In-a-gadda-da-vida, honey, don't you know that I love you?

While Carly and Nick were talking things out on their hike together, a certain someone who was incapable of talking out her problems was currently causing a lot more of them.

“Why did you poke me?!” Marley demanded, struggling to find some way to contain her breasts, given that her bra looked liable to snap at any moment. Her face was red with frustration and betrayal, and she looked desperately at Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin for any semblance of understanding.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin responded with a bland shrug.

Sylvia sighed and shook her head. “You didn’t really expect her to answer that question, did you?” She asked.

“Well-!” Maybe not in words so much, but Marley at least thought that maybe she’d do something to show why she’d made a decision like that.

Who just pokes someone with a cactus?! Especially when they don’t even know what it can do?!

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin puffed up her cheeks into a scowl and crossed her arms over her chest. She gave Marley a look as if she were the wounded party in this exchange, instead of the former slime girl.

Now, Marley could let a lot of stuff slide, but something like this?! Using plants against her like that, it… it was just wrong!

Seeing that she wasn’t going to get anything else out of the assassin, Marley sighed and turned to the faerie. “Is there an antidote for this cactus?” She asked.

The faerie nodded. “Yup. You just have to eat one of its flowers, and your breasts will return to their original size!”

Marley sighed in relief. “Oh, that’s great! So where do we get the flowers?”

The faerie stared blankly at Marley, like the woman had just asked an incredibly dumb question.

She pointed at the cactus.

“…From the cactus.”

Marley went so pale she looked like Mimi for a moment.

“Wait, you mean… you don’t have any in stock!?” She sputtered.

The faerie shrugged. “We don’t carry that sort of stuff here,” she replied.

“But your shelves are full of plant materials!”

“Right, but not flowers to make your boobs return to normal. Sorry. If you want the flower, you’ll need to cultivate the cactus in your room.”

“But it could take weeks for the flowers to bloom!” Marley exclaimed.

“No no no, it’s a magic cactus, remember?” Sylvia interjected. “The flowers will grow a lot faster, right?” She looked to the faerie for confirmation, and the green-haired sprite nodded.

“It should be ready to harvest by the end of the night, if you plant it now,” she assured the two of them.

Sylvia grinned. “That’s great, then! Didn’t you hear, Marley? We can go plant it right now, and you can fix your boobs!”

“…Yay.” Marley wasn’t thrilled about using their one purchase of the day on this cactus. But she couldn’t bring herself to object.

It’s not like the cactus did anything wrong, she thought, looking at the little woman-shaped plant in her hands. It’s just doing what it was grown to do. I shouldn’t get mad at the little guy for something like that, it wouldn’t be fair.

As someone who had once been on the other side of the cultivation pot, Marley knew better than to get upset.

…With the cactus, anyway.

She still had plenty of ire reserved for Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

Needless to say, the atmosphere was tense as the trio left the plant store with the cactus in a nice little bag. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin walked ahead of the sisters, radiating a sullen aura that only made things feel more oppressive.

“I think she’s feeling down because you got so upset at her,” Sylvia whispered to Marley.

“Of course I’m upset at her,” Marley grumbled. “She did this to me!” Marley wasn’t really that mad at the whole “breast expansion” thing, not really. But she was still frustrated by what the assassin had done.

Even if Marley had seen- and received- a lot worse on his show.

“Maybe she was just doing it as a fun prank,” Sylvia suggested. “You know, like trying to play around with your friends?”

Marley rolled her eyes. Only Sylvia would think that breast expansion was a “fun little prank” to play on somebody.

But she was right about one thing- letting this fester into an actual grudge wasn’t in anyone’s best interest. So with a sigh, Marley shoved the bag into Sylvia’s hands and picked up the pace, catching up with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin.

“Hey,” she said, reaching out to the other girl only to stop herself before she touched her. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had bristled, and suddenly Marley found the idea of putting a hand on her to be a very worrying prospect indeed.

Fortunately she didn’t need to, because a second later the curly-haired woman turned to face her, still looking a little pouty.

“…I just want you to know that I’m not upset about what you did,” Marley said. “…Okay, well, I am. But I’m just being a little miffed right now. I’ll get over it, I’m not going to be mad at you long-term, okay?”

The assassin blinked, but her expression didn’t change.

“…So, are we good?” Marley asked hopefully.

That earned her a confused look from the other woman, which Marley quickly mirrored out of her own confusion.

They were definitely having communication issues right now, and Marley wasn’t sure the other woman’s muteness was entirely to blame.

“Um… look, I’m not gonna hold a grudge about this,” she tried again. “So can we agree that you won’t, either? Friends?”

Marley extended an awkward hand, which resulted in Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin tilting her head. She turned her confused blue eyes onto Sylvia next, who held up her hands.

“Whoa, hold on a sec, I’m not involved in this!” Sylvia protested, taking a step back. “I thought that prank was hilarious!”

“Haah…” Marley pinched the bridge of her nose. She really felt like things were falling apart all around them, and as usual, it would fall to her to pick up the pieces. Why did Marley always have to be the bigger person!?

