The First Challenge Part 1: Never Have I Ever

Slow, steady breathing was all Xin could hear as her consciousness began to stir. Something nagged at the back of her mind as she lay there peacefully, just wanting to go back to sleep in the warm embrace she was in. Sleep was saying its goodbyes as her eyes started flicking open begrudgingly. She felt surprisingly well-rested.

She was getting used to waking up in another’s arms, held tightly against another’s body. Seriously? You do this too? Then she remembered that after they moved from the couch to the bed, she was the one to back into him. I guess I don’t mind it that much. Xin then realized something, and she was so surprised that she sat upright, startling Zach awake as his arm slid off her waist.

Zach asked, with a yawn, “Xin? What’s wrong?”

“Oh… sorry, nothing’s wrong. I was just surprised by something.” Zach waited for further explanation. “So, I’m not horny. Like even a little bit.”

Zach blinked in confusion and stared up and down at the naked woman and then down at his own naked body.

Xin realized they were both naked in bed together and blushed. “Okay, well… maybe I’m a little bit now that you point that out, but normally my transformation causes a buildup overnight.”

“Ah,” Zach replied in realization. “Makes sense that it wouldn’t, since we were cuddling naked.”

Xin frowned. “Yeah…”

“Okay, now what’s wrong? And don’t tell me nothing. I see that frown.”

“Look, Zachary, it isn’t anything against you, but…” Xin wasn’t sure exactly where she was going with her line of thought as she trailed off.

Zach gave her some time, as he lay back down and pulled the covers back over him. Xin decided to do the same and lay her head on his shoulder.

Xin eventually said, “I’m glad that things have gone well between us so far, even though we were forced together. I’m glad that waking up in your arms and being held by you resulted in one of the most restful nights of sleep I’ve had in quite a while. I’m just a bit annoyed that I know the only reason it feels so good is that Delilah wants me to yearn to be back in your bed.”

Zach glanced at the young woman as he held her close, and he wasn’t so sure that Delilah had as large a hand as Xin seemed to believe, but kept that to himself. Instead, he enjoyed the time they had together, knowing that soon enough they would need to get up and deal with the events planned for the day.

That time came when Delilah spoke over a speaker throughout the entire hotel, “GOOOOOOD MOOOORNING EVERYONE! It’s a balmy 94 °C outside in the Yawning Abyss today. We have a special event today starting at 10:00 AM sharp. Today is CHALLENGE DAY! For any guests who came to watch, please know we have several viewing rooms throughout the hotel that will provide front-row seats. For this season’s contestants and Master, I’m warning you: don’t be late. Meet in the lobby at the appointed time, or you might just wish I threw you outside instead.”

Xin groaned as she started getting up.

Zachary followed suit without the groaning. He said, “I was wondering, have you or any of the others seen any of these guests she was talking about?”

Xin shook her head as she walked into the closet to grab a change of clothes. “No. The only individuals besides us have been Jeeves, Pita, and Delilah. Unless you count the creatures we saw yesterday in the seats.”

“I wouldn’t. From the sound of it, that space is more like hotel-adjacent.”

Xin came out in a modest Catholic Schoolgirl uniform. The pleated plaid skirt of the jumper went to just below the knees. “Well, what do you think?” Xin asked, while flicking her skirt out to one side.

Zachary looked at her. “I think Delilah is likely trying to annoy me as much as all of you. You’re cute in that dress, but I’d rather avoid the whole student-professor dynamic as much as possible. I meant to ask you yesterday but never got around to it. Why were you still intelligent wearing just an apron? That’s hardly a schoolgirl outfit.”

Xin sighed as she moved to the kitchen to grab them both some breakfast. “Apparently, the definition of that is rather loose, in some regards. Early this week, Lynn and I had a baking lesson with Pita. We had to wear nothing but the apron for it, as it was the uniform for Harem Hotel’s Home Ec. That makes it count, apparently. I don’t think any apron would work, just that one.”

Zach sighed, “Well I guess it’s better to have options than not.” Zach had opted for jeans and a polo. He was a little surprised when Xin handed him a plate of toasted Pop-Tarts. “With everything this place has, this is what you picked for breakfast?” Despite his question, he still picked up and started munching on the food.

“I want something familiar. This is familiar.” Xin replied before inhaling one of her own pastries.

Zach nodded as he remembered being a poor college student and how often he would eat something like this.

