It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

Mr. S tapped his chin, scanning over the results with the only set of eyes that could see them. Then he smiled. “Well then, it looks like we’ve got everything set-”

“Wait!”

He snapped his head up and turned his focus to Sylvia, who stood up from his chair.

“Sylvia?” Nick said, alarmed, wondering if the former host was going to say something about the strange events that had happened, or maybe make a case for her room selection.

Sylvia had no intention of doing that.

“I’ve used my transformation!” She declared, reminding everybody that was still a thing. “Fuck the Voters. Remember? You gave me a deadline!”

Mr. S blinked. “…Oh yes. Of course. Cutting it rather close, then, aren’t we?”

Sylvia winced. But she kept smiling all the same.

“So what transformation did you copy, then?” Kim asked, curious what Sylvia would have chosen in such high-pressure circumstances.

“Ah!” A cry from a few seats over answered that question.

“My hair!” Carly’s eyes widened as her hair receded slightly, returning to its original style, brown with honey-colored streaks through it. She couldn’t see the change, but she definitely felt it, and ran her fingers through her hair. Having gotten used to the added sensitivity her transformation gave her, it was strange to feel the touch of regular hair again.

It also served to answer Kim’s question.

“I chose Anime Black from Carly!” Sylvia said proudly, reminding everybody what the transformation did. “I had a lot of fun when I borrowed it before, and if I feel like changing my hairstyle again, well… now I’ll always have the option. And she should get it back soon.”

• Anime Black: To help suit her cosplaying needs, Sylvia has gained the ability to alter the length and color of her hair at will, allowing her to try a variety of styles. This has the added effect of making her hair more sensitive, to the point of becoming an erogenous zone. (Content Creator)

“I think that’s a great fit, Sylvia!” Gina snapped out of her dazed state to congratulate the other girl. “Frankly, that’s a fun one I’d like sometime.” She played with her frazzled locks. “Could take care of these roots no problem.”

Gina’s original blonde color seemed to stubbornly be reasserting itself.

“I think you chose well,” Nick agreed from up on the stage. He was glad to see Sylvia so happy, and knew that this transformation was a good fit for her.

Sylvia turned back to Nick, her eyes wide, and smiled brightly from ear to ear.

“Meanwhile, my hair’s like this,” Rose muttered, playing with her chopped-off locks. Every time she lost her hair, it felt so weird to have the wind blow against her scalp. Then her fingers brushed against her fox ears and she made a sour face.

“You could always copy that transformation yourself,” Marley pointed out.

Rose shook her head and sighed. “Already used it today,” she muttered. “Maybe some other time, I guess…”

Nick looked apologetically over at the sulking blonde. He felt really bad for her. She’d had a pretty rough go of it in this challenge.

Dani felt the same way, giving her a sympathetic look. “Hey, Rose-”

Mr. S clapped his hands together loudly, drowning out whatever the tomboy was about to say.

“I’m so happy to see you all getting along so swimmingly,” he purred, pulling his lips out in a wide grin. “But before you all get too involved in your conversations, aren’t we forgetting something?”

“Right,” Dawn muttered. “The room placements.” She sat up in her seat and her eyes slid over to Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin. Because of her temporary transformation interfering with her impulse control, she was afraid that she would come across a little too happy when they were placed in different rooms, and the good-natured part of her wanted to avoid giving that impression.

Not that she thought the self-absorbed mute would actually care. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin wasn’t even looking at her, too busy preening and shifting around in her seat, getting a feeling of her butt in the chair.

Good thing I’ll be getting a new competitive kink, Dawn thought, recalling her The New Thing All the Kids Are Into transformation. She didn’t want to be twerking with the assassin’s new focus on her butt. Getting in a direct competition with the other woman seemed like the wrong call.

“Wh-what are they going to be?” Morgana asked timidly, biting her lip. She’d been in the same room two rounds in a row now, and was hesitant to try something new.

Ella nodded. “Yeah, t-tell us!” The two restrained girls were both getting antsy, and their nervousness was feeding into each other.

Dawn was kind of worried what would happen if they ended up rooming together.

Mr. S smirked. “Let’s start in order, shall we? With the Arcade Suite!” Lacking Dakota’s cane, Mr. S had no intention of going to the trouble of bothering with the host’s usual theatrics. He was perfectly content with just announcing the results, no screen intended. “This one should be good. I know two people will be very happy about it! To start with the big announcement- it seems that the audience was in agreement that it only makes sense for Team Gamer Girls to be sharing the Arcade Suite together!” He announced.