Moving past the obvious joke about her boobs, Marley took another step forward. She caught the look of alarm that flashed across Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s face, and the way the other girl’s fingers twitched on the handle of her umbrella, and for a moment she wondered if she was actually in trouble here.

“Are you mad at me?” Marley asked, a little louder than she’d intended.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s eyes grew so wide they could give Marley’s new breasts a run for their money. She swiftly shook her head back and forth. Succinct. Determined. And above all, confusing.

“…So, you’re not mad at me? Or upset with me?” Marley asked, trying to figure out what the other woman meant.

Another shake of the head.

“Is it me, then?” Sylvia popped in, sounding slightly worried.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin rolled her eyes and pursed her lips like she was scoffing at the very notion.

“…So if you weren’t mad, were you just trying to make friends with me? Like a little prank?” Marley questioned.

When the assassin shook her head again, Marley basically gave up trying to get to the truth.

“Then why-?!” She groaned in exasperation, even though she knew that the other woman was doing the best she could. “Poking me like that… it wasn’t nice.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked down.

“Daddy would probably get really mad at you for it,” Sylvia said. “Is that why you’re upset?”

A look of alarm flashed across the assassin’s face and she uttered a silent gasp. Apparently, the idea had never occurred to her.

Marley had never seen her look scared before. It was actually unnerving.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin frantically waved her hands. She pointed at Marley, then drew her finger to the side, where it hovered in the air beside the inflated woman.

Marley looked at the empty space beside her, confused.

“What do you think she’s pointing at?” She asked Sylvia, who just shrugged. The assassin pointed even more insistently, practically stomping her foot.

Then Marley figured it out. Wait… that’s where Carly is usually standing whenever we’re together! Is this… about her?

Suddenly the pieces were starting to make sense.

“Are you upset with my sister? Is that why you poked me with the cactus? To mess with her?!” Marley was trying very hard to keep the irritation out of her voice. How unreasonable could you get!? It was one thing to play a prank on someone with a cactus, but to do that out of spite for her sister!?

Come on!

And yet, the look on the assassin’s face looked rather similar to guilt.

“I think she’s upset because Daddy went on a date with Carly,” Sylvia guessed. “Is that it? You wanted to spend time with Daddy, but Carly’s monopolizing him today?”

Finally, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded. Her eyes were wide with acknowledgment and her head jerked up and down.

Marley wanted to scream.

“…Next time, if you want to get even with my sister, please don’t drag me into it,” she groaned, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “I’ll help you hide her hairbrush or something, but don’t make my boobs grow.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded again, her face turning sullen. It seemed like even she was starting to realize that maybe she’d messed up.

But Sylvia wasn’t about to let the mood stay all downy and frowny!

“It’s okay, it was just a prank!” She declared, hoisting up the cactus. “Let’s forget it and move forward, okay?”

“Sure, works for me,” Marley said, nodding. “You okay with that?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin couldn’t look happier.

After taking the cactus back to the Garden Suite, Marley and Sylvia found a good place to plant it, where nobody would end up accidentally bumping into it and getting pricked. (Over Sylvia’s objections.)

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin hovered in the doorway like lost kitten who wasn’t sure if she was going to get a treat or a squirt from a squirt bottle.

“There we go!” Sylvia clapped the dirt off her hands and stood up straight. “After a hard day’s work, you know what I’m feeling right now?”

“Like your back is about to snap in half?” Marley groused, struggling to straighten up after being hunched over for so long. “Oh, wait, that’s me.”

“Oh please, your breasts are already massive, a small boost like that isn’t going to do anything,” Sylvia scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I was thinking that, as friends, we should all go and take a bath together in the hot springs! What do you think, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin?” She turned to the other woman, making it clear that she wanted to include her.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked alarmed.

She pointed at herself, and Sylvia nodded firmly.

“Yeah! It’ll be so fun!” She said.

The assassin nodded hesitantly at first, before her eagerness took over.

Marley had her own concerns though.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She asked as they headed for the spa. “I mean, doesn’t her transformation trigger if she strips?”

Sylvia shook her head. “No no, it only gets her turned on if her clothes are ripped off!” She explained. “That’s how the transformation is worded. Wearing less clothing, or voluntarily removing it, won’t do anything. She would have to rip it off to get the effects.”

“Oh, well, okay then,” Marley said, relieved. The last thing they needed was to get Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin all horny and worked-up while Nick was off climbing mountains with Carly somewhere on the island.

That had no positive outcomes that she could see.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin looked very excited to go for a dip in the hot spring. When they finally arrived, she had the energy of a little child going to the beach for the first time. She stepped out and slung her towel away, revealing her flawless, creamy skin before leaping headfirst into the spring.

Marley gasped. “You- you can’t just jump in-!” She sputtered, her eyes wide.

The assassin surfaced, and rolled her eyes. Marley wasn’t the boss of her.

Sylvia laughed. “It’s fine, Marley, don’t worry about it. Come on, let’s have some fun together!”

She jumped in right after the assassin, much to Marley’s irritation.

“I’m the youngest one here, technically,” she grumbled, following the two of them into the water one step at a time, instead of brazenly cannonballing in. “Why is it I’m the mature one?”

