Elimination & Transformation

(Warning, the following may be disturbing. It showcases scenes of characters in significant emotional distress and fear)

Kaitlyn Peterson

With her announcement made, Azure went to commercial, leaving everyone in panicked suspense. Despite only being a few minutes, it felt like hours.

Kaitlyn desperately looked between her sister and new friend Sophia. She wanted to reassure them and say they would both be safe. But the words failed to manifest.

Sophia sat, hugging her knees and rocking, unable to quell her panic-induced, autistic meltdown. All of her usual coping skills had failed her, and she felt like she was suffocating in distress. Several contestants called out to comfort her, but the girl was so deep in her awful thoughts that she couldn't hear them.

Lauren, meanwhile, was stomping her foot impatiently, throwing out random insults, mainly at Azure. She acted like she was still the top dog, snapping at her underlings, but Kaitlyn could see right through it. Her sister was terrified and had no idea how to express it aside from aggression.

She tried to say something, but Kaitlyn's voice was lost in her throat, the weight of the audience's decision suffocating her. She felt powerless, hating how their fate was in the hands of a sick audience. The idea that any of the sickos who watched this would show mercy was laughable.

A bell chime rang above, surprising everyone. Following it, an envelope fell from the dungeon ceiling sky. Azure caught it. "And we're back with the results. Let's see what all you lovely people voted for."

A drumroll filled the coliseum as Azure slowly opened the envelope. The contestants held their breath, their hearts pounding, awaiting the next twist in this sick game.

Azure's lips shook as she read the results, her reaction a mystery. Finally, she spoke, her voice echoing through the area, each word adding to the suspense.

"With 76% of the vote, Grâces D'Exécution wins in a landslide," Azure announced.

"Ha, I knew it!" Lauren cheered. "I knew they wouldn't hurt me!"

'I don't think they were voting for your sake,' Olivia thought, looking down at Sophia. The girl beside her didn't even react to the news.

"Oh, thank goodness," Tomoko breathed out. A wave of relief washed over the others, a glimmer of hope amid uncertainty.

Still, it was only a glimmer. The disaster had only been reduced, not removed. One girl may be safe, but the other would still be eliminated.

Azure's gaze shifted to Levi, who remained motionless on his balcony. His decision was the final piece of the puzzle.

"Well then, Master Levi. Because there are two or more elimination candidates, you may select one to receive immunity this round. Who would you like to spare?"

Levi's felt the crushing weight upon his shoulders. For a boy who found making simple decisions stressful, the responsibility of choosing between these two girls' lives was devastating.

The silence was deafening as Levi's struggle continued. What could the others even say? Should they give him advice on who deserved it more? None were so heartless. The tension in the air was thick, and everyone could feel the anticipation building.

---

Lauren Peterson

Lauren's confident smile slowly fell as she saw the debate going on in Levi's head. At that moment, she felt a tremble of fear that she tried not to show on her face.

"You're not actually thinking of... getting rid of me, are you?"

Sweating, she **** herself into a friendly smile that she had never shown Levi before in his life. "Hey now, I... I'm sorry I was mean to you. Honest, I learned my lesson."

She looked over at Kaitlyn. "I... I had my eyes opened. I realize what a jerk I've been," Lauren explained, making Kaitlyn look away, tears forming.

Lauren looked back at Levi. "I promise... I'll make it up to you. I realize now that my words have consequences, and I was wrong to bully people," she unnaturally clarified.

Levi didn't say anything, making Lauren anxiously bite her lip. "Also, I'm rich! Surely, that makes me a better pick for your sake."

She gestured to the cowering Sophia. "I mean, what does Sophia have? She's clearly broke with that hoodie. Plus, look at how she's rocking. There's obviously something wrong with her brain."

Elena scoffed in disgust, making Lauren turn to her. At this moment, the goth realized that throwing the terrified Sophia under the bus made her look worse.

Turning back, she spoke to Levi once more. However, she couldn't keep the tremble out of her voice this time. "Listen, I know I was awful to you. But we had some good times too. Like... uh..."