It took Dani a second to realize what that meant. “Hey, wait a second!” She sat up in her chair, eyes wide. “Team Gamer Girls, that means-!”

Her eyes flickered over to Carly, and she saw her girlfriend look back her, eyes just as wide and jaw on the ground.

Mr. S smirked. “That’s right! After being apart for such a long time, Dani and Carly will be reunited in the Arcade Suite! …With some extra baggage, of course.”

“Hey!” Marley glared at him.

“That’s so great!” Vivian’s face lit up with joy and she clapped cheerily. An excessive outpouring of positivity was her best chance of drowning out the sadness of being separated from her closest friend on the island, which she knew was inevitably going to happen. “Dani! You and Carly get to be together!”

Mr. S nodded. “I imagine the audience felt that since now the two of you are making more of an effort to branch out and make friends outside your little group, that it’s alright to put you back in the same room together,” he explained. “Since you’re unlikely to just stay cooped up the whole time and only focus on each other.”

Dani blushed at the insinuation and Carly burst out laughing.

Marley was less thrilled at the implication. “Wait-”

“Just remember you’ll also be sharing a room with Marley,” Gina called. “Don’t inconvenience her too much, lovebirds!”

A few girls laughed at that, and Marley just sulked. Carly and Dani looked at each other and shared an amused giggle.

Mr. S cleared his throat. “Yes, that was definitely an easy one to determine. Now, moving on, we’ll get to the Candy Suite! This one was also rather simple. Sylvia, you’ll be sharing this one with Morgana! Hope you girls have a fun time together!” He chirped. “You make a good pair.”

“Oh!” Morgana’s face lit up. “Me and Sylvia?”

“That’s right,” Mr. S confirmed. “Since you two have such great fantasies about pleasing Nick, I’m going to label you both Team Fantasy. Which is a far better choice than Team Barely Legal, which was the title your host was considering if you two ever ended up together.”

Nick cringed at that thought.

“Morgana, this is so great!” Sylvia clapped her hands together. “You’re going to just LOVE the Candy Suite! There are so many fun candies to choose from!” This would be Sylvia’s first time staying in the room proper, but she knew ALL about it.

“That’s good at least, they should get along okay,” Dawn said, trying not to sigh with relief. Sylvia’s encouragement would definitely help set Morgana at ease. At least, she hoped it would, anyway. With Sylvia it was hard to say sometimes.

“Moving on, the next room up is the Fashion Suite,” Mr. S noted. He had a sly grin on his face and his eyes slid over to a certain contestant in particular. “And it’s someone’s lucky day.”

Vivian’s eyes widened and color flushed across her face. “You mean-?”

“That’s right!” The producer nodded. “Vivian Carrington, the audience has decided to put you in the Fashion Suite, with all the clothes you could ever want.”

“Oh yeah!” Vivian punched the air with glee. Any negative feelings about having to split with Dani were long-forgotten, replaced by thoughts of countless outfits and late nights coordinating. She was so over the moon that she almost missed what the producer said next.

“And for your roommate, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin will be moving in with her wide variety of bimbo clothes,” Mr. S added. “Luckily for you both, there’s plenty of room!”

Surprised, Vivian turned to the assassin, who looked a little taken aback herself. She glanced sharply at the heiress, who offered her an awkward smile.

“You, uh… …Friends?” She tried.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin remained silent, because of course she did.

“I think a good fit for you two, judging by your eccentricities and… your interests,” Mr. S said with a smirk, “Would be Team Fashion. A bit simplistic, I know, but between your clothing brands, Vivian, and our little assassin’s new taste for bimbo couture, it seems like a good fit. It was either that or Team Leather Goods.”

“Team Fashion is fine!” Vivian said quickly, shaking her head. “I really like it!”

Ella bit her lip as Mr. S moved onto the next room. She hadn’t gotten her selection yet, and she was starting to get nervous when it would come.

“Now, this next one is a little tricky,” Mr. S said, checking his notes carefully. “The Garden Suite… it was a little difficult untangling this knot, because one of you girls was voted quite definitively by the audience to be in there. And that definitive choice would be you, Kim.”

Kim blinked in surprise. “Me? The audience put me in the Garden Suite?” That came as a bit of a shock to her. She liked plants quite a lot, but with everything else going on she never would have imagined the audience being considerate of that fact quite like this.

