Hollow (H,F)

Ata climbed the stairs up to the tower, two at a time. It felt strange coming up here. Usually Genet just put her here, or she’d let her other side go up. But this time she needed to do it herself.

She came to the top. The shop was quiet. The shopkeeper’s books and supplies were on the wall behind the counter. Most of them were empty, not that the contestants would ever find out. The floor was clear. She’d been hoping that Felicia would be here, but other than some faint knocking on the roof all was quiet.

I guess that interrogation really was pointless. She couldn’t be persuaded to take over as Master. I can’t check for ‘somewhere dangerous.’ And the tower didn’t pan out either.

I was so arrogant this morning. I said multiple times that I wouldn’t need to worry about it being close, or that I’d get everyone before lunch. I’ve got less than two hours left, and three of them are in the wind. I should’ve realized how rusty I was.

Ata stepped over the counter. Pressing her hand against the wooden wall just shy of the middle, a doorknob shimmered into place. She opened the door and walked in.

It was her home, for better or worse. A bed that Genet had spent decades tinkering with. The television Genet had delivered in between this season and last, which had made things a lot more interesting when the Host was away on one of her other adventures. A closet of activities stood ajar in one corner opposite the door; games and books and puzzles that Genet had given her over the years neatly catalogued and organized. Ata had made cataloguing them its own hobby one day out of a combination of boredom and a need to be tidy.

A second closet for her wardrobe was in the corner closest to the door. She opened it and saw the seven spare togas and the seven spare sandals. They all looked identical, but Ata could tell the difference as she discarded her old pair of shoes in the laundry basket and slipped on a new set of sandals.

Ata closed the door to her bedroom as she left, locking it behind her. She knew no one was there, but she still called out: “Felicia?” A longshot was better than nothing, especially with how **** the day had gotten now that there were less than two hours left.

To her luck, someone answered, even if it wasn’t who she was looking for. “Do you need help finding her?” a voice she tried to place asked.

Ata couldn’t see where it was coming from. The shop floor was small, and had nowhere that anyone could hide. She walked out to the balcony, trying to think about where she’d heard that voice. “Is that… Helena? Where are you?”

“Up here.” The billionaire poked her head out from where she was sitting on the roof.

“How did you get up there? The roof's edge sticks out too far to climb.”

“Grappling hook. Hazel wanted to make sure I had it when she helped me escape. You said you were looking for Felicia?”

“Yes, I suppose I am. You’re offering to tell me?” As helpful as it’d be, something felt strange about the offer. They’ve been covering for and sacrificing for each other all day. This one wants to sell the others out?

“If it’d help, she’s at the temple at the mountaintop. She’s getting **** and asked me to meet her there. She was bitching about almost being out of dice, whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth? You’re sending me to the most distant part of the island. If you’re lying, then you and your friends get away.”

“First of all, I don’t lie.” She lied. “Second, she is not my friend. She’s self-absorbed and aggressive, she’d be a terrible match for my stepbrother. If you stop her from advancing any further, all the better.”

“He’s your family?” Ata clarified.

“Yes, our parents got married when I was eleven.”

“That’s disgusting of you then. It’s only round one and Genet’s already corrupted you?”

“She hasn’t corrupted me. Richard and I haven’t done anything together like that.” Helena paused for a moment, then repeated: “We haven’t.” as if she was half trying to convince herself. "Anyway, if you grab her first then I'd gladly surrender."

“I guess you lie after all. I can smell him on you, even if it’s faint. But I’ll trust you on the temple for now, since I don’t have a better option. If you’re lying about that too, then I’ll do whatever I can to take you out before the sun sets.” Ata vowed as she left the tower. It'll be hard to get up there without falling, and I'd be lucky just to break bones if I fell. If I actually need to make good on that threat...

Up on the roof, Helena pulled out her phone. She furiously typed out a message and hit send:

I did what you asked. She bought it. Now end her.

***

Ata climbed another long staircase, this time to the temple at the northern edge of the island. It felt reassuring that the end of the contest was taking place in some of the older parts of the set, where she was already deeply familiar.

As she came into the temple, her eyes were drawn to the stained glass portraits along the walls. She offered a silent prayer to Missy for guidance and continued forward.

The shopkeeper saw her target quickly as she investigated further. The short blonde was using a piece of chalk to make markings on the St.Andrew’s cross on the left side of the aisle. Every so often she looked down to compare the marking with her own measurements.