Xin said, “Plus, I wanted to be fast. Delilah said 10 AM sharp. I’m not being late because of breakfast or that blasted elevator.”

“Good point. Looks like we have about ninety minutes, but you’re right, we should head down now.”

After finishing their second pastry, they rode the elevator to the lobby, with Xin sitting on his lap. They were surprised when, after about twenty seconds- an extremely short amount of time for this elevator- the doors opened to the lobby.

They found Piper and Heather sitting in a circle of chairs before the obsidian throne. Approaching the pair, Xin waved in greeting, “Morning. I see you both didn’t want to be late either.”

They both nodded. Piper replied, “We were both finishing up breakfast when Delilah made the announcement and headed straight here. Melinda, Caroline, and Lynn had all just gotten to breakfast as we left.”

Zach asked, “What were you two doing up so early? You were never a morning person, Heather.”

Heather just groaned in annoyance as Piper explained, “The two of us have been getting up at 5 AM every day since that is when we are allowed to leave our room each morning. Then we go to the gym and shower.” Piper stood and moved to stand right in front of Zach and noticed that Xin was holding his hand. “Now, I’d like to borrow you for a minute, as we have some business to settle.”

Xin looked between the two and took the message. She let go of his hand and took the seat opposite Heather. Piper then grabbed his wrist and led him to the lounge bar away from the others. After taking a seat, she said, “Okay, our bet. I’m kind of annoyed I didn’t get to ask you yesterday and have to do these rapid-fire.”

Zach held up both hands defensively as he dismissively said, “Heh, that’s on you. You could have texted me, and I would have answered.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t get to see your reaction to my guesses.”

“This sounds like someone confident they are about to lose and making excuses to justify their loss.” Zachary teased her.

Piper scrunched up her nose. “I’m… I’m confident I got one of them correct. By the way, dick move with that one.”

Zach gave her a curious glance, not saying anything to avoid revealing information.

“So the first kink you gave me is some kind of gambling kink, where I get off on making bets about things. As I said, dick move giving me that and then immediately exploiting it to get me to agree to this.”

“Hmm, maybe you just like the idea of betting on sexual stuff. Besides, you should remember that if you are correct, this was a kink you already had to some degree. I would have just made it a greater one.”

Piper grumbled but conceded the point. “As for the other one… I’ve got a few guesses, but I’m not certain. I’m going with rough sex.”

“You’ve got one of the two correct, or at least close enough that I’m giving you credit for it.”

Piper didn’t miss a beat and simply replied, “Gambling and roleplay then.”

Zach shook his head. “Nope, still the same as before. One correct.”

Piper frowned, thinking over the options she had narrowed down. “Gambling and BDSM?” She was clearly not so certain about her answer.

Zach paused, clearly thinking if he should accept that or not, before saying, “I’ll let you revise your answer. BDSM is too broad.”

Piper’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Oh, then bondage for sure.”

Zach smiled and, feigning disappointment, said, “Ah, shucks, looks like you won.”

Piper frowned. “Did you want to lose? I’m confused.”

Zach smirked. “You assume that either outcome was a loss for me, but honestly, yeah, I was hoping you’d figure it out. Mostly because I want to know what you want to spend points on. Do you want me to invest them now, or do you need time to think about it?”

“Now, and don’t forget you owe me six points, not three.”

“I remember our other bet. I got plenty of pictures out of that one.”

Piper squirmed in her chair and blushed, remembering that. “You… you aren’t going to keep all of those, are you?”

“If I am?” Zach asked teasingly. “Would it really matter? After all, you’ll be sending me more in the future, I’m sure. Since you wouldn’t welch on your side of the bet, would you?”

Piper squirmed as she started getting turned on. Why the hell did I agree to a bet where I’d send pictures indefinitely whenever Xin does? Oh… right, he made it super hot. “You know, I don’t think that bet was really fair. I don’t mean the bet itself, but the stakes.”

“Sounds like a loser’s gripes to me.”

Piper waved away his objections. “Sorry, but a few stat points for me to assign myself in exchange for an endless amount of nudes? No. That’s not even remotely balanced. I’m not welching…” Piper squirmed some more. “I’ll send you them for the next round, but not after that.”

Zach shrugged. “Fair enough. I guess I’ll just have to start a group chat between you, me, and Xin, where she sends her nudes.”

