Lookin' back is all that I look forward to

The first thing that greeted Nick in the morning was the blinding light of the sun, practically frying his eyeballs. First, he opened them a crack. Then he shut them tight. Then, after shielding his face with his hand, he opened them wide, and saw…

White sand.

Blue sea.

And the golden eyes of Dakota staring down at him, her jet black hair fluttering lazily in the cool summer breeze.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she crooned, stretching her arms over her head in a way that made her breasts bounce, while feigning a yawn. “You have a good night?”

Nick shook his head, still in a daze. “Dakota… what… what’s going on?” As he regained his bearings he looked around, recognizing the usual stage that served at the starting point for so many activities on this show- usually challenges at this point. That’s where he sat right now, with Dakota ahead of him, standing in the spotlight for all to see. And he also saw that he wasn’t the only one who had been brought here.

“Mary?” His wife was the first one he spotted. She was sitting right next to him, only unlike him, she was wide awake. She looked just as confused as he did, though. And Holly was at the foot of her chair, a rare worried expression on her face. She looked up at him and shrugged.

“Hey, Nick!” Dani’s voice called down from the beach below. “You finally awake?”

Nick stood up to take a better look, and saw that it wasn’t just Dani- all the women in his harem had been assembled. First thing in the morning.

Judging by his stepmother’s grumpy expression, she had been denied her morning cup of coffee. Not a wise decision.

“Man, I was having the perfect dream,” Gina groaned, scratching her head. “Come on, Dakota, why’d you have to drag me out of bed this early?”

“I didn’t even get breakfast…” Kim mumbled, looking down at the sand. Skipping meals wasn’t a foreign concept to the struggling college student, but she’d gotten used to being able to eat her fill and wasn’t happy about having to go hungry again.

“Hey, stop complaining,” Carly groused from the seat she was sharing with her sister. “At least YOU got to come here wearing clothes!”

Nick’s face turned scarlet as his eyes landed on Carly’s curvaceous figure. She was stark naked, unlike the other women who were all dressed, even if some of them were still wearing their pajamas.

He also saw that Marley was trying very hard not to laugh.

“Oh… right, I almost forgot,” Dakota said, tapping her cane on the stage. “Here’s your costume for this morning.”

A pile of clothes dropped into Carly’s lap, much to her relief. But her gratitude didn’t prevent her from muttering under her breath, “You didn’t almost forget, you did forget. I had to remind you.”

Dakota chose to ignore that. While Carly put on her outfit, which was thankfully fairly simple- a pair of jeans, a white button-up shirt with long sleeves, and a sleeveless white leopard-spotted vest- Dakota turned and addressed the restless and hungry girls assembled before her.

“Good morning everyone,” she crooned. “So glad you could all come out here today! It’s quite a big day, I’ve gotta say… yes, quite a big day indeed. It’s been a long while since we’ve had a good challenge… and now is the time!”

She paused, as if she were awaiting applause. Predictably, no one obliged her.

“…Feh. Well, never mind that,” she scoffed, waving her hand dismissively.

“Are we going to be doing the challenge soon?” Dawn asked. “Shouldn’t we focus on the popularity polls and stuff first?”

Dakota smirked. “Why yes, indeed, we should,” she chirped, her eyes flashing with excitement. “Wonderful suggestion, my dear girl!”

With a wave of her cane, she summoned a screen above the stage.

“Before we take a look at the most recent Popularity Poll, let me just say how much I appreciate the hard work and dedication you’ve all put in this last round,” Dakota said, almost sounding sincere. “Yes, several of the audience have complained about the tedium, the boring drama, and the resurrection that was FAR less engaging than the last time someone here was brought back to life…”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Sylvia’s hand shot up into the air like a teacher’s pet. “Me! I did that!”

Dakota shot her a look. “…Yes, I’m sure that’s the part everyone remembers,” she said sarcastically. “Now- this has been a very long round. But it hasn’t been without its high points, or its low points! For instance, that wonderful cactus you girls picked up on the first day of the new round, that was quite an enjoyable little detour, wasn’t it? Our audience really loved the changes you girls went through, Marley, Carly, and especially you, Dawn. Shall we post a highlight of that again?”

The screen flashed to display an image that made Dawn screech like a cat.

Nick’s face turned red, and he wasn’t the only one. Carly and Marley both looked rather ashamed of what had happened.

