiee…”

“Oh, no, it’s okay, it’s okay!” Dakota gently assured her, patting the goth girl on the cheek. “Don’t worry, it’s okay… I’m not upset with you! I think that was amazing what you did! And I’m sure the audience appreciates the perversion your wrought not just on your target, but on the venue as a whole.”

That just made Morgana start crying even harder.

“…Well, sometimes teenagers just want to cry about it,” Dakota sighed in exasperation, standing up straight and walking over to Dawn. “And speaking of teenagers, I must say, Dawn, what you did to your past self…”

“She’ll be happier that way,” Dawn said, cutting her off immediately. “She’s still just as smart as she was. But now, she’s not burdened by the past. She can be a bimbo cat girl who loves having fun.”

“I see, right…” Dakota tapped her chin thoughtfully, then held up her cane. “So, if you think that transformation had her best interests in mind, then I suppose you’d be thrilled if I gave you an identical one?”

Dawn gasped and sank back in her seat, her wide eyes never leaving the clear stone embedded in the cane.

Dakota sneered. “…That’s what I thought.”

She lowered the glowing cane and the light faded, and then she went to the next girl on the chopping block.

“Next, we have Rose! What a touching, heart-wrenching story!” Dakota placed her hands over her heart. “As a daughter of a single mother myself, it really touched me, right here…”

She reached up and wiped away a fake tear, before sneering again. “I hope it was worth it,” she warned the actress. “The audience probably won’t find much sexy about someone not getting sick anymore. You wasted a perfect moment of daughterly perversion. …She wasn’t even your mother, you know? Just the mother of some other Rose. You tossed your chances away for that?”

Rose stared coldly up at the witch, not letting her temper- or her doubtful fears- get the better of her.

“At least that other Rose will get a mother who loved her,” Rose replied. “You can sympathize with that, right?”

Nick tensed. He had no idea if Rose was aware of how big of a mistake she was making, but that was the one thing you didn’t want to say.

Dakota’s pupils turned to pinpricks and her face froze in place. For a second, Nick thought Dakota would forgo a punishment transformation right now and just attack her.

But then she relaxed and smirked.

“Ah, I see how it is. You want me to eliminate you by ****! Isn’t that just the sweetest thing?” Dakota giggled. “You’re already resigned to the fact you can’t win, so by angering me into forcibly eliminating you, you get to spare the other girls from the burden of making that choice! How absolutely precious.”

Rose twitched and she looked down.

“Rose…” Mary held her hand over her heart in amazement.

“Whoa, that… wow,” was all Dani could say. She shook her head incredulously.

“That’s incredibly sweet of you,” Carly said softly.

“Don’t get too worried though,” Gina muttered, shaking her head. “It’s better than what I ended up doing.”

“Oh, really?” Dakota turned and looked back at Gina with a surprised expression. “You turned your other self into a punk girl. Sure, it’s not the most creative, and you did it for altruistic purposes, but come on now. I’m sure the audience will appreciate another punk Gina rocking the scene. And believe me… you two weren’t the ones who really went above and beyond to avoid giving the audience what they wanted.”

She turned to the twins’ chair.

“No, that honor… would go to you two, in my opinion.”

Marley glared at her and Carly tensed.

“You… that’s… I just…” The cosplayer couldn’t find the words to say anything.

“Dakota,” Nick snapped, glaring at her. He stood up from his chair and approached the edge of the stage. “Drop it. What you did to her was cruel.”

Dakota’s eyes widened for a moment, and she scowled. But then she nodded and turned away.

“W-wait!” Carly’s voice made her stop. She looked back, confused.

The other girl actually looked… happy.

“Thank you,” Carly murmured. “For giving me that chance. Even if Emmy was an adult… even if she wasn’t really ‘my’ Emmy… even if I couldn’t give her a transformation that would help me win… you let me see her again, Dakota. Thank you so much.”

“Emmy?” Mary paled. “You mean…”

“No way,” Dawn shook her head in disbelief. “She wouldn’t have-!”

“You saw Emmy again…?” Dani whispered.

“Okay, that’s just gotta be crossing a line!” Rose exclaimed.

The other girls were all shaken by that revelation. They’d thought their targets were difficult to handle emotionally? They’d had it easy!

But nobody looked as shaken as Dakota. She cleared her throat, and then turned her attention back to Kim.

“Now then, last but not least, we have dear Kimiko here. Who inflicted a particularly demeaning and humiliating transformation on her father!”

“What?” Mary gasped.

“Kim, that…” Morgana stared at her, wiping her eyes. She didn’t know what to think.

“Your dad?” Dani asked, confused. “But I thought… didn’t you say he was a great guy?”

“…That man,” Kim said, her tone cold and even, “was not my father.”

Dakota smirked. “Well, after what you did to him, I doubt we can consider him much of a father to anyone,” she chortled. “Well done! I think of everyone here, you most closely followed the spirit of my instructions. Now then, let’s see what the audience thinks! Shall we move onto the voting?”

Sylvia flinched.

“Wait!” Mary exclaimed. “We’re not done yet!”

She turned and looked pointedly at the former host.

“That’s right,” Kim nodded. “Who did Sylvia transform?”

“Good question,” Rose nodded. “I’m curious to know who she would even have as an emotional target. Another Marley, maybe? From before, when she was Mimi?”