Lauren felt a pit in her stomach as she couldn't think of anything.

---

Levi Summers

Lauren's words hardly mattered, and none of them impacted Levi. He was too busy with the crushing responsibility and debate in his head.

He couldn't pretend it was a difficult choice between the two. On one side, there was the girl who had done everything she could to ruin his life. On the other hand, there was an innocent, almost stranger who had never harmed him or done anything to justify being thrown into this. It was hardly a choice; he already knew who he would rescue.

But to say it out loud was the same as him personally pulling the trigger on Lauren. Once again, he felt like a Roman emperor, watching over the coliseum and deciding which of his gladiators was to be executed.

'Why? Why is this my choice?'

---

Azure

Taking delight in Levi's evident struggle, the host spoke up to him. "What's wrong? Why aren't you talking, Levi?" She then laughed, "Oh, I get it. You don't want to spare either of them. Well, that's fine. It's totally optional if you want to eliminate them both."

"NO!" Levi screamed.

"Well, we don't have all day. I'm going to need a decision."

"I..." Levi trembled.

Azure held up three fingers. "Three... two..." The suspense was unbearable as Levi's decision hung in the balance.

"SOPHIA!" Levi shrieked. He looked away, ashamed. "I spare Sophia."

Sophia gazed up with tear-stained eyes, her mouth hanging open in shock at the news.

"YOU BASTARD!" Lauren wailed. "YOU FREAK! I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"

Azure clapped her hands, cackling. "Oh, who could have predicted it? It's almost like being a perpetual bitch to your owner was a bad idea!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Lauren screamed at Azure before continuing her tirade at Levi. "YOU CRUEL, SADISTIC MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Elena, Tomoko, Ji-Woo, and even Olivia looked away, unable to bear watching Lauren's breakdown.

"I'm sorry," was all he could manage.

"NO, YOU AREN'T! YOU PLANNED THIS ALL FOR ****, DIDN'T YOU?! YOU DAMN CRYBABY! YOU ORCHESTRATED ALL THIS BECAUSE I CALLED YOU NAMES?! YOU CHILD! YOU FREAK!"

"I'm going to miss these little tantrums from you, Lauren," Azure sighed. She then cleared her throat for an official statement. "Per the new Grâces D'Exécution rule, Sophia Maoulin will have immunity from elimination this round."

"I... I... what?" Sophia muttered, still trying to process the thoughts through the chaos of her own mind.

Azure couldn't contain her sadistic grin. "Thus, because Lauren is the only one unprotected in the negatives, she will be..."

Alison tapped Azure on the shoulder, making the host jump. "Excuse me, mistress. I'm afraid you are mistaken."

"What the hell are you talking about," Azure snapped. "Don't you dare interrupt me with your useless..."

Azure trailed off as her gaze fell on the scoreboard. It had changed.

"What... what the hell?" Azure asked in total bewilderment.

A muffled sob escaped, grabbing the host's attention. Kaitlyn, eyes closed and trembling in fear, held a card.

"What... what is that?! Get a closeup of that!" Azure screamed, **** to know what the hell was going on.

An **** closeup of the card text was projected onto the jumbotron. It was one of the first cards Kaitlyn had ever seen upon her initial visit to Jezebel's shop.

"20 BP: When another contestant loses VP, you may expend this to lose twice that instead. You gain BP equal to the amount you lost."

Kaitlyn Peterson

Kaitlyn continued to tremble as she heard the others gasp around her. It was taking every fiber of her being not to scream. Her survival instincts yelled at her to take the card back and rip it in half, but instead, she just stood there.

Lauren gaped at her. "What? What the... why do you... what... the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Don't you dare! Do you have any idea... but... who gave you permission to... I...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

Azure wasn't paying attention to this drama; instead, she stroked her chin, deep in thought. "Not totally sure this is allowed. Technically, Kaitlyn should have used the card immediately after the challenge. Most certainly before we finished the new rule votes."

She looked at the scoreboard. "More importantly, the end of the challenge is the cutoff point. No VP can be gained or lost until we finish the next round of transformations. So it's possible Kaitlyn just made an illegal play."