“But the fun was just getting started,” Dakota continued, tapping her cane and enhancing the image, focusing on Dawn’s humongous chest. “After enhancing her bust size, Carly ended up in the Master’s Suite with Vivian that night, and things sure got steamy… though the heiress decided to bow out of any of the serious stuff.”

Vivian’s cheeks turned a little pink, but she refused to be shamed by the host. She carried herself with her head held high.

Dakota let out a disappointed sigh. “Unfortunately, Dawn got rid of those lovely huge breasts of hers, and had to settle for a more modest upgrade, courtesy of our virginal little heiress,” she sneered, earning glares from Dawn and Vivian both. “Of course, what followed was a rather steamy night of competition between herself, Holly, and Mary. Where she got second place. As usual.”

She winked at the nonexistent camera. “Foreshadowing,” she whispered.

“…So, after Dawn learned to cut loose and enjoy herself, it was Nick’s turn to do the same, courtesy of our little Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin!” Dakota gestured to the dark-haired girl, who was practically pouring out of her tight leather jumpsuit thanks to her nanomachine-enhanced breasts. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin perked up when she heard her name, her ears twitching curiously.

“Now, she and Nick did have a lot of fun on their date- and a lot of steamy sex,” Dakota noted, clapping politely for the mute girl. “But… I think the audience was hoping for something a little more… sincere from her. Pottery is nice and all, but tell me, how are you planning to open up to Nick and connect to him on an interpersonal level, hmm?” She batted her eyelashes. “It isn’t enough to just seduce him, or play all those mean pranks. I think the audience would really appreciate you opening up and being more genuine with people. Hmm? What do you say?”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin gave the smirking host a frosty expression and pointed at her mouth.

“…I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes’, then,” Dakota giggled. “Good thing you’ve finally started learning how to write, courtesy of our teacher here… you really need to express your thoughts in a way that others can understand them.”

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin rolled her eyes and let out a silent sigh.

Nick winced. If Dakota was going that far, it meant something was up. It certainly wasn’t a good sign.

“What next… …Oh! Gina’s party, who could forget?” Dakota chirped. “The fun slumber party that everyone had a blast at, and everyone got a nice little boon as a bonus! …Except me, of course. Nothing for Dakota, why would there be? Haaah…” She shrugged off her sigh like it didn’t bother her at all. “Sadly, not everyone has made use of their boons, which is a shame. This is the last chance you’ll have with them. Talking to you here, Rose.”

“Huh!?” Rose sat up in her seat. “Why are you singling ME out?!”

Dakota smirked at her. “Figure it out. You’re not the blonde bimbo everyone thinks you are, right?”

The only reply Rose gave her was a glare.

“After Gina’s party, we had quite an exciting date between Vivian and Nick!” Dakota continued. “Vivian? What do you think? Have fun?”

Vivian sank into her chair, her confident smile shaken. Nick winced, knowing what was coming.

“…I ask, because it was a train wreck. As far as ‘bad dates’ go, this was one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen as a host!” The gleeful smile on Dakota’s face showed just how she felt about that. “And I’ve been doing this for a long time! Faking out Nick into thinking that your mother was on her deathbed… ouch. Now, you didn’t know that his mom died when she was very little, or how traumatic **** is for him in general, so it’s not TOTALLY your fault, but… come on. Really?”

“I made a mistake,” Vivian said, trying her best to not lose her temper. “I’m sorry… I’ve tried to make it up to him…”

“Well, keep trying, and maybe do a little better next time, hmm?” Dakota turned away from Vivian like she couldn’t stand the sight of her. “And then we get to Rose. Rose, Rose, Rose… usually, you’re such a forward and dedicated woman, always wanting to be the center of attention! Which is why it surprised me that you were willing to share your date time with someone else! Especially someone as competitive as Dawn!”

Rose’s glare from earlier had not left her face. If anything it had grown fiercer. “I care about Nick,” she said bluntly. “And I care about Dawn, as well. She’s my friend. And if she needs my support, then I’ll give it to her!”

“Oh, Rose…” Mary was actually touched by Rose’s statement. Even more touched than Nick was, he was pretty sure. Which was surprising given how the two bickered.

“…It was a nice date, for sure,” Dakota conceded. “And the important thing is that you had fun. And competed. Which was also fun!”

She snickered as Rose rolled her eyes.

“And let’s not forget, while all this was happening, Rose was the first contestant on the show to reach 100 VP! Congratulations!” Dakota applauded her.

That calmed Rose’s mood slightly.

