You had some things to say, because you had a lot of time to think

Nick felt a wave of anxiety rising up inside of him, and it wasn’t entirely because of the fact that so many people he cared about were wandering a labyrinth with no end in sight. That certainly didn’t help, though.

No, the main reason for the anxiety welling up in his gut was the disappearances of Mary and Dakota.

Mary had gone to the bathroom, and Dakota had even been generous enough to send her to the hotel, instead of using the awkward bathroom just down the beach. But… his wife had been gone for a long time. While that might not have been that huge of a deal in and of itself, couple that with the sudden disappearance of Dakota, and, well…

“Is something the matter?”

Nick jerked his head up and saw Mr. S staring at him, an amused smile on the producer’s face. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. The way the producer was looking at him… it was like he knew the answer to the question burning a hole in Nick’s gut.

“It’s Dakota… what happened?” Nick asked, biting his lip. “She just… disappeared. She’s the host! Isn’t-isn’t she supposed to be here? For the challenge?”

This was the first time he’d seen a host remove herself from the challenge in the middle of it. Except for when they were going to taunt somebody. Sylvia and Dakota had always remained present. So for Dakota to suddenly leave, as if she had more pressing business at hand…

And that look on her face… what was up with that? Nick had never seen that look on Dakota before. It was like fear mixed with fury, along with a vulnerability that she had always tried so hard to mask in the past.

It was the sort of reaction that Nick didn’t know how to handle. It left him worried… incredibly worried. And not sure what he was supposed to do himself.

“I wouldn’t worry about Dakota,” Mr. S assured him, waving his hand. “She’s… taking a break right now. Personal time. You know how it is.”

Nick stared at the producer, letting his words sink in. But even after sitting with them for a few seconds they still didn’t make any sense. “…Personal time?! What do you mean by that?!” He exclaimed, moving to stand.

Mr. S looked sharply at him and he froze, and then sank back down into his seat. Suddenly, opposing the producer didn’t seem like the best idea.

“You saw how heated Dakota was getting with this challenge, didn’t you?” Mr. S purred, leaning forward. He steepled his fingers under his chin and narrowed his eyes, making an expression that Nick couldn’t quite decipher. “It was putting quite a lot of stress on the poor girl… and that isn’t what I want at all, no, no…”

He shook his head, and smiled, causing Nick to feel a strange, sinking feeling again.

Sure, what the producer said made sense. Dakota had definitely been unraveling since Lynette appeared. And with the mounting pressure of her boss’s presence, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that she might want to take a break. But the idea that Mr. S would allow something like that… …No, Nick didn’t think that Dakota, the control freak who had to micromanage every last thing, would allow herself to just take a break. There was something wrong here.

“…I want to talk to her,” he said seriously. “She’s my… she’s my friend. If she’s in trouble, then I want to be there for her.”

“I can’t allow that.”

And there it was. The atmosphere completely changed in an instant, and all of a sudden, Mr. S’s smile wasn’t looking that friendly. He stared coldly at Nick, his face an impenetrable wall.

“Why not?” Nick demanded, narrowing his eyes.

Mr. S smirked. “Nick… you’re a nice guy. You are, really. But… Dakota is the host. There is such a thing as professional distance, you realize? Simply put, she was getting too close to you. Too invested. And that’s to be expected, after all, given your… history… it would be odd if she wasn’t close with you! But… some things simply cannot be allowed to go unchecked.”

He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Dakota needs to regain her sense of professionalism, so we agreed that she would take a break. Just for a little bit, to cool her head. Think of it like a paid vacation! And as for your show, well… we’ll figure something out. But rest assured, she’ll be back before you know it!”

The producer flashed a smile that Nick didn’t believe at all.

“We just wouldn’t have a show without her!”

I can’t trust this guy at all… but I can’t do anything about it, either. For all I know, Dakota really is off taking a vacation in some spa dimension or something… or he’s stashed her somewhere I’ll never find her. Either way, it’s not like I can do anything about it.

That was the worst part. The powerlessness. It was almost enough to make Nick say forget it, and just assert himself and demand to see her again, but before he could…

“I’m here! I’m back!”