Dakota let out a long, frustrated sigh and groaned. “No, Mary, you’re quite wrong, we ARE done. Sylvia has been disqualified from the competition.”

“What!?” Marley exclaimed. “You can’t just do that!”

“Why would you disqualify her?” Carly demanded.

“Did she… not transform someone?” Dani asked, staring at Sylvia in shock. She thought, that out of all the contestants, Sylvia would be the one most fine with transforming someone else. Maybe she really has changed!

“For once, Dani, you have the right answer,” Dakota said, sneering contemptuously at her creation. “Sylvia here was assigned a younger version of me as her target. And oh, yes, she gave me some nice little transformations, faerie wings and what not, but she took them away. Therefore, she ended the challenge without transforming her target. And therefore, as I said from the start, she is disqualified. She immediately loses, and will get no points for this challenge!”

“But… but that’s not fair!” Mary exclaimed. “You didn’t say she had to transform someone permanently! Just that she had to transform her target! So even though she undid it, it should still count!”

A hush fell over the crowd as Dakota stared incredulously at the redhead. She expected Mary to shirk under the pressure of her gaze, but she didn’t.

“…You can’t be serious,” Dakota shook her head in disbelief.

“She’s not wrong, though,” Dawn said. “You said that it would be a disqualification if any of us failed to give our target ‘even ONE transformation’. Those were your words. Well, Sylvia gave that other you a transformation. The fact that she took it back later is irrelevant.”

Even as the words left her lips, a pit of guilt built up in her stomach. I should have thought of that myself… if I’d figured out that loophole like Mary did, then I wouldn’t have had to turn my other self into… into… …No! Don’t think that way! She shook her head quickly. That was for her sake! To make sure she could live a happy life!

Plus, even if Dakota was willing to buy this little gambit, that didn’t mean the audience would.

Dakota was pretty clearly not buying it either. “Don’t mess with me,” she snapped, storming towards Mary. “You think because you’ve got the master’s ring on your finger, you can tell me the rules of my own challenge?!”

Mary baulked. Sylvia shivered. Everyone else looked concerned and worried, not sure what to do in response.

“No, but I think I can.”

And just like that, all color drained from Dakota’s face.

A voice unlike any Nick had ever heard before echoed over the beach. And then, to everyone’s shock, the sand in front of Dakota began to twist and whirl, and rose up to form a shape that was vaguely human. Nick squinted. He looked male, but there was nothing distinctive about him. No matter how closely he looked, he couldn’t see any distinguishing features about his face, or the rest of him.

Nobody else could, either.

Sylvia fell to her knees in supplication instantly as Dakota just stared at the figure in impotent rage.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

“Now, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” the faceless man snapped. “We shouldn’t be using names here, isn’t that right?”

Dakota shrank back, and hung her head. For the first time, she looked genuinely cowed. It reminded Nick of when her mother used to berate and scold her, and all she could do was nod and try not to cry.

Unlike Sylvia. The blonde was actually in tears. The fact that this was someone they both knew, and were both wary of, meant this could only be one person.

Nick really hoped he was wrong.

“You… you’re a producer, aren’t you?”

“Ah, your master isn’t as big of a fool as your audience seems to think he is, Dakota! Very well done!” The man laughed, applauding. “But… he should really learn some respect.”

He snapped his fingers and Nick found himself unable to speak. The throne slid out from behind him and scooped him up, carrying him back to its original spot.

“…Now that we’ve settled that, let’s get back to the matter at hand, shall we?” The producer turned to Dakota and Sylvia. “Look at the two of you, quibbling like this! No, now this won’t do at all. Dakota, you’ve been given a lot of leeway since you regained your position, but don’t forget… that only extends as far as we allow, understood?”

“Y-yes, sir,” she stammered, nodding shakily. “I know, sir. I’m sorry, sir.”

“Excellent. Now, the producers believe, and I concur, that the most important thing is a fair vote. Wouldn’t you feel the same? And the master’s wife raises a valid point- you DID say that she just needed to transform her target. Not that she needed to keep her transformed.”

The producer stroked his chin thoughtfully. “And then, there’s the issue of not giving her a fair shake. After all, if the rules of this competition require you to transform your target into a lewd, lascivious figure… assigning a minor isn’t fair, is it?”

“It-it didn’t have to be erotic,” Dakota stammered.

“True. But… I think we’ll allow her entry just this once. And change things up a tad. Instead of such a restrictive, subjective criteria as the transformations being twisted and cruel, why don’t we just let the audience choose their favorite scene? Yes, that’s much better! Each girl tackled the challenge in a different way, and we’ll let the audience choose which one they liked best!”

He clapped his hands, and the fabric of reality twisted itself back into place. Now, a new poll had been determined for the audience to vote.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1opBL6t5_ZAKjketRP3IPY3-36vCab0do7TFX6cfLB8Y/edit

“Now, let’s get to it,” the man laughed. “This should be a lot of fun! I can’t wait to see who votes for what!”

He stepped back, and Dakota was finally able to breathe again. Sylvia picked herself up out of the sand, and the two women glanced at each other.

But if anyone expected camaraderie to blossom between the two of them, the sour and pained expressions on their faces quickly quashed those hopes.

Nick bit his lip. He had no idea what was going to come of this, but… he had to hope that everything would turn out okay.

Unfortunately, knowing that one of the women in his harem would be eliminate by this vote, he had no idea what “okay” entailed.