"That's right!" Lauren snapped. "Make her undo it right now!"

Azure mused on it a bit before continuing. "On the other hand, the card isn't actually awarding points on its own. Instead, it actively alters a score that happened right before the cutoff. And the card doesn't specify a time limit."

She scrunched her face, torn between two worlds.

"Oh, what the hell. Since the end of the challenge was the most recent point alteration, I’ll say it was within the bounds of triggering. And by doing so, it retroactively alters the points right before the cutoff."

"NO! You're wrong," Lauren shrieked. She desperately looked over to the maid behind Azure. "Alison, talk some sense into your boss!"

Alison shook her head. "Her judgment in this matter validly interprets the rules, albeit in a gray area. I have no reason to object."

Lauren stomped her foot. "No! NO! NO!" She turned to Kaitlyn and tried to march toward her before colliding with the barrier that kept the contestants in their circle. Trapped there, she shouted, "You blathering idiot?! What have you done?!"

Kaitlyn looked ashamed. "I had to save you."

"I... I had it under control! I don't need your handout! You're... you're... ruining... oh god..."

---

Azure

With the initial shock of the development wearing off, Azure began ecstatically laughing and clapping. "What an exciting twist! As a result, Kaitlyn Peterson is now the only unprotected contestant in the negatives. Thus, she will be eliminated."

"Kaitlyn, take off your top!" Elena called out franticly.

Tomoko added. "Ya just need two points!"

Levi nodded, desperately holding onto this slim hope. "That's right!"

Azure held up a hand. "No, none of that. The card may have been a special case, but we are well in the cutoff period for regular scoring. There will be no changes to ranking until after the transformation round."

"That's total..." Olivia began, but Azure interrupted her.

"No one but the Petersons may talk!" she declared, purposely letting Lauren keep her voice so she could hear her sweet despair.

Kaitlin simply cowered while Lauren screeched. "Stop it! Don't you dare! DON'T YOU DARE!"

Azure ignored her. "It's time for your punishment, dear. Come up and take the stage."

Kaitlyn felt a sudden jerk in her stomach as she was pulled through her barrier. Her feet left the ground as she was taken to the center of the coliseum and lifted into the air. Spotlights illuminated her as she floated 15 feet above everyone else, her limbs suspended like a marionette.

Lauren began punching the invisible wall that kept her within the circle. "NO! YOU IDIOT! COME BACK! COME BACK!"

Giggling, Azure tilted Kaitlyn's floating body in midair. "Hey Levi, like the view?" she asked, positioning the girl so he could see up her skirt. He immediately looked away and let out a silenced response.

Shaking her head in amusement, Azure turned back to her victim. "Now then, for those who need the reminder, elimination is done in three steps."

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" Lauren beseeched, breaking the skin on her knuckles as she kept punching the barricade. Kaitlyn, meanwhile, was too terrified to speak.

Azure lifted an index finger. "Step 1: Rapid Transformations. In general, we want to keep this in line with your previous punishments and overall character. As for you, you were brought here by your sister, have a transformation themed around your sister, and ultimately doomed yourself for your sister."

Blood from Lauren's hands trickled down the invisible wall around her as she punched faster through the pain.

"Thus, it's clear your sister dominates your life, so let's make that a tad more literal." Azure began cackling, looking absolutely deranged. "You're going to feel what it's like to be her: Mentally, emotionally, and physically."

"It's... going to be okay, sis," Kaitlyn said to Lauren, trying to convince herself more than anything and utterly failing.

Azure pointed to the jumbotron. "Now, we've spent most of our time knowing dear Lauren as a goth, but let's remind ourselves that she wasn't always that way."

A still image of Lauren bullying Levi was displayed before the show. It was from the moment a mere hour before her abduction.

Azure snapped her fingers. "With that in mind, let's begin."

Kaitlyn shuddered as she felt a chill run through her body. She let out a yelp as she sensed someone pulling her hair. Her once blonde bob cut rapidly grew longer, extending down past her neck and reaching all the way to her lower back. It was the same length and shade as Lauren's hair before arriving.