Now if only Dakota could keep her mouth shut and just let it end with that. But of course she couldn’t do something so reasonable…

“…Of course, that was quickly overshadowed by the REAL major event,” the host noted, nodding to Carly. “Carly’s beloved daughter Emmy was brought back to life, as a reward for hitting the 10,000 BP threshold on her latest transformation! Now, I wonder… what will getting another 10,000 BP earn you, hmm? …We’ll have to find out. In the meantime, Carly got to experience the joy of motherhood for real now, a touching moment… and she wasn’t the only one experiencing something life-changing, was she, Dani?”

“Huh?” Dani wasn’t sure what Dakota meant by that for a second.

The host cleared her throat, clearly trying to signal something.

Kim blinked. “What, you mean our threesome? Is that what this is about?” She asked.

Dani blushed.

“That’s right!” Dakota confirmed with a smirk. “While it wasn’t quite sex, Dani here discovered it can be quite a lot of fun to get involved with the boys- well, one boy in particular, anyway. So long as another woman is involved that she can play around with, and relish in seeing Nick lay claim over her…”

“Can we not phrase it that way?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, that’s just… …No thanks,” Kim said, shaking her head. She made a face.

Dakota rolled her eyes. “…Well, anyway, not long after that, Kim had her own date with Nick. …It was pretty boring. They talked about home construction and property values. Ri-ve-ting. …Moving on, after that-”

“Hey, wait!” Kim cut her off, her face reddening. “You’re not stopping there, are you?!”

Dakota looked at her. “Whatever do you mean?” She asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

Kim gave her a sour glare.

“…Oh, that’s right. Rose wasn’t the only one who reached 100 VP,” Dakota said, like an afterthought. “Kim did as well. Congratulations, Kim.”

The applause she gave Kim was a lot more sarcastic.

Kim just kept glaring.

“What about my date?” Holly asked, raising her hand. “You forgot about it, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Dakota nodded. “Yes, before Nick had to **** himself the prospect of homeownership, he went on a date with Holly. I forgot about it, because you had a MUCH more exciting time with him later in the round, didn’t you, Holly?” Dakota winked at her, and Holly blushed.

“After that boring date, we had a much more interesting one, with cute little Ella here,” Dakota said, gesturing to Ella. “She got to go to the zoo for the first time ever!”

Ella blushed. She fumbled with her rubber-band. “It… it was okay… a lot of fun… and Cinder enjoyed it, too. …And I really liked the unicorn,” she said, looking bashfully over at Nick.

Nick was not as big a fan of the unicorn.

“There’s a unicorn here?” Gina laughed. “Sick!”

“I think Ella definitely made a lot of progress with Nick- and the audience- this round,” Dakota said, her voice teaming with pride. “Unlike the other newcomers, who have been far more divisive.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin rolled her eyes. Vivian looked down and bit her lip. Amelia… had no discernable reaction whatsoever. She just looked like she wanted coffee.

“After Ella had her fun, it was time for Morgana to bore everyone with excessive TCG playing that nobody really cares about,” Dakota said, waving her hand, while Morgana just mewled sadly. “More importantly, though, this whole round Morgana has been practicing her spells, and she’s found some really interesting and fun ones. Can she find the magic spell that makes her stand out and become a more beloved figure in the eyes of the audience, though? …Weeeeeeelllll… …At least she’s confident in herself, right?”

Morgana winced.

Nick frowned. “Dakota, now you’re just being mean,” he chastised her. “Stop it.”

Dakota closed her mouth. There was more she could say, but she refrained. “…Fine then,” she relented, holding her up her hands. “After Nick enjoyed himself with the far less endowed version of Morgana, he went on a date with Sylvia. Which I guess went fine. The more important part was what came after. You see, for whatever reason, the two of them STILL haven’t figured out if they’re going to sleep together or not. I mean, come on, Sylvia, you’ve been on the show for what, three rounds now? You’ve had two full days of him to yourself, and you guys still aren’t having sex?”

“Well, maybe if you would let me call him something other than ‘Daddy’ I could get somewhere,” Sylvia replied.

Dakota shrugged. “Sounds like a skill issue to me,” she said with a scoff. “Fine, we’ll talk about that later. For now, let’s get to the real important thing that happened that night! Sylvia and Nick may not have hooked up, but he had sex with someone else… our lovely Holly here! And she had quite a wonderful night, didn’t you, Holly?”

Holly stood up, her face glowing as she beamed at Nick. She placed her hand over her belly.