“You prick.” Piper’s words didn’t really have any bite to them, as it was obvious she was finding this whole thing arousing.

Zach said, “As for getting rid of them, I actually can’t; my phone won’t let me delete them.”

Piper covered her face as it turned scarlet. “Ugh! Fine. I’ve been looking over my page, and I’ve decided I want you to boost my intelligence. I thought about making my wisdom a bit higher since, of the two, it’s lower, but I’d rather find out what a really high stat looks like.”

Zach shrugged, perfectly happy with that choice. He pulled up her character sheet and started to assign the points when he noticed something odd. “Hey, umm, before I do this…”

“Don’t even think about reneging on this.” Piper seethed.

“Chill out, I’m not. I just wanted to ask because I noticed something when I started putting in the points. So your intelligence is apparently a 7/100.”

Piper scowled, “What? I’m not stupid.”

Zach showed her his phone. “I’m not saying you are, but here is what I wanted to mention.” He showed her the six stat points he was allocating, and it showed a 7.3/100 along with an ‘Apply? yes/no window’. “It’s only going up by point three.”

Piper frowned. “What the?”

“Here’s my guess. Ten is still the normal limit, but everything past ten is greater that normal human limits. So if we pushed one of these to, say, eleven, you would effectively have superpowers. Hence why you need so many points to increase it. Just getting your intelligence to a ten would take…” Zach started doing the math in his head. “More than four hundred fifty points. So technically doable eventually, assuming you cross the 100 VP threshold, but a hefty investment. Out of your base stats, that is also the highest one.”

“Hmm… I guess that makes sense, also makes me feel better, because I’m definitely not dumb.”

“Do you still want it in intelligence? Even if the increase is small?”

Piper nodded. “Yeah, I want to know what it’s like.”

Zachary clicked apply.

Piper had expected a moment of clarity or maybe a rush of knowledge, but she didn’t really feel anything. Well, I guess I shouldn’t have expected too much. It was only about a 4.29% increase in the stat. Piper blinked a few times. Wait a second… She started doing some more mental math in her head and found the numbers coming to her incredibly easily. “Well, holy shit. That is cool.”

Zach asked, “What is?”

“I was complaining to myself about how I shouldn’t expect too much from a small increase in my intelligence, but I actually came up with the percentage increase without thinking about it. A lot of other things that I’m sure I could figure out or know seem to come more effortlessly to me as well. I’m definitely looking forward to bumping it up further.” Piper got a mischievous look on her face as she reached out and ran the tips of her fingers down his chest. “Hey… how about we make it a thing, since you clearly wanted this anyway, where we bet over the rest of my points?” Piper was trying to be sultry, but it came out more like desperate. “What do you say?”

“I’d be open to more bets, or trades, but I’m not simply agreeing to a blanket thing like that.”

Piper bit her lip as she shuddered at the thought. “I’ll take it. So… how about—”

“Not right now.” Zach cut her off before she could make a wager. Zach noticed that Lynn, Melinda, and Caroline had entered the lobby. “We should probably join the others.” He gestured towards the newcomers.

“Alright, spoilsport.”

The two went and rejoined the others. This time, Zach noticed that the circle of chairs contained only six, and the only other seat nearby was the throne on the dais. I guess I’ll just stand because no way am I sitting in that thing. He looked at the throne, and it felt vaguely sinister just to look at.

Piper took the open seat in the circle, and as everyone had quieted the moment she and Zach approached, she asked, “Okay, so can we make an agreement right now?” Everyone stared at her and waited for her to explain. “No matter what Delilah introduces for this bullshit, we do our best to prevent anyone from getting eliminated.”

Lynn frowned. “That’s less an agreement and more a plea to help your mom and Heather for not doing what they were supposed to. If any of us are in danger, it would be those two. Also, are you forgetting that our placement in this challenge is going to determine the severity of the transformations we receive today?”

Piper frowned, as Lynn was right that it was her intent to protect Caroline. “I’m not asking you to throw the challenge. I’m asking you to not go after those in danger. Maybe no one will be in danger of elimination, and if so, then I care a lot less if you decide you want to target Heather to get her out first.” Heather glared at Piper. “But I would still care, and you could expect people to retaliate against you for that. I guess I can’t make you, but I’ll give fair warning now. If someone is in danger and I think you’ve done something to target them in this challenge when you could have picked someone else, I’m focusing on you in return.”

