The first challenge. And the first elimination?

Jeff was busy figuring out if he knew any girls that were very prone to hugging, that he didn’t really notice the host sidling up beside him until she cleared her throat.

“Now that all the Companions have been gathered it is time to reveal the first challenge. So gather up. “ Amora announced with a sweep of her sceptre “Unlike other challenges this one has no defined deadline. ” the host continued, ignoring the various cries of surprise as the contestants disappeared from their seats in puffs of rosepetals to stand in a rough semicircle in front of Jeff and the host instead. “ None of these lovely ladies look like they did the last time they saw our Hero. Or each other. And that is why our first challenge is: “ a drumroll sounded ” The Masquerade Ball! ” a storm of rosepetals obscured the room around them for a moment and when it died down they were standing in the middle of a grand ballroom.

“If the master correctly guesses a Companions former name he can ask the Celestial choir to bestow a blessing of his design on the companion. The same goes for the first Companion to guess anothers’ former name. Of course what some call a blessing, others consider a curse. But surely you are all too noble to intentionally inflict misery on a fellow party-member.” The host wasn’t a good enough actress to disguise the last statement as anything but a blatant attempt to seed paranoia.

“To avoid wild stabs in the dark, you will have one free guess per companion. The second guess will cost a pittance. The third will be affordable and after that things will get very pricey very quick. Unlike other seasons you can not buy anything in the shop that affects other Companions directly, unless you know their name. So even if someone beat you to the punch, you might want to keep collecting clues so you can surprise your fellow companions with a lovely gift.”

“So that is why you told us to play our cards close to our chest during the introduction?” the Princess asked.

“Yes. Exactly. ” Amora nodded “But not just because of the challenge. It also would be such a shame if you accidentally squandered this opportunity to make a second first impression. some of you said things to each other or the Hero that are hard to take back. But here your relationship does not need to be weighed down by old grudges. ” Amoras comment about old grudges prompted another round of sidelong glances among the contestants.

“So? What?” the Soldier asked frowning “ If we were at each others throats there was probably a reason for that. Do you really expect us to Stepford smile our way through this, because actually talking about the shit going down would be uncomfortable? ”

“Yeah.” The Gunslinger agreed “If ya ain’t willing to get yer hands a little bit dirty some problems never get solved. So what a reckon…” she’d stepped forward as she spoke, walking backwards towards Jeff and the host as she addressed the other contestants. And the blond woman turned, her boot coming up to smash into the hosts forearm and send the sceptre tumbling through the air.

Before Jeff or the others had fully registered what was going on the Gunslinger launched herself at the host, grabbing and twisting in a quick series of movements that ended with a dazed Amora lying in a submission hold on the floor with the Gunslinger kneeling on her back.

“Time to renegotiate.” The desperado growled before crashing to the floor herself as the woman beneath her simply disappeared “Crud.”

“What the hell where you thinking!?” the Saint snapped “Did you really think this would work!?”

“Hey! That took balls.” The Student protested.

“**** and battery won’t go over well with the Ethics Committee? “ the Saint scoffed ” She might have just cost us our only shot at freedom.”

“ Best way to negotiate with terrorists is to shoot the bastards.” The Desperado opined calmly as she got back to her feet ” And I’m not gonna stand by and let myself be **** into a harem! No offense Sherwood.”

“None taken. I…. ” Jeff began, then flinched when the Starchild put two fingers into her mouth and let out a shrill whistle. Everyone looked at the alien in surprise, then followed her pointing finger towards the ceiling. Or rather the roiling black smoke covering the ceiling above them.

As if it had sensed their gaze the black cloud surged downwards surrounding the group in swirling sulphurous smog that scratched in the throat when breathed in and stung the eyes. When Jeff tired to fight or run or just yell for help he found that he couldn’t figure out how. Every time he tried to do anything but look around in a panic he ran into a mental block.

When the smoke retreated, the scenery had changed again. Everyone was sitting in the front row of a movie theatre looking up at the Demon queen Lilianne glowering down on them from her throne of skulls. A small swarm of the camera-eyeballs were flapping above her. The screen behind the throne showed huge gothic windows looking out onto a stormy sky.