Seeing the changes, even as minor as this, made the reality sink in. 'Oh god, it's actually happening. What have I done?'

Minor alterations dispersed throughout her body: limbs lengthened and shortened, proportions changed, facial features shifted, and skin tones and blemishes arrived and vanished. It didn't take long for Kailyn to appear as though she were Lauren's identical twin rather than her fraternal one.

'I can't watch!' Elena thought, yet was unable to turn away.

From there, Kaitlyn's clothes started to change. Kaitlyn's blue top transformed into a white button-up, midriff-baring dress shirt. Pink threads appeared out of nowhere, knitting onto her arms and spreading to her shoulders, creating an open pink jacket. Her cheerleader skirt changed from pleated to smooth, turning into a red plaid to resemble a stereotypical schoolgirl. Lastly, a pink hairband was fastened to the top of her blond head.

Olivia watched the entire scene with her mouth wide open. 'Is this what happened in the last elimination?'

The changes in attire continued. Her jacket lengthened, falling down to ass level. Her shoes changed into black boots and extended up her legs.

Watching from below, Azure shook her head. "Actually, there's no need for the shirt. The jacket is enough." At this, Kaitlyn's recently formed dress shirt was ripped off her body; its existence was only created so it could be humiliatingly removed. A newly formed black bra was revealed underneath.

Kaitlyn couldn't do it; she couldn't bear to put on a brave face any longer. "H-help me!" she quivered. However, she only grew more terrified when she heard that her voice was now that of Lauren.

Tomoko was pulling her hair, trying desperately to think. She felt so useless. 'I gotta do something. I gotta!'

Watching from below, Azure carefully studied her work. She could tell something was missing but couldn't put her finger on it. Finally, she settled for the obvious. "Aw, what the hell. Let's give her a tit job too."

Kaitlyn's yelped as her boobs shot out like twin torpedoes, nearly popping her bra off. She looked down, shaking at the sight of her enhanced cleavage, and was terrified they would expand into another Jezebel. Thankfully for her, they 'only' stopped at highly stacked.

Ji-Woo trembled. 'I would have been up there if I hadn't streaked. Oh god, that was almost me.'

Azure made a hand gesture, ending the levitation spell on Kaitlyn. The host allowed her to fall, briefly tricking her into thinking she was plummeting to her doom before slowing her descent and gently bringing her to the ground.

Kaitlyn fell to her knees, trembling, as Azure approached her, looking down at her prey with sadistic glee. "Step 2 of elimination: Free Will Deletion."

"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Lauren screamed. She dropped to her knees, clamped her hands together, and bowed down. "Please! I'll do anything! Punish me instead! Please!" she cried, begging for the first time in her life. "I CAN'T LOSE HER!"

"Sis," Kaitlyn said softly.

Azure smiled at Lauren with mock reassurance. "Don't worry. She'll still be here. Just improved." Turning back, she placed a hand on Kaitlyn's forehead, just like she had done with Jezebel before.

"No! Don't," Kaitlyn pleaded.

"Goodbye, Kaitlyn. Hello Lauren-Two."

The girl's horrified expression instantly transformed into irritated confusion. Azure removed her hand and stepped back, allowing the eliminated blonde to stand.

"The hell is this dump?" Lauren-Two asked, looking around the dark coliseum. " This place is fucking filthy. Lord help whoever owns this landfill if I get dirt on these boots."

"S... sis?" Lauren asked, trembling.

Lauren-Two looked over and sneered at the sight of her sister. "Oh... my... gawd! What's with the goth freak?"

"F-freak?" Lauren repeated.

Lauren-Two approached her. "Yeah, you heard me. What the hell's your name, witch-slut?"

"I... I'm Lauren!"

Lauren-Two let out the same condescending laugh that regular Lauren had often used with her victims. "You?! You're a hot topic reject?! How dare you compare yourself to me! I'm Lauren Peterson, and I fucking own you, bitch!"