Piper’s statement hung in the air. Xin was about to say something when a puff of brimstone filled the center of the circle, causing everyone to wrinkle their noses at the smell. Delilah stood in the center of the circle, smiling. She wore the same long black dress she had on the first night. “Ah, I see everyone is here early. I do so love contestants who know how to listen.”

Zachary asked, “So what’s exactly going on today?”

“Excellent question, my dear sweet Zachary,” Delilah spoke as she sauntered over to him, ran a hand along his back, and ended with her arm draped around his shoulder. “And we can begin as soon as you take your place.” Delilah extended her free arm towards the throne, and in her hand appeared the scepter she held during opening ceremonies.

Zach scowled at Delilah and sluffed off her arm. He had been standing between Piper and Lynn in the circle. He placed a hand on Lynn’s shoulder and said, “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

Delilah frowned in disappointment at him. “Very well, it doesn’t really matter, as long as you are here to witness. I warn you, do not interfere, or you and whoever you aid will be punished.”

Zach grimaced but nodded his understanding.

Delilah beamed, “Now, we are a bit early and waiting for some special guests to get to their viewing boxes. Let’s fix that.” Delilah snapped her fingers, and everyone present felt a bit dizzy for a moment. “There we go, now it’s 10 AM, and you’re all here. So we can begin without any punishments. First, some bookkeeping.” Delilah pointed the scepter up to the scoreboard hanging above the throne, to draw attention to the standings.

• 39 VP 2500 BP Lynn
• 25 VP 5500 BP Xin
• 22 VP 1000 BP Piper
• 22 VP 0000 BP Melinda
• 18 VP 1000 BP Heather
• 15 VP 2500 BP Caroline

While the space between their VP and names was clearly visible to those present, it was censored from their sight because of Pita’s earlier actions. Delilah beamed, “You know I was convinced at least one of you was going to try and make it through this round on just the challenge VP. There’s usually at least one foolish enough to attempt it.” Delilah turned towards Lynn. “Congratulations on your place at the top and on being the only one currently safe from elimination.” Delilah waved the scepter again, and the scoreboard changed.

Challenge Placement Results

• 1st Place +10 VP
• 2nd Place +5 VP
• 3rd Place -5 VP
• 4th Place -10 VP
• 5th Place -20 VP
• 6th Place -30 VP

The confusion at Delilah’s words quickly turned to horror as they all looked at the board. A moment later, everyone looked towards Lynn, realizing that unless she took last place, someone was getting eliminated. Zach’s hand tightened slightly around her shoulder as he grew angry. “What the fuck, Delilah!?” Zach’s free hand was clenched, and he looked prepared to punch the demoness in the face.

Delilah simply stared at him impassively for a moment before she finally cracked and leaned over, beginning to laugh hysterically. “Oh, oh my Lucifer. You should have seen all of your reactions. Priceless.” Delilah waved her scepter again, and the scoreboard changed.

Challenge Placement Results

• 1st Place +10 VP
• 2nd Place +5 VP
• 3rd Place +0 VP
• 4th Place -5 VP
• 5th Place -10 VP
• 6th Place -15 VP

There were several immediate sighs of relief at seeing the change, but Caroline and Heather both gulped, realizing they were still very much in danger.

Delilah said, “I must say I figured more of you would be in danger of elimination.” She turned towards Heather and then Caroline. “You two best not come in last, assuming you wish to remain even relatively normal. I should also mention that, as of right now, you cannot gain VP through any action besides the challenge until after the challenge is over.” Another puff of smoke occurred beside Delilah, and Pita appeared holding a box with a hole in the top. Pita went to Lynn and extended the box to her. “Please pick one.”

Lynn hesitantly reached in, felt a bunch of tiny balls inside, and picked one. Looking at it, she saw the number 12 printed on it. Then she went to Xin and Piper doing the same. She did not go to the other three. Xin pulled out 22, and Piper got 23.

Caroline’s eyebrows shot up when they each showed the numbers to the group, slightly confused about what this meant as she tried to remember what the numbers corresponded to. She tried to regain some composure before anyone noticed her reaction.

Delilah began, “Now, this challenge will have three parts. You’ve just pulled out what those parts are. I will go into each game as it begins.”

“Are the numbers supposed to mean something?” Melinda asked.

Delilah smirked. “They do to at least one of you.”