Nick’s face lit up and he sighed with relief. He turned to see Mary rushing down the beach with a spring in her step. A few seconds later and she was already climbing back onto the stage.

“Mary! Welcome back,” Mr. S applauded. “I hope everything went well?”

Nick looked at him. Everything went well… in the bathroom? Why wouldn’t it?

“I’m fine,” Mary answered, giving Nick a reassuring smile. Then she looked at the screen. “What did I miss?”

Actually, Nick was pretty sure that not much had changed. Mary seemed to agree. “Huh, that’s weird. I must not have been gone as long as I thought.”

“The time dilation,” Mr. S informed her. “Everything back at the hotel moves a little differently than it does here, since the beach is part of the challenge. Why, it would even be enough time to watch... a nice home movie all afternoon back at the hotel, and only a couple of minutes would pass! O-ho-ho-ho!”

Nick frowned. That was another bizarre statement. He looked at Mary out of curiosity, but the words didn’t seem to faze her at all. She just smiled at him and sat down.

“Something the matter?” Mary asked, giving him a curious look.

Nick stared at her for a second, feeling a strange, uneasy sensation in his chest. But it passed and he shook his head. “No, just… you haven’t seen Dakota, have you? She disappeared not long after you left for the bathroom.”

Mary blinked. A strange expression crossed her face, like she was confused by the question. And behind it, was there something more...?

“…I haven’t seen Dakota at all,” she said, shaking her head.

“Okay then,” Nick said, feeling a little better. He still couldn’t bring himself to relax, though. Not with his friend still gone.

And with the rest of his friends in such a difficult situation…

“Wuh-wuh-wuh… …What the heeeeeccckkk?!” Morgana sputtered in confusion.

The last half-hour (assuming her internal clock was right) had been very stressful for her. She’d been using all of her mental strength to carry her through a room full of stone statues that would give her orgasms if she so much as touched one. That had led to a lot of stress, and Morgana wasn’t the greatest when it came to handling stress. But she’d managed to deal with it. Thankfully, Sylvia had a great solution- Lynette.

Morgana had given the other girl the rundown, explaining how the Weeping Angels worked. Or at least how they’d worked in the show, and how, technically, they could use Lynette to keep them paralyzed because Lynette could technically “see” them, and that was enough to keep them paralyzed. (Hey, if the audience watching could keep a Weeping Angel frozen, why couldn’t a doll?)

And so, they’d made it to freedom. And Morgana had been hoping that this meant she could finally, finally take a break and relax without having to worry about whatever was around the next corner jumping out and scaring her.

…Then she turned that next corner, and what did she end up seeing? Dani and Vivian and… two more of her!?

“Oh, hey,” Vivian said, a rather nonplussed reaction, given the circumstances. “It’s you. Hey. The real one!”

“Morgana!” Dani sighed in relief. She looked back at the two Morgana copies and wondered where they would go from here now.

“I’m lost,” Sylvia said, looking at Morgana, then at the silver and gold versions, who also looked confused. “There’s three of you, my girl?”

“I-I-I… I don’t, um…” Morgana’s head was spinning. No wonder Dawn had reacted the way she had earlier! Morgana didn’t blame her for freaking out and being exhausted, not when it turned out that she had three versions of Morgana to deal with! That was enough to give anybody a headache!

It was giving Morgana a headache right now!

“Let me explain how this happened,” Dani said, stepping forward to take control of the situation. “So anyway, Morgana and I were really exhausted after getting out of a room filled with aphrodisiac gas. You remember that part, right, Morgana?”

Morgana nodded swiftly. She did.

“And we found this spring, after exhausting ourselves running,” Dani continued. “Morgana wanted to take a drink, and, well…”

“I fell in,” Morgana admitted sheepishly. “That’s why I was dripping wet when you found me, Sylvia… hehe…” She scratched her head and looked down, blushing. Then her head snapped back up and she looked at her other selves. “B-but-! That doesn’t explain wh-why-!?”

She looked at the other two Morganas and then back to Dani.

Dani was a little shaky on this part, too, but Morgana’s explanation had filled in some of the pieces. “Anyway, so it seems that while the real Morgana teleported to you, Sylvia, I ended up getting two copies of her. One is a silver Morgana, Moonshadow, and the other is the gold one, Magnifica.”