“Muahahahah” Lighting flashed across the screen behind the throne and prerecorded thunder filled the theatre as the woman rose to her feet and threw her head back in a laugh “With that meddlesome Amora out of the way this is my show now! And when I am done you will wish you listened to that goody-two-shoes when she told you about the rules. ”

One of the eyeball thingies swooped down to hover behind her head and she turned towards it in annoyance. “What? Can’t you see I have these foolish heroes at my mercy! ” The eyeball scooted closer hovering right over her shoulder and the demon queen nodded along to some short and unheard conversation, before once again throwing back her head to laugh “Mwhahaha. My spy tells me, that foolish angel got interrupted before she could get to the explanation! ” she looked at each of her prisoners in turn, a malevolent grin on her black lips “So let me tell you what fate has in store for each of you. I am sure Amora already filled your heads with promises about wishes, blessings, love, happiness and all the other bribes the Celestial Choir loves to hand out when they need someone to do the dirty work for them. But they are a fickle and judgemental lot, so if one of you fails to live up to their standards ” her gaze fixed on the Gunslinger “ they may just throw you by the wayside. ”

“And if that happens I will make sure you won’t be in a position to get in their good graces again. “ she steepled her fingers in front of her face ”Normally I would have to refrain from doing anything truly heinous to you, lest the Choir get a sudden attack of conscience about abandoning their toy to the mercy of the Dark Masters and try to intervene. But that won’t happen with anyone attacking Amora or their precious Hero. Nothing is going to save you from the terror of THE OOZE! ” .” lighting flashed again. “MWAHAHAHAHA! “

While the host was busy cackling a contraption was pushed out behind the curtain. A huge copper kettle suspended a bit more than two metres above the ground by a rickety wooden frame on wheels. The kettles sides were streaked by crusted green runoff and an eerie nuclear-green glow emeanted from it’s contents. The rough-hewn features and stocky build of the man pushing it contrasted with the elegant buttlers uniorm he wore. Then again, the tiny batwings flopping at the back of his tuxedo and the poorly hidden headband with devil-horns would have robbed his attire of any dignity anyway.

The demon-buttler patiently waited for his the demon queen to stop cackling before rumbling “There you go, Mistress. The Ooooze.”

“Thank you Manfred. Now all we need is a victim.”

The Gunslinger appeared inside the wooden frame in a puff of acrid smoke, tied to a chair and a gag stuffed in her mouth. Jeff had already spotted the hinged opening at the bottom of the kettle that would dump it’s content on whatever was below.

“Now what shall we do with you?” the dark queen mused as she climbed up a ladder built into the side of the frame “I didn’t even have time to cook up anything special for you.” She added as she picked up a large ladle hanging beside the kettle. “So I will have to go with the old but true classics. ” she rubbed her chin thoughtfully while the desperado below squirmed in her bonds.

“Bimbos usually go over well…. Yes. How about a farmers daughter? Not the brightest tool in the shed but oh so eager to see what that handsome traveler can teach her. ” As Liliane began to stir the kettle, bright green slime oozed across the windows on the screen behind her to form words:

The farmers daughter: Anything the companion wears will change to fit into that sweet farmgirl aesthetic. Her hair too will style itself into something appropriately down to earth.

“ And while it is always fun to fill a girls head with cotton candy, a lot of them end up enjoying the simplicity it brings. So instead I’ll just make it harder to convince anyone you aren’t dumber than a bag of hammers. “ she waved a hand over the kettle and green vapour poured down from her hand into the mixture below.

Just a simple farmgirl: From now on any word with more than two syllables and any sentence longer than six words will feel like a devilishly tricky tongue twister for the contestant. If she reads or listens to anything exceeding these limits her brain will now need five to ten seconds of uninterrupted concentration to parse it.

“Yes. Yes. That should do it. But there is still something missing to make that perfect first impression. “ the dark queen stopped in thought for a moment, before exclaiming “ Ah I know just the thing! ” and resumed stiring her pot with renewed vigor.