"No, you're not!" Lauren angrily sobbed. "You're Lauren-Two." Lauren had meant to say Kaitlyn, but like Jezebel, she could no longer speak an eliminated contestants old name.

Lauren-Two raised an eyebrow. "Uh yeah, no shit. That's what I just fucking said," She sneered, apparently only hearing 'Lauren' and without the number at the end. "What, is your brain broken too?"

"No! I meant... you're my sister!"

Lauren-Two scoffed. "No, you aren't. Even if you are just as pathetic as her."

"What?"

"God, she's such a burden. You know how much of my reputation I gotta put on the line to be seen with her. I swear, it's like she's trying to be an embarrassment. If it weren't for me keeping her in line, she would be one of the school rejects, like you!"

Lauren shook her head in denial. "That's not true."

The transformed teen narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Why do you care? Did my sister try to befriend you? God, she has the worst judgment. She always manages to uncover the freaks." She knelt down to eye level. "Get this through your head, you goth loser. She only talks to you out of pity."

"STOP IT!" Lauren screamed, covering her ears.

This only encouraged her doppelgänger, throwing every trick lifetime Lauren had from a lifetime of bullying back at her. "God, how can you even stand to look at yourself in the mirror. Your mom should have drowned you at birth you fucking abortion! If you had the slightest sense of self respect you'd jump in front of a bus and spare us the sight of your fat ass! No wonder everyone hates you!"

"AHHHH!" Lauren shrieked, before collapsing into a sobbing breakdown. Lauren-Two laughed in triumph, having broken yet another loser.

Meanwhile, in the depths of Lauren-Two's mind, Kaitlyn remained present. She had not anticipated this. The thought that an eliminated victim may remain trapped here, powerless to do anything but watch, had been far too horrifying to contemplate.

She should have been terrified and spiraling into despair. And yet, even knowing the hell she had been thrown into, she wasn't the slightest bit upset.

Instead, she felt happy—a vindictive joy that perfectly matched the abusive laughter her body was producing at the crying Lauren.

That emotion changed to surprise as Lauren-Two's gaze fell upon Tomoko. Moments later, it turned to annoyance. "Hey, who let the prostitute in here?" she heard herself ask.

Tomoko slightly shook her head. "Is... is that really you?" she asked, realizing she could speak again.

Lauren-Two ignored her and looked at the other contestants, stopping when she saw the naked Ji-Woo. "Or rather two. Are you a streaker? Or some dyke looking to fuck us?"

Ji-Woo covered herself more tightly with her hands, blushing.

While Lauren-Two had been hurling insults, Kaitlyn felt her emotions shifting in sync with them. Surprise, irritation, and amusement coursed through her, but never any fear or distress about her situation.

At this moment, Kaitlyn finally understood what Azure had meant when she said she would know what it was like to be Lauren. It wasn't just her body that had been taken over, but her emotions as well. Though she could logically know she should be horrified, she couldn't make herself feel it.

Kaitlyn couldn't decide if this was mercy or infinitely worse.

Still hugging her knees, Sophia attempted to communicate with Lauren-Two, but she was too disoriented to form coherent words and all that came out was ignored gibberish.

Lauren-Two marched up to Azure. "Hey, why are there so many whores here? You bring me to a brothel, you sicko?"

"In a roundabout way, I guess you could say that," Azure replied in amusement.

"Hey, wipe that smirk off your face, slut!"

Azure gasped in mock offense. "Oh my, you're so mean!" She then burst out laughing.

Olivia had been clenching her fist the entire time. She had known that elimination was terrible but hadn't understood the true depths of it until she saw it for herself. 'You think this is funny, you demon? How dare you! How dare you do this.'

Rage overwhelmed her. Throwing all caution to the wind, she pointed at Azure and made her declaration. "Azure, I'm swearing it now. Before this season is over, I will kill you!"

Half the onlookers gasped, both from the sheer intensity of the threat and from fear of how Azure would respond. She had punished people for far less.