Mr. S nodded. “The issue then becomes that we’ve got a tie for who was the right fit for your partner. Both girls have never been your roommate before, and they got the same number of votes in the poll. Not only that, neither of them have stayed in this room, either. It came down to a split between Dawn and Rose… ultimately, to break the tie, we had to look at other room placements, and since Dawn had a higher vote than Rose in a different room, we decided to put Rose in with you. Consider it as leftovers, if you like.”

“Hey!” Rose exclaimed, digging her nails into the arm of her chair.

“That’s mean!” Dawn cried.

Mr. S ignored her. “Kim and Rose, you two will be roommates together! Sound like a plan?”

Kim was surprised. She looked over at the fretting fox girl and realized that Mr. S was right. They’d been on the island for almost the same amount of time, but had never been roommates before. They hardly even spoke to one another. It would definitely be a strange experience.

“Consider your team… Team Japan!” Mr. S declared.

Kim didn’t even know what to make of that.

“Huh!?” She looked at the producer. “What does-?”

“Just because of this dumb fox transformation!?” Rose’s face turned scarlet with indignation. “I’m from France! At least call it ‘Team Foreigners’ or something!”

“I’m from the Pacific Northwest!” Kim exclaimed.

Mr. S ignored the two girls and moved along. “For our penultimate room selection, the choice was a lot simpler, thankfully. There were only four girls left, but thanks to the Garden Suite making things more complicated, it made the Luxury Suite quite a simple choice. To start, everyone seemed to be of the opinion that our sweet little Ella is finally deserving of some pampering now that she’s been acting so aggressively towards the master.”

“Me?!” Ella’s eyes widened behind her bangs and she looked at the producer in surprise. It took a second for it to sink in that he was putting her in the Luxury Suite. “…Wait, aggressively-!? No, I-I’m not, that-! That’s-!”

Mr. S looked blankly at her. “As the producer, I have access to all the footage on the island,” he pointed out. “Would you like me to play back some of the tapes?”

Ella sank back into her chair and meekly shook her head. No. No she would not like that.

“For your roommate, it was a little closer, but by only a handful of votes, it was decided that Gina would be staying with you there,” Mr. S declared.

Ella’s eyes flickered over to the punk girl, who also looked surprised. “G-Gina?” She asked hesitantly, not sure how she felt about that.

Gina, in turn, was thinking primarily about Cinder, but had enough sense not to say anything, knowing how sensitive Ella could get.

Mr. S smirked. “You two might find yourselves with more in common than you think,” he pointed out. “Hopefully you take advantage of that and get to know each other… two girls who are a bit… stuck between the different sides of yourselves, as it were. Hence the name of your team, Team Cactus!”

“What kind of name is that?” Gina stared at the producer in confusion.

Ella was completely lost.

“Wouldn’t they have to have really huge breasts if they were Team Cactus?” Sylvia pointed out. “That only applies to Gina!”

Ella had to snap her rubber-band three times to keep Cinder from jumping out and strangling the former host. “Thwap! Thwap! Thwap!”

Mr. S laughed. “No, Team Cactus is the perfect fit,” he assured everyone. “Because they seem rough and prickly on the outside, but they’re all soft and gooey under the surface.”

He laughed at his twisted joke and Kim struggled not to laugh along with him. It was just so stupid, she couldn’t help herself!

In the meantime, Gina’s gaze jumped to Nick, looking awkwardly at him, while Ella fumbled for her rubber-band and snapped it again with a soft “Thwap!”

Mr. S, glad to see that he’d gotten the reaction he’d intended, continued, “It’s a shame you weren’t paired off in the Romance Suite,” he pointed out. “THAT could have been interesting, seeing you both copy the best parts of each other… but, alas. The two women who will be in that suite will be-”

“Dawn and myself,” Amelia interrupted him sharply. “That has already been established.”

Dawn nodded in agreement.

Mr. S looked at the cold-faced blonde with a blank expression. “…As the representative of Team Glasses so aptly put, yes, that is the case.”

“That is NOT our name!” Dawn objected.

“Fine, Team Smartypants then, I don’t really care,” Mr. S said, scoffing. Of course the two rational, perceptive, intelligent women would be in the last room, immediately picking up that they were the only ones left and spoiling the suspense. But that was just how things went. “As I mentioned before, this room was a little tricky to figure out, because Amelia here got SO MANY votes for it. Everyone seemed quite desperate to put you in the Romance Suite, mommy dearest… perhaps they were eager to see some romance blossom in your heart, hmm?”

Amelia gave him nothing.