There is no I in dunce: The contestant can no longer refer to herself in the first person.

A few droplets of slime had overflowed the kettle before thanks to the demon queens enthusiastic stirring. Parts of it had harmlessly splattered on the wooden frame or the ground below, but the rest had traveled along the curve of the kettle and now hung precariously above the Gunslingers head.

“Well that’s not good” Manfred the butler had been standing there, steadying the rickety frame with one hand as his Lilianes vigorous motions made it creak and shudder. Seeing the drop of goo heading directly for the gunslinger he used his free hand to scoop it away.

“What are you doing, you oaf!?” Liliane screeched “Don’t touch that!”

“Oh. Sorry mistress.” The butler put a sheepish hand behind his head “ I was…..”

“No! You blithering boob!”

For a moment the mans shaggy black hair writhed like snakes as it tied itself into a pair of very short – and very unflattering - pigtails. “ …..just trying to help.” he finished lamely.

“Stop touching things you idiot! Didn’t you pay attention?! This stuff contains active na… curses! Get rid of it, you feckless monkey!”

The butler looked around in obvious panic between his hand and the rest of the room.

He flinched as Liliane barked “Now!” before springing into action. Unfortunately for him the action he settled on, was to wipe the glowing goop of at his suit pants trouser. Which promptly unraveled into a pair of daisy dukes.

The demon queen stared at her minions pallid hairy legs in obvious distaste before muttering “Go. Just …go.” making shooing gestures with her free hand.

Liliane let out a long suffering sigh as her minion shuffled away. “He’s a hard worker. “ she muttered sarcastically ”And he works for cheap. Gee I wonder why? I swear that’s the last time I listen to…..”

She caught herself, putting on a less than convincing smirk as she surveyed the contestants “Let’s get this back on track, shall we?” she said with fake cheer “Right! You can’t answer. You are paralyzed. ” it almost looked as if she was gonna cackle dramatically again, but apparently couldn’t be bothered after all.

“Speaking of ruining the mood. There is something for the Princess I had to discard because the Choir would never stand for it under normal circumstances. But I think it would suit your new life just fine my dear. And it would be suuuch a shame to see it go to waste.” This time she did cackle but her heart wasn’t quite in it

The Tsarina Special: Her insides are rearranged and enhanced so she can stretch to accommodate any partner. While she can still cum from something smaller than her forearm, it will be a deeply dissatisfying whimper instead of a toecurling explosion. The same goes for toys of any size.

Confidence Booster: Regardless of her personal feelings on the matter, the Companion will always give her sexual partners the impression they are the best lay she ever had.

“Now I know what you are thinking, my little rebel. ” the demon queen said as she descended the ladder “You can just join a nunnery. That way you won’t have to decide between a life of disappointment and one where you get intimately aquatinted with nature. Or at least the well hung part of nature. But ” the desperado redoubled her struggles against the bindings as the demon queen caressed her cheek “ bringing someone here isn’t free. And neither are the licencing fees for that buxom new body of yours. It’s quite an investment in fact. ” a roll of parchment appeared in her hand and she unrolled it for the Gunslinger “See. It’s all here. Harem Hotel is more than willing to invest in your future and make sure it is a happy one as long as you play along. But if you refuse to return this investment of trust and effort in kind, there are other ways to recoup our losses.

So you will get your wish and be returned back to where you come from. But you will not be unsupervised. I will send a few of my minions along. You won’t see them, but they will be there. Streaming your adventures in the Amateur section of OnlyPorn. ”

Unscripted and spontaneous: The Companions minimum arousal will rise in proportion to viewer donations. Her arousal will not die down until she has cum at least twice. 80% of the proceeds will go toward paying off translocation costs, licencing fees, medical expenses and similar debts held by the Producers of Harem Hotel and AnaChronicles.