Everyone looked at everyone else curiously to see if anyone would slip up, but they didn’t.

Caroline’s curiosity was because Delilah had said, ‘at least one’. Meaning someone else has some clue too. Then again, maybe she’s just trying to keep it vague.

Delilah continued, “I will explain how scoring will work overall. In each round, you will earn points for each person you place above. For those of you too stupid to understand, that means 6th will get zero points, and 1st will get five points. If you tie with someone, you will both only get points for those below you. So if you tie for fifth place, you both get nothing, and a tie for first means you both get four. Ranking will be by points at the end of three rounds. Any questions?”

Piper raised her hand and only spoke after Delilah signaled for her to do so. “How come some of us know what the numbers mean and not others?”

“That’s because they explored and found something out. There are clues to the challenges and secret amenities throughout the hotel. I did tell you some things could only be discovered by exploring. Any other questions?” Seeing none, Delilah said, “Excellent, first up is Never Have I Ever. Caroline, as the worst contestant, you’ll go first. Then we’ll proceed in a clockwise order. I’m not going to bother explaining this beyond the fact that you each have ten fingers and honesty is being magically enforced on this. Also, no boring shit. It better be sexual or exciting in some other way.”

Delilah stepped out of the circle with Pita floating beside her. She summoned a lounge chair and popcorn as she settled in to enjoy the show. Pita found herself holding an oversized palm leaf and began fanning Delilah.

Caroline said, “Um… what am I supposed to do here?”

Everyone else was rather surprised, as they all knew the game. Piper said, “You’re supposed to say something you haven’t done before. If anyone else has, they put down a finger. If none of us has done the thing, you put one down instead.”

Everyone already had their hands out in front of them with their fingers out, showing they knew how the game worked. Caroline quickly mimicked the rest of them. “Umm… I guess I’ve never had sex with more than one person.”

Melinda, Xin, and Heather all lowered a finger. There were a few curious glances at Piper and Lynn having only been with one or fewer partners.

Melinda was next, and she was thinking about what to ask. Piper’s right; I can take out Caroline and Heather after one or two of the others.

She was trying to think of something when Delilah spoke loudly behind her. “Oh, I almost forgot, there is a two-minute timer because I don’t want this to get boring for the viewers.” A timer appeared on the scoreboard and started ticking down.

Melinda panicked as she saw that more than half her time was already gone and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Never have I ever kissed a girl on the lips.”

Everyone else put down a finger. Piper went wide-eyed as she saw her mom put down a finger.

“Mom? Seriously? Who?” Piper asked.

Caroline blushed. “It was college, and we were both drunk, and it was a dare. It wasn’t a big thing.”

Xin was also blushing, knowing that three of the others in the circle put down a finger because they had at least kissed her. Xin was next and got distracted by the conversation, letting her time dwindle. “Um… Never have I ever had sex with someone for payment.”

Everyone expected Xin to need to lower a finger but were surprised when Melinda did. Even Melinda looked confused. “This is bullshit. I’ve never taken money for sex!”

Delilah said, “She said payment, not money.” Not elaborating further, even as Melinda scowled in annoyance.

Lynn knew exactly what she wanted to use and was certain that everyone save maybe Xin would have to put a finger down, but she couldn’t get out the words as her mouth physically wouldn’t open to speak them. What the hell? I’ve never done that. This is Delilah’s lying bullshit again. Seeing her time nearly out, Lynn said, “Never have I ever gone skinny-dipping.”

Piper and Melinda let out a sigh as they put down their fingers. Xin just hunched her shoulders as she joined the two, putting down a finger.

Piper complained, “You know, I really hate this game, as the losers are the ones who’ve actually done interesting things.” Piper also knew her statement was a cheap shot, but her priority was protecting her mom. “Never have I ever had blonde hair.” Unfortunately for her, Caroline had dyed it before when she was younger. In fact, everyone but Heather put down a finger.

Lynn frowned. “That was definitely targeted at me. I have natural blonde hair. Besides, how does that meet the interesting rule?”

Delilah just shrugged, allowing it, as she ate a handful of popcorn.

Heather was pleasantly surprised by her lead, and as much as she felt bad about it, especially with Zach present, she said, “Never have I ever slept with someone else’s spouse.”