…Maybe she should try and be more like her sister and relax. Sylvia certainly seemed to think so, anyway.

“So what do you think?” Sylvia lounged against the lip of the hot spring. “Pretty nice, huh?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded cheerfully. She was lying on her back and staring up at the sky with a silent sigh on her lips.

“It’s nice to take things easy every now and then,” Marley agreed. She was having a harder time than the other two, what, with the beach balls strapped to her chest. Dealing with her large breasts was already an inconvenience, and that was before they’d gotten inflated to cartoonish proportions by that cactus.

At least no one’s here to see this, she thought. If Nick spotted her in this condition, she had no idea what she would do.

Probably not jump his bones, though. Probably.

“Think about the positives!” Sylvia laughed. “You’re finally bigger than your sister, right?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin nodded in agreement. Marley shot them both a scathing look.

“Yeah because that’s always what mattered to me,” she mumbled.

Maybe she was upset because a part of her actually felt like they were right. Having bigger breasts than Carly… while it had never been a dream of hers, it certainly felt better than she’d anticipated it would.

And who says Carly’s the hot one now? She thought back to all the times in high school where boys would try to get close to her in order to hit on her sister. Or sought out Marley as the consolation prize, when Carly was off the table.

And they were twins! That was the worst part!

So maybe Marley wasn’t the worst person in the world, for being glad she had a pair of massive mammaries to fling in everyone’s face.

The sound of the hot spring door sliding open quickly nipped any of those fantasies in the bud.

“Uwah!” Marley scrambled to try and **** her breasts beneath the water, not wanting to get spotted like this. She just knew that it would be Nick and her sister back from a hike, and-

“Oh, someone else is here, that’s unusual.”

“Hey, the more the merrier, right?”

…Or it would be Dani and Kim. That was… fine?

Marley let out a sigh of relief and straightened up as she turned to greet the two of them.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin practically sprung out of the water when she saw Kim, her face lighting up.

“Hey, you guys just coming back from a workout?” Sylvia asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Kim answered, and her face immediately turned red. She looked away as Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin stopped at the water’s edge, looking at her questioningly.

“Kim has the funniest transformation you can imagine,” Dani said, sniggering. “As far as punishments go, I think she got off lucky!”

Kim glared at her, but kept her feelings to herself.

“Yeah, whatever,” she griped, nodding. “Ma’am. Now, are we getting into the water or not?”

“I’m working up to it!” Dani crossed her feathered arms over her chest and blushed. “I mean… my feathers, they… I can get them wet, right?”

She looked to Sylvia for information, as if the other girl would know anything about one of Dakota’s transformations.

Sylvia shrugged.

“…Well, I’m not letting her take baths away from me.” Dani powered through her decision and stepped into the water, letting out a relieved sigh as she felt the hot spring rise over her feathered limbs.

“Looks like it’s a winner,” Kim laughed. She stepped into the hot spring herself, tossing away her towel. “Nothing like a nice soak after a long day of work, and working out…”

Her eyes drifted over to Marley. Something was off about her, but Kim couldn’t quite put her finger on it…

Marley, feeling the other girl’s eyes on her, shifted awkwardly. This caused her to sit up a little more, drawing more of her body out of the water.

Enough to capture Kim’s undivided attention. Her jaw dropped.

“Oh my god!” She sat up straight and pointed at the brunette. “Marley! Your-!”

“I know!” Marley cut her off with a groan. Outed, she rose to her feet, showing off her newly-acquired breasts. “It’s a long story.”

Dani’s jaw dropped and she nearly drowned in the shallow end of the hot spring. “Wuh-buh-huh-?” Her mouth flopped open and closed as she tried to assemble some semblance of a sentence, but coming off no easier to understand than the professional killer in the water with them.

“So it turns out, we got a new plant for our suite!” Sylvia chirped. “It makes your breasts grow bigger when you get pricked with it!”

She left out the part about Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin poking Marley with it as a prank.

“Well, that… huh.” Kim stroked her chin thoughtfully. “…I think Nick might want to know about that,” she said with a sly grin.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s eyes widened and she splashed through the water over to Kim, shaking her head frantically.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to show Daddy what it can do,” Sylvia giggled.

“So wait, it just makes your breasts grow bigger? That’s it? No downsides at all?” Dani was naturally suspicious by nature. Something like that sounded too good to be true.”

“None at all!” Sylvia said. “You just have to eat its flowers, and your breasts return to normal! Isn’t that great?”

Kim beamed from ear to ear. Oh yeah, Nick would definitely like this. Memories of her date with him confirmed that in spades.

“So it makes your boobs grow, and it’s reversible,” Dani said, her eyes glazing over. She was trying to come up with a downside here, but all she could think about at the moment was Carly receiving the same boost her sister had gotten.

“Hey, my eyes are up here,” Marley playfully griped. But she knew nobody was even paying attention to that.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin let out a silent sigh of relief, and her face relaxed. Whatever was going to happen with the cactus, it seemed like she at least had avoided any serious blame for it. Which worked out quite nicely!