“And I am sure your future fanbase will be only too happy to encourage you to be extra friendly towards that handsome – or not so handsome - stranger. And since I do not need to bother with giving you any papers before sending you back I am sure you’ll have to rely on those donation for at least a few weeks. ”

The demon queen frowned as she looked down at the Gunslinger. The woman had stopped struggling and was rocking back and forth in mounting horror, tears of desperation streaming down her face. “As satisfying as it is to go all out for once, I am starting to miss the back and forth as the eliminated try and fail to appeal to my better nature.”

Liliane tapped her chin with a long black nail, staring down at her victim in thought.

“Yes.” She declared “I suppose I do owe you a small debt of gratitude for humiliating this pesky angel. So I could be persuaded to give you a more dignified way to recoup your debts. ” she pulled the gag out of the womans mouth “Provided your groveling amuses me.”

“Yes.” The gunslingers voice was a hoarse whisper “Ah am sorry. Ah am sorry. Ah’ll do anything. ”

“I. Forfeit.” A smooth electronic voice said dispassionately.

The demon queens head whipped around in surprise, and so did every other head in the room. Every head but the Starchilds who was starring directly at the host. “I. Forfeit.” She repeated without moving her lips.

“Right. The thought-to-speech device.” The host murmured in sudden understanding “And what do you mean ‘You forfeit’ !?”

“To. Forfeit.

Verb.

Giving. Up.

Loosing. Intentionally.

Throwing. The. Match”

“I know what the word means. ” the host snapped “but are you serious right now?” she gestured towards the Gunslinger.

“Don’t.” the desperdo shook her head frantically. “You’ll make it worse.”

“See. “ the host gestured again ” Listen to your party member. This isn’t a game.”

“I. Might. Listen. To. The. Others. I. Will. Just. Ignore. Anything. You. Say. Amora.”

“I am Liliane.” The hosts testy correction elicited a small scoff from the Soldier.

“Different. Costume. Same. Punchable. Face. I. Forfeit.” It was true. Jeff had been to distracted by everything else going on, but that was the same woman under that skull-helmet. Of course they could have been twins, but Jeffs gut said it wasn’t the case.

“I am-” the host began.

“I. Forfeit.”

“That is not a jo-”

“I. Forfeit.”

“Stop inter-”

“I. Forf-” the host made a slashing motion and the artificial voice cut off.

For a long while the two just stared at each other. The demon lords slowly curled and uncurled her fingers, most likely fighting the urge to strangle the alien.

“Very well.” The host finally decided, trying to sound imperious but sounding mostly frustrated “You lot try to talk sense into her. There is only half the fun if they WANT to become degenerates after all.”

And with that the strange fog around Jeffs thoughts lifted. And with it came a wave of guilt. He’d just been sitting there watching numbly as a girls life was destroyed! Why hadn’t he tried to prevent it? There probably wasn’t anything he could have done, but he didn’t even TRY!

Jeffs voice joined the other in a chorus of protest.

And once again the alien put her fingers to her mouth an let out a shrill piercing whistle. “Do. You. Want. To. Be. Silenced. Again.” She asked into the silence.

“Right. Right.” The Princess agreed reluctantly “The Dark Lady does have all the power here. ”

Right. Jeff realized with chargin. The host was liable to lash out if pressured. So, what could he do? First step in conflict resolution: Allow everyone to save face. “Maybe this would be a good time to cut to commercials? While everyone takes a moment to clam down?” he suggested. Step two: Establish common ground.

…..

Yeah that one was going to be hard.

“Yes! A spending idea.” The demon queen agreed the same time the Student hissed “What the fuck? Why the fuck would we want to calm down? ”

“No. He is right. We won’t gain anything by yelling at her. ” the Princess interjected. “We don’t have the power to demand anything. I bet she could even make us play this game if she wanted.”

Liliane/Amora nodded “Indeed, little princess. I am pleased to see at least one of you knows her place. ”

“ Yes this has all been very educational. “ the Princess answered with a smile ”But I am curious how valuable our cooperation is. ”

The host scoffed “Oh please. You think you are the first contestant threatening to sabotage the season? Her threatening to forfeit was just a bluff anyway. ”

oOThen why didn’t you call it?Oo Jeff thought.