“Ah! Like the fable with the woodsman!” Morgana understood the reference immediately. “I totally get it.”

“Oh my gosh! See? I knew we were smart!” Magnifica bragged.

“I didn’t say that we weren’t smart, I said that you aren’t,” Moonshadow scoffed, earning her a scathing look from her other self.

“Well, that all sounds really wild,” Sylvia said, scratching her head. “Honestly, I’m sorry I missed it! But what now? Since we’ve got all three of you together?”

“Shishishishi, who cares?” Lynette snapped. “Even if there’s three of them, they’re all useless!”

All three Morganas sagged a little bit.

“Holy crap!” Dani’s eyes widened. “Is that… a talking doll!?”

Vivian’s jaw dropped. “You still have that thing!? …Wait, it’s still talking!?”

“Yeah, Lynette’s still here,” Sylvia said, holding up the foulmouthed doll. “I guess… she’ll be sticking with me for now.”

“Not by choice!” Lynette snapped. “The only reason I’m still here is because my legs are felt and I can’t actually walk away, damn it! Shishishishi!”

Vivian’s eyes sparkled. “Well… if you don’t want her… could I have her, then?!”

Sylvia looked at her. “…Heh?”

Vivian clasped her hands together and grinned excitedly. “I’ve always wanted a doll that could talk!” She explained. “Oh please, Sylvia, can you give her to me? Please?!”

“Err, well, Lynette’s not really-”

“Fuck you, bitch!” Lynette spat out, glaring at Vivian as hard as her teeny little doll eyes could glare. “I’m not some toy! I’ll fucking stab you!”

“Vivian, I don’t think she’s going to be your magic talking bestie,” Dani said, pulling the heiress away from the psychotic doll before Lynette snapped again. “Anyway, enough with the doll, we have more pressing matters right now.”

“We do?” Morgana looked at Dani, confused. Dani stared incredulously back at her.

“Uh, yeah? You and your other selves?” She reminded Morgana, gesturing at her and her two duplicates.

Morgana gasped. “Oh! That’s right! Shit!” She shook her head. “I totally forgot!”

She looked warily at the other two versions of her. “Um… but what exactly are we supposed to do? That’s what I don’t get,” she said nervously.

“Are we supposed to find some way to bring the three of them back together into one person?” Vivian considered.

Sylvia shrugged. “That would make sense.”

Moonshadow frowned. “Would that be the best course of action?” She questioned.

“Oh my gosh, that’s a good point!” Magnifica nodded. “Like, what if we don’t WANT to be put back together?”

“No, you have to!” Morgana panicked. “You’re parts of me! R-right?! It’s not okay if you’re not together with me! And, and what if people like you better than they like me!? That’s no fair, no! This, we-we should just come back together! …Please?”

Should the three Morganas be reunited?

https://strawpoll.com/xVg712Jvpyr

“Fucking… fucking piece of fucking… I hate this fucking-! …I’M GOING TO FUCKING **** EVERY FUCKING FUCKER IN THIS FUCKING MAZE!”

Cinder was not taking the new transformation well. The second Serenity had bestowed the blessing and Ella had gotten a new transformation as a reward, she felt the effect of the transformation, looked down and saw what it did, and promptly swapped back to her other self.

Ella wasn’t equipped to handle her new circumstances. Cinder BARELY was.

And you wouldn’t be able to tell it by listening to her.

“When I find out who’s responsible for doing this, I swear-!” She made a **** motion with her hands. Well, one hand, anyway.

The other was busy covering her chest.

As a result of her transformation, Cinder… was stark naked.

“FUCKING HELL!”

“Cinder, you’re giving me a headache,” Dawn said, rubbing her temples. She sympathized with what the other girl was going through, especially since she had just received some rather tricky transformations of her own, but the volume wasn’t helping.

“Well gee! I’m fucking sorry that me being upset about being stripped FUCKING NUDE is such an inconvenience for you!” Cinder snapped at her.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin let out a silent sigh and rolled her eyes. She didn’t get what the big deal was, anyway.