That earned her the expected glares from Zach, Xin, and Lynn. Xin put down her finger, saying, “Seriously? I guess if you are going to target me, you should expect the same.” What the group didn’t notice was that Melinda had also put down a finger, silently hoping it would go unnoticed. She hunched her shoulders when Zach made eye contact with her and looked down at her fingers, indicating he did notice.

Caroline gave Heather a slightly disapproving glance but understood Heather’s reasoning. “Never have I ever… given a blowjob.” Caroline blushed saying that.

Melinda gulped, really not wanting to be last. “Um… never have I ever, uhhh, shit, this is hard. Been tied up in bed.”

Melinda was a bit disappointed when she saw neither Lynn nor Xin put down a finger, but everyone else did.

Piper said to her mother. “Do I even want to know?”

“Hey, what two married people do in their own bedroom is no one else’s business,” Caroline replied, completely unashamed of her relationship with her late husband.

“Gross, didn’t need to know that,” Piper replied, though she was inwardly happy to hear that her mother’s sex life hadn’t been completely boring before.

Xin spoke quickly just to get her turn over. “Never have I ever put something up my butt.”

Heather sighed. I did target her; I guess I should have expected this. She put down her finger, and was joined by Piper in putting down a finger.

Caroline’s mouth was open wide. “What?! Seriously? Why? When?”

Piper replied, “Do you really want an answer to that question, Mom?”

Caroline went silent as Lynn took her turn.

Lynn was staring at Heather. I should just get rid of her. Now would be the perfect time to do it. But she has her uses. She was able to make Zach happy when I couldn’t… FUCK THIS TRANSFORMATION! “Never have I ever… sent my partner nude pictures of me.” Lynn winced and looked at Xin in apology. “Sorry, I was having trouble thinking of something and… well sorry.”

Xin sighed as one of her fingers went down. Piper and Melinda joined her, putting down a finger each.

Piper was seeing at least at the moment, that her mom was in a fairly good position, and Heather was likely to place in the middle of the pack. So she went after Lynn again: “Never have I ever stalked a person’s social media to learn more about them.”

Lynn frowned as she put down a finger, but Piper also frowned, seeing she had gotten more people than she had intended, as, except for Melinda, everyone put down a finger.

Piper turned towards her mother. “Did you stalk my exes?”

Caroline avoided answering, saying, “Heather, I believe it is your turn.”

Heather saw Xin’s two remaining fingers and felt really bad about it, but she once again targeted the young woman because she was already close to losing. “Never have I ever dated someone because my parents told me to.”

Xin shouted, “You absolute BITCH!” Xin stood as she lowered a finger. Delilah leaned forward, eager to see what would happen.

Lynn grabbed Xin’s wrist before she could start to cross the circle towards Heather. “Xin, don’t let her get to you. Plus, if you hit her, Delilah will punish you. Look at Delilah right now; she’s practically giddy that you would actually punch Heather in the face as she deserves.”

Xin sat down seething, and the group didn’t notice that Caroline and Piper had both put down a finger as well.

Caroline wasn’t sure what to do, as she really didn’t want to be the person to knock Xin out of the game. Especially at this point. Caroline tried to think of something that wouldn’t get Xin. Unfortunately, her kindness caused her to take too long, and a buzzer sounded, causing her to lose her turn and a finger.

Melinda looked at Xin. “Sorry, Xin, I don’t dislike you, but I agree with Piper. We should prevent the eliminations. You just happen to be closest to being out. Never have I ever done anything sexual with more than one other person at a time.”

Xin closed her eyes in defeat and covered her face with her hands. Lynn glared at Melinda as she lowered a finger. Lynn was glad to see Piper and Heather also lower a finger.

Lynn looked at Delilah. “Is it my turn since Xin is out, or does she still get to ask questions?”

The timer on the scoreboard stopped as Delilah looked contemplatively. “You know what, sure, Xin, you get to ask questions. This way you can pay back those bitches that intentionally knocked you out early. Same for anyone else knocked out, but it still has to be something you haven’t done.”

The time resumed, and Xin glared at Heather. “Never have I ever cheated on my partner.” She said bitterly, throwing the very thing Heather had used against her back at her.

Heather was the only one to lower a finger this time.

Lynn followed up with, “Never have I ever…” She paused as, once again, what she wanted to say, she couldn’t. THIS IS BULLSHIT! Delilah is cheating! “Delilah, what the hell? I haven’t done what I want to say, but I can’t say it.”