“We are threatening no such thing. ” The Princess replied jovially.

“The fuck I’m not! / The fuck we aren’t!” the Soldier and Student burst out simultaneously and the Starchild nodded in agreement.

“No. We are not.” The Saint countered firmly but politely “All that is going to accomplish is to make everybody involved miserable.” She gave the host a pointed look as she said ‘everybody’.

“Exactly” the Princess agreed “Sabotage would turn this into a contest of who breaks first, and we have far more to loose on that front. We simply do not have a big enough stick. But we do have a carrot. ”

Jeff was pretty sure he saw where this was going, but it was probably best to let the Princess take the lead for now and act as support. Present a united front instead of everybody trying to push their own angle.

“Oh? What?” the Student asked.

“Ratings.” The Saint supplied. “This is obviously a cross-promotion event. Those are always a pain in the butt because you have twice the people breathing down your neck, making demands about their precious IP. ” she added before ceding the floor to the Princess with a small gesture.

“Exactly. That is a very good point.“ The Princess took over ”We can be made to participate. I admit I do not know much about reality TV, but I bet authenticity is a huge selling point. Or at least the appearance of authenticity. And I wonder at what point it becomes inefficient to puppeteer us into giving a good performance. Especially without fans pointing out inconsistencies in our behaviour.

I understand if you took that attack personal but you also mentioned that we are an investment. Just view this act of mercy as another investment. It would do wonders for your ratings if people are willing to fullfill the spirit of any requests you have instead of merely doing as they are told. Would that not be more profitable in the long run than forgoing the initial investment in a single candidate? “

“It might. ” the demon queen admitted “But you forget one crucial detail. ” she smirked “ Not all viewers are as keen on love and Harmony as the Celestial choir. The Dark Masters enjoy seeing people **** to do all kinds of things against their better judgement. ”

The Princess opened her mouth, then closed it again. Jeff could almost hear her brain working overtime to find a rebuttal.

“I have been in your position dozens of times, Lilianne.” Jeff announced.

“I doubt it.” the host scoffed.

“Oh not in exactly the same position.” Jeff admitted “But I have been DMing since I was fourteen. Being able to turn someones character to stone isn’t the same as warping a hand and petrifying the player. But I do know what it is like to run a Big Bad the entire table wants to see suffer. The fun is in making them escape justice a few times while being all smug about it. To stoke that fire of hate a bit. So I don’t think your Dark Masters want us to start the game all demotivated and fatalistic either. That’s not a fun narrative. They want the defiance or despair that precede the fall.

Yes they would probably be disappointed if the desperado gets a milder punishment. But they had no time to get invested yet. They didn’t have any input on her fate either. So…. Yes?” Jeff turned to the Amazon who had raised her hand politely but insistently.

“Not a milder punishment. She doesn’t deserve to be a bimbo or any of the other stuff.” The redhead mumbled. She didn’t look directly at the host as she continued in a halting voice “If you need to hold some public trial to satisfy the audience just do that thing again and switch up our new bodies. You can put the cost for that on my tab.”

“You can’t! ” the Gunslinger protested “I couldn’t live with that!”

“it is not your choice.” The Castaway said with a serene little smile “If anyone gets dunked into that slime I will be the biggest most depressing millstone around the shows neck I can be. ” she finally looked up from the floor “ I do not know if the elf was bluffing or not. But I am not. ”

“Of course you are.” Liliane let out a small laugh.

“Do you really believe I would not trade my life for hers?” the redhead asked still strangely calm.

“You really would wouldn’t you.” This time it was the demon queen who looked away first ” Ugh. That’s why I hate heroes. ”

“Let’s try to avoid such drastic steps, shall we?” the Princess said with a nervous chuckle “surely there is a less drastic way to placate the viewers. Because making sure they are satisfied is what this is all about, right?”

“Yes.” Liliane agreed slowly, thoughtfully “It is about giving the viewers what they want. So how about this for a compromise…. We let the viewers decide whether or not your companion should be sent home scott free. And whether or not you all should be rewarded or punished for this little act of defiance. ”