Good. The mist must have taken hold like it did Luna. While she's distracted I can grab her.

As Ata was thinking that Felicia looked over at the worst possible time, her eyes growing wide. Ata tried to rush her to stop her from pulling off another of her tricks, but she couldn’t race there fast enough before a rain of twenty sided dice fell down on her.

Ata lost a minute on it, but no matter. Her prey had run further into the grandiose space. It was only a matter of time before she was cornered.

Felicia clearly knew it too. She was emptying out her pack in a **** attempt to slow down the pursuit.

Ata bent down to pick up a whistle. “Stop.”

Then a cord of rope. “Doing.”

Then a magnifying glass. “That.”

Then a hand mirror. “You know I have to clean up after you.”

It occurred to her that none of these were the dice. Helena must have been telling the truth about almost being out of those. She used the last of them in her panic.

Ata followed the trail that Felicia was leaving. All manner of objects were on the ground as they both found their way into a rear corner. Even the backpack was shed to slow her, until Felicia was at the back of the temple. She stood at the edge of the gold platform, trying to look defiant with a clenched fist and a raised chin.

“There’s nowhere left to run.” Ata said as she cornered the girl.

“I don't need to run anymore.”

Ata rolled her eyes. “Stop with the bravado. You’ve lost.”

“We’ll see” Felicia said as she lightly tossed a handful of four sided dice on the golden platform beside them.

There was a brilliant flash of light.

***

When Ata came to, Felicia was sitting on one of the beds. The doctor hopped off and approached, still smirking. “I hope you realize that I haven’t lost yet.”

“What did you do?” Ata growled.

“I couldn’t lose. Especially not to someone like you, who decided that it was her job to punish Ava like she was a child. She is my favorite person in the world, and she should be able to do whatever she wants, her dad and you and the show and anyone else who tries to treat her like Stella and Aubrey be damned. There’s only one person in the world who can beat me when I really try, and you aren’t him.”

“You’re just bloviating. What did you do?”

“When you took my best friend, I reached out for help. Katrina answered.” Felicia extended her arms out like she was welcoming an old friend, and her eyes turned gold for just a moment before going back to their normal green.

“She told me that she’d been watching me all day, and she was eager to help me. To make sure you were in the position we needed you in, we talked to Hel. She was pretty miffed about losing Hazel, so it didn’t take much convincing for her to agree to portray me as weak, struggling, and hiding here rather than waiting here.

“I let you see some of my plans for the next round so you would think that the mist was overwhelming me, and you eagerly followed the trail I left. If you’d questioned things or hadn’t been so overconfident a moment ago, I might have been in trouble. But you were so self-assured of your own victory that you never stopped to think about why I led us here.”

Ata shook her head. “You were trying to use this to see if I’d get a bad reaction, right? I know Vaughn’s machine tried to activate, but it won’t do anything. It only works on the Master and contestants.”

“If it won’t do anything, then come get me.” Felicia challenged.

Ata tried to lunge, so she could grab the doctor and shut them up. But she couldn’t. I can’t move my legs. Why can’t I move?

“What? Is there a problem?” Felicia was gloating now. “It’s just a few steps. I’ll even move closer if you’d like.” She halved the distance between the two of them as she moved to stand next to the throne, watching the shopkeeper’s reaction.

“This shouldn’t be working. What did you do?” Ata asked, for the third time in the conversation.

“I didn’t do anything. Katrina just talked to one of the other mentors, who she told me you know pretty well. Is that right?”

“Missy?” Don’t let it be her. Anyone else, please.

“That’s the one!” Felicia crowed. “It turns out your past makes you close enough to a contestant for this to work, as I realized from your reaction to Ava’s question. Missy’s been watching with Katrina for most of the day, and she was… let’s say disappointed in your behavior. ”

“No.”

“Of course she was. She watches Genet’s season each time just for an opportunity to sabotage it. You’re running your own challenge. How did you think she’d feel?”

“I didn’t… I didn’t think about that.”

“Well, she was thinking about you. She's been horrified by your actions today, and I think some part of you already knew that. When given the chance, she-” Felicia stopped her monologue, which she’d taken more time to practice than she’d admit. “Are you crying?”

Ata was. Her opponent, who had struck fear into most of the contestants, was now sitting on the ground weeping.

"Stop. "

There was no response save for the sobbing growing louder.

"Is it because I beat you, or..."

Nothing happened.

“Hey, you can stop crying. Missy warned us that she’d let you go if you had a conversation with her and you regained her trust. You still have a chance.”