“Be nice,” Kim said gently, looking at her friend. “It’s not Cinder’s fault that she’s being so sensitive to this transformation.”

The transformation Cinder had received was a powerful one, especially given the nature of the present challenge. But the fact that Cinder refused to even stand up wasn’t helping.

• Noclipping: In order to better pass through the maze, Cinder and Ella will now have the power to pass through any object! Anything they come into contact with that isn’t another person will now pass right through their body, allowing them to walk through walls as they please! [NOTE: To prevent falling forever, this power does not affect the ground. They can still walk on the floor like regular people without passing through it.]

“I hate this…” Cinder rasped, seething with fury as they covered themselves from everyone’s eyes. “I can’t even wear clothes now! What the fuck!?”

Kim retrieved Cinder’s (or Ella’s, technically) fallen rubber-band, knowing that the other girl would need it later.

Rough. I can’t imagine having to go naked like that for the rest of the challenge, that must be difficult, Kim thought, biting her lip. She could probably handle it, but she’d gotten used to showing her body at this point, and Cinder and Ella definitely hadn’t. Too bad Kim couldn’t have gotten that transformation instead, she’d be willing to make great use of it.

“Oh, hey.” Dawn raised her head and sniffed. “All the Morganas are together in the same place now. And there are a bunch of other people there, too. …And Vivian, somehow!? How’d THAT happen!?”

“Vivian?” Kim blinked. “Didn’t you say she was way far behind the others?”

Dawn nodded. “She was. Then, I don’t know, she just teleported across half the maze.”

The cat girl shrugged. “Don’t ask me. This stuff just happens, I guess.”

Kim sighed. “Well… I’ll try to be happy for her. In the meantime, we might as well get going. Cinder? You coming? We can’t stay here forever…”

“I can’t move like this!” Cinder exclaimed, staring at Kim furiously. “I’m naked! You want me to fucking walk around this fucking maze when I’m fucking naked!?”

Kim shrugged. “Well, it’s either that, or you stay here for the rest of the challenge and come in last, I guess?”

Kim was honestly curious about whether or not Cinder would do it. What mattered more to the alter, preserving hers (and Ella’s) modesty, or completing the challenge?

“This is the worst…” Cinder was practically in tears (of rage) as she staggered to her feet, one hand covering her breasts while the other reached down to shade over her nether regions. Nothing was concealing the murderous look on her face, though. “This is the worst… I can’t believe that bastard Nick got to see my body naked like this… without any preparation at all?! What the fuck!? Just fucking showing him, like it didn’t even matter!”

Dawn blinked. Her intelligence was slightly impaired, but the way Cinder had said that…

“So wait, does that mean you were planning on showing him your body in a different context, then?” Dawn asked, surprised.

“SHUT UP!” Cinder exploded at her, her face burning.

In spite of Cinder’s protests, it turns out that today was actually her lucky day. Due to a clever positioning of the cameras, and a well-timed look away at the most sensitive moment, Nick had yet to actually see her fully naked.

He knew what was coming the second he read that transformation description, and had looked away until Ella’s screams had stopped and Cinder’s furious ramblings began, knowing that the apoplectic alter would have shielded her private parts first thing.

He was proven correct. So while the image he was seeing was rather raunchy, at least some of Cinder’s (and Ella’s) modesty had been preserved. The low lighting of the maze helped with the rest of that, thankfully.

“Naughty boy,” Mary said, giving him a look. “I see you squinting there.”

“I am not!” Nick protested, his face heating up. “I’m just worried about them! That transformation… that’s going way too far, don’t you think?”

Mary nodded. “I agree,” she said. “Especially for someone as sensitive as Ella… or Cinder.”

Mr. S shrugged. “But it’s a very powerful transformation. We couldn’t exactly give it to an exhibitionist like Rose or Kim, they would just walk to the end of the maze stark naked if given the chance. This is a much better option for the audience.

He sighed under Nick’s judgmental stare. “…Fine, I’ll ask if Cinder can be given some clothing to preserve her modesty.”

Should Cinder be given something that will make her transformation easier on her modesty?

https://strawpoll.com/1MnwkXNrjn7