“I… I think… I think I’m pregnant,” Holly revealed to the girls of Nick’s harem. “Nick and I… we slept together, and I… I wanted it, and… well…”

She patted her stomach again.

Everyone was floored. At least the ones who didn’t already know.

“No way!” Dani gasped. “You’re pregnant, Holly!? That’s so great!”

“How wonderful!” Carly cheered.

“Yeah, that… that’s awesome,” Marley nodded, happy for the other girl but also a little worried. Having seen firsthand all of her sister’s doubts about how her sex positivity was affecting her daughter, the idea of Holly becoming a mother herself… it left her with some questions.

“That’s great!” Vivian applauded. “I’m so happy for you, girl! Way to go!”

“I am so surprised!” Morgana said loudly. “I never would have guessed that Holly would be pregnant! Look at how surprised I am! I am just as taken aback as everyone else, right, Dawn?”

Dawn shot her a look that said “Why are you asking me?!”

“Well, we can all give her our congratulations later,” Dakota said, nodding. “But for now, we have to move on. What else, what else… …Oh, right, once again, Nick didn’t bang his stepmother. The end. …Oh, and Gina had a wonderful date with Nick where she got to just be herself! Only unlike Holly learning to embrace her desires, this one didn’t end in a pregnancy. Shame.”

Gina’s mouth fell open. She didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Now, let’s move on to what we’re all REALLY here for!” Dakota said, waving her cane. “The rankings! Let’s see where everyone’s position is in the current standings!”

The screen shifted to show how much VP all the girls had accumulated this round.

1st: Kim – 101 VP

2nd: Rose – 100 VP

3rd: Morgana – 99 VP

4th: Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin – 96 VP

5th: Dawn – 82 VP

6th: Dani – 81 VP

7th: Carly – 78 VP

8th: Amelia – 76 VP

9th: Gina – 75 VP

10th: Vivian – 73 VP

11th: Cinder/Ella – 60 VP

12th: Sylvia – 55 VP

“Well, there have certainly been some changes,” Dakota said, amused. “Congratulations on first place, Kim! One Victory Point ahead of Rose! The both of you are- currently, anyway- safe and secure, having obtained enough VP to make it into Nick’s harem for good! You are both bound to him for life, just like Mary! …Unless you lose VP for whatever reason. So be careful now!”

The twinkle in her eye carried an aura of menace that made both women shiver.

“And Morgana, you’re almost there yourself!” Dakota noted. “And then there’s Dani, who made quite a leap in VP this round, now that you’re more willing to share girls with Nick, that’s always good. But Ella, Sylvia, you’re lagging behind! Sylvia, you in particular, you didn’t earn a single VP this round,” she pointed out, clicking her tongue. “What a shame… at least Dani got some VP for sleeping with a bunch of women for a bounty, but you… well, maybe next time we won’t just watch? Hmm?”

Sylvia winced, and lowered her head. Dakota laughed.

“Now then, since that’s settled, let’s check how much BP everyone has to work with, shall we?” She said, waving her cane. The numbers on the screen shifted.

1. Rose – 12200 BP

2. Kim – 11500 BP

3. Dawn – 9600 BP

4. Carly – 9200 BP

5. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin – 7700 BP

6. Sylvia – 7600 BP

7. Gina – 6800 BP

8. Cinder/Ella – 5700 BP

9. Dani – 5300 BP

10. Morgana – 5000 BP

11. Amelia – 3200 BP

12. Vivian – 1000 BP

“This isn’t quite as engaging as the last one, I’m afraid,” Dakota said with a note of impatience in her voice. “Other than to mention that Vivian, our heiress, and Amelia, from old nobility, are in last place and second to last, respectively, while Rose and Kim, two of our poorer contestants, are currently sitting in the top two spots, nice and pretty. But don’t worry. Those numbers will be changing soon, because next up we have what you’ve all been waiting for… the results of the Popularity Poll!”

And with one last wave of her cane the screen changed again, and everyone could see the results for themselves.

1. Gina – 11.01% +2000 BP

2. Dawn – 10.00% +2000 BP

3. Sylvia – 9.90% +2000 BP

4. Morgana – 9.86% +2000 BP

5. Kim – 9.31% +2000 BP

6. Rose – 8.26% +1500 BP

6. Cinder/Ella – 8.26% +1500 BP

7. Amelia – 7.80% +1500 BP

8. Carly – 7.11% +1500 BP

9. Dani – 6.20% +1500 BP

10. Vivian – 6.14% +1500 BP

10. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin – 6.14% +1500 BP