The host's eyes narrowed, though she maintained her smile. "I'm sorry, dear. You must be stressed. I don't believe you understand your situation."

Olivia brought her pointing finger into a furious, clenched fist. "Did I fucking stutter! YOUR LIFE IS MINE!"

Azure considered putting Olivia in her place. But she found the threat so empty that she didn't want to dignify it with a reaction. "Best of luck," she said simply.

Meanwhile, Sophia tried to speak again, but her mouth still wasn't functioning.

Lauren-Two was getting irritated that she was no longer the center of attention. In response, she hurled another insult, this time aimed at Elena. "The hell is with the dress? Do you still watch Disney or something? You're an adult, aren't you?"

Elena shook her head sadly. "I'm so, so sorry this happened to you."

Lauren-Two raised an eyebrow. "Have we met? Are you one of my maids or something?"

"Leave her alone!" Levi yelled from above.

Rolling her eyes, Lauren-Two looked at the sound of the voice, only to freeze when she saw who it was. "M-master?"

Kaitlyn was overwhelmed by intense embarrassment that washed over her like a wave. She had never felt so lovestruck before, even if she knew it wasn’t real. A tingling grew between her legs at the sight of his face.

"D-don't... don't tell me what to do. I-idiot master," she stuttered. Her face grew hotter as she felt herself moistening. "Y-you're just a f-f-freak. I-I don't like you at all. M-moron!"

Lauren-Two lowered her head and added sheepishly. "B-but maybe you could come down here. So I... uh... can look closer at your dumb face."

"Ya turned her into a damn cartoon!" Tomoko shouted angrily.

"It's anime, not cartoon," Azure corrected. "It's what weebs call tsundere."

Sophia attempted to speak for the third time. In this instance, Azure noticed her. "Oh, what's that dear? Do you have something to add to the anime discussion?"

"I... I p.... prom..." Sophia stammered, trying with all her might to get her voice through the jumbled mess of her brain. Finally, she screamed. "I PROMISE I'LL FIX THIS!"

Azure groaned. 'First Olivia and now her. These people are way more deluded than I thought.'

Lauren-Two swung her neck towards her, enraged at being distracted from looking at her beloved master. "Who asked your opinion, nerd! And what makes you think you're handicapped ass has the right to talk to me!"

"I... promise I'll... fix this..." Sophia repeated before trailing off, as the look she was receiving was too much for her to handle now.

"She's right! We'll bring her back!" Elena declared, not caring that she had no idea how.

"Ya can't stop us!" Tomoko added, thoroughly convinced.

From above, Levi nodded and audibly agreed, but his voice was too faint to hear.

Kaitlyn would have found this heartwarming, but she was incapable of it. Still, the idea of hope entered her mind, no matter how illogical or distant.

Ji-Woo looked away nervously. 'You idiots. Stop trying to get on the host's bad side.'

For her part, Azure just rolled her eyes. 'Oh no, the power of friendship, my one weakness,' she thought sarcastically. 'Well, whatever. Go ahead and build up your deluded hope. It will just make it even more satisfying when it shatters.'

Lauren-Two considered them all. "The hell are you all blathering about? Mind explaining it over a four-way?" At this, the transformed girl threw her hands over her mouth. “Why the hell did I say that?”

Even eliminated, Lauren-Two was under Katelyn's old compulsions.

Azure yawned. "In any case, I think we've had enough time introducing our latest bitch." She clapped her hands together. "Let's move on to something more pleasant. The replacement.

"Jesus! You're bringing another one into this?" Elena lamented.

"Just stop!" Levi said. "I don't want any more of them."

"You're far too modest, master. But someone as wonderful as you can never have enough pussy." Azure put a finger to her chin as she pretended to realize something. "Though, perhaps this isn't the right setting for our latest introduction. I would hate for our newest contest's first impression to be this dank dungeon. Let's continue it back on stage."

Azure turned to Alison. "Be a lamb and escort them back up." Alison bowed her head.

"See you there," Azure waved. Moments later, she and Lauren-Two were gone.

The room was silent, immobilized by the shared feeling of woe.

---