With a mouth full of popcorn, she replied, “Either you’ve done it, or it’s boring. I’m not actively monitoring your minds. Also, you have ten seconds.”

Lynn didn’t manage to say something in time and lost her turn and a finger because she spent time complaining.

Piper realized that with Lynn’s blunder, this returned to being anyone’s game. “Never have I ever, put out on a first date.”

Lynn scowled as she lowered a finger, as did Melinda. Piper smiled, as she had assumed both her mother and Heather were the type of women who wouldn’t do that, and that she had gotten more than just Lynn.

Heather looked at Lynn, then at Melinda. She looked down at the ground guiltily and said, “Never have I ever had sex where I work.” She didn’t want to see the answer to the question. She already felt bad about targeting Xin. She did see the result, though, as one of her own fingers curled in, leaving her with just one more.

Caroline replied, “Never have I ever gone commando.”

With that, Heather was out of the round, as everyone lowered a finger.

Piper wasn’t happy that her mother now knew she had gone without underwear before, but was happy her mom was easily in the lead, and if she had anything to say about it would be at least third if not second.

Melinda sighed, “Lynn… I’ll make a deal with you: I’ll target Piper if you don’t target me. Otherwise, I’m targeting you.”

Lynn took a moment to consider the deal and then nodded her agreement.

“Never have I ever wanted bigger boobs.” Melinda was glad to see she was right, as Piper put down a finger, but so did Lynn. Leaving everyone with one, but Caroline, who had four.

Lynn scowled, realizing she likely wasn’t getting first. Xin turned towards Melinda and said, “Don’t think I forgot you knocked me out. Never have I ever allowed someone to smack my ass without complaint. That’s for trying to extort my friend.”

Melinda put down a finger, as did Piper and Caroline. Melinda sighed, “I guess that’s fair. Again, I’m sorry, Xin, really.”

Lynn stared at her one finger and sighed, “I’m just going to let time expire; no way I get three of yours before Xin gets a turn, and Piper and Heather are definitely going to help you.”

Caroline replied, “Thank you, I guess?”

Lynn just shrugged as the timer reached zero. “Eh, not that big of a deal just odds. I’d rather not have more personal info revealed.”

Pita clapped with delight. “Oh, that was so interesting. Don’t you think so, De-la-la?”

“Hmm? What was?” Delilah asked, nonplussed.

“All the new information we learned about the contestants.”

“Pita… nothing they said should be new to you. You did read the briefings, right?”

Pita stammered, “Of… of course I did. I meant we, as in the royal we… that’s right, I meant we as the audience learned so many new things.”

“Uh huh… Whatever.” Delilah stood and made her way to the outside of the circle. “So that leaves us with the following at the end of the first part of the challenge.” The scoreboard once again changed to display their challenge placement.

• Caroline: 5
• Lynn: 4
• Piper: 2
• Melinda: 2
• Heather: 1
• Xin: 0

Delilah turned to Pita. “Now what is the next challenge?”

Pita summoned the scroll she usually referenced when she didn’t know something and started scanning it, muttering, “Number twenty-two… twenty-two… Ah, here we are. It says Swimsuit Seduction Competition.” Pita finished excitedly.

“Ah yes, a fan favorite,” Delilah said. She snapped her fingers, and a door appeared on a far wall. “Each of you will go inside and pick out a swimsuit. Then you will have five minutes to seduce your Master. You may touch him however he permits you to. This round’s placement will be determined by the audience, and then we will go straight to the final segment.” Delilah shooed the women through the door.

Once they were all gone, Delilah turned to Zachary. “For this next part, I’m telling you to remain seated, unless you are going to do something sexual with the girls.”

Zachary was about to say something as Delilah snapped her fingers, and suddenly he, Pita, and Delilah were all standing on a beach. His obsidian throne was still there, except its back was now tilted back significantly, making it look a lot like a lounge chair. He noticed that his clothes had changed as well. He was now in an open Hawaiian shirt and swim trunks. Then he looked up and saw that Delilah and Pita were now both in black swimsuits. Delilah’s was a standard bikini, while Pita wore a one-piece with a skirt. Looking at them side by side, he thought that there might be some relation between the two demonesses, as Pita looked like a miniature Delilah. Not like her daughter, but Delilah if she were around half her height and squished a bit in several places.

Delilah gestured to his throne. “Pull up a chair; you’re going to be here a while.”

He sighed and prepared for what was coming.