Ata didn’t acknowledge her.

“This is too much? You told us this morning to use anything we could think of to keep you away. I…” Felicia wasn’t sure what to say. “Please, you’re supposed to be angry. You’re supposed to be screaming at me… Please, stop crying. ”

Ata still didn’t listen. The shopkeeper called out in a subdued tone: “Genet?”

The host was there in an instant, teleporting in with a puff of copper and iron. “How can I help?”

“I’m done. The challenge is over.” Ata resigned.

“That’s alright.” Genet reassured her. “I’m sure the cast wouldn’t mind an extra hour of downtime before the transformation votes start. Do you want me to take you to Missy? I know it’s been a long time since you’ve seen her.”

Ata quickly shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Would… I be able to spend the night with Vaughn?”

Genet nodded, taking her assistant’s hand. “Yeah. He was planning on staying up late anyways on a new project, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind having someone to keep him company. I’ll check on you tomorrow morning, but if you need to see me earlier just let Vaughn know and he’ll make sure I’m there as soon as possible.” She turned to the victorious contestant. “I’ll bring you back to the stage in just a moment.” Then both of them disappeared.

Felicia was left alone for a few minutes. This wasn’t what winning was supposed to feel like.

***

“Thank you everyone, for participating in or watching the season’s first challenge!” Genet shouted, as everyone was teleported back into the auditorium from where they’d been for the end of the contest. Everyone was back in the plush seats of the auditorium floor, while Genet stood by herself at the podium.

“As we had three different contestants make it to the end as required, the audience will decide on the ultimate winner of the contest through ranking which transformation to give your Master. I’ve worked on formatting them and balancing them in a way that best matched your feelings over the course of the day. Those will be revealed in a moment, once I’m ready to open the vote.

‘But first, I wanted to announce something else. Our beloved shopkeeper has worked very hard today, and deserves a reward as well. I think most of us know what she'd appreciate most. With the help of a new friend of mine, I put together a collection of recordings from wrestling's greats for her to come back to when she’s ready. Hopefully she'll enjoy legends like Wayne 'The Boulder' Jackson, Penelope Serrano, and Ron Sena!" Canned applause played in the auditorium, followed by tepid clapping from Maeve, Ava, and Aubrey.

After waiting for the applause to end, Genet continued. “Now to reveal the three options for our audience to decide between for the Master:

Carnivore: Dick has a habit of overindulging on red meat and overly salty food. Let's be safe and get rid of the health risks associated with this bad habit. Instead, his indulgence will lend him the strength needed to bend, lift, or push his harem into any position physically possible.

Executive Privilege: Some transformations clearly don't have as much thought behind them as others, and we need a voice of reason. Up to twice per round, Dick may upgrade or veto a transformation, as long he has that contestant's consent

Window Pain Check: It can be hard to communicate what's good or bad sometimes. This would help Richard accommodate that, by giving him a limited sixth sense about whether someone is comfortable with something he is about to say or suggest.

https://strawpoll.com/wAg3QaEo8y8

“While the audience is voting, I’d like to give everyone a couple hours to destress and have dinner before we come back for the results and your own transformation votes. Wherever you decide to rest, I’ll be coming by to deliver fanmail for you to respond to.” The host dismissed the group, letting most of them file out. Only Felicia stayed behind, not moving an inch from the seat Genet had teleported her into.

The rubenesque woman weaved through the rows of the small auditorium to make her way to the much smaller blonde. “What’s on your mind?”

Felicia took a long time to respond. “Would I be able to withdraw Carnivore?”

“Why?”

“I feel like I don’t deserve it after what I did.”

“Kiddo…” Genet tried to think through her words. This was the sort of thing she struggled with. “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t enjoy your plan.”

Felicia nodded.

“But you didn’t break any rules. While it’s clear you have some regrets, this can be a learning experience for you. Once you’re feeling like yourself again, I’m sure you and a few of the others would enjoy what you made if it wins. I'm not going to withdraw it now and take away a chance you fairly earned."

Felicia nodded again, slower this time. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I mean, I did, but not more than she could handle. I think at some point I just got so excited that I could win that I stopped thinking about what I was saying.”

“I understand. Why don’t you head to your bedroom, I can magic up some of your uncle’s brisket and have it delivered after you settle in.”

“I…” Felicia was too emotionally drained to argue. “Thank you.”

“Of course, kiddo, this is what I’m here for.”