Mr. S sighed. “…Whatever. Regardless, you got such a large number of votes that the other girls each only got a couple, hence the difficulty in determining your roommate. But ultimately, Dawn had a few more votes than Rose, so she’ll be your partner. Now then, are there any questions before we move forward?”

Dawn’s hand immediately shot up. “The order of nights with Nick,” she reminded him, just like she’d done with Dakota the night before.

Mr. S rolled his eyes. “…Yes, that was the next item on the agenda. I meant besides that.”

“…Oh.” Dawn retracted her hand and blushed awkwardly.

Seeing that nobody had any further questions, not even Nick, Mr. S decided to move on. “Now, until Dakota gets back, things are going to be a little strange here,” he pointed out. “But this order should remain stable.” He snapped his fingers and the screen turned on again, displaying the names of the contestants in order.

1. Morgana

2. Gina

3. Dani

4. Cinder/Ella

5. Kim

6. Sylvia

7. Amelia

8. Dawn

9. Vivian

10. Carly

11. Rose

12. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin

Morgana’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh my!” She gasped. “I’m so early! I’m the first day, wow!” Talk about lucky.

“I’m early, too!” Ella said, amazed. Her heart began to pound in her chest. Last round, her day with Nick had been closer to the end, but now, it was right there!

“Uh, you sure about this?” Gina asked hesitantly. “A party on the second day? That’s kinda…” Would she even have any ideas for it?

“You do not have to throw a party,” Amelia pointed out.

Gina shut her mouth, considering that.

“I’m early, too,” Dani noted, biting her lip. That could work. She wasn’t sure who she would invite with her to Nick’s room, though, if she even wanted to do that. “And Carly, you’re near the end, huh…”

“It’s fine,” Carly said, shaking her head and grinning. “I can wait!”

“I’m close to the end, too,” Rose muttered, sinking into her seat. She didn’t notice, but her fox ears were drooping. Was anything going to go right for her?

She wasn’t the very last woman in the round, though. That dubious “honor” belonged to Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, and you could bet she wasn’t happy with it.

“Now then, this should be a fun, exciting round,” Mr. S said, clapping his hands together. “Why don’t you ladies get on back to the hotel, while I go take care of important producer business. I have other seasons to focus on besides this one, you know.”

He paused. “…Oh, right. Kim. I almost forgot.”

With a snap of his fingers, Kim poofed out of existence, teleported to the store.

“Kim!” Mary’s eyes widened in surprise.

“…As for the rest of you, you’ve had a long day,” Mr. S said sympathetically. “So as a treat for you all being such good sports and adapting so nicely to the lack of a host, I’ve decided to open up the hot springs for the day. No time limit, you may relax as long as you need. It was quite a rigorous challenge you girls endured, after all.”

“Really!?” Dani couldn’t believe her ears.

“Wait!” Lynette cried from the stage, unable to sit up in her doll form. “You aren’t leaving me like this!?”

Mr. S ignored her words and picked her up.

“Wait!” Sylvia reached out towards her sister, but the producer disappeared with the doll before she could voice her objections.

“…Oh…” Sylvia’s hand dropped to her side and she looked down.

“Hey, it’ll be alright!” Morgana said, trying to help Sylvia keep a positive attitude. “Maybe… maybe he’ll bring her back!”

Sylvia nodded sullenly. “Yeah, maybe…”

Nick sighed, and scratched his head. What a long day. HE could use a dip in the hot springs himself, but he felt like that might do more harm than good.

He stood up, only to feel a tug on his arm. Mary looked up at him with her bright eyes, and smiled gently. “You did your best,” she said, taking his hand and standing up to look at him face to face. “Today was hard… but you got through it.”

Nick nodded. “Yeah… I’m just… worried about Dakota.” He remembered his promise with Mary from the other day, that after the challenge he would make sure today was all about her. A date for just the two of them. And he wanted to keep his promise, he really did. But after what happened with Dakota he wasn’t sure he could get in the mood for it.

Mulling over what to do, he noticed Holly scurrying off the stage to chat with some of the other girls about their new transformations, and his eyes moved from her to Rose, who was walking with the others but apart from them at the same time, her fluffy fox tail hanging behind her as she gazed out at the ocean, barely even looking where she was going.

“Nick?” Mary turned his eyes towards her, curious. “Is everything okay?”

“Ah, yeah,” he said, nodding. “Just one second, Mary! I need to talk to Rose about something!”

“O-okay!” Mary stammered, startled. She watched him run over to Rose, and a smile touched her lips. She nodded.